- Killer was neither the first "Kamazo" nor the last. The first Kamazou was probably Ushimaru Shimotsuki, having taken on an alias and gone underground after the doomed rebellion against Kaido and Orochi. What happened to him, can't say for sure, but I'd imagine he died at some point. But not before making sure his wife, a Fugetsu woman, and young child, Zoro, managed to escape Wano.
Zoro will be the next to "inherit" the role, being the son of the first and having "claimed" it in a sense by having defeated Killer. This will happen shortly after I predict Zoro being defeated during the raid and taking a tumble off the floating Onigashima, landing in the sea of Wano. We'll see him wash ashore, as is common, having also lost his memory ala Big Mom. This being Zoro, maybe he'll even end up on another part of Wano entirely lol. Zoro proceeds to become a rurouni ( aka wandering, masterless samurai ), cutting down bad guys as he goes and becoming feared as the very criminal he was accused of being when the arc started!
Couple of reasons I believe it.
- Zoro mentioned wanted to possess a fire sword, but his track history speaks to an affinity for wind.
- The Fugetsu has the character for
wind ( fu )in it, ie wind moon.
- Kamazo, with his sickles, symbolizes the yokai the kamaitachi ( sickle weasel ), associated with gusts of cutting wind.
- Recall how Zoro himself took Killer's weapon into his mouth to unleash his Onigiri attack.
- I imagine that Zoro's dad, the original Kamazou, had lost an arm in the conflict, fighting using a two-sword style similar to Zoro; only with a sword in his remaining hand a sickle held in his mouth like Zoro ( and certain depictions of the kamaitachi ).
Basically, Zoro's dad would be a reference to famous one armed, eye-scarred, gruff fictional samurai Tange Sazen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tange_Sazen
Scarred eye, like father like son?
....Theeeeeeeeeeen again, one would assume it'd be a clan member of a clan associated with wind who'd be representing the kamaitachi and slicing bitches up, right? Quite possibly. Of the many movies and depictions of the character that were made, one of which presented a female version of the character named O-kin Sazen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Sazen_and_the_Drenched_Swallow_Sword
Perhaps it was not Zoro's mom but his
mom who ran around under the Kamazou alias? Quite a bit irony to pack in here, considering Zoro's relationship with Kuina and Tashigi. And all the more interesting when you look at the title of the movie up above, seeing how Oda loves naming female characters after birds.
- Note that the kamaitachi legends often depicts a trio of them working in tandem. There being 3 Kamazous in total, or family members and a "fake" in Killer, could reference this bit of lore.
- As I've said before, we've seen men with hearts of maidens, so expect to see some ladies with a very manly spirit as well. Surprise, surprise, Zoro's mom was grizzled, masculine elite swordswoman?
Bigger hilarious shocker: despite being a roughhouser of a woman, she's also got ( or possibly had..) 9 other kids. As many have guessed, Zoro's
Zorojuro alias ( juro --> 10th son ), might have been a bit of tongue-in-cheek foreshadowing on Oda's part. He so does love hiding the truth in plain sight.
- I'm quite convinced now that King is fact a hyper-masculine warrior woman as well, something which is bound to factor heavily into this entire subplot. Zoro facing off against King in some capacity was undoubtedly going to happen in some fashion, for various reasons, but this may add quite a few more layers to the confrontation.
Remember Zoro's interactions with the tall and secretive Kiku?
Consider too that Tengu are know to wield power over wind as well. This would then frame Zoro vs. King as a battle between fellow wind yokai, the Kamaitachi and the Tengu.
Either way, with Zoro and Marco facing off against King and Queen as of the latest chapter, I'm expecting we'll see some one or both of the Calamities mentioning something to the effect of Zoro reminding them of somebody. Wouldn't be surprised if King or Queen, or both, fought with Zoro's parents in the past. Perhaps it was even one of them who took Queen's arm?
- We saw Queen surprised by Sanji's lineage, now it's Zoro's turn.
- If Zoro's dad is Ushimaru Shimotsuki, that means he's related to quite of the characters he's encountered thus far: Yasu, Toko, and Onimaru. Fate at work?
- Zoro may owe his seaweed hair to his father's side of the family; I've a feeling Yasu's spiky afro isn't just a reference to a hedgehog but a
sea urchin.
- I'm pretty certain each and every one of the Strawhats is going to adopt a superhero identity at some point. In light of his connections to Ushimaru and Onimaru, it makes the inevitable Zorro reference all the more fitting ( "zorro" meaning fox in Spanish ).
- If I'm right about all this, including the possibility of Queen having lost an arm to either of his parents...well, I already predicting that the Strawhats would not only lose, but lose
hard, with all of them experiencing some hellish experience. I was juggling the idea of Zoro losing an arm in battle, threatening the future use of his 3 sword style in the future...now I'm kinda leaning in that direction.
How? Same as Kiku, by means of Kaido's kamaitachi wind blade attack :>
- Finally, just imagine Zoro's mother walking up and introducing herself not as Kamazou but funnily enough O-kamazou, as would be customary of a woman in this setting.
O-kamazou. Get it? Adds another layer to his interactions with O-kiku, I would say.
