One Piece: Tashigi’s & Zoro’s Relationship Explained!

The term “ship” in terms of anime is actually a shortened version of the word “relationship” and represents fan-based relationships between the characters in the series. So, if you think that two characters would be great as a couple, you’re “shipping” them together. As far as One Piece ships are concerned, one of the most often discussed characters in this category is Roronoa Zoro, who is, incidentally, one of the most popular characters in the series as well. In this article, we are not going to focus on Zoro’s romantic life in general but rather on her relationship with one specific character – Tashigi – as we will tell you what the exact nature of their relationship is

Tashigi and Zoro can now be best described as rivals that greatly respect each other. Initially, she had a grudge against him because she believed that he was a criminal, but when she found out he was a pirate, she challenged him to a fight, and while she did lose, she refused to accept defeat unless he cut her. She now wants to surpass him to get the Wado Ichimoji from him. Ultimately, after some years, she developed a certain respect for him and his skills, and while they’re on opposite sides, they greatly respect each other.

The rest of this article will explore the nature of the relationship between Zoro, one of the most popular characters in the series, and Tashigi, a secondary character whose story is tied to Zoro’s and who has a very passionate relationship with the future best swordsman in the world. We will explore Zoro’s and Tashigi’s personalities in more detail and the nature of their relationship in the world of One Piece. This article won’t contain too many spoilers, but still, be careful how you approach it if you don’t know the whole story.

Tashigi and Zoro respect each other, but they are on completely opposite sides

Zoro is one of the more serious members of the Straw Hat Pirates and rarely joins Luffy’s games. He often reminds the crew of hard facts that can be hard for the others to swallow, and although this can often shock the others, he usually ends up being right.

He focuses a lot on strengthening himself and, therefore, regularly trains both strength and sword technique during the voyages. He is the only one of the crew shown to train regularly. He also likes to sleep and is difficult to wake up, which means that on some occasions, he has slept in the middle of life-threatening situations, often to the great consternation of the rest of the crew.

Just as Luffy can consume large amounts of food, Zoro can consume extreme amounts of beer without getting drunk, thanks to his extremely high tolerance for alcohol. He also has a poor sense of place and easily get lost in unfamiliar places, even inside unfamiliar houses, and when he has a guide to help. Believing that the north is the same as going up is an example of a navigational error committed by Zoro.

Zoro, like Luffy, is very brave and often fearlessly throws himself into battles, and can be willing to inflict a lot of pain on himself to continue fighting. As Luffy, he is shown getting back up after receiving severe injuries and cuts. In the Norwegian manga, Zoro has a bounty of 60 million doubloons. In the Japanese version, it has now risen to 120 million doubloons. The reason for this will not be mentioned here, as that story will appear in later Norwegian manga books. Optionally see the English article on Zoro for more details on why the bounty has increased.

On the other hand, Tashigi is a young woman who is rather clumsy and sometimes loses her overview and balance in life. Tashigi divides everyone into either good or bad primarily and initially judges swords only by their class and value.

She only finds out about other facts, such as the curse that weighs on all Kitetsu swords, when she seeks out the third-generation Kitetsu from Zoro. Her ultimate goal is to reclaim the valuable swords from pirates and bounty hunter swordsmen whom she considers bad people and risk her life to acquire them.

As you can see, there is a big issue here, as Tashigi has a very exclusive, black-and-white view of life, and Zoro doesn’t really fit in there. This explains why she considered him a bitter enemy in the beginning. Tashigi initially holds a visible grudge against Zoro because she thinks the latter uses his blades to pursue bounties.

She challenges him to a battle after revealing her true identity and her new life as a pirate. Despite being defeated, she did not concede defeat since Zoro refused to kill her. Tashigi wants to fight the pirate to get her hands on Wado Ichimonji, a well-known blade; in reality, she thinks a criminal shouldn’t have access to such a weapon.

Later, when she saw that Zoro was also using the Shusui, she expressed interest in it. She Tashigi displayed appreciation after observing how much the swordsman’s abilities had increased after two years.

Regarding a potential romance, the chances that Zoro and Tashigi would end up together are quite small. Sure, there is some chemistry between them, we cannot really deny that, but there is simply no potential there.

As we’ve said, Tashigi has a very black-and-white view of life, and while she has grown to respect Zoro over the years, she still considers him to be a criminal, and unless something changes drastically with her personality, Tashigi will never stop viewing him as an unworthy criminal who shouldn’t be allowed to walk free.

Zoro, as well, hasn’t shown much romantic interest in her. To be fair, Zoro hasn’t shown that much interest in anyone, but he has been close to some female characters, even gentle, but Tashigi is definitely not among them. He respects her, definitely, and does not want to hurt her (even if she insists that he has to cut her for her to admit defeat), but that is not enough for us to establish that there is a potential ship here.

So, what is the exact nature of their relationship? We think they could be best described as rivals who respect each other. They were initially enemies, but Zoro managed to sway Tashigi’s ideals a bit, and while she still considers him to be an unworthy criminal, she is not as rigid in her interpretation of him as she was in the beginning.

Their relationship has changed and evolved, and we’ll see what happens later, especially since Zoro is bound to become the hero of the world as part of Luffy’s crew, while Tashigi’s ideals will be tested when the World Government, along with all of its dark secrets, finally clashes with the pirates. But, while they might become friends, we don’t think there is any potential for a relationship between them.