Summary
The Heavenly Demon Donquixote Doflamingo is known as one ofOne Piece’smost charismatic villains, and for good reason. Despite being the true definition of evil, manyOne Piecefanshope tosee Doflamingo in actionagain after his incarceration in Impel Down.
As a person, Doflamingo has been through all spheres of life, from extremely wealthy and powerful as a celestial dragon to poverty-stricken as an outcast. Seeing the two extremes of life, Doflamingo developed ideals he shows every time he’s brought on screen. Whether it be his ideals of justice or his prediction for the new world, Doflamingo’s ideals and monologues always leave an impact.
The Roots Of Doflamingo’s Beliefs
From Celestial Dragon To Outcast
Due to his background, Doflamingo grew to believe that he was superior and that others existed for him to serve his bidding. Unfortunately for him, his whole world was flipped apart when his father abandoned his status as a celestial dragon. Doflamingo had to come to terms with the fact that the world was far more cruel than he thought. As a former celestial dragon, Doflamingo was hunted by the common people who had been oppressed their whole lives. Hunted like an animal, Doflamingo had to live off scraps to feed himself while he and his father tried to tend to his mother in a rundown shed. Seeing the world at its core, Doflamingo devised that might makes right, and set out to become a pirate.
The Core Tenets Of Doflamingo’s Philosophy
Might Makes Right
Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what’s wrong and what’s right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!
Doflamingo’sspeech at Marinefordshowcased his views on justice, and the takeaway from it is that “the winner is justice.” In a battle, who’s right and who’s wrong is irrelevant, as both parties are right in their own right. And so, the battle itself is a clash of ideals, and the ideal that comes out on top is the correct one.
After leaving his estranged status behind and becoming a pirate, Doflamingo sought world dominance. Perhaps he still seeks it, but as seen through his journey, Doflamingo believes that without power, nothing is possible. While it may not look so at first, some of Doflamingo’s ideals resonate with characters like Luffy and Kaido, as they believe good intentions without power are a noble but laughable endeavor. After all, Luffy believes that the freest man on the seas is thePirate King, the absolute top pirate. Even Luffy recognizes that power is necessary to change things; however, the difference is that Luffy seeks power to be free and protect what he has, while Doflamingo seeks power to rule the world. As much as the duo seeks power for different outcomes, they recognize the universal truth that power is indispensable to living as they would like.
Although powerful in his own right, Doflamingo was not so arrogant as to believe he was unstoppable in all the seas. To this extent, he sought to establish his form of world dominance not through brute force or strength but by making the truly powerful need him and be on his side. To this extent, Doflamingo’s underground occupation as a broker andmanufacturer of SMILEsmade him respected and well-known in the underworld. To mess with him, one would not only need to have sufficient power but would also need to consider his backing at the time—Kaido.
Doflamingo’s Predictions For The Pirate World
The Vacuum Of Power
Even before his incarceration, Doflamingo believed the new era would be a truly tumultuous one.
The time is almost here. Go and lay the groundwork. A world where only true pirates can survive will soon be upon us. Those without power, flee while you can. The tide will bring those of unmatched power and the New Era will begin!
His defeat bymembers of the Worst Generationonly served to prove him right. However, as an important broker and underground dealer, Doflamingo’s defeat only served to move the times forward faster than many could’ve expected. After Whitebeard’s death, the seas became truly dangerous, as the moniker of strongest pirate was now left with no bearer. However, after Doflamingo was defeated, the ‘food’ and weapons he supplied to pirates, the underground mafia, and even the World Government were cut off. Having them find their ‘food’ and weapons themselves was no better than unleashing them on the world.
What do you think the unleashed monsters who lost the “food” I supplied them will do? Is there anyone who is at the top of the ladder in all the seas now? Who’s ruling all the seas?… It’s been 25 years since Gold Roger fully conquered the whole Grand Line. His arch enemy, Whitebeard, didn’t sit on the throne but just stood in front of it and took the reins. What about now?! The number of pirates is ballooning and there’s one seat that’s totally empty! You know what I mean, don’t you? It will start! The biggest struggle for supremacy ever…in the history of pirates! —Doflamingo
With his quotes and mannerisms, it’s clear that Doflamingo is truly excited to witness the new era and the defeatof the celestial dragons. Perhaps because Monkey D. Luffy defeated him and he (Doflamingo) is a former celestial dragon, but Doflamingo expects the hidden D. Clan to show themselves in the new era, making the entire power structure of the world about to change drastically.
The family of D. have been hiding in the shadow of history. When and where are they gonna show themselves?! Who’s gonna side with who?! Who’s gonna betray who?! Tell the celestial dragons in The holy land of Mariejois…that they’ll be dragged down! —Doflamingo
