[One Piece] Has Zoro Ever Actually Cut Anything With the Sword in His Mouth? — Japanese Fans Argue the Point
Dracule Mihawk
Roronoa Zoro | June, 2018 — Does the Third Sword Do Anything at All?
Zoro’s three-sword style is iconic. But one question keeps coming back in Japanese fandom discussions: has the sword in his mouth ever really mattered?
Is the Mouth Sword Even Doing Anything?
1: Anonymous Pirate What’s the point of that sword anyway?
3: Anonymous Pirate At this point it’s just a huge toothpick.
10: Anonymous Pirate It’s a pacifier.
14: Anonymous Pirate Most three-sword techniques feel like they’d work fine with two swords. Isn’t the mouth one just in the way?
21: Anonymous Pirate Use Sanzen Sekai more.
25: Anonymous Pirate When he uses three-sword techniques, it looks like he’s cutting with it.
31: Anonymous Pirate >>25 Nah, that’s clearly the hand-held swords doing the cutting.
43: Anonymous Pirate >>31 No way, the mouth one cuts too.
Mihawk Fight and Sanzen Sekai
33: Anonymous Pirate When Mihawk broke Sanzen Sekai, the two swords in his hands shattered but the mouth one was fine. That made me think the mouth sword never even reached Mihawk.
58: Anonymous Pirate >>33 The mouth sword is a Great Grade blade, so it’s probably strong.
Tashigi: “I’m traveling the world to recover the famous swords that have fallen into the hands of criminals everywhere. The 12 Supreme Grade swords, the 21 Great Grade swords, the 50 Skillful Grade swords— I’ll stake my life to reclaim them all…”
52: Anonymous Pirate Early on, I thought there’d be moments where Zoro loses use of his arms and survives with just the mouth sword. That never happened.
79: Anonymous Pirate Why not go Mugen Four-Sword Style instead?
Which Sword Is Which, Anyway?
81: Anonymous Pirate Is Zoro still using that cursed sword he bought back in East Blue?
86: Anonymous Pirate >.81 That one melted from acid. Didn’t really do much.
89: Anonymous Pirate >>86 Wasn’t it Yubashiri that melted?
92: Anonymous Pirate >>81 He’s still using the cursed one. The one the shop owner gave him rusted because of an enemy ability.
Zoro: “I like it!!!!! I’ll take this!!!!”
93: Anonymous Pirate He even cut steel with iaido. Honestly, Asura could just be six swords.
Pure Meme Territory
94: Anonymous Pirate That sword exists so he can taste Kuina’s hand sweat and power up.
97: Anonymous Pirate He’s probably sucked all that up already. All that’s left is Zoro’s drool.
101: Anonymous Pirate Wado Ichimonji: One of the 21 Great Grade swords. White scabbard, straight temper line. Worth over 10 million berries. Kuina’s keepsake. He usually holds this one in his mouth during three-sword style. Isn’t that kinda cheap?
Tashigi: “So-so?! Don’t be ridiculous!!!! This is one of the 21 Great Grade swords!!! It’s a famous blade!!!!”
“This—look at this! If you tried to buy it, it would easily cost over ten million berries!!!!”
110: Anonymous Pirate >>103 It’s just a sword he got from some Wano guy anyway. Childhood friend and cursed blade beat it easily.
“Shusui”
A sword acquired by Roronoa Zoro on Thriller Bark. Its mountings feature a black blade with a wild hamon and a bold choji temper pattern. Counted among the 21 Great Grade swords, it is a famed blade—and at the same time a black blade boasting overwhelming hardness, said to not bend even a single millimeter even if trampled by a dinosaur.
Ryuma praised it, saying, “You’ve got a good eye,” and “It’s not something you come across just anywhere.” Tashigi went so far as to call it a “legendary famous sword.”
107: Anonymous Pirate Learn from Zabuza.
👉 Why Japanese Fans Think This Way
Japanese readers tend to be extremely literal about combat mechanics. If a weapon doesn’t clearly land hits on-panel, they’ll question its legitimacy—even if it’s symbolic. The mouth sword becomes a target precisely because it’s iconic but visually ambiguous.
👉 What This Debate Really Reveals
This isn’t about disrespecting Zoro. It’s about fans wanting internal consistency: if a fighting style is central to a character’s identity, they want proof that every part of it actually matters.
Comments