From murdering his father and brother to enslaving an entire country, Doflamingo is one of the most ruthless villains in One Piece.
Doflamingo first appeared in episode 151 of One Piece, and from the beginning, it was clear that he was going to be an interesting villain. In that episode, it was revealed that he was one of the Seven Warlords, and that he had a frozen bounty of 340 million Berries. He was introduced with his signature flamboyant appearance, and he forced two Marines to fight each other by using his Devil Fruit in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Doflamingo served as the main antagonist of the Dressrosa Arc, which makes sense since he ruled the Kingdom like a tyrant for more than a decade. Even with the introduction of Katakuri and Kaido, many fans consider Doflamingo to be One Piece‘s best villain, which is understandable given his traits and history.
10Devil Fruit
Doflamingo ate the String-String Fruit, a Paramecia which gives him the ability to create and control string. This may not sound like an impressive ability, but Doflamingo managed to turn it into one of the strongest Devil Fruits in One Piece. His strings are incredibly thin, but they are durable and razor-sharp – they can slice through bone and metal.
He can turn people into human puppets, and he uses the string to travel great distances in a short amount of time. He also uses the string to block Haki-infused attacks, and to repair his internal organs. Doflamingo mastered his Devil Fruit and awakened it, which allows him to turn non-living things into string.
9Dressrosa Takeover
After becoming a Warlord, Doflamingo set his sights on Dressrosa, the Kingdom that his family originally ruled. The people of Dressrosa lived peacefully and loved the ruling Riku Family. Unfortunately, Doflamingo decided to exploit the fact that the Kingdom was not that wealthy.
He framed King Riku by making it appear as though the army was stealing money and killing civilians on the royal family’s orders. He then promised to bring prosperity and wealth to Dressrosa, and the people mistakenly welcomed him with open arms.
8Underworld Connection
The most significant individuals in One Piece tend to be the Yonko and the World Nobles, but the underworld has plenty of influential people as well. The underworld is supposed to be shrouded in mystery, but Doflamingo was known as “Joker,” and he was its most influential broker.
Doflamingo smuggled out of Dressrosa, and his dealings have had widespread implications. He would help facilitate a slave trade through the Human Auctioning House in Sabaody Archipelago. He also supplied SMILEs to Kaido, and these artificial Zoans increased the Beast Pirates’ battle strength, and caused the people of Wano to suffer for years.
7His Personality
Like most anime villains, Doflamingo is very arrogant, prideful, and carefree, but there is much more to him than that. He does not fear anyone, unless they possess the middle initial “D.” This was shown when he openly taunted Fleet Admiral Sengoku during a meeting.
He liked the idea of warring with Whitebeard, and he laughed with legitimate joy at all the death and destruction happening around him at Marineford. Unlike other pirates though, Doflmaingo genuinely cares for his subordinates and treats them like family. He does get angry, and he is sadistic, but most of that stems from his Noble upbringing and past trauma.
6His Fight With Luffy
Luffy is the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, and One Piece‘s main protagonist, which means that he has had a number of memorable battles. Luffy clashed with Doflamingo several times in Dressrosa, but their final battle did not start until Luffy stopped him from finishing Law off.
Their fight spanned multiple episodes, and Luffy was under a time constraint because all of Dressrosa was in danger of being completely destroyed by Doflamingo’s shrinking birdcage. He took Luffy to his absolute limit, and it was the first time Luffy ever used Gear Fourth.
5Marineford Speech
The Summit War at Marineford changed One Piece forever, and it is where Doflamingo gave his infamous speech about justice. As the Whitebeard Pirates battled the Marines, he acknowledged that those who have never experienced peace perceive the world differently than those who have not experienced war.
He goes on to say that neither side in the conflict is inherently righteous or evil. He states that justice will end up prevailing in the end, simply because the winner will determine what justice is. In essence, Doflamingo tells the audience that what is considered right or wrong is only dictated by those in power.
4Tragic Backstory
Backstories matter, and Doflamingo’s is quite sad. When he was a child, Doflamingo’s father decided to take his family from Mary Geoise and live among regular people. Doflamingo’s flashback revealed his family’s heritage why he expected people to bow to him.
Normal people hate the World Nobles, and they burned down their home. Doflamingo and his family were forced to flee and live in a shack, and his mother died of an illness contracted from the poor living conditions. They were eventually found again, and Doflamingo, his father, and little brother were attacked, tortured, and strung up with rope. Fortunately, they all survived the encounter.
3Dolflamingo Killed His Brother
Doflamingo loved his little brother, and was very protective of him. Rosinante thought very differently though, as he believed Doflamingo was an evil monster who needed to be stopped. At some point, the two brothers were separated for more than a decade, but Rosinante was found by Sengoku, and became a trusted Marine Commander.
Rosinante eventually returned to Doflamingo, where he acted like a spy. When his treachery was discovered and confirmed, Doflamingo disowned and killed Rosinante. Doflamiingo hated having to kill another blood-relative, but he saw it as a way to forgive his little brother.
2He Blackmailed The World Nobles
The World Nobles rule everything, and Doflamingo used top secret information to hold them hostage. Doflamingo was able to get himself appointed to the Seven Warlords, and he was able to use CP0’s resources despite no longer being considered a Noble.
He basically forced the World Nobles to give him similar privileges, and he was able to do so because he knows what the National Treasure hidden in Mary Geoise is. It is in fact a gigantic straw hat, and if knowledge of its existence got out, the entire world would change.
1He Wants To Destroy The World Nobles
Doflamingo blamed his father for all the terrible things that happened to their family after he forfeited their Noble titles. His father did try to get his wife and sons back to Mary Geoise, but the plea was rejected. That being said, a 10-year-old Doflamingo chose to remedy the situation by killing his father.
He brought his father’s head to the World Nobles in hopes that they would accept him again, but they refused. As a result, Doflamingo hates the World Nobles just like everyone else, and his wish is to destroy the very world they rule over.
