Roronoa Zoro and Sanji are two of the strongest pirates on Luffy's crew, and both of them are equally important for Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King in One Piece. Aside from Luffy, these two are the next strongest fighters in the crew. Although they're on the same crew, they're often at odds with each other, and their fans are as well.
Despite this, Zoro and Sanji understand each other very well and would lay down their lives for the crew. Each of them excels at certain things and suck at others. Here are 5 things Zoro does better than Sanji, and 5 Sanji does better than him.
10 Zoro: Fighting Women
Roronoa Zoro has proven time and again that he isn't scared of hurting women if they stand in his path in a fight. At Punk Hazard, Zoro fought against Money and sliced her in half with her sword despite her being sure that Zoro wouldn't harm her.
Sanji, on the other hand, actively avoids hurting women because that's what his father-figure, Zeff, taught him. According to Sanji, he will never do anything that brings Zeff any shame and fighting women is absolutely out of the question, no matter what is at stake.
9 Sanji: Melee Combat
Sanji is one of the strongest fighters in the Strawhat Pirates along with Luffy, Zoro and Jinbe and he specializes in melee combat. Under Red Leg Zeff, Sanji has learned to fight with his legs efficiently and developed a fighting style known as the Black-Leg Style.
Unique to Sanji, this fighting style lets him battle against even the toughest of opponents without having to rely on any weapons, unlike Roronoa Zoro, who is heavily reliant on his three swords, Wado Ichimonji, Enma, and Sandai Kitetsu, when it comes to fighting against strong enemies.
8 Zoro: Using Swords
Roronoa Zoro is a master swordsman as he's studied this art for years. As a child, Zoro trained under Koshiro until he became worthy of acquiring the Wado Ichimonji. Years later, he found himself training in this art under the Strongest Swordsman in the World, Dracule Mihawk, to better assist Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King.
Zoro has grown tremendously stronger than before. Sanji possesses some skill with a sword as well, as seen when Judge forced this skill into him as a child. However, the difference between the two when it comes to using swords is staggering. Furthermore, Sanji prefers not to use his hands in combat, so he actively avoids using any weapons.
7 Sanji: Tactics
You don't have to be stronger than your opponent to win every battle. Sometimes, outsmarting them goes a long way, and that's exactly what Sanji does in times of grave danger. Over the course of the One Piece series, Sanji has repeatedly saved the Strawhat crew from trouble, thanks to his tactical thinking.
At places like Little Garden, Alabasta, Skypiea, and even Enies Lobby, Sanji has proven that his high intelligence yields results. Zoro, while not dumb, isn't smart enough to think of similar plans to make sure his enemies falter in their paths, and when he does, he usually fails at it, as seen when he tried to trick Braham during the Skypiea arc.
6 Zoro: Power
Zoro's intense training in the ways of the sword has produced great results. Not only does he get closer to the goal of beating Dracule Mihawk, but he also improves his skills drastically. For Zoro, strength is likely the most important factor of his swordplay since he rarely relies on technique.
According to Mihawk, Zoro's swordplay isn't graceful at all, and rather, ferocious. Over time, Zoro has gained immense raw power which Sanji can't best at all. That's not to say that Sanji is weak when it comes to power, he just isn't better than Zoro when it comes to strength.
5 Sanji: Speed
Just as Roronoa Zoro specializes in power, Sanji focuses more on speed. In fact, Sanji is one of the fastest in the entire crew, possibly bested only by Strawhat Luffy in Gear 4th: Snakeman. Sanji's speed is such that even the experienced fighters such as the likes of Charlotte Oven struggle to keep track of him.
In water, he makes use of his Blue Walk to move faster than a Fishman, which an insane feat. Zoro, on the other hand, isn't as fast as Sanji as he relies more on power. In terms of speed, Sanji and head and shoulders above the green-haired swordsman.
4 Zoro: Armament Haki
Roronoa Zoro was taught how to use Armament Haki by none other than Dracule Mihawk during the two-year time-skip. Over time, he's gained great proficiency in this skill. In the clash against Pica, Zoro proved that his Armament Haki was levels above his, and when compared to Sanji, it's likely going to be better as well.
According to Eiichiro Oda, One Piece's creator, Roronoa Zoro specializes in Armament Haki, so it is likely that he's better at using this form of Haki in comparison to Sanji.
3 Sanji: Observation Haki
While Roronoa Zoro specializes in Armament Haki, Sanji is a much better Observation Haki specialist. Contrary to popular belief, there are lots of feats that back this up, such as Sanji being able to hear Tashigi's tear fall from miles away at Punk Hazard, him knowing Viola was lying about betraying him, Sensing his crew under Doflamingo's threat from an island away at Dressrosa.
He also realized Pudding's true nature, and dodged Charlotte Katakuri's jelly Bean despite the Sweet Commander having seen the future. Zoro, while a decent user of Observation Haki, simply pales in comparison to Sanji in this skill.
2 Zoro: Long-Ranged Combat
When it comes to versatility while fighting, Roronoa Zoro seems to hold a slight edge over Sanji as he can fight at short-range and long-range. When at a distance, Zoro can send flying slashes at enemies, which prove to be absolutely lethal when they connect.
In short-range combat, Zoro is equally as good. Sanji is more of a close-quarters fighter and he doesn't really possess any skill that allows him to fight opponents from over a distance. Therefore, Zoro clearly bests Sanji in this aspect of fighting, without a doubt.
1 Sanji: Stealth
One of Sanji's main advantages has always been that he's quick and silent, like an assassin. This is likely due to him being part of a family of assassins from North Blue, known as the Vinsmoke Family. Furthermore, Sanji's Raid Suit gives him the ability to turn completely invisible and increases his speed drastically.
Even users of Observation Haki don't seem to know how and when he hits them (apparently), which is a huge boost to him when it comes to dealing with stronger opponents. Zoro, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to pull off a stealth move ever since that's just not his style.