Nico Robin/Personality and Relationships

Personality
Through her heritage on the island of scholars, Robin is an archaeologist and historian, who seeks the comfort and freedom to study the mysteries of the world. She is the quieter, more reserved crew member, rarely having outburst of emotions (occasional exceptions being sweat drops, and when she cried out to Luffy and the Straw Hats from the Tower of Justice during the Enies Lobby Arc). She even appears calm at times towards her crew mates, often speaking ominously around them. She has an "adult charm" about her, as stated by Sanji. As suited as being describe as the "mother" by Oda she has shown maternal care for others like Chopper and Momonosuke.

Robin also has a somewhat macabre side to her, and often points gross or morbid facts, usually to the disgust of Nami or Usopp. Robin will usually be the first to speculate that a crewmate has met or will meet with a horrible fate, often going into grisly detail. In other instances she will express enthusiasm for anything with a horror theme.

Examples include:
 * When Robin first joins the crew, Usopp asks her what her specialty is, to which she replies, "Killing."
 * When Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were exploring a galleon that had fallen from Skypiea and were eaten by a giant sea turtle, Robin immediately states they they may have been eaten along with the ship.
 * When Nami asks if Zoro was eaten by the skyshark, she says that the clouds would be turning red if he was.
 * When Nami is forced to swing on a rope past the skysharks, Robin says the height is about 50 meters and she would die if she fell.
 * Zoro and Nami return to the Going Merry in Skypiea but they cannot find Chopper, who was guarding the ship. Robin remarks that he may have been "shredded to pieces".
 * When Chopper is taken by the Foxy Pirates during a Davy Back Fight, Nami asks if Foxy is a collector of rare pets. Robin says, "Hopefully not a collector of rare pelts".
 * When the crew decide on the name "Thousand Sunny" for their new ship, Robin says that she was going to suggest the "Being of Darkness".
 * On Thriller Bark, she voluntarily investigates Thriller Bark with Luffy and Franky. She told Nami that she "likes thrills".
 * As Nami screams while testing the Mini Merry II on Thriller Bark, Robin remarks that she may have been cursed by a ghost.
 * When they are attacked by the Cerberus on Thriller Bark, Robin says that she finds it "cute".
 * While the Straw Hats are looking for Nami, Chopper and Usopp at Thriller Bark, Robin says that they are not even able to hear their voices anymore, wondering if they were strangled.
 * While searching for a way to reach Fishman Island in the Shark Submerge III, Robin, Luffy and Brook encounter a giant sea monster that attacks them which resulted in Robin amusingly commenting on his big mouth that could swallow them instead of worrying about the situation.
 * While the other crew members commented on Sanji's bizarre luck in reaction to Duval's face, Robin quipped that he would certainly have an interesting death one day.
 * When Luffy's group went out to beat the kraken and lost their way back to the ship she mildly commented, that hopefully they would not be ripped to shreds by some monster.
 * As Noah approached the battlefield between Straw Hat Pirates and New Fishman Pirates, she wondered whether the ocean would be died red if everyone was smashed by it.
 * When Robin heard the news that Nami, Franky, Sanji and Chopper were kidnapped by some mysterious men with rifles, she seemed concerned if they were already shot and had multiple holes in their body.
 * While riding on Brownbeard with Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Brook, she commented that it'd be nice if Nami and the others' arms and legs have not came off from frostbite.

Before the timeskip she often spoke only when spoken to or if something noteworthy happened. Her calmness is likely a result of the childhood that led to her life of hardship. The calamity that befell Ohara had a profound and traumatizing effect on Robin as a child, that she has only just begun to recover from. However, as she begins to spend more time around the crew, her personality begins to ease up. When Robin is rescued by the Straw Hats from Enies Lobby, it is then that she considers herself both their friend and an official member of their crew. After the timeskip, Robin's personality is much more relaxed and playful in nature (as evidenced by her common giggling), quite possibly due to her exposure to the other Straw Hats. She has also been shown to possess an outstanding amount of knowledge, especially in history.

In spite of her mature appearance and calm demeanor, she seems to have a child-like imagination. Although she is often shown imagining bizarre, silly or cute images, she will rarely give voice to these thoughts, maintaining the straightest of "poker faces". When Bartholomew Kuma mentioned that he was the user of the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, Usopp thought that the calm sound that the fruit's name gave when being said meant that there was a "soothing" type for Devil Fruits, which made Robin imagine three cute cats showing their paws and meowing, while still having a serious expression on her face. Another example of this is when she, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp were going to cross a river to get to the Ice Region of Punk Hazard, Zoro gave the idea of swimming across since being on the Fire Region of said island got them sweaty. Luffy agreed to the idea, thinking that Zoro and Usopp would carry him and Robin across since they cannot swim. This made Robin imagine Zoro and Usopp swimming happily while carrying Luffy and her, while also being happy and smiling, and still showing her normal smiling face on the outside, even though Usopp said that there was no way they would swim across while carrying them. She also imagined Dressrosa as a dress-wearing Ogre when Luffy mispronounced the name.

Her silence seems to stem from her sense of decorum and personal pride; on many occasions, she flatly refuses to engage in any behavior that would be considered embarassing. She refused to participate in Franky's "Tactic No. 15" docking procedure during the battle against Oars. The reason was that she found it "embarrassing as a human being". She then rather flatly added that they should never try it again.

One of Robin's defining traits is her utter lack of fear regarding the situation as she, like Zoro, rarely shows any fear regarding the situation and maintains a positive and even cheerful demeanor (the only times she shows fear is during the Buster Call at Enies Lobby and when the crew were being scattered by Kuma). Also, unlike Nami, Robin rarely gets angry with any of the crews antics or when they do something that puts them in danger and rather giggles at their antics. This was shown when Luffy told the crew he challenged Big Mom, one of the Yonko, which left the whole crew horrified of Luffy threatening a Yonko, Robin just smiled and laughed.

Robin: The things you have destroyed back there were priceless artifacts. Precious treasure whose importance cannot be measured... History may always be repeating itself, but humans cannot go back into the past... you wouldn't understand that, would you?

Yama: I... I understand... I won't... do it again... Forgive...

Robin: No. She will not understand why people regard history as meaningless. To her, there is nothing worse than destroying objects of historical significance. She approaches life and the world at large in a calm manner. She studies the world for its history. She shows little interest in the Ancient Weapons that others, such as Crocodile and Spandam, seek. However, she might be the only one who is able to awaken them.

During battle, Robin tends to maintain a relaxed demeanor that only seems to change whenever the circumstances proved to be beyond her capacity to cope (i.e. a hopeless situation); more often than not, she would exhibit unshakable calmness and reserved behavior against an inferior adversary, to the point where she typically displays by using her powers to satisfy minor necessities (i.e. using a pair of arms sprouting from the ground to form a make-shift seat). And perhaps as a result of her violent past, she is very merciless during combat and like Zoro, she does not shy away from using deadly force. She will break the necks or spines of her enemies without hesitation, even when they cry for forgiveness, as demonstrated when she fought Yama near the ruins of Shandora. Despite her tendency to remain calm and collected, she can be quite intimidating and forceful when she wishes. This is exhibited when she essentially forces Brook to stop fooling around and continue his explanation.

Despite Robin's ability to cope with the bizarre, she was unable to take in the idea of Dwarves, and was even shocked by their nature of easily trusting people, something she usually laughs off whenever Luffy does it. Robin was originally the only member of the crew to possess no comically exaggerated expressions of shock. However, after arriving at Dressrosa, her significant change in personality begins to present itself. Robin has since expressed such expressions at least twice demonstrating that she is no longer the stoic, uncompromising individual she used to be.

Crew
Before the Enies Lobby Arc, Robin often tried to distance herself from other people, even her allies, as she knew that she was bound to leave them sooner or later. Upon first joining the Straw Hat crew she stated simply she had nowhere else to go, declaring that Luffy was responsible for her being alive when she had wished to die and therefore had to take responsibility for his own actions. She rarely called her comrades by name, and instead referred to them using their ship-hand titles, such as Miss Navigator (Kōkaishi-san, i.e. Nami), Mr. Swordsman (Kenshi-san, i.e. Zoro), Mr. Long Nose (Nagahana-kun, i.e. Usopp), etc. She at first only called Luffy and Crocodile by their names, although in a professional manner as an agent. She does, on occasion, call Luffy "sencho-san" (meaning captain).

Over time, however, Robin becomes closer with her crewmates, and begins to develop a sense of belonging with them, and has stated that she cares more about their well-being than that of the rest of the world. After seeing how far they will go in order to save her, she now calls them all by their names. It can be said that after Enies Lobby, she has finally found the friends that Saul said she would. She has also stated that, aside from saving her life, they were responsible for reviving her dream.

Luffy
She is grateful to Luffy for taking her in, and is significantly more patient with his impulsive personality than many of her fellow crewmates, even laughing when he impulsively allows members to join, while the others are shocked (after all, it is through this she became a Straw Hat member). She is also far more tolerant of Luffy's behavior, which at times even makes her laugh. This goes as far back as when they were enemies in the Alabasta Arc; when he fought Crocodile as "Mizu Luffy", drinking an entire barrel of water and spraying it at Crocodile from his mouth to make him more solid. Luffy was the one person able to convince her that she should live even if the world does not want her to, and if so, they are his and his crewmates' enemies as well. In many ways, Luffy reminds Robin of the other D. carrier she befriended.

Nami
Robin is quite close to Nami and often spends time with her, particularly shopping when they have free time, and talking with each other. Robin sympathizes with Nami's frustrations at the male crew members' silly antics, but does not get upset by them. Similarly, Nami views Robin much like a big sister.

Sanji
Sanji constantly flirts with Robin, as he does with Nami. He was the first member (excluding Luffy) to accept her as one of the crew. Sanji describes her as 'a distant, more mature beauty than Nami', yet calls her "Robin-chan" (vs. "Nami-san") which has a "cuter" and more childish aspect. He also tries to make her suffix cuter by changing it to "Robin-chwan" at times, but Robin, unlike Nami, tolerates his advances and typically responds with politeness. In the anime, when Robin refused to "dock" with the crew, Sanji realized he might have been able to see up her dress, to which she shot him a deadly and angry stare, terrifying him.

Zoro
After the Alabasta Arc, when Robin had joined the crew, Zoro initially distrusted her, but later on he demonstrates that he cares for her too, as he is willing to fight for her when she is in danger, such as catching her when she was nearly killed by Enel and furiously attacking him for harming her; being the first one to jump to her aid when she was threatened by Aokiji; and jumping to her aid and protected her from getting killed by Hyouzou and said he would fight him in her place. Furthermore, just like the rest of her friends, he fought to save her from Enies Lobby and won the key that eventually set her free. Robin herself is willing to protect him in any kind of danger he is in, such as how she desperately tried to save him from getting killed by Kizaru and stopping him from being killed by the water pressure when he wanted to exit the ship on the way towards Fishman Island. After Enies Lobby, Zoro completely trusts Robin and they both get along well with each other.

Franky
Robin gets along well with Franky, and she appreciates him risking his life to save her. There is an ongoing gag that Nami and Robin are completely numb to the "romance" of Franky's robotic creations and body (while Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp are left in awe). She has a lot in common with him since both were wanted by the World Government's Cipher Pol when they were children despite being innocent and they saw their loved ones destroyed by the World Government in front of them. The two of them have shared a heart warming philosophical connection over the evil (or lack of evil) present in a dangerous item or person existing. Franky's staunch devotion to the words of his master, that simply existing is not a crime, and no matter what, someone (or something) must be proud of its existence, moved Robin as she considered the morality of her own existence while being capable of awakening the Ancient Weapons. But though they share this commonality, he holds the distinction of the only crew member capable of annoying her (to the point where she expresses it openly). While she is amused by the rest of the crews antics and occassionally participates, she outright rejected participating in "docking" mode in Thriller Bark. Furthermore, while the crew's hearts were scrambled in the Punk Hazard arc, she expressed her disgust at Franky's facial expressions and speech while in Chopper's body. After they were switched back, she voiced her relief most fervently, saying she hopes it never happens again (ever).

Chopper
Her relationship with Chopper exists on two levels. First on a somewhat maternal level, as she finds him "cute". She acts quite motherly towards Chopper - in contrast with Nami's tougher grip. Secondly, on an intellectual level, where she treats Chopper somewhat like an equal due to their mutual intellectual pursuits and love of books (despite the difference in disciplines).

Brook
She rarely interacts with Brook. She stood there emotionless when she met him and she does nothing when Brook asks to see her panties. In a filler arc, when Brook first joins, as he felt unworthy of being in the crew, Robin shares with Brook how she first felt joining the crew, and was able to relate with Brook. She says that true friends will not abandon you and she reassures Brook that he will be fine amongst the crew.

Usopp
Usopp and Robin get along well with each other. Robin however does not typically respond to Usopp's acts of cowardice and more often than not will play it off like it never happened. Many examples of this are seen during the Dressrosa Arc. In spite of this, Usopp cares about Robin's well-being and was in fact, the one who prevented her from being taken from Enies Lobby to Impel Down under the guise of Sogeking. It was after this moment that Robin ceased referring to him as "Nagahana-kun" and simply, "Usopp".

Clover
Professor Clover allowed Robin to become an archaeologist, it was his research on Poneglyphs that sparked her interest in the True History. Clover allowed her to read books in his library which sparked her interest in them. She was supported by the other archaeologists in the Tree of Knowledge. They were her only friends and they cared for her more than anything. Even when they threatened to ban her from the Tree of Knowledge if she continued to spy on the efforts to uncover the True History, they did so in order to prevent her from being branded as a criminal.

Jaguar D. Saul
Aside from this, Jaguar D. Saul also held a special place in Robin's heart for befriending her during her periods of loneliness, recognizing her pain and encouraging her to laugh in hard times, in addition to sacrificing himself in order to save her life. Saul was shipwrecked in a storm, and then sent adrift in the ocean until fatefully landing on Ohara itself. There, he met and, at first unknowingly, befriended Nico Robin and was reunited with Nico Olvia. After promising Olvia that he would ensure Robin's safety, Saul was confronted by Vice Admiral Kuzan (Aokiji) as he was destroying the Buster Call ships. As he was being frozen, Saul smiled and laughed, cryptically echoing the way Gol D. Roger was executed two years prior.

Revolutionary Army
The first members of the Revolutionary Army that Robin met (to her knowledge) were the ones liberating the slaves at Tequila Wolf. She was suprised to learn that she was referred to as the "Light of the Revolution" by them and that they had been searching for her for 10 years under the orders of none other than Dragon himself. They offered to take her to Dragon but she declined at first, saying that she had a crew. After she read Luffy's message in the newspaper, she decided to go with them to Dragon. She joked that she wished they would have come for her sooner (which they thought she was serious at first and apologized), but she said that she's glad with the way things turned out. She refused to go inside the ship, saying that she did not want to go anywhere where she could not escape. The revolutionaries accommodated her by bringing blankets, drinks, food, a sofa, and a wind protector for her. After the two year timeskip, she returned to Sabaody Archipelago alone but escaping some people. It's currently unknown what her relationships with Dragon or the other revolutionaries are now.

Vivi
During her time in Baroque Works, Robin was the enemy of those trying to save the kingdom from Crocodile's conspiracy, especially Nefertari Vivi, who believed that she had killed Igaram, and the Straw Hats. As a result, most of the Straw Hats were suspicious about her joining, until she won them over. Upon discovering that Robin joined the crew, Cobra was worried of Vivi's reaction, however Vivi trusted that Luffy has some reason for having her in his crew, and seemed to not hold any grudge against Robin.

Yama
While investigating the ruins of Upper Yard, she was interrupted by Yama. His fighting style destroyed the land around him, and when she yelled at him to stop; he disregarded the importance of the ruins. Robin, infuriated by his disregard of history, drew him away from the ruins, taking a few hits in the process. Once in an open terrain, she proceeded to go all out, employing rather painful methods such as slamming Yama into a tree and flipping his Ten-Fold Axe to hit him. After this beating, Yama begged and apologized to Robin, saying that he now understood the value of history. Robin ignored his plea, stating that what he did was still inexcusable. Then, when Yama tried to grab Robin, she broke his fingers with her extra arms and used Cien Fleur: Delphinium to hurl the commander off a cliff and down to a lower level of Upper Yard and held him in a lock position increasing the potential impact, and then uses "Seis Fleur: Clutch" to snap him before he crashes into the ground. After Enel was deposed, it is unknown what happened to Yama.

World Government
Robin's greatest threat is always from the World Government, since, from the age of eight, they have ruthlessly hunted her. Wherever she went she was unable to find happiness and was constantly thrown out. And when the people she stayed with found out they were now the targets of the World Government, the group would turn on her, with the exception of Crocodile who agreed to protect her. To this end, Robin's claim is that her greatest enemy is the world itself.

Crocodile
Aside from the World Government, Robin has made many enemies in the past through her constant betrayal, the most dangerous of which is Crocodile. Crocodile's connection to Robin was a strictly business-related one; he did not consider her a friend, but only as a tool for his own ambitions. Although sheltering her from the authorities in exchange for her services, he never once showed her compassion; she was just expected to follow orders. He held no pity for her when she failed to deliver Pluton and did not think twice about striking her, although he did admit she had been a beneficial partner to him moments beforehand.

Iceburg
Several other civilians hate her, fearing her ability to awaken Pluton. Iceburg is one such example, as he states that while he would prefer to burn Pluton's blueprints, he must guard them in case the World Government uses her to revive the weapon. However, his opinion of her changes after he realizes that she is willing to turn herself in to save her friends, finally admitting that she is a good person. Franky feels similarly about her at first, but after learning of her being forced to turn herself in to save her friends, he immediately sympathizes with her due to his sentimental nature.

Aokiji
While Robin fears the three admirals for their reputation of being the most powerful fighters of the Marines, she fears Aokiji the most, for they had a personal encounter 20 years ago. Aokiji stated that he was not her friend, and he would hunt her down if she became a problem. However, he had let her live due to the wish of his good friend, Jaguar D. Saul, who also happened to be Robin's friend. After the war within Enies Lobby, Aokiji had seemed to have formed a somewhat benign relationship with Robin, stating "Ohara still lives".

Spandam and Spandine
Two of Robin's greatest enemies are former CP9 director, Spandine, and his son, Spandam, both of whom considered her a "devil". They activated the Buster Call in attempts to kill those dear to Robin (the citizens of Ohara and the Straw Hat Pirates, respectively, though the latter was triggered accidentally). Robin herself was the victim of their abuse of authority, suffering physical, verbal and emotional abuse from Spandam, until Franky freed her. Consequently, Robin took her revenge by seriously injuring Spandam when the opportunity arose (namely, Seis Fleur Slapping him silly and in the end breaking his spine).

Nico Olvia
Nico Olvia was Robin's mother and although the two went for many years without seeing each other, her mother still loved her deeply. She was proud of her daughter and considered her amazing for being able to read Poneglyphs at an extremely young age. Her only regret was she was unable to spend time with her daughter and all Robin ever wanted was to see her again and be with her.

After the truth was spoken to the World Government by Clover, Olvia was confronted by Robin as she was being taken away and finally, after Robin's pleas, she admitted her relationship with her. As the Buster Call was about to begin, Spandine ordered that she be taken with them, but panicked after being almost directly hit by an explosion and ran off. Nico Olvia was left behind and was finally reunited with her daughter. She hugged her and remarked that she was very proud of her. She then pleaded to Saul to take Robin to safety and told Robin to continue to live, to hand down the history to others, and to live her life to the fullest.

Roji
After her husband died, Olvia set out on a six year journey to research the Poneglyph along with thirty three other archaeologists. Although she found it regrettable that she had to leave Robin, it was something she felt she had to do: she left Robin in her brother, in his wife's, Roji's care. Roji was Robin's aunt, via marriage to Olvia's brother. She disliked Robin and mistreated her from the very moment she walked into her house and treated her like nothing short of a slave.

Other
Although they were related to her, Robin is never shown interacting with her uncle and cousin. Robin's uncle was seen defending her against his wife, but otherwise did little to help her or acknowledge her as a member of the family. Robin also had a father, however, she never knew him and his name remains unknown. All family members (except Robin's father who died many years beforehand) are believed to have died at Ohara. The children of Ohara usually picked on Robin, but are scared off by her Hana Hana no Mi powers, and the children as well as their parents would call her a monster for it.