One Piece: Zoro's trademark gag signaled existence of "lost" Shimotsuki members all along and this theory proves it

One Piece, renowned for its lengthy narrative and world-building, is a series that constantly generates a lot of theories and speculation from the fandom, which is part of its appeal to a lot of people all over the world. In that regard, the character of Roronoa Zoro and his origins had been the topic of discussions and theories for years, with author Eiichiro Oda finally revealing during the Wano arc that he hails from Wano and is a member of the Shimotsuki family.

Despite this revelation, a new One Piece theory has emerged, proposing that Zoro's running gag of getting lost could have been a sign of his identity and background in the story. Of course, this is all mere speculation since Oda has never revealed or confirmed that to be the case, but it can serve to view the story and traits of Zoro from another perspective.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

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Why could Zoro's running gag of getting lost have meant a lot more in One Piece?

This One Piece theory suggests that, as Oda revealed in his SBS, since several members of the Shimotsuki family left Wano and sailed to East Blue, some of them could have had different destinies. This theory draws a parallel to Roronoa Zoro's ability to get lost since he went after a pirate, didn't know his way back to his village, and eventually ran into Luffy, kick-starting his journey in the series.

The theory goes further, explaining that 15 members of the Shimotsuki family sailed to the East Blue, and only 10 stayed and formed what is known as Shimotsuki Village, which is where Zoro and his cousin, Kuina, grew up while learning swordsmanship.

This means there is a very good chance that there are other branches of the Shimotsuki family across East Blue and other parts of the world, with Tashigi's physical similarities to Kuina making her a good candidate to prove that theory.

There are other candidates with talented swordsmanship abilities with Japanese-like names who could fit into that theory, such as Admiral Fujitora or even Shiryu, one of the Blackbeard Pirates and the swordsman of the group. Another member that has been mentioned is an unnamed member of the Rocks Pirates, who had a similar grin to the likes of Zoro and Ryuma, although that last part is extremely speculative.

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Zoro and his heritage in One Piece

Ryuma is Zoro's ancestor (Image via E&H Production/Toei Animation).

Zoro's heritage in the One Piece series is a divisive topic, mainly due to how it was executed by Oda throughout the story. There are a lot of fans who claim that it doesn't matter and doesn't define who Zoro is, while others argue that his heritage was a very good opportunity to explore his character and give him more development beyond some great moments on the battlefield.

However, there is also an interesting issue regarding the Wano arc and how a lot of people felt this was the perfect opportunity to give Zoro a lot more room to grow and develop, similar to the way that Sanji got a lot more spotlight during the Whole Cake arc. Despite the possibilities, Zoro's role in Wano was very similar to the one he had during the vast majority of the New World portion of the story.

This felt like a missed opportunity, especially considering that Oda confirmed through an SBS that Zoro was connected to Ryuma, as most fans theorized for years, and that he was part of the Shimotsuki family. However, the One Piece series itself didn't explore this revelation, and it doesn't seem that Zoro is going to get that kind of development in the next few arcs.

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Final thoughts

The running gag of Zoro getting lost in One Piece could serve as a metaphor for how the Shimotsuki family was spread across East Blue and other parts of the world. However, this is mere speculation and hasn't been confirmed.