A nation run by women, for women, Amazon Lily is one of the strongest independent nations in the world of One Piece. The women who live there are warriors trained from birth. At an older age, they’re able to join the Kuja Pirates run by their Empress if they want. Still, they maintain peaceful relations for the most part, with their Empress Boa Hancock taking on the role of Warlord to protect her home. So, where is the land of women, and what’s so special about Amazon Lily that will keep it through the Final Saga?
This article contains spoilers for One Piece through chapter 1100. Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus to avoid spoilers before continuing further!
Where is Amazon Lily?
Amazon Lily experiences a significantly better boost in defense thanks to its incredibly lucky position in the Calm Belt. This means that the World Government and Marines can’t easily get there to besiege them. The conditions of no wind or currents, combined with the massive size and ferocity of the various Neptunians that live there, means that a conventional naval attack is near-suicidal for the offensive side.
The women of Amazon Lily though are skilled in crossing through the Calm Belt though. Sea-Prism Stone lines the bottom of their boats, repelling the Neptunians that could attack at any moment. This means that despite the dangers of the Calm Belt, the Amazon people are safe. It’s an incredible blessing for the nation, otherwise without much of a fighting force since they’re such a small country.
No Boys Allowed
What sets Amazon Lily apart from other countries, along with their strategic positioning, is that the nation is made up of nothing but women. They carry on through tradition via the Kuja Pirates, who go out sailing and take in female orphans who don’t have a place. Only a few ever have children, and instead Amazon Lily is exclusively a women-led society.
It even goes to the point that the Amazons don’t allow men on the island. Any at all, without special permission from the Empress herself, will die. Luffy was almost executed for his presence on the island, even though he didn’t choose to be there. Even the Heart Pirates had to dock off the coast and Luffy was hiding out in the Empress castle. The only males able to walk in the open so far in the series are Rayleigh and Jimbei. Only with Rayleigh having special privileges as Shakky’s friend.
Kuja Pirates
The Kuja Pirates are always led by the current Empress of Amazon Lily as their captain. They sail throughout the Grand Line. Some natives join when they come of age to sail along with the pirates. During the course of One Piece, up until recent chapters, they’re the main crew of Boa Hancock. They back her as she presides as a Warlord of the Sea. While they may not be the largest crew on the Grand Line, they’re still a formidable and fearsome fighting force.
Empresses
A long line of Empresses rule the Kuja Kingdom of Amazon Lily. Though unrelated, they date back hundreds of years past the Void Century. Boa Hancock is just the latest in a long line. She even has backing of elders like Gloriosa and the other Boa sisters Sandersonia and Marigold.
The Empresses of Amazon Lily have a long history of leaving the island thanks to a “love sickness”. If they’re especially unlucky they end up dying from the lovesickness, and it can cause them to just keel over nearly instantly. It’s incredibly common amongst them, and usually comes from meeting someone on their journeys with the Kuja Pirates. Then, the next strongest Amazon Lily resident steps into the role.
Boa Sisters
When the Boa sisters were young girls, fresh onto the Kuja Pirate crew, they were attacked by the World Government. In turn, the three sisters are taken as captives and sold to the Celestial Dragons as slaves. They’re not the first to be taken as slaves by the Celestials. No, the practice is unfortunately widespread throughout the first half of the Grand Line. Once they go to Mary Geoise, the Celestial Dragons abuse them. They use inhumane and numerous numerous terrible ways, including force-feeding them their Devil Fruits.
When Fisher Tiger conducts his massive raid on Mary Geoise, freeing the various slaves, the sisters are finally freed. With the help of Tiger, Silvers Rayleigh, and former Kuja Pirate captain Shakky, they finally make it back home to Amazon Lily. Thanks to their incredible strength with their Devil Fruits, as well as perseverance, Hancock becomes the newest Empress.
Exiles
Although some Kuja Pirates eventually leave the island due to love sickness, some are exiled because of who they love. Namely, Gloriosa, who is one of the Empresses in exile thanks to the man that she falls in love with. Golden Lion Shiki is the one she’s drawn to on the Rocks Pirates, led by Rocks D Xebec, and she defects from the Kuja Pirates for him. Naturally, this is all over after the events of God Valley, and Gloriosa manages to get back into Amazon Lily after Shakky gives her a vote of confidence.
Shakky voluntarily exiles herself from Amazon Lily for some time, choosing to live on the Sabaody Archipelago with Silvers Rayleigh. She owns a bar here, and while the romantic relationship isn’t explored, there are a lot of implications about Shakky and Rayleigh being connected.
World Government Sanctions
After the events of the Revery arc, the Warlord system is dissolved across the Grand Line. This means that Amazon Lily has lost all the World government-guaranteed protections. This means that the Marines, with the technology to cross the Calm Belt now and attack Amazon Lily, can immediately attack. It also means that the Emperors have full ability to come in for raids, which Blackbeard jumps on immediately.
This leads to both S-Hawk and Blackbeard showing up at the same time, causing absolute chaos. Probably the only reason that Amazon Lily is saved is thanks to the interventions from both Silvers Rayleigh and Koby, who negotiate a deal for Blackbeard to leave. He takes Koby, but leaves Amazon Lily alone for the time being. That’s not going to be the end of things though, and the Kuja Pirates will play a huge part in the Final Saga when things heat up.
Amazon Lily’s Future
Now that she has no allegiance to the World Government, Boa Hancock will back Straw Hat Luffy unequivocally. She’s in love with him, to the point of absolute infatuation where her Seraphim clone even has feelings for him. At this point, likely, Hancock would straight up sacrifice herself for Luffy, and her powers are going to give major firepower to the Straw Hat Pirates.
Amazon Lily’s strategic location doesn’t do a whole lot for it anymore, and now they’re going to need protection. The easiest way would be to declare themselves a Straw Hat territory, especially since Luffy is an Emperor now. This would keep the Marines and World Government from immediately attacking, and help keep the land safe from other Emperors that may try for it.
The Kuja Pirates and Amazon Lily will be critical players in the final saga regardless, and fight alongside Luffy bravely. It’s only going to come into play more as the story accelerates toward the end, and Blackbeard is desperate to get something on Amazon Lily. No matter what happens, the country is going to be a major political force in the post-Final Saga world, whether for good or bad.
