Short Summary
If my own selfishness should bring about the end of our kingdom, i would be forgiven for it. The reason for that is... yes... because i'm beautiful!
— Boa Hancock
After the loss against Kuma, Luffy is sent flying from Sabaody and into the women-inhabited island of Amazon Lily, who have a strict no-male policy on the island. Luffy must contend with their leader, Boa Hancock, while trying to find a way off the island to find his missing crewmates.
Main Summary
Amazon Lily Arc has the following tropes:
- All Amazons Want Hercules: Considering very few of the islanders have seen a man, it's not surprising they consider Luffy this.
- Allergic to Love: This turns out to be literal for multiple empresses of the Kuja Tribe. Whenever they fall in love with a man and are inevitably separated from them due to men not being allowed on Amazon Lily, they bottle up their feelings and suffer from a deadly disease called "Love Sickness" and eventually die from "Love Burn" due to not being able to be with the man they love. This killed the two previous empresses before Boa Hancock, and Elder Nyon only survived her own case because she eventually left the island to pursue the man she fell in love with. Hancock contracts this herself shortly after falling in love with Luffy, since the thought of him leaving the next day was too much for her heart to take. She unknowingly saved her own life by agreeing to aid him in trying to save his brother Ace.
- Amazon Brigade: Introduction of the Kuja.
- Animal Motifs: Boa Hancock and the entire Amazon Lily island, where serpents are the choice of pet.
- As Long as There Is One Man: After Hancock petrifies Vice Admiral Momonga's crew (except for Momonga, who avoids that fate by stabbing himself in the hand to distract himself from her beauty), she mockingly comments how his crew is down to one. He replies that "one" is not the same as none.
- Big Bad: Boa Hancock starts out as the villain of the arc as the leader of the Kuja tribe who puts Luffy on trial for his presence on Amazon Lilly. Halfway through the arc, however, Hancock loses her status as this after Luffy shows his kindness by protecting the Gorgon Sisters secret and even falls in love with him, marking the first time in the series that Luffy not only doesn't fight the main antagonist but sways them to his side.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Kuja tribe in Amazon Lily completely subvert the Women Are Wiser trope, being every bit as savage and brutal (and at times even more) than the men of the outside world, which is only exacerbated by their empress Boa Hancock, who feels she can do whatever she likes and get away with it because of her beauty. Luffy calls them out on not caring what their ruler does to members of their tribe, some of them reply they didn't like what happened to them, but Hancock gave a fair punishment for breaking the law (of allowing a man into the island).
- Brawn Hilda: Sweet Pea and Marigold are both extremely large, strong and ugly women.
- Breather Episode: While there are some moments of drama, particularly with regards to Luffy struggling with the loss of his crew and finding out about Ace's execution, this arc is a far more lighthearted affair that is sandwiched between the Downer Ending of the Sabaody Archipelago and the harrowing experiences Luffy will face in Impel Down and Marineford.
- Butter Face: Sandersonia has a gorgeous body from the neck down, but has an over-sized, oval-shaped head with a flattened face that really does not mesh well with her body.
- Call-Back:
- One to the World Nobles of the previous arc, Luffy also mentions his encounter with Aokiji as he tries to help the petrified Kuja warriors, and the sun-shaped tattoo of the Arlong Pirates finally receives a detailed explanation.
- Luffy receives an attack that does absolutely nothing to him because of some quality about him, much like in the Skypiea Arc. Though Luffy mistakes the attack for the Slow-Slow Beam.
- Luffy's battle with Marigold and Sandersonia calls back to his previous battles with Eneru and Sentomaru.
- Luffy does a Pose of Supplication when Hancock offers the option of sparing the warriors she petrified, calling back to the Drum Island Arc.
- Charm Person: Hancock is so beautiful she can instantly charm the pants off of anyone and anything at a moment's notice...well, anyone except Luffy that is.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Fisher Tiger. He's apparently the true founder of the Sun Pirates, and his story and importance won't be fleshed out until the Fish-Man Island Arc.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Somewhat. Luffy manages to beat Sandersonia and Marigold in the arena fight but what wins the sisters over is that Luffy willingly protects the mark on Sandersonia's back, keeping their Mark of Shame hidden and their cover safe.
- Fan Disservice: During a flashback, we see a young girl in a midriff-baring outfit, girlish pigtails, and Zettai Ryouiki. She is none other than Boa Hancock, and she is in chains as she and her sisters are utterly terrified as they are about to be branded as slaves and soon to be subjected to years of cruel punishments, humiliations, and tortures from the World Nobles.
- Fanservice: In an arc consisting mostly of women, this is pretty much a given. Played with a bit in that the inhabitants of the island consist of all manner of body types.
- Floral Theme Naming: All the Kuja tribe have a flower-related name. The full list is: Sandersonia, Marigold, Ran ("orchid"), Rindo ("Japanese gentian"), Daisy, Cosmos, Blue Fan, Sweet Pea, Marguerite, Aphelandra, Gloriosa, Kikyo ("Chinese bellflower"), Belladonna ("nightshade"), Kiku ("Chrysanthemum"), Poppy, Pansy, Shion ("aster"), Enishida ("broom"), and Nerine. Boa Hancock is possibly named for the symphoricarpos chenaulti hancock.
- Foreshadowing:
- The King's Disposition Haki (Haoushoku Haki) which Luffy uses to stop Sandersonia and Marigold from smashing the petrified Marguerite, knocking out half the crowd in the process. Later in the Marineford Arc, a similar situation arises.
- Nyon tells Luffy that with the Ace situation, he'll be completely helpless as an "ant into a raging storm". What happens from the next arcs is that he encounters foes too strong for him to do anything about.
- When we find out where Sanji ended up, he exclaims the place is "Hell", as he's on an island of transvestites.
- Genre Shift: Sanji and Robin's episodes very suddenly veer into romance and gritty drama respectively. You could be forgiven for thinking you tuned into a different show.
- Gladiator Games: Luffy is forced to fight in one of them.
- Heel–Face Turn: Hancock, who actually falls in love with Luffy. This, in turn, makes her sisters change sides as well.
- Internal Reveal: Luffy finally learns about the upcoming war between the Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates and that the instigator of said war is the planned execution of Portgas D. Ace.
- Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: It only took a few minutes, but the moment the guardians and caretakers for Hancock and her sisters took their eyes away from the young girls, they were kidnapped and sold into slavery to the World Nobles and subjected to tortures and punishments for years. They remained physically, emotionally and mentally scarred by the experience right up to the present day.
- Ironic Hell: Inverted. If any straight man had ended up in Luffy's situation (including having Boa Hancock fall in love with them), they'd be living it up. Luffy himself, however, is a Chaste Hero, making all of this an Ironic Heaven. Played straight with Sanji, he's a womanizer who ends in an island full of transvestites.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though "heart of gold" is a vast overstatement, Hancock isn't as heartless as she lets on (a trait that almost exclusively shows around Luffy), and her backstory gives her a really good reason to act the way she does. She mostly acts cold-hearted and distant because of her days as a slave; her showing no weakness or mercy is a way for her to ensure that such a thing will never happen again.
- Kick the Dog: Hancock, literally and figuratively. The former in which she kicks any cute animal in her way out of sheer annoyance. It starts as a Establishing Character Moment, but after her backstory turns into more of a Running Gag. The latter is during the arena trial as Hancock turns Marguerite, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra to stone after they confessed to bringing Luffy into the village, which even Luffy finds is too harsh a punishment. Sandersonia likewise does this by trying to smash Marguerite just to make Luffy feel helpless.
- Lady Land: As the name "Amazon Lily" suggests, the island nation is exclusively populated by women, although in true One Piece fashion they range in appearance from beautiful to gonk.
- Made a Slave: Hancock, Marigold, and Sandersonia in their backstory.
- Mark of Shame: The Hoof of the Celestial Dragon, which Hancock and her sisters have on their backs during their time of slavery. The three go out of their way to avoid having their fellow Kuja seeing it, going so far as to lie to the whole island that it was a curse given to the three by a Gorgon.
- No-Sell: Luffy is completely immune to Hancock's Love-Love Beam.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Since most of the Kuja have never seen a man before, they are all fascinated by Luffy. During the banquet, there is an entire line formed to get the chance to touch him while he eats, since all of them want the chance to do so before he leaves. This "touching" includes them pulling on his rubber face. Luffy is more angered that they are doing it while he's trying to eat.
- One-Hit KO: Luffy to Bacura at the beginning of the arena fight.
- Phony Psychic: In a throwaway gag, Elder Nyon tries to convince Hancock to join the Marineford War... by scribbling "Go Now" on a Crystal Ball in sharpie.
- Red Baron: The Gorgon Sisters, both due to having "Gorgon's Eyes" on their backs and that their powers are Gorgon related. (Marigold and Sandersonia can turn into snakes. Hancock's powers involve turning her victims to stone.)
- The Reveal: Boa Hancock is actually one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the last to be revealed.
- Sadistic Choice:
- Hancock gave one to Luffy, where he had a choice of safely leaving Amazon Lily or saving Marguerite and her two friends. She initially believed that Luffy would choose the former (showing his true colors), but instead, Luffy gets on his knees and thanks her for saving his friends.
- Luffy gets hit with another one at the end of the arc when he finds out about Ace's upcoming execution. He can either take a ship to return to the Sabaody Archipelago and potentially reunite with his crew or put their reunion on hold to save Ace. Luffy ultimately decides to do the latter and thinks to himself that his crew will have to wait a bit longer.
- Scaled Up: Sandersonia and Marigold both have eaten a version of the Snake-Snake Fruit, a strain of Zoan type Devil Fruit that allows the user to transform into either a giant snake or humanoid serpent.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: Why Hancock feels she doesn't have to fulfill her duty as a Warlord, and does any action she likes.
- Secret Test of Character: Hancock's Sadistic Choice to Luffy is meant to be one for him, with her intending for him to show his true colors as a way to prove she was right to be distrustful of him. When she forces him to choose between either being given passage off Amazon Lily to reunite with his crew or having Hancock return Marguerite and her two friends to normal, she fully expects Luffy to reveal his true selfish nature and pick the former. Instead, Luffy happily picks the latter without hesitation while bowing to Hancock, thus proving his good heart and leaving Hancock shocked.
- Shout-Out:
- In one of the anime episodes of the arc, one of the Kuja looks like Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Coincidentally, the episode was also directed by someone who worked on that show, so it might have been intentional.
- The entire arc is partly based on Greek Mythology, what with Hancock's powers to turn people into stone based on Medusa, her sisters having the title of the "Gorgon Sisters", Luffy being on an island of Amazonian warriors and having the affection of its empress, etc.
- Taken for Granite: Boa Hancock's Love Love Beam turns the target, driven by the lust in their hearts into stone. She can, however, reverse the process.
- The Unfought: Boa Hancock, having decided that since Luffy protected her sister from the crowd seeing her tattoo, decided she was no longer in the mood to fight him. Just as well, because Luffy would have handily lost.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: An interesting example, since in the last arc, the Straw Hats were separated by Kuma, so their fates were shown at the end of the arc: Franky ended up on a winter island, Nami was sent to a Sky Island and ended up in the home of an eccentric inventor, Usopp ended up on an island where its ecosystem is dangerous to him, Brook ended up on an utterly impoverished island ruled by a Satanic cult that believes he's Satan, Chopper ended up on an island where humans and giant birds wage war with each other and is almost eaten, Zoro encounters Perona on a twilight island, Robin ends up on a slave island which has been building a giant bridge for 700 years, and Sanji ended up on an island similar to Amazon Lily called Momoiro Island... which is filled with transvestites.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Boa Hancock is considered this, particularly by the Kuja tribe.
- Youngest Child Wins: Whilst they might not fit this trope in terms of aging allotment, it is clear that Hancock seems to be the luckiest of the siblings. Whereas Marigold is a straight-up Gonk, with her oversized, chubby-seeming build and ill-defined face, and Sandersonia is a Butter Face with the body of a tall yet voluptuous woman and an oversized flat-featured head, Hancock is the World's Most Beautiful Woman. Even their Devil Fruits reflect this, with Marigold and Sandersonia's transforming them into monstrous snakes or hideous Snake People, whilst Hancock's Devil Fruit weaponizes her beauty.
