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One of the latest developments in the One Piece manga was the conclusion of the Onigashima Raid section of the Wano arc, which saw several big battles occur. Expectedly, One Piece fan-favorite Zoro was part of many of these major battles which took place.
However, easily the most significant battle he was involved in was his bout with King, one of the commanders of the Beast Pirates. The battle saw two significant power-ups come his way, as well as a new title which fans are understandably curious about the origins of.
Follow along as this article breaks down exactly why One Piece’s Zoro is called the King of Hell.
WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS FOR ONE PIECE MANGA BELOW
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Enma’s etymological origins paint a clear picture of why Zoro is One Piece’s King of Hell
As mentioned above, Zoro's encounter with King during the Onigashima Raid segment of One Piece's Wano arc is without a doubt his most iconic fight. The commander of the Beast Pirates put up a fantastic fight, being a fantastic blend of the series’ classic approach to humor, action, and overall suspense and storytelling.
Easily the most exciting development, however, was Zoro’s awakening of not only standard Conqueror’s Haki but Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. Advanced Conquerors see the user apply their standard Conquerors to their limbs or weapons, as seen in the manga’s recently concluded Luffy versus Kaido fight.
The technique is one even rarer than standard Conqueror’s Haki but is used by some of the biggest names in the series: Gol D. Roger, Big Mom, Kaido, Whitebeard, and Yamato. Not only Luffy, but Zoro as well added themselves to that list during their main battles of the Onigashima Raid.
During his fight against King, the Straw Hat swordsman used the King of Hell Three Sword Style to finally cut through the skin of and defeat King. The technique sees Enma drain his Armament and Conqueror’s Haki reserves, before imbuing both into his three swords, making for much more powerful and further-reaching attacks.
After defeating his enemy, Zoro says he’ll even “become the King of Hell” to keep his promise to Luffy of never losing again. This is actually a nod to his sword Enma, which is named after the Japanese-Buddhist king of Hell in the sect’s myths. East-Asian sects of Buddhism have a similar deity called Yama, of which Enma is the Japanese version.
Being a Buddhist deity, the naming of Enma as his sword and the “King of Hell” as his new style with said sword plays into the Buddhist themes of Zoro’s character. Many of his sword techniques follow Buddhist imagery and terminology, such as the Asura technique which is based on the class of Buddhist deity, asuras.
Additionally, the naming of the sword Enma is explained in a more off-handed way during Zoro’s flashback in the King's fight. He remembers meeting Shimotsuki Kozaburo, Enma’s maker, in Shimotsuki Village, who explained that he named the sword after the Buddhist king of Hell for its dangerous temperament and hard-to-tame nature.
In a way, Zoro's being called the King of Hell is two-fold in reasoning: it further plays into the Buddhist themes of his character, while also being emblematic of his taming the sword named after the Japanese-Buddhist King of Hell, Enma.
Be sure to keep up with all One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as the year of the series’ 25th anniversary progresses.
