Dressrosa Arc

Standing as the twenty-seventh story arc of the series, Dressrosa caps the saga named for the kingdom and counts among the longest stretches in One Piece. It follows directly from the events on Punk Hazard and hands off to the journey to Zou. The action centers on a sun-soaked nation of living toys and human dancers ruled in secret by the pirate-aristocrat Donquixote Doflamingo, whose underworld brokering props up far more than a single island.

Trafalgar Law's pact with Luffy brings the alliance, plus Kin'emon, Momonosuke and the prisoner Caesar Clown, to the colorful kingdom with one stated aim: destroy the hidden SMILE factory that feeds artificial Devil Fruits to Kaido's army, and bring down its king. The handover of Caesar is meant to mask the real operation. Once ashore, the group splinters. Luffy, drawn to a colosseum tournament whose prize is the flame fruit once wielded by his late brother, enters disguised as a gladiator and crosses paths with fighters like Cavendish, Bartolomeo, Rebecca and the toy soldier Kyros.

The kingdom's cheerful surface hides a cruelty engineered by Doflamingo's String-String powers, which let him manipulate people like puppets and turn enemies into toys whose very existence the populace forgets. As the layers peel back, the tragic past of the dwarf-protecting toy soldier, the stolen throne of the rightful king Riku, and Law's personal vendetta all converge. Luffy and Law fight their way toward Doflamingo while the Marine admiral Fujitora watches, refusing to shield a corrupt Warlord. The escalating clash pulls in giants, gladiators, the Tontatta dwarves and Doflamingo's elite officers across the city, the colosseum and the towering royal palace.

Doflamingo, cornered and exposed before the world, seals the entire island inside a Birdcage of razor wire and forces the citizens to hunt one another. Luffy, pushing past his limits into new gears of his powers, finally shatters the Warlord's hold over the kingdom in a brutal duel.

Doflamingo's defeat liberates Dressrosa and frees Rebecca's father Kyros and King Riku to reclaim their land. Sabo secures the flame Devil Fruit for Ace's memory, and the toppling of a Warlord and his trade network rattles the balance of power worldwide. A grateful coalition of fighters declares themselves a Straw Hat Grand Fleet, pledging loyalty to Luffy, while Fujitora publicly bows to the wronged king, signaling the Marines' growing disillusionment with the Warlord system. The crew departs for Zou with Bartolomeo's vessel as escort.