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One Piece 1059 proved to be massive for both Boa Hancock and her powers, after years of her being away from the main story. Yonko Marshall D. Teach, better known as Blackbeard, made an attempt at stealing the Mero Mero no Mi from Boa Hancock by intruding on the Women's Island, Amazon Lily, while it was being raided by the Marines, taking advantage of the situation.
Marshall D. Teach has only ever made three attempts at stealing a fruit – the first being when he murdered Thatch, the Fourth Division Commander on Whitebeard's pirate ship for the Yami Yami no Mi, the most powerful logia, and the second time being the Summit War in Marineford, when he finished off Whitebeard, who was already at his limit, to aquire the most powerful Paramecia, the Gura Gura no Mi. In One Piece 1059, he made a third attempt, when he tried stealing the Mero Mero no Mi from Boa Hancock but came out empty handed, thanks to the involvement of Dark King Rayleigh. Clearly, this means is that Blackbeard holds the Mero Mero no Mi in very high regard, and it seems he wanted to keep it for himself to eat as his third Devil Fruit. It would make little sense if he sought out the fruit fot its base abilities, however, the Awakening of the fruit could well make it very special.
What Is The Mero Mero No Mi?
The Mero Mero no Mi, or Love Love Fruit, is a supposedly Paramecia type Devil Fruit eaten by the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock. This fruit, even without its Awakening, is deadly, as seen in the recent chapter 1059, where Hancock was able to turn two of Blackbeard's Commanders into stone effortlessly. These two Commanders were considered some of the most dangerous criminals ever by the Marines, and locked in Level 6 Impel Down. Of course, the fruit would not be as efficient had Boa Hancock not been powerful and beautiful, but it would still be dangerous in anyone's hands, skilled or not.
This fruit grants its user the ability to turn people and objects into stone by contact or by heart-shaped projectiles. While it's a common misconception, the Mero Mero no Mi does not require lust to function, this condition is only needed for her Mero Mero Mellow to work. That said, it's curious that the fruit's name is the Mero Mero no Mi, which means to fall head over heels, but its ability is to turn people to stone. Logically, it would be that a fruit with that name would make people fall in love.
The True Awakening Of The Mero Mero No Mi
While nothing about the nature of the fruit is confirmed, it could be theorized that the Mero Mero no Mi is not the real name of Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit. Instead, it's possible that the real name of the Devil Fruit is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Medusa or Gorgon. With Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi turning out to be the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika after his Awakening during the big Onigashima fight that saw him oppose Yonko Kaido, it is now possible for Eichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, to hide the true nature of a character's Devil Fruit.
While on the surface this doesn't seem to make much sense, there is quite a lot of stuff backing this. Firstly, both of Hancock's sisters, Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold possess Snake Zoan Devil Fruits, so it is rather weird that she was fed a Paramecia. It would make more sense for her to be fed a Zoan as well, and one related to snakes, not love. At the same time, Blackbeard, who was hunting for the devil fruit, would certainly not want a paramecia. He already has the strongest paramecia in the world and also holds the strongest logia in the world. Logic dictates that Blackbeard's next devil fruit would be one of the most powerful Zoans in the story.
At the same time, Luffy's character closely mirrored that of Nika, a man who represented freedom in the Void Century, and in the same way, Boa Hancock and Medusa have so much in common. Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters and was abused and mistreated by men, just like Boa Hancock with her life in slavery by the Celestial Dragons.
It's also interesting to note that Boa Hancock is a heavily snake-inspired character – from her entire island to her earrings, and even being called the Snake Princess, despite not possessing any snake abilities so far. Medusa was a woman with snake coiling hair who could turn anyone with a glance to stone, which matches very closely with Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit abilities that allow her to turn anything to stone. The comparisons between the two are endless and it would be obvious to anyone that Boa Hancock was inspired by Medusa's myth.
The Possible Powers Of The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Medusa/Gorgon
To unlock the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Medusa, Boa Hancock will have to awaken her Devil Fruit by completely mastering it, just like Luffy did during Onigashima. The fruit could give her a more monstrous form, giving her white snakes for hair. Most interestingly, it could allow her to turn everyone to stone with a mere glance of her eyes, just like Medusa in the myths, meaning she wouldn't have to touch the person for them to become petrified, making fighting her almost impossible.
It is impossible to say for certain what Oda has in store for her, but seeing Hancock's recent involvement, as well as Shakky stepping in on Amazon Lily, it could be possible that Hancock will join the main story and will have a fight awaiting for her that will push her to unlock her Awakening.