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After the highly praised live-action series, Netflix decided to delight One Piece fans once more, providing them with the worldwide release of Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation. This long-awaited anime adaptation of One Piece author Eiichiro Oda’s one-shot Monsters is centered around Shimotsuki Ryuma, an all-powerful samurai who happens to be Roronoa Zoro’s direct ancestor.
The narrative link between Zoro and Ryuma is further evidenced by the fact that the title of the Monsters anime is based on one of the green-haired swordsman’s strongest techniques. Zoro has used that attack to destroy a giant flaming dragon, which recalls Ryuma’s iconic feat of beheading a huge monster, although one made of flesh and blood.
Apart from the battle against the dragon in Monsters, Ryuma also faced a swordsman named Cyrano. While primarily characterized by an unethical and dishonorable attitude, Cyrano was also an extremely powerful fighter in his own right. The fact that Ryuma easily beat him shouldn’t be misleading.
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The Monsters anime features a villain malicious like a few others
Who is Cyrano in Monsters and One Piece?
Cyrano’s character was inspired by the historical Cyrano de Bergerac, a French writer and duelist who lived in the 17th century. Aesthetically, Cyrano resembles Dracule Mihawk with his wide musketeer hat, black boots, long coat, and mustache.
With regards to Oda’s original manga drawings, Cyrano’s facial traits also resemble those of Shanks. Notably, Cyrano is the second-most powerful fighter in the world, whereas Ryuma is the mightiest of all. One can notice a parallel of this same dynamic in Shanks and Mihawk, with the former being only second to Mihawk, who is the World’s Strongest Swordsman.
Concurrently, Cyrano and Ryuma also remind fans of Mihawk and Zoro, as both pairs maintain the rivalry seen between a modern-era European swordsman and a native Japanese swordsman. Granted, there are heavy differences too. Cyrano, despite his arrogance, was no match for Ryuma, while, at least until now, Mihawk is stronger than Zoro and yet is a rather humble and honorable person.
All in all, Cyrano seems to be a blend of Mihawk and Shanks, just like Ryuma has traits of both Zoro and Luffy. However, this is an aspect that is frequently misconstrued, as Oda created Monsters before working on One Piece. So, if anything, Oda drew inspiration from some of Cyrano’s aspects to create Shanks and Mihawk, and not the other way around.
As per Eiichiro Oda’s explicit statement in the SBS of One Piece’s 47th manga volume, the Ryuma featured in One Piece is the same character who was depicted in Monsters, as the story and the characters of the one-shot are part of One Piece’s canon. Hence, Cyrano can be considered a character who, just like Ryuma, lived in the world of One Piece several centuries before the present narration.
Outwardly a kind man who was even willing to risk his own life to protect other people, in reality, Cyrano was a vicious, manipulative, and unscrupulous individual. In the past, he attacked a castle and killed its guards to seize the Dragon Horn, a tool that enabled him to summon dragons.
Working in cahoots with a man named D.R., Cyrano earned himself the fame of a hero for having rescued Flare, a little girl, from a dragon. In truth, Cyrano and D.R. staged the dragon’s attack on the town and had the monster kill all the inhabitants while they were robbing the town.
Several years later, Cyrano tried to use the same ploy to rip off another city, this time framing the oblivious Ryuma for the incident. Eventually, however, the evil ruse was exposed, and Cyrano died at the hands of Ryuma, who brutally defeated and killed him.
Cyrano was crushed by Ryuma, but that doesn’t make him weak
The decisive battle between Ryuma and Cyrano was one-sided. The samurai dodged the evil swordsman’s attempted attack and struck him with a lightning-fast sword slash, very similar to Zoro’s iconic Shishi Sonson technique.
Completely outclassed, Cyrano was beaten with a single hit. However, that shouldn’t diminish the extent of his prowess, as Cyrano’s crushing loss was not due to his lack of power but simply a result of Ryuma’s insane strength.
Cyrano’s honor was questionable, but his first-class fighting skills were not. It was stated that Cyrano’s swordsmanship was second only to that of “The King," the man known to be the strongest fighter in the world. Funnily enough, it’s eventually revealed that “The King” was none other than Ryuma himself.
While this sounds hilarious, as Ryuma was unaware of his own reputation, it also reinforces the idea that Cyrano was an amazing fighter, whose prowess was only inferior to that of someone out of not just his reach but anyone else’s.
Cyrano was much stronger than the average warrior, considering that he was able to annihilate all the guards of the Dragon Horn all by himself. He single-handedly slaughtered the squad of armed soldiers and didn't even receive any injuries in the process. Furthermore, Cyrano even won his first duel with Ryuma.
He demonstrated great prowess as he swiftly dodged Ryuma’s attack and then subdued the latter by placing his swordtip to his throat. Granted, Ryuma was hiding his true strength at the time, but he still used enough power to cut in half a copper statue.
When he saw Ryuma easily outclassing and killing Cyrano, D.R. couldn’t believe his eyes. It must be noted that, as Cyrano’s accomplice, D.R. was well aware of the fact that the former’s heroic reputation was false.
Taking this into account, D.R.'s genuine stupor over Cyrano’s terrible defeat implies that the swordsman’s power was substantial. Unfortunately for him, it is not enough to compete with Ryuma.
