One Piece: Zoro’s Shimotsuki Wano Lineage – A Theory

Hyogoro’s Words

Wano started to tease the possibility of exploring Zoro’s lineage. Hyogoro noted that Zoro looked so similar to Ushimaru and also Zoro’s sword handling is similar to Ushimaru. Ushimaru is a descendent of Ryuma and Ryuma is also a one-eyed Samurai just like Zoro.

Oda’s Words In SBS

Oda confirmed in SBS that Ushimaru isn’t Zoro’s father. Oda doesn’t like to have very obvious reveals regarding the lineage of his characters & we can expect some twist in Zoro’s too just like Luffy/Sanji.

My Idea For Zoro’s Lineage

My idea is that Zoro’s grandfather is a “Kurozumi” & grandmother is a “Shimotsuki”. Grandmother will be Ushimaru’s sister or someone related to him while grandfather too will be from Wano. Zoro’s Wano connection being his grandparents fit since Zoro has Roronoa as his first name now but not a Wano name. Zoro’s mother’s side will be from Wano while his father might be from the outside world.

Note that it doesn’t need to be Zoro’s grandparents either. It could be Zoro’s parents & the timeline can still fit. Either way, the point is he will have some connections to both Kurozumi & Shimotsuki in his lineage.

Kurozumi’s Persecution

Ushimaru being related to Zoro isn’t a new idea & would explain their similarity in looks. But Zoro being a Kurozumi on the other hand will explain why Oda is delaying the reveal of his Lineage.

We know Kuzozumi persecution was happening for several decades since both Kanjuro(age 34)& Orochi(age 54) faced it at a young age. So it is possible that his grandparents escaped Wano sometimes during that period.

Also, Oda in an SBS revealed that 55 years ago, several Samurais escaped Wano including Shimotsuki Kozaburo. So, it isn’t crazy for people to escape Wano. Zoro’s grandparents would have escaped sometimes later and sought refuge near Shimotsuki village due to Kozaburo establishing a village there. This would explain why Zoro is there during his childhood.

Zoro’s Character Moment

Personally, I don’t think Zoro would care about him being Ryuma or Ushimaru descendant and it won’t impact his character (of course Oda might do something else that we don’t know yet). But Zoro being Kurozumi could develop his character in so many ways.

Wano is in this sad state due to the grudge of his clan and if his parents also left Wano due to the Kurozumi persecution it will give him a personal motivation. It will be poetic if the Samurai who helped in saving the country is of the Kurozumi clan.

Kozuki – Kurozumi Conflict

Also, a Kurozumi inheriting Oden’s Enma, Zoro saving Hiyori, Oda teasing their relationship, Zoro’s conflict with Orochi, etc will mean more with this recent revelation. It will also lead to a plot addressing the injustice done to the Kurozumi clan too.

Kozuki also made mistakes by trying to fully exterminate Kurozumi. Even Oden felt guilty over the treatment of the Kurozumi clan by Kozuki. We can see his reaction in his talk with Orochi. Zoro being a survivor of the Kurozumi clan might help close this clan conflict too.

Even though I don’t know if this will happen I really like this idea so much since it retains the Ryuma/Ushimaru parallel and also gives some personal involvement to Zoro in Wano’s conflict. But I could also see Oda taking an entirely different path for Zoro.

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