Donquixote Doflamingo | June, 2018 — Was He Always Planned This Way?
Was Doflamingo always meant to be this important?
Or did his role quietly balloon as One Piece went on?
Japanese fans in 2018 didn’t hold back — they called him a walking retcon.
■ Kingdom Setup & Early Inconsistencies
1: Anonymous Pirate
First of all, the whole “king” setting.
3: Anonymous Pirate
Mysterious clones.
4: Anonymous Pirate
We didn’t even hear the country name Dressrosa until after entering the New World.
6: Anonymous Pirate
He’s older than I thought. I figured mid-20s, honestly.
7: Anonymous Pirate
The king setting worked as a contrast with Crocodile, who failed, though.
8: Anonymous Pirate
I think Oda’s original idea for Doflamingo was just an underworld broker, nothing more.
When he first appeared in Mariejois, that’s basically what they talked about.
■ Power, Awakening, and Ability Creep
10: Anonymous Pirate
The worst part is the “former Celestial Dragon” setup.
Celestial Dragons themselves only popped up around volume 50, so there’s no other way to see it than a straight-up retcon.
Doflamingo:
“The ones who set out for the Holy Land, Mariejois, as the ‘creators of the world’…”
“…were the Donquixote Family!!!”
11: Anonymous Pirate
The worst part is the “former Celestial Dragon” setting.
The Celestial Dragons themselves were basically introduced around volume 50, so it’s obviously retroactive.
16: Anonymous Pirate
At his first appearance, all that was confirmed was that he used strings as weapons.
22: Anonymous Pirate
>>16
A king of a nation wouldn’t come all the way to the first half of the Grand Line just to kill some underling like Bellamy.
That actually lowers his status.
18: Anonymous Pirate
He writes it himself. Let him add a little stuff retroactively.
23: Anonymous Pirate
>>18
Even so, Doflamingo is too much.
Until entering the New World, literally nothing about him was revealed.
Then suddenly he’s a king of a country?? How are we supposed to keep up?
24: Anonymous Pirate
Gomu too is retroactive.
“I’ll be Pirate King” is also retroactive.
■ Celestial Dragons and World-Building Retcons
26: Anonymous Pirate
While we’re at it, the Celestial Dragons themselves are retroactive.
Originally, the Five Elders were supposed to be the top of the world.
“Creators of the world” is obviously added later.
28: Anonymous Pirate
The Five Elders, who would wipe out Ohara without hesitation once they knew the history,
would never serve those idiot Celestial Dragons.
And I hate that sloppy rule where touching a Celestial Dragon automatically summons an Admiral.
30: Anonymous Pirate
Also, do you really think Robin’s Ohara backstory and her joining the crew were planned
when she first appeared on the first island of the Grand Line?
Even her voice actress must be confused about being stuck with the role forever.
37: Anonymous Pirate
>>30
Hana-Hana (8787), Gomu-Gomu (5656), Yomi-Yomi (4343), Hito-Hito (110110).
It’s pretty well-known that Straw Hat abilities were designed not to overlap numerically.
So some planning clearly existed.
41: Anonymous Pirate
>>37
Then does that mean Kuma or Kin’emon joins with the leftover 2929?
42: Anonymous Pirate
>>41
That’s exactly where the retroactive changes come in.
Originally it was probably Niku-Niku, then later changed to Fuku-Fuku or something.
■ Author Freedom vs. Reader Trust
19: Anonymous Pirate
If a series runs this long and has zero retroactive additions, that would be god-tier.
👉 Why Japanese Fans React This Way
In Japan, “後付け (atoduke)” isn’t just nitpicking — it’s about trust.
Readers don’t demand perfect planning, but they expect internal logic.
Doflamingo hits multiple pressure points at once: king, Celestial Dragon, awakening, underworld boss.
Each one alone is fine. Stacked together, fans feel the seams.
👉 What This Debate Really Says About Long-Running Manga
This argument isn’t really about Doflamingo.
It’s about how much freedom a creator should have after 20+ years.
Some readers accept evolution. Others want proof the destination was always there.
Doflamingo became the symbol of that tension.
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