HIGHLIGHTS

Zoro’s ambition to become the greatest swordsman in One Piece could lead him to wield a Supreme Grade Sword.
Supreme Grade weapons in the series are rare and only handled by the strongest characters like Mihawk and Whitebeard.
Zoro’s current swords may evolve into Supreme Grade ones, particularly Enma that has the potential to increase in rank.

Strength is one of the biggest factors when it comes to looking at the character of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. Starting as a young fighter with the dream of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world, his ambitions have largely remained the same, as he believes that only if he becomes a warrior of such a high caliber can he ever hope to stand shoulder to shoulder with Luffy as the King of the Pirates.

Throughout his journey in One Piece, Zoro has had quite a few powerful swords that make up his fighting repertoire that have led to him becoming such a strong character. Each of these swords have been blades of renown, as his arsenal has housed both Skillful and Great Grade Blades, but never one that has belonged to the Supreme Grade classification. In this article, let’s see if Zoro will eventually wield a Supreme Grade Sword!

What Are Supreme Grade Weapons?

First Mentioned
One Piece, Chapter 96, ‘The Meanest Man In The East’

Confirmed Weapons
Yoru, Murakumogiri, Ace

Confirmed Users
Mihawk, Whitebeard, Gol D. Roger

In One Piece, there are 4 grades of weapons, or ‘Meito’. These are; Graded Weapons, Skillful Grade Weapons, Great Grade Weapons, and Supreme Grade Weapons. These armaments are essentially named ones that are stronger and more durable than any regular munitions used by most of the world, and the higher up one goes on the list of Meito, the stronger and rarer they become.

Supreme Grade Weapons are, as their name suggests, the rarest and most powerful weapons in the entire setting. They are so elusive that there exist only 12 in the entire world, of which only 4 have been confirmed, and some others have been speculated about. Befitting their legendary nature and power, 3 of these confirmed Supreme Grade Weapons belong to some of the most powerful characters in the story; Gol D. Roger’s cutlass named Ace, Whitebeard’s naginata named Murakumogiri, and Mihawk’s sword named Yoru, with the 4th confirmed weapon’s, the Shodai Kitetsu, whereabouts being unknown.

Each of these characters has proven themselves to exist in an entirely separate tier of strength, and their weapons certainly helped them reach such levels of infamy. However, there still exist some extremely powerful weapons that exist in the hands of some of One Piece’s strongest characters, but it’s unknown whether they’re Supreme Grade or not.

One of these is Shanks’s sword Gryphon, a legendary sword that it was able to clash with Whitebeard’s weapon of choice and create an impact that split the heavens. It is unknown if Gryphon is a Supreme Grade or if it was just Shanks’s mastery of Haki that let him do this. Another possible weapon is the Elder Nusjuro’s sword, which many believe to be the fabled Shodai Kitetsu, a cursed blade that is confirmed to be a Supreme Grade Weapon, but it is yet to be confirmed.

There have only been 3 confirmed Supreme Grade weapons in One Piece, so can these others also fit the bill as some of the strongest weapons?

Will Zoro Wield A Supreme Grade Sword?

Ever since his introduction, Zoro has been driven by the desire to become the greatest swordsman in the world due to a promise he made to his childhood friend, Kuina. As his journey with the Straw Hats continued, Zoro realized that he had to make his dream a reality not only to fulfill his promise to Kuina, but also so he could be worthy of his best friend Luffy once he becomes the King of the Pirates.

With such lofty ambitions, it is quite easy to assume that Zoro will eventually wield a Supreme Grade Sword. As the battles ahead get harder and the opponents get tougher, Zoro must do all that he can in order to increase his strength, and fighting with a Supreme Grade Sword will definitely bring him up to the upper echelons of power. However, wielding such a weapon is not necessary for Zoro to become this strong.

If I die here, then I’m a man that could only make it this far.

This is because, despite powerful characters like Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard having such weapons, not every legendary fighter did. Silvers Rayleigh was Roger’s second in command and is an immensely powerful character due to his mastery of the different kinds of Haki. Even though it is a topic for much speculation, Rayleigh’s sword was not confirmed to be a Supreme Grade Weapon.

Still, though, Zoro has been built up to eventually call one of these legendary armaments his own. This is because he started his journey with 1 Great Grade and 2 Skillful Grade Blades, but throughout his journey, he has often added new weapons to his arsenal that are stronger than what he had before. At the current time, Zoro wields 2 Great Grade Swords; the Wado Ichimonji and Enma, along with the Sandai Kitetsu, which is a Graded Sword.

The Supreme Grade Zoro Can Get:

There are a few different ways that Zoro can wield a Supreme Grade Sword. One such way is that he finds one or wields one that formerly belonged to someone else. Seeing how he uses traditional katana swords, the only possible candidate that is known to fit the criteria is the Shodai Kitetsu, whose whereabouts are unknown but are speculated to be in the possession of one of the 5 Elders, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.

Convey my will to this blade… now let’s see if I am able to cut steel.

However, the more likely way for Zoro to wield a Supreme Grade Sword is through the blackening process of Enma. It has been stated that the rank of a weapon can increase once it has ‘blackened’ with more use, which seems to be what Zoro’s latest sword, Enma, seems to be doing. A fabled blade that once belonged to the legendary Kozuki Oden, Enma has a unique ability to draw out the Haki of its wielder, which it can do to Zoro’s Armament and Conquerer’s Haki to make it incredibly powerful, bringing it up to the rank of Supreme Grade.