Zarbon

From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia

This article (Zarbon), or a section of this article, is very messy. Please edit this article so that it looks more polished.

"You ever hear the saying beauty is only skin deep? Well, right now, you're only seeing the beauty."
— Zarbon in "Zarbon's Surprise"

Zarbon (ザーボン, Zābon) is a member of Freeza's Elite.

Zarbon's Japanese name is a pun on the word Zabon, or Pomelo in English.

Appearance

Zarbon is an elite warrior who values beauty and his physical appearance above all else. He is considered by some to be very handsome. His long, green, braided hair and his tiara and earrings are reminiscent of a high-class prince. He is very vain and considers himself to be of the highest standard. His light blue skin and golden eyes indicate his reptilian alien ancestry. He also wears a heavily cultural garb, very long light blue cape, and very cultural armwear and legwear. Along with his choice of clothing, he wears the common armor that most of Freeza's men have, including the shoulder pads and a Scouter. He dislikes his transformation due to its ugly appearance. When he does transform, however, his battle power increases immensely. After transforming, he refers to his original form as "the beauty side" and the new form as "the beast", a reference to "Beauty and the Beast".

Biography

Genocide of the Saiyans

Main article: Genocide of the Saiyans

Dodoria, Freeza, and Zarbon contemplating the fate of the Saiyans.

Zarbon and Dodoria briefed Freeza in 737 Age on the state of his interplanetary galactic empire. Recent news had revealed that the Saiyans' strength had been constantly growing after each battle. Zarbon informed Freeza that a band of low-class Saiyans had taken over Planet Kanassa in only a few days. Dodoria stated that the job to take Planet Kanassa had been in the works for months and that Freeza's own elite squadrons could not have taken Planet Kanassa so easily. This was the first time that Freeza was literally amazed at the growing power of the Saiyans. Freeza, Zarbon, and Dodoria contemplated the fate of the Saiyans due to the growing power of the race and decided to take action in order to avoid further repercussions, as the Saiyans may pose a great threat to them in the future. Zarbon advised Freeza to eliminate the growing threat before it posed a greater problem. Dodoria and his elite fighters were ordered to eradicate Bardock, the second strongest Saiyan alive at the time, and his group. Dodoria was successful in killing the team, but carelessly left Bardock alive after delivering one powerful mouth blast at him. Later, Freeza mercilessly destroyed the Saiyan homeworld along with Bardock in orbit. Zarbon and Dodoria were the only characters to bare witness when Freeza destroyed Planet Vegeta. They stared at the destruction of the planet without any sympathy.

Dragon Ball Z

Namek Saga

Zarbon defeating Vegeta on Planet Namek.

Zarbon accompanied Freeza and Dodoria to Planet Namek in search of the Namek Dragon Balls. Freeza's one wish was to gain immortality in order to maintain his dominance in the universe. Zarbon was able to help him collect most of the Dragon Balls alongside Dodoria by mercilessly slaughtering the Namekians in order to squeeze information out of them. Unfortunately for Freeza, Vegeta showed up on Planet Namek with his own desire to gain control of the Dragon Balls. Vegeta had openly betrayed Freeza and travelled to Earth although Freeza had not authorized him to. Later, after traveling to Planet Namek, Vegeta decided to proceed with his deliberate betrayal and gain control of the Dragon Balls for himself. Vegeta took the first opportunity he had to eliminate both Kewie and Dodoria, who was temporarily separated from his crew after pursuing Son Gohan and Kuririn.

At this point, Zarbon became the only remaining elite henchman of Freeza. After he and Appule were sent to search for remaining Namekian villages, Zarbon soon came face to face with Vegeta instead. Vegeta challenged Zarbon and had the upper hand after he blocked Zarbon's blasts and dodged all of his attacks. After Zarbon had been angered, however, he surprises Vegeta when he underwent a transformation. The tables turned as Zarbon easily dominated Vegeta with a series of brutal poundings, multiple headbutts, and roundhouses. He finished the fight with an aerial piledriver that sent Vegeta head first into the ground and then into the murky waters of Planet Namek.

Zarbon reported back to Freeza in order to relay the message of his victory. Freeza, however, was not pleased. Vegeta had been able to find one of the Dragon Balls and hid it before being pummeled. The location of the Dragon Ball was a necessity, therefore Freeza ordered Zarbon to heal Vegeta and squeeze the information out of him. Zarbon returned to the battle area, located Vegeta's battered body, and took him to a Rejuvenation Tank in Freeza's Spaceship. Appule then healed Vegeta in the Rejuvenation Tank for further questioning. Upon healing, Vegeta killed Appule, escaped, and stole Freeza's five Dragon Balls by distracting them. Freeza ordered Zarbon to locate Vegeta once more since they had not had a chance to interrogate the renegade Saiyan. Zarbon hurried out in search of Vegeta. Soon, he found Vegeta and challenged him once again, this time with Kuririn and Bulma Brief as witnesses. Bulma was instantly attracted to Zarbon's appearance, although Kuririn recognized that the warrior was allied with Freeza. With the lives of Bulma and Kuririn at stake, Zarbon and Vegeta faced off once more. After Zarbon transforms yet again, they resume their battle. Vegeta tells Zarbon that Saiyan strength increases after every battle, so Vegeta's power level has increased substantially because of the beating he had taken. This enables Vegeta to overcome Zarbon by slamming his arm through his stomach. While Vegeta's arm is rammed into Zarbon's stomach, Zarbon begs for his life (and implies that they should form an alliance against Frieza) before Vegeta finishes him off with a blast clean through his stomach, cracking his backbone, and sending Zarbon to a watery grave in the Namekian sea.

Frieza Saga

Zarbon, Freeza, and Dodoria appearing in a flashback.

Zarbon appeared during the Frieza Saga in several flashbacks. In one scene, he stood with Dodoria and Freeza when King Vegeta had revolted and attacked the ship. Freeza killed King Vegeta while Zarbon and Dodoria bear witness. Another scene showed Zarbon, Dodoria, and Freeza insulting the remaining Saiyans (Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz) after they had returned from their conquest of Planet Shikk. They were met with pity rather than accommodation by Freeza and his top henchmen. Nappa nearly lost control and tried to attack Freeza, Zarbon, and Dodoria, but Vegeta ordered his comrade to stand down because he knew that they would not stand a chance against them. As Vegeta walked away, Zarbon mocked him with a single declaration when he told Freeza that he could not expect much more from a Monkey. This fueled Vegeta's rage, but he knew he was no match for Zarbon at the time and continued to walk away.

Dragon Ball GT

Super 17 Saga

Dodoria and Zarbon terrorizing Earth during the Super 17 Saga .

Zarbon and Dodoria returned from Hell during the Super 17 Saga. Similar to his brief escape in Fusion Reborn, Zarbon escaped from Hell alongside Dodoria and they wreaked havoc with all the other villains. He was presumably defeated and sent back when the Z Warriors came to face all of the previously defeated foes.

Films

Dragon Ball: Fusion Reborn

Zarbon in Fusion Reborn.

Zarbon made a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn when the residents of Hell made their escape to Planet Earth. Similar to his brief appearance during the Super 17 Saga, Zarbon escaped from Hell alongside dozens of villains from the past when Freeza gave the order to attack. He was presumably defeated again and sent back to Hell when the Great Saiyaman came to stop Freeza's onslaught.

Video games

Zarbon in Budokai Tenkaichi.

Zarbon has appeared as a playable character in numerous video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22.

He is only a support-type character in Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2.

In Budokai, Zarbon's character image and various cut scenes depict him as having his cape and Scouter. When playing as or against him, however, neither the cape nor Scouter can be seen).

In Budokai Tenkaichi 2, he is not only a playable character, but also has his own storyline from his perspective in the Story mode. Within Zarbon's main Story mode in Budokai Tenkaichi 2, entitled Beautiful Treachery, he tries to find the Dragon Balls for his own desire of obtaining eternal beauty. Zarbon creates a lucrative scenario where he calls upon the Ginyu Force, along with Cooler and his squadron, and instigates a clash between Freeza and Cooler. However, after using Krillin, Dende, and Gohan to aid him in acquiring his wish, Zarbon finds that eternal beauty was not the most logical wish when dealing with an angered Freeza. Just as Goku arrives to help Zarbon battle Freeza, the fight is interrupted and Frieza sets off to battle his enraged brother Cooler. Zarbon and Goku try to escape the planet as the clash between the two tyrants obliterates it. Krillin succeeds in using the Dragon Balls to teleport Goku off the planet safely, while Zarbon is tragically left to die along with Planet Namek, which in turn, is destroyed when the titanic battle between Cooler and Freeza erupts.

Race

Zarbon is of the same race as Aboga, Mandarin, Yūzu.

Battle power

Zarbon's battle power was around 23,000 in his first form.[1] His second form's battle power was never specified. Since Vegeta's battle power was stated to be "20,000 and rising!", it is very plausible that Zarbon's battle power would be around 28,000-30,000 at the most. Perhaps the best resource to confirm his battle power in his second form is Dragon Ball Z: Sūpā Saiya Densetsu where in the battle against Zarbon his battle power is stated to be at a maximum of 30,000.

Transformations

Zarbon had the distinct ability to transform into a reptilian beast. Incorporating brute strength and ferocity, his Monster Form, Super Zarbon (スーパー ザーボン, Sūpā Zābon), was the opposite in appearance to his first form as he became grotesque and brutal. Upon transforming, his size increased as well as his muscular build and his skin became covered with noticeable scales, similar to that of a reptile. Thus, he only did this when it was extremely necessary because he disliked disfiguring his image in such a grotesque manner.

Techniques

Elegant Blaster

Zarbon blasting Vegeta with the Elegant Blaster.

The Elegant Blaster was a technique used many times by Zarbon during the Namek Saga. He first used it to kill a Namekian he and Freeza had interrogated on the whereabouts of the Dragon Balls. He then used it against Vegeta, only to have it deflected into a mountain.

Possibility Cannon

Zarbon used the Possibility Cannon many times in both of his battles against Vegeta. It was first used to blast Vegeta away in the middle of Zarbon's relentless beatdown of the Saiyan Prince. He later used it in retaliation to a one-handed Galick Gun attack Vegeta used. In his second battle, he attemptted the attack only to have it blocked by another blast from Vegeta.

Other techniques

Voice actors

Trivia

  • In an issue of Beckett Anime, a Beckett magazine publication, Zarbon was voted as one of the top five greatest henchmen of all anime and was the only character from Dragon Ball Z on the list.
  • His voice in the games greatly differs from his voice in the English dubs of the anime. The original FUNimation dub, first seen in Freeza's flashback to King Vegeta's rebellion against him, has Zarbon's voice sound similar to the Ocean Group dub. In later versions of the FUNimation dub, his voice is changed so it resembled the voices of King Cold or Caroni (similar to how later versions made Vegeta's voice deeper than it did in the original FUNimation dub).
  • When Zarbon's Scouter breaks in the Ocean Group dub, Dodoria says, "Zarbon, what was that?". In the flashback Dodoria has while he encounters Vegeta, however, he says, "What was that, Zarbon?".
  • When Zarbon arrives for his second confrontation with Vegeta, Bulma falls in love with him at first sight (though he did not seem to notice) and thinks he is a handsome hero that is there to rescue her. Ironically, she later marries Vegeta, the killer of Zarbon.
  • A mistake regarding Zarbon's armor is made in the scene where Vegeta kills Zarbon. At the beginning of this scene, Zarbon's armor is already battle-damaged and his cape is gone. While they are fighting, however, his armor and cape are completely intact, as the animators used a clip from a previous Vegeta vs. Zarbon scene.
  • Zarbon and Dodoria are the first and final villains to appear onscreen in the history of all Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. When looking at the timeline chronologically, the first movie to take place is The Father of Goku where Zarbon and Dodoria first appear (not counting Vegeta, who switches sides). In the final episode of Dragon Ball GT ("Until We Meet Again..."), Zarbon and Dodoria are the final villains to appear onscreen when Goku remembers all of the villains who had escaped from Hell.
  • According to Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Chichi has mixed feelings about Zarbon's appearance. If you listen to her commentary about Zarbon in his base form, she will say, "It's a face that superficial Bulma would like" (which is true since Bulma did find Zarbon highly attractive). If you listen to her commentary on Zarbon in his Monster form, she will say, "Uh! For a face that pretty to become so dreadful!".
  • Zarbon is confirmed to be a prince among Freeza's men due to two separate indications. The first comes during the Freeza Saga when it is mentioned that when Freeza wipes out an entire species or planet, he keeps the strongest warrior from each planet alive. The other instance is noted in the Battle mode of Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team where Zarbon and Vegeta both have the title "Prince of Another Planet" on a stage select title.
  • The Potara Earrings greatly resemble Zarbon's earrings and the charm on his headpiece.
  • Before being killed, Zarbon offers Vegeta an alliance against his master. This is, however, a lie to get a chance at mercy as he still respects Freeza (made clear in the Japanese dub where he uses the honorific "-sama" after Freeza's name).

References

  1. ↑ Dragon Ball: Daizenshū 7

 
Freeza's Elite
Members
Dodoria • Freeza • Zarbon
Related articles
Retrieved from "/index.php?title=Zarbon&oldid=462199"
  • Improve Dragon Ball Encyclopedia by <a id="fe_edit_link" href="/index.php?title=Zarbon&action=edit">editing this page</a>