Why is Doflamingo called the Joker in One Piece? Explained

Modified Dec 15, 2024 23:30 GMT

Why is Doflamingo called the Joker in One Piece? Explained (Image via Toei Animation)

In post-time-skip One Piece, mangaka Eiichiro Oda places much more importance and emphasis on the organization of pirate crews than in the pre-time-skip section. The crews of Donquixote Doflamingo, Big Mom, and Kaido particularly highlight this, as does Luffy’s to a lesser extent via the Straw Hat Grand Fleet’s establishment. Understandably, this also leads to severe confusion regarding titles and codenames in these respective fleets.

This likewise is where the oft-asked question of “why is Doflamingo called the Joker in One Piece” comes from, referencing his black market alias for shadowy dealings. Donquixote Doflamingo is called the Joker because it fits with the card-themed aliases of both his own crew, and Kaido’s Beast Pirates whom he was allied and in black-market business with.

The Donquixote and Beast Pirates’ naming systems in One Piece

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While that partially answers the question of “why is Doflamingo called the Joker in One Piece,” there’s additional depth to this explanation that is worth addressing. Firstly, both the Beast Pirates and the Doflamingo Pirates only use this naming system for their highest-ranked members. In the Donquixote Pirates, this is the elite officers’ naming system, representing the Heart, Club, Diamond, and Spade suits of a deck.

Similarly, in Kaido’s Beast Pirates, the elite officers second only to the captain himself are also given names reminiscent of cards in the form of Jack, Queen, and King. Each is also given an additional nickname to complete their informal nickname of the Calamities. This would be Jack “the Drought” for his general destructiveness, Queen “the Plague” for his expertise in creating artificial diseases, and King “the Conflagration” because of his fire-manipulation abilities.

Doffy’s Joker nickname makes even more sense being an ally to Kaido rather than in the Beast Pirates crew formally. This can be viewed in the same way that, in most card games, the joker is removed from the deck because it serves no purpose in that game. Those games it is used often make it a powerful card. Likewise, Kaido had no reason to take Doffy in his crew instead finding more value as an ally on the outside (in effect, a joker card).

Oda’s original intent in the name explained

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While the above serves as a sufficient answer to the question of “why is Doflamingo called the Joker in One Piece” as fans know the story currently, there is another answer to explore. This lies in Oda’s original intent for giving Doflamingo the Joker nickname, revealed in volume 98’s SBS question corner. One reader asked if all of the officers of the Beast Pirates are named after card games, which Oda confirmed save for X Drake, Scratchmen Apoo, and Basil Hawkins.

He then explained that Doffy being called Joker in Dressrosa is a “remnant of an initial idea where Doflamingo was going to fight as a powerful companion” to Kaido in the Wano Arc. Oda jokingly adds that Doffy is a tricky opponent, and is glad he got rid of him at Dressrosa. However, the Joker nickname makes significantly more sense in light of this information and further supports some interpretations of the name’s purpose highlighted above.

In summation

Doffy's "Joker" alias in One Piece is reflective of both his and Kaido's officer title systems for their respective crews (Image via Toei Animation)

Doflamingo’s nickname is Joker for several reasons, all of which relate back to his role in the story, and the officer titles for his Donquixote Pirates and Kaido’s Beast Pirates. The name was originally born of an idea Oda had to use Doflamingo during the Wano Arc as another fighter on Kaido’s side. However, this was scrapped, leaving fans with the aforementioned reasons behind Doffy’s infamous and somewhat confusing nickname.