[Theory] Kuina's death, Tashgi and Wano

Vandenre1ch

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The first is a theory made by Celestial D. Dragon on Orojackson
Kuina Will! A sister's Determination!
Alright, first lets get it out of the way, Kuina is dead, and she is not coming back. Oda doesn't like the concept of reviving dead characters in a manga, as stated in a 2007 interview with Playboy. But there is one question on everyone's mind, that has sparked countless amounts of theories that Kuina and Tashigi are the same person, and that is, why does Tashigi look almost identical to a young Kuina, and share a similar sword style? I decided to actually sit down and think about it, and with the help of an awesome archaeologist, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. Tashigi is in fact, Kuina's sister..... So without further adieu lets dive into the theory! Lets start off by taking a look at the individual personalities and traits between the two.

Kuina (Source Wikia)





When first introduced (in a flashback), she was cocky and confident in her ability as a swordsman. However, she was always living with the knowledge that since she was a woman, it would only get harder as she gets older for her to compete with men and had been informed by her father of her future woes. She covered her hesitation and fear with cockiness and acted confident instead of fearful and weak, trying to prove to her father that she could become the world's greatest swordsmen. Her gender would force her to give up the swordsman's life as she grew.


Tashigi (Source wikia)





While adept at sword fighting, she is usually clumsy. She is also very well-versed in katanas, knowing their names and origins; even when in danger, she would become obsessed with discovering a famed blade. Tashigi is very brave and reckless when fighting her opponents. She will battle anyone who she considers her enemy, regardless what their reputation is or not. As demonstrated through her fight with others, Tashigi has a "sore loser" personality when it comes to losing a battle. Tashigi's stated goal is to remove all meito from the hands of those who would use them for their own selfish ambitions. Like Kuina, Tashigi felt that as a woman, she would be perceived as inferior to men as a swordswoman.


So you're probably thinking, what does the personality and traits of each individual have to do with connecting them as sisters.....Well everything actually, considering the environment they both would have grown up in, and the principles and rules that would have come with it. It serves as the reason as to why Tashigi was never mentioned in Zoro's flashback, and also serves as why Tashigi is so similar to Kuina (minus the clumsiness, but thats a major part of the theory) First I will give you guys a little synopsis of the theory, and then break down how it all fits.

Kuina and Tashigi were both born as daughters to a Master Swordsman. They both showed great passion in wanting to become strong swordswomen, but due to the fact that Tashigi has a clumsy nature, she was forbidden to enter the Dojo and learn. Kuina would teach Tashigi in private, and after the death of Kuina, Tashigi was forced to train herself, through books, and the basic knowledge of swordplay Kuina had taught her.

So lets get the biggest questions out of the way....Why wasn't Tashigi ever shown or mentioned in Zoro's flashback? Think about it for a minute, Koshiro is a firm believer in the fact that woman can not grow up to become strong swordsman, this belief however did not stop him from teaching Kuina how to use a sword. So why wouldn't he teach Tashigi? The answer is simple, and that is, because of her clumsiness. He would never risk putting his daughter in harms way, and therefore she was forbidden from entering the Dojo, and practicing swordsmanship, therefore Zoro never met Tashigi as a child, and never knew of her existence. And before anyone says "Why didn't Kuina ever mention Tashigi to Zoro" remember, she didn't like Zoro in the beginning, and they didn't become close until the night before she died....

The next question is.....If Koshiro forbid Tashigi from practicing with a sword, then where did she learn to use one? The answer is simple....Kuina taught her. It explains why Tashigi's style is so similar to Kuina's, and it also explains why she doesn't possess the skills of a swordsman who has been trained by a Master all of their life. After Kuina's death, Tashigi had no other option but to continue to train on her own, with the basic knowledge of sword fighting that her sister left her with.

Koshiro forbidding Tashigi from training as a swordsman not only explains why she never met Zoro, but this also explains another one of Tashigi's passions, and that is why she is so obsessed with Swords, and learning about them. Considering Tashigi was raised by a Master Swordsman, being told she was not able to train must have been hard on Tashigi, and the only other option she would have to learn about swords after Kuina's death was by reading.

And finally, there is one last subject I want to touch on, which is another huge question that has been on peoples mind, involving Kuina, and that is, how exactly did someone who trains to become a swordsman, die from falling down a flight of stairs? Well, it's because she didn't die from falling down the stairs, she was killed. Now you're all probably wondering, who and why would someone want to kill Kuina? It's not like she was next in line to inherit the dojo, because her father wouldn't allow it due to the fact that she is a female. So to find the answer, I once again went back, and looked at Tashigi, and her characteristics, and it hit me. Tashigi's goal or dream if you will, is to hunt down every Legendary Sword, and take them from those she considers evil (pirates) But what gave her this mindset? Did something happen in the past involving involving a pirate and one of these Legendary swords? Perhaps a pirate killed someone close to her, in an attempt to take one of these swords, and all of a sudden, the real reason behind Kuina's death became apparent.

How Kuina died

The night before Kuina died, Zoro had challenged her to a fight using real swords, in which Kuina accepted. Instead of grabbing a regular sword from the Dojo, she took the famed Wado Ichimonji from the Dojo, and set off to the place where her and Zoro would fight. But they weren't alone, in the Shadows someone was watching their duel, and recognized that the sword Kuina was using, was one of the 21 O Wazamono Grade Swords. After Zoro's defeat at the hands of Kuina, they had their conversation about their dreams, and made their vows, after which, they went their separate ways. Kuina however, was attacked by the person who was lying in wait, hoping to get his hand on the sword she was carrying. During the struggle, Kuina managed to fend off her attacker, but not before receiving a fatal wound in the process. The attacker however managed to escape.

But why would Koshiro lie to Zoro about how Kuina died? The reason is because Koshiro had high hopes for Zoro, as he saw that he possessed great skill and determination. He knew that if he would have told Zoro the real reason how Kuina died, Zoro would have blamed himself, and spent the rest of his life tracking down the man who killed her. What Koshiro did not know however, was that by telling his other daughter the real reason, it would inspire, and make her even more determined to pick up a sword and fight. It made Tashigi despise those who would pick up a Legendary Sword and use it for their own selfish reasons, as the man who killed her sister was looking to do just that. Had it not been for people like that in the world, Kuina would still be alive. Zoro shares the same principles and dreams as Kuina, he always had, even when she was alive. But his will was always his own, he didn't pick up Kuina's will, Tashigi did.....

This part was made by me on Orojackson
Wano, 7th Shichibukai, Zoro and Tashigi
For those who don't fell like reading the link, the theory talks about Tashigi and Kuina being sisters and that Kuina died because she was assaulted by an assailant seeking the Wado Ichimonji. For some reason the 7th Shichibuaki came to my mind. Its obvious where I'm going with this: The man responsible for Kuina's death is the current 7th Shichibukai and he is currently in Wano. Just think about it:

-The 7th Shichibukai is someone who cut Z's arm off
-He attacked a swordsman's dojo and tried to steal a legendary blade
-Zoro has a personal interest in Wano and Tashigi will definitely benefit from going there as well

With all this, I can see the 7th Shichibukai as a cunning/sneaky and cowardly bastard who seeks legendary swords for him to use for his own selfish deeds. A direct contrast to Tashigi, who wants to collect all the legendary swords from the bad guys. If what I say is true, then Wano is an obvious destination for the 7th Shichibukai and its a good chance for Zoro and Tashigi to realize the truth and their connection to each other and exact revenge on the spot.

Why would the 7th Shichibukai coincidentally be in Wano?
He may be a rogue samurai of Wano or a zoan officer of Kaidou's army. I more so believe the latter as it directly porves that he isn't a true swordsman as he relies of DF powers to enhance his swordsmanship, giving more reason for him to be hated by Zoro and Tashigi.
 

ssjelf

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Several questions:

1. Didn't tashigi recognize wado ichimonji? If she was related to Khulna then obviously she would know the sword belonged to her family, an she would have said something.

2. If someone attacked kuina for her sword, wouldn't they have taken it or attempted to follow up on it? I mean seriously it was just a little girl if the guy was at skilled enough to become a shichibukai then he should have easily beaten her.

3. Wouldn't tasigi recognize zoro, his name, and his style?

Some of these can be explained in part by tasigi being older and having left the household but seriously tashigi would know who zoro is. I think they are just similar characters for the sake of parallel and for zoro character development. Also the 7th shichibukai cutting off Z's arm is canon? Z was non canon. I think he is a character who has yet to play a part in any way yet.
 

ultraChalk

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I gotta stop reading your threads, it's like looking into spoilers Lol.

It all comes together man. Only question is how would she accidentally grab the legendary sword instead of a regular one, and why it would be kept in such an open area, so easily accessible by a child.
 

xXVergiliusXx

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I honestly do believe Kuina didn't diez justo like that, as the theory says, she was a skilled swordsman, a simple fall wouldn't have killed her. I have 3 possible outcomes in mind:

1- She was killed by someone who was trying to get the sword back ( my bets are on a Wanno Kingdom pirate)

Or

2. She committed suicide, she couldn't bear the "unfortune" of being a girl, as she would never inherit the dojo nor become the world's best swordsman

Or

3. She never died, she just escaped on a solo journey but told his father not to tell zoro since he would most likely follow her
 

Caliburn

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You can pretty much scratch all of this as it was made by someone who wants to have a connection between Tashigi and Kuina and consequently starts interpreting everything just so it would fit nicely in that story. If this person had actually been consistent in what he wrote, he should have realized that his own arguments are making his entire theory collapse on itself.

Zoro was in that dojo for years. He had 2001 battles with Kuina. Kuina was the daughter of the dojo's master, Zoro's mentor. Zoro' was also given Wado Ichimonji. Already when he was still a kid, he was able to beat the adults of the dojo, so he was the dojo's ace. The village where they were in, wasn't particularly big either and compared to similar villages, normally almost everyone knows everyone..

...so how it's possible neither Tashigi nor Zoro have any kind of knowledge of the existence of each other? Even if they somehow never met, which is already very unlikely following this supposed theory where both Zoro as Tashigi are portrayed having a close relationship with Kuina, how is it possible they never heard of each other? That's just plainly ridiculous. The creator of that theory uses as argument that Kuina didn't like Zoro and consequently did not say anything to Tashigi. I find that already a very weak argument as people are less reluctant to talk about people they do not like rather than the ones they like. The entire dojo knew about the rivalry between Zoro and Kuina, but somehow her own sister who she is teaching does not know anything? She does not know anything about the guy who is making Kuina training like mad and had over 2000 battles with her?

Sorry, but this is plainly ridiculous. Also they use wooden swords in the dojo, so all that stuff about Tashigi being clumsy I find overly emphasized by the creator, as said before, just to make it all fit nicely.

Above all what pretty much invalidates this theory is Wado Ichimonji. It has already been said before, but when Zoro and Tashigi were in Loguetown in the swordshop it was the first time Tashigi encountered Wado. She first had to conform it using her book because she wasn't sure, so she only knew the sword from her book. How is it possible Tashigi did not recognize the sword her sister used and which was highly likely a family heirloom, or in the least had been in the possession of their father for quite a while? And this for someone who has been obsessed from when she was little with famous swords? She was also in that shop talking about Zoro, but it were only things she heard from afar. So how can she not know that Zoro was from her own hometown, had been going to her family's dojo for years, was the rival of her own sister with whom she had over 2000 fights and who received her sword?

Also Tashigi it has been confirmed that Tashigi is two years older than Zoro. There has never been given an age for Kuina, but she is definitely older than Zoro and there has been an indication she is one year older than Zoro. Meaning they are all very close in age to each other and somehow Zoro and Tashigi are totally not aware of each other's existence...

All that stuff about someone killing Kuina for the sword and a Shichibukai, with all due respect you can't even call that a theory, that's a made up story. There is absolutely nothing that even remotely points towards that. You can make a hundred different stories like this.

Finally this is a picture of Tashigi when she was young made by Oda:

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From the moment this picture was released, many people dropped the Tashigi-Kuina connection as they deemed the resemblance between young Tashigi and Kuina far less noticable than between adult Tashigi and Kuina. It also has to be noted that she has a wooden sword with her, which indicates she did kendo, and that she is reading the book on famous swords, which means that she should have known Wado Ichimonji. The logo on her shirt also seems different than the one of Zoro's dojo, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.


I do believe that one day we will get more info on Zoro's past because honestly compared to most of the other Strawhats, he barely was given much background info. That was probably because Zoro was the first one to join all the way back when the series just started. The more recent someone joined the crew, the more background info was given and the more darker and tragic this background often was. Luffy also was only given a thorough background after the Marineford arc. I however expect it's more related to Zoro's sensei rather than Kuina. Ever since Zoro's flashback during the fight with Daz Bones where his sensei couldn't even cut a paper, I had the feeling he was far more powerful than he so far has been portrayed. This could be connected with that Kuina might have been killed by someone who was once beaten by her father or something, but this is an example of what I described as that you can make up hundreds of stories like these.
 
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