First, take a look at Hancock’s expression in the image above. When meeting Luffy, Hancock comments that there is a hideous scar on his body, which resembles a large X shape on his chest. In Oda’s initial sketches, the creator depicted Hancock with an entirely different appearance, almost like a character from a beauty pageant, regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world.
Not to mention that her friend Salomé completely covers her body with a cloak. Oda even went so far as to create a scenario where Hancock had only one eye exposed, but eventually decided to steer the concept toward a more balanced look. Fortunately, in the end, Oda allowed us to see a truly beautiful and charming Empress.
Previously, the One Piece creator also revealed some preliminary sketches of the Merman Island, which surprised many viewers. For example, shortly before, Chopper was seen sucking on leaves and was not supposed to be the character we know today. Therefore, one can imagine how different the initial sketches could have turned out.
