Polunga

From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia

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Polunga (ポルンガ, Porunga; FUNimation "Porunga", Viz "Porunga") is a magical Namekian Eternal Dragon from the Dragon Ball Z anime and manga. His name in the Namekian language translates to "Dragon of Dreams" or "Dragon of Law".

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[edit] Description

Porunga is the Eternal Dragon of Namek summoned when all the Dragon Balls of Namek are gathered. Compared to the Earth Dragon Balls, the Namek Dragon Balls are quite large, being more towards the size of a basketball rather than the size of a small grapefruit. Also, since a year on Namek is only 130 days (as opposed to a year more than twice as long as that on Earth), the Namekian Dragon Balls can be gathered more often than the ones on Earth, and thus, Porunga can be called on more often than Shenlong.

As far as physical characteristics go, Porunga is much more brutal-looking than the dragon of Earth, Shenlong, with a heavily muscled upper body. Instead of looking snake-like in appearance, like Shenlong does, Porunga appears to be more alligator-like. He also has a large fin down the center of his back, and large spikes on his shoulders and head, as well as two antennae on his forehead.

Like Shenlong, Porunga is good and kind-hearted, but being that he is a dragon, he has a temper and sometimes comes off as impatient. However, he has demonstrated a greater eagerness to grant wishes (he was even shown to be happy for everyone after Tien and Chiaotzu were brought back to life after the battle against Frieza), and also is more friendly and patient than Shenlong, who tends to be grumpy and even more impatient when a summoner takes an inordinate/excessive amount of time to make a wish. He has also shown to be able to show embarassment when Lena says he's "kinda cute".

[edit] Grantable wishes

Porunga preparing to grant a wish.

Besides being more friendly than Shenlong and being able to be summoned more often, Porunga is also stronger than Shenlong in that he can grant three wishes instead of one or two (technically, in the Buu Saga, Shenlong was capable of giving three wishes, but the attempt at reviving a mass amount of people that were killed by Majin Vegeta drained his energy to the extent that he was only capable of granting one more wish.).

Though he does not actually appear or get mentioned by name, it is stated that Lord Slug and other Namekians were exiled with the help of the Dragon Balls. It is not actually originally explained what they did, but the FUNimation dub seems to indicate it was for misusing their powers.

Initially, Porunga had ability to bring only one person back to life at a time (though he could bring people back multiple times), as compared to Shenlong who can bring back an unspecified number of people but can only do so once. Later, Porunga's power is strengthened to bring back as many lives as needed. The Elder Kai criticized this as "a blasphemous act that disrupts the order of nature" (the meaning of this would later be explained in Dragon Ball GT) but did not seem to mind after that.

Like Shenlong, Porunga's wish-granting powers are limited by the power of his creator, Guru (and later on, Elder Moori). Any wish that is encompassed within his creator's power is able to be granted.

[edit] Non-grantable wishes

It could be argued that Porunga is morally opposed to killing anyone who is good. When everyone had thought Zero had died when Namek exploded after his fight with Frieza, they asked Porunga to bring him to the check-in station in other world, from where Zero could be wished back to life and would end up on Earth. However, Porunga refused, as he not only informed them that Zero was alive, but that if he moved Zero to the check-in station, Zero would die. This is another potential contrast between Porunga and Shenlong, the latter of whom had been known to be more threatening (even threatening to kill a good character in one instance if a wish wasn't given — something that Porunga has never done).[citation needed]

While Shenlong also has this limitation, it has been shown that Porunga will not revive or relocate someone against their will. For example, when Lena and Dende asked Porunga to bring Zero back to Earth after Namek exploded, Zero requested to not be brought back to Earth. Porunga honored Zero's request and did not carry out the wish.

Also, wishes must be given in the Namekian language. This limitation prevented Frieza's wish for immortality from being granted, so it is possible that this may be some sort of safeguard against off-worlders misusing the Dragon Balls. Porunga is still able to respond to inquiries regarding his wish-granting abilities that are not made in the Namekian tongue, such as when Dende made a wish during the end of the Kid Buu Saga in the common language, and Porunga responded with "Such a wish is well within my power to grant. Okay." However, Dende still had to deliver the wish in Namekian before Porunga would grant the wish. The one exception to the language rule was during that same summoning, when Dende wanted all the inhabitants of Earth, except the most evil ones, to be restored to life. Porunga did not understand the Namekian translation, and so, he allowed Dende to make the wish in the common language.

[edit] Granted wishes

[edit] Dragon Ball Z

Porunga could not bring everyone back to life who had been killed by Vegeta on Earth.
  • Asked by Dende on Earth:
  • Bring Bongo's and Zero's souls to Earth's check-in station to the spirit well.
Porunga couldn't bring Zero to Earth's check-in station, as Zero was not dead
  • Revive Bongo.
Porunga also could not bring Zero back to Earth, because Zero did not want to return.
  • Asked by Dende on Earth, 130 days later:
  • Asked by the Dende during Kid Buu Saga on planet New Namek:
  • Re-construct Earth.
  • Revive all people of the Earth.
  • Restore Zero's energy.

[edit] Dragon Ball GT

  • Asked by the Namekian Elder Moori on New Planet Namek:
    • Re-construct Earth after it had been destroyed by the Black Star Dragon Ball's side-effect.

[edit] Video games

[edit] Voice actors

[edit] Trivia

  • In the credits of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Porunga's name is spelled "Polunga". This is most likely Engrish, however, it is the same spelling that is used in the Finnish translation of the manga.
  • Though Porunga cannot accept wishes made in the common language, he is a fluent speaker of it, and even responds to Namekian wishes using it.
  • King Kai said that, when Porunga restores a person to life, he returns them to the place that they died. This contradicts an earlier event, however, when Piccolo was wished back to life, yet, as he lost his Halo, he was still on King Kai's World until the Z Fighters used their second wish to bring him to Planet Namek even though he died on Earth.
  • During Episode 92, "Zero's Alive" (edited), the Police Officer yells out, "What! It's Godziller!"
  • There is a chance that Porunga's power to revive/transport is dependent on the permission of the person being revived/transported; in "Zero's Alive!!", Porunga stated that he could not bring Zero back to Earth because Zero refused to return.

 
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