One piece has a great gallery of badguys, antagonists and adorable psychopaths.
So lets debate which main arc villain is the best developed, most interesting and overalll coolest character. All character attributes are relevant, including design. So lets break it down, shall we?
My personal vote goes to the Young Master himself, The Heavenly Demon Donquixote Doflamingo.
i think this panel summarizes everything i love about him:
!
To start of, His Design is just great. Its unique and stands out, not just in the world of One Piece but in shounen manga in general.
If you would try describe his design to somebody who hasn't read one piece, they would probably picture him as a complete dork. A big fluffy pink flamingo coat, a huge chest but sharp hairy legs with cropped pants, pointy sunglasses and heeled pointy shoes? how could that be menacing or cool?
Oh, it is cool, baby. Show anyone a picture and i think they would instantly get it. The fact that Oda managed to make his design work in the context of the manga is a huge tribute to his skill.
Now, lets break down why he is the BEST villain in my opinion. The reason is quite simple: His crimes are the most realistic and relatable.
In a world of pirates with cartoon goals and rivalries, Doflamingo deals with shit that goes on in the real world, topical stuff that is relevant to talk about in society. Slavery, Drug trafficking, Research Drug chemicals - all of that shit goes on in the real world, on a massive scale.
These are problems that we as a society often fail to acknowledge. With Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, Oda has provided lots of social commentary between the panels.
There are characters just like Doflamingo in the real world. Pimps and drug lords who live in huge mansions on islands that they own and command a small army of mercenarys and hitmen.
Many of them probably wear fancy fur coats and sunglasses. The stereotypical "pimp" image that Doflamingo is based on to a degree is a real thing too.
Doflamingo´s personality is easy to appreciate. If you take the Joker from Batman, who is a massive pop cultural icon already and add a layer of charisma and flamboyant sophistication, a cool power and a bourgeoistic twist to the character, you get Doflamingo. And how can you go wrong with that? The charming, sadistic maniac with a complex history. It just works beautifully. Take his speech at Marineford, wich is pretty much Nietzsche summarized and adopted for kids to understand.
His goal makes sense. He fell from "Heaven" and was shunned by the "Humans", so he turned to the only remaining option and became a "Demon". I think the interesting metaphor Oda is painting works perfectly.
Another thing that i want to acknowledge is what we learned in the recent chapter: Like most villains in pop culture, Doflamingo had a tragic childhood and went through deep shit. But unlike the Stereotype, that is not what made him evil. He was born with a twisted mind, and the hardships he went through didnt shape him, they were merely obstacle that he overcame through his lack of fear. Its an interesting spin on the "tragedy creates evil" Trope that is so prevalent in pop culture and it is comparable to Ramsay Snow from ASOIF/Game of Thrones.
So to summarize, my reasons for why Doflamingo is the best villain are:
*Doflamingo is the most charismatic and eloquent villain in the series with more personality than others we have seen so far.
*Doflamingo has the most backstory and history to boot.
*Doflamingo has a compelling Devil Fruit that Oda uses in very creative ways.
*Doflamingo is a very unique character in terms of design, backstory and personality. the "Sophisticated Savage" is an interesting paradox.
*Doflamingo works as a character for social commentary, as explained above.
now its your turn (and you are allowed to write shorter post than this:ninja:)
There is one rule. You have to judge by what we have seen and read so far. "Character X has a cool design and awesome powers, and he probably has an interesting backstory that will be revealed later" is not a valid point or argument in this debate. This is not a thread for speculation or theorycrafting.
