Boa Hancock

The Pirate Empress Boa Hancock (海賊　女帝　ボア・ハンコック) is the only female member of the Shichibukai and was first mentioned by one of the Risky Brothers while he was talking about Mermaids to Sanji and Brook. She is the Snake Princess (蛇姫) of Amazon Lily and rules over it with her two younger Gorgon sisters, Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia.

Appearance
Compared to the abnormal appearance of her sisters, Hancock is a slender, tall woman with long hair and eyes that have long, voluminous lashes. When first introduced she wore a revealing blouse and loose sarong that exposed her long legs while currently she has a elaborate light-colored dress with a thick, hooded cloak. In either outfit she has always worn a pair of earrings that look like snakes and high-heeled shoes. 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 Marguerite claims she is the most beautiful woman in the world. Like every Shichibukai member (excluding Blackbeard, she has an animal theme: snake.

On her back is what was believed to be two Gorgon eyes which would petrify anyone who sets eyes on it, but this is a lie. What is really on her back is later revealed to be the slave mark of Tenryuubito, and she is willing to kill, or turn to stone, anyone who sees it, to keep it a secret.

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? Why it is because I am... Beautiful!!!

-Hancock's justifications for her actions.

Hancock is a very complex woman. At first glance, she appears to be selfish, pompous and spoiled, and is used to having her own way, although she does lie to the World Government about her agreement to wage war with Whitebeard simply to get them off her back temporarily. She also can be arrogant and cruel, usually justifying her less than admirable actions with her apparently unmatched beauty and thinks that she can get away with anything because the world will forgive her. Her sister Sandersonia cheerfully calls her personality "twisted". She has also proven that she is a very skilled liar, and excellent at fabricating stories, and her confidence leads her to never consider the consequences of her actions.

While a member of the Shichibukai, Hancock doesn't think much of the World Government and would rather keep her title but not go to war or perform certain duties if she had to. Part of this is because of her past dealings with people who are part of what they stand for, such as the Tenryuubito. She doesn't think twice about killing her so called Marine allies. She also apparently doesn't think much of the Kuja tribe either as she comments to Elder Nyon that she doesn't care if the island destroyed or not since everyone will forgive her 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, having 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 Nyon to fear that Hancock had truly turned as cold as ice and it wasn't until Hancock confessed everything to Luffy did she finally show emotion, breaking down in tears from reliving her painful memories. As a matter of fact, Hancock deep down inside is rather sensitive and even vulnerable, and that part of her was only first shown for several years in front of Monkey D. Luffy. She has since then befriended (and 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.

Because of her beauty and powers, she is used to seeing men and women whether young or old fall instantly in love with her. As a result, people forgive her when she acts cutely apologetic or reminds them of her beauty. However, as proven when Luffy comes along, she cannot bear the existence of someone completely immune to her powers.

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 becomes 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 responsible apologizes and Hancock advises her to be more careful in future.

Friends
Hancock is now on good terms with Luffy, who saved her and her sisters after Sandersonia nearly exposed her mark on her back. Luffy is actually possibly the only one outside her family she truly considers a friend. She gained an instant liking of him upon learning that he went as far to strike one of the World Nobles and that he did not scorn her because she had been a slave. As such, Hancock has (ironically) fallen in love with Luffy causing her to have "love sickness" which had been the cause of death of the previous Empresses. However, Elder Nyon says that all the previous Empresses died because they tried to suppress their feelings whereas Hancock will probably survive by helping 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) and requests he call her Hancock as opposed to her title.

Enemies
Despite being a Shichibukai, Hancock considers the World Government to be her enemy, and like Nico Robin, she 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 taking orders from them, despite claiming agreement with carrying them out to simply get them off her back temporarily. In some cases, her friction with the World Government has reached dangerous levels, to which even Elder Nyon criticizes.

Marigold & 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.

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 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.

Others
Fisher Tiger freed her, Marigold and Sandersonia, 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 his brutality. However, she has stated she owes him a debt which cannot be repayed.

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 doll of her, made by a little girl, simply because it was made from mud, pertified three Kuja warriors (Marguerite, Sweet Pea and Aphelandra) simply for allowing a man (Monkey D. Luffy) to enter the island, which even the fellow Kuja expressed sorrow. However, there has been no Kuja who doesn't love and admire Hancock, and doesn't agree with every decision she makes (apart from Elder Nyon, to an extent), although this is mostly because of her Devil Fruit ability. Even Marguerite showed no hard feelings towards Hancock after she was de-petrified. 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 lied to them to protect herself and her sisters. She even referred to them as her brethren, as opposed to her subjects.

Abilities and Powers
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 possibly the strongest Kuja warrior. Apart from her great beauty, Hancock has the ability to turn people into stone. This occurs when her hands form a heart shape, and beams are shot out of the shape. Anyone with "dirty thoughts" will be turned into stone as long as they do not have a means to block it out emotionally like with fear or pain.

She also can use the Haoushoku Haki, an ability of one in a million people can use. From the example shown by Luffy, 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. This perhaps adds as an additional reason why she is both adored and feared amongst the Kuja.

Weapon
She carries an extra large Snake Weapon with her, however she has yet to use it in battle.

Horrific Past
When Hancock was twelve years old, she and her sisters 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 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. At some point later on, she became an infamous pirate still at a young age, and caught the attention of the Marines and even, the World Government. 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.

Straw Hat Separation Arc
Hancock's first appearance is three 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-mindedly complied to), and justified her selfish actions by claiming herself to be "beautiful", which everyone present (save for Momonga) vehemently agreed with. Then, she preformed a special move that mysteriously turned the Marines to stone, save 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, and after she realizes that Luffy is not attracted to her in any way, and is in fact disgusted by her behavior, she nearly collapses and, out of desperation, 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 Kuja audience, Hancock ordered everyone to evacuate the stadium. The Snake Princess is then seen crying silently to herself.

After the other Kuja evacuate the arena, Hancock decides to test Luffy. She offers Luffy the choice between de-petrification 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. After hearing that Luffy also hates the Tenryuubito, Hancock cheered up and she offered him use of her ship.

Hancock has also taken ill; Elder Nyon diagnoses the disease as fatal, but revealed that Hancock has lovesickness. 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. Wearing a large robe around her body with Luffy underneath, 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.

Trivia

 * Boa Hancock has several comparisons to the Greek character Medusa of the 3 Gorgon sisters. Similarities 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.
 * Her ability to seduce men is a reference to Sirens, which would fit her abilities, as a Siren would seduce sailors and lure them to a watery doom.
 * She is one of two women who have claimed to be the "most beautiful", the other being Alvida; she has also grown infatuated with Luffy though Hancock is perhaps the first character where her feelings are identified as love (Though Alvida's reason was because he was the first man to defeat her, While Hancock's reason was that she fell in love with Luffy after hearing about his view on the World Nobles and her being a slave).
 * Her family name Boa comes from the Boa, a group of constricting snakes. It is possible that her second name comes from the flowering plant scientific name of a Snowberry, Symphoricarpos Chenaultii Hancock, a plant known for its showy flowers. A second possibility is, that her name comes from famous gardener Ralph Hancock, who built many famous gardens in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. This would fit with the flower theme as the gardener is in a sense, the leader of a garden.
 * While it is impossible to see the Tenryuubito who abused the Gorgon sisters when they were slaves, the only ones shown are Roswald's family, who happen to have the same hair-style as Hancock's owner. Of the family, the only one who matches it exactly is Roswald himself.
 * Boa Hancock is the first Shichibukai to befriend a Strawhat Pirate, and the only Shichibukai Luffy encountered who he didn't fight (Blackbeard, was not a Shichibukai at time of meeting).