I’ve been reading through One Piece recently and getting my way through Alabasta for the 2nd time is pretty interesting as it does parallel Dressrosa in many ways. Outside of the fact that Alabasta is about stopping the country from falling into chaos and Dressrosa is a fate where Doflamingo already succeeded where Crocodile failed, my favorite is that Crocodile and Doffy’s crime families and philosophies couldn’t be any more different. Baroque Works was an organization where the motto was mystery, literally. No one knew Crocodile was the boss until it was absolutely necessary, everyone was a secret agent who worked off anonymous orders. Further, this philosophy is extreme, the Baroque Works were not a family by any means, Crocodile specifically mocks the idea of trusting people and has no concept of forgiveness. When Mr.3 failed his mission, Crocodile tried to murder him. His failed mission was to kill the people who knew Crocodile’s identity and there was still much room to stop them from interfering with his plan. It was a ruthless decision. Overall he ruled with intimidation and an iron fist.
Meanwhile, the Don Quixote family is treated as such, a family. When Trebol and Diamante fail in a way that throws the entire kingdom and 10 years of work down the drain, rather than punishing or killing them like Crocodile would for far more menial failures, Doflamingo forgave them as if it were nothing. I have felt Crocodile was always a man that was trying to prove himself at all costs, forcing people to submit. He reminds me of Zoro’s work ethic and ambition paired with a crippling sense of inferiority that he is fighting off like the legendary Dio Brando. That is to say, I think his mission was always about him. Meanwhile, Doflamingo’s sadness and anger, his ambition to destroy the world and take revenge on the Dragons who threw him out, that overpowers the life of his family as, if it suits that ambition, he will ask them to die. However, I think his family is his 2nd highest priority. It gets messy due to the seeming contradiction of these two goals, but he has the power to rule in the way Crocodile did and he rejects that, a man as angry and powerful as him holds his tongue when his family members step on his toes. At least until they betray him, which the ghost of Corazon standing before him may represent two times over, the family which rejected the heart seat. It’s somewhat paradoxical to make this example but Doflamingo may be what Luffy could be if he prioritized his ambition over his nakama, that said; it’s a paradox because a crucial component to what it means to be the pirate king for Luffy is the freedom to protect his friends. To hurt them to become it would go against his everything.
There are still certainly questions to ask, I’m fascinated by Doffy’s language of forgiving the traitors with their death and I’m curious if closing the bird cage will kill his family. Overall, I think Doflamingo is the most evil villain who held the role as a major antagonist of an arc which I actually root for. It’s not like I want Luffy to lose, but I enjoy seeing Doflamingo succeed as much as I love seeing the good guys succeed. Whereas I came around to being a huge fan of Arlong and Crocodile, as for Doflamingo; I’ve liked seeing him from the get go! His care for his family, his ruthless but calculated and manipulative methods, his complex relationship with his family and his past. Somehow, I don’t hate him at all. In his worst moments I definitely do, like the tragedy of Dressrosa, but that stuff fades and then I begin to like him in the present again. |