Paikuhan
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia
"He's either a fighting genius... or a total fool."
— Paikuhan in "Final Round"
Paikuhan (パイクーハン, Paikūhan; FUNimation "Pikkon") is a martial artist.
Paikuhan's English name is a pun on the word Pecan. Paikuhan's Japanese name is a pun on the word Paikōhan, or Pork Ribs Rice in English.
His name is pronounced differently in the two English dubs of the anime. In the Ocean Group dub, the 'i' in his name is pronounced like "ee". In the FUNimation dub, the 'i' is pronounced like "eye".
Contents
Appearance and personality
Paikuhan appears as a tall, muscular, green warrior (roughly the same physical size as Goku). He dons white robes with a blue undershirt below them. He wears brown boots, a brown belt with a golden circle in the middle, and a type of tall turban-like hat that has a matching golden circle in the middle. He has flat ears similar to that of someone like Freeza, and no visible nose. When he removes his hat, black spots are seen on the top of his head.
In terms of personality, Paikuhan is a very wise fighter. He uses this to his advantage by planning out attacks. Paikuhan even goes as far to correct Goku on his "sloppy" dodging and inability to concentrate. When he first appears, he hardly speaks a word, but later opens up during his bout against Goku. Paikuhan has heroic characteristics similar to Goku's as well, and fights for the good. In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, he is seen becoming jealous when Goku gets to battle Janemba and he does not. He also is seen angry and yelling while trying to get the barrier encased around Great King Yama's Palace to break.
Biography
Paikuhan was once a fighter who lived in an unknown location in the Western Galaxy. After dying a heroic death, Paikuhan was permitted to journey to West Kaio's World where he trained hard and became West Kaio's best student.
He was very strong and at least equal in strength to Son Goku in his Full Power Super Saiyan form. He took down Freeza and King Cold, each with one hit, and surprised Cell with one as well. In addition to his great strength, and most notably his speed, he had powerful techniques such as the Burning Shoot, which is similar to Goku's Kaio-ken in that it provides a brief, but incredible, boost to energy, speed, and strength.
Dragon Ball Z
Great Saiyaman Saga
Paikuhan is only seen in the filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z, however, he is seen shortly after Goku and North Kaio arrived for a meeting with Grand Kaio at the same time as Paikuhan and West Kaio, who was then revealed to be on bad terms with North Kaio. After an argument in which West Kaio suggested that Goku and Paikuhan have a sparring match, Grand Kaio appeared and asked Paikuhan and Goku to go to Hell and take care of a few deceased villains who were causing trouble down there, namely Freeza, Cold, Cell, ReaCoom, Butta, Jheese, and Ghurd (Commander Ginyu was still alive on Earth in the body of a Frog, but would have probably joined in if he were dead).
In Hell, Goku silenced the Ginyu Force and Paikuhan demonstrated his supernatural abilities by knocking Super Perfect Cell into a spirit prison with a surprise move.
Later on, after Goku and Paikuhan had struck up a friendship, a tournament as held in honor of North Kaio's death, the Next World Tournament. Eventually, Goku and Paikuhan made it to the final round and battled it out ferociously for the prize: a private lesson with Grand Kaio. As Paikuhan gained the upper hand, Goku finally found the weakness of Paikuhan's Thunder Flash Attack and used it against him, knocking Paikuhan out of the ring with his Instant Kamehameha. Both Goku and Paikuhan were disqualified, however, due to having touched the roof of the stadium earlier on. Paikuhan still said that he was going to train to defeat Goku someday, just as Piccolo once had told Goku.
Kid Buu Saga
After Super Boo appears and starts a killing spree on Earth, Kuririn and Yamucha are sent to Grand Kaio's World for special training where they meet Paikuhan and other deceased fighters.
When Kid Boo travels to Grand Kaio's World during his search for Goku and Vegeta, Paikuhan risks his entire existence by approaching the mute monster and making taunting remarks about him, due to not knowing about the terrible stories of the legendary Kid Boo. Just as Kid Boo prepares to destroy the planet with a Vanishing Ball, Paikuhan and the others are saved at the last minute when Kid Boo teleports himself to the Kai Planet, having finally found Goku and Vegeta's Ki. Through the duration of the battle on the Kai Planet, Paikuhan looks on with the other dead warriors as the incredible final battle gets underway, amazed at how much stronger Goku has gotten.
Films
Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly
While not exactly seen, Paikuhan was mentioned by Goku when the latter was asked by Grand Kaio to travel with Paikuhan to Hell and take care of the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly, who was causing trouble.
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn
In Fusion Reborn, Paikuhan is given a bigger role and altered attitude. Taking place in the middle of the Majin Boo Saga, Goku and Paikuhan make it to the final of another Next World Tournament, but their fight is interrupted by the emergence of the demon Janemba, who has trapped Yama and made almost the entire Next World into a field of crystal jellies.
When Goku and Paikuhan are sent to investigate, they come face to face with Janemba (in his first form) after failing to destroy Yama's entrapment. While Goku lures Janemba away, Paikuhan attempts several times to free Yama with his strongest energy blasts, but to no avail, until King Yemma's complaints push Paikuhan over the edge and force him to throw an insult at Yama, causing the jelly to crack. From then on, Paikuhan uses his frustration at Goku's awesome power to come up with more insults and crack the trap even more.
Eventually, Paikuhan realizes that the only way to free King Yemma is to kill Janemba, so he goes to aid Goku and a recently arrived Vegeta in the battle against Janemba. Paikuhan arrives just when Goku and Vegeta attempt to fuse, so he decides to hold Janemba off and nearly is destroyed (as well as briefly cracking Janemba's armor by insulting him due to Janemba being made of the exact same substance as the jelly), before Goku and Vegeta fuse successfully and form the fearsome Gogeta, who ultimately destroys Janemba and restores the natural order of the Next World.
As noted many times by fans, Paikuhan seems to be quite different in Fusion Reborn, such as overreacting to any frustrations and showing great excitement about fighting. This was possibly done to make him less like Piccolo.
Video games
Paikuhan appeared as a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai: Another Road. He made an appearance in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, marking his appearance in a game outside of the Shin Budokai video game series. Paikuhan also had to be fought in Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury where he demonstrated his signature Thunder Flash Attack. He also appeared in Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World. He is now set to appear in the upcoming Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, which will be his first video game appearance in two years.
Techniques
- Bukujutsu
- Burning Shoot – Paikuhan spins as if he was going to use Hyper Tornado, then surrounds himself in fire and attacks the opponent continuously. This attack was used to defeat Cell in the Other World.
- Hyper Tornado – Paikuhan starts spinning at high speeds, drills towards his opponent, then entraps them in a powerful tornado.
- Ki Blast
- Thunder Flash Attack – Paikuhan shoots an immense storm of flames from his fists, his most powerful attack. Arguably, using this move a third time is what ultimately lead to his loss, as by then Goku had managed to figure out that Paikuhan can't move when he is using this technique.
- Trap Shooter – Paikuhan draws his right hand back and charges a green energy sphere. Then, he wave his hand forward and fires a rapid barrage of energy blasts at his opponents, inflicting a great amount of damage. Pikkon used it against Janemba in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn.
Major battles
- Paikuhan vs. King Cold, Freeza, and Cell
- Paikuhan vs. Torbie
- Paikuhan vs. Olibu
- Paikuhan vs. Son Goku
- Paikuhan vs. Son Goku (Fusion Reborn)
- Paikuhan vs. Janemba
- Paikuhan vs. Kid Boo
Voice actors
- Japanese dub: Hikaru Midorikawa
- Ocean Group dub: Brian Drummond
- FUNimation dub: Kyle Hebert
- Latin American dub: Enrique Mederos †
Trivia
- In the European version of Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, Paikuhan's name is spelled Paikkuhan (similar to the romanization of his original Japanese name).
- Paikuhan is the last character to be fought in the Story mode of Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World.
- Paikuhan has large rectangular ears similar to those of Semi-Perfect Cell/Perfect Cell, Puipui, and Freeza.