Commander Red

"I am the Red Ribbon Army. What's good for me is good for everyone and I want to be taller. All my life, I've drawn the short straw. I've had to contend with being a mere pebble in a land of giants. It is the curse of my existence. You couldn't possibly understand what it's like... the nightmare of being a genius... yet trapped inside this ugly little body?"
— Commander Red in "The End of Commander Red"

Commander Red (レッド 総帥, Reddo Sōsui; FUNimation "Commander Red") leads the Red Ribbon Army and Red Pants Army.

Commander Red's Japanese name is a pun on the word Reddo, or Red in English.

Biography

Red led the most feared and ruthless militaristic crime organization on Planet Earth – the Red Ribbon Army. After discovering that his enemy, Son Goku, had a much more sophisticated and superior Dragon Radar, he was angered at the fact that he had invested so much into his radar and took so many wary chances only to have been contested by a mere child.

Dragon Ball

Red sharing a rare moment of satisfaction with Black.

Red hired a famed contract killer named Tao Pai Pai to assassinate Goku and return with his four Dragon Balls that General Blue had been unsuccessful at retrieving, only to have Tao fail as well.

After Tao's defeat, Goku headed straight for Red Ribbon Army Headquarters for the Dragon Balls. Despite Staff Officer Black's constant advice to Red that he abandon the Dragon Balls and escape for safety, Red stubbornly refused and put them both in further danger. When it became clear that Goku had virtually defeated his army, with many escaping from the base, and was coming for him, he took the Dragon Balls and ordered his right-hand man, Black, to face Goku while he went into a secret compartment. As they fought, Red used one last trick and activated the ceiling to be flattened in a desperate attempt to kill Goku, believing him and Black to be dead. Black was very lucky as he was knocked out of a window by Goku before the ceiling came down. As Red returned to the room, he gloated at his victory and revealed that his wish was to become tall. Black overheard this and pleaded that the Red Ribbon Army had done so much for his ambition of being taller, instead of world conquest, and therefore it was not worth the risk and could lead to their ultimate defeat. When Red did not listen, he was shot in the head and killed by Black, who then renamed the group the Black Ribbon Army.

Films

Red redesigned for Path to Power.

Red appeared in Dragon Ball: The Path to Power. He had a slight redesign, but to a lesser extent than that of most of the other Red Ribbon Army members.

Video games

Red redesigned as Artificial Human No. 9.

Red appeared in Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, and Dragon Ball: Origins 2.

Red was rebuilt as an Artificial Human named Artificial Human No. 9 in Dragon Ball Online. He seemed to be the leader of the Red Pants Army as he was the last enemy to face in the army's dungeon located near Karin Tower. He was also much larger than before. It was also of note that No. 9 bore more similarities to his older design than his revamped design in Path to Power.

Voice actors

• Japanese dub: Kenji Utsumi
• FUNimation dub: Josh Martin
• Portuguese dub: António Semedo

Trivia

• Red and Black look-alikes both reappear as movie makers in "I'll Fight Too!". They are working together on the Saiyaman film project for Satan TV. The Red look-alike is the director and the Black look-alike seems to be his assistant. The only notable difference between the two is that the director does not wear an eyepatch.
• For unknown reasons, despite being shot in the head by Black, Red is not seen among the villains who escape Hell in Dragon Ball GT or in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn.
• Red is seen with bandages where he obtained his fatal bullet wound on his forehead in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 on the Dragon Arena screen and in Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World where he is seen in the Fighter's Road mode. Coincidentally, both modes are secrets that have to be unlocked.
• Red owns a Cat which he frequently uses to attack Red Ribbon Army personnel entering his office to test their reflexes, such as Silver. It is also implied that any soldier who fails to effectively evade the cat (such as one soldier who allegedly lost an eye due to not reacting quick enough) is executed.
• Red initially speaks with a noticeably Irish accent in the FUNimation dub. During his last few appearances, however, the accent comes and goes at random.

Gallery

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  Red's Cat

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  Red playing golf.

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  Red's Car