His family name, Donquixote, is originally one word. In the English translations, it has been separated into two, Don Quixote, possibly due to the translators believing it was inspired by the titular character of a novel.
The Yaksha part of his epithet, Heavenly Yaksha, refers to demons of dual personalities who guard natural treasures hidden deep under the earth and roots, from Buddhist and Hindu folklore. The English manga translated it into "Heavenly Demon", since "Yasha" in Japanese also means "demon".
Anime and Manga Differences[]
Jaya Arc[]
In the manga, Doflamingo's actions during the Warlord meeting after Crocodile's title was revoked were noticed by Tsuru. In the anime, his actions were noticed instead by Mozambia.
Marineford Arc[]
At the moment when Sengoku revealed the relationship between Dragon and Luffy in the manga, Doflamingo stated that was the reason why Ivankov was with Luffy.[15] In the anime, he did not say anything and was only briefly seen smiling.[16]
Colorization[]
In the manga and other related merchandise, Doflamingo has a different color scheme than the one that was presented initially in the anime. However, the anime later changed the majority of Doflamingo's color scheme to match that presented in the manga.[17][18][19]
Doflamingo's signature pistol was different in color schemes as well. The anime portrays the pistol as in the present, but in the flashback, the pistol that Doflamingo received from Trebol and later used to kill his father was merely an ordinary pistol. The manga shows it as the ornate pistol when Trebol gave it to him.
Haoshoku Haki[]
In the manga, Doflamingo awakening his Haoshoku Haki during his childhood was only mentioned. In the anime, Doflamingo was shown using Haoshoku Haki on the mob who hanged him and his family over the wall of fire right after he swore to kill them.
Early Concepts[]
Early concept art of some of the Warlords from One Piece Green.
In One Piece Green: Secret Pieces, an early concept of Doflamingo was revealed, showing that he was originally a rapper, and that he was supposed to be a little younger than his current setting.[20]
According to Eiichiro Oda in SBS Volume 98, Doflamingo was originally supposed to be fought in the Wano Country Arc as an ally or possibly even a subordinate of Kaidou, with Doflamingo's alias of "Joker" being a remnant of this concept (as, thematically, he would have fit alongside the Beasts Pirates' All-Stars: King, Queen and Jack).[21]
Doflamingo's flag was the first "smilie" style Jolly Roger to be seen in the series. Doflamingo also stated that slavery is "out", but smilies are "in". With the introduction of SAD and his illicit underground network trafficking in man-made Zoans, "SMILE", the meaning behind his words and symbol become much clearer.[22]
Doflamingo's surname is a reference to Don Quixote, the main character of the famous Spanish novel "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha", while his given name, Flamingo, is a bird whose plumage resembles Doflamingo's flamboyant jacket and likely comprises it.
In the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th fan polls of most popular characters, Doflamingo was ranked 61st, 46th, 17th, 17th again, and 20th, respectively, making him the 3rd most popular of the original Seven Warlords of the Sea, and 4th most popular overall. This also ranks him as the second most popular major antagonist of the series.
Doflamingo is the second antagonist (the first being Caesar Clown) to have his own original soundtrack, the theme is called "Donquixote Doflamingo" and is part of the One Piece New World Soundtrack.
Doflamingo's former bounty before joining the Seven Warlords is the highest known bounty that was revealed in the first half of the series.
Doflamingo shares some things with the other Warlords:
He is also the very first Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user who revealed that he had his Devil Fruit power awakened.
Doflamingo possesses notable parallels to Crocodile, with both of them being Warlords who worked to take over a country (with Doflamingo succeeding), resulting in them becoming hated enemies of that country's royal family, who would work alongside the Straw Hat Pirates to topple them. Both Warlords strategized to conquer their kingdoms by implicating the king in crimes to turn public opinion against them. Both of them would also attempt to commit genocide on the country's people. The similarities in their actions were directly noted by Fujitora and Smoker, and resulted in Fujitora working to avoid what happened in the aftermath of Crocodile's defeat by making it clear that the Straw Hats, not the Marines, had stopped Doflamingo, and using both incidents to support his campaign to abolish the Seven Warlords.[23][24]
This makes Doflamingo the only Warlord defeated by Luffy to have the details of his defeat fully revealed to the world, as both Crocodile's and Gecko Moria's defeats were covered up by the World Government.
Doflamingo's sunglasses being broken by Luffy paralleled Kuro's glasses breaking at the end of his fight with Luffy; both characters were closely associated with their glasses.
Doflamingo's red eye
Furthermore, Doflamingo has always hidden his eyes behind some form of frames even in flashbacks to his youth. His eyes have been scarcely seen; his right eye has been glimpsed twice—once after waking up from a nightmare and again after his glasses were broken. His left eye, however, has never been seen uncovered.
Doflamingo's past is somewhat parallel to Sabo's. Doflamingo had the mindset of a typical World Noble, but was born to compassionate parents who chose to forfeit their statuses, forcing him to face many hardships and become a pirate to survive. Meanwhile Sabo was born to cruel noble parents, but was kindhearted and wanted to be free of such a lifestyle, so he escaped out to sea to become a pirate of his own choice.
Also, both joined an organization which were on opposite sides concerning the World Government (Doflamingo was a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who formerly supported the government, and Sabo was with the Revolutionary Army, which opposed it).
In addition, each of them had brother who they disagreed with (Doflamingo had his biological brother, Rosinante, who became a Marine and tried to stop Doflamingo, only to be killed by him, and Sabo had his adopted brother, Sterry, who was like any noble and became king of Goa).
Doflamingo references his inspirational namesake to various degrees, as do many other characters around him and One Piece as a whole. Don Quixote De La Mancha was a noble committed to a traditional knight errant in the post-chivalry era, resulting in arguably tragic/comedic consequences at the expense of those around him. Around the French Revolution the text was popularly interpreted as a morality tale of individuals being correct over society being wrong.
Doflamingo experiences both of this, experiencing torture despite being only a child due to societal bias from his family status as a World Noble. Whilst in adulthood ironically embodying the same society's cruelty against King Riku Doldo and his family.
Further irony is Doflamingo's dismissal of Luffy (like other antagonists) as what is known as 'Quixotism' in reality, defined as an idealistic pursuit of goals with little regard for practicality and implied failure.
Rocinante's and Sancho Panza's roles as the followers who usually face consequences for their leader's adventures are mirrored by both the Donquixote Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates.
Rosinante, named after Don Quixote's old and overworked horse suffer due to the deeds of Doflamingo. Whereas the horse was usually comically involved and arguably against Don Quixote, Rosinante comically opposed him in secret, only to meet tragedy once exposed.
Gan Fall, whilst donning the armor of the Sky Knight (itself based on Don Quixote's armor) explained a similar sentiment to the Revolutionary interpretation of Don Quixote when explaining pirates to Conis and Pagaya.
Doflamingo's amoral nature is also a reflection of this interpretation dismissing much of the Marines sentiments and role in maintaining peace, seen during the Summit War of Marineford and after his arrest, accurately predicting the chaos his removal from the underworld would cause.
Don Quixote de la Mancha would be considered a literary milestone in developing the 'picaresque' genre, which is based on low-class rogues as main characters with some comedic and satirical tones.
SBS-Based Trivia[]
A fan asked Oda why Viola and Doflamingo called each other "Violet" and "Doffy" in chapter 788, and Oda anwsered that there is a deep secret behind this, but because it is a pretty adult part of the story, he could not tell the reader more.[25]
Doflamingo's alias, Joker, fits with the card-themed aliases of his own crew as well as the Beasts Pirates whom he was allied with. His alias particularly aligns with the names of the Beasts Pirates' All-Stars, as they are all based on playing card ranks. Doflamingo was given this alias because he was initially intended to be a strong ally of Kaidou who would be battled during the Wano Country Arc.[21]
Doflamingo's favorite food is lobster. His least favorite food is barbecue due to the trauma he went through as a child.[27]
External links[]
Don Quixote — Wikipedia article about the main character of a famous Spanish novel, after which this character is presumably named.
Flamingo — Wikipedia article about the animal Doflamingo's animal theme is based on.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 76Chapter 761 (p. 7-8) and Episode 700, Doflamingo reveals he retains the privileges of the Celestial Dragons by extorting his knowledge of a sacred artifact.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 69Chapter 682 (p. 6) and Episode 608, Doflamingo's romanized name is seen as he appears after the two-year timeskip.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 70Chapter 699 (p. 10) and Episode 625, Kuzan reveals to Smoker that Doflamingo is a former king of Dressrosa.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 73Chapters 722–723 (p. 18-19, 10) and Episodes 653–654, Doflamingo reveals that he was a World Noble, but ceased being one.
