In One Piece, almost every member of the Straw Hat Pirates had their past explored through often tearful flashbacks that span several chapters of the manga or anime episodes. There is one significant exception: Zoro, despite being Luffy’s first crewmate. That anomaly could end with the publication of One Piece Novel: Zoro.
Written by Jun Esaka, the novel originally consisted of three chapters published in One Piece Magazine between 2024 and 2025. It explores Zoro’s past between the death of his childhood friend and rival Kuina and meeting Luffy, showing how he developed his obsession with Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world. Originally, the novel was described as being written under One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s supervision, but that statement has later been removed.
However, this could be more than a little non-canon side project. The three chapters are going to be published soon in book form, along with some newly-written ones. The publication under the Jump Books imprint and the inclusion of new material could make One Piece Novel: Zoro even more significant as the only glimpse into the Straw Hat’s past. The book will be published in Japan on July 3.
While Zoro’s lineage was explained during the Wano arc, revealing him as a descendant of the Shimotsuki clan, the character never got a proper flashback, excluding a few pages in chapter 5 of the manga. Oda explained that he never planned to give Zoro a tragic origin story, wanting to instead highlight how the character’s strength comes from his drive to become the best in the world. Still, that didn’t stop fans from wanting more. Flashback sequences in One Piece are known for being the most emotional and dramatic stories in the series, so this often felt like a missed opportunity.
Other Straw Hats have had much more attention dedicated to their past: Nami, Robin, Chopper, Franky, Usopp, and Sanji all had entire arcs that tied their past with present events. Brook even got a second flashback that started in the manga’s latest chapter. In comparison, Zoro just joined Luffy on his adventure in a pretty straightforward way, which, however, doesn’t mean that his ties with the Straw Hat captain are weaker than the rest of the crew. One Piece Novel: Zoro will be a good chance to learn more about the character and his motivation, especially if Oda is involved in the project, perhaps supervising the new chapters.
