@benjamminbrown:
I see what everyone is saying about Hancock's power being linked to "love".
But what about the moves "slave arrow" and "perfume femur"? With these, she is even able to (1) turn inanimate objects like cannon balls to stone and (2) turn anything in physical contact with her leg to stone (she broke Smoker's jutte and also I think some random pirate's arm as if they were made of stone).
Then there's also "love gun" which seems like a pointless move if the target has to be watching in order for the bullet to actually strike.
Am I just completely off base, here? Are we talking only about her beam?
Anyway, if all of the above moves work without eye contact, then why should the beam require eye contact?
Edit: Why is this in the Marines thread?
Only about the beam, other moves require direct physical contact or some sort of media media to carry the power, in my argument in case of the beam the media is visuals.
The initial argument is, that Momonga stabbing himself in the hand to avoid being affected by Hancock attack is just a valid way of avoiding this particular attack as dodging or whatever other mean to counter the attack, thus the scene can't be taken as a prove of Momonga's inferiority to Hancock in terms of power. Amusingly enough both sides agree that Hancock is probably more powerful.
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@Spam286:
If she never tested the fruit at all, how did she figure out what it does in the first place? Do you reckon the first time she used her beam and turned someone to stone she immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was lustful thoughts rather than the much more likely line of sight thing? There's no real reason why she wouldn't test it on Marigold or Sandersonia once she knew she could undo it without any repercussions for the person petrified. As a pirate she's also probably had plenty of opportunities to force some schmuck to help her test it and then dispose of them without anybody being any the wiser.
You're also assuming that she never once encountered an enemy who looked away or closed their eyes before Luffy in more than a decade as a pirate and a Shichibukai.
All that together makes me feel it's unlikely that she wouldn't know that seeing her is a requirement for her power to work.
The answer can be deduced partially from my previous arguments. I've mentioned that her observations are well founded. Most likely nearly everyone, that she turned to stone has been ogling her. It's very likely, that when she first time used it and had zero idea, of how it would work, she used it on someone who pissed her off by ogling her (or trying something much worse). Based on her life story and psychological make-up, the conclusion she drawn is very natural and understandable. I don't think she ever felt the need to research the power either. She doesn't seem to be scientific mind. She treats her power almost mystically. You can see that based on her thinking process. "Luffy isn't turned to stone, so Luffy is special.", and not "there may exist conditions of my fruit working I hadn't previously thought of or observed".
She wouldn't likely experiment on her sisters, would you actually experiment on people you love, apart from situations life depends on it. After for a time they would become statues, even if rationally you know you can change them back there are usually some uneasy feelings along with experiments like that "what if something goes wrong". People, when making decisions do not only follow reason, but also emotions and sentiments. The reasons not to test the fruit on people she loves are very real just not rational.
Also people when fighting usually do not look away, much less when encountering world most beautiful woman. Wherever she goes people look at her, it's likely that she never used the attack on people who weren't looking at her, after all people who are not looking at her are probably ones, who just haven't seen her yet and had not been captivated by her beauty or have ipure thoughts about her.