The world of One Piece is home to tons of amazing characters with diverse backgrounds and cultures, all with their own quirks, powers, personalities, and ancestry, but Zoro has been a hot topic among fans for quite some time. While Zoro is technically an ally alongside the main protagonists, many fans have begun to believe that One Piece's Zoro is racist.

One Piece fans initially started the "Racist Zoro" or "Zoro the Minority Hunter" meme due to the fact that Zoro usually faces darker-skinned opponents or enemies who might identify as minorities, in addition to a handful of strange, coincidental events and often insignificant details. Despite the fact that many One Piece fans still adhere to this theory, there is no official, canonical evidence showing that Zoro is truly racist.

Although Zoro hasn't done or said anything that explicitly makes him a racist, many One Piece fans still believe he's a secret racist due to the large number of small coincidences—though this is definitely debatable, as there's nothing solid that indicates this is the case. Stick around to find out everything there is to know about Zoro in One Piece, what his character is really like, and why many anime fans think Zoro is racist.

Is Zoro from One Piece really racist?

Although many One Piece fans adhere to the theory that Zoro is racist, there is actually no solid official or canonical evidence to support this claim. "Racist Zoro" seems to be a running joke within the One Piece community, revolving primarily around how certain plots and battles unfolded, in addition to some of Zoro's preferences when it comes to food, equipment, and style.

The idea that Zoro was racist initially started as a joke among One Piece fans—albeit, perhaps in poor taste, according to many. However, it was never meant to be taken seriously by most of the fans who started the theory, as there was no real indication that Zoro was racist, but it ultimately sparked a flood of negative attention in the anime world.

Why do people think Zoro is racist?

Many One Piece fans were quick to express outrage at the idea of ​​Oda intentionally creating a racist anime character, especially since the One Piece franchise is so successful and has a reputation that dwarfs most anime titles. There may be no harm in deriving some comedic value from this running joke, as long as it's done in good humor and all parties are treated with respect, but it started to sour very quickly for the majority of the One Piece community.

The main reason for the "racist Zoro" joke actually stems from the general context of his fights with villains and adversaries, though there's really no rhyme or reason for Zoro being an actual racist. Zoro has mostly faced darker-toned characters who could fall into the minority category in terms of race, and there's often no explanation as to why Zoro is fighting them in particular.

"Racist Zoro" Meme (Explained)

"Racist Zoro," also known as "Minority Hunter Zoro," originally began as a meme within the One Piece fandom, portraying Zoro as a closeted racist who enjoys fighting and killing dark-skinned opponents—regardless of the cause. The meme primarily revolves around the fact that Zoro's main adversaries have been almost exclusively darker-skinned throughout One Piece's storyline.

Additionally, while this may be crossing the line into dark humor, some fans have also pointed out that Zoro's "real" job would have been as a police officer. Sure, there may have been some recent events that served as a basis for using this point of interest, but it must be acknowledged that it wouldn't be fair to genuinely draw a connection between this respected profession and being a closet racist in general.

One of the earliest mentions of Zoro's racism dates back to a 4chan post published on February 23, 2021, within the Anime & Manga forum. The panel shows Zoro calling Fishman a "damn filthy half-fish," as seen below—perhaps the strongest racist remark he's made, given that Fishmen can represent minorities, according to some One Piece fans.

Although the basis of the theory may seem questionable, the additional "evidence" can be considered circumstantial or coincidental. The entire idea was motivated by additional, potentially meaningless features such as:

• Zoro's favorite food is white rice and his least favorite food is chocolate.
• Zoro prefers to use his white blade and he ditches Shusui, which was a black blade.
• Zoro doesn't really like Luffy's "afro phase", without specifying why.

After that, the meme gained momentum and began flooding Reddit threads, after which it began gaining traction on other platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and various podcast platforms—and, as of 2022, on TikTok as well. While there are tons of fans discussing the topic to varying degrees, it all revolves around the same general points mentioned above.

For more details on why many One Piece fans think Zoro is racist, watch the video below thanks to That One Piece Talk.

One Piece Figure

Come see

That being said, in reality, Zoro will gladly fight absolutely anyone he needs to—regardless of the identity, race, or even sexual orientation of the character or villain in One Piece. None of these details really seem to matter to Zoro—the only factors that could lead a character to fight Zoro are if they are annoying him or posing a threat to those close to him.

That's everything there is to know about Zoro potentially being racist in One Piece, with images courtesy of Know Your Meme and One Piece fans on Reddit. While this old meme is getting a lot of negative attention and outrage, those who always knew Zoro wasn't actually racist might have had a laugh or two—there are definitely a few silly connections and puns to be made here and there (thankfully, none of them are actually serious).

Although many One Piece fans firmly believe that Zoro is racist, there is no real evidence that this is the case. Zoro appears to have simply been confronted by opponents who could be considered minorities, although his argument for fighting these enemies has always been based on morality rather than race or appearance.