Roronoa Zoro is one of the central characters in the anime epic One Piece by Eiichiro Oda, a sword-wielding former bounty hunter turned right-hand man to the pirate Monkey D. Luffy.
From the very beginning, Zoro has been famous for his Three Sword Style, but one of those swords is rather special indeed. So what is it and how did he get his hands on it?
Zoro is the second member of Luffy’s crew and the first to join it officially. He was trained in the ways of the sword by his family, the Shimotsuki Family of Wano Country, and is one of the strongest swordsmen in the series, growing in strength and ability throughout. His goal is to become the greatest swordsman in the world and with one of the 21 Great Blades in his possession, he’s well on his way.
Zoro is the current wielder of the Enma blade, a curved Shobu Zukuri-style katana forged by Shimotsuki Kozaburo, one of Zoro’s distant relations and grandfather to Zoro’s childhood friend Kuina. Enma is said to be Kozaburo’s greatest creation and is described as being able to cut through to the bottom of hell though it is near impossible to wield, feared by many for its power. The sword was strong enough that it was one of the few weapons to ever harm Kaidou of the Beasts leaving a massive scar on his face. This act was committed by the legendary samurai turned pirate, Kozuki Oden, the last wielder of the sword before Zoro.
After Oden’s death, his father acquired it in the hopes of passing it on to Oden’s daughter, Kozuki Hiyori. It was during the Wano Country Arc that Zoro would cross paths with Hiyori, who begged him to leave his current blade, Shusui at the grave of Shimotsuki Ryuma. In return for leaving the sword in Wano Country as a National Treasure, Hiyori offered Zoro the Enma blade as a worthy replacement. In the manga, this exchange happens in Vol. 94 Chapter 953, and in the anime, it’s episode 954.
With Enma, Zoro is able to wield his  Busoshoku Haki. In his first attempt at using the sword, Zoro accidentally cut an entire cliffside down and the Haki taken from him emaciated his right arm. Zoro was able to pull back his Haki from the sword, with Sukiyaki praising his ability stating that a normal person would have been drained of all their Haki and left a shell of a being. Zoro can use Enma to commit extraordinary feats, managing similar triumphs to Oden, such as cutting the great Kaidou once again.
He still has a way to go before he can be called the greatest swordsman, with many worthy opponents ahead of him. But once he has more control of Enma, he has a shot of making it to the top.
(featured image: Toei Animation)
