| |
| Any analysis of Dokuga and violence has to
begin by saying that, when left to his own devices, he catches
and releases insects. |
|
 |
This is probably my favorite scene in
Dorohedoro. It doesn't need to be there. It doesn't progress the
plot. It exists just to show how fundamentally kind he is: that
he would go out of his way to save a moth.
Yet it also has an existential nature. Dokuga is identified with
moths, so he could very well be feeling a kinship with the
moth's predicament. A moth who had known only darkness and cold
is drawn to the light. No matter how many times it gets hurt
trying to touch it, it can't bring itself to abandon the promise
of warmth, and might keep on trying to reach it until it dies.
A parallel could be drawn between that moth and Dokuga's own
attraction to his Boss. As an outside observer, Dokuga had the
instinctive desire to intervene and set the moth free from its
self-destructive cycle, but no-one could do the same for him. |
|
 |
| Life was cheap in the Dorohedoro world. It
could be taken on a whim and there'd be very little consequences
unless you had powerful friends. Even children could be
tortured, mutilated, kidnapped, or sold. There was no law
enforcement to be seen, if there were any laws at all, but there
were plenty of killers around, and Dokuga was very good at
killing people. |
|
. |
 |
What set Dokuga apart from the others
is that he did not enjoy violence and, when acting on
his own judgment, did his best to avoid it and never
attacked unprovoked.
He was virtually the only fighter who asked questions
before attacking, and first tried to reason with
potential enemies. Sometimes even pleading, as he did
with the healing smoke merchants.
When Risu was rummaging through the Officers' meager
belongings, Dokuga first attempted to talk to him. It
was only when Risu pulled out his spikes and challenged
him that Dokuga drew his daggers as a last resort.
When he was surrounded by shady-looking priests in Hole,
he first tried to scare them away. And when they begged
him for mercy, he sheathed his weapons and simply told
them to leave him alone. |
|
 |
|
| But it doesn't pay to be reasonable in the
Dorohedoro world. On
several
occasions, his niceness nearly cost him his life. |
|
 |
Of course, Dokuga was no stranger to
death.
His job as a CrossEyes Officer had him drowning in
corpses. Some of his own making, but most pouring in
from the streets through the vast network of CrossEyes
to fuel Kai's personal and scientific ambitions.
Dokuga accepted this as part of life, but it never made
him happy. And, as the Boss' right hand man, he was
always in the thick of it, privy to secrets that the
other Officers didn't know. |
|
|
Dokuga was there when Kai killed Risu.
Even though Risu was just some random CrossEye who
Dokuga didn't personally know, the incident left him
deeply traumatized. Terrified even. But he masked the
pain and didn't tell anyone about it for several years.
Kai later killed Natsuki: a girl that Dokuga did
personally know, and even tried to save. This only sunk
him deeper into a depression.
Unlike the other fighters in Dorohedoro, Dokuga's
empathy extended beyond his immediate circle of friends.
He felt remorse even for the death of his
landlady while the rest rejoiced at such good luck. |
|
 |
|
.
. |
 |
But nothing tested his loyalty quite
like the systematic murder of thousands of innocent
magic users at Kai's command.
Despite the massive amount of death Dokuga had seen
throughout his life, he never grew numb to it. He was
fine killing those who he thought deserved it, those who
would do the same to him, or given
good reasons, but not like this.
It was
positively absurd to place such a gentle and sensitive
soul at the head of this bloodbath. The other CrossEyes
were shocked at such a sudden change, yet that was his
duty as the Boss' chief Officer.
He did what he was told. He threw up when no one could
see him. Then he swallowed his feelings, put on the best
threatening face he had, and told the others to keep
killing.
The sheer scale of slaughter was surreal, filled with
frenzied and crazed CrossEyes driven by
abject fear.
Hiding emotions was Dokuga's specialty, but even so, he
looked like a jittery mess trying very hard to hold his
sanity together. |
|
|
|
|
|
|