Why Zoro Is The Greatest Right Hand In Manga

hey everyone so a while ago i released a video analyzing zorro as a character and what makes him so well written but what i didn't touch upon as much was a somewhat more subjective angle on the character which is why exactly zorro is so ridiculously popular he has gotten second in almost every single popularity poll in one piece history and frequently almost edges out luffy which is insane to think about considering how disproportionate the screen time and story focus on luffy is compared to the rest of the cast oda always makes sure that the biggest highlight of the arc goes to luffy without fail as the one to defeat the big boss every single time with the only exception being the already extremely luffy-centric marine ford saga so it's clear that oda does a lot to make sure that luffy is always ultimately the shining star of the show which again makes it all the more impressive that zora still always somehow hot on his heels in terms of popularity and in wake of zorro defeating king i wanted to talk about the unique appeal of zoro as a character a bit of an examination at some of the subjective reasons that this character stands out as so absurdly popular among the hundreds of characters in one piece because it's really not just superficial reasons like zoro being a badass or whatever i think characters like that are a dime a dozen in fiction and in manga really there's something very unique about the role that oda carved out for zorro in one piece that i think is the true crux of why this character has such a rabid fandom and is so appealing to so many readers and that is what i'm going to break down in this video today so before we get into it make sure to subscribe for more one piece content every week and while it's impossible for anyone in real life to be as cool as zorro we can all try to be a little bit like sanji thanks to hellofresh the meal prep service that basically turns you into a five-star chef with zero effort look everyone i hate cooking i really 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get vegetarian you can get calorie saving there are a lot of options to pick from and what's fun is they actually have new menus every season so you can get holiday snacks you can get christmas cookies you can basically get all of your food needs taken care of by hellofresh so you never have to worry about groceries or cooking long meals again and you can get 14 free meals literally today just go to hellofresh.com and use code mr morge14 for 14 free meals and 3 gifts link in the description below now that aside before i talk about the unique role that oda carved out for zorro in the story i do want to quickly discuss a very simple reason that many are drawn towards zoro's character from the start because i think an initial hook is that first of all there's something generally appealing about being this sort of character type of you know a jerk with a heart of gold that's not to say that zorro is a jerk but he is by far the least friendly and most abrasive out of all of the straw hats he generally comes across as scary or intimidating or even evil to those that don't know him and he definitely does not bond as quickly with outsiders as some of the other straw hats do some quick examples being that he took the longest to warm up to robin and definitely had the most distant interactions with vivi out of the crew for a long time but it's for precisely those reasons that it feels more heartwarming in a way when we see zoro's true nature underneath that harsh exterior despite his tough guy act he's still looking out for robin he still cares as deeply about vivi as any of the other straw hats even just zoro's character introduction spelled out his true nature for us that underneath that demonic persona he would risk his life for the sake of a little girl even his crew acknowledges zorro as basically the jerk with the heart of gold and that is just generally a likeable character type for most people so that's the initial point that i think gets a lot of people somewhat interested in zoro's character from his introduction but here's the real unique role that i believe that zoro plays compared to other similar characters in anime and manga zoro is the first character that i have ever seen who truly makes it cool to be the number two guy i don't think i have ever seen another manga character where you have a character who is clearly the number two meaning clearly both the subordinate of someone else and clearly the second strongest of the group both those things subordinate and second strongest and yet at the same time somehow that is actually the cooler more badass position than being the main character who wins all of the big fights again zorro despite getting a small fraction of the major highlights and big wins that luffy does has always somehow still been a major threat to take over that most popular character spot from luffy and here's why that is it's all about framing so generally in a lot of series if you've got you know the good guy and his gang of friends then usually whoever is second best in that group isn't really ever threatening to overshadow the main character in any way and here i'm referring to series where the main character is supposed to be the strongest of their group similar to luffy and the straw hats not like say hunter hunter where gone is actually usually a step behind kilauea or whatever i'm talking more so the classic setup where the main character is number one amongst his buddies kind of the strongest and the de facto leader of the group and another trend that is very common is for the main character to have some sort of a rival not really maybe part of the main friend group but someone who is kind of a competitor or equal to that main character and oftentimes has a contrasting personality type usually not always but usually being a bit more of the serious stoic personality type less fun and games than the protagonist think vegeta and goku kaiba and yugi bakugo and deku sasuke naruto yuno and asta etc etc these are the traditional counterpart figures in most series characters that very often have similar drive to the main character and are competing with them in some way towards some goal the classic example being vegeta and goku both trying to be the strongest i'm not going to keep going through examples you know what i'm talking about but of course because the main character is the main character what ultimately happens is that this this rival counterpart type this number two guy will ultimately always fall short of the main character and not be able to achieve what the main character achieves at the end of the day vegeta is never going to catch goku kaiba is never going to catch yugi sasuke was never going to become hokage etc etc so how does that connect to zoro well i personally feel looking at the character of zorro that oda did something very interesting luffy and zoro are both very competitive characters both prideful fighters both extremely driven to surpass everyone else and become number one both have that conqueror spirit and you can even say that zoro to some degree has a lot of those more serious stoic personality traits that the traditional rival figure in manga often have it's just that i think that what oda chose to do was something very simple which is take two characters that are essentially you know alpha male personalities that in any other series would be direct competitors and simply write in a non-compete clause into the story by having zoro's goal be different than luffy's zoro's drive his sense of competition his fighting spirit his refusal to acknowledge anyone as better than him all of these traits that on paper would not make him a typical subordinate character they work perfectly by having all of that be in the context of a specialist category of swordsmen whereas luffy's category is the broader context of pirate king and so suddenly you have a subordinate a right-hand man to the main character who can be written with that same sort of extreme will power big boss energy that number one at all costs mentality without having it come into conflict with the main character and you know what that does for zoro in so many other series we see that you know vegeta for example as strong as he is he will always be defined by falling short of goku kaiba as rich as he is will always be defined by falling short of yugi being that number two guy in a lot of other series is a source of great angst and frustration and insecurity for many of these characters but zoro by simply being able to happily co-exist with the main character is suddenly free from that sort of inevitable sense of failure that comes from being the number two guy think about how much that flips the script on its head recently we've had kid become more involved in the story and he seems to be finally you know an actual traditional rival figure being written into the narrative to actually rival luffy and of course that means that anything that kid does is immediately going to be scrutinized and compared to luffy and all kid can really ultimately do is fall short he is not ever going to be the pirate king that's not to say kid isn't going to have you know great moments and get some good spotlight down the road but his storyline is set for tragedy from day one in that he is simply not the main character he is the unfortunate rival living in the shadow of someone else's story there is only one pirate king every panel kid had in the rooftop battle was immediately compared to and criticized in comparison to what luffy was doing on the other hand with zorro who is happy to be luffy's subordinate every moment zorro gets everything zoro does is a pleasant surprise in that in the first place the fact that he is even involved in the rooftop fight against the final boss it's a pleasant surprise seeing him fight side by side and seem comparable to his captain for a while because he is supposed to be below luffy so therefore he is essentially getting to break the mold by showing that he can be just as capable as his captain at times and that makes the character infinitely more appealing in that the expectation in the first place is that zoro is the subordinate he's not equal to the boss the captain is always supposed to be the strongest which means that zoro is getting to always actually exceed expectations by often doing so much more than what you would expect from a subordinate and before we get to my next point i know you can't stop looking at the amazing poster i have behind me i bet you're looking at zorro in that poster after all it is an amazingly detailed artwork of every major one-piece character in minimalist design it's a supreme quality print in museum grade paper with a matte finish and if you want one for yourself you can still get yours today link is in the description below that aside my next point is that what makes zoro even more appealing is that oda clearly writes him with the implication that zoro could easily be so much more than just luffy's subordinate if he wanted to but zoro just doesn't feel like it we get quote after quote throughout the series essentially playing up this side of zorro that he is actually extraordinarily strong and capable for a henchman that zoro seems like he could be the boss maybe even should be the boss that it seems like he could easily be so much more than just the first mate but it's out of his own choice that he actually chooses to support someone else instead so compare two character concepts in most series you have the typical you know number two figure who is constantly fighting a losing battle trying to keep up with the number one guy versus in one piece we have the number two figure who actually happily chooses to defer to the number one guy even though it is implied that he himself could be a number one guy if he tried that is an incredibly appealing character to most readers because it just feels like the definition of cool it's an almost enviable fantasy for a lot of people a character who can do amazing things and can be up there with the best when they choose to step up but for the most part chooses to chill focus on their own goals and willingly hand the spotlight over to someone else zorro is a character that could be a captain himself that could be a great pirate himself that could maybe maybe even rival the main character if he felt like it he's literally the only other supernova with advanced conquerors haki but despite all that zoro is instead somehow completely comfortable and secure in himself just being the reliable right hand without ever compromising on his own drive and competitive spirit and never sacrificing his own pride in the process by writing zorro like this it actually does a lot for luffy's character as well as it tells us a lot about the greatness of luffy that someone like zoro who is by no means written as a subordinate or a follower who by all rights in any other series would probably be some sort of a rival to the main character is instead in one piece written to be the happy subordinate of the main character that alone speaks volumes about how impressive luffy is in that he is able to command the respect of even someone like zoro who would otherwise never degrade himself by following someone else and at the same time it makes it so that zoro never looks bad just because his accomplishments don't stack up to luffy's because he is supposed to be second to luffy he wants the role of being the second guy yet at the same time it's the fact that we are reminded in moments that he could be so much more if he felt like it that's what makes his status as the right hand so cool as opposed to so many other stories where either you are a rival to the main character or you're just one of their supporting friends who will never be comparable so that's all for this video if you enjoyed then definitely like comment and subscribe and make sure to go to hellofresh.com and use code mr morge14 to get 14 free meals and 3 gifts link in the description below

Channel: Mr Morj

Views: 117,519

Keywords: Zoro, One Piece Zoro, Zoro Wano, Zoro First mate, Zoro Conqueror, Wano, One Piece

Id: sZBcI4rz6AQ

Length: 14min 44sec (884 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 21 2021