 Hello my Nakamitachi, this is Joygirl and I want to say from the get-go that no, I don't actually think that Doflamingo is necessarily a better character than Katakuri. Apologies for that clickbait thumbnail but now that I have you here, I do want to discuss my thoughts on how Doflamingo changed One Piece and for that reason alone will always remain the best villain in terms of how he boosted the series. And if you'd like to hear more discussions on One Piece then make sure to like, share and subscribe and click that notification bell for future videos. As the best manga in existence, One Piece has had no shortage in good, nay, great villains. There are fan favourites like Crocodile and Rob Luchi who are as cool as their blood is cold, those we love to hate like Akainu for his crime in killing Ace. Villains turned temporary allies like Buggy or even villains turned heroes like Bond Clay. Misunderstood villains like Big Mom and villains who weren't really villains, terrorizing other people and rather simply protecting what's important to them like Katakuri. And whilst all of these antagonists and the very many that I didn't mention are all deeply unique and fantastically written characters, I think that Don Quixote Doflamingo is the villain who changed One Piece forever. And Doflamingo is indeed a very popular antagonist. When we think of the best villains in One Piece, I'm sure Doflamingo comes up in every fans list as at least one of, if not their favourite villain in the series. Now this could be for various reasons. We could cite his intriguingly exciting introduction, his impeccably flamboyant character design, or his extremely impressive use of powers and abilities. But most of all, it really comes down to his incredibly complex backstory. And without delving too deep into his backstory itself, because I'm sure most of you are already very familiar with his backstory, and I've even perhaps already watched other analysis videos on his complex characterization already. But Doflamingo's past as a former Celestial Dragon, who was shunned from both ordinary citizens and the other world nobles, is a really tragic tale which shaped a young boy into the megalomaniac that we met in the series. Due to the naive decision of his father to leave Marijua in an attempt to live a normal life, which instead condemned the Don Quixote family to persecution, before he was even 10 years old, Doflamingo had to confront complicated notions of his own self-worth, and had to resolve confusing feelings of resentment towards his father, whom he held responsible for his suffering, causing Doflamingo to kill his own father after being misled by the likes of Treble, who only stoked the young boy's misguided feelings of entitlement and hatred. And with the polarization of the Don Quixote brothers, Rossinante and Doflamingo are often pointed out to showcase the age-old question of nature versus nurture. And though that is certainly true, even Doflamingo alone embodies this dynamic brilliantly. On one hand, the contrast between the values and personality of the two brothers suggests of Doflamingo's inherently wicked nature, and yet the question of what would have happened if Doflamingo had a Rossinante for himself like Trafalgar Lord did complicates the equation by presenting the villain as no more than the outcome of a flawed and twisted system. Through this flashback, fans were forced to view Doflamingo completely differently. It added a new layer to each of his actions and dialogue, so that instead of seeing him as simply egotistical and evil, we recognized him for the unfortunate man-child that he was, having never been able to move on from his past experiences. And here's the thing, this was novel in one piece. Doflamingo is the first villain that we were made to truly empathize with in the series. And okay, some of you will argue that that's not entirely true, because we did have the reveal of Arlong's backstory, where the complexity of racial prejudice and persecution shined a new light on the atrocities that he committed against Nami and the Kokoyashi Village. And of course the Fishman Island arc came before Dressrosa. But it was in Dressrosa and with Doflamingo that we were made to feel such a complex emotional connection with a villain, while simultaneously witnessing their terrorization of others and our protagonists. With Arlong, we were made to pity him retrospectively, which added a further beautiful layer of depth to a villain and an arc which were already so well executed, but with Doflamingo, this was undoubtedly the first time that we saw a villain get this sort of characterization, which would cause us to sympathize with Doflamingo and yet still view him for the absolute evil that he represented. Even with Hordy Jones, who was the main antagonist of the Fishman Island arc, and a character whom we did admittedly receive a backstory for to better flesh out his character in the same arc where he was the main villain, but in saying that, the dynamics still felt new with Doflamingo because Hordy Jones' backstory wasn't quite the tragic tale that caused us to feel very emotionally attached to the character. If anything, it cemented his role as the villain even more, which in itself is a tragedy because he too was unfortunately, inevitably a product of the perverse system of racial discrimination and the discord that he creates between people. But nevertheless, if we were made to feel sympathy for Arlong having known of his connection to Fisher Tiger and their shared backstory, Hordy Jones was presented to us as the character foiled to the likes of Fisher Tiger, Otto Hime and Jinbei, and as a warning against senseless prejudice and hate. Not necessarily the character we were to feel sympathetic towards, so even with the backstories given to us in Fishman Island, up until Doflamingo, the antagonists of an arc, in the arc that they were being portrayed, remained relatively one-dimensional. And in no way is this a critique of any of the earlier villains, in fact, Otto crafted this masterfully so that a villain's cruelty through and through made them an even more enticing creature. Such as Rob Lucci, who's passed as a stone-called ruthless assassin, only added to his chilling demeanour. But it's just also true that as characters, they weren't quite as deep and complex as Doflamingo. Even villains who later turn into allies and receive great focus and characterisation is still an overwhelmingly different treatment than what we have with the former warlord. Because at the end of the day, Doflamingo still isn't completely redeemed. This isn't your typical situation where the reveal of an antagonist's past absolves them from their actions, somewhat even excusing their crimes. Doflamingo is created to be a horrifyingly evil character while simultaneously understandable. That is the tragedy, and simultaneously, the beauty of his character. And what's even more, is that this has set a new standard for one-piece villains. Since Doflamingo, we have not returned to purely evil villains who are cruel simply in pursuit of their own goals. Accompanying these are always deep and complex backstories that flesh out the antagonist so that we can't help but understand the character, even if they haven't fully gained self-perception. The next main antagonist we saw in the next major arc after Doflamingo in Dressrosa was Big Mum in Hulkec Island. A great big ball of complexity, intricately woven together to create a simultaneously ruthlessly cruel and yet extremely tragic villain. Big Mum is actually another perfect example of the nature versus nurture debate with the combination of her inherent strength and tendencies as well as her socialization and interaction with others being what resulted in her greatly ironic and contradictory present self. And it is indeed this incredibly messy dynamic that makes her such a terrifying and interesting character. Moving on to the next example, Katakuri is difficult to brand as a villain per se, but in saying that he was definitely an antagonist. And another fantastically written character who albeit wasn't cruel or evil in the same way that Doflamingo and Big Mum were, but no less fearsome as an opponent. And most importantly, it was his rich backstory which added so much depth to his character that made his battle with Luffy one of the best ideological fights that we've witnessed in the series. And then here in Wano, our major antagonist has included Orochi, whom despite remaining one of the most detested characters by fans or the one they feel most indifferent about given the trajectory of the Wano arc, it is inarguable that he too has had a tragic backstory that forces readers to at least accept the monstrosity that he has become. And whilst we've yet to find out the deeper backstory of Wano's main antagonist in Kaido, there is an almost universal expectation in the fan base that we will be getting such a flashback. One that will even perhaps almost redeem Kaido or make us question the idea of what is evil and who is a villain. And it's interesting that we as a fan base have such a staunch and almost unquestioned belief and expectation in such a backstory, given that for majority of the series, this wasn't afforded to for most of our antagonists. For majority of One Piece, villains were villains. Think of Kuro, Don Craig, Wapol or Moria, and even in the post timeskip era, Caesar Clown was a villain who lacked humanity through and through. So then why do we anticipate Kaido's backstory almost as if it's a given? Because of Doflamingo. And this is what I mean when I say that Doflamingo was the villain who impacted the series the most. Because of what we got from Doflamingo in Dressrosa, there is an expectation that our villains will be always as rich and complex. So then now going back to the thumbnail, does this mean that he's better than Katakuri as an antagonist? For some of you, maybe he is. For others, I'm sure he's not. For some, Crocodile will always remain the greatest antagonist. But one thing's for certain, Doflamingo really changed the game of what we can expect of our antagonists in One Piece. And now that you've heard my thoughts, let me know yours by leaving a comment below, don't forget to like and share the video, and please do subscribe for more One Piece discussions. You can also join our joy flick discord server if you'd like more One Piece fun and even become a patron member if you'd like special roles and powers within that server. Thank you to our patrons who help support the channel. This is Joygirl, and I'll see you again soon.