Summary
One ofOne Piece’sgreatest swordsmen, Roronoa Zoro is the combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates and the man widely regarded as the No. 2 of the crew. Joining Luffy in Shell’s Town, Zoro dreams of becoming the World’s Strongest Swordsman.
With time, Zoro has become one of Luffy’s most loyal followers and he uses his sword to shield his back at all times. Over the years, Zoro has faced countless powerful opponents inOne Piecewho can be called his rivals, while others wait to face him in anticipation as the story moves closer to its end.
Updated on July 08, 2025, by Rei Penber:Zoro is one of the strongest swordsmen in One Piece and certainly an incredibly powerful fighter. With each passing arc, Zoro gets stronger and, consequently, gets closer to his goal of becoming the World’s Strongest Swordsman as well. Zoro is already among the strongest swordsmen in the world at the moment. He can only be bested by a handful of swordsmen but there are many who can give Zoro a good fight. Regardless of whether they can win or not, they would give an entertaining fight to the fans if they were to clash against the Straw Hat Swordsman. While this list already goes over the vast majority of those characters, there are others that have now been introduced in the story, thanks to the Final Saga. With that, this list has now been updated.
19Cavendish
One of the most impressive fighters in theOne Pieceworld, Cavendish hails from the Grand Line and is royalty turned pirate. He is the captain of the Beautiful Pirates and also a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Cavendish wields a sword in combat and, evidently, he is extremely skilled with it.
When he awakens Hakuba, Cavendish becomes even stronger and is so fast that even the user’s eye can’t track him. While he most likely won’t be able to defeat Zoro, he can definitely give him a good fight.
18Kawamatsu
Kawamatsu is one of the Nine Red Scabbards of Wano. He was introduced to the fans in the Wano arc and his strength was apparent from the very beginning. Given that he was one of Oden’s vassals, he wielded Ryuo with great proficiency.
He could even fight against Kaido to some extent and deliver some injuries to him. Kawamatsu is certainly not strong enough to defeat Zoro, however, he can give him a good fight and entertain the fans all the while. He is not weak enough to be bested by Zoro easily and the Straw Hat Swordsman will have to bring out some of his best moves if he is to beat him.
17Ashura Doji
Known to be one of Wano Country’s strongest swordsmen, Ashura Doji is one of the Scabbards of Kozuki Oden. In the past, he used to rule the unlawful area of Kuri all alone.
Over the years, he honed his strength to become a mighty warrior strong enough to take on even the All-stars of the Beasts Pirates. Ashura Doji possesses the ability to use Ryuo and can even overpower a Calamity with ease. As such, he’s a great rival for Zoro in terms of swordsmanship.
16Kin’emon
The leader of the Akazaya Nine, Kin’emon is one of the strongest swordsmen in Wano Country. Being a capable samurai, Kin’emon is strong enough to use Ryou that can even scar Kaido, one of the Yonko of the Sea. Kin’emon, together with three other Akazaya members, injured Kaido to the point where he started bleeding from the scar that Oden gave him.
Furthermore, Kin’emon is also a skilled user of the Foxfire Style, which allows him to cut even flames. Kin’emon is extremely durable as he was able to survive being defeated by Kaido and then a Conqueror’s Haki blow to the head.
15Inuarashi
One of the two Kings of Mokomo Dukedom, Inuarashi is an incredibly powerful swordsman whose skill was equal to that of Ashura Doji when the two fought on Mt. Atamayama. Ashura, being powerful enough to injure Jack easily, puts into perspective how strong Inuarashi is.
What’s more, Inuarashi can also use his Sulong form which definitely makes him one of the strongest people in the story. Inuarashi was able to defeat Jack even after being severely injured by Kaido.
14Denjiro
Denjiro is another one of Wano Country’s samurai and a former retainer of Kozuki Oden. He took on the identity of Kyoshiro for 20 years and secretly honed his skill to a point where he didn’t even fear the All-stars of Kaido much.
Denjiro’s swordsmanship skills are quite refined. In fact, he could even match Zoro in combat when the two fought in the Flower Capital during Wano Country arc’s Act 2. Without a doubt, he’s powerful enough to give Zoro a good fight.
13Vista
The Fifth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Vista was known to be the best swordsman on Whitebeard’s crew. In the Marineford arc, fans got a display of his abilities and he proved himself to be strong enough to fight Dracule Mihawk and end the battle in a tie.
Vista is extremely powerful and one of the core members of the legendary crew. With his special swordplay along with the ability to use high-level Haki, Vista is extremely impressive.
12Kaku
Kaku was already established as one of Zoro’s rivalsduring the Enies Lobby arc. The two fought an intense battle that saw Zoro being pushed to his very limit and, eventually, unleash the power of Ashura on him.
Kaku is much stronger than before now as he’s been promoted to the CP0. Over the timeskip, he’s greatly strengthened his Haki and likely refined his Devil Fruit usage as well. With his Four Sword Style, he can certainly rival Zoro.
11King The Wildfire
The strongest of the Three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates, King is an incredibly powerful fighter. Although not a traditional swordsman, King does use a sword in battle, as seen when he confronts Zoro on Onigashima.
King is extremely powerful, capable of injuring Zoro and even putting up a fight against Marco to an extent. With his Lunarian power to conjure fire andan incredibly powerful Ancient Zoan power, King is quite a fearsome man in a fight.
10Trafalgar Law
One of the Worst Generation, Trafalgar Law is quite a skilled fighter, however, just like King, he isn’t a traditional swordsman. Nonetheless, Law does use a sword in combat and utilizes it with the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Law has also recently awakened his Devil Fruit powers, allowing him to fight Yonko Big Mom. It goes without saying that Law is among the best swordsmen in the story.
