Eiichiro Oda’s, One Piece, has some of the most fascinating characters, but none of them harbor the complexity and mystique than Nico Robin.
Archeologist extraordinary and wielder of the Hana Hana no Mi, Nico Robin, has had many aliases, such as Devil Child, Miss All Sunday, and Light of the Revolution. In other words, she has lived a rather complicated life. Through that life, the Straw Hat Pirate has had to make some hard decisions. Many were beneficial to her and even to the world. Some, on the other hand, may have hindered her growth as a person. Either way, her shortcomings have still transcended her into a fascinating individual.
11 Wrong: Not Telling the Straw Hats That The World Government Was Hunting Her
Robin is indeed one of the most intelligent crew members of the Straw Hats; however, did she honestly believe the Straw Hats weren't going to find out about her history with the World Government? They would have found out sooner or later, which they did.
It is a tough topic to discuss without question, but they still deserve to know. Plus, it's not as if Luffy would have looked at Robin any differently, or any of them for that matter. Robin didn’t need to explain why the World Government was hunting her. Sanji explained to Robin that they knew it was just propaganda. He knew she wasn't researching for the legendary weapons. Furthermore, Luffy would have still taken her side because he’s Luffy.
10 Smarter Than We Thought She Was: Not telling Crocodile About What Was On The Poneglyph
Even prior to joining the Straw Hats, Robin always seemed to have a strong sense of right and wrong. While in the Tomb of The Kings, she made the right choice not to divulge details about the legendary ship, Pluton, to Crocodile. She was hoping to obtain information about the Rio Poneglyph, which contains the true history of the Void Century.
She was just using Crocodile and his organization, Baroque Works to get to the tomb. Robin was never going to tell him what was inscribed on it, which there was some information about Pluton on it. That type of information in the hands of a mad man such as Crocodile would have been horrific. The man manipulated and the entire country, so imagine what he could do with a deadly weapon.
9 Wrong: Actually Thinking The Straw Hats Wouldn’t Go After Her
Anyone that knows Luffy knows he will not give up on a friend. Nico Robin turned herself over to the World Government in order to protect her crew. It was chivalrous, but we’re talking about the Straw Hat Crew here.
They’re not going to leave their Nakama behind, regardless of who the enemy is, even the World Government. Although she wasn’t around during the Arlong Park arc, she should still anticipate her crew will always be there for her.
8 Smarter Than We Thought She Was: Joining The Revolutionary Army
After being rescued by them, joining the Revolutionary Army was a brilliant move on Robin's part. By joining Monkey D.Dragons (Luffy’s father) army, she may have learned some important information.
Monkey D. Dragon's focus is taking down the World Government, so he was bound to know something about the void century. Moreover, with Robin being a historian she may have picked Dragons brain about other topics such as the about the Will of D, history of the World Govt, history of the New World, etc. .
7 Wrong: Thinking She Was Protecting Them
Really, Robin wasn’t protecting the Straw Hats from the wrath of CP9. Chances are Luffy would have made an enemy of CP9 anyway, due to his neglect of authority. He hit a Celestial Dragon, for example, and their way above any branch in the World Govt.
It does make sense of how she would want to protect them, though. Again, however, Luffy and his crew chose to be pirates, therefore, it doesn’t matter to them who the enemy is. It’s a high probability they are going to make an enemy out of them anyway.
6 Smarter Than We Thought She Was: Saving Luffy’s Life
After taking a severe beating from Crocodile, Luffy was left for dead. To make matters worse he was sinking in quicksand. Luckily, Nico Robin suddenly appeared and proposed a question. She asked him why do ones with the wielder of the initial “D” fight. Luffy obviously could not answer that question, being, he had no idea what she was talking about. She ended up saving him anyway. It was a bit strange for her to go out of her way to help him. Especially, being that they weren't comrades yet.
More importantly, Robin was still working with Crocodile; the guy that was responsible for putting Luffy in that predicament. She had no moral obligation to Luffy. It's highly doubtful at that point, Robin was considering joining the Straw Hats, either. Perhaps she just felt it was the right thing to do?
5 Wrong: Leaving Without Captains Orders
Although Luffy isn't a stickler for rules, Robin still broke a sacred one, which is asking permission to leave the crew. In fact, Ussop even told her a pirate just can't leave without the pirate crew until the captain approves it.
If anything, they were just heartbroken that she left without saying goodbye, but Robin still should have addressed her leaving the Straw Hats, first. She holds a very important position on the ship, the historian. She’s one of the only few people in the world of One Piece that can read Poneglyphs. And above all else, their friends.
4 Smarter Than We Thought She Was: Deducing They're Two Types of Poneglyph Stones
During the events of the Skypea arc, Robin finds a Poneglyph in the ruins. She also sees that Gol D. Roger has been on the island because his name was inscribed on a text adjacent to the Poneglyph. That’s when she concluded that there are two types of Poneglyph stones.
There are ones with information and there are ones that contain the whereabouts of that information. Later in the series, it is revealed to the Straw Hat crew that 4 Red Poneglyphs will lead the crew to the One Piece, which is on an island known as Raftel. This is mind-blowing because Robin already came to this conclusion about the Poneglyphs very early in the series. Furthermore, this conveys is a very talented historian.
3 Wrong: Believing She Didn’t Have Any Friends
After the tragic events on her home island, Ohara, Robin has had a hard time trusting people, which is understandable. Even before Ohara was destroyed, she was teased by the other children. It was even difficult for her to deem the Straw Hats as her friends.
Every single person from the Straw Hat crew has proved to Robin that they are trustworthy to some extent. That’s why they were so hurt. They were upset that they lost a friend and they didn’t know why. Even Sasuke has friends.
2 Smarter Than We Thought She Was: Joining The Straw Hats
The Straw Hat Pirates wouldn’t be the Straw Hat Pirates without Nico Robin, and that’s a fact. She provides so much information about the world of One Piece, they would have been lost without her. Moreover, they need her to find One Piece. S
he is one of the very few people that can read the Poneglyphs and the Red Poneglyphs contain the whereabouts of Raftel. If it wasn’t for her, Luffy or any of the other crew members, for that matter, wouldn't have been able to find where One Piece is located. Luffy could have easily told her, “no”, when she got on the Going Merry. However, Luffy let her stay on the ship because he felt like a trustworthy person.
1 Wrong: Believing That She Didn’t Have Anything To live For
Despite wanting to protect her crew, Robin mainly turned herself in because she believed she didn’t have anything to live for. Every glimmer of happiness in her life was always ripped away from her. When she met Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats, Robin started to feel something that she hadn't felt in a long time, love. She was able to enjoy life briefly until Admiral Kuzan showed up and reminded her about her past.
It didn’t get any better when they got to Water 7, either. That’s when she made the decision to leave them for good. Robin finally found solace when she yelled to her loyal crew, “I want to live!!!” At that moment, Nico Robin realized she finally found everything she was looking for, friends, family, happiness, and reason to live.