One Piece: When Does Zoro Become the “King of Hell”? (Episode & Chapter)

Roronoa Zoro is undoubtedly one of the best-known One Piece characters. Like Luffy, Zoro wants to be the best in his own category, i.e., he wants to become the best swordsman in the world, surpassing his idol and rival, Dracule Mihawk, who is said to be the best swordsman in the world. People have speculated about Zoro’s powers for years, especially since he never ate a Devil Fruit, and he has been growing in that aspect for some time now. After defeating King, Zoro stated that he would rather become the “King of Hell” than lose again, a promise he had given Luffy some time ago. In this article, we are going to tell you all about this epic Zoro-related moment from the series.

Zoro declared that he would become the “King of Hell” if needed to not lose again just after he had defeated King of Kaido’s pirate crew. He has not officially become the “King of Hell,” as the title is just symbolic. This happened in Chapter 1036 of the manga, titled “Bushido is the Way of Death,” and in Episode 1062 of the anime series, titled “The Three-Sword Style of the Supreme King! Zoro vs. King”.

The rest of this article will focus on the epic fight between Zoro and King in the One Piece series or, more specifically, its immediate aftermath. The fight between King and Zoro was epic, and it had some important implications for the series, which is why we’re revisiting it again, especially because it has to do something with Zoro’s “King of Hell” reply. This article will contain some spoilers from the One Piece manga, so be careful how you approach it.

Zoro declared this after defeating King

Now, the specific scene we are talking about, when Zoro declared this, happened in Chapter 1036 of the manga, titled “Bushido is the Way of Death” and published on January 4, 2022, and in Episode 1062 of the anime series, titled “The Three-Sword Style of the Supreme King! Zoro vs. King”, which premiered on May 21, 2023. In this scene, Zoro declares his intention to become the “King of Hell,” if needed, which means that he has not become the “King of Hell” but might in the future. But, before we clear this up, allow us to explain what happened.

Since this happened as part of Zoro’s battle against King, we shall start from a certain point of the battle. At one point during the fight, Zoro’s sword Enma started to aggressively drain his Haki at that same moment. King seized the chance to approach Zoro but refrained from assaulting him. King only perceived the confused Zoro’s sword stab as a precise hit to the gut before it suddenly went off and caused a huge explosion.

By erecting a protective Haki, Zoro narrowly avoided the devastation, and when the smoke cleared, he saw that King had been spared by his own attack. Without wasting any time, Zoro attacked King straight with Shishi Sonson but was unsuccessful in doing so. King then launched a second round of his assault.

Enma’s “rebelliousness” allowed King to blow up most of the rocks that lined the shore of Onigashima while still managing to graze Zoro with his head. King kicked his opponent to the ground and then used his barizodon strike to apply pressure as Zoro struggled to control his falling blades. King then sent Zoro into the lower levels of Kaidou’s castle using his wing while flying directly at the swordsman.

Zoro used his Haki ability to knock down the onlooking Beasts Pirates after temporarily resting on the ground daydreaming about his history. Zoro then grabbed Enma, as he was sure he could use it properly at that point. The following strike by Zoro cut King, breaking off his mask. Zoro felt that while King’s speed had risen, his defense had weakened due to the fires on his back being put out, making King vulnerable. This was his edge.

The remainder of his mask was subsequently removed by King, who then showed his face to his minions in the area. They instantly identified him as a Lunarian. When Zoro used his Rengoku Oni Firi to attack King, he quickly understood that the attack had been ineffective because King’s fire had returned.

When Zoro managed to avoid the fire dragon King threw at him, they collided with his swords. Like before, King tried to remove Zoro’s swords using his Swordbreaker, but Zoro’s Haki sent King flying. Then, as King kicked him in the face, Zoro quickly reacted after observing him speeding up again with the Yakkodori technique to instantly cut through his now-vulnerable body.

When King stated that no human could win against a member of his race and that he would only remember Zoro as a respectable swordsman if anything, Zoro refuted this and pointed out that King had started deflecting his attacks and now seemed vulnerable. He also declared that King should manage to survive. He would personally see that King would remember him.

Then King summoned an even larger flaming dragon and moved toward Zoro. The latter leaped into the fray without hesitation, splitting the dragon in two with his Santoryu as he sent a focused wave of slashes at King, striking him square in the chest, removing a portion of his right-wing, and smashing his sword. Zoro now won the battle, and after winning, he remembered the promise he had given Luffy after losing to Mihawk, a promise that he would never lose again. He then declares that he would become the “King of Hell” if needed to keep his promise and then passes out from exhaustion.

But, while King was finally defeated, Zoro’s battle was not over as he was heavily injured after the fight and seemingly on the verge of death. His friends and crewmates, Chopper and Franky, rushed to help him, but it took them a while before they actually reached their heavily-injured friend.

While he was waiting, Zoro observed a large figure over him. The figure in question was the Grim Reaper, who seemed to be preparing to slice Zoro with its scythe, with Zoro observing how he could not move to avoid the attack. We actually did not see the conclusion of this scene, but we know that Zoro later lost consciousness, as Franky reached and rescued him while he was in that state. Zoro would later wake up and heal, but we know how exhausting the fight against King was and how it cost Zoro a lot of energy.

The title is symbolic and illustrates Zoro’s determination to become the best

As you can see, the title is purely symbolic, and it actually shows the level of determination that Zoro has and nothing more. There is no “King of Hell” title in One Piece, and Zoro will not become a ruler of the underworld; the designation is symbolic. Zoro wanted to say that he would even go down to the depths of Hell and make a pact with the Devil to avoid losing again, as he had promised his captain, Luffy, that he would never lose again (this happened after his loss to Mihawk).

Zoro is both a very determined person – his goal is to become the best swordsman in the world – and a person who cares a lot about others. He wants to fulfill his goal but also protect his friends and crewmembers, which is why he wants to fulfill his promise to Luffy. This reply only shows that he is willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill his promise, which is actually completely in line with Zoro’s overall personality and shouldn’t really confuse anyone who knows Zoro. This is, in fact, exactly the kind of reply we’d expect from him.