Are the Strawhat's fighting ability (particularly Robin) being limited by unwritten rule about enemy characters not dying?
Let's begin by stating the obvious. Characters in the OP world rarely die (the major exceptions being flashbacks) and the Strawhat's opponents are no exception. No matter how horrible the villain is, they always get beaten, go about their merry way, and end up in a cover story or something.
I recently read a thread about power rankings for the Strawhats and naturally there seemed to be much debate over where Robin should be placed in the spectrum. Robin is one of my favorite characters in the crew and yet even I am growing tired of her constant clutch moves. They don't seem to fit the character of someone who claims to be a specialist in assassination (these moves are very efficient in disabling the opponent but there are more efficient ways to kill with Robin's devil fruit). That made me wonder if perhaps, after being on the Strawhat crew she realized that cold hearted assassination techniques might not be so acceptable on a crew that doesnt typically finish off their opponents leading her to adopt a kinder, more gentle fighting style. Something along those lines could explain the drop in power between Ms. All Sunday and joining the crew.
ideas re: other characters
Zoro: obvious
Chopper could make various poisons,
Ussop could shoot stronger projectiles, maybe an actual gun like his father.
Of course there are other ways to make them stronger, just wondering if this is a direction people would be happy or upset with…
If the some of the Strawhat's actually began outright killing their opponents, do you think that the Manga could keep its lighthearted adventure quality or would it totally ruin things?
This question was inspired not only by my questions about Robin, but because of randomly watching Hunter x Hunter. IMO, that show finds a way to balance the lighthearted adventure quality without making the characters magically survive even the harshest of situations. Correct me if I am wrong but the only two strawhats with a history of killing anyone are Zoro (Whiskey Peak) and Robin (Assassination). Frankly, I can't even see the others being capable of it, let alone willing to become proficient in it.
First thread… First Post... Hopefully I'll avoid the hall of shame :P