Eiichiro Oda's One Piece doesn't spare its readers any details in terms of lore and world building. Since Roronoa Zoro has been around since the first few chapters, he's had a lot of story points built around him, especially his swords.
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Through his journey to become the world's strongest swordsman, he's gone through at least nine different swords. Each of these weapons has its own backstory and interesting quirks. With his three-sword style, Zoro is the second strongest Straw Hat Pirate. Generally, his power level depends on his swords. Following Zoro's story all the way from the beginning, fans can uncover interesting details and trivia about the feared pirate killer and his weapons of choice.
10 Wado Ichimonji's Origins
Wado Ichimonji is one of the strongest swords in the world and was crafted by a master swordsmith, Shimotsuki Kozaburo. Kozaburo crafted the sword and left Wano, settling in East Blue a few years later. Zoro inherited the sword from his master after vowing to become the strongest swordsman in the world.
Wado Ichimonji's power was significantly lower early on in One Piece, because Zoro's style needs all three swords to balance each other out Even though he wielded a legendary sword, its true potential didn't start to show until he collected more powerful blades throughout the series.
9 Mutoryu, Zoro's Swordless Technique
Zoro is so powerful that he doesn't actually need swords to battle. In the anime, he lifts thousands of pounds and endures harsh workouts to hone his strength and sword-wielding abilities. Mutoryu is a special technique Zoro has developed that involves the use of no swords.
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Zoro can create pressure with his arms, making shockwaves that he uses as projectiles in combat. This also explains how can create sword slashes that extend past his physical weapons. Zoro has only used this ability once in the series, during the fight against the Foxy pirates.
8 The Sandai Kitetsu's Name
The first named blade that Zoro encounters is Sandai Kitetsu. He finds this sword in Loguetown, early on in One Piece. Sandai Kitetsu is actually the weakest of the Kitetsu series of swords, which is strange since it's implied that it was the last one made.
In Japanese, "Sandai" is more of an identifier, rather than part of the actual name of the sword. "Kitetsu" refers to the mane of the sword itself, but "Sandai" means something along the lines of "third generation". This led to odd translation choices in the anime and manga, since translators weren't sure how to make the name sound as unique in English.
7 Personified Swords
In a Q&A session of chapter 925, Oda actually drew Zoro's swords as if they were humans. This was his response to a fan's question inquiring what each sword in Zoro's possesion would look like if they were people.
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Sandai Kitetsu took the form of a man with a sly smile and prickly beard, as if to reflect the sword's curse. Wado Ichimonji appeared as a man with a uni brow, and Shusui looks somewhat like Nigel Thornberry with longer hair.
6 The First References To Wano
One Piece is famous for its extreme foreshadowing and meticulous world building. In fact, Zoro's swords facilitated one of the first examples of Oda's magnificent ability to think ahead. In Loguetown, it's mentioned that Sandai Kitetsu was crafted by an esteemed sword maker in a far off nation called Wano.
At the time, this mention didn't mean much to fans. But as the story progressed, it became clear that the story would eventually going to reach some sort of climax in Wano. Now that the series has arrived in Wano and the area's importance is clear, it's fun to go back and find little details like this all over One Piece.
5 Kotetsu, The Famous Swordsmith
Kotetsu is a legendary swordsmith whose name comes up a few times during the Wano Country arc of One Piece. He is the ancestor of Tenguyama Hitetsu, and the creator of the Nidai Kitetsu. Nidai Kitetsu is one of the strongest blades in the world, and is impossible to replicate due to the curse that its creator placed on it.
Zoro hasn't gotten his hands on the sword just yet, since Luffy refuses to share. However, it's implied that he'll get to it eventually. Since it was made before Sandai Kitetsu, it's stronger than a blade Zoro is still using, and will give him even more power.
4 Wazamono Blades
Wazamono blades, or Grade Swords, are classifications in the One Piece world that describe the quality of each sword. This class system helps audiences quickly understand how powerful a sword is, and how strong its wielder has to be to use it.
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As it stands, Zoro has wielded five of these legendary blades. This is the most any individual has wielded in the series so far (as far as we know). Zoro has yet to wield anything ranked above the twelve most powerful swords in the One Piece world, but it's definitely coming soon.
3 Shusui, The Black Blade
Shusui is another legendary blade from Wano, which Zoro found during the Thriller Bark arc. It belonged to a spectacular swordsman called Shimotsuki Ryuma, and people revered it as a national treasure.
The sword has an iconic black blade, indicating its strength and rarity. It's implied that it was made into a black blade in the hands of Ryuma. It's unclear what creating a black blade actually entails, but it probably has to do with infusing the blade with Haki, and its wielder growing as a swordsman with the blade itself.
2 Enma May Become A Black Blade
Enma is the strongest blade that Zoro owns at the moment. It's one of the 21 Great Grade swords, with the potential to become as strong as one of the twelve Legendary Grade swords. Zoro accepts the challenge and takes Enma, hoping to turn it into a black blade. Only the most esteemed swordsmen can turn swords into black blades. For Zoro, this is just another step towards becoming the strongest swordsman in the world.
Zoro obtained Enma because its previous wielder was reminded of her father when she looked at Zoro, and her father was another legendary swordsman of Wano.
1 Santoryu, Zoro's Signature Style
Santoryu is Zoro's signature technique, in which he wields three different swords: one in each hand, and the other in his mouth. As a child, Zoro trained in Nitoryu, a dual-sword style popular in the world of One Piece.
Zoro's master, Koushirou, is the son of Shimotsuki Kozaburo, the creator of the legendary blades Wado Ichimonji and Enma. Zoro's master isn't spoken about much, and it's unclear how strong he actually is. But if he mentored Zoro, he must be someone to watch out for.