Every Great Grade Blade We Know In One Piece

Meito, alternatively known as Legendary Swords, Famed Blades, and similar aliases are, as each name implies, specially made blades of superior renown. Those well-versed in blades will be able to instantly recognize them, and they tend to command both high prices and superior wielders. Meito are individually given “grades” based on their strength and quality.

Great Grade Blades are the blades of the second-highest grade, resting only below the 12 Supreme Blades. There are only 21 of these Meito in existence. The five currently known to the audience originate from Wano Country, known for its superior craftsmen, and are currently in possession of those with ties to the area. This list will document every currently known Great Grade Blade.

6 Wado Ichimonji

One of Zoro’s Blades

• Current Owner: Roronoa Zoro
• Creator: Shimotsuki Kouzaburou

Wado Ichimonji is a katana that has been owned by Zoro since his efforts to become the World’s Strongest Swordsman. It was previously wielded by his friend and training partner, Shimotsuki Kuina. Wado Ichimonji was crafted by her grandfather, Kouzaburou, who brought it along with him from Wano. Settling in the East Blue, he helped found the eponymous Shimotsuki Village. Kouzaburou’s heirloom would later be used by both his son, Koushirou, and granddaughter, Kuina.

Kuina and Zoro were Koushirou’s best students, developing a close friendship and rivalry as a result of this. In a serious fight, Kuina used Wado Ichimonji and soundly defeated Zoro with it. However, she celebrated little, as her Koushirou’s sexist beliefs that women could not be as skilled with the sword concerned her, especially as she was approaching puberty. Zoro assured her that skill and determination were the only things that truly mattered, and the two friends mutually swore one of them would become the World’s Strongest Swordsman.

After her sudden death at the age of eleven, Zoro requested the sword, so he could fulfill his promise to Kuina. Koushirou allowed this, and it has remained with the swordsman since. In a way, it is still technically a Shimotsuki heirloom, as Zoro’s paternal grandmother, Furiko, was also a Shimotsuki. Wado Ichimonji is notable enough that Tashigi was offended that a mere pirate claimed ownership of it.

5 Ame no Habakiri

One of Oden’s Blades

• Current Owner: Kozuki Momonosuke (Tentatively)
• Creator: Kozuki Sukiyaki

Ame no Habakiri was one of Kozuki Oden’s signature swords, used in his own variation of the Two-Sword Style. The blade has a heavenly color scheme of white and gold. It shares its name with the Japanese katana of legend used by the Shinto God, Susanoo, to slay the eight-headed serpent, Yamata No Orochi. This distinction is likely because it was previously one of only a couple weapons to damage Kaido in his dragon form.

This sword was notably forged by Kozuki Sukiyaki, Oden’s father, who is a master craftsman. After the death of his son, Sukiyaki somehow managed to retrieve Ame no Habakiri. Although Sukiyaki wants Momonosuke to wield his heirloom, he does yet not see himself as worthy of wielding his father’s sword.

4 Enma

A Demonic Meito

• Current Owner: Roronoa Zoro
• Creator: Shimotsuki Kouzaburou

Enma was Oden’s other signature sword, being something of a demonic counterpart to the more heavenly Ame no Habakiri, sporting a color scheme of dark purple and red. Like Wado Ichimonji, it was previously created by Kouzaburou, and is currently owned presently by his distant relative, Zoro. Kouzaburou notably thought the Enma was superior to even Wado Ichimonji.

While inheriting Ame no Habakiri was supposedly Momonosuke’s birthright, Enma belonged to his younger sister, Hiyori. However, Hiyori traded the blade to Zoro in exchange for Shusui.

Like, Ame no Habakiri, Enma was one of two blades to scar Kaido many years ago, resulting in the distinctive “x” shaped scar seen on his chest. The blade can release its wielder’s Arament Haki, resulting in gaining a feared reputation. Zoro’s arm was emaciated until he established control with the blade, and it apparently would emaciate a lesser swordsman’s entire body. Zoro not only wounded Kaido once again with Enma, but also used it to defeat King, which is especially notable when one considers he is of the resilient Lunarian species.

Sukiyaki alleges that if Zoro can transform Enma into a permanent Black Blade, it may increase a grade, potentially becoming a Supreme Grade sword. A weird detail about Enma is that its size seems to shift to accommodate the more normally-sized Zoro, and the larger Oden. This inconsistency is also shared with Ame no Habakiri, but is more notable with Enma, as it is specifically seen being wielded by the two differently-sized swordsmen, and proportional to either of them.

3 Nidai Kitetsu

A Cursed Sword

• Current Owner: Kozuki Sukiyaki
• Creator: Kotetsu

Nidai Kitetsu is a supposedly cursed katana from the Kitetsu school, all of which are said to bring horrible deaths upon their owners. It was crafted by Kotetsu, an ancestor of the Kozuki Clan. His descendant, Kozuki Sukiyaki, is the current owner of the blade. Sandai Kitetsu, one of the other Kitetsu Meito, is currently owned by Zoro, who discovered it at Lougetown and elected to test his luck against the blade. Notably, the Sandai Kitetsu is Zoro’s only sword currently in use that is below Great Grade, being merely a Grade Blade (the lowest grade of Meito, of which there are an indeterminate number.)

The Kitetsu Meito seemingly lowered in grade the more recently they were made. Nidai Kitetsu is of a lower grade than Shodai Kitetsu, a blade made prior to Kotetsu’s creation, but is of a higher grade than the Sandai Kitetsu, which was crafted by Sukiyaki, who is still alive. Sukiyaki lent the blade to Luffy, whose treatment of the weapon was heavily criticized by Zoro. Notably, Luffy threw the sword, rather than duel people directly with it. It has subsequently come back into Sukiyaki’s possession, as it was rediscovered at Udon, by Kikunojo.

2 Shusui

A Black Blade

• Current Owner: Amibiguous, rests in the grave of Shimotsuki Ryuma
• Creator: Unknown

Shusui was the signature sword of Shimotsuki Ryuma, a legendary samurai known as the “Sword God” who was an ancestor to Roronoa Zoro, who bore a resemblance to his descendant. Ryuma notably transformed the sword into a Black Blade, one permanently infused with Ryuma’s Arament Haki, which significantly increased its durability. Ryuma was buried along with his sword, but it was confiscated alongside its corpse when Gecko Moria robbed the grave.

It subsequently surfaced alongside its owner’s reanimated body in Thriller Bark. Zoro dueled against his zombified ancestor, who eventually gifted the blade to Zoro himself. Zoro believed his other blades would break against it if the duel continued. Zoro became especially well-versed in the blade once he was trained by Dracule Mihawk, himself the owner of Yoru, another Black Blade.

Shusui has an especially strong connection to Wano Country. Zoro repeatedly had the weapon stolen from him, or was otherwise asked to return it by those from the country. Onimaru stole the blade from Zoro, and returned it to the grave of Ryuma. It is valued so highly that Hiyori exchanged Enma, her own blade, which was previously her father’s, with Zoro in order to secure Shusui’s place in the country.

1 The Other Sixteen Great Grade Blades

Unclear At Present

The status of these Meito, as well as if they will factor into the story at all, remains to be seen. Unlike the five currently known Great Grade Blades, there is at least a possibility the other Meito of this grade originated from outside Wano Country. That being said, this, along with all other details, are purely speculation at this point in time. What is noteworthy is that there are a number of identified Meito of unclear grade, meaning there is the possibility that other existing Great Grade Blades may have been seen but are not currently identified as such.