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Recently, One Piece readers witnessed the last curtain on the Wano arc. After achieving an amazing victory against the Beasts Pirates, Luffy, Zoro, and the other Strawhats are ready to enter the decisive phase of their adventure. In the land they just managed to save from oppression, everything was instilled with the presence of Ryuma, Wano's greatest samurai, a legend hailed as the "Sword God." And this article will assess what makes Ryuma one of the strongest characters in the series.
Key highlights of this article
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1059.
Ryuma is one of the strongest characters in the entire One Piece series
Ryuma Shimotsuki was a legendary samurai native of Wano. Despite his immense strength, he wasn't a ruthless fighter, believing that a battle should be measured by what was protected instead of how much fame was gained. In fact, as a samurai, Ryuma strongly believed in honor and followed a strict personal code.
One Piece's Ryuma was the same one that featured in Monsters, Oda's previous one-shot manga, which was considered a canon and had Ryuma as its main character. In that piece, he slayed a dragon and defeated Cyrano, a famed swordsman.
Ryuma wished to one day fight against King, an individual whom he heard had an incredible reputation as a warrior. He believed that this powerful fighter must hold a great warrior's soul, which would make a worthy opponent. However, this person was none other than Ryuma himself and the "King" was a moniker given to him by the many people he saved, which he wasn't aware of.
Hundreds of years after Ryuma's death, Gecko Moriah stole his corpse and had Doctor Hogback turn it into a zombie by putting Brook's shadow inside it. Zoro met the zombie and defeated it after a heated battle. Impressed by his strength, Ryuma, before fading forever, offered him his sword Shusui. After using it for many battles, Zoro returned Shusui to Wano, where it's considered a national treasure.
Ryuma's impressive feats and abilities
Ryuma was an outstanding fighter, renowned as the Sword God for his unparalleled swordsmanship. Unbeknownst to him, people hailed Ryuma as King, the strongest warrior who single-handedly protected Wano. Furthermore, he defeated the pirates and the World Government who wanted to bring the land under their control and seize its gold.
Despite being several times weaker than the original, the zombie created by Ryuma's corpse was rather powerful. A testament to this was when he easily defeated Brook by merely using a fraction of his strength, which is how he was able to hold back impressively.
Luckily for him, Brook was saved by Zoro, who took his place in the battle. After a thrilling duel, Zoro managed to defeat Ryuma, freeing his crewmate's soul that was trapped inside the zombie's body.
When he was alive, Ryuma possessed an incredibly powerful Armament Haki. He was able to make his sword, Shusui, a Black Blade. During the entire timeline of the One Piece series, no one else, except for him and Dracule Mihawk, were ever able achieve this exceptional feat.
The parallel between Ryuma and Roronoa Zoro
In Monsters, Eiichiro Oda drew Ryuma closely resembling Zoro. In fact, they appear to be completely identical in terms of aesthetics, sharing a striking resemblance to their facial structure and having the same scar over their left eye. The only visual difference between them is that Ryuma's hair is black unlike Zoro's green hair. What's more, both of them share the same ambition to be the strongest.
While observing Zoro's battle against King during the Wano arc, Hyogoro and Kawamatsu, two natives of Wano, stated that both his looks and fighting style strongly reminded him of Ushimaru Shimotsuki, who was Ryuma's descendant. The two bystanders even commented that Zoro returning the Shusui to Wano must have been fate and directly likened him to Ryuma.
Throughout the One Piece series, Zoro and Ryuma came to meet once, even if the latter was only a corpse reanimated as a zombie. Believing that the soul of the sword would be pleased to serve under the man who defeated its preceding owner, Ryuma gifted the sword Shusui to Zoro. This created a link between the two swordsmen.
One Piece author Eiichiro Oda emphasized the stark parallels between Zoro and Ryuma in a subtle manner. Two of Zoro's most powerful attacks, the Dragon Blaze and the King Of Hell: Dragon Damnation, are based on the sword slash that Ryuma used in Monsters to kill the giant dragon.
Final thoughts
Even with his few appearances between the One Piece series and the Monsters one-shot, Ryuma became a fan favorite character. Moreover, the fans have been interested in learning more about how Ryuma achieved a Black Blade or whether or not he was an ancestor of Zoro.
However, what can be assured is that Ryuma has been one of the strongest characters in the One Piece series, and possibly the strongest swordsman ever. Even hundreds of years after his death, his skills and accomplishments are regarded as legendary.
Despite Wano being blessed with other great samurai, such as Oden Kozuki, people still consider Ryuma to be the one worthy of the moniker of Wano's Greatest Hero. This hints at Ryuma being even stronger than Oden, who is a powerful individual in his own right, being able to fight on equal grounds with Kaido and gain the respect of Roger and Whitebeard.
Given Ryuma's immense power and status as one of the most hailed swordsmen of all time, he is a benchmark for Zoro to reach and possibly trascend. With One Piece having entered its endgame, fans can't wait to see Zoro reach and surpass this legendary samurai from the past.
