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.

The pair first met shortly after Nami met Luffy on Orange Town. 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, the crew that Nami actually belongs to, he could see through her act very easily, deducing she was not truly like them. He proved his point by willingly diving into a pool of water whilst tied up, knowing full well she would save him. 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. 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. 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. On Punk Hazard, 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.

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.

Orange Town Arc:
The first ZoNami meeting and moment we have it in the Orange Town saga, when Zoro protected Nami from the Buggy pirates. If Zoro hadn't saved her at the time, Nami most likely could have been seriously injured or even dead.

Zoro did not know who she was, but he had heard about her from other pirates, and was very amazed by her skills in the field of navigation, and even wondered if she could join them despite the things that were said about her. Nami was very surprised to learn that the well-known bounty hunter Roronoa Zoro is actually friends with a pirate, and despite knowing his bad reputation, she hasn't shown that she is afraid of him. Zoro and Nami with Luffy, have created an iconic trio.

Syrup Village Arc:
In Syrup Village, it is shown that both of them don’t care about the other’s company, but overall, they are both calmer. Even if Zoro and Nami got on more or less, it cannot be said that Zoro trusted her fully. Knowing he can steal treasure is something to be suspicious of already, but the fact that Nami used him to get to the top from an oil drop didn’t pay off. Zoro claims he will teach her a lesson or even kill her.

Zoro still didn’t trust Nami 100%, but he was still worried about her. Since Zoro did not have all three swords with him, was having difficulty fighting enemies, Nami risked her life and decided to take back Zoro’s swords from the enemies. Even though Nami hasn’t handled Zoro’s swords very carefully, he is very grateful that she was able to get them from him, in fact, she asks him to be thanked as she smiles at him, and Zoro smiles at her as well.

Arlong Park Arc:
In the Arlong Park saga, their relationship will be severely tested. Nami, in fact, abuses their trust by taking with her, all their treasures and the Merry. When Zoro chases Nami to bring her back, he meets Arlong’s pirate crew, and Zoro says he’s there to look for a single woman (he was in that place due to Luffy’s orders), he was previously angry at Nami for running away from them with all their treasures. Yet when Zoro finally finds her, his face clearly says that he is very shocked and receiving, in fact, cannot believe that Nami could be part of Arlong’s crew and questions her about that too, wondering if what she is saying is truly her real person. He didn’t jump right into what she said and suspected she might be lying and not telling the truth. After all, if he’d already believed all the things she’d just said, he wouldn’t have cared about the face he made. Still, he noticed it and by then he must have begun to realize that Nami was probably trying to act in front of him. He also said he didn’t trust her, only after seeing the expression on Nami’s face change. Zoro, throwing himself into the pool with his arms and legs tied, was trying to test Nami’s confidence, he knew she was trying to act. This must have frustrated Nami a lot, after she failed to deceive Zoro, and the latter also points out her flaws, this is also an important moment in which Zoro was able to understand Nami very deeply.

The swordsman is then released from prison thanks to Nami and she tells him to leave the place but, Zoro didn’t, and also promised Luffy to bring her back. 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. 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.

Loguetown Arc:
After the events in Arlong Park, both are shown to trust each other more. Nami’s first victim in her money plans is Zoro who needed to borrow some money to buy swords. However, he definitely let his guard down around her as he absolutely didn’t catch her talking about interest. Zoro is, the first and only victim that Nami happily lent her money to without past debts, as at that point he didn’t do anything that he had to pay her back for.

Reverse Mountain Arc:
In this arc, the crew faces the biggest challenge: how to get into the Grand Line. Zoro pays attention to Nami as she tries to explain why Calm Belt is dangerous, but before he can get to the crux, the entire crew experiences it. Zoro asked why they didn’t head south to the Grand Line, instead of using a mountain entrance, he couldn’t have known the Calm Belts were dangerous before experiencing it. Later, he admits that Nami was right and that they have to use the entrance (although he still has a hard time believing it). Later, they successfully enter the Grand Line and also load two new passengers on board: Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine. The crew then sets sail for their next destination, but they have to overcome many weather changes along the way. All the crew members had their hands full of work, but only Zoro was able to sleep. When he wakes up, he doesn’t have long before Nami mercilessly punches him for his idiocy. Even though Zoro shows he wants to get back to her, he eventually gets more punches from her before she can even say anything. This perfectly shows how Nami doesn’t hesitate to beat someone like Zoro.

Whisky Peak arc:
Zoro and Nami engage in a drinking contest with the villagers, and are the only crew members with so much interest.

We remember that Zoro borrowed money from Nami. However, he only returned 1/3 of Nami’s interest and this is something Nami used against him, in fact, over the Whiskey Peak arc, it is shown that Nami can make Zoro do whatever she wants, despite the fact. That he is strongly opposed and even gets to argue with her about it. Their debt is canceled and no longer mentioned.

Little Garden Arc:
Going forward, their relationship becomes much more stable, as they are able to trust each other a lot now. When Zoro gets lost, he is very happy to see “Nami” because he knows she can help him. A moment that is shown in Little Garden shows that Zoro completely trusts her when it comes to navigation. In his relief to find Nami, he absolutely missed the fact that he wasn’t talking to Nami, but to something else. Zoro seems to sometimes let his guard down again when Nami is worried, he admitted it himself in the Baratie arc and now, he didn’t really think it could be anyone other than Nami.

Later, Zoro, Nami and Vivi, captured by Mr. 3, stand on top of his set of candles. When Zoro declares that he will cut off his feet to fight opponents, Nami and Vivi are both extremely shocked. Nami finds her bleeding legs a problem and it’s clear she doesn’t like it at all. This moment shows how much Nami can be very worried about him even though Zoro doesn’t need it and doesn’t consider it a problem in the least. After Nami calms down, she and Zoro have an extremely relaxed conversation going on. These two have somehow already reached the point where they can even talk about this type of thing since they have already gotten used to it now. It has been shown that they interact more despite being in such a condition.

Drum Island Arc:
After the Little Garden arc, we see Zoro training. And when Vivi tells the crew that Nami’s condition has deteriorated, Zoro and Luffy are the only ones to notice. There is a big chance that he has brought her in, because later, when Nami comes out, Zoro tells her to rest, while he takes care of the rest.

Beyond that, Zoro also shows that he has complete trust in Nami’s instincts. The moment she asks him to call everyone, he doesn’t argue, and more importantly, she orders other crew members to listen to him. After they manage to escape the storm, there is a small fragment which could indicate that Zoro took Nami to his room after she collapsed, it is seen that he is the only one running on the bridge where Nami collapsed in the arms of Vivi. What fuels this too is simply the fact that, he chose to sleep in her room with other crew members instead of guarding the ship which Sanji was doing. The last moment that shows he cares is also when he stayed in Nami’s room and told Luffy to get out. When they reached Drum Island, Zoro is also the first to ask who will bring the doctor for the sick Nami, while the rest of the crew were more amazed by the nature of Drum Island.

Alabasta Arc:
A new crew member named Chopper joins the crew and together they reach Alabasta. In this arc, Zoro very often retorts whenever Sanji says something that has to do with Nami. There are also other moments that clearly show that Zoro understands her more than others, such as the fact that he knew that Nami couldn’t have anything nice on her mind after hearing about world gambling. He can easily detect her money thoughts and is also very aware whenever she uses her flirtatious side.

The next thing is the whole practice of lifting the camels that he was doing. Nami usually doesn’t say anything when he practices, but somehow she must have felt his tension after leaving Luffy with Crocodile in Rainbase. She tells him not to waste her strength on something like this, but Zoro probably finds her annoying and just tells her to shut up.

When Zoro and Nami are paired together and end up facing an enemy, Nami cheers for him (encourages him to take care of both enemies). Nami definitely knows how capable he is, and she herself probably had no intention of fighting, Zoro doesn’t particularly like her cheering on him, because he seems to be quite distracted by it, and even tells her to shut up. Apparently, their enemies decided to follow and kill Nami first. She runs away from them and Zoro has no choice but to worry about her and try to find her. When he finds her, he tries to use a shortcut and, at this point, it may seem like Zoro will never be able to save Nami. She was wondering where the swordsman was going, because she knows that Zoro would be able to take care of them if he were there with her. Oddly, Zoro was able to find Nami with her poor sense of direction, and saved her from certain death. After the fight, Zoro is injured, but he is still worried about the others, his mind mostly wandering around Nami and making sure she should have escaped to safety. Eventually Zoro, carries the injured Nami, even though he knew full well that she was lying to get carried away.

Jaya Arc:
In the Jaya arc, it is clearly seen that Zoro and Nami are both kind of Luffy’s guardians. After he leaves to fight Bellamy and recover some gold, Nami asks Zoro why he didn’t go with him. Zoro tries to tell her why he didn’t go, but Nami can’t quite figure it out. He found a problem explaining it to her again (after she accused him of being an idiot)

Skypea Arc:
After the Jaya arc, we continue to the Skypea arc. A special moment is when Zoro emerges from the water while punching a shark. Nami knows that Zoro is strong, and he is by far the only person who has deluded that his actions were not quite similar to those of a swordsman. She knows he boasts a lot as a swordsman and seeing him hit a shark to defeat him will surely surprise her. Soon after, Chopper comments on Zoro’s strength. And shortly thereafter, Nami throws him a new shirt for him to wear, plus a shirt we’ve never seen before, and it’s definitely something Nami herself has chosen. Previously, Nami said how scary a place she stumbled upon was, and of all people, she was saying these things to Zoro. Nami was doing her best to get him to her side or get him not to go there, but Zoro doesn’t even seem to care, and in the end, he even tells her to do what he wants. However, it doesn’t matter how much he doesn’t care about her complaints or whenever she’s in danger, but he can’t help but worry about her. Moving on, when Zoro witnesses what Enel did to Lucky, he turns his attention to a snake that previously ate Nami and others. In fact, when the snake was electrocuted, Zoro shows a very worried and shocked expression, and when Nami really shows up, he raises his voice in surprise. Another time Zoro shows that he has a lot of trust in Nami, is when he decided to leave Chopper with Nami while he and others decide to challenge Enel, it was as if he were telling her to hide with an injured Chopper while taking care of the enemy.

Long Ring Long Island Arc:
One moment in this arc, is when Zoro scolded Chopper harshly, and it seems Nami doesn’t like him at first, but doesn’t argue with him when she found out it had a positive effect on Chopper.

Water 7 Arc:
One of the moments in this arc is when Zoro is trying to sleep while near Nami, but being disturbed by Sanji, he starts arguing with him. And a second time, Zoro starts another fight with Sanji over Nami, who previously praised his cooking. Moving on, Zoro with Nami and Chopper are looking for their captain to enter Iceburg’s house. Zoro and Chopper both agree with everything Nami says. This only shows how similar views all three have regarding Luffy. Subsequently, Zoro decided to fight the shipwrights, Nami does not stop him, but both she and Chopper later comment that he is still causing injuries. Chopper is then again in awe, but Nami doesn’t have such a positive outlook because he knocked out all the shipwrights. If Nami and Chopper hadn’t been with him at the time, he could never have reached a room with CP9 and Iceburg.

Enies Lobby Arc:
One moment, it’s when Nami is paying attention to Luffy’s words, but Zoro retorts his words, and she agrees with him. Even though they’re under pressure, Zoro and Nami once again have a more relaxed conversation. While Zoro is asking for directions, there is a later moment when Zoro is still lost, but thanks to Chopper keeping an eye on him, that doesn’t happen, and Zoro still accuses Nami of giving him bad directions, but he should know better than all that she is a great navigator, it was more an attempt to make it look like she wasn’t wrong. Another of the many moments of Enies Lobby, is how Zoro managed to indirectly save Nami. In fact, he managed to find it despite his poor sense of direction and even to defeat only the enemy. Although Nami was surprised, she later learned it was Zoro and scolded him for it. He somehow intuitively knows when Nami is in danger and saves her, even though he has no idea where the enemy is due to his poor sense of direction.

Thriller Bark Arc:
In this arc, Zoro and Nami’s first moment is when Brook reveals that he doesn’t have a shadow, and as a result, she seems to be approaching Zoro to feel protected. Zoro already knows that Nami can somehow take care of herself, now from previous experiences, and she too was able to defeat a member of CP9. He doesn’t seem so worried about her when he knows she’s been kidnapped. However, another moment, is when Zoro cares more for her than for Sanji, and it was Franky who pointed out that he is in greater danger than the girl.

Another moment is after Luffy takes care of defeating Moria. The crew is about to celebrate and as Lola begins to thank them, Zoro takes the initiative and says that he and the crew didn’t bother with anything like saving them. This is not something Nami wants to hear and slaps him in the face. Nami knew that Zoro was hurt and probably didn’t want to be too hard on him and chose to slap him. The final moment of Thriller Bark, and above all one of the most iconic among ZoNami fans, is when Nami stays with Chopper next to injured Zoro. It shows that she takes great care of him, even if she doesn’t know the main reason why he was hurt in the first place. After hearing Chopper, she must have realized that something extraordinary happened when the rest of the crew were out. Since Sanji and Zoro didn’t really want the crew to know what happened, she didn’t know of course. And Nami chooses to be with Zoro even though the rest are celebrating. She acknowledges Chopper’s point about how Zoro doesn’t even open his eyes with noise and also adds that he has always been the toughest man in the whole crew.

Sabaody Arc:
When the crew was ready to set sail for Fishman Island, most of the group was really excited. Everyone, except Nami and Zoro, who didn’t show that emotion like the others. After hearing about the fishmen and Camie’s friend, Zoro is the only crew member (besides Nami) to talk about his concern for the island. It reminded him of the past of a fishman 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 Man Island. And when they finally meet Hatchan, Zoro, he first tells her what he thinks because he knows it’s about her. Besides, 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 makes it clear that her opinion matters to him because from her opinion, only then will they know how to act in succession. Another moment, it shows that Zoro is worried about the fishmen, is simply the fact that he got unusually angry after Camie asked him if Hatchan was their friend. He didn’t know that Hatchan wasn’t actually bad, but he just didn’t like the idea of someone from a group reminding Nami of her past, much less imagining that a fishman could be her friend. Later, Nami also shows that she is very worried about Zoro who has gone missing. She even seemed to hesitate even though Luffy had clearly said they should run away. Of all the crew members, Nami was probably the person most worried about Zoro as they would leave him if she ran away now.

Fishman Island Arc:
Post time-skip, Zoro and Nami don’t have many moments, but they still talk to each other. Even though Nami tries to explain some wonders, Zoro, he still pays attention to her. After two years, Nami also seems to be less violent than before, in fact she scolds her crew members less. In the Ryugu Palace, she even uses the situation in her favor to ask for 1 billion berry. Zoro doesn’t answer her immediately, he rather chose to ignore her. How long they’ve been together in the past, Zoro knows how Nami is and has somehow been able to deal with it. 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. 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 half awake, because a few moments later, Luffy called him, and immediately woke up.

Punk Hazard Arc:
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. Later, Zoro gets very angry when Sanji’s soul did something like feel Nami’s breasts. 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. Even after the age of two, 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.

Dressrosa Arc:
In the arc of Dressrosa, Zoro obtains information from Wicca about the attack of their ship, being that he would like to save Nami, Brook, Momonosuke and Chopper, but being that he is almost lost, he made a deal with Wicca, that is, he would bring her to Flower Fields, and she would take him to the Sunny. And once he arrived at Flower Fields, Zoro completely lost count of what he was supposed to do. When he finally remembers what he should have done, he starts to panic, but says that Nami and the others would definitely have done something. Even though Zoro didn’t go to rescue Nami and the others, he wears a cat costume (the cat looks like Nami).

Fanon
Although not as popular as LuNa, SaNa or Zoyori, the ship between Zoro and Nami is still popular in its own right, in fact ZoNa, ranks seventh as the most popular het ship. 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.

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.

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 (ZoKu), Hiyori (Zoyori), Tashigi (ZoTa), Perona (ZoRona), and Nico Robin (ZoRo). Conversely, Nami has been shipped with Luffy (LuNa), Sanji (SaNa) and Usopp (UsoNa). 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.

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Trivia

 * 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, on the sixth page, 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 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.