I'll give this page however long it takes before someone says Sanji, then it'll dissolve into arguments.
Doflamingo has been my favorite One Piece character since the mid-way point of Dressrosa. Beyond even his charisma and screen presence, I think he's a really well crafted character with nuanced behavior that you can track to his past trauma without reaching. The most prominent example of this is how he empathizes with societies rejects and takes them into provide for them in some way, although it's never purely altruistic, it's obvious that he seems a reflection of himself in children who'er suffering. He goes so far as to destroy whole towns that try to take advantage of Baby5, to study in depth on Flevance. He has his own twisted compassion for people like him, but immediately holds this disdain for someone like Bellamy who chooses to leave a good life behind for thoughtless adventure.
You can tell Oda really enjoyed writing Doflamingo, the time taken to craft his character and keep him from veering off into an over exposed joke shows that dedication. How many other antagonists does Oda show to be vulnerable like Doflamingo, screaming out and panicking at nightmares of his past, forced to drown himself in wine to numb that pain but still manages to hold the same weight—if not more —as before the revelation?
It's also nice seeing him deal with different issues as they arise in the Dressrosa arc. Deciding to keep his surrogate mother safe and risk incurring Kaido's wrath by letting the only man who can produce SMILES escape is a pretty big declaration of his priorities. There's more you can say, but that's mostly why Doflamingo's squirmed his way into my top spot and why plenty of people give Dressrosa a pass despite how bloated it is, with a hundred seemingly new characters with only 5 who really matter.
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I really wish he became a Strawhat. His flamboyant personality is so much more enjoyable than the 3 recycled jokes from Brook each arc.
Oden has everything to be MC
