Boa Hancock

Pirate Empress Boa Hancock (海賊女帝 ボア･ハンコック) is the only female member of the Shichibukai. She is the Snake Princess (蛇姫, Hebihime) of Amazon Lily and rules over the Kuja tribe with her two younger Gorgon sisters, Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold. She was first mentioned by the Risky Brothers in the end of the Thriller Bark Arc when comparing her legendary beauty to the beauty of mermaids. She is considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in the world. While she currently remains employed within the Shichibukai, her love for Monkey D. Luffy has caused her to turn against the World Government on a number of occasions.

Appearance
Compared to the abnormal and huge appearance of her sisters, Hancock is a very tall, slender woman with long black hair, large breasts, a high forehead, and dark blue eyes that have long, voluminous lashes. Her 3 measurements are (according to Sanji and series creator Oda in supplemental material): B111-W61-H91, making her a J-cup in Japan.

Her attire changes frequently. When first introduced, she wore a very revealing red blouse that showed much of her chest and loose sarong that exposed her long, slender legs with the green symbol of the Kuja adorned on it, along with a white cape with shoulder pads that are commonly found on a "captain's jacket". She then wore a qipao, with a hooded cloak that she took off during the battle against Whitebeard. Once returned to Amazon Lily, she reverted to her original outfit (with an exception of her cape). In all her outfits, she has worn a pair of golden earrings that look like snakes and high-heeled shoes; her attire is also adorned with the emblem of the Kuja.

Her beauty is noted by many throughout the world: to one of the Risky Brothers, her beauty is second only to that of the mermaids, while others like Marguerite and Hannyabal claim she is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is also almost always seen with Salome, her large Snake Weapon, which, despite the skull it wears, is usually smiling.

Despite Hancock normally looking either calmly beautiful or cute (in an attempt to "apologize" for her actions), when she is angered, she looks truly frightening, with her eyes bulging madly and her teeth bared, as seen when Smoker nearly killed Luffy.

Along with her sisters, on her back is the slave mark of Tenryuubito, something that she was so intent on keeping secret and was willing to petrify anyone (other than her sisters and Elder Nyon) who saw it. In order to make sure it was never seen, she and her sisters concocted a lie that what was really on the sisters' backs were pairs of Gorgon eyes which would petrify anyone who sets eyes on them. Hancock uses this "curse" as an excuse for her and her sister's Devil Fruit abilities.

As a young child, she looked similar to how she does now, only her side-locks went past her shoulders and were worn in beads. During her escape from Mariejois, she wore rags and tied her hair in pigtails.

Personality
Whether I kick a kitten... Tear off your ears... Even slaughter innocent people... The world will never cease to forgive my actions! Why, you ask? That's right, it is because I am... Beautiful!!! Hancock is a very complex woman. At first glance, she appears to be selfish, pompous and spoiled, used to having her own way. She can also act arrogant and cruel, usually justifying her less-than-admirable actions with her apparently unmatched beauty, causing her to think that she can get away with anything because the world will forgive her. She also made it seem that she didn't think much of the Kuja tribe either as she commented to Elder Nyon that she didn't care if the island was destroyed or not, since everyone would forgive her anyway because she is beautiful.



However, it was revealed the reason for Hancock's lies and attitude towards life was that because of her horrible past, she didn't want to ever show weakness again to anyone. She harbored a great fear of getting close to anyone, other than her own sisters, and would even go as far to deceive all of the other Kuja. This caused her surrogate mother, Elder Nyon, to fear that Hancock had truly turned as cold as ice. It wasn't until Hancock confessed everything to Luffy that she finally showed emotion, breaking down in tears after reliving her painful memories. As a matter of fact, deep down inside, Hancock is a rather-sensitive and vulnerable woman who is afraid and concerned about how other people (especially the other Kuja) might react to the truth of the shameful past that she and her sisters shared.



That part of her was only first shown for the first time in several years in front of Monkey D. Luffy and she has since then befriended (even fallen in love with) Luffy, even agreeing to venture to the land of her suffering, from her days of a slave, at his request for his brother. Hancock has also shown to be very sly and crafty when the situation demands it. This was particularly evident when she aided Monkey D. Luffy into discreetly breaking through Impel Down's outer defenses, as well as manipulating the great prison warden, Magellan, to her whims before relaying a secret message to Luffy's brother Ace, whom Luffy was trying to rescue. She has also proven to be a very skilled liar who is excellent at fabricating stories, and her confidence leads her to never consider the consequences of her actions. Another instance is seen when she also slips Luffy the key to Ace's handcuffs and when she chases after Luffy as guise to bring him to justice as her position as Shichibukai.

Because of her beauty and strength, she is used to seeing men and women, young and old alike, fall instantly in love with her. As a result, people forgive her when she acts cutely apologetic or reminds them of her beauty. However, when Luffy came along, she initially felt that she could not bear the existence of someone completely immune to her powers, and would collapse dramatically whenever insulted. This feeling has eroded away, though, as she loves Luffy despite his immunity to her.

Her oddest trait seen so far is that when she looks down on people, she leans backwards so she faces the ceiling (or the sky) above her, apparently looking down on people so much she's looking up.

She also appears to dislike small animals, which has become something of a running gag, in which she angrily asks who left the animal in front of where she's walking before kicking it away, no matter how cute it is. A Kuja Amazon responsibly apologizes, while the offended animal snarls at her, and Hancock advises her to be more careful in the future.

All of her arrogance seems to vanish when Luffy is on her mind, though. Whenever he is in her presence, she is quick to turn shy, barely able to meet him in the eye and gleaming over every action he takes. Even when he isn't nearby, merely thinking of him causes her to blush and truly smile in a way that the other Kuja have said is unusual of her.

Despite the conceit she shows to her enemies and the facade she puts on for her people, she does show genuine care for people close to her, as seen when she flew into a fit of rage and kicked Smoker away from Luffy after he had tried to kill him. Ignoring the possible consequences of her actions, she openly and publicly declared Luffy to be her beloved, effectively choosing her love over her title (and her people's treaty). During her fury, she showed none of her usual calm arrogance. This is seen again, to a lesser extent, when she screams at Aokiji for stabbing Luffy with an Ice Saber. Her anger is enough to make even Jinbei to cower in fear, albeit slightly and in a comedic manner.

Monkey D. Luffy
Originally antagonistic towards him, Hancock saw Luffy as a man who, being immune to her charms, could not be allowed to exist. She refused to believe his story of being sent to the island by Bartholomew Kuma, and ordered his execution. She also thought he was just like all men in the world; selfish and arrogant, but was proven wrong and was even moved by his acts of selflessness. Luffy is actually possibly the only one, outside her family, that she truly considers a friend.

She quickly befriended him upon learning that he went as far as to strike one of the World Nobles and that he did not scorn her because she had been a slave. As such, Hancock has fallen in love with Luffy, causing her to have "Love Sickness", which was the cause of death of nearly all of the previous Empresses. However, Elder Nyon says that all of the previous Empresses died because they tried to suppress their feelings by distancing themselves from their object of desire, whereas Hancock will survive by going with Luffy.

Due to her feelings, Hancock has a hard time looking Luffy in the eye and tends to blush in his presence (much like a young girl with a crush). She is also prone to daydreams involving Luffy. She requested that Luffy call her Hancock, as opposed to her title, and nearly fainted the first time he called her by her given name correctly, given the fact that he had said it wrong a few times before, calling her "Hammock". Moments later, she actually did faint after believing that Luffy said "I love you" (愛してる. aishiteru) when he actually said "Thank you" (ありがとう arigatou). She continues to tend to faint in joy whenever Luffy says her name right and apparently is keeping count of how many times he has said her name correctly. When Luffy hugged her during the Battle of Marineford, she thought of it as a proposal of marriage. Later though, Nyon told her that she wasn't married. As a result, Hancock is now set on the idea of marrying Luffy. Even though Luffy says that he is not going to marry Hancock, she still loves him.



During the battle with Whitebeard at Marineford, Hancock states that all men, both Marine and pirate alike, are her enemies, Luffy standing as the lone exception. Even after finding out the truth about Luffy's heritage, she cast it aside and didn't care even if he is the son of the devil. She is also extremely protective of Luffy, going so far as to attack Commodore Smoker for restraining Luffy, much to the shock of the Marines watching them. She even openly declared Luffy as her beloved.

In fact, ever since Luffy's arrival at Marineford, all Hancock could do was focus her attention on Luffy's well-being, bursting out in anger whenever he was attacked and shivering in fear whenever she couldn't tell if he was all right. Upon reaching Luffy after the war and receiving information about his critical condition from Trafalgar Law, Hancock expressed her desire to be the one to have taken all the suffering in Luffy's place. She cares so much for Luffy that she barely ate any food on her return to Amazon Lily until she was sure that Luffy was all right, and even then commanded that as much food as possible be given to him so that he may recover.

While Luffy may not have the same depth of feeling towards Hancock that she feels towards him, he has shown that he genuinely cares for and appreciates her. During his fight with Magellan, when the warden stated that he would have Luffy tell him how he managed to break into the gaol, Luffy protected Hancock by declaring he wouldn't tell Magellan even if it killed him. He later showed his gratitude by hugging her and remarking afterward that she had "saved his ass" twice, both in helping him break into Impel Down and giving him the key to Ace's seastone handcuffs.

Marigold and Sandersonia
Hancock is close to her sisters because they went through a lot together as slaves. The three of them have a strong bond and support each others' actions. Such was the case that when she became Empress, she allowed her sisters to rule alongside her, and entrusts them with her authority when she leaves for Impel Down. Initially, when Luffy requested for Hancock to travel to Impel Down, Marigold and Sandersonia vehemently disagreed with the idea. However, when Hancock accepted his request, they respected her wishes, as well as her infatuation with Luffy, and wished the best of luck for them.

Elder Nyon
Hancock takes the role of the ungrateful brat to Nyon, even though Nyon helped her and her sisters get back to Amazon Lily. Hancock likes to make sure that Nyon remembers she is considered a traitor to the Kuja, despite the fact that had Nyon not been at sea at the time, she and her sisters would have nowhere to go, and Nyon treated them as though they were her own daughters. Even still, the relationship between the two is akin to a teenage daughter and a mother, despite their differences. It appears Hancock does have a degree of respect for Nyon as she went to her to help her understand the confusion of her sudden feelings. In return, Nyon supports and is proud of Hancock's decision in helping the object of her love, instead of allowing it to consume and kill her.

Enemies
Despite being one of the Shichibukai, Hancock considers the World Government to be her enemy and, much like Nico Robin, she has stated that she detests the government and those in their complete obedience. Much of this comes from her past with the Tenryuubito, who tortured her and her sisters from a young age, until they were able to escape. Even as a Shichibukai, she refuses to take orders, despite claiming agreement with carrying them out, evidenced as when she lied about her agreement to wage war with Whitebeard simply to get them off her back temporarily. She doesn't think twice about attacking her so-called "allies" in the Marines. In some cases, her friction with the World Government has reached dangerous levels, which even Elder Nyon criticizes. Her continuous support of Luffy during the war has put further strain on her status as a Shichibukai.

Due to the first man she ever saw was the one who painfully burned the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon onto her back, Hancock has a bitter hatred towards all men (the only exception being Luffy), giving her no hesitation to indiscriminately attack Marine allies during the war. What she thinks of Ace is unknown, as he is Luffy's brother (though she was surprised to find out they were adoptive), but she did not show much antagonism towards her meeting with Ace, and she stole the key to his shackles during the war. She also made exceptions to the Heart Pirates for saving Luffy. As Silvers Rayleigh also helped her and her sisters out after they escaped from slavery, Hancock also made exception to him.

She considers Smoker a personal enemy, after he pinned down and attempted to kill Luffy. Hancock swore to rip him to shreds and feed him to beasts. She also grew angry at Aokiji when he stabbed Luffy with an icicle.

Others
Fisher Tiger freed Hancock and her sisters, along with many other slaves, during his rampage at Mariejois. Having met (or at least seen) him only once, she was shocked by his recklessness, and terrified of the brutality with which he fought. However, she has stated she owes him a debt which cannot be repaid.

Hancock also has a complex relationship with her Kuja subjects, protecting them from the World Government, but refusing to continue protecting them by working with the latter. She also destroyed a clay statue of her, made by several little girls, simply because it was made from dirt, mud and clay, and petrified three Kuja warriors (Marguerite, Sweet Pea and Aphelandra) for allowing a man (Monkey D. Luffy) to enter the island and defending his crime. However, there has been no Kuja who doesn't love and admire Hancock, and agrees with every decision she makes (apart from Elder Nyon, to an extent). Even Marguerite showed no hard feelings towards Hancock after she was unpetrified. Hancock likewise actually cares what they would think of her if they knew she was once a slave, even though she is now an Empress, and fears she will bring shame onto the tribe if they were aware of her past. So she's continuously lied to them to protect herself and her sisters. She even referred to them as her brethren, as opposed to her subjects.

It is unknown exactly how she feels of her fellow Shichibukai, given that she has only been seen interacting with one, namely Jinbei. However, she may have a mellowed view on the Fishman, possibly due to the latter's past connections with Fisher Tiger. In fact, after the Heart Pirates rescued Luffy, Hancock allowed them to dock at Amazon Lily's beaches, but prohibited the crew to step foot further into the island, all save for Jinbei who seemed to have received sanction, as he was later seen following a rampaging Luffy deeper into Amazon Lily. Rayleigh also got an exception for helping out Hancock in her past.

Abilities and Powers


Hancock is widely considered to be extremely powerful by friend and foe alike. Ruling beside her sisters, Hancock has power over Amazon Lily and the rest of the Kuja women. As the Empress and Captain of the tribe, she is most likely the strongest Kuja warrior. In fact, her strength is so great that it has even been acknowledged by Fleet Admiral Sengoku of the Marines. The Kuja believe that "strength is beauty", and since all members of the tribe state that she is the most beautiful in the world, they believe she is very strong, and the strongest among the entire tribe. This is shown when she had managed to destroy several Pacifistas single-handedly (despite the incredibly tough alloy of which they are composed of) without showing signs of exhaustion or injury, where it took the whole Straw Hat Crew to take down just one, which left them severely worn out. While it is true that the Pacifistas were programmed not to attack her, to destroy so many of them is a difficult task regardless. Further testament to her strength is how she was one of the three Shichibukai who managed to leave the war without sustaining any injuries.

She has been shown to be very adept in hand-to-hand combat, often in tandem with her Devil Fruit abilities. She was able to fight through many of the New World pirates effortlessly. Similar to Sanji's fighting style, Hancock seems to prefer kicking-based attacks, whether from kicking in-the-way cute animals or her enemies.

Her raw strength is very great, obviously showing signs of super-human strength as she can easily break stone (in the form of petrified opponents) with a single kick, capable of breaking several Pacifistas without breaking a sweat (while Sanji nearly broke his leg attempting the same task) and being able to kick Smoker in his smoke state with her Haki. Hancock is quite intelligent, being able to buy Luffy time, using her charms, after overhearing Magellan's plan to halt his infiltration, as well as stealing the key to Ace's handcuffs for Luffy prior to his arrival, knowing it would be useful. It is to be noted that only the strongest Kuja warriors are allowed on the country's pirate ships, Hancock and her sisters were strong enough to be there when they were small children, although it possible they were just apprentices like Shanks and Buggy.

Devil Fruit


Hancock was force-fed the Mero Mero no Mi by the World Nobles who enslaved her, as a form of sick entertainment.

Those who fall in love with Hancock are susceptible to a range of techniques used by the Devil Fruit which turn people into stone. Anyone with "dirty thoughts" will be turned into stone as long as they do not have a means to block it out either emotionally like with fear or pain, or simply out of ignorance.

As part of the secret to keep the shame on her back secret, Hancock convinced the Kuja tribe to believe that the power to turn people to stone was a curse given to her by killing a Gorgon monster.

Haki
Hancock demonstrated two types of Haki: Busoshoku Haki, one of the more common types of Haki used in the series, and Haōshoku Haki, an ability that only one in a million people can use. She is shown using her Busoshoku Haki to kick Smoker and damage him when he had Luffy pinned to the ground. As she possesses Haōshoku Haki, it can be assumed that she can knock out a large number of individuals (with the exception of strong-willed people) with a massive burst of Haki. Her exact level of mastery has yet to be demonstrated.

Weapon


She carries an extra large Snake Weapon with her: a white snake with red marks on its body named Salome, that wears a skull with blue hair jutting out of the back and a constant smile. However, aside from using it as a throne as well as to elevate herself above the battle, changing itself into a spiral shape while doing so, she has yet to use it in battle.

It also has the ability to track down things on the ocean floor, shown when it was able to sense Whitebeard's seaquake before it arrived and when it helped Hancock follow Trafalgar Law's submarine.

Horrific Past


Hancock was one of the many seen twenty-two years before the main story commenting on Gold Roger's death (or more specifically on the Great Age of Pirates). When Hancock was twelve years old, she and her sisters were included into the Kuja pirate crew and were sailing on their ship, when suddenly, they were captured by slavers and sold to the Tenryuubito. During her time as a slave, Hancock was fed the Mero Mero no Mi to entertain her captors. The three suffered the greatest horrors imaginable, until four years later, a man by the name of Fisher Tiger appeared and while his goal was simply the liberation of the Fishman slaves, he freed as many as he could without discrimination. Left with nowhere to go, the sisters were eventually rescued by Elder Nyon, Silvers Rayleigh and Shakuyaku, and brought home, but the Hoof of the Celestial Dragon, the symbol of the Tenryuubito was burned deep into their flesh. Hancock chose to hide the mark and her Devil Fruit powers, and disseminated to the fellow Kuja that it was punishment for slaying a gorgon, with her, Marigold and Sandersonia collectively gaining the nickname: the Gorgon sisters, for if the truth is revealed, the three sisters would have nowhere to go.

Unfortunately, despite being freed, the experiences that Hancock went through corrupted her innocence, and she would later grow up to distrust everyone (with the exception of her sisters) and men especially. She also especially hates the World Government, in particular: the Tenryuubito. Over the years, despite Elder Nyon's love and mercy, Hancock became cold, burying any warm feelings, kindness and sensitivity deep within her, and although she would later become the Empress of the Kuja, she was selfish, and uncaring towards her people. When Hancock was eighteen, she became the Empress of the Kuja and quickly gained a notorious reputation despite her young age, catching the attention of the Marines and even, the World Government, who were frightened of her potential, as she had earned a large bounty after only one campaign. Hancock later opted to join the Shichibukai in order to protect her fellow Kuja, by forming a treaty to protect their homeland from the government, preventing them from entering there.

Amazon Lily Arc
Hancock's first appearance is three to four days after Bartholomew Kuma had sent Monkey D. Luffy flying on her island (not to her knowledge). After sailing with her all-female crew, they met upon a Marine ship led by Vice Admiral Momonga, who told Hancock that the Shichibukai were being summoned to prepare for the upcoming war against Whitebeard, due to the execution of Portgas D. Ace a week from then. However, Hancock refused, stating that she would not obey the World Government, even though she fancied her Shichibukai position. When Momonga threatened to revoke Hancock's position if she didn't comply to the summoning, she came up with a make-believe story: The Marine crew would have turned into stone mysteriously.

She also demanded all the treasure on Momonga's ship (which the Marine rookies happily and absent-mindlessly complied to), and justified her selfish actions by claiming herself to be "beautiful", which everyone present (excluding Momonga) vehemently agreed with. Then, she preformed a special move that mysteriously turned the Marines to stone, except for Momonga, who had stabbed his own hand to avoid the effects of her attack. As her crew sailed away, Momonga remarked that he would wait for two days, and if she didn't follow him, the treaty with the Kuja would be null and void. She arrogantly told him to "Do as [he] pleased".

Upon returning to Amazon Lily, Hancock was greeted with pleasantries though concerned that the warriors were not around, due to them chasing after a "monkey". She speaks with Elder Nyon (herself a former Kuja leader) about the danger that would befall Amazon Lily if she does not comply with the Government orders, but she remains arrogant and confident that both her power and beauty will allow her to get her way, throwing Nyon out of a window to prove she was right. When deciding to take a bath in privacy, she unexpectedly encounters Luffy, who falls down into her private area while looking for the person in charge, wanting to borrow a boat. He manages to see the symbols on her back and comments that he has seen them before. She attempted to petrify Luffy, but Luffy, being simple-minded, mistook the beam for a Noro Noro Beam (which Foxy used to slow Luffy down several times) and panicked. The beam did not have any effect on him though. Luffy attempted to run away, but ended up captured and thrown in the arena.



In the combat arena, Hancock shows no mercy to Luffy or anyone who tries to defend him, turning Marguerite, Sweet Pea and Aphelandra to stone for attempting to defend him after they admitted to bringing him to their country. At first, she attempted to have Bacura execute Luffy, but he knocks it out with a single punch. Soon afterwards she realizes that Luffy is not attracted to her in any way, and is in fact disgusted by her behavior causing her to nearly collapse. Out of desperation she sends her younger sisters to attack him in the arena ordering them to bring back his head. After Sandersonia attempted to shatter Marguerite, Luffy released a very high level of Haki, which caused some Kuja to faint, Hancock noted that Luffy has achieved the level of Haki that she herself has.

After Luffy defeated Hancock's younger sisters, when Sandersonia's back is about to be revealed to the audience, Luffy sympathetically covered her back as he states he realizes that the sisters would rather die than let the symbol be revealed. In response, Hancock ordered everyone to evacuate the stadium immediately. The Snake Princess was then seen crying silently to herself.



After the other Kuja evacuate the arena, Hancock decides to test Luffy. She offers Luffy the choice between the restoration of the three women or a boat home to safety. However, Hancock and her two sisters are shocked to find Luffy, without a moment's hesitation, down on his knees with gratitude upon hearing that the three women can be recovered. Hancock had been expecting Luffy to be selfish and immoral like all the other men she had encountered.

She later shows Luffy the symbol on her back, and tells him of her painful past. After many years, Hancock revealed the side of her that had been buried until then, crying from the painful experiences. She then asks if Luffy scorns her because of her past, though he says the only ones he hates are the Tenryuubito. Hancock smiles and offers him use of her ship.



After Luffy learns that his brother Ace is to be executed in a week, he goes to ask Hancock a favor to learn that she has suddenly taken ill; Elder Nyon diagnoses the disease as fatal, but reveals that Hancock has love sickness. Presumably, Hancock has grown infatuated with Luffy; she happily agrees to answer the World Government's summons so that Luffy can sneak aboard a marine vessel in order to get to Impel Down and save Portgas D. Ace from execution (something that shocked even her). Wearing a large robe around her body with Luffy clinging to her back, Hancock leaves the Kuja to board Momonga's ship, agreeing to the government's summons but ordering the Vice-Admiral to go to Impel Down while reviving the men of his crew with her Devil Fruit power.

Impel Down Arc
On the warship, Hancock hid Luffy in her room, while punishing and ordering Marines around, with demands like ordering 100kg meals five times a day (to feed Luffy) and petrifying anyone daring to peep on her. She also daydreams about hand-feeding Luffy, even embarrassing herself by taking responsibility for Luffy's food related outbursts. After four and a half days of sailing, Hancock and Luffy arrive at Impel Down. Because the Marines consider the Shichibukai to still be pirates, Hancock will have to wear Seastone handcuffs and be subject to a full-body search. Although this puts Luffy's objective in danger, he merely tells Hancock he'll think of something and that she should press on.



When Hancock is allowed to enter, she is told by the "Vice-Chief of the Great Impel Down" Hannyabal and Domino how the prisoner gets treated when they arrive. During the full-body check up, she uses her charm and successfully petrified the Vice-Jail Head, Domino, along with the vigilant snail. Luffy immediately comes out of her robe. Hancock shows her concern towards Luffy and nearly fainted when he finally says her name, "Hancock". She is then sent to Ace's prison while praying for Luffy's fortune. Afterwards, when Luffy decides to say thanks by using lips sync, Hancock mistook it as "I love you" and fainted.

Finally, Hannyabal takes Hancock and Momonga to the Chief of Impel Down: Magellan, to allow them their request to see Portgas D. Ace. Thanks to the antics of Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy The Clown, the prison guards report to him that there is an emergency situation. Hancock decides to buy more time for Luffy by using her charms to insist on having them taken to the level he's kept in, and an enamored Magellan complies.

Upon reaching Level Six, she visits Portgas D. Ace and Jinbei's cell. Many of the prisoners ogle her, as she tells Ace and Jinbei that she's joining the fight against Whitebeard, but cryptically tells Ace that his brother is coming to rescue him before leaving for Mariejoa.

Marineford Arc
She was seen at Marineford, alongside Bartholomew Kuma, Donquixote Doflamingo, Gecko Moria, and Juracule Mihawk, ready for the battle ahead. The revelation of Ace not being Luffy's brother by blood seems to have surprised her somewhat. When Oars Jr. attacks Marineford, several of the Whitebeard Pirates attack her, trying to take advantage of her distraction. Hancock, far from being unaware of the battle, annihilates the group attempting to attack her and then indiscriminately attacks everyone around her. When a Marine questions her as to whether she's friend or foe, Hancock reasons that she only agreed to fight Whitebeard; not ally herself with the Marines. She then claims that, in front of her, every man (except Luffy) is an enemy. Luffy's arrival at Marineford has her voicing aloud her relief that he's safe. When Sengoku tells the world that Luffy is the son of Dragon the Revolutionary, Hancock states that she couldn't care less even if he was the son of the devil.



When Commodore Smoker pins Luffy to the ground with his Seastone jutte, Hancock intervenes and violently kicks Smoker aside, claiming she has never been so angry in her life and threatening to chop him up and feed him to the beasts. She then gives Luffy the key to Ace's handcuffs, which she somehow came into possession of. Luffy hugs her in gratitude, making Hancock collapse in pleasure believing that was a marriage proposal on his part. Luffy then runs off towards Ace again, leaving the Marines watching to presume Luffy defeated her using a sumo move. Before Smoker can follow after Luffy, Hancock intercepts him again, easily breaking his jutte in half, and prevents him from giving chase before casting aside Smoker's warning of what her actions could mean for her people.

Her battle with Smoker seems to end unceremoniously, when he and Tashigi depart in order to make room for the deployment of the Pacifista, while Hancock remarks that Luffy needs to hurry and save Ace. When Whitebeard causes the island and sea to tilt, Hancock wonders if Luffy is alright. She is then seen blushing in astonishment as Luffy is sent soaring over the siege wall lands before the three Admirals; she had been seen standing with her fellow Shichibukai only moments before. She screams in anger at Aokiji when he stabs Luffy with an ice blade, but before she can interfere, Marco knocks Aokiji back.

She is next seen blocking a group of Pacifista, who stand down because she is an ally, to prevent them from firing lasers at Luffy, in order to buy him time to make it to the execution stand. Even after Luffy successfully moves ahead, she goes so far as to destroy the Pacifista's head with a slap. Sentoumaru confronts her afterward, wondering why she is demolishing Pacifista left and right despite being a Shichibukai. Her only response is to say that love always comes in a hurricane, which leaves Sentoumaru perplexed. She is next seen urging Luffy and Ace to hurry and escape. When Whitebeard splits Marineford in half, so that his forces can escape safely while he remains to settle matters with the Marines, Hancock is seen telling Salome, her Snake Weapon, how she is so worried for Luffy.

As the war ends and Trafalgar Law carries Luffy away in his submarine, it is shown that Hancock has commandeered a Marine ship, having them take her to Luffy while commanding that they report to the Marines that she is taking chase to take his head. Although the Marines know not what direction to go in, she commands that they just keep going after Luffy.

Post-War Arc
Having tracked Law's submarine through Salome, Hancock turns the Marines on her ship to stone and inquires about Luffy's condition, while scolding Bepo and calling him a "beast" for trying to change the subject about how she located them. Law informs her that Luffy's life is preserved for the moment, but that he is in critical condition, which worries Hancock. At that moment, the Impel Down prisoners, led by Ivankov, emerge from the Marine ship that Hancock had hijacked, having hid themselves on board earlier, and Hancock determines that they are on Luffy's side. When Ivankov claims that the ordeals that Luffy has gone through would crush anyone's mind twice, Hancock laments that she should have been hurt in Luffy's place, her worry for Luffy inciting envy from several Heart Pirates. She later demands that Bepo give her a Den Den Mushi, so that she can call the Kuja Pirates to carry them across the Calm Belt to Amazon Lily, where Luffy should be able to recover.

When Luffy finally awoke two weeks later, Hancock showed great pleasure at hearing this and desired to see him immediately. However, Elder Nyon claimed that it would be bad for her to go meet him on her own, as they already have enough man troubles with Law as is. Hancock's sisters also tell her that she needs to eat something, as she's hardly eaten anything since she had arrived home. Hancock ignores their requests and demands that a mountain of food be prepared for Luffy, while she lovingly states that she will watch over all of the cooking personally. Nyon scolds Hancock though, telling her that she can see Luffy once he has recovered.

After Luffy resolved to go back to the Sabaody Archipelago to reunite with his crew, Hancock, her family, and her servants went down to the beach with the food to see Luffy. On the way to the beach, Nyon was explaining to her that the hug she received from Luffy at Marineford did not indicate a marriage. Hancock then asks Nyon what she would have to do to have a proper marriage ceremony. When she arrived at the beach, Hancock showed great joy in seeing Luffy and glared at Jinbei for taking even the tiniest portion of the food, which was only meant for Luffy. While her sisters were shocked to see Silvers Rayleigh there, Hancock remained single-minded about Luffy, only moments later realizing that Rayleigh was there.

After Luffy rang the Ox Bell he boarded Hancock's ship with her, Rayleigh, and Jinbei. Hancock orders her crew to watch over the resting Luffy before collapsing from her heart pounding too much.

Later, after parting ways with Jinbei, Hancock took Luffy and Rayleigh to Rusukaina Island for Luffy's special training. She said she would bring food for Luffy every day from Amazon Lily. When Luffy thanked her, she said that was the tenth time that Luffy had called her by her name and asked Nyon if that meant they're engaged. Nyon replied no, and then asked why Hancock kept moving farther and farther away from Luffy. When Rayleigh told her that no women would be allowed on the island during Luffy's training, she was furious, but calmed down when Rayleigh told her that it was all for Luffy's own good. She then asked Rayleigh if she should be worried about Luffy since the island is dangerous. Rayleigh replies that it would not be training without danger, and that if she is worried about Luffy, the best thing to do would be to pray for him.

Two Years Later
Hancock and her sisters greet Luffy after his two years of training and prepare to take him back to Sabaody Archipelago. When Luffy regrets not eating the animals on Rusukaina Island, Hancock says that she has all of Luffy's favorite food on the ship. When Hancock brings up the idea of becoming Luffy's wife, Luffy bluntly says that he is not going to marry Hancock, but she appears undeterred by his rejection.

Major Battles

 * Boa Hancock vs. Momonga and his crew
 * Shichibukai and the Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates and their allies
 * Boa Hancock vs. Pirates vs. Marine Officers
 * Boa Hancock vs. Smoker
 * Boa Hancock vs. Pacifista

Early One Piece


Hancock's earliest seen design appeared initially on the front cover of a 1999 issue of Shonen Jump and later was reprinted in Color Walk 2. When the Straw Hats entered the Grand Line, Oda was asked by his editing department to draw villains that would appear from then on. He agreed to and drew their backs for the Shonen Jump cover. While some parts of Hancock's appearance have definitely changed since then, Oda fully intended at the time for the design to be her.

Anime and Manga Influences

 * Her character has several references to Greek mythology:
 * Her tribe, the Kuja, being a nation of all-female warriors, is heavily based on the Amazons. And her relationship with Luffy starting off with malice but ending in friendship (and unrequited love) is a reversal of the Amazonian queen Hippolyta's relationships with Heracles and (in some versions) Theseus, both of which started off friendly but ended rather adversely.
 * Similarities to Medusa include the ability to turn people into stone (although the methods are very different), the general snake theme, and most obviously, both are one of three Gorgon sisters (though Medusa was the youngest, as opposed to Hancock who is the eldest.) In some versions of the myth, she was turned into a monster against her will by Athena; similar to how Hancock was forcefully fed her Devil Fruit by the Tenryuubito.
 * She is also very similar to Calypso in the fact that she has an island inhabited by only women, and she is irresistible to most men.
 * The situation of where Luffy being the first one to ever really resist Hancock's charms caused the latter to fall in love with him, which mirrors how Odysseus' resistance to Circe's charms eventually caused her to fall hopelessly in love with him, too.
 * Her ability to seduce men is similar to the Sirens, who would seduce sailors and lure them to a watery doom; only Sirens used their voice rather than their physical beauty.

Anime and Manga Differences
First of all, Hancock appears to be much taller in the anime than in the manga. While in the latter her size is 191 centimeters as stated in a SBS, and therefore surpasses Luffy in size by 19 centimeters only, in the anime Hancock is much taller than that when she stands in front of him almost like she can even tower over him (especially, in the scene from Impel Down when they part ways).

In the anime, after Hancock returns to Momonga's ship to join the war against Whitebeard, she takes the blame for Luffy's stomach growling. When he accidentally groped her, while climbing higher up on her body while under her cloak and causing her to blush, she let Momonga pass it off as a fever. When Luffy accidentally sneezed, due to Hancock's long hair brushing against his nose, Hancock once again took the fall by saying that the night air wasn't good for her body, and despite Momonga suspecting the sneeze sounding like that of a man, she managed to bluff her way out by offering a full-body search, to which Momonga passed.

The anime also elaborates on her daydreams, such as Hancock imagining herself and Luffy kissing. She also has a tendency to imagine Luffy as a bishounen when she daydreams. She also seems to have taken on Nami and Robin, as rivals in love, when she learns that they are in Luffy's crew and, despite the fact that she hadn't even met them yet (but yet seems to know what they look like as shown in her imagination). She becomes jealous simply thinking about the fact that he has females on his crew, going so far as to daydream about Luffy choosing them over her. Of course, this makes her vow that she refuses to lose to them.

All of these are technically not differences but additions; they all follow actions believable to her character. The main purpose of this was to lengthen the time shown with Hancock and Luffy on the Marine ship, before going into the Impel Down arc. This was done to show the "Nakama Whereabouts" filler over 4 episodes rather than over 1.5 chapters, in order to slow down the anime plotline so that it did not catchup to the manga. (There has not been enough time in the plotline to insert any fillers since before the Sabaody Archipelago arc, as the anime plotline was progressing ahead quite quickly.)

Translation and Dub Issues
In the English manga serialization in the American Shonen Jump magazine, Hancock is edited to wear a shirt with her blouse in order to hide cleavage. However, this is only for the magazine serialization.

Merchandise


As a prominent character, she is in the fan merchandise. Hancock has been featured with the Shichibukai in the series of One Piece Shichibukai Cellphone Strap and in the One Piece Super Deformed Figures. Hancock has also been released in the P.O.P. Portrait of Pirates series and in the first wave Bobbing Head One Piece set. Boa Hancock has also been featured in the One Piece Styling Figures along with Marguerite. She was recently released in the One Piece DX Figure models. She is set to be released in the One Piece World Collectable Figure series in July 2010 along with the rest of the Shichibukai.

Trivia

 * She is one of the two women who have claimed to be the "most beautiful", the other being Alvida, who has also grown infatuated with Luffy, though Hancock is perhaps the first character in the entire series who has feelings identified as romantic love unlike Alvida whose feelings for Luffy is more of an "admiring love" since Luffy was the first man (and the last) to ever punch her.
 * Her family name, Boa, comes from the Boa, a group of constricting snakes. It is possible that her first name comes from the scientific name of a snowberry, a plant known for its showy flowers, Symphoricarpos Chenaultii Hancock.
 * Boa can also mean "good" in Portuguese and is used as an expression to refer to attractive women.


 * In the original Japanese version, she has a unique way of referring to herself: Instead of using "Watashi wa" ("I Am"), she addresses herself with the antiquated, but more noble version of "Warawa wa".
 * Boa Hancock is the youngest (age 31) and the shortest (height 6' 3.5") Shichibukai.

Related Articles

 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kuja
 * Kuja Pirates
 * Elder Nyon
 * Boa Marigold
 * Boa Sandersonia
 * Shichibukai

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