Polunga

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Polunga (ポルンガ, Porunga; FUNimation "Porunga", Viz "Porunga") is an Eternal Dragon from Planet Namek.

His name in the Namekian language translates to "Dragon of dreams", "Dragon of law", or "Dragon of love".

Biography

Polunga was the Eternal Dragon of Planet Namek summoned when all the Dragon Balls of Namek are gathered. Compared to the Earth Dragon Balls, the Namek Dragon Balls are quite large, being more towards the size of a basketball rather than the size of a small grapefruit. Also, since a year on Namek is only 130 days (as opposed to a year more than twice as long as that on Earth), the Namekian Dragon Balls can be gathered more often than the ones on Earth, and thus, Polunga can be called on more often than Shen Long.

As far as physical characteristics go, Polunga is much more brutal-looking than the Dragon of Planet Earth, Shen Long, with a heavily muscled upper body. Instead of looking snake-like in appearance, like Shen Long does, Polunga appears to be more alligator-like. He also has a large fin down the center of his back, and large spikes on his shoulders and head, as well as two antennae on his forehead.

Like Shen Long, Polunga was good and kind-hearted. Being that he was a Dragon, he had a temper and sometimes came off as impatient. He had demonstrated a greater eagerness to grant wishes (he was even shown to be happy for everyone after Tien and Chiaotzu were brought back to life after the battle against Freeza), however, and also was more friendly and patient than Shen Long, who tended to be grumpy and even more impatient when a summoner took an inordinate/excessive amount of time to make a wish. He had also shown to be able to show embarassment when Bulma said he was "kinda cute".

Grant-able wishes

Polunga preparing to grant a wish.

Besides being more friendly than Shen Long and being able to be summoned more often, Polunga is also stronger than Shen Long in that he can grant three wishes instead of one or two (technically, in the Buu Saga, Shen Long was capable of giving three wishes, but the attempt at reviving a mass amount of people that were killed by Majin Vegeta drained his energy to the extent that he was only capable of granting one more wish.).

Though he does not actually appear or get mentioned by name, it is stated that Slug and other Namekians were exiled with the help of the Dragon Balls. It is not actually originally explained what they did, but the FUNimation dub seems to indicate it was for misusing their powers.

Initially, Polunga had ability to bring only one person back to life at a time (though he could bring people back multiple times), as compared to Shen Long who can bring back an unspecified number of people but can only do so once. Later, Polunga's power is strengthened to bring back as many lives as needed. The Elder Kai criticized this as "a blasphemous act that disrupts the order of nature" (the meaning of this would later be explained in Dragon Ball GT), but did not seem to mind after that.

Like Shen Long, Polunga's wish-granting powers are limited by the power of his creator, Guru (and later on, Elder Moori). Any wish that is encompassed within his creator's power is able to be granted.

Non-grant-able wishes

It could be argued that Polunga is morally opposed to killing anyone who is good. When everyone had thought Goku had died when Planet Namek exploded after his fight against Freeza, they asked Polunga to bring him to the Check-In Station in the Next World from where Goku could be wished back to life and would end up on Plant Earth. Polunga refused, however, as he not only informed them that Goku was alive, but that if he moved Goku to the Check-In Station Goku would die. This is another potential contrast between Polunga and Shen Long, the latter of whom had been known to be more threatening (even threatening to kill a good character in one instance if a wish was not asked – something that Polunga had never done).

While Shen Long also had this limitation, it had been shown that Polunga would not revive or relocate someone against their will. For example, when Bulma and Dende asked Polunga to bring Goku back to Planet Earth after Planet Namek exploded, Goku requested to not be brought back. Polunga honored Goku's request and did not carry out the wish.

Also, wishes must be given in the Namekian language. This limitation prevented Freeza's wish for immortality from being granted, so it is possible that this may be some sort of safeguard against off-worlders misusing the Dragon Balls. Polunga was still able to respond to inquiries regarding his wish-granting abilities that were not made in the Namekian tongue, such as when Dende made a wish at the end of the Kid Buu Saga in the common language and Polunga responded, "Such a wish is well within my power to grant. Okay." Dende still had to deliver the wish in Namekian, however, before Polunga would grant the wish. The one exception to the language rule was during that same summoning when Dende wanted all of the inhabitants of Planet Earth, except the most evil ones, to be restored to life. Polunga did not understand the Namekian translation and so he allowed Dende to make the wish in the common language.

Granted wishes

Dragon Ball Z

• Asked by Dende during Frieza Saga on Planet Namek:

Polunga could not bring everyone back to life who had been killed by Vegeta on Earth.

• Revive Piccolo.
• Transport Piccolo to Planet Namek.
• Transport everyone except Son Goku and Freeza to Planet Earth.

• Asked by Dende on Planet Earth:

• Bring the souls of Kuririn and Goku to Planet Earth's check-in station to the spirit well.

Polunga could not bring Goku to Planet Earth's check-in station because Goku was not dead

• Revive Kuririn.

Polunga also could not bring Goku back to Planet Earth because Goku did not want to return.

• Revive Yamucha.

• Asked by Dende on Planet Earth 130 days later:

• Revive Tenshinhan.
• Revive Chaozu.
• Transport all Namekians, with the exception of Piccolo and Kami, to New Planet Namek.

• Asked by Dende during the Kid Buu Saga on New Planet Namek:

• Re-construct Planet Earth.
• Revive all people of Planet Earth.
• Restore Goku's energy.

Dragon Ball GT

• Asked by Moori on New Planet Namek:
  • Re-construct Planet Earth after it had been destroyed by the Black Star Dragon Ball's side-effect.

Video games

• Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury:
  • As this is an adaptation of the manga/anime, he grants the same three wishes he granted in the Kid Buu Saga.

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai:
  • In The True Ruler, after defeating Super Saiyan Goku, Polunga appears and grants Freeza wish for eternal life (despite the fact that it was not spoken in Namekian).

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2:
  • Zarbon collects the Namek Dragon Balls in his story mode entitled Beautiful Treachery and wishes for eternal youth and eternal beauty.

• Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors:
  • In Piccolo what if story, Piccolo wishes for King Piccolo be brought back to life so he can fuse with him and become whole as a Namekian.

• Dragon Ball GT: Transformation:
  • At the end of the game, he grants the same wish he granted in the Baby Saga.

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3:
  • The Dragon Balls can be collected and Polunga can be summoned. He will allow three wishes for items.

• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2:
  • The Dragon Balls can be collected to summon Polunga who will allow three wishes for items.

Voice actors

• Japanese dub: Daisuke Gōri (Dragon Ball Z, Early Dragon Ball Kai) Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (Late Dragon Ball Kai onwards)
• Ocean Group dub: Richard Newman (Buu Saga)
• FUNimation dub: Christopher R. Sabat

Trivia

• Porunga's name is written as Polunga in the credits of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi.
• Though Polunga cannot accept wishes made in the common language, he is a fluent speaker of it, and even responds to, Namekian wishes using it.
• North Kaio says that when Polunga restores a person to life, he returns them to the place where they died. This contradicts an earlier event, however, when Piccolo is wished back to life. As he lost his Halo, he was still on North Kaio's World until the Z Warriors used their second wish to bring him to Planet Namek even though he died on Planet Earth. It is possible that since Piccolo retained his body in the other world, he was revived there. The relocation rule might only apply for those who had died but not taken their body to the other world.
• In "Goku's Alive!!" (edited), the police officer yells, "What! It's Godziller!"
• There is a chance that Polunga's power to revive/transport is dependent on the permission of the person being revived/transported; in "Goku's Alive!!", Polunga stated that he could not bring Goku back to Earth because Goku refused to return.