ZoNami

"And he's the toughest guy in the crew..."

- Nami on Zoro after his injuries.

ZoNami is the het ship between Roronoa Zoro and Nami from the One Piece fandom.

Canon
Zoro and Nami are close friends and crew mates with the Straw Hat Pirates, together they are respectively the longest serving crew members under Luffy. The two get on, generally, well, however Nami is prone to violence when it comes to Zoro’s laidback and indifferent attitude, whilst Zoro can find Nami annoying and difficult. Even so, they have grown a strong bond that has allowed them to become good friends and comrades. Before their meeting, Zoro was amazed at Nami's navigation skills, even stating that she would be an excellent navigator and that she had to join them.

The pair first met shortly after Nami met Luffy on Orange Town, Zoro arrives in time to save Nami from the Buggy pirates, as they were attacking her in a group from behind, asking her soon after if she was injured at that moment. Nami formed a partnership with both Luffy and Zoro, after their victory over the Buggy Pirates, whereby they become crew mates. Following the events on Nami’s home island, Cocyashi Village, she became a fully-fledged member of the Straw Hat Pirates and Zoro’s crew mate. Whilst Nami occupies the role of navigator, Zoro unofficially occupies the role of first mate, making the pair the closest crew members to their captain, Luffy.

Initially, Zoro did not care for Nami, instead just about tolerating her loud presence. Even so, he found great amusement in her heavy-handed approach in dealing with Luffy, such as when she tried to drown him shortly after they left Orange Town. He acknowledged her abilities as a navigator, and valued her for that reason, but found himself often on the receiving end of Nami’s deceptive and mischievous nature. One example was her successfully using him to climb over a slippery oil spill on a bank between two cliffs, allowing her to escape but leaving him trapped. When Nami’s betrayal was revealed, he advised Luffy to leave her behind, effectively proving he does not have any concern for her. Later, he only agreed to go after her because his captain ordered him to do so.

Zoro’s opinion of Nami gradually began to soften. When he was captured by the Arlong Pirates he finally finds her, his face clearly says that he is very shocked and receiving, in fact, he can not believe that Nami can be part of Arlong's crew when she shows him her tattoo, and also questions her about this, wondering if what he is saying is really her real person. He didn't jump right away on what she said and suspected that she might lie and not tell the truth. He proved his point by voluntarily throwing himself into a pool of water with his arms and legs tied, he was trying to test Nami's trust, in fact he knew very well that she would save him. This must have frustrated Nami a lot, after she failed to deceive Zoro, and he also points out to her, her flaws, this is an important moment when Zoro managed to understand Nami very deeply. Even with this understanding, he still made the decision to go to sleep rather than listen to Nojiko tell the story of Nami’s past, explaining that he is only here because his captain wishes to save her. When it came to fighting the Arlong Pirates, Zoro waited on stand-by for Luffy’s orders after Nami finally asked for his help. He then stormed Arlong Park and fought against Hatchan despite being seriously wounded, and for a while he even fought Arlong. All the while, during their fight against Arlong, the crew showed how much they care about Nami. However, the most surprising moment was when Arlong took Zoro’s bandages, and it’s clear from Nami’s face that she is very worried about her injuries, and realizes that he lied to her earlier to protect her. In the battle, Zoro was badly wounded and proves unable to fight.

Later, when a Nezumi officer shows up, Zoro doesn’t like the boy’s actions at all, takes him with ease and tells him that the boy isn’t very nice for trying to ruin the moment when people were celebrating. Zoro was seriously angry, because someone was trying to ruin the moment when Nami was truly freed from Arlong, her severe injuries weren’t all that significant to him in that moment. Once Nami returned to the crew, he had no objections over this, even though much later he demanded that Usopp apologise before he could come back to the crew after he, himself, had left.

Since her return, the two found themselves on good terms. Whilst they were prone to argue, they saw each other as valuable comrades and Zoro never suspected Nami would betray the crew again. After Luffy, Zoro is most often on the receiving end of Nami’s beatings, normally for being asleep or not helping out where he should. Although she can bemoan him, she acknowledges Zoro’s incredible strength and toughness, being amazed at his absurd tolerance for pain and determination for victory, even his great skill in swordsmanship. Nami can also be seen caring for him from time-to-time, such as after he was put into a coma for three days after his encounter with Bartholomew Kuma, where she stayed by his bedside whilst everybody else partied. Later on, she even stopped Luffy pouring sake into his mouth so he could recover peacefully. Many times Zoro asks for an opinion from Nami on situations that concern her, and he does not like that someone reminds her of her past. An example is when the crew began to sail to the island of the fish men, the whole crew was excited about it, everyone except Nami and Zoro, who did not show that emotion like the others. After hearing about the fish men and Camie's friend, Zoro is the only crew member (other than Nami) to talk about his concern for the island. It reminded him of the past of a fish man they had met before and that past was obviously also linked to Nami. After the crew meets Camie, Zoro also shows that he knows that Nami also has very mixed feelings about fish men Island. And when they finally meet Hatchan, Zoro first asks her what she thinks about it, because he knows it's about her. In addition, she also asks Nami for her opinion because she is the only one who can know the best. Zoro asks Nami for her opinion and clarifies that it is very important to him because only then will they know how to act. Another moment and example, it shows that Zoro is worried about the fish men, and the fact that he is unusually angry after Camie asked him if Hatchan was their friend. He didn't know that Hatchan isn't actually bad, but he simply didn't like the idea of someone in a group reminding Nami of her past, let alone imagining that a fish man could be her friend. Furthermore, when Hody shows up, he reveals that he has succeeded in Arlong’s will, which greatly shocks Nami. Even though Zoro didn’t say anything, in a way, he was surprised too and he had been the first to notice her shocked expression. After learning who Hody was and what he had done to the palace guards, Zoro doesn’t hold back and injures him. Zoro in his bad situation, he doesn’t care at all and instead starts talking about Nami who managed to escape, he was the first to mention it while they were being captured. Still Zoro, he doesn’t even seem to want to do anything other than wait for Nami to get help for them, which shows how much he trusts Nami to help them. After they celebrate their victory, Zoro sleeps next to Nami. Besides, he was definitely awake, because a few moments later, Luffy called him, and immediately woke up.



Zoro has also shown kindness to Nami, being willing to carry her about Arabasta even though he knew full well she was not actually injured. In the Punk Hazard saga, there is a moment of the exchange of Sanji’s body and soul into Nami’s body. She doesn’t like that Sanji and Brook are together, being that they could abuse this moment, and as a result, Nami orders Zoro to go with Sanji and Brook. Despite Zoro’s intense dislike for Sanji, he still instinctively caught Nami’s hand when she tripped and fell even though he knew it was actually Sanji in her body. Later, Zoro gets very angry when Sanji’s soul did something like feel Nami’s breasts to get a "power up" on him, and Zoro even asks him what kind of power up it is with an angry expression. Even after the time jump, Nami hasn’t forgotten Zoro’s sense of direction and even tells him not to go alone, knowing that he would probably get lost. Zoro is still very protective of Nami and Chopper. In fact, he gets mad when he finds out that Monet targeted the two, so he rushes to them very quickly and was able to protect them.

Often the two can argue over petty matters and disagreements, with Zoro frequently losing these disputes. Their arguments tend to be comical in nature, even in serious situations. They are also the most highly sceptical ones within the crew, often having doubts about certain events. The pair tend to find too good to be true situations not believable. The only time this changes is if Nami finds out that treasure is somehow involved and leaves Zoro as the only person with any doubts. In the beginning, Zoro disliked being bossed around by Nami, but grows to occasionally accept her authority, if only to avoid being attacked by her. When she ordered him to go after Sanji, who was in her body, he agreed to do so. In this particular instance, Nami showed her complete trust in Zoro, as she knew he would not be perverted towards her body and would be able to distract Sanji enough for him to not commit any of his own perverted shenanigans. When it comes to navigation, Zoro has complete faith in Nami’s abilities and will fully follow her orders to sail the ship correctly.

Quotes
"Amazing. She used the weather to her own advantage. She must really know the seas... She'd make a great navigator..."

- Zoro's impressions of Nami before meeting her. "Nami! Look out! Duck!!"

- Zoro warns Nami of danger. "Don't worry. That guy just now is monstrously strong."

- Nami admits Zoro's strength in Whiskey Peak arc. "Oh, no! Nami!!"

- Zoro worries about Nami when Ener electrifies the snake in Skypiea Arc. "Moron cook bastard... Did you save Nami?"

- Zoro worried about Nami in Thriller Bark Arc. "What kind of ridiculous power up is that?"

- Zoro asks Sanji what kind of power up is (Sanji palpates Nami's breast) in Punk Hazard Arc. "When did she get this picture taken?"

- Zoro comments on Nami's poster in Dressrosa Arc.

Fanon
A long time ago ZoNami proved to be a very popular ship in the One Piece fandom. Its popularity begins with their meeting, very particular that Zoro saves Nami from certain death, and slowly over the course of history, thanks to their moments, his popularity began to grow more and more, ending up going to rival LuNa, the most popular ship in the fandom.

Due to their few moments in the post time-skip within the series, it began to drop more and more, to place The Ranker 7th among the most popular ship het. But nowadays, although it's not as popular as LuNa, SaNa or Zoyori, the ship between Zoro and Nami is still popular in its own right. Compared to most pairings, it can be viewed as the most vanilla, in that both Zoro and Nami are relatively tamed individuals with no serious bizarre traits that puts a unique spin on their relationship. Rather, their relationship is simply a case of two ordinary people that grow to trust each other. This contrasts with both LuNa and SaNa, as Luffy is exceedingly idiotic and completely indifferent with romance and lust, and Sanji is unhealthily obsessed with both. In this regard, ZoNa can be considered a middle ground. The ship is usually associated with VegeBul by the Dragon Ball fandom, because of the similarity that both have, and for the character that Zoro and Nami have similar to that of Vegeta and Bulma. This is because of the similarity between the moments and characters that both ships have. Another ship very similar to ZoNami is SasuSaku from Naruto, the ship het between Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.

Fans of the ship are somewhat tame. Since Zoro and Nami never really gather a significant amount of screen time as a notable pairing, any climatic moments or a romantic interest in each other, fans have come to appreciate the smaller moments and details instead, be it Nami by Zoro’s bedside on Thriller Bark, or when she pats his head on Zou. When it comes to shipping wars in the One Piece fandom, fans often state ZoNa as a simple preference rather than believing it to be something that will happen by the end of the series. However, there are plenty of ZoNami fans who argue that Zoro and Nami's relationship as time goes on could definitely be deepened and exploited, making it likely a great endgame pair once the crew is disbanded. In addition, they also claim that, Zoro and Nami from the beginning of the series until now already have something that binds them, and from the fact that Zoro is the only one who has never received a hug from Nami, or who has never seen her naked, it is a sign that Zoro does not need such attention, as their relationship is very strong than it seems. Often fans of the ship love, jokingly and affectionately, to refer to Zoro and Nami as “Lost Boy x Navigator”.

Another theory according to ZoNami shippers, is that Zoro and Nami were supposed to meet in a bar. In fact in the post timeskip, Nami is in a bar waiting for someone. According to them it is likely that in this scene Nami was waiting for Zoro, they both went to a bar waiting for someone (Zoro went to Shakky and Rayleigh's bar). Usually in a bar you drink alcohol and Zoro and Nami tolerate it, and on top of that they like it, being a suitable place for both. Nami states that she is waiting for someone and her reaction to the sight of Usopp was completely unexpected.

ZoNami has plenty of rivals, this is dominantly a result of how popular both characters are in regards to shipping. Zoro has been shipped with Kuina, Hiyori, Tashigi, Perona, and Nico Robin. Conversely, Nami has been shipped with Luffy, Sanji and Usopp. Although not often shipped, a popular perspective for One Piece fans is how Zoro and Nami were the first crew mates of Luffy’s. They have come to be seen as an iconic trio which has led to a poly ship to form for some fans as well. ZoNami fans also ship LuHan and Frobin.

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Trivia

 * The animal that represent Zoro is the tiger and Nami a cat, both of which are felines. Zoro has also been representated by a shark.
 * In the color spread chapter 651 there are a cat and a tiger, which lead back a lot to Zoro and Nami.
 * Both Zoro and Nami hated pirates at first. Nami stole from them whilst Zoro hunted them.
 * Zoro and Nami are polar opposites when it comes to navigation. Whilst Nami is very skilled Zoro is hopeless and easily gets himself lost.
 * On numerous chapter covers there has been potentially a few ZoNami moments.
 * On the cover of chapter 568, Zoro is looking for a lion who is hidding among the sunflowers. The lion in question has been seen on Nami's shirt on the cover of chapter 263.
 * For the color spread chapter 771, Nami and Zoro can be seen desperately trying to stop Luffy steering the carriage they are in; in addition there is Zoro's hand that can be glimpsed behind Nami touching the carriage.
 * In the color spread chapter 61 Zoro looks in Nami's direction.
 * In the color spread chapter 79 Zoro is sitting on a panther with a scar on it's left shoulder, exactly where Nami scarred herself with a knife. Nami is leaning against a panther who has three bottles of beer in it's mouth. Beyond this, they are both wearing a very similar bracelet.
 * In color spread chapter 117 Zoro and Nami are sitting on the same giant. Also Nami looks in Zoro's direction.
 * The color spread chapter 140 literally says "perfect day" and features Zoro and Nami together, both happy.
 * In the color spread chapter 422 Nami drives a shark-shaped vehicle.
 * For the color spread on chapter 692, Nami looks at Zoro whilst Brook's hands point to the numbers two and three (the 12 o'clock hand is tilted to the two) Zoro and Nami's specific numbers are 2 and 3 respectively.
 * On the cover art for chapter 481 Zoro is drawing caligraphics whilst near the door is his observing sensei in a form of a cat. In the background there are waves.
 * In chapter 426 color spread, a sleeping Zoro and Nami are on the same cloud with Usopp standing at the back.
 * In the color spread chapter 379, Usopp shows Zoro a photo of Nami.
 * On the chapter cover 1016, Zoro and a cat are dressed as ninjas hiding in an attic with swords piercing through the floor at them. This directly references Nami and Shinobu who, on a mission as ninjas, were hiding in the attic before swords came through the floor to attack them.
 * In color walk 3 volume 37, Zoro and Nami are seen talking to each other.
 * In some Shonen Jump magazine covers made by Oda, there are some moments between Zoro and Nami.
 * In the cover of the first volume Zoro and Nami are drawn behind Luffy next to each other.
 * In the cover 28 Zoro and Nami are drawn one above the other in the form of ice cream.
 * On the cover number 6 of Weekly Shonen Jump Zoro and Nami have an almost similar karate pose.
 * On cover 25 of 2011, Oda drew Nami looking in Zoro's direction.
 * In cover 43 for Weekly Shonen Jump, Zoro and Nami are drawn next to and behind Luffy.
 * In 2017 cover No. 6 of Weekly Shonen Jump, Zoro and Nami stand next to each other, with Nami wearing a flower on her left ear.
 * In the color spread chapter 449 Luffy, Zoro and Nami are seen. Luffy is seen sitting on the sidelines, and Zoro and Nami both stand up. But in an official One Piece secondary table for the calendar for the year 2015 there are only Zoro and Nami.




 * Zoro and Nami are the only ones among the crew to wear earrings. The number of Nami's earrings is two and Zoro's is three.
 * Despite Zoro having known Nami the longest, alongside Luffy, he is one of very few crew members to not have seen her naked.
 * In chapter 955 Nami can be seen blushing after Zoro cuts a cliff in half.
 * Nami and Zoro both have a great tolerance for alcohol and love to drink.
 * In a cover for the One Piece Jump special for spring 2013, Oda draws Zoro, Nami and Chopper in the front row.
 * During the Thriller Bark saga, One Piece creator, Eiichiro Oda, designed Nami's wedding necklace to an identical style of Zoro's earrings.
 * In a crossover with Dragon Ball, Zoro and Nami are paralleled to the married Vegeta and Bulma.




 * So far, Zoro is the only member of the crew not to receive a hug from Nami.
 * Zoro has often been the first to notice if something is irritating Nami or notes any changes:
 * Once when Nami was bitten by a spider in Little Garden Arc.
 * When he arrives on Zou with Luffy he is the first to notice Nami's distress.
 * He noticed Nami's change of weapon first on their way to Enies Lobby.
 * When Hody states he has succeeded in Arlong's will he takes note of Nami due to her personal history with Arlong.
 * In the movie "One Piece: Film Z" Nami uses a technique called "Gust Sword" which can be seen as a reference to Zoro's swordsmanship. In the same film, Zoro also uses a technique called "Water Stream" which can also be seen as a reference to Nami's fighting style with her clima-tact. Both of these moves were used on the same enemy, Ain.
 * According to the statistics of the most popular het ships in the One Piece fandom, ZoNami initially turned out to be most popular ship in the fandom, while now it is in seventh place.
 * In an SBS, Oda drew sketches of the Straw Hats when they are older. Zoro and Nami, at the age of 60, have similarities with the married Silvers Rayleigh and Shakky.




 * Zoro's favorite season is autumn, where the theme color is orange, while Nami's favorite season is summer, where the theme color is green.
 * There is a theory among the ZoNami shippers, in case Zoro and Nami end up together, they will open a booze bar once the crew disband, like Shakky and Rayleigh did. Nami may be able to be Zoro's "GPS", as Nami is the navigator and Zoro the one who gets lost. (Fanon curiosity)
 * Nami has worn accessories similar to Zoro's earrings three times.
 * Once in the Thriller Bark saga when she wore the wedding dress.
 * Another time in the color spread chapter 796 around her waist.
 * In the color spread chapter 802 in her hair.
 * Zoro has saved Nami from danger 4 times whilst Nami has saved Zoro once.
 * Even though Zoro values his swords greatly and generally does not like others touching them, Nami has been seen touching or holding them numerous times:
 * The first time in the Syrup Village saga, while Zoro was sliding on the oil and Nami clings to his sword in order to reach the top.
 * Another time when they disguised themselves as a marine and Zoro, not seeing her, received a blow on the head. Soon after she takes his swords.(non-canon filler)
 * Another time in the movie "One Piece: Dead End" when Nami tries to impress a little boy with the sword of Zoro.(non-canon film)
 * Then in the color spread of the movie “One Piece: Z” made by Oda, Nami is seen touching Zoro's sword.(non-canon film)
 * Nami handed the swords back to him as they were facing Kuro, kicking them at Zoro and getting scolded for it.
 * Nami returned the Wadou Ichimonji (Kuina's sword) to Zoro after he was thrown in Arlong Park prison.
 * Oda occasionally draws Zoro and Nami wearing similar accessories across the various color spreads he creates.
 * In the color spread of the movie “One Piece: Strong World” and in the color spread chapter 28 Zoro and Nami wear an identical red bandana with sunflowers on it.
 * In the color spread chapter 878 both Zoro and Nami have a yellow towel wrapped around them, and they are the only ones holding it.
 * In the color walk number 29 of Shonen Jump magazine, Zoro wears a leopard print shirt. Nami also wears leopard-print dresses featured in the color spread chapter 401 and in the color walk 4 Eagle.
 * Zoro wears a red striped scarf in the color spread chapter 156, similar to Nami's scarf from the color spread chapter 70.
 * In a work created by Oda “One Piece Monster” Ryuma is very reminiscent of Zoro, and Flare is reminiscent of Nami. Their relationship is similar to that of Zoro and Nami.
 * In the song "Jungle Fever", Zoro and Nami have a little conversation.
 * In the specials where the mugiwara are mafia, Zoro calls Nami “Namiammore” which means "Nami-love".
 * Oda revealed that if Zoro and Nami were to have a real-life job, Zoro would be a policeman while Nami would be a kindergarten teacher.
 * Both Zoro and Nami, are very skeptical and suspicious of some situations or new people they meet on their way.
 * Nami is the only woman who makes Zoro smile/laugh. An example is when before leaving town, Nami tries to drown Luffy at sea in the same boat that all three were in, while Zoro laughs at her action.
 * ZoNami has some parallelism with the Frobin ship; both ships have a component that is very calm, and a component that is much more sentimentally open.
 * In the movie “One Piece Z” Nami clings to Zoro's left leg, the same leg as when Zoro saves Nami in the movie “One Piece the mysteries of the mechanical island”.
 * Zoro's zodiac sign is Scorpio, while Nami's is Cancer.
 * For One Piece's 21st anniversary, Oda designed a cover with the crew divided into two groups. In one group there is Sanji who flirts with Nami, and in the other there is Zoro who looks at them with a tendentially jealous look.