Mr. Satan

Template:DB Character "Mr. Satan" is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga and anime Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. He is a human. He is referred to as "Hercule Satan" in the uncensored American version on DVD, and simply as "Hercule" in the censored American version on television.

In the original Japanese, his name is 'Mr. Satan' but it was changed due to the obvious connection with the Christian Satan and the fear that parents would object to the name. However, the name is used in uncut DVDs. The new name originates from Hércule (his name in the French DBZ dub), based on Hercules in Roman mythology. In the U.S. edition of Shonen Jump published by Viz, a (spurious) explanation is given that Hercule is the "real name" of the character while Mr. Satan was the name he used as a wrestler (something he never was, to begin with). In truth, Akira Toriyama has stated that while "Mr. Satan" is a stage name, his true name is never revealed.

In the tradition of Dragon Ball name puns, Mr. Satan and his family are named after demons/figures from mythology. His daughter's name, Videl, is an anagram of the word devil.

During the Dragon Ball Z time period, Mr. Satan is the reigning Tenka'ichi Budôkai Champion, a title won fairly by beating other humans in a time when Son Goku and other powerful fighters were not competing. During this time, Satan became rich and famous, but also egomaniacal. He boasted endlessly on television about his strength, and that he was the "best fighter in the world".

He joined Cell's "Cell Games" tournament, and was completely overwhelmed, being smacked into a mountain with minimal effort by Cell. A bit of foreshadowing is shown here though, as Satan, upon being told by Android 16, throws the automaton's decapitated head to Gohan. #16 delivers his final message to Gohan, and is then killed by Cell. Witnessing this, Gohan loses it and ascends to Super Saiyan Two. After Son Gohan defeated Cell, Mr. Satan claimed the credit and achieved even greater fame and fortune, as well as the love and (misplaced) trust of all mankind.

In the early stages of the Majin Buu Saga, Satan claims yet another Tenka'ichi Budôkai win by bribing Android 18 with 20 million zeni. Later in the saga, he befriends Majin Buu, and makes it promise to stop killing people. The inner conflict Buu suffers due to this causes it to excrete the evil energy that then forms Evil Buu.

While spending the vast majority of the time being comic relief, Mr. Satan is finally redeemed after he uses his charisma and good reputation to persuade the people of Earth to give their energy to Son Goku's Genki Dama, which ultimately destroys the evil Kid Buu. He also saves Vegeta's life by carrying his unconscious body safely from the battlefield.

Despite being (relatively) weak, Satan is the one of the only mortal Dragon Ball character who hasn't been killed at least once. Others include Mr. Buu, Bee, Pan, Bra and Baba.