King Riku
the deposed king of Dressrosa · alive (first shown in flashback @0727) · head of the Riku Dynasty
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The deposed king of Dressrosa, head of the Riku Dynasty. Named on-page Ch. 722 as the ruler whose honor the Tontatta uprising means “to restore” (p. 11), and reviled by the Dressrosa public as an “arsonist.” The Block D crowd shames Rebecca as “his granddaughter” (p. 2), tying her to his royal bloodline.
Arc-by-arc updates
Zou / Reverie prelude (Ch. 823)
- Bound for the Reverie representing Dressrosa (caption “KING RIKU!!”, p. 9); turned down the Navy’s battleship escort and treats the trip “like a big festival” (“It’s like a big festival!!”). (Synth note: the queue read him as “ruling the Kingdom of Prodence” — a conflation of the adjacent VIZ p. 9 “KINGDOM OF PRODENCE” establishing caption. King Riku is the restored king of Dressrosa; Prodence is Elizabello II’s kingdom.)
Dressrosa — refuses, then is begged back (Ch. 792)
- Refuses to retake the throne (“Even with the misunderstanding fixed… I cannot return”); calls the Riku family ideals “brittle and weak” (p. 11).
- The citizens reject this — they want “the king who won’t fight,” willing to fall into ruin to avoid war (pp. 11-12). His past reputation surfaces: “the man with the evil eye” who stared down neighboring kingdoms to prevent war for ten years, “King of Miracles” (pp. 12-13).
Dressrosa — honor restored (Ch. 791)
- The closing narration frames the whole ten-year resistance as a fight “to restore the honor of the deposed King Riku” (pp. 16–17); Doflamingo’s defeat clears the way for the Riku line’s vindication.
Dressrosa — leads the Birdcage pushback (Ch. 789)
- At the front of the citizen/gladiator effort holding back the shrinking Birdcage alongside “Commander Tank” Tank Lepanto; rallies the people — “If it weren’t for you folks, thousands upon thousands of lives would be lost already!!! You’ve done well!!!” — and prays “Let as many be safe as possible!” (pp. 2–3, 7).
Dressrosa — tries to stop Viola (Ch. 788)
- Tries to stop his daughter Viola from sacrificing herself against Doflamingo (p. 10).
Dressrosa — broadcasts to the nation (Ch. 785)
- Broadcasts to all of Dressrosa via Den Den Mushi (pp. 10–15): identifies himself as “Riku Doldo III, former King of Dressrosa,” explains the Birdcage (“the nation is surrounded by a giant, inescapable Birdcage… slicing through the town as it shrinks”), and reveals the ten-year Doflamingo tyranny — “for ten years we have been puppets on his strings… trapped in the midst of the Birdcage called Dressrosa.”
- Confirms every Donquixote Family officer is beaten and only Doflamingo remains, now battled by Straw Hat Luffy; rallies the citizens: “On empty lungs, on broken legs, just keep running!! … Find a way to survive!!! There is still hope!!!”
Dressrosa — “The Heart Curse” (Ch. 780)
- As the Birdcage shrinks, leads his soldiers to descend into town to limit casualties further (p. 8). A soldier pledges to join him.
Dressrosa — draws Pica’s wrath onto himself (Ch. 778)
- Pica targets him specifically as the colossus charges; Riku deliberately draws the giant’s wrath onto himself to spare the citizens — “I’m right here!! Don’t cause any more unnecessary destruction!!” (p. 5).
- Pacifism restated via flashback/parallel against Pica’s military-might creed: “there is no future for a nation of slaughter… I will never sit atop the throne again” (p. 9). Rebecca calls him “Grandfather” (p. 2); he orders Viola and Tank Lepanto to take the civilians down off the plateau to safety (p. 5).
Dressrosa — gathers the townsfolk; refuses Navy aid (Ch. 777)
- Refuses government/Navy aid; descends into town declaring his life is no longer under threat and there is “much yet to be done,” ordering all townsfolk gathered at the New Palace Plateau to keep them safe from the Birdcage (p. 8).
- Held up by the people as the only royal line that understands “the true meaning of peace”; the country wants him restored to the throne (pp. 10, 15).
Dressrosa — invoked by Elizabello II (Ch. 771) — referenced, not shown
- King Elizabello II of Prodence calls Dressrosa “the land of my friend,” naming Riku as “an old companion” — affirming the pre-Doflamingo regional alliance (p. 4).
Dressrosa — commands the citizen resistance via Viola’s clairvoyance (Ch. 768)
- Commands the citizen resistance, receiving the battle picture through Viola’s clairvoyance (“Viola? How goes the battle…”, pp. 7, 11).
- Resolves: “We must put the fate of our land in the hands of pirates!! …our fate within the Birdcage will never change… however, if we don’t defeat Doflamingo…” (p. 14).
Dressrosa — the citizens beg him to save them (Ch. 760)
- On the former royal plateau as the citizens — torn after years of praising Doflamingo while hating the manipulated king — cry “King Riku!!! Please save us…” (pp. 3–4). The people offer to take up weapons at his command; he and Fujitora “bet the same line” on Luffy (p. 5).
Dressrosa — leads the citizens; shields Usopp’s shot (Ch. 758)
Dressrosa — on the plateau (Ch. 756)
- On the King’s Plateau with “God Usopp” — “King Riku and God Usopp are just above!!” — as the citizens scale the cliffs toward them (p. 5). In the dwarves’ flashback he sent them to the punishment room for pranks (p. 7).
Dressrosa (Ch. 755)
- Flees the Former Royal Plateau with Viola and Usopp; reassured by Viola that the people now know the truth of the past and won’t harm him (p. 16).
- Orders Viola to use her clairvoyance to search the palace for Princess Mansherry, reasoning Doflamingo would not kill her but “must desire her POWER” (pp. 16–17). See Mansherry Healing Power Coveted By Doflamingo.
Dressrosa (Ch. 750)
- On the surface with the freed Tontatta and his daughter Viola; warns her the Straw Hats are pirates, but she puts her hopes in them over the World Government. The dwarves hail the Straw Hats as “a light of hope for all Dressrosa” (pp. 8–11).
Dressrosa — alive on the manhunt board (Ch. 746)
- Shown alive on Doflamingo’s manhunt board, captioned “Former King of Dressrosa: Riku Doldo III,” to the citizens’ shock (“King Riku is still alive…?!”) — now that the nation’s erased memories have returned and they understand the royal army was controlled, not guilty.
Dressrosa — confronts Doflamingo; the full name “Riku Doldo III” prints (Ch. 745)
- Confronts Doflamingo at the palace, begging him not to repeat the ten-years-ago tragedy — “Don’t hurt this country more than you already have!!” — just before Doflamingo deploys the Birdcage (pp. 11–12). His captor taunts him about the coup.
Dressrosa — freed by Kyros (Ch. 743)
Dressrosa — “Ricky” revealed; the merciful king’s full role (Ch. 742)
- “Ricky” = King Riku. The masked, meteoric coliseum fighter “Ricky” whose record Kyros could not beat is revealed to be the king himself, fighting incognito (“Why did you participate without telling me, King Riku?”) — confirming the Ricky = King Riku equation ON-PAGE (chapter note new_reveals).
- Reforms the criminal Kyros (“you can find meaning in using your strength to protect the lives of others”), who one year later becomes Captain of the Dressrosan Riku Royal Army.
- Fakes Scarlet’s death (“a sudden fever”) and strips his First Princess of her royalty so she may marry the commoner ex-criminal Kyros; dotes on their newborn daughter Rebecca (“Grandpa tiiime!”).
- After the coup, under Sugar’s memory-wipe of the toy-ified Kyros, the king no longer knows him: “the name is unfamiliar” (p. 11).
Dressrosa — the Kyros origin flashback (Ch. 741) — shown in flashback
- Appears in the Kyros origin flashback: when his guards beg him to stay back from the 15-year-old murderer Kyros, the king instead reaches out — “Come with me, Kyros!!!” (p. 15) — and takes a personal interest in the boy, sending him into the Corrida Colosseum rather than to execution and ordering him fed (“Bring him food. He has the spirit to stay alive, it seems,” p. 17). Establishes the benevolent-king characterization; named on-page only as “King Riku” (pp. 14, 17, 18).
Dressrosa — interrogated in the suit chamber; Violet’s father (Ch. 740) — shown present-day captive
- Shown present-day, captive in the palace’s suit chamber, interrogated by Doflamingo and Trebol about why the Straw Hats / Greenbit dwarves target Greenbit, the hidden factory and Sugar — the “root of the darkness of this kingdom” (pp. 14–16).
- Confirmed on-page as Violet’s father — she cries “Father! What is he doing in the palace?!” on seeing him (p. 16).
Dressrosa — the resistance’s goal (Ch. 737) — named, not shown
Dressrosa — captive in the palace (Ch. 734) — shown present-day
- Shown present-day, a captive in Doflamingo’s palace. Doflamingo taunts the dethroned king, gloating that the published “report of his abdication… was a mistake” — the public believes Riku stepped down willingly, but he is in fact a prisoner (pp. 15–16). The deposed king “is growing desperate, to seek out a devil fruit,” and his “whole family is acting strange today.”
- Doflamingo names Riku’s daughter Viola (the wager-maker) and his granddaughter Rebecca (“she who holds the blood of disgraced King Riku”) in the same scene, fixing the royal line publicly. See A Hidden Dressrosa Resistance Plots To Topple Doflamingo.
Dressrosa — Block D & the toy soldier’s vow (Ch. 733) — named, not shown
- Named again as the deposed king of the Riku Dynasty: the Block D crowd reviles Rebecca as “King Riku’s granddaughter” (p. 6), and the toy soldier vows “I’m taking Dressrosa back for the Riku Dynasty!!!” — the crowd reacting “King Riku?!” (p. 17). Not shown this chapter.
Dressrosa — the resistance moves to restore him (Ch. 731) — named, not shown
- Referenced as the rightful king the “Riku Army” fights to reinstate — the toy soldier’s Operation S.O.P. declares its purpose is to “restore Dressrosa to its proper place in the hands of King Riku” (p. 6) and end the Doflamingo Family. Named, not shown this chapter.
Dressrosa — Doflamingo crowned; the king spared (Ch. 728) — flashback continues
- The conquest flashback resolves: after the “Parasite” frame-up, Doflamingo arrives as the kingdom’s “savior” (“I’ve come to save this kingdom!!!”), beats the puppeted Riku Army, and is crowned the new king (pp. 8–11). King Riku is spared and survives — the toys state he “is still out there, alive, somewhere in this country” (pp. 11–13).
- His daughter Princess Viola (Violet) is taken into Doflamingo’s service: she bargains to serve him on the condition that he not murder her father (p. 12) — the first on-page link of the deposed king to the Donquixote officer “Violet.” See A Hidden Dressrosa Resistance Plots To Topple Doflamingo, Violas Officer Loyalty Is A Hostage Bargain For Her Father.
Dressrosa — the conquest flashback (Ch. 727) — first shown; the frame-up
- First on-page appearance (flashback, ~10 years ago). The beloved king of Dressrosa, head of the Riku Dynasty that kept the kingdom warless for 800 years. By night Doflamingo enters his palace, claims “the Don Quixote line,” and demands Riku “buy back” his own kingdom for 10 billion berries by sunrise — “testing your ability as king” (pp. 6–7).
- Out of love for his subjects he broadcasts a public plea over the visual transponder snail, bowing/groveling and offering to cut off his own limbs; the people tearfully surrender their wealth out of trust (p. 11). Characterized by absolute pacifism (“retain your humanity, we must not kill,” p. 8).
- Doflamingo then uses “Parasite” strings to puppet King Riku — then the royal soldiers — into massacring the disarmed citizens (pp. 14–19), manufacturing nationwide hatred so the kingdom will beg for a “hero.” Riku survives the frame-up. See A Hidden Dressrosa Resistance Plots To Topple Doflamingo.
- Narrated by the one-legged toy soldier (Thunder Soldier) — revealed to be King Riku’s son-in-law and Rebecca’s father, making Rebecca the king’s granddaughter (p. 3). His loyal Riku-army commander “Commander Tank” (Tank Lepanto) led the wealth-collection on his desperate orders.
- The chapter “The Riku Family” deepens the Riku Dynasty history via the Tontatta: ~900 years ago the Donquixote kings of Dressrosa enslaved the dwarves; ~800 years ago an ancestor of his line, a King Riku, took the throne, wept and made reparations to the Tontatta, and invented the “Fairies of Dressrosa” legend so they could live openly — founding the kind but un-prosperous Riku Dynasty and the ~800-year Riku↔Tontatta bond (pp. 14–17). See Void Century and Ancient Kingdom.
- The deposed king is the heart of the undercity resistance: ex-soldiers under Tank Lepanto, the neighbouring King Elizabello II of Prodence, and the reactivated living toys rally to the Riku name (pp. 4–9, 12–13).
- Named as the deposed king the Tontatta uprising is fought to vindicate: Leo leads “a year-in-the-making operation to topple Doflamingo and restore the deposed King Riku” (p. 11).
- The colosseum crowd brands Rebecca “scum” as the granddaughter of a hated “arsonist” (p. 2) — binding Rebecca to the Riku royal line through King Riku.
Dressrosa (Ch. 795)
- At the palace, reassures granddaughter Rebecca that she will become a princess once he returns to being king; expects Luffy’s gang to “make an appearance here tomorrow” (p. 3).
Dressrosa — reclaiming the throne (Ch. 796)
- The country roars his name; by day’s end he will announce his return to the throne after ten years (pp. 6–7).
- Reflects on whether he can make the people happy (“if only I were some kind of god-king who could prevent natural disasters”), recalls his late daughter Scarlet, and resolves the throne will eventually pass to Rebecca (p. 7).
- Backed Kyros’s decision to hide his fatherhood behind the noble-prince rumor (pp. 12–13).
Dressrosa — the Riku Dynasty returns to the throne (Ch. 797)
- Freed and back in the palace, prepares to announce the Riku Dynasty’s return to the throne — “the moment I have awaited for years” — and sends Tank to summon Viola and Rebecca (p. 5).
- When Rebecca renounces royalty, asks Viola to be “the princess” in her place: “You can’t fight your blood…” — the second time in his life he has been “asked that preposterous question” (p. 16).