Over the weekend, Netflix unveiled the official season two trailer of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. It’s laden with peeks at where the Straw Hat Pirates’ odyssey will take them on their trek to uncover the pirate king’s hidden treasure—and fans lost their minds at the first look at a fan-favorite character, Miss All Sunday, aka Nico Robin.
While it was announced months ago that Nico Robin would be played by Lera Abova (Honey Don’t!) alongside Joe Manganiello as Mr. O (aka Crocodile), fans had yet to see what Abova would look like as the character.
With the introduction of a new main character alongside Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, Netflix viewers may be curious about Robin’s background and story. To satisfy that curiosity without making them wait an entire year, we’ve compiled a brief overview that explains everything you need to know about her and why folks (present company included) are over the moon about her live-action debut.
Who is Nico Robin?
Initially, Robin is an adversary to the Straw Hats, much like Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z, but she eventually joins their motley crew. Nico Robin is the first adult to join the crew, which is mostly teenagers, with Luffy being the second youngest, excluding fellow recruit to season two, Tony Tony Chopper (Mikaela Hoover). For posterity, Nico Robin is 28 years old, Zoro and Sanji are 19, Nami is 18, Usopp and Luffy are 17, and Chopper is 15. Robin serves as the Straw Hats’ archeologist.
Where did Nico Robin come from?
Robin hails from the island of Ohara, located in the West Blue. Ohara is home to archaeologists who are dedicated to uncovering the mysteries of the Void Century, a secretive period that is as enigmatic as the location of Gol D. Roger’s One Piece. Unfortunately, the people of Ohara suffered a devastating Buster Call—essentially, the One Piece world’s equivalent of a nuclear attack—ordered by the World Government due to their attempts to reveal the lost history that the government has sought to keep hidden.
With the help of a friend, Jaguar D. Saul, Robin managed to escape the Buster Call, but she tragically lost her mother, Nico Olvia, in the process. Since then, Robin has lived a nomadic life, moving from one pirate ship to another. The bounty on her head, issued by the World Government, branded her a “devil child” and labeled her presence as a calamity for any vessel that would take her in. As a result, many pirate crews betrayed her for a reward, further deepening her mistrust of her comrades. Even while she was a member of Baroque Works alongside Crocodile, Robin remained wary of any pirate crew.
How does Robin meet the Straw Hat Crew?
Prior to the Straw Hat crew’s journey to Alabasta, Robin makes an explosive appearance on the Going Merry. While her presence is mostly to tease the crew, stealing Luffy’s treasured straw hat and wearing it atop her own cowboy hat, her purpose is to intimidate the pirate crew from foiling Baroque Works’ political siege of Alabasta. Her warning is especially pointed at former Baroque Works member and princess of Alabasta, Miss Wednesday, aka Vivi Nefertani (Charithra Chandran). Because Robin committed the cardinal sin of making a friend of the Straw Hats sad, her plan goes up in smoke, but it does lay the groundwork for her fascination with how Luffy’s crew operates in contrast with other pirate crews she’s had the displeasure of working with.
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