Within the anime and manga communities, it has always been a custom that fans debate whether their favorite character from one series could beat a character from another franchise or not.
Today, we will discuss a similar two-franchise crossover battle; in the red corner Roronoa Zoro from one piece is the unofficial first mate of the Straw Hat pirates and a promising candidate for the title of « The strongest swordsman. » And in the blue corner, the King of Demons Himself, Kibutsuji Muzan, from Demon Slayer.
An all-out battle between Muzan and Zoro would be as unpredictable as it would be unprecedented, and the results would most likely depend on the circumstances. But as the question asked is,
Can Zoro beat Muzan?
Zoro vs Muzan, The categories :
By comparing both characters on a pre-defined metric, I believe we can conclude what the result of a battle would look like.
We will be squaring Zoro off with Muzan on the following Categories.
-
Strength
-
Speed/Agility
-
Endurance
-
Bloodlust
-
Motivation
-
Power
-
X factor
Also, for the sake of this match-up, we assume Zoro has at least one Nechirin blade.
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Strength ?
Muzan is extremely strong, having taken on the Hashira and been far stronger than the upper moon one and Gyomei. But Zoro is almost inhumane in terms of brute strength.
He is the only Straw hat that regularly trains in terms of strength. Zoro has given more than ample proof of his strength, with his latest feat of strength being Injuring Kaido, who is considered unbeatable.
Thus. Zoro wins in terms of strength.
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Speed ?
Zoro is an extremely fast and agile fighter, as proven by his ability to dodge Bartholomew Kuma’s paw-paw attack that is faster than the speed of sound itself.
Still, we also have recent proof In Wano, where he has managed to keep up with the likes of King and Kaido. However, Muzan’s power of cell manipulation gives him complete motor control of all parts of his body, making him breathtakingly fast and able to dodge attacks, by changing the shape of his body.
Muzan takes the round on speed.
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Endurance ?
Muzan has been around a thousand years, and to this day, he fears the Demon slayers. He has near-instant regeneration yet can not take too much damage.
Zoro, on the other hand is the exact opposite; he takes an ungodly amount of damage during fights and eventually tires his opponent out and then finally attacks them where it hurts. He would be able to tank all of Muzan’s attacks, make him tired, and finally take Muzan out without difficulty.
Zoro wins with endurance.
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Bloodlust ?
Throughout the series, Muzan has been shown as a calm and collected villain, whereas ironically, Zoro has been called a demon multiple times.
Muzan does not attack unprovoked unless he is pissed or feels threatened, whereas Zoro is ready to cut down any obstacles, as we saw in Sabaody, where he was willing to kill a Celestial Dragon. Zoro will attack Muzan without a second thought; his animal-like rage would cause many problems for Muzan.
Bloodlust goes to Zoro
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Motivation ?
Muzan doesn’t seem to have that great a sense of ambition; all he wants to do is survive. Staying alive and staying ahead of his enemies is synonymous with victory for him.
Whereas Zoro is driven by blind ambition to become the best, and he will destroy anyone in his way (something that even Luffy isn’t exempt from, as Zoro has said he would kill Luffy should he get in his way of being the strongest swordsman).
Zoro will see Muzan as competition and will hold nothing back. Muzan will not be able to match Zoro’s motivation.
Motivation goes to Zoro.
Can Zoro beat Muzan on Power ?
Now we come to the category where Muzan has the edge; he has several powerful abilities that would keep him one step ahead. His abilities include blood manipulation, poison blood, demon control, and several blood demon arts that Zoro can not counter.
Muzan is a powerhouse, yet he still fears the strength of the Hashira. His special abilities do not make him invincible; Zoro, with his Haki and one-time Nechirin sword in hand, would find a weakness.
But with all of his powers, Muzan wins this category.
X factor
Finally, we now come to the concluding part of our little article, where we will go through all of the data and come to an answer.
Can Zoro beat Muzan?
The answer may not be as clear as some fans would hope, but it is along the lines of their Expectations. Muzan and Zoro have a very large and diverse set of powers and abilities. Although Muzan is a very powerful character based on the categories, putting him in a fight with Zoro would be unfair.
Even though Muzan is among the top three most powerful characters in his verse, only Yroichii and Demon king Tanjiro are stronger. We must also realize that Zoro is in a completely different league regarding physical capabilities. Even a pre-time skip Zoro would have managed to put up an exciting fight, but a post-Wano Zoro wins Mid-hard difficulty.
To read another interesting match-up between Zoro and katakuri, click here.