Roronoa Zoro is the swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates and he joined Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King in Shell's Town. Zoro is an incredibly skilled fighter who always has his captain's back.
A master of the Three-Sword Style, Zoro aims to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, and to achieve that goal, he's trained his mind and body and made incredible progress over the years. He's earned a great reputation in the world of One Piece as a master swordsman and accomplished things that normal pirates can't even dream of.
10 Roronoa Zoro Managed To Earn Mihawk's Respect
Zoro left his Dojo in the Shimotsuki Village to track Dracule Mihawk and become the strongest swordsman by defeating him. Finally, the two crossed paths on Baratie and as expected, Zoro was humbled in the fight. Despite facing a crushing defeat to Mihawk, Zoro was able to earn his respect by showing his fearlessness and his way of samurai.
It is due to this quality of his that Mihawk let him live and told him to get stronger and, one day, surpass him.
9 Zoro Survived Luffy's Pain On Thriller Bark
After Luffy's fight against Oars and Gecko Moria, he passed out but yet another calamity in the form of Bartholomew Kuma showed up to fight the Straw Hats. Zoro took the challenge head-on but ultimately ended up losing. Instead of Luffy's life, however, he offered his own.
Zoro was then ordered by Kuma to take all of Luffy's pain, which was enough to kill him. As expected of Zoro, he agreed to the challenge and although he did survive, he was left in a very bad physical state.
8 Roronoa Zoro Defeated Pica Of The Donquixote Pirates
Pica was one of the antagonists of the Dressrosa arc of One Piece. As one of Doflamingo's strongest men, Pica was a menace for anyone to take on in battle and proves to be quite a challenge for Zoro as well, mainly due to his ability to assimilate with stone.
By using Orlumbus' help, Zoro was able to corner Pica in mid-air and defeat him with a swing of his sword. Defeating an officer such as Pica was certainly a great accomplishment for Zoro.
7 Roronoa Zoro Earned A Bounty Of 320 Million Berries
Since defeating Pica was a massive feat for Zoro and Luffy took down Doflamingo shortly afterward, Zoro gained a massive bounty raise.
His bounty prior to the events of Dressrosa was 120 million berries and when the Straw Hat Pirates received new bounty posters, his bounty rose to 320 million berries. After gaining complete control over Haki and getting stronger, Zoro deserved his bounty.
6 Zoro Managed To Defeat Kamazo The Manslayer
In One Piece's Wano Country arc, Roronoa Zoro faced off against Kamazo the Manslayer, who was actually the right-hand man of Eustass Kid, Killer. Killer was reduced to a shell of his former self by Orochi and also force-fed a SMILE Devil Fruit. Doing Orochi's bidding for him to save his captain, he ran into Zoro and the two fought an enthralling battle.
Zoro was eventually able to defeat him with a Rengoku Onigiri, however, had Killer been his own self this battle would've been much more difficult for Zoro.
5 Zoro Managed To Gain Control Over The Meito Enma
Towards the end of Wano's Second Act, Roronoa Zoro had to return Shusui to the land of Wano. In return, Kozuki Hiyori offered him one of the two swords of her father, Kozuki Oden, known as Enma.
This sword is extremely powerful but not just anyone could tame it. Stepping up to the challenge, Zoro managed to tame Enma and use it to grow stronger. With this sword, Zoro could tap into his Ryou and gain stronger attacks, such as those capable of hurting Kaido.
4 Roronoa Zoro Managed To Block Hakai For A Second
Zoro was one of the five characters who faced Big Mom and Kaido on the rooftop of Onigashima in the Wano Country arc. As expected of the two Yonko, they didn't hold back against the Worst Generation and at one point, launched a wave of Haki, called Ocean Sovereignty, towards them.
Zoro threw his life on the line for the sake of the alliance and blocked it for a second, which was enough for the other members to escape to safety. Unfortunately, Zoro broke around 30 bones because of this but it was quite a feat nonetheless.
3 Roronoa Zoro Saved His Captain From Yonko Kaido
The Worst Generation members on the rooftop covered well for each other and Zoro, being on Luffy's crew, had a responsibility of protecting his captain. When danger arrived, Zoro didn't shy away and in an attempt to protect his captain, who had passed out, he managed to accidentally tap into the usage of Conqueror's Haki.
By coating his blade in it, he was able to slice Kaido and earn some of his respect in the process.
2 Roronoa Zoro Could Stand Up To King The Wildfire
Zoro is an exceptionally powerful character who hadn't met his match until recently in the story. After his defeat to Kaido, he was healed using a Mink drug that offered super recovery for a limited time. After recovering, Zoro took on King the Wildfire in combat and finally met his match.
As expected, King turned out to be just as strong as the likes of the other Yonko Commanders, such as Katakuri. Evidently, Zoro struggled to take King on in battle. The fight is still ongoing but Zoro will certainly emerge victorious at the end of the day.
1 Zoro Managed To Scar Yonko Kaido Permanently
Perhaps Zoro's biggest feat so far in the story is being able to scar Yonko Kaido. By accidentally coating his blade in Conqueror's Haki, Zoro was able to hurt Kaido using his Dead Man's Game technique and leave a scar on his chest. After Kozuki Oden, Zoro became the first man to scar Kaido.
Although Zoro wanted to do more, he didn't have it in him to take Kaido on or even bring him to his knees. Regardless, he earned Kaido's respect and protected Luffy in doing so.