Aphelandra

Aphelandra (アフェランドラ) is a pirate and a member of the tribe of Kuja living on the island of Amazon Lily.

Appearance
Aphelandra is an extremely tall individual who probably ranks as one of the tallest Kuja from Amazon Lily. Her facial features are child-like and include wide dark colored eyes. She has long ginger brown hair with locks falling down to below her shoulders from either side of her head.

She, like the rest of the Kuja, wears scanty attire. Hers consists of a revealing blue corset (that exposes her large breasts and cleavage) with yellow cottony edges and buttons on them, a blue bikini bottom (also yellow cottony edges and buttons around her hips) underneath a white cape, and also wears a plumed hat-like morion type helmet with cheek guards and the Kuja emblem embossed at the front over her forehead. For footwear, she wears dark outdoor boots. Her sword could be seen sheathed horizontally over her lowerback, as opposed to most sword-wielding characters seen in the series, who wear their swords on either hip.

Personality
Despite her size, Aphelandra has shown to be child-like, often repeating what others have said to her as she obeys their command. She is a rather kind and innocent person. She even apologized to Luffy because she had to fight him for being a man. Aphelandra tends to respond to orders in a militaristic manner by suddenly standing straight and using a right-handed salute.

Abilities and Powers
Aphelandra is most likely a melee-type fighter where her prodigious size affords her a tremendous advantage over many foes. This large size worked to Luffy's disadvantage, who landed on her immense bosom during his escape from imprisonment.

She was seen accompanying Boa Hancock on the Kuja pirate ship after the two year timeskip, indicating that she has become strong enough to become part of the crew, since only the strongest warriors are allowed on the ship.

Weapons
Unlike many of the other Kuja, she does not use a snake bow as her weapon, instead using both her large size and a sword she carries behind her to fight.

Haki
It would seem that Aphelandra has yet to master the use of Haki (or at least Busoshoku-type Haki), since she wasn't able to significantly injure Luffy's elastic physiology after she struck him back to the ground with her bare arm.

Amazon Lily Arc
She was first seen when her friend, Marguerite, found the mushroom covered Luffy. She brought him to get the mushrooms picked off of him, and then to be bathed. They then realize that he is a male. She then is seen standing with the other Kujas to witness Luffy awaken.



When he attempts to escape, she is later seen blocking the path of Luffy with her large breasts. She pursues Luffy into the forest after he grabs Marguerite, and after finding Marguerite, she heads toward the sit with the others.

During Luffy's execution, when Marguerite confesses to saving Luffy, Aphelandra claims responsibility, too, and is turned to stone along with her. Luffy puts her petrified form out of harm's way so that if there is a way to return her to normal, he can save her.

She was returned to her normal state after Luffy defeated the Boa sisters and made a deal with Hancock.

She bids Luffy farewell when he embarks on a quest to save his brother.

Post-War Arc
She is seen again with the other Kujas expressing great joy that Luffy has returned.

Two Years Later
At some point, she became part of the Kuja pirate crew.

After picking up Luffy from Rusukaina Island and arriving somewhere close to Sabaody Archipelago, she is seen bidding Luffy farewell as he leaves the Kuja ship on a small boat.

Anime and Manga Differences


In the anime, Aphelandra and her fellow Kujas have a brief interaction with the Heart Pirates.

It shows her along with Kikyo and Marguerite cooking and serving food to the Heart Pirates while they are treating a wounded Luffy. Kikyo strictly tells Aphelandra to not talk to them. Aphelandra is then surprised when they run away, due to Kikyo's anger.

Trivia

 * She is named after the flower aphelandra. Correspondingly, the flower that shares her name is hailed as one of the tallest known flowers in the world.
 * Among the Kuja, Aphelandra is one of the tallest members on the Island. The others include Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold.