Piccolo (Dragon Ball)

Piccolo
Dragon Ball character
File:Piccolo (Dragon Ball) photo.jpg
First appearance	Dragon Ball chapter #161 Dragon Ball episode 122
Created by	Akira Toriyama
In-universe information
Alias	Cor Petit (Catalunya) Piccolo Jr. Piccolo Daimao Junior The Namek Ma-junior Kamicolo Big Green Green Man
Species	Namek
Relatives	Piccolo Daimao (Father/older self) Katattsu (Parent/Father's Parent) Kami(Good Half/Father's Good Half/Pernament Fusee) Nail (Permanent Fusee)

Piccolo (ピッコロ, Pikkoro) is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball metaseries. He is considered both the son and reincarnation of Piccolo Daimao ("Piccolo the Great Demon King") and was spawned to save himself from certain death at the hands of Son Goku. Like his father, he appears as a tall green humanoid creature with pointy ears. After his narrow defeat against Goku, Piccolo is soon forced to form an at first uneasy alliance with Goku and his friends against newer, more dangerous threats. Out of necessity he also takes it upon himself to train Goku's child Son Gohan, forming a powerful bond which ultimately redeems him when he sacrifices himself to save the child's life. After his resurrection he fully joins Goku and the others in their struggles against ever more powerful villains. Unlike the human characters in the series, Piccolo's relative power remains competitive with that of the Saiyans' up until the Majin Buu Saga -- at which point, his role shifts from warrior to mentor.

Appearance and heritage

File:PiccoloStance.jpg

Piccolo as illustrated by Akira Toriyama.

Piccolo was introduced in the series with the name "Piccolo Jr.", because he was the spawn and reincarnate of Piccolo Daimao, who was the evil part of Kamisama, the God of Earth. Being the reincarnate of the demon king, Piccolo first introduces himself as "Majunior", which translates as "Demon Junior". As the series continues, it is discovered that Piccolo's heritage is actually extraterrestrial, and not demonic. Being spawned from his predecessor Piccolo Daimao, Piccolo replicates his appearance in almost every way.

Piccolo is one of the only characters in the series whose appearance does not change drastically as the series continues. Being from the fictional planet called Planet Namek, Piccolo appears as a typical Namekian; green skinned and hairless, as well as being very tall. The only major difference between his original appearance in the manga and then his appearance in the anime is that in the manga, he has four fingers on each hand instead of five like in the anime. Piccolo has short, fleshy antenna that sprout from his forehead, one right above each eye. He is also seen to have elongated canine teeth with several orange (pink in the anime) patches on his arms. Piccolo is known for his white turban and long white cape. He wears a purple Asian martial arts uniform (gi) underneath his cape, with a red obi (which is changed to blue in the anime), and light weight slipper-like footwear. His attire does not change through out the entire series, except for a single episode during the Artificial Human Saga when he goes to driving school with the main character in the series named Son Goku, who's wife lends some clothes to the Namekian.

Character history

Dragon Ball

Main article: Piccolo Junior Saga

File:YoungPiccolo.JPG

A young Piccolo.

Piccolo was originally introduced as the great Demon King Piccolo, being the evil half of the god of Earth (Kami). It is later discovered that his biological heritage is extraterrestrial and not demonic, being from the alien race who inhabited the planet called Namek. He came into being after the original Namek that Piccolo and Kami used to be split into two halves to rid himself of evil. Being formed of pure, concentrated evil, he designated himself as the Great Demon King (Daimaō) and laid siege to the world, at some point he also gave himself the name Piccolo, which at first was a reference to the wind instrument, but then referenced as meaning "from another world" in the Namekian language. Eventually, the Demon King was imprisoned by Mutaito, the teacher of Master Roshi, in an electric rice cooker for decades by the suicidal Mafuba technique. Piccolo stayed in the electric rice cooker for many years, before being released from his confinement by Emperor Pilaf, Piccolo decides to kill all the current and former finalists of the Tenka'ichi Budôkai, thereby removing all those who might be able to learn the Mafuba attack in which would seal him away again. To aid him in this, he spawns several minions. Many people, including Kuririn, are killed by his minions, making Goku and his friends seek revenge. Goku eventually confronts him, only to easily be beaten. Piccolo is then able to gather the Dragon Balls to summon Shenlong, allowing Piccolo to wish for eternal youth, becoming more powerful than before since he was returned to his physical prime. Piccolo then kills the dragon to prevent anyone else from making a wish that could stop him. With no one left who can properly challenge him, Piccolo overthrows the King of the World and becomes the ruler of the Earth. He institutes several evil policies such as releasing all criminals and a planned system of destruction. Goku ends up facing him, leading to his death.

After his intense battle with Son Goku, the last thing on Piccolo's mind was being killed, so in order to insure he had a second shot at killing Goku he put his soul into an egg and spit it out into the distance,(Note: it can be speculated that it was indeed his soul and not another offspring for a few reasons, it is unknown whether this version of Piccolo would understand he is a reincarnation or believes himself to be an offspring, however this isn't possible since a normal offspring wouldn't be enough to keep Kami alive, also it can be assumed he is a reincarnation because King Piccolo wished for eternal youth, and Piccolo Jr grows faster than what normal nameks are revealed to, and never ages past his prime, but this still is only what can be assumed.) Piccolo spent the next three years in intensive training, he went from a hatchling, to a small child, to a teenager within only three years thanks to his previous wish for eternal youth, thus causing his body to attempt to revert to that form rather quickly, he did his best to prepare himself for the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament where he knew from his past memories Goku would be a contestant. When the tournament started, Piccolo (under the identity of Ma-Junior, since ma stands for "demon" and his past incarnation was the self proclaimed "Great Demon King" of the world) easily breezed past the preliminaries and into the finals. From there he first faced off against Goku's friend Kuririn, a match that he easily won. His next match was against a powerful human named Shen whom Piccolo soon discovered was actually his good counterpart and the Guardian of Earth named Kami in disguise. When Kami attempted to use the Mafuba technique, a technique used to seal Piccolo into an electric rice cooker, Piccolo surprised everyone by reversing the attack and capturing Kami inside the rice cooker. Piccolo's next fight was the one he had been waiting for, a match with Goku. Though Piccolo used an assortment of new techniques from the last time they faced each other, Goku found a way to make many of them work to his advantage, and even freed Kami from captivity. In the end, Piccolo lost to Goku, but was shown mercy as Goku gave him a senzu bean which fully healed him instantly. Piccolo however, still vowed to destroy Goku and re-take over the world.

Dragon Ball Z

Saiyan Saga

Main article: Saiyan Saga

Five years after facing Goku at the Tenkaichi Budokai, Piccolo has finally at some point grown into his previous adult form. He ends up briefly encountering a powerful alien named Raditz who is looking for someone named Kakarrot. The alien is discovered to be a member of the alien race called the "Saiyans", and the biological older brother of Goku, or "Kakarot", which was Goku's original name. Seeing Raditz's power and Goku's defeat after refusing to join Raditz, Piccolo offers a temporary alliance with Goku. Piccolo's sole intention is to rule the world, and forming an alliance with Goku is the only way to stop Raditz from destroying the Earth. Goku agrees, knowing that Piccolo's assistance is the only way for him to save the Earth and get his five year old son named Son Gohan back, whom Raditz had kidnapped.

File:Piccolospecialbeamcannon.jpg

Piccolo fires the Special Beam Cannon.

Goku and Piccolo find Raditz, and battle him. However, Raditz turns out to be much more powerful then the combined force of Goku and Piccolo. When all hope seems lost, Goku's son Gohan intervenes by revealing an unfathomable hidden power and deals a massive blow to Raditz. Goku then holds Raditz in place while Piccolo charges up his ultimate attack, the "Makankasappo" (Special Beam Cannon in the English Dub). Piccolo had originally developed the attack to kill Goku, and with Goku holding Raditz, he would be able to kill Goku and Raditz in one shot. Piccolo succeeds and Goku and Raditz are both defeated.Raditz mocks the two, saying that Goku was killed in the process. Piccolo then rebuffs this statement, saying that Goku can be revived with seven orbs called Dragon Balls, which brought together can summon a magical dragon (Shenlong) which grants any wish. And knowing Goku's friends, they will collect them and use them within a year. However, before Raditz dies, he reveals that his scouter is also a communication device, and speaks of two other Saiyan warriors whom would arrive at Earth in a single year upon revealing the Dragon Balls and its nature. Raditz laughs at the Earth's misfortune, and Goku is sent to the after life to train with the Gods.

Knowing that Goku would return to life, Piccolo still desired vengeance. As a result, he would train Goku's son Gohan, first to defeat the Saiyans, but then to help him defeat Goku and take over the world. Witnessing Gohan's unwavering innocent nature over that year, Piccolo reluctantly starts caring for the boy like a son.

When the two Saiyans named Nappa and Vegeta arrive on Earth, they are met by Piccolo, Gohan, and Goku's friends Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chaozu and Yamcha. Goku had been wished back to life, but would take two days to arrive from the Other World. Piccolo soon learns from the Saiyans that he is actually an extraterrestrial from the planet Namek. The Saiyans then start the fight off by growing several Saibaimen which they instruct to fight in a mock tournament against the Earth's defenders. The Saibamen are all destroyed, though Yamcha is killed in battle.

With the Saibaimen gone, Nappa decides to enter combat. In the ensuing fight, Tenshinhan and Chaozu perish and the remaining defenders of the Earth are heavily beaten. When the smaller, but more powerful Saiyan, Vegeta detects that Goku is arriving, and that he's more powerful than anticipated, he orders Nappa to quickly kill the remaining defenders as their working with Goku might result in a challenge. While Nappa protests that if Piccolo is killed, the location of the Dragon Balls can't be revealed, Vegeta pointed out that as Piccolo is a Namekian, and the Dragon Balls exist on Earth that there will be a set on Planet Namek, making Piccolo expendable. Nappa first aims for Gohan with an extremely powerful attack, but Piccolo jumps in the way of it, sacrificing himself to save Gohan. Goku arrives moments after Piccolo's death and after a long struggle, defeats both Saiyans. The Earth is safe once again.

Freeza Saga

Main article: Freeza Saga

As Goku was forced to do months before, Piccolo traverses the winding Snake Way to Kaiosama's Planet. There, he, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu all train under his watchful eye and, though Piccolo never learns the deity's secret techniques, his power does increase immensely.

On Namek, Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende, a young Namekian, gather the Dragon Balls and summon the Namekian Dragon, Porunga (who allows three wishes, as opposed to the Earth dragon, Shen Long, who only allows one). Piccolo contacts Gohan via telepathy and demands he be resurrected with the first wish, be sent to Namek to battle Freeza with the second, and then Gohan could do whatever with the last wish. Piccolo's reasoning was that if he is brought back, then the Earth Dragon Balls will immediately return alongside Kami, allowing for wishes to be made to bring back Tenshinhan and Yamcha. Gohan and Kuririn agree and make the two wishes.

File:PiccoloAndNail.jpg

Piccolo encounters the dying Nail.

Piccolo soon arrives on Namek at a random point, since Gohan did not specify where on Namek he should be sent. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing his strangely familiar homeland for the first time and feeling the suffering of his people, Piccolo heads in the direction of a large chi source, believing it to be Freeza. During his flight, he passes over a dying Namekian, Nail; a fighter-type Namekian who was earlier mauled by Freeza and left for dead. Piccolo drops down to inspect his crippled brethren and they begin to talk. Nail states that if Piccolo had rejoined his other half he might stand a chance against Freeza but since Piccolo is not able to go back to Earth and definitely won't join with Kami, Nail offers Piccolo to join with him instead. At first, Piccolo refuses, but Nail explains that Piccolo will not lose his personality, he will only feel the power gained from the fusion. Piccolo reluctantly accepts and after the fusion is complete, he revels in his awesome new power and rushes to Freeza's location.

File:Friezavspico.jpg

Piccolo battles Freeza in his second form.

When Piccolo arrives, he finds a battle in progress between Gohan, Kuririn, and Vegeta, with Dende supporting them, against Freeza. He then takes on Freeza, who is in his second form, alone and matches him roughly evenly. Vegeta is shocked to find that the Namekian that Nappa killed so easily mere months ago had become so powerful. After a brief exchange of blows, Freeza transforms into his next more powerful third state and assaults Piccolo with a large barrage of invisible and virtually unavoidable shots, crippling the Namekian. Gohan intervenes and blasts Freeza with a large bolt, but Freeza knocks it back and Piccolo uses the last of his strength to deflect the projectile with one of his own before it can hit the young Saiyan. Freeza then begins his final transformation and Gohan uses the opportunity to take Piccolo to Dende, who has the ability to heal others. Piccolo quickly recovers but he knows that he is even more thoroughly outclassed by Freeza's new form. Freeza begins his renewed attack with a single blast that kills Dende, preventing the warriors from being healed again; Piccolo, Gohan and Kuririn respond with a joint assault but Freeza seemingly effortlessly evades all of their attacks.

Piccolo is then reduced to the sidelines, watching as a strengthened Vegeta attacks and falls against Freeza, helpless to intervene. After Goku arrives, Piccolo, Gohan, and Kuririn get out of their way and watch him and Freeza duel from afar. Goku is soon overwhelmed by Freeza and, in desperation, attempts to use the genki-dama. In order to buy Goku some time, Piccolo takes most of the remaining ki from Gohan and Kuririn and jumps in to help, catching Freeza off-guard and kicking him in the head, giving Goku just enough time to finish the genki-dama and launch it at the enemy. Freeza is not destroyed by the attack though, and shoots his Death Beam through Piccolo that leaves him near dead. (In the anime version, Freeza fired his Death Beam at Goku, but Piccolo jumped in the way and took the beam, showing that he now truly cared for his former enemy). Piccolo remains as such for the rest of the battle. Freeza later kills Goku's best friend Kuririn by making him implode from within. Seeing his friends dying at the hands of Freeza, Goku unleashes his rage and aggression against Freeza and transforms himself into a Super Saiyan to eventually defeat Freeza, in a long battle of what seems to be endurance. Piccolo is healed by Dende after being sent to Earth by a wish made to Porunga.

When the Namekians find a planet suitable to be New Namek, Piccolo declines to travel with them, and he stays on Earth with Gohan. Piccolo does not desire the peaceful, therefore dull, life to be had on Namek.

Artificial Human Saga

Main article: Artificial Human Saga

One year after the events on Namek, Piccolo sensed Freeza and another powerful being coming to the Earth. He headed to the place where he detected they would land, soon joined by Vegeta, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Gohan and Kuririn.

Piccolo and the others follow a youth who defeats and tells them when and where Goku will be arriving. Just as the boy predicted, Goku lands and the boy converses with him privately, though Piccolo's superior hearing allows him to listen in. The boy, known as Trunks, is the future son of Vegeta and Bulma and reveals a terrible plot by Dr. Gero to create powerful Artificial Humans for the sole purpose of annihilating Goku; the Artificial Humans spiral out of control though and go on to destroy everything around them, making Trunks' world a nightmare. Trunks then leaves and Piccolo, since Goku doesn't know how to tell the group what he learned and forgot some important details, explains everything to the group, except who Trunks is. The group then splits up to begin training for the oncoming threat; Piccolo decides to do his training alongside Goku and Gohan.

The years pass by and Goku, Gohan, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn and Piccolo meet at the designated time to confront the Artificial Humans. Yajirobe drops by to give the group some Senzu. Still not sensing their opponents, they realize that, being Artificial Humans, they have no ki to detect and therefore must be searched for by sight; They soon detect a large drop in Yamcha's chi and rush to the scene, finding both the two Artificial Humans and a critically wounded Yamcha. Goku soon leads the Artificial Humans to a different location so that the city isn't destroyed in their fight, though the Artificial Humans demolish a large portion of it before they leave.

The Artificial Humans choose to fight in a desolate region filled with rocky hills. Piccolo surmises that they chose the location so that they could escape to the hills if the fight turns out badly for them. After the Artificial Humans explain that they've been watching Goku since he defeated the Red Ribbon Army up until his battle with Vegeta, Goku attacks Artificial Human 19; the Artificial Humans did not know of his ability to go Super Saiyan and therefore his true strength. Piccolo is startled after Goku transforms, his power being much lower than it should be. Though Goku seems to be winning in the early part of the fight, he quickly loses his energy due to his heart disease and is taken down.

Piccolo and the others attempt to intervene but Artificial Human 20 blocks their path. Piccolo attempts to kick 20 out of the way, but 20 evades and shoots him with his eye lasers, sending him crashing to the ground. Vegeta then arrives, kicking 19 off of Goku and Piccolo quickly gets back up, revealing that he was pretending to be injured by 20's attack in order to catch the Artificial Humans off guard. Vegeta then kicks Goku out of the battle and Piccolo catches him, setting him down so Yamcha can take him home and get him his medicine. Vegeta and 19 then battle, with Vegeta decisively victorious. 20, nervous of Vegeta's new power, flees to the hills.

File:PiccoloVsGero.jpg

Piccolo battles Doctor Gero, severing the Artificial Human's right arm.

Piccolo and the others start searching the hills for 20, but Piccolo is soon ambushed. With 20 holding a tight grip over his mouth and draining his energy, Piccolo sends out a telepathic message to Gohan. Gohan is alerted to the situation and heads for Piccolo's now shrinking ki; he finds 20 and Piccolo and smashes 20 off. Piccolo receives a senzu from Kuririn and states that he will fight 20 himself. 20 is taken off guard by Piccolo's speed and he quickly hits the Artificial Human with several powerful blows, finishing with a powerful chop which takes off 20's arm then smashing him into the ground. At this time Trunks shows up and states that 20 is not the same Artificial Human which caused such devastation in the future; he is followed closely by Bulma in her skycar. 20 sees his opportunity to escape and looses an energy wave, destroying Bulma's vehicle and distracting everyone while he runs away, stating that he's going to activate Artificial Human 17 and Artificial Human 18.

Bulma informs the group that 20 is actually Dr. Gero and of the location of his lab in the Northern Capital. Piccolo then tells Bulma about Trunks, who at this point is already born. He then takes off with Kuririn and Tenshinhan to the Northern Capital to find Gero's lab and destroy the cyborgs before they can be awakened. Kuririn finds the lab and alerts the others, but they arrive too late and the cyborgs are activated. Vegeta takes off after them and Piccolo and the others follow; when they catch up, they find that Vegeta has been fighting 18 and is not faring well. 17 warns them that if they get involved in the fight, he will as well. They watch the fight and, though Vegeta seems to be on roughly equal footing, Piccolo points out that he's getting tired and the Artificial Human is not. When Trunks gets involved with the fight after Vegeta receives a serious hit, Piccolo also charges in; both are quickly swatted down by 17. When Piccolo gets back up, he charges at 17 who is choking Tenshinhan and is felled with a single blow.

Cell Saga

Main article: Cell Saga

File:PiccoloKamiFuse.jpg

Piccolo fuses with Kami.

Kuririn gives each a senzu and Piccolo states he has an idea and then takes off to Kami's Lookout in order to merge with Kami. Kami is not opposed to the idea of re-merging with Piccolo, but does not do so immediatally. Piccolo calls Kami a coward for his reluctance and waits for him to change his mind. When Kami learns of the recent arrival of a danger from the future far greater than the cyborgs, he realizes he has no choice. With Piccolo serving as the base they rejoin, becoming the original namek they once were before they split so long ago; a namek who doesn't remember his given name, though he asks that people continue to call him Piccolo.

Piccolo rushes to Ginger Town, the location of this murderous new enemy. The bug-like creature claims that he is Piccolo's "brother", and the two engage in battle. Piccolo seems to have the upper hand, but is taken off guard when the creature launches a Kamehameha; as he's dodging the blast the creature latches onto Piccolo's back and stings his arm, draining the life from it and rendering the limb useless and withered. Piccolo head-butts the creature and breaks free but claims that with his injury he has been defeated, luring the creature into explaining his actions. The creature reveals his name as Cell, and that he is a combination of Earth's greatest warriors put together by Dr. Gero. His purpose is to locate Artificial Humans 17 and 18 and take their energy so that he may achieve his "perfect form". Now knowing the creatures origin and intentions Piccolo exposes his ruse, tearing the withered arm free and growing a healthy one in its place, now prepared to resume battle with Cell.

Trunks and Kuririn soon arrive and Cell, now outnumbered, uses the Taiyo-ken and escapes. Tenshinhan and Vegeta soon arrive and Piccolo explains the nature of Cell to them. He and Tenshinhan then search for Cell as the monster travels from town to town absorbing people, but Cell detects their ki and then lowers his own and hides every time they get close. Piccolo begins traveling on a jet plane, piloted by Yamcha, with Tenshinhan, Gohan and Kuririn so that they can keep their ki hidden while searching for the creature. While searching, a recovered Goku teleports onto the plane and explains that he has a plan for himself, Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks to use the Room of Spirit and Time in order to train for a year in span of one Earth day; he then takes Gohan and teleports back to Kami's lookout. Piccolo and the rest keep searching but Piccolo begins to despair, he knows that with each town Cell attacks, his strength grows and the monster will soon be powerful enough to confront and absorb the Artificial Humans.

Piccolo and the rest soon return to Muten-Roshi. In a bizzare twist of luck, good or bad, the Artificial Humans soon arrive, looking for Goku. Piccolo decides to use this opportunity to try and destroy them, thereby preventing them being absorbed by Cell. They head to a deserted island and Piccolo learns that he will only have to fight 17, giving him a chance at victory. He and 17 are equal in strength, and though Piccolo does not have the infinite stamina of his opponent, he does have several tricks up his sleeve and an outstanding resistance. Before they can end their battle, Cell arrives.

With his increase in strength from absorbing thousands of humans Cell is now considerably more powerful than Piccolo. On top of that, Piccolo has expended a considerably amount of his energy battling 17, and is easily swatted aside when he attempts to prevent Cell from absorbing the Artificial Human. Without any other options, Piccolo uses his desperation attack, the Gekiretsukodan and destroys half of the island they are fighting on. Cell avoids taking any damage from the attack though and moves to finish Piccolo off. With one swift punch he downs the namek then picks him up and snaps his neck; to complete the job Cell blasts Piccolo clean through his stomach and tosses him into the ocean. Piccolo still barely lives though and is soon rescued by Goku and taken back to Kami's Lookout.

Piccolo quickly recovers, but with Cell having absorbed 17 and now in his even more powerful "semi-perfect form" he can do nothing but watch. He observed as a powered-up Vegeta first defeated Cell and then allowed him to absorb 18 and attain his "perfect form". He also witnessed Cell's subsequent victory over Trunks and his announcement of the Cell Games, giving the Earth's defenders ten days to prepare.

When Goku and Gohan emerge from the Room of Spirit and Time, Gohan requests for Piccolo to give him a copy of his uniform, which Piccolo happily conjures; he is also startled by how much more powerful Goku became. Piccolo enters the Room of Spirit and Time and, though he becomes significantly stronger, is still nowhere near powerful enough to challenge Cell. After he emerges, Goku asks him if it's possible for him to split back into Kami and Piccolo in order to restore the Dragon Balls, which were nullified when Kami was absorbed by Piccolo. Piccolo states he cannot split again so Goku instead goes to Namek to recruit a new Kami and returns with Dende who takes the position and promptly reactivates the Dragon Balls.

Piccolo accompanies Goku and the others to the Cell Games when the time arrives. He stays on the sidelines for most of the battle but speaks up when Goku, after first battling then yielding to Cell, volunteers Gohan to fight; Piccolo states that no matter how strong Gohan became, there's no way he can fight Cell. He criticizes even further when Goku tosses a senzu to Cell so that the fight is "fair". When Cell manages to grab Gohan in a bear hug and begins crushing him, Piccolo curses Goku for his action, and prepares to enter the battle, even though it likely means his death. Cell soon stops his attack though, deciding to target Gohan's friends instead. He soon spawns seven Cell Juniors, one for each Z-Fighter watching the fight. Piccolo struggles against this miniature terror until Gohan finally snaps and goes Super Saiyan 2, killing all of Cell's spawn before finally taking down Cell himself.

Majin Buu Saga

When Piccolo is informed by a now teenaged Gohan that Goku (who sacrificed his life in the struggle against Cell seven years ago) is coming back to Earth for one day and that they are entering the Tenka-ichi Budokai along with Vegeta, Kuririn and 18 (who has reformed and married Kuririn), he decides to enter himself as well, under the alias of "Ma-junior" once again. While there, Piccolo encounters a small purple alien who disturbs him deeply. When it's Piccolo's turn to fight, he faces the alien as his first opponent and finds that he is extremely reluctant to attack him, causing him to question just who this being is. The alien responds directly to Piccolo's thoughts, telling him that he'll find out soon enough and that for now they should just enjoy the game. Piccolo quickly surrenders the match without raising a fist. When they meet in spectators area, Piccolo asks the alien if he's Dai-Kaio ("Great Lord of Worlds", the ruler of the Kaio, a set of four gods who each watch over quadrant of the galaxy), the alien's companion responds that he's actually East Kaioshin ("Lord of the Lords", a much higher being who looks after a quadrant of the universe). Piccolo, having much of Kami's essence, is awed by Kaioshin's presence and extremely respectful of his place on the divine hierarchy.

During a later fight between Gohan and Kaioshin's intendant Kibit, Gohan's energy is drained by two very oddly powerful humans after he is paralyzed by Kaioshin. Kaioshin then sets off to follow them, stating that any help would be appreciated; Piccolo immediately joins him, followed soon by Kuririn, Goku and Vegeta. As they travel, Kaioshin informs them that the two humans are possessed pawns of a wizard named Babidi and they are collecting energy to revive an immensely powerful force of destruction known as Majin Buu. They are joined by a revived Gohan and Kibit and then hide on a mountain near Babidi's ship and watch as he destroys the two human pawns, their job being done. The group is then, without warning, attacked by Dabra, lord of the demon plane, whom Babidi has possessed as his strongest henchman. Dabra quickly kills Kibito and spits on Kuririn and Piccolo, turning them to stone.

After Dabra is later killed by an awakened Buu, Piccolo returns to flesh in small pieces due to his statue form having been accidentally shattered by Trunks; fortunately his head was not damaged and he was able to completely regenerate. On returning to normal, the first thing Piccolo senses is the awesome power of Buu and in the field in front of them, he sees a badly beaten Kaioshin about to be turned into a snack for the monster. He is torn about what to do, as his instinct is to aid Kaioshin, but he knows that he can do nothing against Buu.

Before Buu can finish Kaiōshin off though, Buu is attacked by Vegeta; he states that he will destroy Buu in vengeance for the monster's killing of Gohan, shocking Piccolo with the news. Piccolo watches their fight and barely escapes, along with Kuririn, Goten (Goku's second son born shortly after the Cell Games) and Trunks after Buu unleashes a massive "Angry Explosion" from himself. When Buu resumes the attack on a badly wounded Vegeta, Piccolo is unable to prevent Trunks and Goten from rushing into the battle themselves. The pair manages to temporarily halt Buu, smashing him through some mountains and then attempt to aid Vegeta. Piccolo, in the meantime, confronts Babidi and chops the wizard in half, fatally injuring him.

Piccolo watches as Vegeta knocks the two kids out. When he descends to Vegeta, Piccolo is asked to take the children far from the battle site and Piccolo realizes that Vegeta plans on sacrificing himself. Vegeta confirms this by asking if he will see Goku in the afterlife and Piccolo states he won't, since Goku spent his life protecting others while Vegeta only thought of himself. Piccolo, carrying the children, then retreats with Kuririn until they witness an enormous blast. Piccolo gives the kids to Kuririn and tells him to tell everyone else what has happened and then goes back to the battle-site to see what has transpired.

When he reaches the site, now a small crater, he finds a still barely alive Babidi. As he moves in to finish him off, Piccolo notices the pieces of Buu moving. They quickly shape themselves into full miniature versions of Buu and begin colliding into each other, reforming the original Buu. He makes a fast retreat, catching up with Kuririn and informing him that they have to go to Kami's lookout in the slight chance that it might offer sanctuary. Goku soon arrives after them and they trade stories, informing Piccolo of Vegeta's willingness to become Babidi's pawn in order to gain power and his subsequent battle with Goku prior to his attacking Buu. Goku also informs Piccolo of the fusion dance he learned in the after-life; since both Gohan and Vegeta are gone there's no one for him to perform it with himself, but he can teach it to Trunks and Goten.

Babidi then contacts all inhabitants of Earth telepathically, stating that he wants the location of Trunks, Goten and Piccolo and will destroy cities until they are found. After the first city is destroyed Piccolo states that he will go to Buu to try and spare some of the destruction, but Goku insists that he doesn't so that Piccolo can help teach the boys the fusion technique. Goku stalls Buu and Babidi's rampage to destroy West City by transforming into a Super Saiyan 3 stalling Buu, while Trunks recovers the Dragon Radar. Once he finds it, Goku cuts short the battle and tells Buu of a challenger with great power. As Goku returns to Kami's Lookout, Buu then kills Babidi. Unfortunately Goku's Super Saiyan 3 transformation cut short his time on Earth and once Goku returns to the after-life, Piccolo takes over their instruction fully, correcting them on the mistakes they make when their fusions fail the first two times. When the fusion works properly, he finds an entirely new challenge in trying to install some discipline and control in the extremely powerful, and equally arrogant, Gotenks.

The first time they fuse properly, Gotenks attacks Buu in his base form and returns to the lookout beaten. After Goten and Trunks fuse while in Super Saiyan state, Gotenks rushes off to battle again, this time with Piccolo following him. Gotenks wastes a large amount of time demonstrating his power, only seeking Buu when there's one minute left in the thirty-minute fusion limit.

While waiting the hour needed for them to recover and fuse again, Piccolo observes the changes in Buu, brought about by his friendship with Mr. Satan (a human who fraudulently took credit for defeating Cell and therefore became regarded as the world's greatest hero). Soon after, he witnessed the fission of Buu into two separate Buu's, the battle between them, and the absorption of the original Buu by the new evil Buu, resulting in even more powerful Super-Buu. The new Buu is able to detect ki and quickly arrives at Kami's Lookout, looking for the strong person who Goku said would fight with him. Piccolo tries to stall by saying that the fighter is sleeping and pleads for more time; when Buu refuses, Piccolo, desperate for time, asks Buu to kill off the rest of humanity first before they fight. Buu agrees and, with one attack, sends out innumerable blasts, one for each person remaining on Earth. When he demands to fight again, Piccolo asks that they have one hour to wake the warrior up and get him prepared, adding that Mr. Satan's child (Videl, who was brought to the lookout) also wants him to wait. Buu reluctantly agrees, but vows to kill everyone afterwards.

Piccolo wastes no time and quickly ushers Goten and Trunks into the Room of Spirit and Time where they can train for fifteen Hyperbolic days in the hour that Buu has allowed them. While waiting, he explains to Videl how Buu knows about her father and his achievement of taming the original Buu. After a bit less than thirty minutes, Buu loses patience and demands to fight their warrior immediately. Piccolo relents and starts leading Buu to the Room of Spirit and Time, taking the long way to maximize the time it will take. He contacts Goten and Trunks telepathically, telling them that he'll be at the room with Buu in one minute, giving them six hours to rest up for the fight. Piccolo also has a secret plan that, if Gotenks isn't capable of stopping Buu, he'll destroy the entrace to the Room of Spirit and Time, locking Buu inside for all of eternity; Goten, Trunks and himself will likely be killed shortly after and could be wished back with the Dragon Balls.

Once Buu is in the room Piccolo watches as Gotenks attacks him in base form with a multitude of goofy moves, doing no damage. Gotenks then turned Super Saiyan and, with a powerful kamikaze ghost attack, blew Buu to bits. Piccolo, knowing what happened last time when Vegeta did relatively the same thing, ordered Gotenks to destroy all the pieces of Buu; it was in vain as the vapors from the burned pieces regathered and formed back into Buu.

Piccolo then asked Gotenks if he had any more special attacks left, which Gotenks denied, stating that all was lost. With seemingly no options left, Piccolo destroyed the entrance, trapping them in the room forever. Buu, so enraged about not having access to any candy ever again in his location let out a mighty scream, ripping the fabric between the dimensions and creating a portal through which he escaped. Piccolo and Gotenks tried several times to recreate Buu's portal but without any success. Eventually, when all seemed lost, Gotenks revealed that he had something up his sleeves and turned Super Saiyan 3. He then quickly blared open a portal which he himself and Piccolo escaped from. On exiting Buu boasted of his devouring all the people on the lookout, causing Gotenks to finally get serious and fight Buu fully. The resulting battle destroyed Kami's lookout, leaving Piccolo despaired until he was asked by Gotenks to assist him in an attack where Buu was battered around like a volleyball.

Piccolo continued to observe the battle until Gotenks, just as he was about to finish Buu off, reverted back to his base form shortly before the fusion itself wore off leaving Goten and Trunks. Seeing no hope left, Piccolo prepared to make his last stand with the two Saiyans. Buu was distracted though, and the appearance of Gohan, now massively more powerful than he had been before was the reason. Gohan attacked Buu and proved to be his superior by far; Buu retaliated by exploding and hiding his ki from the group. While waiting for him to reappear, Gohan filled Piccolo in on his training at the planet of the Kaiōshin's, where he'd been since his first encounter with the original Buu while Piccolo was a statue, and his mystical power up by the workings of an old Kaioshin that predated the current one by fifteen generations.

They then left to find Dende, whom Gohan sensed was still alive. On the way they encountered Mr. Satan and Piccolo picked him up, seeing in him the beginnings of a true hero. They then reunited with Dende, but it was brief as Buu chose this moment to attack them again. Though Gohan stepped up to defeat him for good, Buu instead challenged Goten and Trunks to fight him as Gotenks; which they obliged. It was part of his plan though and once Gotenks appeared he sprung his trap, absorbing him for his power and also Piccolo for his intelligence.

Piccolo remained a part of Buu until he was rescued by Vegeta and Goku, who had returned from the afterlife, fused together, and deliberately got absorbed by Buu in order to rescue their friends from Buu. It was short-lived though, as before he had even regained consciousness, the Earth, along with Piccolo, Gohan, Trunks and Goten was destroyed.

Piccolo was soon revived, along with the Earth and all its inhabitants, by wishes granted by Porunga. He then gave his energy to help form a Genki-Dama being created by Goku to finish off Buu after receiving Vegeta's Earth-wide message, broadcast by North Kaio.

Piccolo's last action in the series was, along with the rest of the major characters, to attend the 28th Tenka-ichi Budokai and witness the emergence of Uub, the good, human reincarnation of Buu.

Garlic Junior Saga

Piccolo makes his first appearance in the Garlic Junior Saga when he saves Gohan, Kuririn and Kuririn's new girlfriend, Maron from Yamcha, Muten-Rôshi, Chichi and Bulma who have had their minds altered by the effects of the Aqua Mist (called Black Water Mist in the FUNimation dub). During thier fight, Garlic Juniors minions, the Four Monarchs (called the Spice Boys in the English dub versions) appear and succeed in capturing Piccolo.
Upon returning to Kami's lookout, Piccolo, now seemingly under the effects of the Aqua Mist, faces off against Kuririn and Gohan. After a while, he revels that he is unaffected, and is in complete control of his mind. He then turns his attention to Garlic Junior and the two engage in batttle. When faced against a transformed Garlic Junior, Piccolo demonstrates an ability similar to that used against Goku in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, increasing the size of his body to compete with Garlic Junior. However he is unable to keep up with Garlic Junior due to Kami Being attacked by phantom guardians and is eventually forced to take the sidelines due to injury.
After the Dead Zone is closed and Garlic Junior is sealed away, it is believed that Piccolo too was trapped inside until he emerges from beneath the rubble.

Dragon Ball GT

In Dragon Ball GT, Piccolo makes a few brief appearances. In the Baby Saga, Piccolo detects the evil presence of Baby after he possess Goten and then shows up briefly after Baby transfers bodies to Gohan. He does not appear again until near the end of the saga when he saves a young boy who was left behind during the evacuation of Earth, as it was about to explode. When Goku returns to teleport both Piccolo and the boy away, Piccolo gives him the energy he needs to do so, but remains behind. The reason for the Earth's destruction was due to the Black-Star Dragon Balls, artifacts made by Kami/Piccolo before they originally split; by Piccolo's sacrifice, the Black-Star Dragon Balls would be turned eternally to stone. His last moments show him, still wounded by Gohan's blast, having a telepathic farewell conversation with Gohan before being consumed by lava.

Later, in the Super Artificial Human 17 Saga, Piccolo, who is now in Heaven, decides to get sent to Hell so that he and Dende can create a gateway between Hell and Earth that allows Goku to make it back and fight Super 17. Piccolo sacrifices being in Heaven, and chooses to spend eternity in Hell, by tricking Enma-daiō and telling him he is the "Great Demon King Piccolo" so that he can accomplish this.

In the last episode, when Goku bids his farewell to all of his friends, Piccolo is seen protecting the oni from several monsters. In the English version, Goku promises Piccolo that someday he will be out of Hell and in Heaven. In the original Japanese dialog, Goku thanks Piccolo for the many times he saved his life the lives of his family by saying "I thank you, Piccolo. I will never forget you, my friend".

Video games

Piccolo has been in many Dragon Ball related video games such as the Super Butoden and the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series of games.

Piccolo Daimo has sometimes appeared as a secret character.

Piccolo has also been a representive in crossover games such as Battle Stadium D.O.N and Jump Super Stars.

In the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Piccolo will have three separate forms representing his Saiyan saga, Freeza saga and Cell saga forms.

Special abilities

Piccolo has used many differnt abilities during the Dragon Ball series, a list the most Notable ones are listed here.

Bakurikimaha (Exploding Powerful Demon Wave)

A very powerful blast shot from one hand, the other arm is used to support the one that is firing the attack. Piccolo uses this technique against Goku in the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai as a finishing move, against Raditz when they first meet, and twice during his battle with Artificial Human-17. Known as the Destructive Wave in english releases.

Bukuu Jutsu (Lighter Than Air Skill)

The ability of flight through Ki manipulation.

Bushitsu Shyutsu Gen Majyutsu

A magical ability to create objects from seemingly thin air. Piccolo uses this several times to create uniforms for himself and Gohan as well as a few other items. It is likely related to the ability that enables Namekians to create Dragon Balls.

Chobakuretsumaha (Hyper Explosive Demon Wave)

An attack where Piccolo creates a large blast which emanates from him in all directions. He used this as one of his final ploys in his fight against Goku at the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai and destroyed the arena in which they were fighting, but it had little effect on his opponent.

Kakusanyudokodan (Expanding Dispersion Of Homing Light Projectiles)

Multiple ki bolts are shot which surround the opponent, they then all simultaneously smash into the target at the users command. Piccolo uses this attack in his battle against Artificial Human-17. Called Guided Scattershot in the US dub and Hellzone Grenade in the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi video games.

Kuchikarakikoha (Energy Wave From The Mouth)

A beam shot from the mouth; considerably more powerful than normal ki bolts. Piccolo uses this attack in the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budōkai as a giant and again as a surprise attack to cripple Goku; he also uses it in the Saiyan Saga to quickly finish off the last of the Saibaimen.

Kousengan (Beam Eye)

A thin laser-like beam is shot from both eyes. Appearing to be weaker than Piccolo-daimao's attack, it is very fast and can nullify small projectiles. Piccolo uses this in the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai to nullify Kuririn's homing attack and again in an attempt to break a grapple with Goku; he also uses while training Gohan as a mild attack to shock the boy.

Kyodaika (Giant Form)

This technique allows Piccolo to grow much larger than his size, increasing his strength greatly. It increases his strength, but also makes him a larger target and puts considerable strain on his body. He only uses this once in the original series while fighting Goku in the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai.

Mafuba (Demon Sealing Wave)

A technique which allows the user to capture magical beings, such as demons, in small containers. Though Piccolo never directly initiates this technique, he knows how to reflect it and has knowledge of its use. It is first demonstrated when Kami (in the guise of "Shen") uses a Shin-mafuba at Piccolo in the finals of the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai, hoping to capture him for all eternity. Piccolo reflects it and instead captures Kami, subsequently swallowing the bottle he was in to prevent Kami's release. It can be assumed that, if he didn't know how to do it previously, he learned after he merged with Kami.

Makankosappo (Demonic Penetrating-Light Death-Cannon)

One of Piccolo's most powerful, but time-consuming, attacks, it drills through nearly everything. This move finished off Raditz and Goku with a single beam. Known as the Special Beam Cannon in english releases.

Masenko (Devil Blast)

A quick blast fired with one open hand directly in front of the other. Piccolo likely taught this to Gohan prior to the saiyan's invasion and used it himself, with no result, against Freeza shortly after the murder of Dende. He also used it several times against Artificial Human 17.

Nobiru-ude (Extending Arm)

Piccolo extends his arms to tremendous lengths to attack or grab an opponent. Nobiru means "to extend" and ude means "arm". In English, this move is often called Mystic Attack.

Saisei (Regrowth)

A Namekian trait that allows Piccolo to replace limbs lost in battle. In the Buu Saga, Piccolo demonstrates that he can regenerate from any wound so long as his head is intact. It severely drains him to do this, though.

Shogekiha (Shock Wave)

An invisible ki blast of a sudden wind attack that can be launched theoretically from any part of the body. It's generally not as powerful as other attacks.

Terepashi (Telepathy)

This is the ability to channel one's thoughts to another being. Piccolo first used this technique at the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai to read Shen's thoughts only to find out eventually that he was actually Kami in disguise.

Namekian Fusion (Assimilation)

Beings from the Planet Namek are able to absorb each other completely into their being. One Namekian serves as the base body, while the other donates his life energy, strength, memories and intelligence to the base. Piccolo does this with Nail in the Freeza Saga, and again with Kami in the Artificial Human Saga.

Zanzoken (Shadow Fist)

A technique that when used an image of the user is left behind because they are so fast. This is mostly used as a decoy tactic. Known as the After-Image Technique in english releases.

External links

• Capsule Corporation Headquarters
• Guide to Piccolo's Fusions at Daizex