Kuja

Kuja (九蛇) are a tribe of all female fighters found on the island of Amazon Lily. Apparently, until they found Luffy on their island had never seen a man before.

Appearance


The Kuja wear revealing clothing with white capes and often have strange hairstyles. Several of them are seen carrying a large snake wrapped around them; when the Kuja threaten Luffy, it is revealed that they use the snakes as bows.

About
The Kuja tribe consists entirely of women. The majority of them are therefore unfamiliar with men, particularly their anatomy. It is stated that the women who leave Amazon Lily sometimes return pregnant. Oddly, they always give birth to females. The women are raised in the ways of the warrior and are often burly and strong, but there are the odd beauties amongst them. 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). 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 seem to have little knowledge about Devil Fruit powers, despite the fact that Boa Hancock and her two sisters have Devil Fruit powers themselves (Margueritte 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.

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 rumours, stating they turn people to stone. However, this rumor applies only to Boa Hancock. 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.

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.

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.

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

Trivia

 * They are all named after flowers or other flowering plants, even their island is named after one. The name of the island may also be a reference to the Amazons of Greek myth, which their culture is heavily based on.