Empress

Biodata

Usage

• Hancock: “Empress” commonly replaces her personal name in narration, dialogue, crew assignments, and system missions. She retains the designation after becoming Ye Zhuo’s vice-captain and renouncing her Shichibukai status 5 9 11.
• Wu Zetian: The title identifies the Tang sovereign whose accession Ye Zhuo witnesses. She is explicitly named when she emerges from the imperial hall to confront him 241 242.
• Later Primordial World references: An Empress distributes pills to the Human Clan and asks Ye Zhuo about Mythic Great Firmament Heavenly Immortals. These passages do not explicitly identify her as Hancock or Wu Zetian 351 353.

Power Progression

The documented changes concern the title’s bearers; no power rank is assigned to the title itself.

History

Hancock: From Amazon Lily to Vice-Captain

Hancock first encounters Ye Zhuo when he intrudes into her palace and demands that she sail with him. She attacks him with the Love-Love Fruit, then fights him with kicks, arrows, and Three-Color Haki. His speed, strength, invisibility, and Observation Haki overwhelm her, leaving her exhausted and injured 5 6.

During the battle, her torn clothing exposes the Celestial Dragon’s Hoof Mark. Ye Zhuo makes both of them invisible before the guards arrive, concealing it. After recovering three days later, Hancock learns what he did and reads about his execution of Celestial Dragons 6 7.

She gives him an Eternal Pose to Water 7 and refuses Marine Headquarters’ demand that she report him. After his departure, she becomes critically ill. Gloriosa advises her to find him, and Hancock immediately orders her ship to sail 7.

At Water 7, she asks to join Ye Zhuo as vice-captain and is accepted. Her departure from the Shichibukai becomes public news, while Ye Zhuo claims Amazon Lily as his territory to protect it from Marine retaliation. Hancock supplies the new ship and brings half the Kuja Pirates aboard; her sisters return with the remainder to guard their homeland 9 10 11.

Hancock: Campaigns with the Demon King Pirates

Hancock remains beside Ye Zhuo when Imu submits to him, reacting with disbelief to Imu’s apparent prior relationship with her captain. Three years later, she is present as the crew and their children prepare for a voyage around the world 111 112.

Wu Zetian: Accession and Meeting the Demon God

Ye Zhuo travels to the Tang Dynasty on the day Wu Zetian ascends the throne. After he enters the palace and manifests an enormous Primordial Spirit Dharma Form, she confronts him directly, asking whether he objects to her becoming Empress. He answers that he merely came to show himself 241 242.

Wu Zetian develops affection and reverence for him, but sets those feelings aside because of her obligations to the realm. She sends Shangguan Wan’er to meet him and later speaks with him on Mount Tai about the endurance of the land, its rulers, and his deeds 244 246.

Wu Zetian: Abdication and Departure

During Ye Zhuo’s decades of seclusion, Wu Zetian continues governing and begins balancing firmness with gentleness. Although she often watches Demon God Palace from outside, she does not enter again, choosing to attend to the country and its people 247.

After the Youth-Restoring Pill’s effect expires, she ages without cultivation. In her seventies, she lies dying as ministers demand that she return the throne to the Li clan. She issues her final decree before Ye Zhuo arrives, restores her youth, and carries her away. When challenged about whether she intends to rule again, she says she has grown tired of the throne 247.

She subsequently receives Sage Jutsu instruction during Ye Zhuo’s journey into the late Sui period. Later, she is among the women who teach Lü Zhi palace intrigue in the Celestial Palace 249 267.

Appearance

Hancock

• Renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world; Shirahoshi is named as a possible equal 28.
• Has long, princess-cut hair and wears a qipao and high heels when she joins Ye Zhuo at Water 7 9.
• Bears the Celestial Dragon’s Hoof Mark, which Ye Zhuo conceals after her robes are damaged 6.
• Gains Ye Zhuo’s pirate-flag mark on her ankle through the Shadowkhan mask enhancement 35.

Wu Zetian

• Described as outstanding in both beauty and bearing, comparable to Yang Yuhuan 242.
• Still appears no older than forty when chronologically in her seventies because of the pill’s earlier effects 247.
• Returns to her prime after Ye Zhuo’s life-force restoration 247.

Personality

Hancock

Hancock is proud, confrontational, and unwilling to accept outside authority. She attacks Ye Zhuo for entering her kingdom and later rejects Marine Headquarters’ attempt to order her cooperation 5 7.

Her attitude toward Ye Zhuo changes into intense devotion. She becomes jealous of Kalifa, defends her captain’s decisions, and eagerly moves to attack anyone threatening him. Her confidence does not prevent her from recognizing Garp’s formidable strength once she witnesses it 9 14 20.

Amazon Lily’s citizens regard her as a gentle, protective queen, contrasting with her terrifying reputation among outsiders 71.

Wu Zetian

Wu Zetian possesses the courage to question an apparently displeased god rather than face death without understanding its cause. Her attachment to Ye Zhuo coexists with a strong sense of responsibility: she suppresses her personal wishes and continues ruling throughout his seclusion 242 244 247.

By the end of her reign, her ambition has softened. Once restored to youth, she willingly leaves the throne instead of using rejuvenation to extend her rule 247.

Abilities & Skills

Hancock — Love-Love Fruit

• Mero Mero Mellow: Fires a heart-shaped petrification beam. Its emotional condition makes it ineffective against those without impure thoughts toward her 5.
• Slave Arrow: Launches numerous heart-shaped arrows over a wide area 6.
• Perfume Femur: A named kicking technique used against Ye Zhuo and Big Mom 5 6 79.
• Contact petrification: Petrifies a mechanical beast’s head and Akainu’s shoulder through kicks 65 101.

Hancock — Haki and Close Combat

• Possesses Observation, Armament, and Conqueror’s Haki 6 17.
• Teaches Haki aboard the Demon King 36.
• Can clash with powerful opponents, but challenging Big Mom does not establish her as an Emperor-level combatant. During the Akainu battle, the narration explicitly states that she and the other leading officers have not yet reached the Pirate World’s pinnacle 79 81 101.

Wu Zetian — Governance and Cultivation

• Governs for decades after meeting Ye Zhuo, continuing her duties despite her desire to see him 247.
• Has sufficient experience in court affairs to help instruct Lü Zhi in palace intrigue 267.
• Receives Sage Jutsu instruction, though no named realm or personal combat technique is documented 249.

Relationships

• Ye Zhuo — Hancock: Initially her attacker, later her captain and romantic attachment; he conceals her mark and places Amazon Lily under his protection 6 7 9 10.
• Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold — Hancock: Her younger sisters; they help care for her and return to defend Amazon Lily after she joins Ye Zhuo 6 7 11.
• Kalifa — Hancock: Fellow crew officer and an early target of jealousy; Hancock also rebukes her for questioning Ye Zhuo’s decisions 9 14.
• Ye Zhuo — Wu Zetian: Her revered Divine Lord, personal attachment, rescuer, and later instructor 244 247 249.
• Shangguan Wan’er — Wu Zetian: Sent by the Empress to meet Ye Zhuo; later joins the companions associated with Demon God Palace 244 247.
• Lü Zhi — Wu Zetian: A later arrival at the Celestial Palace whom she helps educate in palace intrigue 267.