Tashigi and Zoro may have a key connection revealed by One Piece's end

Tashigi could be one of the most underrated anime One Piece anime characters. She was ignored by Roronoa Zoro and underestimated by the majority of her marine crew because of her "female" status.

But she always strived to achieve bigger and fans speculated that she seemed to have inherited the will of Kuina, Zoro's childhood friend. This could become a key detail as Oda could be linking Tashigi and Zoro. But there could exist an even bigger connection between these two swordsmen, which was revealed after the reveal of Zoro's family tree.

In this article, the link between these two will be established. Also, Kuina will be remembered and looked into to see what characteristics of her Tashigi adopted into her personality.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.

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One Piece: Exploring the relationship between Roronoa Zoro and Tashigi

Tashigi as seen in the One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Tashigi is a Marine officer introduced in episode 48 during the East Blue Saga. She has been serving under Vice Admiral Smoker from the very start of the series. The character was introduced as a Chief Petty Officer but was promoted to a captain sometime during the time skip.

One of her most famous interactions includes her sword shopping in Loguetown during the East Blue Saga. She also confronted Zoro, one of the Straw Hat Pirates, during her shopping and this was the time the Straw Hat Pirate chose Sandai Kitetsu as his new sword.

Since their first encounter, Zoro sensed his childhood friend Kuina inside Tashigi as they had similar faces and ideals. Kuina was the daughter of the master of a dojo where Zoro practiced his swordplay when he was little. She was Zoro's ideal as he knew Tashigi was strong. But Tashigi never believed in her own potential.

Zoro still kept challenging her and this brought her hopes up for the future. Unfortunately, she died due to falling down stairs, as her father claimed. Zoro was put in charge of her blade, the Wado Ichimonji, after her death. After Kuina, Tashigi was the only female who piqued the swordsman's attention enough that he sometimes reprimanded Tashigi to stop acting like Kuina.

Fans speculate that Tashigi inherited Kuina's will as she also aimed to be the strongest swordsperson. But she was very weak as displayed during the pre-time skip. She failed to capture Crocodile and Mr. 1 after the Arabasta arc and cried. Smoker reprimanded her to get stronger and she took this advice to heart.

In the post-time skip, she crossed paths with the Straw Hat Pirates on Punk Hazard Island. Fans noticed that she had gotten much stronger than before and saw a glimpse of Mihawk's swordplay in her techniques, which could be the case.

She also met Zoro again and felt annoyed that he didn't kill Monet, one of the Doflamingo Pirates because she was a girl. She landed a fatal blow on Monet and the Doflamingo Pirate was killed by accident later on by Ceasar Clown.

Zoro's family tree as revealed in the manga series (Image via Shueisha)

Judging from her development, fans could see her getting stronger in the future, and this strength could come from her relationship with Zoro. In the SBS of volume 105, Zoro's family lineage was revealed, which revealed his relationship with Wano and the legendary swordsmith, Shimotsuki Kuzaburo.

As revealed in the SBS, Kuzaburo departed from Wano Kingdom with 25 people and headed towards East Blue. There, these 25 people fought against the bandits and won. 10 out of these 25 people settled in East Blue and formed the Shimotsuki Village.

No whereabouts of the other 15 swordsmiths were revealed and fans speculate that Tashigi could be a close relative to one of the other 15 swordsmiths who didn't settle in the Shimotsuki Village. This could make Zoro and her cousins and could also be referred to as the reason why she bore such a striking resemblance to Kuina.

Shimotsuki Ushimaru as seen in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

During the Wano arc, another member of the Shimotsuki clan was revealed. He was present in the jail where Yamato was being kept by Kaido to punish her for idolizing Oden. This was Ushimaru Shimotsuki, the younger brother of Shimotsuki Furiko (Zoro's grandmother) and the direct descendant of the legendary swordsman, Shimotsuki Ryuma. Fans speculate that Tashigi could be the descendant of Ushimaru, as he could be revealed for a reason.

This could make her even more closely related to Zoro than Kuina. Moreover, she could also be the descendant of Ryuma, which could mean she is destined to achieve greatness. So, who could she defeat in the future?

After escaping Impel Down with Luffy, Crocodile formed the Cross Guild alongside Buggy and Mihawk. Mr. 1 (Daz Bones) joined him as they created a group of strong marine hunters. As Tashigi was unable to catch these lawless criminals during the Arabasta arc, she could go against Mr. 1 as part of her redemption development. Similarly, Smoker could go against Crocodile and they could beat the pirates this time.

Ryuma as seen in the anime (Image via E&H Production)

Fans also speculate that Tashigi will awaken the Advanced Armament Haki, which in Wano Kingdom is called Ryou. This could make sense considering her possible relationship with the legendary swordsman, Ryuma Shimotsuki. After making such a feat possible, she would be promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and could become one of the few females with such a high Marine rank.

Vice Admiral Tsuru is one of the best examples of this. And as expectedly, she could face Zoro in a 1-on-1 battle at the end of the series. The Straw Hat would win against her, but she would prove her point that women can also be strong in the world of One Piece.

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