As the writer of Bleeding Heart of Stone and The Warrior & The Historian, it genuinely warms my heart to see so much Hebihana appreciation of late, especially after almost 6 years of getting into the ship with my dear friend @fandommisc and not seeing much of it, so here’s my most recent (official!) contribution to it!
Why Hebihana is such a good ship:
- Their upbringings are fundamentally opposed, yet they complement each other in many ways.
> Hancock comes from an island of warriors wherein strength is their most valuable asset and they don’t even get newspapers with info about the outside world, whereas Robin was part of a group of scholars who committed the “grave, unforgivable sin” of studying the Poneglyphs to try and learn about the Void Century.
> Another way in which they compliment each other is through their fighting styles, especially before the time skip: Hancock uses her legs to land devastating strikes to her foes (and apply local petrification to the area) while Robin uses her arms to snap necks and spines like twigs. They are deadly and efficient.
- The two of them are prodigies in their own areas, which we find about in their respective flashbacks.
> Robin aced her archaeolgy exam and officially became a scholar at the age of 8. Moreover, she could also read Poneglyphs at that age, which is a feat that both amazes and worries Clover and the other archaeologists.
> Hancock, on the other hand, was already a Kuja warrior and was allowed on the Perfume Yuda at the age of 12. Bear in mind that to be a warrior the Kuja must have some control over Haki, and that only the elite are selected to be members of the pirate crew.
- The World Government ruined their lives and stole their childhoods and innocence, leaving them scarred for life.
> Robin was given a bounty of 79.000.000 berries and was labelled given the monicker of Devil Child when she was eight years old, right after her entire island was wiped away from the face of the earth with a Buster Call. On top of that, she lost her mom, whom she had just reunited with after years of being in her abusive aunt’s care, as well as the very few people who truly cared about her despite her powers (with one giant exception!) (and, speaking of which, she most likely acquired them after consuming her Devil Fruit because she was very hungry due to her aunt’s neglect). She is the only survivor of a government-approved genocide.
> 20 years later, she still has PTSD from the whole ordeal on top of being passively suicidal, as seen both in her post-Ohara flashbacks and her attitude at the end of Alabasta and the start of Enies Lobby. For two entire decades, Robin couldn’t trust anyone and had nowhere and nobody to consider her home because she’d been thrust into a never-ending betray or be betrayed dynamic that left her terrified and constantly fighting for her life until she finally found the Strawhats. All because she is Oharan and can read the Poneglyphs.
> Meanwhile, Hancock (along with her younger sisters) was kidnapped and sold into slavery at age 12. Thanks to the God Valley flashback, we can safely assume that them being Kuja played a huge factor in that; Gloriosa and Shakky are said to have been highly coveted “idols” whose bounty posters were merchandise men fought over, and Shakky was the “grand prize” at God Valley, so Kuja seem to be sought after in the Holy Land.
> After being subjected to the humiliation that is being sold at an auction house, Hancock (again, along with her younger sisters) was branded on the back like mere cattle. Not much is known of her time in the Holy Land, other than: 1) she was there for four long years, 2) she used to pray for death all the time, and 3) she was forcefed her Devil Fruit for the entertainment of her owners. All things considered, there’s a high chance that she was subjected to sexual assault because the Tenryuubito are scum like that, as seen with the poor woman Charlos wanted as his 13th wife despite being engaged to another guy and the whole Ginny ordeal. Because of this, Hancock puts on a heartless façade to keep everyone at an arm’s length because she’s terrified of what will happen if anyone finds out about her past and the brand on her back.
- They can provide each other with what the other needs the most.
> Hancock’s love is a hurricane. It stops at nothing. At Marineford, when Luffy’s dad is revealed to be Dragon aka Mr Most Infamous and Wanted Man in the World, Hancock says that she’d love him even if he was the devil’s child. She is loyal and would doubtlessly fight for her loved ones, as well as being very open and vocal with her affections. Her love is very hard-won, yes, but it’s unconditional. She’s one of the biggest ride or dies in the whole story, and one of the more considerate people when in love; Miss High and Mighty learnt to cook for Luffy, so she’d definitely open entire schools and libraries in Amazon Lily for Robin so that her Oharan knowledge would live on and thrive in the upcoming Kuja generations.
> Robin is gentle and quiet and nonjudgmental; she would see Hancock’s brand as part of her story, not the whole of it. A grim chapter rather than the entire book. Nor would she think less of her for it. She’d still see Hancock for who she is: a powerful woman, an older sister, a child who has a difficult relationship with her adopted mother figure (because Gloriosa was just like Hancock in her youth in terms of extra diva queen, if not worse, lol), a girl who grew up too fast like her, and, above all, someone she can rely on when things get bad. She is a calm and steady presence, one that can bring Hancock’s humanity out again through patience and understanding.
- And last but not least, they are very aesthetically pleasing together.
> Other than Hancock being a year older than Robin (29/28 & 31/30), she’s also an inch taller (6'3"/6'2"), which makes them a very striking, eye-catching couple. Tall, confident ladies with beautiful eyes and mean glares.
> And speaking of mean glares, my friend @fandommisc and I headcanon Robin with heterochromia, so she has one brown eye and a light blue one, since her eyes in the manga are brown but in the anime they’re blue. Both sets are beautiful so we just picked the best of both worlds! Besides, this pairs really well with Hancock’s dark blue ones (and differentiates them quite a bit, thank you very much Oda and Toei).
> Their colour palettes go very well together, and Hancock’s worn purple dresses (Marineford, 3D2Y, various video games) which look great on her. This means Robin would look great on her, duh.
> Pre-time skip Robin was actually quite handsome, both face-wise and outfit-wise, which clashes very well with Hancock’s more conventional beauty. Bring back her cowboy hats and wardrobe I’m begginnnggg.
Oh, Hebihana, how I love you. This is literally their dynamic with Robin being A and Hancock being B🐍🌸
