A man as unstable and dramatic as they come, Donquixote Doflamingo makes quite the impression in One Piece. Initially just another Warlord of the Sea, the Dressrosa dictator is a surprisingly deep character. So, who is Donquixote Doflamingo, and what inspires his empire of greed and violence?
Fair warning! This article includes spoilers for One Piece through chapter 1090. The manga is available on MangaPlus and Viz to read online. Catch up or be spoiled!
Who is Donquixote Doflamingo?
The head of the Donquixote Family, his own pirate crew, and dictator of Dressrosa, Doflamingo is a menace. He’s a narcissist and sociopath, with no true feelings for any other than himself. Doflamingo will gladly kill anyone in his way with a laugh, and even his subordinates can’t tell what he’s thinking. Nearly always smiling, Doffy takes his Warlord of the Sea position early in life, and uses it to regain the power he had as a child.
Despite his anger and narcissism, Doflamingo does actually care for his family of pirates. He’s genuinely betrayed by Law, and didn’t want to believe Corazon did what he was guilty of. Doffy has no mercy for those that betray him though, and as he grows older takes less mercy on his enemies. Bellamy even gets threatened with death many times before Doflamingo finally sends him out against Luffy, though it’s just as much for his entertainment. Doffy has no problem ending one life or an entire country if he feels like it.
Former Celestial Dragon
If anyone wonders why Doflamingo has such a disconnection from basic human empathy, this is it. The Donquixotes are former Celestial Dragons, the so-called gods that live in Sacred Marijoa above the Red Line. They’re constantly disconnected from the reality of humans beneath their bubble, and totally ignorant that most humans despise them. Of course, Donquixote Homing, Doffy’s father, decides that he wants to go live as a regular human, forsaking their status. Homing, his wife, and two sons go below to the Red Line and live among the normal people.
They try to, at least, until Homing wins dumbass of the year and tells people they’re former Celestial Dragons. Yeah, that doesn’t go over well with the common folk, and the Donquixote family finds themselves crucified outside their burning home. Win some, lose some. Only Doffy and his brother, Rochinante, survive the ordeal and live on.
Why Does Doflamingo Take Dressrosa?
Doffy takes Dressrosa because he feels he’s the rightful ruler over it. When the Donquixotes founded the World Government eight hundred years ago along with the twenty families, they left Dressrosa behind. In their place, they hand control over to the Riku family, who are leagues above the Donquixote royalty in public respect. The former rulers were notoriously awful to the Tontatta people of Dressrosa, and this is a priority to correct for the new King Riku.
Unfortunately, this brings Doffy back to Dressrosa for the same reason, to exploit them. He kidnaps the Tontatta Princess Mansherry and holds her for ransom, forcing others to work in his artificial Devil Fruit orchard. Doffy takes whatever he can from the small folk, and only makes it worse for the people of Dressrosa.
Corazon
Doflamnigo’s surviving brother, Donquixote Rochinante, has the designation of Corazon in the crew. It’s a name that means ‘Heart’ since Doffy’s team is designed around a deck of cards with him as the Joker. Corazon plays the part of double agent though, and is taken in as an adoptive son by Sengoku not long after the incident that kills his parents. He becomes a model Marine under Sengoku’s training, and eventually a top member of SWORD which returns him to Doffy. It’s here as a double agent that he keeps Doffy in check by calling in the Navy every so often, and where he meets Law.
After Corazon and Law go on their journey to find the cure for his White Lead disease, they end up back with Doffy for the Op-Op Fruit. Doflamingo intends for Rochinante to eat the Op-Op Fruit and perform the immortality surgery on him. Corazon sacrifices himself for Law’s sake, and helps him to escape his brother. It’s a bitter end to brothers that have been through so much together.
Does Doflamingo Have Powers?
Doflamingo eats the String-String Fruit at some point, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. This allows Doffy total control over strings, with the ability to create them when he wants. He’s even able to traverse the seas this way, swinging from strings he wraps around clouds and swinging through the air. This also gives him his devilish powers of puppetry.
Doffy takes control of people, manipulating them like marionettes on a stage he directs. Whatever he wants them to do, they do, even if it’s killing those they love. These powers are used to stage a coup in Dressrosa, along with his Color of Armament and Conqueror Haki.
More terrifying, he learns to Awaken his Devil Fruit, which allows him to turn other material into string. This brings massive threads from the ground and buildings nearby, and allows him to form the Birdcage. His string envelops the entire country, and Doffy slowly constricts it until he’s the only one left standing.
Is Doflamingo Alive?
Despite the beatdown that Luffy puts on Doflamingo in his Gear Fourth debut, Doffy is still alive. Currently, he’s locked up in the lowest level in Impel Down, the Eternal Hell. He seems to have a comfortable cell all to himself, wrapped up in Sea-Prism chains to keep his powers in check. Despite this, he’s still kept in isolation by the World Government, with little interaction from anyone else in the prison. Somehow he manages to get newspapers though, so he does know about the situation going on outside his cell.
What Does Doflamingo Want?
The only thing Doffy really wants in the world is to become a Celestial Dragon again. He wants the freedom from authority and the consequence that came with this title, the ability to own slaves and kill who he pleases. The Warlord of the Sea title only takes him so close to this, as he still has to answer to the Navy and isn’t necessarily stringless as he wants to be. Despite his attempts to rejoin the Celestial Dragons and petitions to the Gorosei, he isn’t allowed back into Sacred Marijoa.
So, he tries to create his own Kingdom by taking over Dressrosa, filling it with toys and whimsy to throw off those outside. A weapon smuggling operation run by his family from the inside is easy to hide, and anyone that comes snooping becomes a toy. Doflamingo has the life all set for him in Dressrosa, until Luffy’s gang comes along and ruins it all, putting him back below square one.
Donquixote Doflamingo, the Joker of Dressrosa, is a wildcard in the final saga of One Piece. Impel Down isn’t likely to survive the events to come, and Doffy should go free once more. Ever the master puppeteer, the only question is who Doflamingo will wrap his strings around next in One Piece.
