Kuja

The Kuja are a tribe of all female fighters found on the island of Amazon Lily. Apparently, until they found Luffy on their island, they had never seen a man before.

Appearance
Typically they seem to have a warrior style of clothing they have for every day use that is skimpy and usually having straps, as well as a bikini style briefs/clothing on their lower regions or very short loin clothes. Many wear thigh length boots and stockings or have their legs completely bare. The style of clothing they wear would be considered otherwise "kinky" to normal people but are worn freely by the women on the island. On top of this outfit, they often wear a long cape that reaches from the shoulders to the ankles. Workers seen in the fields and at other chores without a cape, thus this proves the capes are not fixed permanently onto their outfits.

For evening and casual wear it was seen that they have a patterned shawl that goes over their top half but leaves the shoulders bare. They wear nothing underneath this shawl and it is tied together at the middle of the breasts with a single bow and often wear a mini-skirt on their lower half to match this or the usually bikini/loin cloth instead.

Warriors are seen carrying a large snake wrapped around them; when the Kuja threaten Luffy, it is revealed that they use the snakes as bows.

Biology
It is stated that the women who leave Amazon Lily sometimes return pregnant. Oddly, they always give birth to females.

Apparently, for the empresses of the tribe, they can contract a disease known as "love sickness", which is when the empress grows infatuated with a man, but keeps that love suppressed, which leads to death.

Otherwise, they are biologically identical to normal human females, though it is implied that they have a better intuitive grasp of Haki.

Inter-species Relationships
The Kuja tribe consists entirely of women. Due to most of them being isolated on their island, the majority of them are unfamiliar with men, particularly their anatomy.

Just as they have limited knowledge on men, likewise the rest of the world seems to know little about them. Momonga's men give one of the many examples of the Kuja pirates rumors, stating they turn people to stone. However, this rumor applies only to Boa Hancock.

The Kuja have always lived in peaceful isolation due to their natural advantage of living in an island in the Calm Belt, protected from the rest of the world by the Sea Kings who surround them. However, this isolation has slowly eroded away as advancements in Seastone technology has allowed the government to make new ships that can pass through the Calm Belt with no Sea King interference. The only means of protection remaining is the alliance held by their empress as a member of the Shichibukai, which both protects the Kuja from Marine attack but unfortunately classifies all, both at sea and at home, as pirates. The Kuja and their leader must comply with the government's terms or risk the attack and destruction of everyone on the island, a peace barely hanging by a thread in a rapidly changing world.

Strength
The women are raised in the ways of the warrior and are often burly and strong, but there are the odd beauties amongst them. Despite being a warrior race, the Kuja cultivates a surprisingly peaceful existence within Amazon Lily, and only engages in battle amongst themselves in arranged competitions held in the local arena for the general public's entertainment.

They may lack information on Devil Fruits, but in exchange, most Kuja warriors, if not all, seems to be knowledgeable and fairly proficient in the use of Haki; which is something that is usually exclusive to none but the most powerful warriors so far seen in the series, such as Shanks, Luffy, and Rayleigh.

Typically as there are no men to do the work that they would otherwise do elsewhere in the world, the women do all chores from fishing to building instead. Notably in one panel of the manga a woman is seen catching a stock of fish with her net and commenting on the fish being small fry. In another panel a worker was seen with a large heavy bag lifted above her head. In short, the women amongst the tribe are as equal in skills and capabilities to most men around the world, perhaps even surpassing the average men in areas women would not be allowed to otherwise surpass elsewhere.

Beliefs
The Kuja are a race who consider strength as beauty and there is no room for the greedy and foolish to enter (an odd irony considering their current leader). They seem to have little knowledge about Devil Fruit powers, despite the fact that Boa Hancock and her two sisters have Devil Fruit powers themselves (Marguerite actually believes that Luffy can't swim because men are "useless"). Taking advantage of this, Hancock lied to the rest of the tribe, telling them her and her sisters' powers were from slaughtering a Gorgon in battle, instead of them being fed Devil Fruits during their enslavement by the hands of the Tenryuubito.

Typically, they seem to have no fear of walking around in skimpy outfits or even bathing naked in public. One would presume this is because of the lack of men they never develop the associations men have with seeing a woman's body naked. Despite their isolation however, they have some ideas on what is "sexy" and a common fashion opinion (but only have a female view). When Marguerite sewed frills onto Luffy's clothes, they mistake his dread for praise and commented that frills are "sexy". They also acknowledge that Hancock's beauty and raise the question "is there no end to her sex appeal?".

Until Luffy came along, no man was allowed to even set foot on their island, but the Kuja at the time not only brought Luffy to their village (be it by accident), but allowed exception to their normal rules of never allowing men onto the island. An extension was later given for the Heart Pirates to temporary dock at the island while their captain healed Luffy. Jinbe was also included in this, being Trafalgar Law's other patient, although none of the men were allowed to go further than the barrier put up around their docking area. Elder Nyon even went so far as to forbid Hancock to see Luffy until he recovered, stressing that their laws have been passed down for generations and must be obeyed, and this situation is an exception amongst exceptions as it is.

The Island
According to the storyline, the Kuja built their town within the center of the large crater on their island, utilizing the landscape for security. The Kuja themselves have been around for "generations" (exact date unknown) with much of their culture and beliefs remaining mostly unchanged throughout this due to isolation. They apparently have a pirate crew, although it is unknown for how long the crew has existed, and attack others with it to gain supplies from the outside world. Over the centuries, their empress would come into contact with men from the outside world, only to fall prey to the "love sickness" disease and die. Empress Gloriosa however managed to bypass this by apparently leaving her homeland to follow her love, in a move that would see her exiled.

The Changing World
After escaping slavery, Hancock returned to her homeland with the former and exiled former Empress Gloriosa, who had led her back to their homeland. Although Glorissa was pardoned for her departure from the island, she continued her exile from the others by living away from the main town. Hancock proceeded to lie to cover up her slavery and Devil Fruit powers of both her and her sisters then, 11 years before the start of the storyline, she became Empress herself of the tribe. After a pirate raid gained her a bounty of 80,000,000, Hancock made an agreement with the World Government that would protect her homeland, but it came at a price - all Kuja from that point onwards would be classified as "pirate" even if they themselves were not.

As Hancock, who is enormously popular among the tribe, has fallen in love with a man, Monkey D. Luffy, as well as owing a debt to Silvers Rayleigh for protecting her from slavery, and leniency to Jinbe for unknown reason, the laws about men being forbidden within the tribe has been lifted somewhat, allowing exceptions.

Translation and Dub Issues
Kuja means "Nine Snakes". Fittingly, the tribe's emblem is of nine snakes originating from a skull.

Trivia

 * It is unknown how they always give birth to females.
 * They are all named after flowers or other flowering plants, even their island is named after one.
 * Many of the Kuja had recolors from their initial introduction in the intro "Share the One World".
 * Daisy had her top changed from yellow to green.
 * Blue Fan had a complete recolor.
 * Elder Nyon's jacket was changed from blue to red.
 * Nerine's hair color was switched from blond to brown, her clothes also were recolored.
 * In some cases even the height of the Amazon seems to have changed somewhat.


 * Many cultures have seen a form of snake worship and it is common throughout the world to see deities in the form of snakes. In a religious sense, snake worship can be seen as a sexual related symbol (fertility), the Kuja themselves can be seen as an ironic view or even a parody on the ideas of sex, women, and snake worshiping in the world. They themselves seem generally naive on matters such as men and their reproductive organs or the fact their dress code would make them items of sexual interests to men.