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I’ve heard a lot of different theories about Zoro’s back story, and most of them involve him getting lost. Well, what if it was one part lack of direction, and one part running away?
I was rereading Franky’s back story, and in one panel I noticed this little boy (chapter 354 page 16).

As a comparison, this is what Zoro looks like in his own flashback.

Look familiar? The first panel takes place when Tom’s just completed the Sea Train, when Water 7 is dying and violence has taken hold of the city. It’s twelve years before the beginning of the series, when Zoro should be seven. The time frame fits perfectly.

Now this is on Water 7, which of course begs the question how the hell he made it to East Blue. Except:

‘When the sea train, Puffing Tom, carried the troubled people away from the disused and closed off town, crossed the sea.’

There was an easy way out. People were leaving. Other islands had better trade routes, so once he got away it would have been markedly easier to find transport. Whether he started travelling with his family and got separated or he left alone, I don’t know.

To a kid whose childhood involved a violent home island, a dojo on a small, peaceful island in the weakest Blue sounds like a pretty good change huh? This might also explain where his determination to be the strongest came from. Years of being underfoot made the idea of strength appealing. It’s when Zoro meets Kuina and gains a rival that the focus of this strength starts to shift, becomes less abstract, and once she dies his original reason for seeking strength is all but forgotten under the weight of his promise to her.

People remember very little of their lives from before they are about twelve, and given Zoro’s perchant for forgetting anything he doesn’t find important, it’s entirely possible that he would not even remember his home island. Especially because this is Zoro we’re talking about.

Anyway, take from this what you will, as it’s really just a crack!theory, but until more info about Zoro’s past is revealed this is the best I’ve got.

*Theory by onepieceirks

D: In chapter 654, Chopper turns down Nami’s invitation to join her in the bath, saying “I wiped myself down the day before yesterday”, right? Is it because he’s a boy? Or a fruit user? Or maybe… because he’s an animal? I’m also interested in the bathing information for the rest of the Strawhat crew. Penname- Katana Roman

O: Well, in Chopper’s case, I have a strong feeling that perhaps it’s because he’s an animal. Wiping his body down pretty much counts as a bath for him. Sometimes, the men of the crew have a Great Bath Party together and get really rowdy. Chopper gets invited to bathe with the ladies a lot, but he prefers the men’s parties.

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