Piccolo Daimao
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia
Piccolo Daimao (ピッコロ だいまおう, Pikkoro Daimaō; FUNimation "King Piccolo", Viz "Great Demon King Piccolo"; Literally meaning "Piccolo Great Demon King") is a Namekian who once precipitated Earth into utter chaos and pandemonium,[2] spawning an army of Mutant Namekians and converting a peaceful planet into a living hell.[2] Later, it is revealed that he is the evil counterpart of Kami. The two were once a single entity.
Piccolo Daimao's name is based on the instrument of the same name – hence, all of his sons share the names of various musical instruments. While he is named after a flute, the others are named after percussion instruments.
Contents
Appearance
When Piccolo Daimao is introduced in "The Conspiracy of Kuririn's Death Comes Fearfully", he appears as a strange-looking divine creature, like a Goblin, who has pointy ears and fangs. Later in the series, when other normal Namekians are introduced, it is revealed that this is their typical appearance. At over eight feet tall, he is by far one of the tallest and largest of the villains in the original Dragon Ball series, towering over all his opponents including Mutaito, Turtle Hermit, Tien, and Goku. Piccolo Daimao's size and height are never explored upon as no other Namekian (including Kami) is shown in their normal state to be Piccolo Daimao's size and height being that most are shown to be the size of normal Humans. Nail, their last remaining warrior, is the height of Piccolo's last son, who is slightly shorter, though it is never determined if he is actually taller than Kami in his advanced age. One explanation for this could be that ancient Namekians were much larger and less sleek as shown from the Great Elder of Namek and his humongous size. He is also the tallest player in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, the others being Broly (in his Legendary Super Saiyan form), Butta, and Super No. 17.
When he first fully appears, he is very old, does not fight much (though he is still capable of defeating Goku and even taking a Kamehameha unharmed, making him the strongest being on Planet Earth during that time), and wears a robe outfit similar to Kami's except black with a red cape and his own kanji (symbol) on the chest along with brown light-weight footwear. His main outfit without the robe and cape is an indigo Asian martial arts uniform with a light purple obi. Piccolo Daimao's outfit is later retconned during the Namek Saga as being of Namekian origin rather than actually having much to do with martial arts, though his kanji is something he adds when he comes into being and is meant to be the opposite to Kami's kanji.
The audience is later introduced to Kami, of whom is Piccolo Daimao's good counterpart, and the two share an almost identical resemblance. Kami's outfit is more or less a palette swap of Piccolo Daimao's robe outfit before he fights against Goku for the first time before removing the robe for better performance when Goku forces him to the ground prior to taking it off. He nearly kills Goku with simple blasts soon afterward and even temporarily stops his heart, which may imply that like his son Piccolo's cape, it may be weighted. It is never expounded upon as to how a mere robe could hinder the demon king. Kami never removes his robe for combat, but in a flashback of Dragon Ball Z he is shown wearing the same outfit with his own kanji on under it.
Personality
Being the concentrated evil that lived within the Nameless Namekian, Piccolo Daimao's personality is the exact opposite of his good counterpart, Kami; He is presented as a cold, ruthless, sadistic, and power-hungry villain with little to no sense of compassion whatsoever. He has demonstrated on many occasions that he is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, regardless of how many innocent lives need to be taken in the process. Piccolo has also been shown to have a very warped and twisted sense of humor, often breaking out into a maniacal laughter after causing some form of death and destruction and creating a holiday where he would destroy a city every year on the anniversary of his takeover. Piccolo has shown no remorse whatsoever in taking the lives of innocent people, as he happens to take great pleasure and delight in doing so, making him one of the most sadistic, psychotic villains in the series.
Along with being extremely evil, Piccolo is also very arrogant, believing himself to be the most powerful being in the universe. Up until he was defeated by Goku, he was a hundred percent convinced that there was no one out there who could exceed his power. For all his many displays of arrogance however, he was completely terrified of the Evil Containment Wave, presumably due to suffering its effects before, and completely freezes in horror the very moment it is performed. As a result, he made it his sole mission to eliminate all martial artists that either knew how to use it, or so that they couldn't learn it.
Piccolo Daimao, like most other villains, happens to be very intellligent, being able to think ahead and learn from his previous mistakes. This was shown when he destroyed Shenron after making his wish (so that no one would be able to use the Dragon Balls to stop his reign), as well as when his son decided to injure both of Goku's arms at the World Martial Arts Tournament (as opposed to before, when he ended up leaving one of them unharmed). Piccolo Daimao also happens to be somewhat manipulative, since he was able to use Pilaf and his associates, Mai and Shu, to gather the Dragon Balls for him. Due to the fact that he saw them as nothing more than pawns to be manipulated, he decided to dispose of them when he figured that he no longer had a use for them. Despite being pure evil, Piccolo Daimao shows mercy on a few occasions; The first time is when he leaves Mutaito to die but spares Mutaito's students Master Roshi and Master Shen; The second time is when he does not kill Yajirobe, who hid from him during his fight with Goku (Piccolo Daimao can sense power levels, as he states Master Roshi, Chiaotzu, and Tien are hiding from him); Later, after regaining his youth and becomming agurably more maniacal than before, he also spares the lives of Emperor Pilaf, Mai, and Shu, and later the life of King Furry (though he kills almost all of King Furry's guards). Also, during the worldwide announcement of his takeover, Piccolo stated that he deeply sympathizes with the criminals. According to himself, he sympathizes with them, because he viewed their imprisonment as being no different from his own, having been sealed within the electronic jar for many years.
Biography
Pre-Dragon Ball
Main article: Piccolo Daimao conflict
Piccolo Daimao came into being some 300 years before the beginning of Dragon Ball sometime after a nameless Namek on Earth attempted to assume the position of guardian of Earth, he was denied the position due to the evil that occulted within (a guardian's motives must be pure, but the nameless Namek also wanted the job for the power it brought). As a result, the Namekian concentrated and trained to relinquish the evil within; which conspired into producing two separate entities — if one should perish, the other would also. This resulted in two beings — the concentrated evil being known as Piccolo Daimao, and the pure being known as Kami. At first, the name "Piccolo" was a reference to the wind instrument, but then a revelation by Mister Popo to Bulma meant it translated to "different world" in Namekian.[3]
Piccolo created several offspring and watched as they terrorized and killed helpless citizens and destroyed the cities they lived in, but stepped in himself later on after his sons were killed by Mutaito's pupils, including a young Master Roshi and a young Master Shen who were the only two who survived. Master Roshi and Master Shen could not as much as lay a finger on Piccolo, and Mutaito soon steps in, but is himself outclassed and left to die by Piccolo.
Despite Piccolo's devastating attacks, Mutaito lived. After being nursed back to health by his two remaining pupils, but before he could heal his wounds, Mutaito left, in shame because he lost in front of his two students. While Master Roshi never lost faith in his master, Master Shen did, and the two parted ways, with Master Roshi escaping to the mountains while Piccolo continued to kill human after human and destroy city after city.
Several years later Mutaito, carrying an electric rice cooker in a bag, reunites with Master Roshi in the cave Master Roshi was training in (balancing on a stick while meditating) and the two track Piccolo down for the final confrontation, which by this time most of Earth's population had been slaughtered. They find Piccolo in the ruins of a city, which is hauntingly quiet, and Mutaito wastes no time launching his attack on him, this special technique is revealed to be the suicidal Evil Containment Wave technique. Piccolo is trapped in the electric rice cooker and Mutaito dies, and sometime afterward Master Roshi personally tosses the rice cooker into the deepest depths of the ocean.
Afterwards things slowly return to normal, with the cities being rebuilt and the Earth being repopulated, and over time people eventually forget Piccolo Daimao ever existed, with the exception of Master Roshi, Master Shen and of course Kami. Some, such as Tien and Yajirobe, heard the tale, but dismissed it as a mere bedtime story.
Dragon Ball
King Piccolo Saga
Decades to a few centuries later, he is released from his confinement by Pilaf, and King Piccolo decides to have all the current and former finalists of the World Martial Arts Tournament murdered, thereby removing all those who might be able to learn the Evil Containment Wave. To aid him in this, he spits out two eggs containing his first two sons shown on screen, Piano and Tambourine.
Tambourine quickly goes about the task, his first victim being Krillin, and he also dispatches Goku shortly after by blasting his Nimbus Cloud apart and throwing him down to the ground, though he survives. Piccolo Daimao then spits out an egg containing a third son, Cymbal, who he assigns the task of gathering the Dragon Balls. Piccolo Daimao seeks the Dragon Balls so that he can wish to regain his youth and full power.
When Piccolo Daimao senses that Cymbal has been killed, he orders Tambourine to hunt down the assassin. Guided by Emperor Pilaf's Dragon Radar, Tambourine arrives at Cymbal's last known location to discover Yajirobe and Goku, and in a vengeful rage for Kuririn's death, Goku kills Tambourine. Again sensing that another of his sons has died, Piccolo Daimao decides to deal with the fighter responsible personally. Upon arriving, Piccolo Daimao confronts Goku, and despite his age he easily defeats the boy (though Piccolo Daimao was forced to admit that Goku was an exceptional fighter for forcing him down to the ground once). Goku is left severely beaten and near death. Master Roshi then challenges Piccolo Daimao (using the remaining five Dragon Balls as a lure), attempting to trap him using the Evil Containment Wave. Muten Roshi is able to catch the demon king in the wave, but when he attempts to hurl him into a container, he misses at the last second. The attempt leaves Master Roshi completely drained, and he dies shortly after swearing to Piccolo Daimao that his plans will never come to fruition.
Piccolo Daimao is then able to gather the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron. Chiaotzu attempts to make a wish himself to prevent Piccolo Daimao from doing so, but is killed before he can finish, allowing Piccolo Daimao to wish for eternal youth, becoming much more powerful than before since he was returned to his physical prime. However, before Shenron can disperse, Piccolo Daimao kills him with a single blast to prevent anyone else from using the Dragon Balls against him.
With no one left who can properly challenge him, Piccolo Daimao decides to savor his victory, rather than all out destroy civilization like he did the first time, and instead overthrows King Furry to become the ruler of the Earth. As part of entertaining himself, he institutes several evil policies such as releasing all criminals and a more planned system of destruction.
He is then confronted by Tien, who has now learned the Evil Containment Wave Technique but cannot perform it as the electric rice-cooker which would have been used to seal Piccolo Daimao is broken (in the anime, Tien successfully performs the wave, but Drum is caught in it instead, and the rice cooker is destroyed before Tien could trap him). Piccolo Daimao decides not to get his hands dirty, and instead spits out an egg containing Drum, his most powerful son yet. The battle between Tien and this new son, Drum, is of course in the Namekian's favor, and Piccolo Daimao orders Drum to finish Tien off, but a much stronger Goku arrives just in time and quickly kills Drum with a kick so hard that it knocks his eyeballs out.
Piccolo Daimao and Goku face off again with Goku blocking every attack Piccolo Daimao tried, and Goku manages to punch Piccolo Daimao into Piano with his crushing weight and Goku's strength, killing his son.
A fierce battle ensues, with Piccolo briefly gaining the upper-hand a couple times when he manages to knock off Goku's Power Pole (after which he is able to fire a weakened version of the Explosive Demon Wave), only for Goku to survive. After being unable to destroy him, Piccolo Daimao resorts to a cowardly effort; he uses Tien as a human shield, threatening to crush his skull if Goku moves a muscle. Upon discovering that Piccolo Daimao has killed Shenron and the Dragon Balls no longer exist, Goku resigns himself to do whatever Piccolo Daimao wants despite Tien's pleas. Piccolo Daimao then throws rocks at Goku with great force, costing the young hero the use of his legs and left arm. Satisfied, Piccolo Daimao throws Tien aside and prepares to finish Goku off.
Realizing that he still had use of his right arm, Goku eventually blasts a Kamehameha from his right hand, propelling himself toward his enemy in the sky, punching a hole clean through Piccolo Daimao's chest, mortally wounding him. Though shocked that he has been defeated, Piccolo Daimao decides that Goku has only won for now and his legacy will continue; when Goku isn't looking, he uses the last of his energy to spit an egg containing his final offspring. After imploring his son to avenge his death and destroy Goku, Piccolo Daimao finally succumbs to his wounds and explodes.
Post-King Piccolo Saga
Over the next three years, Piccolo Jr. would go on to challenge Goku at the next tournament for a rematch. After this, Piccolo Daimao is seen again a few times in the Piccolo Junior Saga in Goku's flashbacks before fighting Piccolo Jr. and later appears in the Namek Saga in a flashback when Guru probes Krillin's mind and in Piccolo Jr.'s flashback in the Freeza Saga.
Beyond his anime appearances following his death, Piccolo Daimao briefly appears in Bardock: The Father of Goku when Bardock has visions of Goku's life on Earth.
Also, for a short time Piccolo Jr. reverts back to a more mindless version of Piccolo Daimao's personality when brought under Dr. Wheelo's control in The World's Strongest.
It's presumed that Piccolo Daimao did not know he was a Namekian, since the Nameless Namek lost his memories during childhood, though he was shown to know the language, and some of his powers and techniques are of Namekian origin, even replicating Guru's throne.
In the English dub of the anime, when questioning how Goku could withstand his power, he remarks that he had fought all over the universe and never met anyone who could match his strength. This may have been a vague way of implying Piccolo Daimao had used the ship in which Kami had originally come to Earth to seek stronger opponents in space sometime before being sealed away, though the original Japanese versions makes no mention of this, as the ship and Kami's origins had not been revealed during this time. Later, when the ship was finally revealed, it did not appear to have been used since it had landed on Earth with the Nameless Namek on board.
While Piccolo Daimao did not appear later (other than as his reincarnate), Piccolo did recieve one mention in the Movie Bojack Unbound, where Goku compared the evil alien known as Bojack to Piccolo Daimao in terms of motivations.
Film
Piccolo Daimao is known as Lord Piccolo in Dragonball: Evolution and is portrayed by James Marsters.
Video games
Piccolo Daimao has appeared as playable character in:
- Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
- Super Dragon Ball Z (Manga appearance)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Japanese/European Wii versions)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
- Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
He is also an alternate costume for Piccolo in:
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (America's "Greatest Hits" Edition, European Collector's Edition, and Japanese version)
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
Battle power
At his introduction, Piccolo Daimao was quite possibly the strongest being on Planet Earth at that time aside from Kami and Popo. Even in his old age, he proved to be strong enough to defeat Goku with minimal effort, not to mention surviving a battle with Turtle Hermit and managing to kill Chaozu with a single blast. He boasted that he was "somewhere between invincible and immortal" after using Shen Long to become young again. Years later, Nuova Shen Long would label Piccolo Daimao as Goku's "first true rival". It was stated in Dragon Ball: Daizenshū 7 that the battle powers of Piccolo Daimao and Goku were 260 when they fought against each other at King Castle.
Techniques
- Ki Blast
- Finger Beam – Basic energy attack fired from the index finger.
- Explosive Demon Wave – A very powerful blast shot from one hand while the other hand is used to support the arm that is firing the blast. Piccolo Daimao can turn an entire city into dust using this move. This technique is called the Destructive Wave in English translations of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z video games (except for Super Dragon Ball Z, which uses Bakurikimaha, but misspells it as Bukiri Maha).
- Levitation – Literally meaning "lighter than air skill", the user forces their ki upon the ground in order to levitate and take to the skies.
- Magic Materialism – A magical ability used to create objects from seemingly thin air. Piccolo Daimao was never actually seen using this technique, but it is assumed he knew it since he was seen with the same skeletal-like throne of his twice (the first was in Emperor Pilaf's hover ship and apparently, the same throne appeared in the king's castle). Also, Kami, his counterpart of purity and good twin brother, were apparently capable of this technique as well, all the more evidence to believe that he would be capable of doing the same, which is especially likely given his son's ability to create capes and clothes for Gohan and himself at various points in the series, though one could argue that it may take some degree of power to do so, as Piccolo decides to reuse the weighted cape that he removed prior to fighting Raditz than make another. His skeletal throne was alike to that of Guru's from Planet Namek.
- Telekinesis – This technique involves controlling and manipulating people or objects with the mind. Piccolo Daimao performed this just by lifting a finger, as it was first seen when he magically lifted the five Dragon Balls that Master Roshi had hid under the ground.
- Eye Lasers – A precise (red-colored) laser eye beam is shot from both eyes. This attack was first used by Piccolo Daimao to kill a guard posted at the gates leading to King Furry's Castle. He later used it during his battle with Goku in order to incapacitate one of Goku's legs. He uses this ability in the video games Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and its sequel Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, however, it is called Soumasen (his humanoid gargoyle-like Namekian son, Tambourine also uses this move in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai video game series and it too is called Soumasen).
- Mouth Energy Wave – A beam shot from the mouth; considerably more powerful than normal ki bolts. Piccolo Daimao used this attack to destroy Shen Long after having his wish for eternal youth made. This move is usually spelled as Kochi Kara Kikou Ha.
- Masenko – Piccolo Daimao fires powerful ki beams from each hand, one after the other. He first uses it at the end of his first fight with Goku, causing the young boy's heart to stop momentarily. The first blast is intentionally meant to be a distraction; forcing the opponent to evade it, while the second more powerful blast actually hits the target dead on. Goku falls for this trick a second time but is unharmed by the second blast that hits him.
- Tamago wo Umu – Tamago wo Umu (卵 を 生む, Tamago wo Umu) is the ability to spit out an egg from his mouth. Piccolo Daimao can give the son part or all of his powers and memories. It is related to Namekian asexual reproduction, where the Namekian spits out a new egg from the mouth (his is most likely a corrupt version of it, his son are likely Namekians, which is especially supported by the fact that Piccolo deemed it only fitting that the son gathering the Dragon Balls for him would resemble a dragon, after which he spawns him in his akin appearance). As shown when he gave birth to Cymbal, creating eggs in both ages it takes much of his energy (so much that when aged, Piano feared for the Piccolo Daimao's ebbing life-span, saying that he might die prior to gathering the Dragon Balls for regaining his youth if the process continued). When Piccolo Daimao had eternal youth, he no longer had to rechant this phrase, hence, he was able to quickly spit out an egg from his mouth which would immediately hatch into Drum. He also used this technique to give birth to Piccolo.
- Shōgekiha – The Shōgekiha (衝撃波, Shōgekiha) is a Ki Blast of a sudden wind attack that can be launched theoretically from any part of the body. It is generally not as powerful as other attacks.
- Telepathy – This is the ability to channel one's thoughts to another being. Piccolo Daimao used this technique to immediately contact Tambourine to avenge Cymbal's death.
- Mystic Attack – Although he never displays the ability to expand his arms in the anime or manga, he is capable of doing so in most video games he has appeared in. His last son also displays this ability frequently as well as a few other Namekians.
- Kyodaika (possibly) – The Namekian ability to increase size. Piccolo Daimao increases his size after becoming enraged when Goku knees him in the face with a boost from his Power Pole after losing the use of his right leg. During this, Piccolo Daimao's strength and power increased, but he was unable to destroy Goku with his destructive wave. It's never stated if this was the same technique, or even a technique at all.
Voice actors
- Japanese dub: Takeshi Aono
- Ocean Group dub: Scott McNeil
- FUNimation dub: Christopher R. Sabat
- Latin America dub: Carlos Segundo
- German dub: Jürg Löw
- Italian dub: Mario Zucca
- Portuguese dub: Ricardo Spínola
Trivia
- Early in the anime, Piccolo Daimao's blood is portrayed as red. Later, when the Namekians are recognized as a true race within the series and not a simple Demon Clan as initially suspected, their blood is portrayed as purple even though Drum's blood was seen as purple before the Vegeta Saga, the beginning of which still portrayed their blood as red.
- In the final battle between Goku and the rejuvenated Piccolo Daimao, Goku shows complete dominance over Piccolo, yet their battle powers were both 260.
- In Supersonic Warriors, both Kami and Piccolo Daimao (after being beaten in a fight) fuse with Piccolo. This fusion is enough for Piccolo to equal and surpass the power of Super Boo.
- In the series, Kami and Piccolo do not know that they are aliens until meeting Vegeta and Nappa. Strangely, Piccolo Daimao is shown to know he is a Namekian in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. If the player pairs him against Slug or Nail, he will say, "I won't let anybody stand in my way, even if they're a Namekian!". This is a slight error because if Piccolo Daimao knew his heritage, Piccolo would also have known because they share the same memories. The same goes for Kami as well due to the fact that they are two halves of the same being.
- During a pre-battle conversation in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Piccolo Daimao desires to merge with his son, Piccolo, however, Piccolo is disgusted at the mere thought of such a union.
- Piccolo Daimao and Piccolo (as well as his brothers) were believed to be of Demon origins before the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta. Technically, Piccolo Daimao can still be considered a Demon since he is the Nameless Namekian's evil essence.
- Despite not being referred to as Piccolo Daimao in the English dub, an attack increase item in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 is called Daimao's Power and can only be used by Piccolo.
- Despite being a Namekian, who are stated to only need water for nourishment, Piccolo Daimao is shown to eat food when a feast is prepared for him.
References
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 12, Chapter 135, Pages 42-43 — ISBN 1-59116-155-X
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 5, Chapter 50, Page 61 — ISBN 1-56931-934-0
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