Artificial Human No. 8

Directory: Characters → Z Warriors allies

"It's your turn to suffer!"
— The Fall of Muscle Tower

Artificial Human No. 8 (人造 人間 8号, Jinzō Ningen Hachi-Gō; FUNimation "Android No. 8", Viz "Mechanical Man #8") makes his debut in "Five Murasakis", the 38th episode of the Dragon Ball anime. He makes his first manga appearance in "The Ninja Split", the 63rd chapter of the Dragon Ball manga. Doctor Gero's eighth creation, No. 8 is designed to serve the Red Ribbon Army, but is seen as faulty because of his well-spirited nature. He bears a heavy resemblance to Frankenstein's monster.

Biography

Dragon Ball

Red Ribbon Army Saga

No. 8 and Son Goku during the Red Ribbon Army Saga.

No. 8 was introduced by Murasaki, who intended to use him against Son Goku, however, No. 8 refused to battle the child. When Murasaki threatened to detonate No. 8 via remote control, Son Goku knocked the trigger out of his hand and knocked out Murasaki. Son Goku nicknamed No. 8 Eighter (Hatchan) and he became Son Goku's friend. When White threatened No. 8 with an ultimatum: kill Son Goku or the village chief would be shot, Son Goku decided to stop the torment by turning his back so that White could shoot him unopposed, and an enraged No. 8 punched White clean out of Muscle Tower's uppermost window. Afterward, No. 8 proceeded to destroy Muscle Tower, putting an end to at least part of the evil Red Ribbon Army. After eliminating the army contingent in Jingle Village, No. 8 revealed that he had discovered the Dragon Ball that the army was looking for and hid it, knowing that they intended to kill the villagers once it was found. Hearing this, the head of the village invited No. 8 to live among them.

Piccolo Daimao Saga

No. 8 is seen again during the Piccolo Daimao Saga of Dragon Ball when he goes to rescue Suno after she falls victim to Piccolo Daimao's assault on King Castle. No. 8's appearance in "Lost and Found" was his last in the Dragon Ball anime.

Dragon Ball Z

Kid Boo Saga

No. 8 makes cameo appearances throughout Dragon Ball Z, the most prominent being during the Kid Boo Saga, when Son Goku is forming a Genki Dama and No. 8, along with his fellow villagers, supplies Son Goku with his energy to use against Kid Boo. The fact that he is alive at this time proves that completely artificial life can be revived by the Dragon Balls, as he appears to have been revived along with Earth's inhabitants after the planet's destruction by Boo.

Dragon Ball GT

Baby Saga

No. 8 is very briefly seen in Episode 40 of Dragon Ball GT, Piccolo's Decision, where he is transported off of Earth by Son Goku before it explodes.

Films

No. 8 appears in the 4th, and newest, Dragon Ball film, Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, which is a retelling of the early Dragon Ball story, altering from canon for theatrical purposes. One major plot change is that No. 8 is destroyed by the newly titled "Commander Black" of the "Black Ribbon Army", which causes Son Goku to snap and push himself into a severly powered up stage, allowing him to destroy the giant mech that Black is inside, which ultimately kills Black along with it. After Commander Black is defeated, Son Goku uses the Dragon Balls to wish No. 8 back to life, as well as removing the bomb inside of No. 8.

Inconsistent origin

As Gero was not introduced to the series until five years later in Dragon Ball Z, a filler episode of the Dragon Ball anime established that the scientist Professor Frappe was the inventor of No. 8. The fact that Flappe does not appear in Akira Toriyama's manga work, nor is he mentioned as the creator of any android models in Dragon Ball Z, coupled with the fact that Toriyama was in fact involved in the production of anime filler material, makes it difficult to identify exactly who designed No. 8. To compromise for this, there have been suggestions that both Gero and Flappe created No. 8 as a joint effort. Another possibility is that No. 8 came from a totally different line of Red Ribbon Artificial Humans, and so would not have been included.

Artificial Human No. 17 asserts during the Androids Saga of Dragon Ball Z that Dr. Gero destroyed the first fifteen Artificial Humans he had designed, however, this contradicts the canonicity of both the mainstream series (as No. 8 makes cameo appearances throughout both Z and Dragon Ball GT) and Super Android 13!, which features Artificial Humans Artificial Human No. 13, Artificial Human No. 14 and Artificial Human No. 15 as its lead villains, and provides an original explanation that Dr. Gero was murdered by No. 17 and Artificial Human No. 18 prior to personally completing No. 13 through No. 15 (leaving an underground supercomputer to finish the models posthumously).

Video games

Android 8 in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

No. 8 makes his first playable appearance in a Budokai Tenkaichi 3. In Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, No. 8 gets captured by White and turned evil (for the first time).

No. 8 also appears in the cutscenes of Dragon Ball: Revenge of Piccolo Daimao.

Techniques and abilities

• Android bomb: Since most Artificial Humans were given a built in bomb, it is well known that No. 8 also had one, giving him the ability to self-destruct. He loses this ability after the bomb is removed by Professor Frappe.
• Eighter's Anger (八憤, Hachiikidooru): No. 8 releases a massive fiery wave of energy similar to Super Explosive Wave. This attack is named and only seen in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. This is most likely inspired by No. 8's self-destruction ability before the bomb he had was removed by Professor Frappe.
• You Hurt Son Goku!: No. 8's ultimate attack in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. No. 8 attacks the opponent with a punch that sends his opponent reeling. He then repeatedly uses chop and punch-like attacks to beat the opponent further backward, finishing them off with a massive punch that sends them flying across the stage. This move was likely inspired by the punch he used to defeat General White.
• Eighter Attack: No. 8 zooms through the air out into the distance with his arm out like Superman and flies into the opponent. This technique is named in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
• Bukujutsu: No. 8 can fly with great speed as seen in The Path to Power.

Voice actors

• Japanese dub: Shozo Iizuka
• FUNimation dub: Mike McFarland
• Ocean Group dub: Dale Wilson (Dragon Ball Z)
• Latin American dub: Ricardo Hill (Dragon Ball), Arturo Mercado (Dragon Ball Z)
• Portuguese dub: António Semedo
• Italian dub: Pietro Ubaldi

Trivia

• In the manga, Son Goku calls No. 8 8-Man. In the anime and Tenkaichi 3, Son Goku calls him Eighter.
• No. 8 has also been called Franky in reference to his resemblance to Frankenstein's monster.
• No. 8 is the only Artificial Human to appear in all three series: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT.
• A character created for Dragon Ball Online resembles No. 8, and located on its armor is the number '8000'.