Who Is Nico Robin?

Nico Robin is the archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates and a central protagonist in the anime and manga series One Piece. Known by her epithet, the "Devil Child," she possesses a deep and forbidden knowledge of the world's ancient history. She was introduced in the story as "Miss All Sunday," the second-in-command of the criminal syndicate Baroque Works, led by the Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile.

During the Alabasta Arc, Luffy saved her life from a suicide attempt, after which Robin felt Luffy had a responsibility to her. Following the defeat of Crocodile, Robin, with nowhere else to go, tags along and eventually becomes a permanent member of their crew.

Appearance

Nico Robin is a tall, slender woman with long limbs, black hair, and an hourglass figure. Her overall look, including her skin tone and hair length, changes after the two-year time skip in the series. Pre-timeskip, she has shoulder-length black hair styled in a hime cut, with bangs over her forehead, and she has a darker, tanned complexion compared to the manga's lighter depiction. Additionally, in the manga, her eyes are brown, while the anime depicts them as cerulean blue.

Following the timeskip, Robin’s black hair grows longer, reaching her lower back, and is pulled back, revealing more of her face, and her skin tone becomes lighter, matching the original manga's coloring. She wears a variety of outfits, including a purple leather vest over a pink, sari-like skirt, often with high-heeled pumps and sunglasses. During the Wano Arc, she notably wears traditional geisha attire.

Personality

Nico Robin's personality is defined by her deep intellect, calm and reserved demeanor, dark sense of humor, and immense curiosity for the world's history and mysteries. Initially aloof due to a traumatic past, she develops a warm maternal care for her crewmates as she finds belonging with the Straw Hat Pirates. Her personality is a mix of sophisticated maturity, a hidden playful side, and a surprising warmth beneath her cool exterior, making her a complex and beloved character. 

Background

As a young girl, Robin was a child prodigy living on the island of Ohara, home to the world's largest library and most prominent archaeologists. She secretly taught herself how to read the Poneglyphs, ancient historical stones that contain the lost history of the world. Olvia, her mother, was an archaeologist from Ohara who left Robin in the care of her family to pursue research on the Poneglyphs. 

After her mother’s departure, Robin lived with her uncle Oran and aunt Roji, who subjected her to abuse. At age 8, her mother returned, only to die during a World Government-ordered attack, the Buster Call, on her home island that wiped out its entire population, leaving Robin as the sole survivor. 

Jaguar D. Saul, a giant and former Marine Vice Admiral, befriended the 8-year-old Nico Robin who was an outcast because of her Devil Fruit powers. He taught her to laugh in the face of sadness and assured her that she would one day find true friends. During the Buster Call that destroyed Ohara, Saul helped Robin escape. He confronted his old friend, then-Vice Admiral Kuzan (later Admiral Aokiji), and was frozen solid. He laughed as he was encased in ice, telling Robin to flee and find companions at sea.

Branded a criminal for her ability to read Poneglyphs, she spent the next 20 years on the run from the government before meeting the Straw Hats. Unbeknownst to Robin, Saul survived being frozen. The island's fires thawed him, and he escaped, albeit with severe burn scars and a missing foot. Robin and Saul had a tearful reunion on Elbaf. Robin was relieved to discover that a key figure from her past was still alive, and Saul was overjoyed that she had finally found the brave friends he had promised her she would find.

Powers and Abilities

Robin’s powers and abilities are primarily focused around her devil fruit, the Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit), and her advanced knowledge of archaeology, languages, and world history. Having survived alone for two decades, Robin is incredibly resourceful, intelligent, and skilled at both fighting and stealth.

Devil Fruit

Nico Robin ate the Hana Hana no Mi, a Paramecia-type devil fruit that allows her to sprout and replicate any of her body parts from any surface, including her own body, other people, and objects. The name of the fruit, Hana, is Japanese for "flower" or "bloom," referencing the way her abilities manifest. She has immense control and dexterity over these duplicated limbs and can sprout them instantly within a certain range.

Combat Skills

• Clutch: A signature move where she sprouts arms on an enemy's body and twists their limbs or back to break their bones.

• Mil Fleur: A technique that sprouts up to one thousand arms to immobilize multiple enemies at once across a large area.

• Gigantesco Mano: Creates a pair of giant arms or legs from hundreds of smaller ones to attack, stomp, or swat enemies.

Support Skills

• Wings: She can create a pair of wings out of dozens of arms to briefly glide or fly through the air.

• Spying: By sprouting eyes and ears on distant surfaces, she can gather information and eavesdrop from a safe location.

• Creating Nets and Ropes: She can weave her arms together into nets to catch falling allies or construct ropes for transport.

Post-Timeskip Skills

• Cloning: She can now create a complete, full-bodied clone of herself that can move independently.

• Demonio Fleur: Theorized to be an awakened technique, though not confirmed by Eiichiro Oda. Robin creates a massive, shadowy clone resembling a demon, with multiple extra appendages. This move is powerful enough to knock out a formidable opponent.

• Fish-Man Karate: Giganteum: She learned to incorporate Fish-Man Karate with her giant sprouted arms, allowing her to produce shockwaves with her palm strikes for powerful internal damage.

Archaeological Skills

Nico Robin is a master archaeologist with unparalleled knowledge of ancient history and language, which she developed as a child prodigy on the island of Ohara. Her skills are considered so dangerous by the World Government that she was targeted for extermination at age eight.

• Mastery of Ancient Languages: Robin is one of the only people currently known to be able to read Poneglyphs, which contain historical records and clues to locating the Ancient Weapons and the final island, Laugh Tale. Her proficiency is self-taught, developed through independent research in Ohara's Tree of Knowledge without the guidance of her fellow scholars.

• Comprehensive Historical Knowledge: Beyond reading Poneglyphs, Robin possesses a vast and encompassing knowledge of world history and cultures. She can deduce an object's identity and history through archaeological methods, as shown when she identified the two-century-old remains of a crewman from the St. Briss.

• Deep Research Aptitude: Robin independently researched and learned most of her skills by studying in the Ohara library as a child, demonstrating exceptional academic and research capabilities. She demonstrated her quick adaptability by rapidly mastering the ways of a geisha during the Wano arc to infiltrate Orochi's castle and gather information.

• Worldly Knowledge: In addition to ancient history, Robin possesses an extensive knowledge of major figures and secret organizations within the One Piece world, such as the World Government's Cipher Pol units.

Goals and Reputation

Nico Robin's primary goal is to uncover the true history of the world. Her research is a continuation of the work of the scholars of Ohara, who were executed by the World Government for trying to reveal the secrets of the Void Century, a 100-year gap in recorded history. While her past is tragic, her goal is not motivated by a desire for revenge against the World Government. She simply wants to uncover the truth and ensure that the legacy of her home and its scholars was not erased forever.

Robin has one of the most enduring reputations worldwide, given the epithet "Devil Child" when she was just 8 years old following the World Government's destruction of Ohara. Later, she took on the title "Miss All Sunday" as the second-in-command of the Baroque Works criminal syndicate, though this reputation changed after she joined the Straw Hat crew following the events of the Alabasta saga. Following her two-year stay with the Revolutionary Army during the time-skip, Robin has been referred to as the "Light of the Revolution". It signifies her new role as a key player in uncovering the World Government's greatest secrets, something the revolutionaries also seek to do.

As the archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates, Nico Robin holds a unique and fearsome reputation with a current bounty of 930,000,000 berries, though this is primarily because the World Government considers her a major threat as the sole survivor of the scholars of Ohara, who could read the forbidden Poneglyphs.