Summary
InOne Piece, Nami and Nico Robin are the only twofemale members of the Straw Hat Piratesand as a result, they have both inevitably become two of the most iconic female characters in the entire anime and manga industry. And while these two powerful pirate ladies obviously share a lot of similarities that have helped them form a strong feminine bond, they are also quite different in a variety of ways.
After all, Robin is older and wiser than Nami, not to mention that she specializes in archeology, while her friend is the crew’s excellent navigator/cartographer. These differences have made their friendship all the more interesting, but it also means that there are many things Robin can do that Nami obviously can’t, and these are the most fascinating examples of their dichotomy.
1Using Devil Fruit Powers
Robin Ate One Of The Most Versatile Devil Fruits In The Series
Every single member of this crew has their unique fighting style that’s especially useful whenever they have to engage in battle. However, the Straw Hat Pirates can be divided into two groups: the ones who ate a Devil Fruit and the ones who didn’t. Nami belongs to the latter and, as a result, she relies on her unique weapon, the Clima-Tact, and her mastery over the Art of Weather to fight her opponents.
Nico Robin, on the other hand, not only stands out for being the only woman in the crew who ate a Devil Fruit, but also because her powers are incredibly unique, strong, and versatile:she ate theHana Hana no Mi, which allows her to grow multiple body parts on any surface. She even trained her ability and learned how to create replicas of herself of varying sizes. Nami is quite strong, but she can’t even compare with Robin, who has managed to achieve some truly impressive things with her Devil Fruit powers, like when she single-handedly defeated Black Maria of the Beasts Pirates.
2Using Fish-Man Karate
Robin Learned How To Use This Strong And Unique Fighting Style
As previously mentioned, Nami prefers to fight her opponents by wielding her Clima-Tact in combination with her Art of Weather, but she still isn’t much of a fighter and often prefers to leave the action to the other members of the crew, like Luffy, Zoro, or Sanji. Not to mention that she doesn’t really fight with her bare hands, unless she has to punch or slap any of her fellow crew members to punish them.
Due to the nature of her Devil Fruit, Robin has always been more used to fighting with her limbs, including her hands. This element of her character was elevatedwhen she learned how to useFish-Man Karateduring the two-year time skip, which greatly enhanced the power of her physical attacks. This not only differentiates her from Nami but from most other human characters inOne Piece, since she and Koala are seemingly the only characters in the series who can use this particular fighting style despite not being Fish-Men/Merfolk.
3Reading Poneglyphs
After All, Robin’s An Archeologist And Nami’s A Navigator
Everybody in the crew has a specific position, and their contributions not only help in their everyday travels, but they will also play a vital role in the adventure to find the mythical One Piece. Nami is the crew’s navigator, meaning that she’s responsible for deciding which routes the Thousand Sunny will take and how to deal with the New World’s unpredictable weather.
On the other hand, however, Nico Robin is a talented and seasoned archaeologist who has dedicated her entire life to unveiling the secrets of the world, and as a result, she’s one of the few living people who can readPoneglyphs. These mysterious cube-shaped stones hold the history she’s looking for, and their red counterparts,theRoad Poneglyphs, will reveal the location of Laugh Tale to whoever can gather all four. While Robin and Nami have very different specializations and talents, Luffy knows that he needs the help of both if he wants to find the One Piece in the near future.
4Being More Patient With The Crew
Nami Is A Lot More Temperamental Than Her Older Female Friend
Since Nami joined the Straw Hats very early on, and she has repeatedly been shown to be more mature than most of her crewmates, she has been in charge of keeping them in check throughout most of the story. She knows precisely how to reprimand Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji whenever it’s necessary and, as a result, she’s not very patient with them when they’re goofing around.
Nico Robin has shown to be much more patient with her fellow crewmates, especially when compared to Nami. Since she’s much older than most of them,she treats them like her younger brothers and often laughs at theircomedic anticsinstead of punishing them for it. There have been some exceptions, however, like whenever Sanji tried to overstep any boundaries with her or when Franky talked while he was inside Chopper’s body in Punk Hazard. However, unlike Nami, Robin doesn’t attack them directly and prefers to threaten them with words instead.
5Understanding Luffy’s Mind
Robin Is One Of The Few Straw Hats Who Can Decipher Their Captain’s Thoughts
Monkey D. Luffyis an excellent protagonist with many positive qualities, but his intelligence is definitely not one of them (at least when he’s not fighting someone). He’s a simple-minded and goofy individual with many unique quirks, like his tendency to forget names or his innocent inability to lie. Because of this, some Straw Hats who have been sailing with him for a longer time, like Nami or Usopp, can’t always understand exactly what Luffy is trying to say or do, which makes him very unpredictable in their eyes.
Nico Robin, on the other hand, is possibly the most intelligent member of the crew and, thus,she can understand Luffy’s unique mind like no one else. This has been showcased throughout the story many times, and it always leads to some hilarious and endearing scenes, like in Punk Hazard, when she knew how to explain what Pirate Alliances are to him and even believed him when he stated that Law could be trusted. Another memorable example took place in Zou, when Robin was the only person who could refresh Luffy’s mind andremind him that Marco the Phoenix was the person whose head looked like a pineapple.
6Cutting The Crew’s Hair
They Take Care Of Two Different Sides Of Their Crewmate’s Fashion
There’s no denying that both Nami and Nico Robin are two fashionable women who care a lot about their looks, like their hair, their accessories, their clothing, etc. However, despite apparently sharing this similarity, they are both in charge of two very different (but equally important) fashion tasks in the everyday life of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Nami loves buying clothes and can often be seen shopping for new outfits every time the crew stops on an island, so it can be assumed that she buys new clothes for some of her fellow crew members, like Luffy, Zoro, or Chopper. On the other hand,Eiichiro Oda confirmed in an SBS column that Usopp, Sanji, and Robin are the crew’s assignedhairdressers, which confirms that she has a talent for cutting hair. Nevertheless, it’s highly likely that Usopp and Sanji only cut the other guy’s hair, while Robin exclusively cuts Nami’s.
7Spying And Infiltrating
Both Women Have Good Deceiving Skills, But They Use Them In Different Ways
Both Nami and Nico Robin know how to use their brilliant minds and their good looks to trick other people (especially men) into doing their bidding, but their approach and their goals are completely different. Nami often uses this skill to obtain money, either by distracting other people to steal from them or by manipulating love-struck men into giving her money.
Robin is much more of a classicfemme fatalefrom a spy movie, seeing as that was the archetype she embodied when she was introduced as a member of Baroque Works. She’s more careful, patient, and observant and has repeatedly been shown to be able to infiltrate places to gather vital information,to the point that sometimes she prefers to wear different costumes to achieve this(she did this twice in the Wano Country Arc). On top of that, her Devil Fruit is especially useful in that regard, since it allows her to spy on people by growing eyes or ears in the walls, not to mention that she can even create replicas of herself that help her avoid getting caught.
