Boa Hancock

"Pirate Empress" Boa Hancock is the captain of the Kuja Pirates and was the only female Warlord of the Sea prior to the organization's disbandment. She is the current empress, known as the "Snake Princess", 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 at the end of the Thriller Bark Arc when comparing her legendary beauty to the beauty of mermaids.

She is the main antagonist of the Amazon Lily Arc, before befriending and falling in love with Monkey D. Luffy in the same arc. She becomes his ally during the rest of the Summit War Saga, as well as the Return to Sabaody Arc. She also acts as an ally of Luffy during the 3D 2Y special, the Cidre Guild filler Arc, and the movie One Piece: Stampede.

After the Marines and Blackbeard Pirates' invasion, Hancock has declared her intention of leaving Amazon Lily under Rayleigh and Shakky's protection for Hancock's reunion with Luffy after she realizes her home is not safe so long as she stays.

Appearance
Hancock is considered the most beautiful woman in the world. She has a well-proportioned figure compared to her abnormal and huge sisters. She is very tall and slender with long black hair that extends past her waist with locks of hair that frame her face down to her chin and shows off her high forehead, dark brown (dark blue in the pre-time skip then changed to black after the time-skip) eyes with long, voluminous eyelashes and pale skin. She has a narrow waist and very large breasts.

Her attire changes frequently. When first introduced, she wore a revealing red V-neck blouse that showed much of her chest and a loose sarong that exposed her long, slender legs with the green symbol of the Kuja adorned on it, along with a white cape sporting epaulettes more commonly found on the jackets of high-ranking Marines, and red high heel pumps. She then wore a qipao with a hooded cloak which she used it to cover Luffy until they arrived at Impel Down and then took it off during the battle against Whitebeard.

During the Summit War of Marineford, she wore a purple dress with Kuja designs on it and purple high heel pumps. Upon her return to Amazon Lily, she reverted to her original outfit (with the exception of her cape). In all her outfits, she has worn a pair of golden earrings that resemble snakes and black high-heeled shoes; her attire is also adorned with the emblem of the Kuja, with an exception of when Hancock fell ill due to her Love Sickness, during which she wore a red blouse. After the timeskip, her attire looks the same as when she was first introduced, except it is colored blue (although it remains red in the anime).

Her extraordinary beauty is noted by many throughout the world: one of the Risky Brothers claims that her beauty is in second place to the mermaids, especially Shirahoshi, 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 is usually seen smiling despite wearing a skull.

Even though Hancock normally looks either calmly beautiful or cute (in an attempt to "apologize" for her actions), she can look very intimidating and angered with her eyes bulging madly and her teeth bared, as seen when Smoker attacked Luffy at Marineford.

Before Hancock fell in love with Luffy and when she is not around Luffy, her eyes tend to look emotionless, but when she is around Luffy, her eyes show much more emotion, making her look like a girl in love.

Along with her sisters, on her back is the slave mark of the Celestial Dragon, 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 sisters' Devil Fruit abilities.

As a young child, she looked quite similar to how she does now, but the only difference is that only her side-locks went past her shoulders and were worn in beads. During her escape from Mary Geoise, she wore rags and her hair was tied in pigtails.

In SBS Volume 63, Oda drew the Seven Warlords as children. Hancock is shown wearing a small, laced top with exotic swirl patterns leaving her mid-riff exposed. Her only other piece of clothing is a small loin cloth around her hips.

In the 3D 2Y special, she wears a purple dress with gold trim as well as black heels, and a great light purple image of her Jolly Roger at the bottom. During the Cidre Guild Arc and One Piece: Stampede, she wears a V-neck black dress with one of the sleeves and a half chest area in white and with images of her Jolly Roger on the part of the skirt, in addition to a purple sash at the waist, and a black cape with a pink interior and with golden shoulder pads, along with black heels.

Body Measurements
The author has also replied to a fan's question asking about Hancock's body measurements are as follows:
 * Updated measurements were provided in SBS Volume 58, in which Eiichiro Oda responded to a fan question by saying that her height is 191 cm (6'3½"), and according to Oda and Sanji in supplemental material, her three measurements are B111-W61-H91 (43.7"-24.02"-35.83"), making her breasts a J-cup in Japan. Prior to the timeskip, they appeared to be much larger than Robin or Nami's breasts, but after the timeskip, this was no longer the case.

Overview
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, spoiled, and used to having her own way. She can also act arrogant and cruel, usually justifying her less-than-admirable actions with her unmatched beauty, causing her to think that she can get away with anything because the world will forgive her (and save for the handful able to resist she is largely successful in this approach, as gleeful suitors of both genders happily forgive her every transgression). She also made it seem that she did not think much of the Kuja tribe either as she commented to Elder Nyon that she did not care if the island was destroyed or not, since everyone would forgive her anyway because she is beautiful.



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 of this, people forgive her when she acts cutely apologetic or reminds them of her beauty. However, when Luffy came along and displayed a complete immunity to her charms, she initially felt that she could not bear the existence of someone completely invulnerable to her powers and would collapse dramatically whenever insulted.

This feeling has eroded away, though, as she deeply loves Luffy in spite of his immunity to her. Even after the two-year timeskip, Hancock continues to be in love with Luffy as much as before despite that the latter openly rejected a wedding proposal from her. Even though Luffy repeatedly turns down her marriage proposals, Hancock is not discouraged by this and with every rejection she seemingly becomes more determined to marry him.

Pride and Beauty
Because of her reputation as the most beautiful woman in the world, Hancock takes pride in both her looks and reputation, flaunting her looks whenever present. She is more than using her looks to force others to do her bidding, be it her enemies or her subjects no matter how she behaves knowing how hopelessly they would fall for her with her charms. She completely justifies all of her actions, no matter how cruel or absurd they are that she will always be forgiven because she is beautiful, which, ironically, has been proven true as up until the abolishment of the Warlord System and was never punished for most of her actions throughout the war at Marineford.

Like her fellow Kuja, Hancock has no modesty at all, being unashamed showing herself naked to Luffy upon revealing her past and again when they reunite during the Cidre Guild Arc. However, she makes it very serious that she would rather die than ever let anyone see her slave mark on her back, fearing she would only bring shame to her people if they ever learned that their empress was a slave of the World Nobles.

Traumatic Behavior
It was revealed the reason for Hancock's lies and attitude towards life was that because of her horrible past, she did not 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.



Deep down, 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 share. She is also much softer and more compassionate towards others when she opens up. That part of her was only first shown for the first time in several years in front of Monkey D. Luffy and she has not only befriended but more importantly fallen deeply 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.

Love For Luffy
Her newfound love for Luffy has managed to help melt the ice in Hancock's heart and regain the original kindness she had long since buried away. Unlike with her people or her enemies, Hancock acts much kinder and warmer around Luffy, acting like a young girl with a crush. 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 is not 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.

While normally calm and level-headed, when angered, Hancock can be highly violent towards those who have wronged her. After falling in love with Luffy, she becomes enraged at the thought anyone harming him. Seeing Smoker nearly kill him, she flew into rage violently kicking him away screaming she had never been this mad in all her life. She also destroyed several Pacifistas in rage for "ruining" her moment when she was thinking about Luffy.

Since Nyon cleared up the misunderstanding about marriage in general, Hancock is very determined to marry Luffy someday. Even though he turned her proposal down, she still loves him and is not deterred at all.

After she lost her status as a Warlord, Hancock has decided to reunite with Luffy when leaving Amazon Lily under Rayleigh and Shakky's protection.

Intelligence
Hancock has 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. An example of this is when she takes advantage of her beauty in Impel Down floor 6 to drive the prisoners mad, making them disrespect Magellan and causing enough trouble to speak to Ace freely without anyone noticing. Despite this, Hancock can be somewhat ignorant as she frequently mistakes many of Luffy's actions as romantic.

Compassion
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. This was 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 Jinbe to cower in fear, albeit slightly and in a comedic manner.

She also is very loving and kind towards her younger sisters Sonia and Mary because of the bond they share as sisters. Even after the two were defeated by Luffy, unlike she did with Marguerite and the others, Hancock showed no ill toward their loss and was gladder they were safe than anything else. She also shows a great deal of affection toward her pet snake Salome.

In spite of her cruel behavior towards her fellow Kuja's deep down, Hancock does truly care for them, having joined the Warlords to protect them from outside forces. She even admits to Luffy she constantly lies to them out of shame fearing that she would forever tarnish the reputation of the Kuja's if they learned that their empress was a slave. After she lost her title as a Warlord, Hancock concluded that she'll endanger her subjects as long as she stays at Amazon Lily where she decided to leave her home island under Rayleigh and Shakky's protection just so her people would be safe.

Authoritiveness
Because of how easy it is for her to manipulate others with her beauty, Hancock can be very selfish, used to having her own way despite being Empress and quite unreasonable towards others, men especially. When Luffy was captured and despite his honest attempts to explain why he was on Amazon Lily, Hancock ignored his requests claiming he was lying to defend himself. However, Hancock is capable of being reasonable to an extent. After her sisters were defeated by Luffy and he again tried to plead with her to unpetrify her subjects, Hancock agreed but only if Luffy chose one of two options: she can unpetrify them on the condition he has to find another way off the island or he can leave the island and they stay that way. She was shocked to see him unhesitantly picking the latter and, after further testing his character, Hancock agreed to help him get off the island regardless. After falling in love with Luffy, Hancock gradually mellows out as a person and as a proper ruler, growing more considerate and mature as a proper ruler for her people and herself. The Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates attack shows her growth as a proper ruler, having gone to the front line to protect her people from further harm, even if it means having to fight Blackbeard herself. Once Blackbeard has her by the throat and most of his crew and Marines petrified, Hancock was willing to return them to normal so long as they and the Marines left the island.

Hancock is also fearless, as she is completely unafraid of the consequences of her actions because of her beauty and strength. Even as the Marines surrounded her island and her people panicked, Hancock remained confident with a smile reminding everyone she was a Warlord for her strength for a reason. Even when Blackbeard has her by the throat and prepared to kill her to take her powers, she refuses to give in to his demands and still looks down on him with utter contempt.

Hatred of Men
Due to her suffering as a slave and how the first man she ever saw painfully burned her back with her slave mark, Hancock is very discriminating and judgmental towards men. She refused to listen to Luffy's story about how he was sent to her island or give him any mercy even after Marguerite pleaded on his behalf. When she gave him the option to leave the island or help unpetrify Marguerite and her friends, Hancock believed he would act selfish to save himself and was speechless when he showed his selfless nature. After falling in love with Luffy, Hancock seems to have lessened her judgmental nature towards men as she allowed Law and his crew to dock at the edge of her island and chose to lift her country's law to some extent and permitted Jinbe to wander on the island without watch.

Because of the horrors she endured from the World Nobles, Hancock became a very bitter and cold woman, caring nothing for others (except her sisters) and usually maintains a tough and aloof demeanor. She maintains this attitude due to her belief she should be strong for her people and out of fear of being taking advantage of again. After falling in love with Luffy, she's become a lot more sympathetic and kinder. She now smiles more often and has started to treat her fellow Kuja's with much more kindness and respect and has even decided to do work with them such as helping them make food for Luffy rather than just order them around as usual.

Running Gag
While referring to herself, Hancock uses "warawa" (ワラワ)—an antiquated pronoun that signifies nobility—instead of the more common "watashi" (私).



In spite of her arrogant behavior, Hancock has several running gags. The first 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.

Another is that she appears to dislike small animals, 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 responsibly apologizes, while the offended animal snarls at her, and Hancock advises her to be more careful in the future.

She also tends to lose her temper whenever someone tries to keep her from spending time with Luffy, such as when she glared angrily at Jinbe for trying to eat some of the food she made for Luffy and when Rayleigh forbid her from seeing Luffy during his training, which prompted her to angrily pinch his nose.

Lastly, she often thinks about Luffy and mistakenly thinks that they are married or engaged and despite (or perhaps because of) repeatedly being told that they are not, Hancock is now very intent on becoming Luffy’s wife.

Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia


Hancock is very close to her sisters because they went through a lot together as slaves. The three of them have a strong bond and support each other's 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 love for Luffy, and wished the best of luck for them. Given the way children are born on their island, in that women who have traveled abroad return pregnant, it is unknown if the three share the same father or are even blood related due to their different appearances, but it is assumed they share the same mother.

After the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates invasion, Hancock concluded that she would endanger her sisters if she stays at Amazon Lily and decides to leave her home for her reunion with Luffy in order to protect both Sonia and Mari.

Gloriosa
Hancock takes the role as a spoiled brat to Gloriosa, even though Gloriosa helped her, and her sisters get back to Amazon Lily. Gloriosa tried to convince Hancock to accept the summons, but she refused. Hancock likes to make sure that Gloriosa remembers that she is considered a traitor to the Kuja and told her to stop bossing her around since Hancock is the current Empress of Amazon Lily. She then threw Gloriosa out of the window, despite the fact that had Gloriosa not been at sea at the time, she and her sisters would have nowhere to go, and Gloriosa 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. Regardless, Hancock does have a degree of respect for Gloriosa as she went to her to help her understand the confusion of her sudden feelings, something Hancock thanked her for. In return, Gloriosa supports and is proud of Hancock's decision in helping the object of her love, instead of allowing it to consume and kill her. Gloriosa shown annoyed by Hancock for hanging a giant photo of Luffy at the castle wall.

After the invasion by the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates, Hancock decides to leave Amazon Lily to ensure her adopted mother's safety. Although, Gloriosa is still annoyed of Hancock's beliefs of wanting to marry Luffy.

Salome
Salome is Hancock's personal snake weapon. Salome is typically used as a throne for her to sit on and as a weapon for battle. No matter where Hancock is, Salome is next to her. Hancock seems to be close to Salome as the snake was worried when Hancock was ill because of her love sickness and assists Hancock in any of her battles.

Kuja Tribe
Hancock 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 does not love and admire Hancock and agrees with every decision she makes (apart from Elder Nyon and possibly Shakky 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.

Ever since Hancock fell in love with Luffy, she has started to treat the Kuja warriors very nicely due to being inspired by Luffy's selflessness. She sometimes goes as far as offering to help them prepare food for Luffy's recovery.

After the invasion of the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates, Hancock concluded that her people would remain in danger if she stays on Amazon Lily and decides to leave and reunite with Luffy.

Silvers Rayleigh
Silvers Rayleigh became very good friends with Hancock and her sisters. He is one of the two exceptions from Hancock's hatred towards men for helping her and her sisters after they escaped from the World Nobles, the other one is Monkey D. Luffy (Hancock's love interest and the only man who actually punched a Celestial Dragon). When Rayleigh told Hancock that no women are allowed during Luffy's training, Hancock scolded him by pinching his nose, but she conceded after he told her it was all for Luffy's benefit. Rayleigh is shown to be a father-like figure to Hancock, as seen when Blackbeard was about to kill her, Rayleigh saved her life and drove the Emperor off. After the invasion, Hancock is seen resting her head on his knee. When she decided to leave her home nation and reunite with Luffy, Hancock entrusted Rayleigh of protecting Amazon Lily and Kujas.

Monkey D. Luffy
Originally antagonistic towards him, Hancock saw Luffy as a man who, being immune to her charms despite seeing her naked, 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 (beside Rayleigh and Shakky) outside her family that she truly considers a friend.

She quickly befriended him when he covered the back of her sister when he was fighting so nobody could see the Celestial Dragon's slave mark on her, chose to save Marguerite, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra rather than benefit himself, and learning he went as far as to strike one of the World Nobles, as well as harbor no hatred for Hancock for being a slave in the past. As such, due to Luffy's bravery, selflessness and kind heart, 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 would survive by going with Luffy to Impel Down so he could rescue his brother.

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.) when he actually said "Thank you" (ありがとう). She continues 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 Summit War 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 very much and is not deterred in the slightest by this.

During the Summit War of 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 did not 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 could not 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.

After Luffy's 2-year training period, Hancock helped him reunite with his crew and, although saddened by his departure, she wished him the best of luck while not saying goodbye. Luffy stated he didn't want to because he wants to see her again, much to her joy. Since then, Hancock regularly keeps tabs on Luffy's actions in the New World, such as hanging an enlarged version of his bounty poster on her castle after his exploits in Dressrosa.

After the invasion of the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates, Hancock, realizing her country isn't safe so long as she stays there, has decided to reunite with Luffy.



While Luffy does not have the same romantic feelings towards Hancock that she feels towards him, he has shown that he genuinely cares for and appreciates her. Luffy viewed Hancock as a close friend and trustful ally. During his fight with Magellan, when the warden stated that he would have Luffy tell him how he managed to break into Impel Down, Luffy protected Hancock by declaring he would not tell Magellan even if it killed him. He later showed his gratitude by hugging her and remarking afterward that she had saved him twice, both in helping him break into Impel Down and giving him the key to Ace's Seastone handcuffs.

Shakuyaku
Shakuyaku is one of Boa Hancock's predecessors. Unlike Gloriosa, Hancock has a strong respect for Shakky for sheltering her and her sisters from the World Nobles and sending them back home. Shakky (along with Rayleigh) returned to her former home, Amazon Lily to save Hancock from the Blackbeard Pirates who attempted to kill her and steal the Mero Mero no Mi. Shakky advised Hancock and her sisters that the Calm Belt (including Amazon Lily) is no longer safe. When decided to leave her home nation, Hancock entrusted Shakky of guarding Amazon Lily and their fellow Kujas.

World Government and Marines
Even when she was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Hancock considered the World Government to be her enemy and, much like Nico Robin, she has stated that she hates the World Government and those in their complete obedience. Much of this comes from her past with the Celestial Dragons, who tortured her and her sisters from a young age, until they were rescued by Fisher Tiger. Even though she became a Warlord to protect her people, she refuses to take orders from the World Government, 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.

In some cases, her friction with the World Government has reached dangerous levels, which even Elder Nyon criticizes. True enough, she has cause severe frictions with the government. She accepted to fight Whitebeard only because this allowed Monkey D. Luffy to rescue the important prisoner Portgas D. Ace (yet unknown to the World Government), and due to her actions bringing Luffy to Impel Down, she is indirectly responsible for the mass breakout of several prisoners prior to the war. She defended Luffy in front of several Marines and Smoker while proclaiming Luffy as her beloved and destroyed several Pacifistas to assist in Luffy and Jinbe's escape. She later held of Marines to assist the Straw Hats escape to Fish-Man Island.

Despite being allied with the Marines, she refuses to call them allies, as she did not think twice about attacking her so-called "allies" in the Marines. Even though she agreed to fight against Whitebeard, she has made it clear that the Marines are not her allies by attacking without any distinction both pirates and Marines alike during the war. Her continuous support of Luffy during the war has put further strain on her status as a Warlord. As for the Marines, Hancock 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 blade.

In spite of her antagonism of the Marines, she is capable of being reasonable with them. As even though she refused Koby's request to be arrested, after Blackbeard defeated her and threatened to kill her and take her powers, Hancock did try to compromise with him and Koby to return both his crew and the Marines to normal to avoid any more conflict.

With the Seven Warlords system now abolished, she is an enemy with the government once again as Captain Koby and his forces waste no time trying to arrest her. Hancock, on the other hand, is not afraid and prepared to show the Marines the might of the Kuja Tribe. When Koby demanded Hancock to surrender, she refused to become a prisoner and petrified Vice-Admiral Yamakaji and almost all of the Marines until she reverted them back and they retreated due to Silvers Rayleigh's arrival. Due to the most recent attacks from the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates, as well as the destruction of her home they caused with the Seraphim Pacifistas, Hancock realizes the Marines are after her only and decides to leave her home for her reunion for Luffy (the most wanted criminal to the World Government) to ensure her peoples safety.

Men
To me...All men are alike...All but him.



Due to her hellish experience with the first man, she ever saw, the one who painfully burned the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon onto her back, Hancock has a bitter hatred towards all men (the only exceptions being Luffy, her love interest, and Rayleigh, who helped her and her sisters after they escaped from slavery), that caused her to indiscriminately attack pirates and Marine soldiers alike 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 not blood-related,) but she did not show much antagonism towards him during their meeting, and she stole the key to his shackles during the war. She made exceptions for the Heart Pirates for saving Luffy, and Jinbe received similar treatment, either due to his actions in protecting Luffy during the war resulting in him ending up as a fellow patient of the Heart Pirates alongside Luffy, or the likely possibility her cathartic rescue by Fisher Tiger ingrained in her a better impression of Fish-Men than her horrific first interaction with men. Of course, it may also be due to the fact that Jinbe is a member and the current leader of Fisher Tiger's crew, the Sun Pirates.

World Nobles
Hancock and her sisters were once enslaved by the World Nobles. For four years, she suffered greatly and wished for nothing but death every day. Despite being freed by Fisher Tiger, Hancock still maintains a large degree of trauma from them, shivering and crying from telling Luffy her tragic past. She was even left speechless after learning Luffy assaulted one, being amazed that there was someone foolish and brave enough to do so. Even still, Hancock's behavior was severely warped by the torture she endured until she met Luffy and puts up a great deal of effort to ensure no one will know of her past.

Marshall D. Teach
Due to him being Luffy's arch-nemesis who is responsible for the Summit War at Marineford and the cause of his brother Ace's death, Blackbeard is a sworn enemy of Hancock. He came to Amazon Lily looking for Hancock to kill her and steal her Mero Mero no Mi. Upon defeating her he choked her by the neck while Hancock furiously told him to get his filthy hands off of her, showing her disdain for him. She warned him that even if he kills her in order to take her powers the ones, she petrified will not be undone by anyone else who inherits her powers, but Blackbeard was uncaring about his crew members' fate. While Koby tried to reason about the lives of his crew and the Marines, Hancock was willing to undo the petrification so long as they all leave her island. Blackbeard however asserts how there is no guarantee that he could incapacitate her again and that if he wasn’t using his Yami Yami No Mi on her, they would all be easily turned to stone and be killed by her. He was about to kill her until Rayleigh arrives, causing Blackbeard to spare Hancock's life and retreat.

Fisher Tiger
Fisher Tiger freed Hancock and her sisters, along with many other slaves, during his rampage at Mary Geoise. 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 can never be repaid.

Portgas D. Ace
Portgas D. Ace was Luffy's brother who she agreed to help rescue out of respect for her newfound love for Luffy. She showed no real antagonism upon first meeting him, while Ace questioned why she would want to meet him. Upon secretly informing him that she snuck his brother in to help rescue him he was shocked by his younger brother's recklessness. Ace also knew immediately she was telling the truth, due to knowing Luffy better than anyone and this is something he would do.

She was later shocked upon learning he was Roger's son and that he and Luffy were not blood related. Despite this, she still went out of her way to assist him and Luffy in secret by giving Luffy the key to his handcuffs. It's unknown how she felt over his death, but she ensured his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain and protected his brother on her home island from the Marines going after him.

Straw Hat Pirates
It is unknown how Hancock feels towards the Straw Hat crew, as Luffy is the captain of the crew. She seems to care about them (due to her love for Luffy), as she willingly protected them from the Marines and helped them set sail to Fish-Man Island. The Straw Hats seems to appreciate what she did for them, as Brook and Sanji have already fallen for the Pirate Empress's beauty (with Sanji turning to stone just looking at her). Usopp also referred to her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

In the anime, when Luffy told Hancock about his crew, she became incredibly jealous of Nami and Robin, thinking they were love rivals. She also became determined not to lose against them.

Jinbe
Hancock has shown to be very distrusting towards Jinbe when they first met, but because he helped save Luffy, she let him seek refuge on her island until he was fully healed. In fact, Hancock has grown to respect Jinbe for protecting Luffy and even allowed him to explore her island to watch over a wounded Luffy, making Jinbe the second man to have ever been allowed in her country, showing Hancock has come to trust Jinbe greatly. Jinbe has shown to have a fear of crossing her when he wanted to have some of Luffy's food (that she prepared for Luffy only) and despite their unstable relationship, they are allies against the World Government. They also share a connected past of slavery where Jinbe's captain liberated a number of slaves with Hancock and her sisters among them. She is currently unaware that Jinbe has joined Luffy's crew.

Trafalgar D. Water Law
Because of Law's willingness to help Luffy during his time of need, Hancock put much of her faith in him and thanked him for saving Luffy, making Law one of the few men she's come to respect aside from Luffy, Rayleigh, and Jinbe. She provided Law and his crew with food and shelter on her island under the terms they did not enter her city. Law also has shown to be among the few men who have had no interest in her beauty. To ensure Luffy's safety, she did not tell the Marines anything of their private meeting.

Overview
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 tribe. As the empress and captain of the tribe, Hancock is the strongest Kuja warrior. 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 immensely powerful, and the strongest among the entire tribe. It is to be noted that only the strongest Kuja warriors are allowed in the country's pirate crew, Hancock and her sisters were strong enough to be there when they were small children, although it is possible, they were just apprentices like Shanks and Buggy.

Her strength is so great that it has even been acknowledged by the Fleet Admiral of the time, Sengoku of the Marines. Gloriosa believed that there was little chance for Hancock to die in the Marineford War because of her great strength. Even former Admiral Kuzan commented on her skills, stating she is not to be underestimated. Further testament to her strength is how she was one of the three Warlords who managed to leave the war without sustaining any injuries. The fact that she can earn a 80,000,000 bounty after her first campaign as a pirate further supports her capabilities. Over a decade later, her bounty become 1,659,000,000 following the disbandment of the Seven Warlord of the Sea. This also speaks to her strength considering unlike the other Warlords, she hasn't been involved with big name events recently. Crocodile, Buggy and Mihawk are apart of Cross Guild which they put bounties on marines heads. Law and Jinbe were apart of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance which took down the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom.



During the Marineford War, she had managed to take down several Pacifistas single handedly without much effort, where it took the whole Straw Hat crew (before their two-year training) to take down just one, which left them greatly worn out. During the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates invasion of Amazon Lily to capture her, Hancock was able to easily defeat most of both invading party's by petrify them, including Vice-Admiral Yamakaji and two of Blackbeard's Ten Titanic Captains, Catarina Devon and Vasco Shot, whom were among the strongest and most dangerous ex-prisoners in Impel Down Level 6. While Blackbeard was able to defeat Hancock thanks to his ability to nullified other Devil Fruit user abilities, he acknowledged she was worthy of being called the Pirate Empress. He further notes he would be in danger of getting petrified by her if he released her and decide killing her was the safer option, despite knowing he wouldn't be able to return his crewmates to normal if he did.

Physical Abilities


Noted as the strongest warrior of the infamous Kuja Tribe, Hancock has immense physical strength. She could perform extremely powerful kicks that can easily break stone (in the form of petrified opponents) as well as take down numerous powerful marine officers and New World pirates with incredible ease, and knock away Smoker, an extremely strong and powerful Marine, with a single Haki enhanced kick. Her strength is supplemented with tremendous speed and agility, able to land an extremely fast barrage of powerful kicks on numerous marines and New World pirates at once before they could respond. In Stampede, Hancock had enough physical power to deal a blow to the awakened form of Douglas Bullet, that while left him otherwise unharmed, it was strong enough to be felt.

Hancock has extraordinary skills in hand-to-hand combat, supplemented with her Devil Fruit abilities. She could easily take down numerous powerful and skilled Marine officers as well as powerful pirates from the New World. Similar to Bonney's and Sanji's fighting style, Hancock's fighting style seems to personally emphasis on powerful and versatile kicks, whether from kicking in-the-way cute animals or her enemies. Her kicks supplemented with her Devil Fruit powers allow Hancock to destroy several Pacifistas at once single-handedly.

Deception, Trickery, and Charisma
Hancock is extremely skilled in the arts of subterfuge and deception, managing to disguise Luffy inside her coat without eliciting much suspicion across an entire boat voyage and inside Impel Down, as well as being the sister to propose spreading the tale of the "Gorgon curse" to prevent her subordinates from discovering the humiliating brand of enslavement on their backs over a period of decades. Hancock is also highly intelligent, sly, and crafty when the situation demands it, being able to buy Luffy time, using her charms, after overhearing Magellan's plan to halt his infiltration and managed to manipulate events on Level Six of Impel Down by creating a commotion between the residing prisoners and a "protective" Magellan to speak to Portgas D. Ace in private and not attract any attention, as well as stealing the key to Ace's handcuffs for Luffy prior to his arrival, knowing it would be useful.

Hancock is also a master seductress; she could use her beauty and charm to get whatever she wants. With only Luffy as an exception, both men and women have been shown to be susceptible to her charms which therefore allows her to manipulate people as she desires. Though it might be a secondary effect of her Devil Fruit ability, Hancock is incredibly charismatic, to the point where her claims that she's able to get away with anything because she is beautiful has so far been shown to be true, with her antagonistic actions during the Marineford war seemingly unnoticed despite her openly attacking Marines and declaring her love for Luffy. She even convinced Marine officers to give her all their provisions, which they were prepared to happily do. In Impel Down, she used her charms to convince Magellan to take her down to Level 6 in order to buy Luffy more time, and at Level 6, she used her charms once more to cause a ruckus in order to pass a message to Ace.

Culinary Expertise
Prior to the timeskip, Hancock was bad at cooking, but became skilled in cooking meat which is Luffy's favorite dish over the course of two years.

Marksmanship
Hancock is very adept in long-range combat and is capable of using her Devil Fruit powers to strike her enemies from a long distance. She has shown great accuracy in using Pistol Kiss in which she accurately shot Luffy who jumped from the Kuja Palace from a very far distance. With the Slave Arrow, she shot down multiple New World Pirates at once, petrifying them in the process.

Devil Fruit


During her time as a slave, Hancock and her sisters were force fed Devil Fruits by their Celestial Dragon owners as a form of sick entertainment. Hancock ate the Mero Mero no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows her petrify people into stone statues, so long as they lust for her. She can turn people to stone by hitting them with any of a variety of heart-shaped long-range attacks, as well as by striking them physically. She can also return her victims to normal if she chooses. Thanks to Hancock unparalleled beauty and charm, very few people (male and female alike) can resist her powers, allowing her to petrify whole crews with no difficulties.

A would-be victim is immune to Hancock's power if they block out their "dirty thoughts", such as by feeling strong fear or pain, or if they simply aren’t attracted to her, such as a blind man not knowing how beautiful she is.

Haki
Hancock is one of the very few people in the world who can use all three types of Haki.

Haoshoku Haki
According to Sandersonia and herself, Hancock possesses the ability to use Haoshoku Haki. While she has not yet showcased her usage of it in the manga, Hancock has been seen using it in both Burning Blood and Pirate Warriors 4.

Busoshoku Haki
Hancock is a highly skilled user of Busoshoku Haki, able to combine her kicks with this type of Haki to bypass a Logia's intangible defenses.

Kenbunshoku Haki
Hancock possesses the ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki.

Weapon


Hancock carries with her an extra-large 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 actual combat.

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

Major Battles

 * Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates and their allies
 * Hancock vs. Pirates vs. Marine Officers
 * Hancock vs. Smoker
 * Hancock vs. Pacifista
 * Hancock and Kuja Pirates vs. Marines and Blackbeard Pirates
 * Hancock vs. Marshall D. Teach

Filler Battles

 * Hancock and Luffy vs. Sebastian (interrupted by Perona)
 * Hancock vs. Nightin
 * Hancock and Luffy vs. Cidre Guild
 * Hancock vs. Guarana
 * Hancock vs. Guarana and Ginger

Early Concepts

 * 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.
 * It is revealed in one of the data books that Hancock apparently used to be older than her current version. She was supposed to have a more "evil-based theme" and a scarier look. She also had tattoos on her face and did not have any bangs in the beginning. It is unconfirmed why Oda changed her appearance so much, though it could have been to make her eventual transition to an ally more believable.

Appearance
While her size is 191 centimeters in the manga, Hancock appears to be much taller in the anime (as seen in Impel Down when she and Luffy part ways).

Amazon Lily Arc
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, despite the fact that she had not even met them yet (but seems to know what they look like as shown in her imagination). She becomes jealous simply thinking about the fact that he has women in 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. There are also daydream sequences added in the Marineford Arc. After Luffy hugs her at Marineford, Hancock visualizes Luffy and herself at a wedding ceremony with the Kuja tribe as the guests. Then she imagined Luffy and herself on a honeymoon where she was preparing meals for Luffy.

Impel Down Arc
Her visit to Impel Down was also further elaborated, silently telling Ace that Luffy was also in Impel Down trying to save him, in a tone that apparently only Ace could hear (Jinbe had to be told about it later).

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 "Friends' Whereabouts" filler over four episodes rather than over one and a half chapters in order to slow down the anime plotline so that it did not catchup to the manga. There had 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.

Marineford Arc
During the pinnacle of the war, she stopped bazooka-wielding soldiers from targeting Luffy, under the claim that they would hit Garp as well, in which she added that he would be her grandfather-in-law when she and Luffy marry. How she knew of this heritage is unknown, as the world did not receive this knowledge until after the war, and there was no indication that she got word of this beforehand in either the manga or the anime. After Ace had been set free, Hancock appears behind Jinbe, Kingdew, and Blenheim while she did not in the manga.

Return to Sabaody Arc
Hancock's dress is colored red in the anime instead of blue, like in the manga.

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 her cleavage. However, this is only for the magazine serialization.

Merchandise


As a prominent character, there is fan merchandise made of her. Hancock has been featured with the Seven Warlords of the Sea in the series of One Piece Seven Warlords 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. Hancock has been featured in the One Piece Styling Figures along with Marguerite. She was recently released in the One Piece DX Figure and One Piece World Collectable Figure series.

Support Appearances

 * One Piece Romance Dawn: The Dawn of the Adventure

Other Media



 * In One Piece Premier Show 2010, Hancock was kidnapped by Disco and Nepenta to be sold to the World Nobles. She was saved by the Straw Hat Pirates after they defeated Disco and Doflamingo. In One Piece Premier Show 2011, Hancock competes against Ivankov in a Maidenheart Competition to decide who gets to join a party Luffy and his crew were throwing. In One Piece Premier Show 2014, a clone of Hancock was created by Bildy to fight the Straw Hat Pirates under the DX Marines.
 * In the first version of One Piece Live Attraction: Phantom, Buggy forces Ann to create a mirage of Hancock to trick and capture Sanji.
 * Hancock appears in Straw Hat Pirates vs. Marines vs. Seven Warlords Holographic Battle Theater.
 * Hancock appears in Super Kabuki II: One Piece in which the events of the Summit War Saga are retold. She is played by lead actor Ichikawa Ennosuke IV, who also played Luffy and Shanks, in the first production of the show.
 * Hancock appears in One Piece Water Spectacle 2.
 * Hancock appears in the Zoro and Marineford versions of the Hungry Days commercials.

Trivia

 * Given that all members of the Kuja tribe are named after flowers, it is possible that her given name comes from Hancock being an alternative name for the Chenault coralberry, which is a species of snowberry, a plant known for its showy flowers. Her family name, Boa, comes from the boa, a group of constricting snakes.
 * She shares her name with Thomas Hancock, the manufacturing engineer who founded the British rubber industry. This similarity relates to her relationship with Luffy, who has the power of rubber.
 * In Chapter 97, Nami can be seen dressing on clothes, one of which is identical to Hancock's prototype design.
 * She is the only Warlord of the Sea to not be voted in the 4th Japanese fan poll. This is due to her character not being introduced at the time.
 * In every Popularity Poll Hancock has been included in, she has been one of a few characters to always rank within the top 10 most popular characters in One Piece, alongside Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Portgas D. Ace and Sabo.
 * In the 5th Japanese fan poll, Hancock ranked as the tenth most popular character, which made her the second most popular Warlord (aside from Law), the second most popular female character (Nami being the first), and the fifth most popular "non-Straw Hat" character in the series. She was also the only character on that poll's top ten list who had made no major appearance in a recent arc.
 * In the 6th Japanese fan poll, Hancock ranked as the tenth most popular character again, making her the second most popular female character (Nami being the first), the most popular of the Seven Warlords. and the fifth most popular "non-Straw Hat" character of the series. She again was the only character to remain in the top ten list while having no major appearances in a recent arc.
 * In the 7th fan poll, she ranked slightly higher, landing at seventh place as the third most popular female character.
 * Hancock is the first female character in the series capable of using all three forms of Haki.
 * She, Sengoku and Eustass Kid are the only characters confirmed to have Haoshoku Haki, but never shown any usage of it the manga yet. Although Hancock and Kid have both showcased it in Pirate Warriors 4.
 * She currently has the second highest bounty for a female character at 1,659,000,000 and also the only other female beside Big Mom to have billion berries bounties.
 * 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 later turning into friendship and later love (on Hancock's half) which 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 tenryubito.
 * She is also very similar to Calypso; they both have an island inhabited by only women, they are irresistible to most men, and they are quite shocked that their respective hero (Luffy and Odysseus) can resist their charm and ask for a boat to leave (although Odysseus did take part in lovemaking with Calypso for quite a long while before his departure). The situation involving Luffy being the first one to ever really resist Hancock's charms caused the latter to fall in love with him also mirrors how Odysseus' resistance to Circe's charms eventually caused her to fall hopelessly in love with him too.
 * She is also similar to Penthesilea. They are both empresses of amazon warriors, they were slaves when they were young, and they later escaped with their two sisters. Penthesilea was also a talented archer, which may be a reference to Hancock's usage of her Devil Fruit powers.
 * Her ability to seduce men is similar to the sirens, who would seduce and lure sailors to a watery doom; only Sirens used their voice rather than their physical beauty.
 * Hancock's favorite food is hot pot.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * Hancock's birthday, September 2, comes from her native tribe's name since 9-2 can be derived from ku-ja.
 * Hancock is the most difficult human character for Oda to draw.