Okay we’ve just got some new information from chapter 955 and I think we have now enough information to come up with some vague story of Zoro’s origins.
For those of you who have still doubts about Zoro’s Wano connection let me collect every hints about Zoro being connected to the Shimotsuki clan and particularly Ryuma:
1- Oda stated years ago that if Zoro would be from the real world, he would be Japanese. But I confess this is by far not enough to confirm that he is from Wano.
2- Zoro and Ryuma don’t just look similar, they actually share the same blood type (XF). The case of Sanji showed how important blood type informations are regarding family and origin in One Piece. When we found out that Sanji had a rare blood type many speculated that he is of noble birth (wich turned out to be the case).
3- As we know from the Vivre Card databook Ryuma’s full name is “Shimotsuki Ryuma”, however it is stated that “Shimotsuki” is rather used as an epithet here than as a surname. This could imply that Ryuma is the forefather of the Shimotsuki clan.
4- “Shimotsuki” means “frost moon” and is an old Japanese name for November. Both Ryuma and Zoro were born in November.
5- The name of Zoro’s village in East Blue is “Shimotsuki”. And the warriors from Yasuie’s flash back have the same sword symbol on their clothes as the members of Zoro’s Dojo.
6- Talking about Yasuie: It is noteworthy that the one character from Wano, who some how became “close” to Zoro is actually form the Shimotsuki clan.
7- Some people speculate that Shimotsuki Ushimaru could be Zoro’s father. Not just because the silhouette of him looked a bit like Zoro, but mainly because of the fox. The name Zoro is obviously based on the well known masked novel hero “Zoro”, who is also a skilled fencer. The novel character “Zoro” is Mexican or novo hispanic, so it is no surprise that the word “Zoro” is actually Spanish. It means “fox”.
So I believe this is enough to show that the “Zoro-Wano-connection-theory” is not just wishful thinking. After 955 we can also assume that not just Zoro, but also his teacher Koushiro and Kuina have some connection to the Shimotsuki clan.
Wado Ichimonji, which originally belonged to Kuina was forged by a member of the Shimotsuki clan: Shimotsuki Kouzaburou. People have also pointed out that there is some similarity between Kouzaburou’s name and Koushiro’s. “Zabu” means “3” and “Shi” means “4”. We’ve also found out that Kouzaburou left Wano 50 years ago. This was already foreshadowed by Oda in SBS Vol. 92:
D: “In Ch. 909, was the carpenter boss that appeared in Wano the same one that was introduced in the Volume 7 SBS, Minatoma-san?” P.N. Yacchi
Oda: “Yes he is!! Back then, he was fixing the broken door to the bar in Foosha Village. He was introduced as Carpenter Minatomo-san, exclaiming “Who did this!?”. And now, he somehow ended up in the New World in the closed bordered country of Wano! Isn’t that weird!? That’s right, they actually aren’t the same person! They have the same last name because they’re related by blood. The fact of the matter is, a ship from Wano reached East Blue a few decades ago.”
One of the descendants of someone on that ship is a person that everybody is familiar with…
This part might be featured later in the main story so I won’t mention any more than that. It isn’t going to be a major plot line, it will just be a minor story.
But now some people will say: “Couldn’t this just mean that Kuina and Koushiro have a connection to Wano but Zoro doesn’t?” Yes, this is still possible. But I believe it is unlikely. While Kuina and Koushiro surely have some connection to the Shimotsuki clan, Zoro seems to have some connection to Ryuma. The blood type of both Kuina and Koushiro is “S” and not “XF”. The Shimotsuki clan seems to be rather big. We know that both the daimyo of Ringo and the daimyo of Hakumai were from the Shimotsuki family. It is noteworthy that Ringo is also Ryuma’s birthplace. As with noble clans and families in real life we can assume that the Shimotsuki clan consists of different sub-branches, a Ringo branch and a Hakumai branch (and maybe more).
Zoro is from the Ringo branch, which could be the main branch, and is therefor a direct descendant of Ryuma. Kuina and her father are from the Hakumai or a potential other branch and are most likely descendants of Kouzaburou. Koushiro by the way is currently 51 years old (Kouzaburou left Wano around 50 years ago) and in the Vivre Card Databook Vol. 1 it is stated that while born in East Blue, Koushiro was NOT born in Shimotsuki village. Zoro is currently 21 years old, so he was still a baby when Kaido attacked Wano Kuni. Shimotsuki Ushimaru was killed, because of rebelling against Orochi.
So here is my theory:
50 years ago Shimotsuki Kouzaburou left Wano (for unknown reasons), probably together with other members of the Shimotsuki clan and settled in the East Blue. They founded Shimotsuki village. Koushiro was born somewhere in the East Blue before they’ve finally settled. Zoro was born 21 years ago to the Shimotsuki clan of Ringo. After Ushimaru’s death the remaining members of the Ringo branch wanted to save Zoro, who was still a baby back then. Seeing what happened to the Kozuki family it is not unlikely that Kaido and Orochi also tried to kill the entire Shimotsuki clan. So they somehow managed to take Zoro out of Wano and bring him to his distant relatives in East Blue, therefor saving the line of Ryuma, the sword god.
*Theory by Cassius96
