Why ‘One Piece' Fans Are Hyped for Nico Robin's Netflix Debut

Gizmodo

a day ago

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.
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.
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.
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.
Similar to Luffy, Nico Robin possesses a Devil Fruit power. Her Flower-Flower Fruit ability allows her to replicate any part of her body onto nearby surfaces. Throughout the series, she has utilized this power for various purposes, including espionage, binding enemies, and even sprouting hand wings for flight.
While Robin is complicit in being a passive force in Baroque Works' crusade of the Kingdom of Alabasta, her true goal is to uncover the truth behind the Void History. Fortunately for her, clues about the Void Century are etched in large granite slabs called Polnegriphs located at the heart of Alabasta and other kingdoms the Straw Hats venture toward on their hunt for the One Piece. Upon encouragement of Luffy, as he's wont to do, Robin joins up with the Straw Hats as their seventh member out of convenience before becoming a stable member of the crew when they learn about her tragic backstory and declare war on the World Government. If you thought Nami's watershed moment with Luffy and the crew in Arlong Park was a tear-jerker, you haven't seen anything yet.
One Piece mania is in full swing: season two of the live-action series is set to premiere next year, a third season is already in development, there's an anime remake in the works, the original manga and anime are still captivating fans weekly, a brand-new LEGO set is now available, and a sequel anime focusing on its heroines in development. And there are countless ways to explore the world of the Straw Hats. For fans eager to learn more about the crew's brilliant archaeologist, they'll find themselves spoiled for choice on which medium they'd prefer to get to know Miss All Sunday.
One Piece season two releases on Netflix in 2026.
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