Eiichiro Oda gave all of the Straw Hat Pirates a tragic backstory, but noticeably held back on giving Zoro one that would devastate the fans. While others lost parents and their entire clan, he lost his childhood best friend and rival by pure accident. Or so her father claims.
Kuina is a prominent figure from Zoro’s past. She was the strongest swordsman in the dojo, but she knew her gender held her back from a future. Zoro denied this, and they vowed to become the strongest together. However, out of nowhere, Kuina died from falling down the stairs.
Considering Oda doesn’t typically shy away from dark stories in One Piece, it’s strange that Zoro got the most tame one.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s horrifying to lose a friend so suddenly as a child. I can’t imagine the pain of losing your best friend. However, most fans, including me, aren’t convinced it was a pure accident. Some think it was deliberately tame on the surface, and Oda is hiding a much worse story.
Kuina couldn’t see a successful future as a swordsman and possibly took her own life
Kuina was genuinely convinced her gender would’ve held her back as a swordsman. Zoro tried to ease her worries, but she thought too practically about the situation, saying that eventually, all the boys would become stronger and taller than her.
That’s where they made their promise. Even as rivals, they were best friends first. This all shattered when she fell down the stairs. Her will lives on in Zoro, who wields her sword, Wado Ichimonji, and he often thinks of her.
Tashigi, a Marine first introduced in the Loguetown Arc, is the spitting image of Kuina. She’s even a swordsman, so they naturally become rivals. Personally, Zoro and Tashigi’s pirate-marine rivalry is one of the most interesting, second only to Smoker and Luffy.
So, knowing Kuina’s importance to Zoro’s character, it can’t be an accident that killed her. Many fans believe she committed suicide, and her father, Shimotsuki Koushirou, covered it up. Some also believe he told her something that made her do it; perhaps he was the source of her insecurities.
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The suicide theory isn’t the only one about Kuina. Some believed she was a God’s Knight, only for it to be Gunko. This specific theory, however, does sour Zoro’s interactions with Tashigi, especially in the post-time skip era when he’s significantly stronger than most characters.
If Tashigi reminds Zoro of Kuina, why was he so demeaning?
Zoro does have every right to be confident in his abilities, but being on the defense for a new antagonist like Monet was out of character for him. Tashigi calls him out on his behavior, deeming him sexist, which angers him.
He steps back from the fight to allow Tashigi to try, who then fails, so he begins to attack. He easily overpowers Monet and proves Tashigi wrong. However, he knows his arrogance proves what Kuina felt back in their childhood. It seems unnecessary for Zoro to fuel Tashigi’s shared insecurities.
Kuina committing s*icide would be in tune with Eiichiro Oda’s dark writing, but it would immediately sour Zoro’s dynamic with Tashigi. I don’t believe he’s sexist from any angle, but the Reddit comment has a point. It also effectively assassinates his arc.
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