Blue

"You can't cheat in a fight to the death. Fool. Whoever's alive at the end of the battle is the winner and that's that!"
— "The Pirate Treasure"

Blue (ブルー, Burū; FUNimation "General Blue", Viz "General Blue") was a Human, a powerful high-ranking officer in the Red Ribbon Army, and the leader of the Blue Corps. He also had powerful psychic abilities and was considered to be the strongest Red Ribbon soldier.

Overview

Blue contacting Scout 0-1, a Jet Chopper looking for Goku.

General Blue is of German origin as implied in the manga through his spoken line "Auf Wiedersehen", which essentially means "Goodbye" in German. It is possible that this character was based on Adolf Hitler's ideal men and belief that blond-haired, blue-eyed people are superior to other races as seen in his feats of superhuman strength and psychic abilities. Even his sexuality (although never explicitly revealed) could be inspired by the Sturmabteilung (S.A.) "Brownshirt" stormtrooper division in Hitler's army, seeing how his outfit was similar to an S.A. trooper. His sexuality, in that case, may also stem from the fact that S.A. leader Ernst Rohm was homosexual.

Along with his effeminate behavior and mannerisms, he was a perfectionist who was extremely obsessed with his looks and was very strict and militant, ordering his men executed for crimes as trivial as nose picking. He has another executed for missing a target twice with torpedoes, and he personally executes a soldier who hides from Goku and Krillin. He is also disgusted of vermin and rodents such as mice.

General Blue is the only Red Ribbon officer we know the age of (28 when tongue-stabbed by Mercenary Tao). General Blue was also the longest-living officer in the series with the possible exception of Commander Red and Staff Officer Black, and he had an entire saga focused around him.

Background

Dragon Ball

General Blue

General Blue is very persistent and loyal to the Red Ribbon Army, and he tracked Goku through more than seven episodes of obstacles. He trails Goku and company into the Pirate Cave, and almost kills Krillin and Goku. During the battle, Bulma tries to distract him by wiggling her buttocks at him, but it does not distract him in the slightest, revealing that he is a homosexual and then yells at her for claiming to be a man (in the dub, this was changed to claiming to be a powerful Sumo Wrestler). Blue paralyzes Goku with a stare and releases a capsule containing a pump-action shotgun which he holds the muzzle to Goku's face. Luckily for Goku, Blue fears mice, and loses his concentration when he is startled by one. Goku breaks Blue's hypnosis and knocks him out afterwards. He somehow survives the collapse of the pirate's lair, and trails our heroes to the Kame House, where he is successful in stealing the Dragon Radar.

Blue stares at a pitcher of roses.

Eventually he and Goku ended up in Penguin Village, in a cross-over episode combining Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama's earlier manga Dr. Slump. General Blue ended up being head butted in the adbomen by Arale Norimaki and was sent flying and crashing into an Egypt-like land. When he returned to the army's headquarters (through the use of a camel and an umbrella), Commander Red congratulated him on the finding of the Dragon Radar, but noted that his main mission was to collect the Dragon Balls, and that people were executed for failure. General Blue became terrified until Commander Red said that since General Blue had served the army well in the past (which is contradictory because earlier Staff Officer Black said that General Blue had a dismal record, however, Staff Officer Black's statement about Blue's record was also contradictory in and of itself, since he would have died far sooner if it really was dismal, due to executions for failure), and that if he fought Tao and won he would be able to redeem himself. In the series, Mercenary Tao killed General Blue by sticking his tongue on a pressure point on General Blue's temple.

Mystical Adventure

Blue in Mystical Adventure.

In Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, General Blue (renamed Lieutenant Blue) is one of Emperor Chiaotzu's loyal guards, wears a totally different uniform, and is killed in much the same way by Tao Pai Pai. It is arguable that in this film, he is one of the good guys. Strangely, this depiction of Blue actually has an action figure – a 2" mini figure in AB's Super Guerriers line. A 5-inch figure of Blue was also released in the JAKKS Pacific figure assortment.

Dragon Ball GT

Blue with Black in Hell in Dragon Ball GT.

General Blue has a brief appearance in Dragon Ball GT, after he and several other Red Ribbon Army members are killed by Pan. He is seen speaking to Staff Officer Black in Hell. King Yemma is busy stamping villains back into the dimension. The work load is heavily packed as all the villains are on a long line extending out of Yemma's domain. As Yemma announces his frustration, General Blue and Staff Officer Black are chatting while in line. Staff Officer Black declares that it didn't take long for all of them to be defeated and sent straight back to hell, referring to everyone in line as "losers". General Blue responds by reminding him that he's also in line with all those losers. They are all awaiting to meet their fate together.

The Path to Power

A redesigned Blue from The Path to Power.

In the 10th Anniversary movie, General Blue first appeared on a Red Ribbon Naval ship shortly before being blown away by Master Roshi's Kamehameha wave. He, however, managed to survive and capture Goku's group. General Blue's death was execution by some low-level privates who dragged him in a room and shot him to death. Not even the fact that General Blue had just given Commander Red five of the seven Dragon Balls was enough to make up for the fact that he missed one lying buried in sand.

While there wasn't much of an addition to his role in the manga, his personality was slightly different in the anime. In the manga, he was portrayed not just like a homosexual comical man, but as a far more serious, deceitful and clever villain.

Special abilities

General Blue in his rocket ship in Dragon Ball GT.

Aside from his accomplished martial arts, General Blue has a special psychic technique called Telekinesis, where he could temporarily paralyze people so they couldn't move. He used this to his advantage to win the fight with Goku. The origins of his psychic powers are never discussed. However, this technique seems to have little to no effect against stronger opponents, such as Tao Pai Pai.

His psychic abilities made him a dangerous enemy for young Goku and Krillin.

• I'll Shoot You! - Blue takes out a Rocket Launcher and launches a poweful rocket at his opponent, causing massive damage. This attack is named in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and was originally used by Silver in Dragon Ball.
• Psychokinesis - Blue uses his psychic powers to paralyze his opponents. Freeza, Chaozu, and others are also able to use similar abilities as well.
• Skewer! - the attack Blue was about to use on Goku in Penguin Village and one of his Blast 2 in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Blue uses Psychokinesis on his opponent, which leaves them paralyzed and then takes a sharpened tree and slams it into his opponent.
• Rocket Engine Spark - Blue's ultimate blast in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. General Blue kicks his opponent into the air, and pulls out a capsule. He then gets into a rocket ship and his opponent chases after him. He then says, "Ignite rocket engine!" and releases a stream of fire from the rocket.
• Look into my Eyes

Video games

General Blue appears as a boss character and a playable character in Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure and Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo. General Blue also appears in the video game Dragon Ball: Origins 2.

He is a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the PS2 and the Wii. In this game, General Blue has his own storyline where he is stealing Dragon Balls and hiding out at Penguin Village (his statement of "finally, I have all seven dragon balls~~!"" implies that Blue was apparantly stealing them for himself, and not for the Red Ribbon Army), where he fights Goku and Arale. A possible error in regards the placement of the story is that it implies it takes place directly after the King Piccolo Saga.

Voice actors

• Japanese dub: Toshio Furukawa
• Dr. Slump remake: Nobuhiko Kazama
• FUNimation dub: Sonny Strait
• Latin American dub: Salvador Delgado
• German dub: Markus Pfeiffer
• Portuguese dub: Henrique Feist

Trivia

General Blue is visible in the lower-left corner of this image.

• In Akira Toriyama's manga Dr. Slump, a character named Kibalt Deruhhe (alternately spelled Dertze Kibalt and Deltze Kibalt) appears in the final volume of the manga (volume 18) and shares a striking resemblance to General Blue. He is not only very similar in appearance to Blue, but he also shares many qualities with Blue; Kibalt is also of German descent, handsome, and he's also an antagonist.
• General Blue is the only known homosexual character in Dragonball/Z/GT aside from Trunks's opponent, Otokosuki, in the World Tournament featured in some of the last episodes of Dragonball Z.
• In Budokai Tenkaichi 3, when General Blue uses his ultimate attack, Rocket Engine Spark (which has him getting into a rocket ship and igniting the engines to burn the enemy), against Frieza's third form (preferably as a finishing move), it resembles the death scene of the alien in the Alien film.
• General Blue uses a Rocket Ship Capsule in his Ultimate Blast, Rocket Engine Spark
• General Blue bares a resemblance to Isaza from Toriyama's later manga, Kajika. However, Isaza has sideburns and an altered hairstyle as a differential factor.
• During the cross-over, it is revealed that Blue has a long lost brother named Samuel when he confuses Obotchaman for his brother (although this is only in the English dub since the whole brother idea was to cover up for Blue's homosexual leaning).
• Along with incedent with Obotchaman General Blue it has been implied he has an attraction to little boys. In Budokai Tenkaichi 3, a special dialogue occurs between him & Kid Trunks. Blue comments on Trunks' appearence (giving the impression he finds Trunks attractive) with Trunks getting a little creeped out by his comment (however given the fact Blue is a homosexual, this maybe a reference to Trunks' initial reaction to Otokosuki's homosexuality during their fight in the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament)
• In Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Skewer, is the basically same technique Guldo used against Krillin and Gohan (except he physically throws a tree at his oppenent instead of throwing via telekinesis). Skewer (like Guldo Special) is based on an failed attack, General Blue attempted to use it to kill Goku during their encounter in Penguin Village, but was interupted before he could finish. Guldo's technique also failed to kill Krillin & Gohan, as he was beheaded by Vegeta before he could complete the attack.
• In Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Blue has a disgust for women. When he's paired up with Fasha, Videl, or Zangya, he makes an outcry telling them to not come near him. Saying "Disgusting!!" as well, leaving the girls confused about him. He doesn't do this to Android 18 (Though has a different dialogue with her), Pan (however she makes a remark about him), or Chi-Chi.