Zoro & Sanji

Both Zoro and Sanji: Zoro and Sanji didn't really like each other at the beginning. They fought and quarreled a lot, were annoyed by just each others personalities. But with time they grew closer and although they still don't agree in many things, they care about each other, even if they wouldn't say that out loud.

Zoro: Zoro usually maintains a very stern, serious, and distanced personality, but often loses his temper in a goofy and exaggerated comical style. It would seem however, that this anger is the only emotion that Zoro often feels comfortable showing. Outside of situations where he feels confident in battle, he tends to smile or laugh the least out of the Straw Hats and rarely fools around with the rest of the crew and likes to distance himself more to sleep or train. In fact, his defeat at the hands of Dracule Mihawk and subsequent vow to Monkey D. Luffy is the only time since his friend Shimotsuki Kuina passed that Zoro has been seen crying in the series. Even in moments that are particularly tough on the crew and would warrant sadness, Zoro chooses to maintain a quiet solemnity rather than outwardly express his emotions. He has been shown to believe to a degree that these emotions can hinder his judgement as a swordsman: when Ohm asked him if he was out for revenge upon discovering Tony Tony Chopper wounded and unconscious, he replied that he does not like to fight for reasons like that. Despite this assertion, though, he cares deeply for his crewmates and wishes to protect them at all costs. Although Zoro cares for his crew, he can also come off as a very blunt and cold person, especially when he is trying to get his point across. He reprimanded Chopper, reminding it was his choice to join the Straw Hats and compete in the fight and told him to man up and have faith in the crew to win him back. As with the ordeal when Usopp left the crew, Zoro refused to let him come back and even yelled at Nami to shut up when she tried to say otherwise. Zoro lectured the entire crew reminding them Usopp was the one who picked the fight with Luffy and left of his own free will and they cannot let him come back unless he accepts responsibility for his actions and apologizes for his behavior. Zoro also often reminds others of the harsh facts, which often shocks some of the other crew members, although they usually decide he is right in the end. This is especially true in regards to strangers, as Zoro rarely shows much trust in others. This was made apparent when Nico Robin joined, and he was the only one to keep his guard up around her due to her being a former enemy. However, over time, he seems to have learned to place his trust in others more, as he agreed with the alliance with Law and believed Hiyori when she revealed her identity to him. Zoro is also very perceptive, something he demonstrates by providing important and logical decisions at critical times and by evaluating the situation from an objective point of view, as he did in Water 7 by evaluating the best way to handle what seemed like Robin's betrayal. And later again when the crew wanted to bring Usopp back after he challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost, saying that they shouldn't pity Usopp. Zoro was the one who noted that Usopp was at fault for leaving the crew of his own accord. Like Nico Robin, Zoro is also easily really sensitive when put into embarrassing situations to where he prefers to object vocally while usually blushing from embarrassment (though Robin usually ignores and lets go of these situations most of the time because of her patience), rather than respond violently like Nami or Sanji. Examples are during the Thriller Bark Arc, Zoro refused to do something stupid like address Franky as "Bro", or Franky's later joke technique "Pirates Docking 6: "Big Emperor" where after they disassembled, Zoro felt stupid for agreeing to do it in the first place. In the Dressrosa Arc, Zoro was embarrassed when he had Wicca with him when traveling through town, as trying to communicate with her made the people around them think Zoro was "talking to himself" since they couldn't see Wicca due to her small size (though it was revealed at the end of that arc that Dressrosa's citizens were secretly aware of the dwarves' existence). Also, during anime-only events in the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, when Zoro was forced to help take care of children, he intended to make sure that the crew or any of the town's residents that knew him personally did not find out about this embarrassing situation, though later was found out by Robin. Zoro does have rare moments of responding violently in these situations, such as choking Chopper during Aqua Laguna for mentioning to Luffy and Nami the embarrassing story of how Zoro got stuck in the chimney of a house which Luffy laughed about (though Luffy was also in a similar situation earlier). He also seems to be partially irreverent, but not seriously so, simply choosing to focus more on his training and what is clearly in front of him than worry about spiritual matters as well as questions about its mysteries that he cannot truly answer. While he is quite indifferent to the gender or/and age of his opponents, many of his adversaries (like Tashigi and Monet) seem to believe he does not take women seriously when in fact it is only because Tashigi reminded him too much of Kuina and that Monet was merely a distraction. When the latter tried to take advantage of this belief, he cut her down without hesitation, only refraining from killing her because she was too weak to even be considered a proper opponent, using a non-Haki strike in lieu of a blunt attack.[21] During his fight with Miss Monday, Zoro did not hesitate to crush her skull with his bare hands to knock her out. It should be noted that he does disagree to a certain extent about using excessive force against women. For example, when Nico Robin was violently electrocuted by Enel, Zoro was extremely ferocious at him, reminding the Birkan that his target is a woman. Like Luffy, Zoro shows little interest or attraction to women. He was not enticed or won over by the beauty or charms of Nami or Robin when they joined, did not peep on the women's bath when Nami and Vivi were bathing, nor does he show interest in overwhelming beauties such as the Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi or Boa Hancock. Zoro seems to rather focus on whatever task is at hand and his own training. Despite this, Zoro has acted flustered around some women, though not in romantic ways. During his childhood, Zoro was seen blushing when Kuina mentioned her figure was beginning to develop. When he first met Tashigi, he was visibly shocked by her strong resemblance to Kuina and whenever he encountered her, he would constantly try to run away unable to face her. This is no longer the case after the timeskip, as he lost his uncomfortable behavior around her and treated her coldly during their fight with Monet and was more irritated when she complained about him carrying her after she passed out. During his interactions with Kozuki Hiyori, Zoro was very startled to wake up seeing her sleeping on top of his chest and tried to explain to Brook that nothing happened, and more so when she playfully asked if he enjoyed it.

Sanji: One of Sanji's most easily noticeable characteristics is the kind, calm, cool, and collected manner in which he carries himself. He tends to speak in a very composed manner, even in dire situations, and rarely acts without thinking. His demeanor in a lot of ways can be compared to that of a secret agent. This is amplified by the fact that he tends to wear a suit, very often enjoys a smoke, and in the anime, they tend to play smooth music with jazzy undertones when he speaks. He quite often makes comedic exceptions to this, such as when in the presence of beautiful women, or when angered by a crew member. Like Zoro, he is more perceptive than he seems, and often tells people what they need to hear instead of what they want. Hence, he is seen as one of the more hardened members of the crew. For example, when the Straw Hats first meet Laboon and learn that the whale had been waiting for 50 years for a reunion with his crew, it is Sanji who immediately (and correctly) points out that Laboon's crew is most likely dead. Sanji does possess an optimistic and idealistic side. His dream is to find a sea that even other cooks consider mythical. Furthermore, even after the abuse, he experienced from his family as a child, he held out hope that they may have changed for the better. However, this hope proves to be completely futile, but he was angrier than surprised at the revelation, showing that he maintains a healthy sense of skepticism even at his most hopeful. Sanji also showed a high degree of faith in his fiancée, Charlotte Pudding, and was horrified and downcast when he discovered her true motive. Like Franky (and unlike Zoro), Sanji is not afraid to show his emotions when the moment calls for it and is entirely capable of crying or losing his temper, which results in Sanji's short fuse and subsequent beatings of most villains (and Luffy). In fact, a running gag has appeared since Sanji's fight with Jabra, during which he stated that when he gets angry, he "heats up". After this fight, when Sanji gets particularly angry at a villain, he appears to burst into flames. This occurs with both Absalom and Duval, though the latter example appears only in the anime. It is also seen when Luffy states nonchalantly that he is friends with Boa Hancock, considered to be the most beautiful woman, when she appears to prevent a Marine ship from sinking the Thousand Sunny. Despite his hardened outlook on life, Sanji does not object to acting foolishly on certain occasions, like dancing with the more immature members of the crew (Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Brook), or acting childishly excited in certain situations (like when they first visited Skypiea) and he was also the crewmember who enjoyed going to Fish-Man Island the most as he was seen partying with mermaids. He is also one of those who believes that afros give power. Sanji seems to enjoy relaxing with a cup of tea (his favorite drink) as seen when he entered Mr. 3's wax house and helped himself to Miss Golden Week's tea set. This habit came up again in Enies Lobby when Kalifa distracted Sanji by offering him tea; in another instance, Sanji angrily refused Bege when he was offered something to drink while trapped inside of Bege's body. Since at a young age, Sanji has a habit of saying "shit" or "shitty" when describing something. While the Japanese word for feces, "kuso", is not specifically an expletive, Sanji's manner of speech makes the term sound brash. For example, he might call a person he especially does not like a "shitty bastard" or something along those lines (such as his personal nickname for Zeff, "shitty geezer"), but he also described something pleasant to him, like being alone with Nami, as "shitty fantastic" and "the shitty best". He is extremely amorous, constantly flirting with any attractive woman he sees, earning him the nickname "ero-cook" from Zoro. Even as a child, while working in Baratie, Sanji would become love-struck with attractive female customers and end up making mistakes in the process, much to Zeff's irritation. Sanji became even more perverted due to not having seen a woman in two years, making lewd faces when he so much as thought of beautiful women and acted strangely when he got close to 'real' women, causing others to question about his health. He is also known to show jealousy towards others when their luck with women appears better than his, with an example of this being his reaction upon learning that Luffy spent his two years during the timeskip on Amazon Lily and being very close to both Boa Hancock and the mermaid Shirahoshi, as well as his reaction to Momonosuke continuously being allowed to go places like the women's room that Sanji himself would be prohibited. He is also amorous toward females of different humanoid species such as mermaids, giants and minks. He became jealous of Zoro for saving Kozuki Hiyori and getting her attention after Kaidou's defeat. Sanji considers himself handsome and charming, often comparing himself to a fairytale prince (while ironically already being a prince himself). Though this trait has not been explicitly noted by others (similar to most of the male characters), there are times where ladies are interested in the cook, like after rescuing Cocoyasi Village from the Arlong Pirates a whole group of women gathered around him (anime), the female bounty hunters at Whisky Peak and the female members of the Foxy Pirates also took an interest in him (but both of these times they were merely fooling him, making him drop his guard) and more recently, the mermaids of Fish-Man Island were very captivated with the cook and played with him in the water causing Sanji to cry with happiness. The most significant woman to become attracted to him was his ex-fiancée Charlotte Pudding, who despite having been arranged to marry him as per her mother's orders, she ended up falling genuinely in love with him because of his kind heart (interestingly, he seemed to take her lovesick attitude in stride, though this could be because he was focused on saving his crew from her mother and reuniting with them). Pudding even became the first person to kiss him on the lips (though she removed the memory with her Devil Fruit powers afterwards). At other times when Sanji is full of himself, he tends to be brought sharply back to earth by the people around him (such as being called the "Prince of Dumb-ass Kingdom" by Zoro, prompting Sanji to attack him). Despite his perverted nature, Sanji has some degree of self-control, stemming from his loyalty to his crew, as is shown by the fact that in spite of being attracted to Pudding, he sternly refused to marry her and thereby decided to let her down gently. Though he is capable of self-control, Sanji can still allow his extreme lust to control him and warp his perception of a situation; in spite of his knowing about Pudding's malicious nature as well as her intention to murder him, Sanji still found himself deeply captivated by Pudding's beauty and seductive words and physically struggled with himself. However, when the moment called for it, he was stoic when Pudding tried several times to assassinate him, disregarding her feeble taunts and suggested to her that she was lying to herself. Sanji is conscious of his romantic nature but feels no shame throwing himself at beautiful women. When forced to agree with the marriage with Pudding for the sake of his loved ones, he told himself to act like his old romantic side "love cook" despite feeling the grief of being separated from his friends and the danger they were in. During his time on Momoiro Island, Sanji showed his resentment to putting on a dress and losing his manhood. He bluntly declared to Ivankov that he is a man among men who was born to love the ladies and not to be friends with them. To this end, Sanji resisted becoming an okama for two long years. Sanji will often get so caught up in what he calls a "hurricane of love" that he becomes downright delusional. He often imagines himself bursting in on a horse to save Nami or Robin.