#he didn't even use haki!!!! he was just there to keep his shichibukai position but what does he need that position for anyway!!!

[franeridan]

also the way mihawk up and leaves the moment shanks shows up like "I agreed to fight whitebeard not akagami" biting my fist very hard Very Hard

[rochiomaru]

Guess what time it is? That's right! Another rant from Rochi on the BS people like to spew about my favorite former Shichibukai and tall glass of gorgeous!!

Today, let's talk about Doflamingo as a family man. I'm tired of people that like to insist that Doffy is nothing but a heartless monster that doesn't care about anyone, because that is simply not true. He may have a twisted way of showing it, but Doflamingo loves his family and this has been made evident on multiple occasions.

Notice the look on his face as he protected Law and Baby 5 when Wellington had dared to lay his filthy fingers on Doffy's children? If Doflamingo felt his subordinates were as expendable as people say he does, he would not be as quick to come to their defense and he would not have such an expression while doing so. I also don't believe Baby 5 would feel as though she could cling to him in such a manner unless there was some sort of bond developed between them that fostered her faith in him.

And while we're on the subject of children, I know there are people that feel Doflamingo's villainy and lack of morals is proven by him "weaponizing children". It is the epitome of evil that he would give devil fruits to children to use as living weapons with his crew. But is it?

We know that at a crucial time in his own childhood, Doflamingo had everything taken from him and was victimized in some horrific and cruel ways that would break any adult, let alone an 8-10 year old child. And remember, though the flashbacks make the time look brief, the abuse Doffy suffered went on for YEARS. His mother died when he was 8 and he killed his father at 10, and she didn't die immediately, so even if you figure it took just half of a year for her to succumb, Doflamingo suffered for at least 2 1/2 years at the hands of the villagers, though I personally feel it was much longer than that. I don't believe it was actually revealed how old Doffy was when his family left Mariejois, and him being anywhere between 4-7 years old is a totally reasonable estimation, placing the abuse to having gone on for up to 6 years of his young life.

That is a lot of pain, trauma, powerlessness, and fear forced onto a young soul that until this point in his life had been told he was a god that was above everyone else. Perhaps Homing and his wife did not say this themselves, we do not know this part for sure, but his peers would have. Doffy's words asking about buying slaves and expecting people to bow is enough to let us know he was fully ingrained in Celestial Dragon society and customs.

Now suddenly he is in a position of pain, hunger, fear, and powerlessness, and at a time that it truly seems the villagers are going to kill him and his family, his haki awakens and he is able to escape. He then meets Trebol, who then offers a young and impressionable Doffy A WAY TO TAKE HIS POWER BACK in the form of a WEAPON and a DEVIL FRUIT.

He was then taken in by Trebol and the others that would become his family and Trebol later bragged that he used Doflamingo's life and abuse to raise him to be a chaotic evil. I am fighting not to begin a totally different rant, but I'm keeping to the particular rant of today, which is that Doflamingo was raised with a role model of giving power to the powerless to destroy whatever hurts you. People start shit with you? Kill them. Uneven road cause you to fall and skin your knee? Burn the fucking town to the ground. Children can't defend themselves? Give them a devil fruit and unleash them on the world. Problems solved! That is what he would consider makes a caring father and a good leader, not the weak bullshit demonstrated by his birth father.

Now, coming back to an adult Doflamingo, I think he truly valued family above everything other than his goal to destroy the world. Unfortunately, the damage and pain he suffered caused too much irreparable harm to his psyche that was further exacerbated by the "betrayals" of those he allowed to get close to him, such as Rosinante, that I think eventually he hit a point destruction was his endgame. However, I don't think he really made a connection that his family might be destroyed in the process and he couldn't see how his plans would hurt those he loves by bringing them along for the ride. He was a god after all, so why would the ones he protected be anything other than safe and by his side? So long as they don't betray his affection, that is.

Now, I don't for a minute concede that Doflamingo feels his family members are pawns to be used and discarded, though I'm sure he does understand the harsh reality that their lifestyle may come with casualties. His reaction upon arrival at Punk Hazard, which many point out as him being cold and indifferent to his subordinates' impending demise, are in alignment with this dark life. However, his rage and bloodlust afterwards in response to the deaths of Monet and Vergo, and to Law's actions against Baby 5 and Buffalo again reflect that side of him that protects and kills for those he cares about.

Again, that same look on his face. The same set of his jaw and scowl on his lips. Had Aokiji not intervened, Smoker no doubt would be as dead as Wellington. All because a) Smoker was involved with the fiasco in Punk Hazard and had something to do with his family members' deaths, and b) he had aligned himself with Strawhat before at Alabasta and was protecting him again, therefore putting himself against the Family. Smoker was the focus for a grieving man that really never learned how to deal with emotions.

My next example of Doflamingo's protectiveness when it comes to his family is Pica. Obviously, a man that size can demolish anyone that dares to mock him, why would he need anyone to come to his defense? Well, what else would a big brother do? Remember the family dinner when Law was trying to join Doflamingo's family? Doflamingo made a comment concerning Rosinante that went, “but Corazon is my precious biological younger brother. If someone so much as cuts him once, I will put him to death.” Doffy is dead serious when it comes to his family and remember, Pica is a year younger than Doflamingo. Essentially, he is another younger brother, just not biological. So, concerning him we see this when someone laughs at Pica's voice...

I'm sure Pica lived through quite a bit of teasing and criticism as a child from bullies and other such tormenters. Perhaps it was Doffy and Vergo as the older brothers who protected him until he was bigger and could fend for himself? Who knows, but either way the familial bond is there, even if it is twisted and deadly.

Lastly, one thing that was lost in the anime, was when Doflamingo and Trebol were torturing Law while Luffy was with Bellamy. When Law began to bait Trebol, in the anime Doffy just kind of hung out and grinned in the background. This feeds into the theory that Doffy doesn't love his family. But rest assured, he did not react this way in the manga!!

That is not the look of a man that doesn't care! That expression is someone desperately trying to get his important person to stop what he's doing before it's too late. He's trying to intervene before Trebol gets hurt! There's none of Doffy's usual cockiness, smugness, arrogance, not even his anger. There's just raw anguish and it's plain to see he wants the man who basically replaced his father to back away from a dangerous situation. He cares about the outcome for someone that is important to him.

I think when it comes to the life of Doflamingo, underneath it all what he really wanted was a family. He had lost his family, security, sense of warmth and safety at a young age and then had spent his life with a man that wanted to use him to be the ultimate weapon against the world so they could rule everything. In the end, despite that, I think the reason Doflamingo places so much value in loyalty is because he doesn't want to be alone. He is about family and if he takes the time to care about a person, that actually means something, even if it is in a warped and twisted fashion that doesn't fit in rational molds. Looking at how happy this man is simply sharing a meal with both the family he found and the brother he thought he had lost, the Heavenly Demon looks almost angelic...