Doflamingo was born into one of the most privileged families in the world.
The Donquixote Family was one of the twenty royal families that had founded the World Government centuries ago. As a result, Doflamingo was born as a Celestial Dragon, a member of the world's ruling class who lived above the ordinary people of the world. From the moment he was born, Doflamingo was taught that he was different from everyone else. The people below him were not equals, but commoners, servants, and insects that existed beneath the Celestial Dragons.
For most of his early childhood, there was nothing to suggest that his life would ever change. He had been born at the top of the world, and he expected to remain there for the rest of his life. That changed when his father, Donquixote Homing, made a decision that would completely destroy the life Doflamingo had known.
Homing was different from the other Celestial Dragons. He had grown tired of the privileges and isolation of Mariejois and eventually came to believe that his family should abandon their position and live among ordinary humans. He gave up his status as a Celestial Dragon and took his wife and two sons, Doflamingo and Rosinante, away from the Holy Land.
Doflamingo did not understand what his father had done. He had been born into Heaven, yet his father had suddenly decided to throw everything away and live among the very people Doflamingo had been taught to look down upon. At first, Doflamingo believed that their family would simply continue living comfortably somewhere else, but he quickly learned that the world outside Mariejois was nothing like the world he had known.
The world outside Mariejois was nothing like the peaceful life his father had promised them. The family was hunted, beaten, and tortured by those who hated the Celestial Dragons. Doflamingo was still a child, but the hatred growing inside him was already becoming something far darker than simple resentment. In his mind, his father was responsible for everything that had happened. Homing had taken him away from Heaven and thrown his family into Hell, and Doflamingo could not forgive him for it.
His mother's death became another devastating blow to the family. With their situation continuing to deteriorate and his father's idealistic beliefs offering no solution, Doflamingo's hatred eventually reached its breaking point. He no longer wanted to understand his father's decision or accept the life they had been forced into. He wanted to return to the position he believed belonged to him by birth, and he was willing to do anything to reclaim it.
Eventually, Doflamingo turned against his own father.
The young boy took Homing's life and carried his father's severed head all the way back to Mariejois. He believed that the Celestial Dragons would recognize him as one of their own and allow him to return to the life he had once known. Instead, the people he had considered his own kind rejected him. They had no interest in accepting the son of a traitor who had willingly abandoned the Holy Land.
That rejection changed Doflamingo forever. He had lost his family, his home, his wealth, and finally even the people he believed would accept him back into Heaven. He came to understand that the world would not simply hand him what he wanted. If he wanted to stand at the top again, he would have to take that position for himself.
Not long afterward, Doflamingo encountered four men who would become the foundation of his future. Trebol, Diamante, Pica, and Vergo recognized something unusual in the young boy. They saw the hatred inside him, but they also saw an enormous ambition and a natural ability to command others. Doflamingo possessed something that made people want to follow him, and the four men quickly became loyal to him.
Trebol eventually gave Doflamingo the Ito Ito no Mi and a pistol. With those weapons in his hands, Doflamingo took the final step toward becoming the man he would eventually be known as. He killed his father and abandoned any remaining connection to the life he had once lived.
The Donquixote Pirates were born from that hatred and ambition.
Doflamingo gathered people around himself who believed in his vision and gradually began building his own organization. He no longer depended on the Celestial Dragons to provide him with power. If Heaven would not give him a throne, then he would create his own path toward one.
His rise through the criminal world was ruthless. Doflamingo began establishing connections with pirates, assassins, weapons dealers, information brokers, and other criminal organizations. His intelligence, charisma, and willingness to use violence allowed him to rise rapidly through the underworld. Eventually, he became one of the most influential figures operating within it, taking the name Joker and becoming a major broker who connected powerful people and criminal organizations behind the scenes.
His influence continued to expand as he became involved in weapons trafficking and other illegal activities. Doflamingo understood that information and connections could be just as valuable as brute strength. By controlling the people who connected different parts of the underworld, he could influence events without always needing to place himself directly in the middle of them.
At the same time, Doflamingo continued pursuing political power. He eventually became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, gaining the protection and legitimacy of the World Government while retaining the freedom to continue his criminal activities. However, becoming a Warlord was never enough for him. Doflamingo wanted a country of his own, and more importantly, he wanted a throne.
His opportunity eventually came in Dressrosa.
Doflamingo manipulated the situation surrounding the Riku Family and seized control of the kingdom. With the abilities of his officers, particularly Sugar, he created a system where the truth of his crimes could be hidden from the people. Those who opposed him could disappear from the memories of everyone around them, while Doflamingo presented himself as the rightful ruler of the kingdom.
He ruled through fear, manipulation, and overwhelming force. Those who opposed him were crushed, while those who accepted his rule were allowed to continue living under his regime. Behind the cheerful smile and carefree attitude he displayed to the outside world was a man who had spent his entire life believing that the world belonged to those strong enough to take it.
By this point, Doflamingo had achieved much of what his younger self had desired. He possessed enormous wealth, a powerful crew, territory, political influence, connections throughout the underworld, and a relationship with Kaido that allowed him to become involved in the production of SMILE fruits. His organization had become an important part of the balance of power in the New World.
Most importantly, he had become a king.
Yet despite everything he had achieved, something inside Doflamingo remained unresolved. He had spent his entire life believing that the world was divided between those who stood above and those who were forced to kneel. He had been born in Heaven, thrown into Hell, and then clawed his way back toward the throne. His hatred toward the Celestial Dragons remained, but so did his desire to stand above everyone else.
Then the Nexus entered his life.