This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Final Saga.
The Swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro is an incredibly powerful individual who has excelled greatly as a swordsman over the years. Zoro aims to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, and because of that, he has fought in many high-level battles.
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Given that Zoro is a pirate hunter turned pirate, he has been in many pirate battles, and while he has bested most of his enemies, some have actually gotten the better of him and completely outclassed him in battle in one way or another. It is rare for Zoro to be bested, but these individuals have actually managed to pull it off.
Buggy
Beat Zoro In Orange Town
While it might be hard for some fans to believe that Buggy managed to accomplish this incredible feat, it is absolutely true that Buggy defeated Zoro in battle once. When Buggy fought Zoro for the first time, he gave him the impression that he was chopped in half completely. However, using the power of his Devil Fruit, Buggy was able to sneakily stab him from the back and this completely took Zoro out of the battle.
In fact, Buggy could essentially have killed Zoro right there and then. He spared out his vitals on purpose, which just goes to show that not only did Buggy go easy on them, but he spared his life on purpose in this battle. Zoro lost this fight terribly.
Arlong
Was Overwhelmingly Stronger Than Zoro
Arlong is the former captain of the Arlong Pirates and the Fishman who terrorized the Konomi Islands for quite a while. In the Arlong Park Arc of One Piece, fans got to see Arlong and his forces being taken on by the Strawhat Pirates. Of course, fans know that Luffy ended up defeating Arlong, however, while Luffy was stuck in his own predicament, the Straw Hat Pirates were doing their best to hold off the captain of the enemy crew.
Specifically, Zoro and Sanji did their best against him, however, both of them failed. Zoro was essentially manhandled by Arlong, and much of that was down to the fact that he was no match for him, and that he was already carrying severe injuries from his battle against Mihawk. Regardless, Zoro lost in this battle and could very well have died right there had Luffy not saved his life.
Bartholomew Kuma
Defeated Zoro In Thriller Bark
Bartholomew Kuma has taken on Zoro on more than one occasion and has defeated him every time. The first time they fought was on Thriller Bark. Clearly, Zoro did well against him, however, he quickly realized that there was nothing he could do to defeat Kuma. As such, Zoro accepted that he was outclassed, and offered his own head instead of Luffy's. Kuma graciously accepted and put him through a test by giving him Luffy’s pain.
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Of course, Zoro could not even scratch Kuma’s cyborg body, and that just went to show the difference in terms of overall strength. Had Kuma willed it, he could easily have killed Zoro right there, and this is yet another battle that Zoro lost.
Dracule Mihawk
Beat Zoro In Baratie
Perhaps the pirate that gave Zoro his most bitter defeat is Dracule Mihawk. These two individuals ended up fighting against each other in the Baratie arc of One Piece. There, Zoro had hope to defeat Mihawk and claim the title of the strongest for himself. Much to his surprise, Mihawk was far above his level. In fact, Mihawk used a pocket knife to defeat Zoro, despite him using all three of his swords.
In the end, Zoro was utterly humiliated and slashed across the chest, receiving a scar that he will carry for life. Mihawk could have killed Zoro, but he spared his life because he saw great potential in him. Mihawk has, since then, decided to wait for Zoro at the top so that he could one day come to challenge and surpass him.
Kaido
Beat Zoro In Wano
The most recent pirate to defeat Zoro in battle is none other than Kaido. On the rooftop of Onigashima, Zoro and the Worst Generation members fought against the monstrous Kaido. While Zoro certainly did perform well against him, landing some impressive blows, eventually, he could not stand up to the might of the Yonko.
Specifically, after Zoro launched his ultimate attack, Dead Man's Game, and scarred the Yonko, Kaido decided to go serious and unleashed his own powerful attack on him. Using his Conqueror's Haki, Kaido utilized a powerful Thunder Bagua and took out both Zoro and Law at the same time. Zoro was already weakened from Hakai at the time, and taking on a Thunder Bagua on top was impossible for him. Zoro ended up losing all senses and passed out immediately. Impressively enough, Law was able to sustain this attack and maintain his senses. Luffy woke up soon after and asked Law to go downstairs and help out there, promising that he would defeat Kaido by himself. This is when Zoro was taken by Law after his bitter defeat at the hands of Kaido and he then went on to fight against King, a battle that he barely won.
One Piece Chapter 1165 will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on November 9. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1165 is November 9, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
