Raditz

From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia

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"Don't look so upset. We can't all have the last laugh."
— "Gohan's Rage"

Raditz (ラディッツ, Radittsu; FUNimation "Raditz") is the biological brother of Son Goku and the eldest son of Bardock. He was once a member of the Saiyan Army, but after his race's demise, he worked alongside Vegeta and Nappa directly for Freeza's Forces. While working with a team led by Vegeta, Raditz travels to Earth to discover if Goku has finished the mission that he was sent on as a baby over two decades prior: the overthrow of Earth. Upon arrival, however, Raditz discovers that Goku has lost his violent Saiyan tendencies and has no knowledge of his ancestry or his true race. Raditz attempts to persuade Goku to join him and become a planet pirate, but to no avail.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Dragon Ball Z

[edit] Saiyan Saga

Main article: Vegeta Saga

Raditz working with Vegeta and Nappa prior to his journey to Earth.

Raditz arrived on Earth in search of a man named "Kakarrot", later revealed to be Goku. After he incapacitated a Farmer who had challenged him, Raditz detected a power reading on his Scouter and assumed it was Kakarrot. He tracked down the source of the energy and came face to face with Piccolo, Goku's enemy at the time. Raditz asked Piccolo where he could find Kakarrot, but Piccolo refused to tell him, warning him to leave Earth at once. Raditz laughed at Piccolo, who then fired a powerful attack at Raditz, leaving him unscathed and only managing to "singe some of his leg hair" as Raditz put it. Just as Raditz prepared to destroy Piccolo, he detected another power level, and this time knew that it had to be Kakarrot.

Raditz tracked the power level down to the Kame House where Son Goku, his son, Son Gohan, Bulma, Kuririn, Muten Roshi, and Kame were enjoying a reunion. Raditz identified Goku as Kakarrot and informed Goku that he was his big brother who had arrived on Earth to find him. When Goku asked Raditz where he had come from, Raditz told Goku that they were both Saiyan warriors, and then told him the history of the Saiyan race, including Freeza's practice of conquering planets and selling them for profit. Goku and Kuririn expressed their disgust at Raditz and told him to leave. When it became clear to Raditz that Goku was not coming with him, Raditz kidnapped Gohan (who still had a Saiyan tail) and held him as ransom. He informed Goku that if he ever wanted to see Gohan again, he should eliminate one hundred Earthlings and bring them to Raditz by the next day. Laughing, Raditz flew off with Gohan in his hands.

Later, he shuts the crying Gohan in his spacepod, unable to stand his crying. Raditz is surprised to find that his scouter reported a power level of 710 for Gohan, which Raditz dismissed as a malfunction because it would mean that the child was even stronger than his father. Shortly afterwards, Raditz sees Goku and Piccolo who have joined forces to beat him, and since his scouter accurately warned him of their approach, he came to the realization that Gohan may actually be as strong as his reading said.

Raditz fighting his younger brother, Goku.

Seeing that Goku has not only refused to join him, but also brought Piccolo as reinforcement, Raditz declares his younger brother a shame to their race and sentences him to death. A battle commences, but it is not an easy fight, as Raditz is stronger than both Goku and Piccolo combined and easily overwhelms them. Raditz even manages to blast off Piccolo's left arm, but the tables turn when Piccolo reveals he created a special attack that could be able to kill Raditz, the Special Beam Cannon and the only problem is it takes him a while to build up, meaning Goku has to fight him alone for five minutes. As Piccolo prepares the attack, Goku and Raditz battle it out, yet Raditz easily takes the lead. Goku, however, launches a Super Kamehameha.

Raditz effortlessly crushes Goku's ribs.

Raditz is startled that he is able to increase his power into one spot, and is even more shocked to find Piccolo's rising as well. Before he can think, Goku launches his attack. Raditz tries to run from it, but can't. He is, however, able to block it with his hand. Raditz then launches a more powerful attack back at Goku, badly wounding him. He tries to make the kill, but soon sees Piccolo's attack ready. To his dismay, the attack is too powerful for him to block, and he is shocked that Piccolo could summon that much power. Piccolo launches the attack, but Raditz is fast enough to dodge it, yet it does pierce through one of his shoulder blades. He almost kills Piccolo, but is stopped by Goku, who grabs Raditz's tail, causing immense pain. As Piccolo prepares the attack, Raditz begs for mercy from Goku with brotherly words ("I would never harm my own flesh and blood!"). Piccolo tries to warn Goku, but Goku's mercy gets the better of him. Goku lets go of Raditz's tail. Raditz takes advantage, and throws Goku to the ground, stomping on his chest multiple times, crushing his ribs. Goku calls the trick dirty, Raditz in turns say that he is a first-class warrior, and never hesitates to make the kill, even his own brother. He also edges Piccolo his attack, but Piccolo says its useless.

While Goku cries out in pain with Piccolo helplessly watching, a power suddenly erupts and Raditz's spacepod explodes. Just as Raditz prepares to kill Goku off, an enraged Gohan emerges and flies straight into Raditz's chest, seriously wounding him. Raditz, incensed and in awe of the small child, limps over to Gohan, preparing to kill him, in fear of Gohan's power, which he complimented as he approached. Before this can happen, however, Goku grabs Raditz from behind in a full nelson, giving Piccolo enough time to fire the Special Beam Cannon at Goku and Raditz, mortally wounding both.

Raditz being impaled by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon.

As he lies dying, Raditz genuinely acknowledges Goku's death (as well as his own), but Piccolo tells him about the Dragon Balls that will revive Goku shortly after the wish is made. Raditz, however, retorts that his scouter is also a transmitter, and his two Saiyan friends have heard everything and will come for the Dragon Balls to wish him back. Laughing his head off, Raditz is finished off by Piccolo, and dies shortly before Goku does so. Using his scouter to transmit Piccolo's message, Raditz calls for help from his two fellow Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta, who eventually journey to Earth to gather the Dragon Balls, not to revive Raditz (as Raditz believed), but for immortality. In the Other World, Raditz attempts to fight King Yemma, who overpowers him and sends Raditz to Hell.

After Goku dies, Bulma and Krillin remove Raditz's scouter from his corpse (which remains unseen). Bulma modifies the scouter so it can read actual numbers rather than the strange symbols that represent numbers. The scouter later explodes when Goku powers up during his fight with Vegeta.

[edit] Namek Saga

Raditz in the Namek saga

In an anime only flashback, Krillin remembers Raditz saying that the Saiyans capture and sell planets, and deduce that Frieza and his soldiers must be part of what he called the "Planet trade".

[edit] Frieza Saga

Raditz in the Frieza Saga.

In an anime only flashback, Raditz, along with Nappa and Vegeta return from their conquest on Planet Shikk. However, they are met with insult rather than congratulations by Dodoria, Zarbon, and Frieza. Raditz and Nappa nearly lose control and try to attack Frieza along with Zarbon and Dodoria, but Vegeta orders his comrades to stand down, knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance against them.

[edit] Androids Saga and Cell Games Saga

Android 20 (Dr. Gero) states that he has been tracking Goku's fighting abilities for some time, such as his fight with Raditz. When Android 20 tells Goku about Gero's motives and how they had analyzed his fights, one of the fights recorded was his fight against Raditz.

A flashback of Raditz is shown, when Gohan describes his hidden powers to Cell.

[edit] Dragon Ball GT

Raditz (top left) escaping hell.

[edit] Super 17 Saga

Raditz can be seen in a cameo appearance in the news broadcast when he is escaping from hell flying alongside Cooler, Android 19, and others thanks to Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu opening a portal in the sky allowing all the past villains to escape from Hell. However, he was most likely defeated once more by the Z Fighters and sent back to hell along with all the other past villains.

[edit] Personality

Raditz moments later after his arrival to Earth

Unlike his brother Goku and his father Bardock, Raditz is mean and brutal like most Saiyan warriors, he constantly mocks Piccolo, and he takes great pleasure in seeing Goku and Gohan in pain. He is incredibly manipulative, begging for Goku to let him go when Goku grabs his tail to weaken him. Goku does and Raditz damages him tremendously, and begins to crush his ribs, taunting him on his stupidity, laughing.

Raditz can also be quite a coward when facing death, as he kept struggling and begging with panic in his usually arrogant attitude when facing Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. Apparently, unlike most Saiyans in general, especially Goku, Raditz fears death greatly. He was only willing to accept his death when he arrogantly believed his comrades would revive him with the Dragon Balls.

He claims to want to anger Goku in order to get his Saiyan blood boiling, so he could realize his Saiyan heritage and get him to join the remaining Saiyan clan in collecting planets for Frieza. He is extremely proud of his Saiyan heritage, like Vegeta and makes many comments on it, even explaining the near extinction of the Saiyans. He is also very disgusted to learn Goku's tail has been cut off and mocks and ridicules him for forgetting his mission to depopulate the Earth, due to an injury to Goku's head when he was a baby. He also mocks Goku for becoming soft and becoming a part of the Earth's population. He seems confident that Goku will join him, Nappa and Vegeta. While kidnapping Gohan, he mocks his nephew for crying, telling him he is a Saiyan, he has no problem whatsoever killing his brother or his nephew without hesitation.

Raditz in some ways, seems to take after Vegeta, glorifying the Saiyan race and killing anyone who is either a threat, or in the case of Goku and Gohan, refuse to live up to the expectations of their barbarous lifestyle.

Raditz also is very dependent on his scouter and when a power level gets too high (close to his level), he assumes it is broken. Raditz displays a high level of confidence in his power level and his strength, and is slightly arrogant. He didn't take Piccolo and Goku seriously and severely underestimated them due to their low power reading.

Before dying, Raditz also states that he has no doubt Nappa and Vegeta will bring him to life with the Dragon Balls. Nappa actually does consider using the wish to revive Raditz, but Vegeta instead chooses to wish for immortality, claiming that Raditz deserved to die for his incompetence.

[edit] Battle power

Main article: Battle power

In the series, it is stated that his power level was over 1,200; which is equal to the Saibamen belonging to Nappa and Vegeta. According to Akira Toriyama, his power level is 1,500, a number also supported on the double edition of Weekly Jump back in 1989, Daizenshu 7, and the video games Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan and Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu.

Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon against Raditz was stated to be 1,330 which worried Raditz. In the anime, the power level of the 2nd Special Beam Cannon was stated to be 1,440, which Raditz said could finish him off. However, Raditz may have been weakened enough by an enraged Gohan for Piccolo's attack to be strong enough as even Goku could hold Raditz down while severely injured.[1][2]

[edit] Special abilities

Raditz striking Goku.
  • Flight - Like most of the characters in Dragon Ball Z, he can fly using Ki.
  • Ki Blast - The most basic form of energy wave.
  • Full Power Energy Wave - Basically a fully-powered energy wave shot from the palm. It is similar to the Kamehameha and Galick Gun in basic function.
  • Saturday Crush - A strong purple ball of Ki shot from the hand.
  • Keep Your Eye On The Birdie - A large white wave of ki fired from one hand.
  • Double Sunday - A powerful yellow ki wave shot from both hands.
  • Shining Friday - A super-powered version of the Saturday Crush. (Exclusive to Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.)
  • Full Power Energy Wave Volley - Raditz fires a rapid energy barrage at his opponents, inflicting great damage.
  • I'm A Top-class Warrior! - Raditz elbows the opponent from behind onto the ground, inflicting great damage.
  • Behind You! - Raditz faces away from his opponent then kicks out behind as they closes in, sending them rolling away.
  • Dynamite Monday - Raditz attacks his enemy with a flurry of kicks and punches (Exclusive to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.)
Raditz in his Great Ape transformation in Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

[edit] Video game appearances

The arrival of Raditz in Dragon Ball Online.

Raditz has appeared as a playable character in:

Raditz appears as an enemy in:

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, he had his own what-if scenario, Fateful Brothers. Also in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 main story mode, as well as in Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan, Raditz was briefly summoned to King Kai's planet as part of Goku's training with King Kai for fighting the Saiyans arriving at Earth, although he seemed to think that he was allowed a chance at revenge at Goku.

[edit] Major Battles

  • Raditz vs. Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan.

[edit] Voice actors

[edit] Trivia

  • As with all other Saiyans in the series, Raditz' name is a pun on a vegetable, "radish" in this case.
  • Raditz is the only named villain to be killed by Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z, not counting the movies. The only other villains killed by Piccolo are Sansho, a Saibaman, four Bio-Men, Wings, Doore, Neiz, Salza, numerous Cyclopian Guards and also Demons from the Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku OVA. Raditz is also the first villain to die in Dragon Ball Z (not counting Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone).
  • During the Frieza Saga, Freeza assumes Raditz is Son Gohan's father. This is similar to Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai: Another Road where Bardock believes Turles to be Gohan's father when asking, "Are you Turles' son?".
  • Raditz's hair is roughly the same length as a Super Saiyan 3.
  • Raditz is one of only a handful of Saiyans who survived after Planet Vegeta's destruction by Freeza. Following his death, Nappa, Vegeta, and Goku are the only pure-blooded Saiyans left who are clearly a part of canon. Turles, Tarble, Paragus, and Broly are all pure-blooded Saiyans for whom the canonicity of their appearances in the series' timeline is debatable. Onio is a full-blooded Saiyan that survives, but he is non-canon as he is a character from the self-parody manga Neko Majin Z.
  • Raditz is one of the two villains to get his own What If Saga in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (the other being Zarbon).
  • When Android No. 20 (Doctor Gero) was telling Goku about Gero's motives and how they had analyzed his fights, one can notice that one of the fights recorded was his fight against Raditz, which implies that he may have collected samples of Raditz' DNA to create Cell.
  • Budokai 3 and Budokai Tenkaichi 2 seem to be the only times in the Dragon Ball media where Bardock and Raditz interact. In Budokai 3, if the player chooses Raditz and wins a match against Bardock, he says, "Father..." as a Victory Quote. In Tenkaichi 2, in the What If Saga Fateful Brothers, after Raditz falls unconscious after a fight with Goku he has a dream where he is standing in the mountains talking to his father in heaven where he admits he is a weakling, but then Bardock shows up and says, "I don't care...you're still my son". Bardock then fights Raditz as a gift from father to son.
  • In many of the video games, Raditz' special attacks are named after days of the week.
  • In the anime, Justin Cook voices Raditz with a calm and cool voice. However, in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, he uses a harsher, more agitated sounding voice.
  • In the Japanese dub, Raditz is Goku's only male biological relative not voiced by Masako Nozawa or in a similar high-pitched squeak.
  • In the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series and the Raging Blast video game series, Raditz' alternate costume is colored yellow, similar to the Saiyan Armor worn by Nappa.
  • In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Raditz has special dialogue with the Ginyu Force, implying that they had met at some point in the past not shown.
    • Also in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, if one plays Bardock against Raditz when Bardock wins he will say, "It'll be a sad day when one of my own sons can beat me."
  • In an early Dragon Ball Z board game, Raditz's Scouter is mistakenly colored red like Vegeta's.

[edit] References

  1. ↑ kanzentai.com, anime-special
  2. ↑ kanzentai.com, manga
Related articles
Nappa • Vegeta • Son Goku • Freeza • Zarbon • Dodoria • Piccolo • Bardock • Son Gohan • Kuririn

 
Saiyans
Pure Saiyans
Hybrid Saiyans
Saiyan fusions
Saiyan transformations
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