Piccolo (Dragon Ball)

Piccolo
Dragon Ball character
File:Piccolo (Dragon Ball) photo.jpg Piccolo by Akira Toriyama
First appearance	Dragon Ball chapter #161 Dragon Ball episode 122
Created by	Akira Toriyama
In-universe information
Alias	Piccolo Jr. Piccolo Daimao Junior Big Green (UK Dub) Ma-junior "The Namek" Satanàs Cor Petit "Uncle Strangehead" (Malaysian dub)
Species	Namekian
Gender	None
Relatives	Katattsu (grandfather) Piccolo Daimao (parent / incarnate) Kami (good counterpart, later assimilated) Nail (assimilated) Cell (modified clone)

Piccolo (ピッコロ, Pikkoro, or Piccolo Jr.) is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball manga, authored by Akira Toriyama. Piccolo was first introduced as the reincarnation of the evil Piccolo Daimao, making him a demon and archrival of the primary protagonist named Son Goku. However, it is later revealed that he is from the race of alien beings called Namekians. Even though Piccolo is consistently referred to as male, being of Namekian heritage makes him genderless. 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 first child Son Gohan, forming a powerful bond which ultimately redeems him when he sacrifices himself to save the boy's life. After his resurrection he fully joins Goku and the others in their struggles against ever more powerful villains, although he sometimes makes up the excuse of doing so only because he wants to take over the world someday, in contrast to his genuine reform.

Piccolo's name is originally derived from the musical instrument, as all of the great Demon King Piccolo Daimao's henchmen (who are his other children) had the names of various instruments. Around the start of the Freeza Saga, it's revealed that his name means "another world" in Namekian.

The character will be portrayed by actor James Marsters in the upcoming 2009 live-action film, Dragonball.

Character outline

Heritage

Piccolo's original incarnation was introduced as Piccolo Daimao (Piccolo The Great Demon King), known as King Piccolo in the English dub, the evil counterpart of Earth's guardian, Kami. Right before his original body was destroyed by Goku, King Piccolo reincarnated himself into the form of an egg, which then hatched into his reincarnation, Piccolo Jr.

Appearance

When King Piccolo was introduced, he was designed to appear as a strange-looking divine creature, who had pointy ears and fangs. The audience is later introduced to Kami, of whom is Piccolo Daimao's good counterpart, and the two share an almost identical resemblance. Like Kami, King Piccolo wore a kanji on the front of his gi, symbolizing the kanji that represented himself. When Piccolo Jr. is introduced, Toriyama designed him to appear roughly the same as King Piccolo, but with a more solid facial structure. He also made the character discard the kanji. Even though Piccolo Jr. discards the kanji, he uses it once in the series when he made his pupil Gohan a uniform.

Piccolo is one of the few major characters in the series whose appearance does not drastically change as the series continues. Being from another planet called Namek, Piccolo appears as a typical Namekian: green-skinned, tall, and hairless. The only major difference between his original appearance in the manga and his appearance in the anime is that in the manga he has four fingers on each hand while in the anime he has five fingers. Piccolo is known for his white turban and long white cape. He wears a purple Asian martial arts uniform (dogi) underneath his cape, with a red obi (changed to blue in the anime TV series and first five movies), and brown light-weight footwear. In a single filler episode in the anime, Piccolo is seen wearing an old outfit of Goku's when both of them are forced to go to driving school by Goku's wife, Chi Chi.

Character history

Many years prior to Dragon Ball, Piccolo and Kami were a single entity (though the original name had been long forgotten), who had escaped to Earth from Namek following a violent planetary storm. The Namekian longed to become Earth's guardian, and vouched for the throne of Kami. The Kami at the time had seen a dark evil in the Namek's heart, and made him split himself into two entities. The good counterpart was allowed to become Kami, and the evil counterpart named Piccolo wreaked havoc upon the Earth. However, following many years of havoc, Piccolo was sealed inside an electric rice cooker with a technique called the Evil Containment Wave.

Piccolo emerged several hundred years later during Dragon Ball, only to be killed by Goku. Before his death, Piccolo reincarnated himself in the form of a son named Piccolo Jr., whom he intended to have continue his mission of world domination, and avenge his death against Goku. Three years later, Piccolo Jr. entered the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament under the alias "Ma Junior" (Demon Jr). Piccolo fought Goku in hopes of avenging his father and ruling the world, but was defeated in the final round.

Five years later, Piccolo was confronted by an alien named Raditz whose power greatly surpassed that of even Goku's. Realizing the evil Saiyan would thwart his plans for world domination, Piccolo teamed up with Goku in an attempt to stop Raditz from destroying the Earth, and so that Goku could retrieve his kidnapped son. When the two arch rivals teamed up, Piccolo was able to defeat Raditz, and conveniently eliminate Goku at the same time with a new technique that he originally intended to kill Goku with, the Makankosappo. During the battle, Gohan had revealed an amazing hidden power, and Piccolo knew that it would be useful against the two other Saiyans that would be arriving a year later. It is also later revealed by Kami that Piccolo sensed his upcoming death against the approaching Saiyans, and that his attempt to train Gohan would've resulted in him gaining a successor.

Piccolo's role in the series drastically changes as the years progress, becoming a good character when he is revealed to have become fond of Gohan as a friend, also inadvertently becoming a second father-figure in Goku's absence. When the Saiyans arrive a year later, Piccolo's fondness toward Gohan results in him sacrificing himself for the boy, which also results in the death of Kami and the Dragon Balls. After Goku returns and defeats the Saiyans with the help of Gohan and Krillin, Gohan and others travel to Piccolo's home world Planet Namek to revive those who died against the Saiyans with the Namekian Dragon Balls. Piccolo is resurrected on Planet Namek to help Goku and others defeat the evil Frieza. Upon his arrival, Piccolo physically assimilates with another Namekian named Nail, and gains a massive amount of power. In spite of his massive power increase, Piccolo is defeated and severely injured by Frieza, leaving Goku to defeat him alone. Piccolo is restored to health, and waits a year until Goku arrives back on Earth. He then trains with Goku and Gohan for three years to prepare for a battle against two powerful androids.

After being defeated by Android #17 and Android #18, Piccolo seeks to unite with Kami, and gain another massive increase in power. After uniting with Kami, Piccolo becomes aware of a more dangerous threat named Cell, even more powerful then the androids who had defeated him and the others earlier. Before his second encounter with Cell, Piccolo once again battles the androids, except this time he battles #17 one on one. After a somewhat even match Cell arrives on the battle scene and needing to absorb the androids to complete his power, Cell attacks and Piccolo attempts to thwart his plans to gain power. Piccolo's efforts are in vain when he is nearly killed by Cell, and he is forced to participate in a Martial Arts Tournament created by Cell simply called the Cell Games, in which he fights one of the seven Cell Juniors that are created by Cell, who are later destroyed by Gohan. During this time, Gohan surpasses Goku and defeats Cell, saving the Earth from total destruction.

Seven years later, Piccolo acts as a trainer to Son Goten, Goku's second son and Trunks, Vegeta's son, and their fused form Gotenks. Piccolo trains the boys in fighting the evil creature Majin Buu and he later gives his energy to Goku's Super Spirit Bomb, which Goku uses to defeat Buu once and for all.

In Dragon Ball GT he is severely injured by Gohan while he was possessed by Baby and later dies with Earth in order to destroy the Black Star Dragon Balls. He goes to Heaven but then requests he is sent to Hell in order to free Goku when he is imprisoned there. He can be seen putting Hell in order and protecting the rulers there. In the final episode, Goku stops in Hell to see Piccolo. He tells Piccolo that he will be leaving and that they are glad they met and teamed up. He also says that he has become a good friend and he will get out of Hell someday. They shake hands and Goku leaves while Piccolo stays behind.

Abilities

Piccolo has shown many abilities throughout Dragon Ball. Being a Namekian, Piccolo can regenerate lost limbs of his body, as long as his head is still intact. Piccolo also has the ability to conjure various objects, such as clothing.

Like many other characters in Dragon Ball, Piccolo has the ability of flight. He also possesses an attack called the Bakurikimaha ("Destructive Wave" in the English dub), which is fired with one hand being supported by the other. One of Piccolo's most powerful attacks is the Makankosappo, ("Special Beam Cannon" in the English dub) an attack that is expelled from Piccolo's index and middle fingers. Unlike most energy-based attacks in Dragon Ball, the potent Makankosappo pierces its targets like a drill rather than enveloping them or exploding on contact. Piccolo's ultimate attack in the video games he has appeared in is called "Hellzone Grenade", which involves firing off many orbs of energy that float around the opponent. Piccolo then squeezes his hand to make all the orbs converge onto the opponent, exploding on contact. Piccolo also possesses the ability of "Scatter Shot" in which he fires many different chi blasts shot from one hand at the same time. Piccolo is also seen possessing an attack called the Masenko or Demon Wave, which Piccolo teaches to his pupil Gohan. Another move Piccolo is seen to have is the Gekiretsu Kodan, ("Light Grenade" in the English dub) which is conjured by putting his hands on his chest, gathering energy and then releasing it outwards. Piccolo also displays the ability to fire energy rays from his eyes, which he uses against Goku in the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament and again when he trains Gohan in the Saiyan Saga. This is one of his less frequent techniques.

Piccolo can also perform the "Namekian Fusion" which he first does with Nail on the distant Planet Namek to confront Freeza, and then with Kami at the Lookout to stop Cell.

In other media

Video games

File:PiccoloSuperDragonBallZ.jpg

Piccolo as he appears in Super Dragon Ball Z.

Piccolo has been in many Dragon Ball-related video games such as the Super Butoden and the Budokai series of games, and is a playable character in crossover games such as Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars. In most Dragon Ball video games, Piccolo has no transformations. However in the Budokai and Tenkaichi series Piccolo has multiple forms.

Film

Piccolo will appear in the upcoming Dragonball film adaptation, portrayed by American actor James Marsters. In a TV Guide interview, Marsters confirms some changes made to the character, including the fact that he will be an amalgamation of Piccolo and King Piccolo. "He's thousands of years old and a very long time ago he used to be a force of good but got into a bad argument and was put into prison for 2,000 years. It got him very angry, and he finds a way to escape and then tries to destroy the world. The cool thing is, anybody who has seen Dragonball knows that Lord Piccolo transforms into a character named Piccolo, and that is a whole other ball of wax. That is one of the most popular characters in the whole series. I've been told I'm working for people who will just flay me alive if I give too much information, but what I can tell you is the character is green, bald and has pointed ears. Heroic wouldn't be the wrong term by the end, but it's a long journey."

Bibliography

• Dragon Ball manga, Volume 16 — ISBN 1-59116-457-5
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 1 — ISBN 1-56931-930-8
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 2 — ISBN 1-56931-931-6
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 3 — ISBN 1-56931-932-4
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 6 — ISBN 1-56931-935-9
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 9 — ISBN 1-56931-938-3
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 10 — ISBN 1-56931-939-1
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 11 — ISBN 1-56931-807-7
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 14 — ISBN 978-1-59116-180-6
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 15 — ISBN 978-1-59116-186-8
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 16 — ISBN 978-1-59116-328-2

External links

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