In traditional Abomey stories, Dakodonou overthrew his brother, the previous King Gangnihessou, when the ruler was absent from the capital on a tour of the kingdom.
Dakodonou is portrayed as a brutal and violent man. His symbols were an indigo jar (a reference to his murder of a certain indigo planter named Donou, whose body he made sport of by rolling it around in his indigo jar and whose name he appended to his own original name, 'Dako'), a tinder box, and a war club.
Before dying, Dakodonou named his nephew, Aho Houegbadja, as his successor.