Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has a massively sprawling cast, from the main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his loyal Straw Hat Pirates to the villainous Kaido and his Beast Pirate legions. But while the most popular characters in the One Piece fandom tend to be the strongest warriors, one of the best-written characters in the series is a hero who prefers thinking to fighting: the Straw Hats’ resident archeologist, Nico Robin.
Robin is introduced during the Alabasta Saga as the right-hand woman of the villainous Sir Crocodile, but she also saves Luffy at various points, making it unclear whether she’s an enemy or an ally. It’s eventually revealed that Robin was working for Crocodile in order to access Alabasta’s Poneglyph — an ancient stone monolith which bears hidden knowledge written in a forgotten language. But when Crocodile leaves Robin for dead, she decides to stow away on the Straw Hats’ ship and ask to join their crew.
A Woman Of Mystery
Naturally, the Straw Hats aren’t keen on letting an enemy join their ranks, but Luffy trusts Robin without hesitation after being saved by her on multiple occasions. While Robin doesn’t play a major role in the following Skypeia arc, she does get a chance to show off her skill as a fighter, not to mention her passion for archeology and uncovering ancient secrets. But in the brief arc that follows, the Straw Hats are confronted by Aokiji, one of the overwhelmingly powerful Marine Admirals, who seems to have a history with Robin. The Straw Hats manage to narrowly escape Aokiji’s clutches, but he leaves them with a word of warning: wherever Robin goes, disaster is sure to follow.
What follows is the Water 7 Saga, in which the truth behind Robin’s past is revealed. In the floating city of Water 7, Robin is captured by Cipher Pol 9, the World Government’s elite team of assassins. The Straw Hats chase CP9 to the World Government stronghold of Enies Lobby, but Robin begs her crewmates to abandon her: she would rather sacrifice her own life than watch her comrades die trying to save her. After all, challenging the World Government is tantamount to declaring war on the entire planet. At this point, the typically calm and collected Robin is breaking down in tears — and as she reaches her lowest point, Oda finally reveals how Robin’s tale began.
Her Dark Past
In a flashback, it’s shown that Robin was born in Ohara, an island that’s home to the world’s largest library. The daughter of the archeologist Nico Olvia, Robin grew up spending all her time in the library, with her mother’s colleagues as her only companions. However, when Robin decided she wanted to carry on her mother’s dream of uncovering the secret history recorded on the Poneglyphs, she was chastised by her elders for meddling in forbidden knowledge. After being banished from the only place she felt at home, Robin soon found a new friend in the form of the castaway giant Jaguar D. Saul, who encouraged the downhearted Robin to laugh through life’s hardships.
However, tragedy soon struck. In truth, Saul was a deserter from the Marines, who were heading to Ohara to kill Olvia for studying the Poneglyphs. But by the time Saul realized where he was, it was too late. CP9 raided the library, discovering a Poneglyph hidden there, and ordered the Marines to burn the entire island to the ground — the chance of even a single person uncovering the truth behind the world’s secret history posed a threat to the World Government’s rule. Saul rushed Robin to safety on Olvia’s behalf, only to be killed by a young Aokiji. But in his final moments, Saul gave Robin one final laugh, declaring that she would someday find friends once again. Touched by Saul’s sacrifice, Aokiji took mercy on Robin and helped her escape.
Since then, Robin grew up as one of the World Government’s most infamous fugitives: the so-called “Devil Child”, whose very existence was a threat to the world order. She turned to piracy to survive, betraying crew after crew in order to protect herself from the World Government. But after spending so long looking out only for herself, Robin couldn’t bear to see the Straw Hats — the only crew that ever truly cared for her — die for her sake. However, Luffy refused to let his crewmate throw her life away. He asked Robin what she truly wanted: to die to the World Government, or to live alongside her crew? And in one of the series’ most iconic moments, she gives her answer: “I want to live! Take me to sea with you!”
A Brighter Future
After spending her whole life being hated for existing, all because she dared to seek the truths the World Government kept secret, Robin had resigned herself to the idea that she didn’t deserve to live. But thanks to Luffy, she found a crew that saw that her life had meaning — and because of them, she found the will to live once more. Since the battle at Enies Lobby, Robin has been one of the most stalwart members of the Straw Hat Pirates, determined to protect the crew that saved her.
But while Robin has arguably fallen out of the spotlight since the Water 7 Saga, she’s arguably one of the most important Straw Hats. Her backstory links her to some of the most important figures in the One Piece world, from CP9 to the Marine Admirals. Even Jaguar D. Saul, despite being long-dead, has greater significance — his middle initial marks him as a bearer of the mysterious “Will of D.”, just like Monkey D. Luffy and other major characters like Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard, and even the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger. And of course, her dream of discovering the world’s secret history gives her an active role in unraveling one of the series’ greatest mysteries. Plus, it gives her a very personal grudge against the World Government, arguably the ultimate antagonist faction of the manga.
And of course, it’d be a shame not to mention how Oda writes Robin’s personality. Despite being one of the more mature and intellectual Straw Hats, she’s just as quirky and off-beat as her more colorful crewmates. Robin has a distinctly dark sense of humor, and often finds terrifying monsters to be adorable. She even showcases a similarly strange imagination to Luffy on occasion. But above all else, Robin is a truly compassionate person who deeply cares for the people around her. Even in her days as an aloof assassin, she couldn’t help but have mercy on Luffy. And thanks to her time with the Straw Hats, she’s gone from dark and aloof to friendly and upbeat. But to anyone who threatens her crew, she’s as ruthlessly deadly as ever.
The story of Nico Robin is one of loss, redemption, friendship, and hope. She may have once seen herself as a monster, but thanks to Luffy and the other Straw Hats, she’s grown into a true hero who will fight against the entire world to protect the ones she loves. Even if she isn’t the Straw Hats’ strongest fighter, Robin still stands above the crowd in a series filled with masterfully-written characters.