Piccolo (Dragon Ball)
Piccolo is a
fictional character from the
manga Dragon Ball and
animes
Dragon Ball,
Dragon Ball Z and
Dragon Ball GT.
Piccolo is a
Namekian and his background is quite convoluted. He is the child of
Piccolo Daimaō, but inherited all of the Great Demon King's power and memories, making Piccolo more of a reincarnation. Daimaō himself was a single being with
Kami once, a Namek whose name isn't known. The nameless Namek is the child of
Katattsu.
After his intense battle with
Goku, Piccolo Daimaō's last action was to spit out an egg containing his offspring, who was to avenge his death. After hatching from his egg, Piccolo spent the next three years in intensive training, preparing himself for the 23rd
Tenka'ichi Budôkai. To disguise himself, he wore a white turban and cape, and used the alias
Ma Jr. (
Demon Junior).
When the tournament started, Piccolo easily breezes past the preliminaries and into the finals. From there Piccolo first faces off against
Kuririn, a match that he easily wins, though he is surprised by the resilience of the small warrior. His next match is against a surprisingly powerful but nerdish human named Shen. After a few blows, they then exchange some dialogue in Namekian and Piccolo realises that it's Kami-sama. His reason for temporarily entering his soul into this human's body is to use it as a vessel for conealing his arcane appearance and identity. Kami's also responsible for renaming the man, "Shen", (who's never officially identified) a prefix of the name of Earth's eternal dragon, Shenron. Piccolo, now believes he's safe, as neither Piccolo or Kami can survive if the other is killed. Kami then pulls out a small bottle and attempts the
mafuba technique (or evil containment wave), but his human host is weak, allowing Piccolo to reflect the attack and trap Kami himself within the bottle. Piccolo gloats at having trapped Kami and swallows the bottle to keep it safe.
Piccolo's next fight is the one he's been waiting for, the chance to get revenge against Goku. Though Piccolo uses an assortment of new techniques, Goku finds a way to make many of them work to his advantage, including freeing Kami from within Piccolo. Finally, after being slammed by a powerful
Kamehameha by Goku, Piccolo looks like he's beaten. This is a ruse however, and when Goku drops his guard Piccolo seizes the opportunity to blast him through the shoulder using his
Kochikarakikouha (a blast from the mouth). Piccolo then systematically cripples Goku and fires a very powerful
Bakurikimaha (a charged energy blast) attack at his now immobile opponent, destroying most of the arena. Thinking Goku is dead, Piccolo turns his attention to Goku's friends. Goku had however used his final ace-up-the-sleeve, his ability to fly, to first dodge the blast and then to smash himself into Piccolo, knocking the demon out of the ring and unconscious.
With the tournament won, Goku is given a
senzu bean by
Yajirobe and makes an instant recovery. Goku then gives one to Piccolo as an act of mercy; Piccolo eats the bean and warns that he's still going to kill Goku before taking off.
Vegeta Saga
(Saiyan Saga)Piccolo is the second earthling to run into the evil alien
Raditz, who had mistaken Piccolo's power for that of Goku's. Piccolo attacks him with his Bakurikimaha attack, but he cannot harm him and is left in utter shock as Raditz flies off for Goku. Piccolo realizes that he must put aside his conquest of Earth temporarily and join forces with Goku to defeat Raditz so that there may be an Earth left to conquer.
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Piccolo fires the Makankosappo. |
The battle against Raditz seems hopeless though, as the alien warrior easily overpowers both Piccolo and Goku, even managing to destroy Piccolo's left arm (though, as Namekian, he can regrow lost limbs). As a last resort, Piccolo informs Goku of a new, very powerful attack he's developed, the
Makankosappo; the downside to it is that it takes a long time to charge so Goku will have to face Raditz alone until it is readied. Goku agrees and battles Raditz until Piccolo is able to take his shot, but Raditz dodges it. Piccolo charges a second one when Goku is able to paralyze the
saiyan by grabbing his tail, but Raditz escapes from that by using Goku's empathy against him, begging Goku not to let him be killed. Eventually, Goku grabs Raditz in a full nelson, and screams for Piccolo to take the shot and kill them both; an offer Piccolo relishes. The second shot rings true, with the Makankosappo bursting clean through Goku and Raditz at chest level, mortally wounding both.
Just before dying, Raditz takes grim satisfaction in the fact that Goku will die himself, but Piccolo corrects him by saying that Goku's friends can easily wish him back with the
Dragon Balls. When Raditz hears this, however, he begins to laugh at Earth's misfortune. He boasts that the
scouter he is wearing is also a communicator, and Piccolo's words have been heard by two other Saiyans far out in space. He goes on to state that they will certainly want to make a wish for themselves and will arrive in one year. In anger, Piccolo finishes Raditz off.
Kami detects at this point that Piccolo is changing; Raditz's soul went to the after-life when usually those who are killed by demons remain in limbo for all of eternity.
With two more saiyans, each more powerful then Raditz, on the way, Piccolo kidnaps Goku's son
Son Gohan; he does this in order to train the boy and use his massive potential to help defend the Earth from the invaders. Though his treatment to Gohan is harsh, he begins to care for him, and the two form an unbreakable bond.
When the two Saiyans arrive on Earth, Piccolo learns that he is from
Planet Namek, the origin of the original Dragon Balls. Kami, who can hear what Piccolo hears, reflects that this is why the creation of the Dragon Balls of Earth felt so familiar. The saiyans soon start the fight off by creating several
Saibamen which they instruct to fight in a mock tournament against Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn,
Tenshinhan,
Chaozu and
Yamcha. Most are destroyed by a powerful attack from Kuririn, and the last is finished off by Piccolo.
The saiyans, at first, decide not to kill Piccolo so that they may learn more of the Dragon Balls. The smaller saiyan,
Vegeta, soon changes his mind, claiming that they may find more Dragon Balls on Namek. Therefore, the larger saiyan,
Nappa, refuses to hold back and soon engages Piccolo and Kuririn after crippling Tien and withstanding Chaozu's suicide attack seemingly without damage.
Piccolo comes up with a plan for the fight: he and Kuririn will assault Nappa with strong attacks long enough for Gohan to blast him while he's disoriented. It seems to work until, at the last second, Gohan chokes up, forcing Piccolo and Kuririn to try and hit him instead; the change of plan doesn't work and Nappa is able to avoid their attacks.
As Nappa gears up to again attack Piccolo and Gohan, Tien intervenes and, in his rage over Chaozu's death, kills himself using his most potent attack, but has minimal results. After Tien's death, Vegeta, eager to meet Goku, tells Nappa to wait for three hours for Goku to arrive. Nearing the end of the three hours Piccolo comes up with another plan for attacking Nappa: he'll grab Nappa's tail to paralyze him and then Gohan and Kuririn will blast him while he's helpless. The plan fails however, as Nappa easily drops Piccolo after his tail is grabbed; the tail isn't a weak spot on these trained saiyans.
When Vegeta detects that Goku is arriving, and that he's more powerful then anticipated, he orders Nappa to quickly kill Piccolo and Gohan as their working with Goku they might prove a challenge. Goku's resurrection proves that the Dragon Balls are legitimate so they can use the Dragon Balls on Namek and don't really need the ones tied to Piccolo anyway. Nappa first aims for Gohan with an extremely powerful attack, but Piccolo jumps in the way of it, sacrificing himself to save Gohan.
After the saiyans are beaten by Goku and the rest of the crew, Gohan, Kuririn and
Bulma head to Namek and find the Dragon Balls there so that they can wish Piccolo and Kami back to life and restore the Dragon Balls of Earth.
Freeza Saga
As Goku was forced to do months back, Piccolo traverses the winding Snake Way to
North Kaiô's planet. There, he, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu all train under the watchful eye of Kaio and, though Piccolo never learns Kaio's secret techniques, his power does increase immensely.
On Namek, Gohan, Kuririn, and
Dende, a young namekian, gather the Dragon Balls and summon the Namekian Dragon,
Porunga (who allows three wishes, as opposed to the Earth Dragon,
Shenlong, who only allows one). Piccolo contacts Gohan via telepathy and demands he be resurrected with the first wish, be sent to Namek to battle Freeza with the second, and then Gohan could do whatever with the last wish. Piccolo's reasoning was that if he is brought back, then the
Earth Dragon Balls will immediately return alongside Kami, allowing for wishes to be made to bring back Tenshinhan and Yamcha.
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Piccolo encounters the dying Nail. |
Piccolo soon arrives on Namek at a random point, since Gohan did not specify where on Namek he should be sent. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing his strangely familiar homeland for the first time and feeling the suffering of his people, Piccolo heads in the direction of a large ki source, believing it to be
Freeza. During his flight, he passes over a dying namekian,
Nail; a fighter-type namek who was earlier mauled by Freeza. Piccolo drops down to inspect his crippled brethren and they begin to talk. Nail states that if Piccolo had rejoined his other half he might stand a chance against Freeza but since Piccolo is not able to go back to Earth and definitely won't join with Kami, Nail offers Piccolo to join with him instead. At first, Piccolo refuses, but Nail explains that Piccolo will not lose his personality, he will only feel the power gained from the fusion. Piccolo reluctantly accepts and after the fusion is complete he revels in his awesome new power and rushes to Freeza's location.
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Piccolo battles Freeza in his second form. |
When Piccolo arrives, he finds a battle in progress between Gohan, Kuririn, and Vegeta, with Dende supporting them, against Freeza. He then takes on Freeza, who is in his second form, alone and matches him evenly. Vegeta is shocked to find that the Namekian that Nappa killed so easily mere months ago has become so powerful. After a brief exchange of blows, Freeza transforms into his next state and assaults Piccolo with a large barrage of invisible and virtually unavoidable shots, crippling the namek. Gohan intervenes and blasts Freeza with a large bolt, but Freeza knocks it back and Piccolo uses the last of his strength to deflect the projectile with one of his own before it can hit the young Saiyan. Freeza then begins his final transformation and Gohan uses the opportunity to take Piccolo to Dende, who has the ability to heal others. Piccolo quickly recovers but he knows that he is even more thoroughly outclassed by Freeza's new form. Freeza begins his renewed attack with a single blast that kills Dende, preventing the warriors from being healed again; Piccolo, Gohan and Kuririn respond with a joint assault but Freeza seemingly effortlessly evades all of their attacks.
Piccolo is then reduced to the sidelines, watching as a strengthened Vegeta attacks and falls against Freeza, helpless to intervene. After Goku arrives, Piccolo, Gohan, and Kuririn get out of their way and watch him and Freeza duel from afar. Goku is soon overwhelmed by Freeza and, in desperation, attempts to use the Genki Dama. In order to buy Goku some time, Piccolo takes most of the remaining from Gohan and Kuririn and jumps in to help, catching Freeza off-guard and kicking him in the head, giving Goku
just enough time to finish the Genki Dama and launch it at the enemy. Freeza is not destroyed by the attack though, and shoots a powerful beam through Piccolo which leaves him near dead. Piccolo remains as such for the rest of the battle, but is healed by Dende after being sent to Earth by a wish made to Shenlong.
When the namekians find a planet suitable to be
New Namek, Piccolo declines to travel with them, and he stays on Earth with Gohan. Piccolo does not desire the peaceful, therefore dull, life to be had on Namek.
Androids Saga
One year after the events on Namek, Piccolo sensed Freeza and another powerful being coming to the Earth. He headed to the place where he detected they would land, soon joined by Vegeta, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Gohan and Kuririn. Despair sets in on the group as they realize that there's little they can do to oppose such powerful foes.
Soon after Freeza and his father,
King Cold, land they are confronted by a
mysterious youth who proves himself to be a
Super Saiyan and almost effortlessly destroys them and their minions. Piccolo and the others follow the youth, who tells them when and where Goku will be arriving. Just as the boy predicted, Goku lands and the boy converses with him privately, though Piccolo's superior hearing allows him to listen in. The boy, known as
Trunks, is the future son of Vegeta and Bulma and reveals a terrible plot by
Dr. Gero to create powerful
androids for the sole purpose of annihilating Goku; the androids spiral out of control though and go on to destroy everything around them, making Trunks' world a nightmare. They eventually kill all the Z Fighters with the exception of Goku, who dies early from a heart disease; Trunks has come back in time to both give Goku the medicine to cure the disease and give the Z Fighters ample warning. Trunks then leaves and Piccolo, since Goku doesn't know how to tell the group what he learned and forgot some important details, explains everything to the group, excepting who Trunks is. The group then splits up to begin training for the oncoming threat; Piccolo decides to do his training alongside Goku and Gohan.
The years pass by and Goku, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn and Piccolo meet at the designated time to confront the androids.
Yajirobe drops by briefly to give the group some senzu and, as he's leaving, his vehicle is destroyed. Still not sensing their opponents, they realize that, being androids, they are undetectable and therefore must be searched for by sight; Piccolo and the others enter the city to search, but do not know what the androids look like. They soon detect a large drop in Yamcha's ki and rush to the scene, finding both the two androids and a critically wounded Yamcha. Goku soon leads the androids to a different location so that the city isn't destroyed in their fight, though the androids demolish a large portion of it before they leave.
The androids choose to fight in a desolate region filled with rocky hills. Piccolo surmises that they chose the location so that they could escape to the hills if the fight turns out badly for them. After the androids explain that they've been watching Goku since he defeated the
Red Ribbon Army up until his battle with Vegeta, Goku attacks Android 19; the androids did not know of his ability to go Super Saiyan and therefore his true strength. Piccolo is startled after Goku transforms, his power being much lower then it should be. Though Goku seems to be winning in the early part of the fight, he quickly loses his energy due to his heart disease and is taken down.
Piccolo and the others attempt to intervene but Android 20 blocks their path. Piccolo attempts to kick 20 out of the way, but 20 evades and shoots him with his eye lasers, sending him crashing to the ground. Vegeta then arrives, kicking Android 19 off of Goku and Piccolo quickly gets back up, revealing that he was pretending to be injured by 20's attack in order to catch the androids off guard. Vegeta then kicks Goku out of the battle and Piccolo catches him, setting him down so Yamcha can take him home and get him his medicine. Vegeta and 19 then battle, with Vegeta decisively victorious. Android 20, nervous of Vegeta's new power, flees to the hills.
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Piccolo battles Dr. Gero, severing the android's arm. |
Piccolo and the others start searching the hills for 20, but Piccolo is soon ambushed. With 20 holding a tight grip over his mouth and draining his energy, Piccolo sends out a telepathic message to Gohan. Gohan is alerted to the situation and heads for Piccolo's now shrinking ki; he finds 20 and Piccolo and smashes 20 off. Piccolo receives a senzu from Kuririn and states that he will fight Android 20 himself. 20 is taken off guard by Piccolo's speed and he quickly hits the android with several powerful blows, finishing with a powerful chop which takes off 20's arm then smashing him into the ground. At this time Trunks shows up and states that 20 is not the same android which caused such devastation in the future; he is followed closely by Bulma in her skycar. 20 sees his opportunity to escape and looses an energy wave, destroying Bulma's vehicle and distracting everyone while he runs away, stating that he's going to activate
Android 17 and
Android 18.
Bulma informs the group that Android 20 is actually Dr. Gero and of the location of his lab in the Northern Capital. Piccolo then tells Bulma about Trunks, who at this point is already born. He then takes off with Kuririn and Tenshinhan to the Northern Capital to find Gero's lab and destroy the cyborgs before they can be awakened. Kuririn finds the lab and alerts the others, but they arrive too late and the cyborgs are activated. Vegeta takes off after them and Piccolo and the others follow; when they catch up, they find that Vegeta has been fighting Android 18 and is not faring well. Android 17 warns them that if they get involved in the fight, he will as well. They watch the fight and, though Vegeta seems to be on roughly equal footing, Piccolo points out that he's getting tired and the android is not. When Trunks gets involved with the fight after Vegeta receives a serious hit, Piccolo also charges in; both are quickly swatted down by 17. When Piccolo gets back up, he charges at 17 who is choking Tenshinhan and is felled with a single blow.
Cell Saga
Kuririn gives each a senzû and Piccolo states he has an idea. When Kuririn asks what it is, Piccolo angrily snaps at him and then abruptly takes off to
Kami's Lookout. Piccolo doesn't need to explain to Kami why he's come, Kami having already read his thoughts that Piccolo wants to remerge. Piccolo rebuffs Kami, stating that they are not merging, Piccolo will simply be using the old namek as a tool to become more powerful. Regardless, Kami is not opposed to the idea of re-merging with Piccolo, but he wants to observe the situation for a while longer to be sure that his last decision is made for valid reasons. Piccolo starts to argue with him but Kami counters by pointing out that even Trunks stated these androids are different and that it was Vegeta who started the fight they just had. Piccolo calls Kami a coward for his reluctance and waits on the lookout for him to change his mind. When Kami learns of the recent arrival of a danger from the future far greater then the cyborgs, he realizes he has no choice. With Piccolo serving as the base they rejoin, becoming the original namek they once were before they split so long ago; a namek who doesn't remember his given name.
Piccolo rushes to Ginger Town, the location of this murderous new enemy. The bug-like creature claims that he is Piccolo's brother, and the two engage in battle. Piccolo seems to have the upper hand, but is taken off guard when the creature launches a Kamehameha, as he's dodging the blast the creature latches onto Piccolo's back and stings his arm, draining the life from it and rendering the limb useless and withered. Piccolo head-butts the creature and breaks free but claims that with his injury he has been defeated, luring the creature into explaining his actions. The creature reveals his name as
Cell, and that he is a combination of Earth's greatest warriors put together by Dr. Gero. His purpose is to locate Androids 17 and 18 and take their energy so that he may achieve his
Perfect Form. Now knowing the creatures origin and intentions Piccolo exposes his ruse, tearing the withered arm free and growing a healthy one in its place, now prepared to resume battle with Cell.
Trunks and Kuririn soon arrive and Cell, now outnumbered, uses the
Taiyô-ken and escapes. Tenshinhan and Vegeta soon arrives and Piccolo explains the nature of Cell to them. He and Tenshinhan then search for Cell as the monster travels from town to town absorbing people, but Cell detects their ki and then lowers his own and hides every time they get close. Piccolo begins traveling on a jet plane, piloted by Yamcha, with Tenshinhan, Gohan and Kuririn so that they can keep their ki hidden while searching for the creature. While searching, a recovered Goku teleports onto the plane and explains that he has a plan for himself, Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks to use the
Room of Spirit and Time in order to train for a year in span of one Earth-day; he then takes Gohan and teleports back to Kami's Lookout. Piccolo and the rest keep searching but Piccolo begins to despair, he knows that with each town Cell attacks, his strength grows and the monster will soon be powerful enough to confront and absorb the androids.
Piccolo and the rest soon return to the
Kame House. By luck, good or bad, the androids soon arrive, looking for Goku. Piccolo decides to use this opportunity to try and destroy them, thereby preventing them being absorbed by Cell. They head to a deserted island and Piccolo learns that he will only have to fight Android 17, giving him a chance at victory. He and Android 17 are roughly equal in strength, and though Piccolo does not have the infinite stamina of his opponent, he does have several tricks up his sleeve. Before they can end their battle though Cell arrives.
With his increase in strength from absorbing thousands of humans Cell is now considerably more powerful then Piccolo and easily smacks him around when Piccolo attempts to defend Android 17. Without any other options, Piccolo uses his desperation attack, the
Gekiretusokodan and destroys the island they are fighting on. Cell avoids taking any damage from the attack though and moves to finish Piccolo off. With one swift punch he downs the namek then picks him up and snaps his neck; to complete the job Cell blasts Piccolo clean through his stomach and tosses him into the ocean. Piccolo still barely lives though and is soon rescued by Goku and taken back to Kami's Lookout.
Piccolo quickly recovers, but with Cell having absorbed Android 17 and now in his even more powerful Semi-Perfect form he can do nothing but watch. He observed as a powered-up Vegeta first defeated Cell and then allowed him to absorb Android 18 and attain his perfect form. He also witnessed Cell's subsequent victory over Trunks and his announcement of the
Cell Games, giving the Earth's defenders ten days to prepare.
When Goku and Gohan emerge from the Room of Spirit and Time, Gohan requests for Piccolo to give him a copy of his uniform, which Piccolo happily conjures; he is also startled by how much more powerful Goku became. Piccolo enters the Room of Spirit and Time for his two days and, though he becomes significantly stronger, is still nowhere near powerful enough to challenge Cell. After he emerges, he is asked by Goku if it's possible for him to split back into Kami and Piccolo in order to restore the Dragon Balls, which were nullified when Kami was absorbed by Piccolo. Piccolo states he cannot split again so Goku instead goes to Namek for a new Kami and returns with Dende who takes the position and promptly reactivates the Dragon Balls.
Piccolo accompanies Goku and the others to the Cell Games when the time arrives. He stays on the sidelines for most of the battle but speaks up when Goku, after first battling then yielding to Cell, volunteers Gohan to fight; Piccolo states that no matter how strong Gohan became, there's no way he can fight Cell. He criticizes even further when Goku tosses a senzu to Cell so that the fight is "fair". When Cell manages to grab Gohan in a
bear hug and begins crushing him, Piccolo curses Goku for his action, and prepares to enter the battle, even though it likely means his death. Cell soon stops his attack though, deciding to target Gohan's friends instead. He soon spawns seven
Cell Juniors, one for each Z Fighter watching the fight. Piccolo struggles against this miniature terror until Gohan finally snaps and goes
Super Saiyan 2, killing all of Cell's spawn before taking down Cell, twice, mostly alone, though he is aided in the final Kamehameha wave duel by all the surviving Z Fighters, including Piccolo, who attempt to distract Cell by firing energy blasts at his unprotected back.
Buu Saga
When Piccolo is informed by a now teenaged Gohan that Goku (who sacrificed his life in the struggle against Cell seven years ago) is coming back to Earth for one day and that they are entering the Tenka'ichi Budôkai along with Vegeta, Kuririn and Android 18, he decides to enter himself as well, under the alias of Ma Jr. once again. While there, Piccolo encounters a small purple alien who disturbs him deeply. When it's Piccolo's turn to fight, he faces the alien as his first opponent and finds that he is extremely reluctant to attack him, causing him to question just who this being is. The alien responds directly to Piccolo's thoughts, telling him that he'll find out soon enough and that for now they should just enjoy the game. Piccolo quickly surrenders the match without raising a fist. When they meet in spectators area, Piccolo asks the alien if he's
Dai-Kaio (ruler of the Kaio, a set of four gods who each watch over quadrant of the galaxy), the aliens companion responds that he's actually
Kaioshin (a much higher god who looks after a quadrant of the universe). Piccolo, having much of Kami's essence, is awed by Kaioshin's presence and extremely respectful of his place on the divine hierarchy.
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Piccolo is turned to stone by Dabura's attack. |
During a later fight between Gohan and Kaioshin's intendant
Kibito, Gohan's energy is drained by two very oddly powerful humans after he is paralyzed by Kaioshin. Kaioshin then sets off to follow them, stating that any help would be appreciated; Piccolo immediately joins him, followed soon by Kuririn, Goku and Vegeta. As they travel, Kaioshin informs them that the two humans are possessed pawns of a wizard named
Babidi and they are collecting energy to revive an immensely powerful force of destruction known as
Buu. They are joined by a revived Gohan and Kibito and then hide on a mountain near Babidi's ship and watch as he destroys the two human pawns, their job being done. The group is then, without warning, attacked by
Dabura, the King of the Demons whom Babidi has possessed as his strongest henchman. Dabura quickly kills Kibito and spits on Kuririn and Piccolo, turning them to stone.
After Dabura is later killed by an awakened Buu, Piccolo returns to flesh in small pieces due to his statue form having been accidentally shattered by
Trunks; fortunately his head was not damaged and he was able completely regenerate. On returning to normal, the first thing Piccolo senses is the awesome power of Buu and in the field in front of them, he sees a badly beaten Kaioshin about to be turned into a snack for the monster. He is torn about what to do, as his instinct is to aid Kaioshin, but he knows that he can do nothing against Buu.
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Piccolo confronts the evil wizard Babidi. |
Before Buu can finish Kaioshin off though, Buu is attacked by Vegeta, now a Super Saiyan 2; he states that he will destroy Buu in vengenence for the monster's killing of Gohan, shocking Piccolo with the news. Piccolo watches their fight and barely escapes, along with Kuririn,
Goten (Goku's second son born shortly after the Cell Games) and Trunks after Buu unleases a massive
Angry Explosion from himself. When Buu resumes the attack on a badly wounded Vegeta, Piccolo is unable to prevent Trunks and Goten from rushing into the battle themselves. The pair manage to temporarily halt Buu, smashing him through some mountains and then attempt to aid Vegeta. Piccolo, in the meantime, confronts Babidi and chops the wizard in half, fatally injuring him.
Piccolo watches as Vegeta knocks the two kids out. When he descends to Vegeta, the Saiyan asks him to take the children far from the battle-site and Piccolo realizes that Vegeta plans on sacrificing himself. Vegeta confirms this by asking if he will see Kakarot (Goku's original, Saiyan name) in the afterlife and Piccolo states he won't; Vegeta has committed too many evil actions to be on the same plane as Goku and he will likely be reincarnated, after his spirit is purified, instead. Piccolo, carrying the children, then retreats with Kuririn until they witness an enormous blast. Piccolo gives the kids to Kuririn and tells him to tell everyone else what has happened and then goes back to the battle-site to see what has transpired.
When he reaches the site, now a small crater, he finds a still barely alive Babidi. As he moves in to finish him off, Piccolo notices the pieces of Buu moving. They quickly shape themselves into full miniature versions of Buu and begin colliding into each other, reforming the original Buu. He makes a fast retreat, catching up with Kuririn and informing him that they have to go to Kami's Lookout in the slight chance that it might offer sanctuary. Goku soon arrives after them and they trade stories, informing Piccolo of Vegeta's willingness to become Babidi's pawn in order to gain power and his subsequent battle with Goku prior to his attacking Buu. Goku also informs Piccolo of the
fusion dance technique he learned in the after-life; since both Gohan and Vegeta are gone there's no one for him to perform it with himself, but he can teach it to Trunks and Goten.
Babidi then contacts all inhabitants of Earth telepathically, stating that he wants the location of Trunks, Goten and Piccolo and will destroy cities until they are found. After the first city is destroyed Piccolo states that he will go to Buu to try and spare some of the destruction, but Goku insists that he doesn't so that Piccolo can help teach the boys the fusion technique. Once Goku returns to the after-life, Piccolo takes over their instruction fully, correcting them on the mistakes they make when their fusions fail the first two times. When the fusion works properly, he finds an entirely new challenge in trying to install some discipline and control in the extremely powerful, and equally arrogant,
Gotenks.
The first time they fuse properly, Gotenks attacks Buu in his base form and returns to the lookout beaten. After Goten and Trunks fuse while in Super Saiyan state, Gotenks rushes off to battle again, this time with Piccolo following him. Gotenks wastes a large amount of time demonstrating his power, only seeking Buu when there's one minute left in the thirty minute fusion limit.
While waiting the hour needed for them to recover and fuse again, Piccolo observes the changes in Buu, brought about by his friendship with
Mr. Satan (a human who fraudulently took credit for defeating Cell and therefore became regarded as the world's greatest hero). Soon after, he witnessed the fission of Buu into two separate Buu's, the battle between them, and the absorption of the original Buu by the new evil Buu, resulting in even more powerful
Super Buu. The new Buu is able to detect ki and quickly arrives at Kami's Lookout, looking for the strong person who Goku said would fight with him. Piccolo tries to stall by saying that the fighter is sleeping and pleads for more time; when Buu refuses, Piccolo, desperate for time, asks Buu to kill off the rest of humanity first before they fight. Buu agrees and, with one attack, sends out innumerable blasts, one for each person remaining on Earth. When he demands to fight again, Piccolo asks that they have one hour to wake the warrior up and get him prepared, adding that Mr. Satan's child (
Videl, who was brought to the lookout) also wants him to wait. Buu reluctantly agrees, but vows to kill everyone afterwards.
Piccolo wastes no time and quickly ushers Goten and Trunks into the Room of Spirit and Time where they can train for fifteen Hyperbolic days in the hour that Buu has allowed them. While waiting, he explains to Videl how Buu knows about her father and his achievement of taming the original Buu. After a bit less then thirty minutes, Buu loses patience and demands to fight their warrior immediately. Piccolo relents and starts leading Buu to the Room of Spirit and Time, taking the long way to maximize the time it will take. He contacts Goten and Trunks telepathically, telling them that he'll be at the room with Buu in one minute, giving them six hours to rest up for the fight. Piccolo also has a secret plan that, if Gotenks isn't capable of stopping Buu, he'll destroy the entrace to the Room of Spirit and Time, locking Buu inside for all of eternity; Goten, Trunks and himself will likely be killed shortly after and could be wished back with the Dragon Balls.
Once Buu is in the room Piccolo watches as Gotenks attacks him in base form with a multitude of goofy moves, doing no damage. Gotenks then turned Super Saiyan and, with a powerful kamikaze ghost attack, blew Buu to bits. Piccolo, knowing what happened last time when Vegeta did relatively the same thing, ordered Gotenks to destroy all the pieces of Buu; it was in vain as the vapours from the burned pieces regathered and formed back into Buu.
Piccolo then asked Gotenks if he had any more special attacks left, which Gotenks denied, stating that all was lost. With seemingly no options left, Piccolo destroyed the entrance, trapping them in the room forever. Buu, so enraged about not having access to any candy ever again in his location let out a mighty scream, ripping the fabric between the dimensions and creating a portal through which he escaped. Piccolo and Gotenks tried several times to recreate Buu's portal but without any success. Eventually, when all seemed lost, Gotenks revealed that he had something up his sleeves and turned Super Saiyan 3. He then quickly blared open a portal which himself and Piccolo escaped from. On exiting Buu boasted of his devouring all the people on the lookout, causing Gotenks to finally get serious and fight Buu fully. The resulting battle destroyed Kami's Lookout, leaving Piccolo dispaired until he was asked by Gotenks to assist him in an attack where Buu was battered around like a volleyball.
Piccolo continued to observe the battle until Gotenks, just as he was about to finish Buu off, reverted back to his base form shortly before the fusion itself wore off. Seeing no hope left, Piccolo prepared to make his last stand with the two Saiyans. Buu was distracted though, and the appearance of Gohan, now massively more powerful then he had been before was the reason. Gohan attacked Buu and proved to be his superior by far; Buu retaliated by exploding and hiding his ki from the group. While waiting for him to reappear, Gohan filled Piccolo in on his training at the planet of the Kaioshin's, where he'd been since his first encounter with the original Buu while Piccolo was a statue, and his mystical power up by the workings of an old Kaioshin that predated the current one by fifteen generations.
They then left to find Dende, whom Gohan sensed was still alive. On the way they encountered Mr. Satan and Piccolo picked him up, seeing in him the beginnings of a true hero. They then reunited with Dende, but it was brief as Buu chose this moment to attack them again. Though Gohan stepped up to defeat him for good, Buu instead challenged Goten and Trunks to fight him as Gotenks; which they obliged. It was part of his plan though and once Gotenks appeared he sprung his trap, absorbing him for his power and also Piccolo for his intelligence.
Piccolo remained a part of Buu until he was rescued by Vegeta and Goku, who had returned from the after-life, fused together, and deliberately got absorbed by Buu in order to rescue their friends from Buu. It was short-lived though, as before he had even regained consciousness, the Earth, along with Piccolo, Gohan, Trunks and Goten was destroyed.
Piccolo was soon revived, along with the Earth and all its inhabitants, by wishes made on Porunga. He then gave his energy to help form a Genki Dama being created by Goku to finish off Buu after receiving Vegeta's galaxy-wide message, broadcast by North Kaio.
Piccolo's last action in the series was, along with the rest of the major characters, to attend the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai and witness the emergence of Uub, the good, human reincarnation of Buu.
Dragon Ball movies
Piccolo arrives at Garlic Jr's castle in time to help Goku out, stating that this is the first and last time they will ever team up. Piccolo also wanted to fight Garlic Jr. so Kami wouldn't die and Piccolo could continue plotting his revenge against Son Goku and his friends. Piccolo and Goku are utterly beaten by the powered up Garlic Jr. Then as Son Goku is blown into the Deadzone, Son Gohan powers up and blasts Garlic Jr. into the Deadzone, ending the battle. Piccolo leaves the castle while everybody celebrates.
The movie starts off with Piccolo meditating by a waterfall. Gohan soon joins him and offers to show him something, himself and his pet dragon dancing in synchronization to Gohan's whistling. The shrill sound is painful to Piccolo's sensitive hearing and he demands that it end immediately.
They are soon interrupted when they detect a meteor headed on a crash course with the Earth. It turns out that the meteor is actually a space ship containing an invading army, which Gohan soon attacks but is forced to retreat when
Lord Slug shows up. He and Piccolo soon return and are met by three of Slug's top henchmen. Piccolo quickly kills one of them, but is forced to absorb several attacks while protecting Gohan from the other two and is knocked out of the fight.
When Piccolo recovers, he sees that Lord Slug, who is revealed to be an evil namek, has grown to a massive size and is close to defeating Goku. Piccolo rips off his ears and then rushes in to battle Lord Slug, at the same time commanding Gohan to start whistling. Piccolo is on the receiving end of some thrashing until Gohan's whistling, coupled with Slug's now massive ears, brings the giant to his knees. Piccolo, now almost utterly spent, gives the last of his energy to Goku who goes on to defeat Lord Slug.
After Freeza's death, his brother
Cooler comes to Earth seeking vengeance. He is accompanied by three henchmen:
Salza (an alien with blue skin),
Doore (a large green skinned warrior) and
Naize (a reptile-like fighter with red skin).
Cooler and his men attack rapidly and soon they manage to incapacitate Goku and then capture Gohan, who was on his way back to Goku with senzu beans. Gohan is in the process of having his head squeezed by the powerful Doore when Piccolo intervenes by blasting Doore in the back.
Doore drops Gohan and charges at Piccolo, but Piccolo evades the attack and counters with a powerful elbow to Doore's head, sending him crashing to the ground. Naize and Salza both rush Piccolo and Doore gets back up to chase an escaping Gohan. Piccolo responds by firing a beam seemingly at Naize, which the red fighter dodges, but it goes on to home in on Doore who can neither dodge nor stop it and is killed. Naize retaliates to this by firing a purple blast at Piccolo which traps him in a field of electricity, slowly frying him. Thinking the battle is over, Salza takes off to pursue Gohan and Naize gets in close to taunt his defeated opponent. Piccolo quickly breaks free of the field by grabbing onto Naize's head and transferring it to him, killing him instantly; he then fires two ki bolts at Salza, forcing him to break off his pursuit of Gohan to deflect them. Piccolo and Salza soon battle in hand-to-hand combat within a forest; Piccolo is looking to have the upperhand until he is blasted by Cooler and incapacitated.
Cooler carries Piccolo's body to a renewed Goku and blasts it, seemingly killing the namek. Piccolo survived though, and recovered soon after Goku had killed Cooler. He intervened one last time when Salza attempted to take advantage of the battered state of Goku, Kuririn and Gohan by killing him with a Makankosappo.
Piccolo and the other Z Fighters head to New Namek when they are informed that the nameks are in danger. When they arrive, they find that the planet is being destroyed by the moon-like Big Gete Star and that the nameks are being captured and herded away into a large ship by robotic sentries. The robots are led by
Meta-Cooler, a metallic version of the original Cooler.
Goku goes off to confront Meta-Cooler while Piccolo, Gohan and Kuririn engage the robot army. At first they can not damage their tough armor, but Piccolo figures out that a strong, focused hit on a small area will be sufficient to breach it. At first they seem quite successful, destroying many of the robots, but more and more keep arriving and soon Kuririn and Gohan are overwhelmed and captured; Piccolo at this time is subjected to a massive ki barrage by multiple robots, preventing him from aiding them. Once the barrage is over, Piccolo unleashes a massive blast of his own, destroying the remaining robots.
Piccolo then heads into the core of the Gete Star, only to be caught and tortured by one of the many mass-produced Meta-Coolers. As the Big Gete Star becomes compromised in the actual Cooler's struggle with Goku and Vegeta (who arrived soon after the others), these remote-controlled copies begin to self-destruct, and Piccolo manages to rescue Gohan, Kuririn and the captured nameks.
On their way out the star starts to fall apart and they soon find Goku on the other side of a deep chasm; the span between erupts into flames and Piccolo grabs the group and continues exiting the star. Once back on the surface of New Namek, Piccolo and the others watch the star explode and Goku and Vegeta fall safely to the surface.
Piccolo arrives at the battle between the Z Fighters and Gero's three androids just in time to deflect a blast aimed at Gohan by Android 13. He then proceeds to grab 13, who is fighting against Goku, by the legs and throw him down, giving the Z Fighters a chance to regroup.
With the other two androids destroyed, 13 now faces Goku, Trunks, Vegeta and Piccolo alone. He then absorbs components from his two defeated companions and becomes the much more powerful
Super 13. After Vegeta and Trunk's failed assaults on the titan, Piccolo attacks Super 13, but is unable to do any damage at all and is swatted aside.
When he recovers, he finds 13 about to blast Goku, who is preparing the Genki Dama; he rushes in and lifts the android up from behind, causing the shot to aim high and miss. Piccolo is elbowed on the head by Super 13 and begins to have his face pressed in by the android's boot when Goku finally completes the Genki Dama and then proceeds to destroy him.
Trailing the Z Fighters in a Capsule Corp. spaceship, Piccolo arrives at the planet where Goku and the others are battling against
Broly just in time to save Gohan by deflecting a ki blast from Broly with one of his own.
Piccolo then proceeds to give senzu beans to Goku, Trunks and Gohan and then joins them in their renewed attack on Broly. During the melee, Piccolo is batted a considerable distance from the fight and lands near a despondant Vegeta, who is paralyzed with fear by the
Legendary Super Saiyan and won't fight. Piccolo responds to this malaise by grabbing Vegeta by the back of the head, dragging him to the scene of the fight, and throwing him on the ground. Even though Vegeta does join in the fight, all the Z Fighters are again quickly dispatched by Broly.
When Piccolo recovers from the second assault, he finds Goku standing alone against Broly and being beaten severely. Piccolo gives his energy to Goku and encourages the others to do the same, leading to Goku eventually gaining enough power to defeat Broly. Piccolo and the others then pass out from the exertion and are rescued by Goku who teleports them to Piccolo's ship, already in transit back to Earth.
Sometime after the Cell Saga, a Tenka'ichi Budokai is held by a wealthy man for his sons birthday. Piccolo entered the tournament to find some challenge, but found none in the preliminaries or against his first "real" opponent, Kuririn. Disappointed, Piccolo leaves, forfeiting his match with Kuririn.
Piccolo returns when he feels Gohan in trouble and arrives just in time to save him by deflecting a powerful ki bolt fired by
Bojack, a powerful alien warrior, with one of his own. Piccolo then attacks Bojack, but is quickly beaten and remains incapacitated until Gohan finally destroys the menace and his gang.
At the beginning of the movie, Goku dies of a heart disease and the Z Fighters are killed six months later at the hands of the Android twins #17 and #18; Piccolo is first to go, slain by Android 18. Piccolo's death was Kami's death, making it impossible for the Dragon Balls to be used ever again.
Dragon Ball GT
In Dragon Ball GT, Piccolo makes a few brief appearances.
In the
Bebi Saga, Piccolo detects the evil presence of
Bebi after he possess Goten and then shows up briefly after Bebi transfers bodies to Gohan and is quickly blasted by his kamehameha. He does not appear again until near the end of the saga when he saves a young boy who was left behind during the evacuation of the planet Earth, as it was about to explode. When Goku returns to teleport both Piccolo and the boy away, Piccolo gives him the energy he needs to do so, but remains behind. The reason for the Earth's destruction was due to the Black Star Dragon Balls, artifacts made by Kami/Piccolo before they originally split; by Piccolo's sacrifice, the Black Star Dragon Balls will be turned eternally to stone. His last moments show him having a telepathic farewell conversation with Gohan, still wounded from his blast.
Later, in the
Super Android 17 Saga, Piccolo, who is now in heaven, decides to get sent to Hell so that he and Dende can create a gateway between Hell and Earth that allows Goku to make it back and fight
Super 17. Piccolo sacrifices being in heaven, and chooses to spend eternity in Hell so that he can accomplish this. In the last episode, when Goku bids his fairwell to all of his friends, Piccolo is seen protecting the
oni against several monsters.
Video games
Piccolo has appeared as a playable character in:
*
Dragon Ball Z: Chou Saiya Densetsu*
Super Butoden /
2*
Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden*
Goku Hishouden (only in the vs. mode)
*
Goku Gekitouden*
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butouden*
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22*
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension*
Dragon Ball Z: Indainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu*
Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout*
Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors*
Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game*
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II*
Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu*
Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors /
2*
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai /
2 /
3*
Dragon Ball GT: Transformation*
Dragon Ball Z: Sagas*
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi /
2*
Jump Superstar*
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai*
Super Dragon Ball Z*
Battle Stadium D.O.NBakurikimaha (Exploding Powerful Demon Wave): A very powerful blast shot from one hand, the other arm is used to support the one that is firing the attack. Piccolo uses this technique against Goku in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai as a finishing move, against Raditz when they first meet, and twice during his battle with Android 17. This move is English dubbed as Destructive Wave.
;Bukuu Jutsu: The power of flight. It literally means "lighter than air skill". Most warriors in the Dragon Ball universe can do this.
;Bushitsu Shyutsu Gen Majyutsu: A magical ability to create objects from seemingly thin air. Piccolo uses this several times to create uniforms for himself and Gohan as well as a few other items. It is likely related to the ability that lets namekians create Dragon Balls.
;Chōbakuretsumaha (Hyper Explosive Demon Wave): An attack where Piccolo creates a large blast which eminates from him in all directions. He used this as one of his final ploys in his fight against Goku at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai and destroyed the arena in which they were fighting, but it had little effect on his opponent.
;Gekiretsu Kōdan (Violent Rending Light Projectile): A powerful bolt attack, Piccolo gathers power in front of him with his hands near his stomach then pushes the energy towards the opponent; he uses this attack on Imperfect Cell. Called Kakusan in the US dub and Light Grenade in the Budokai videogames.
;Kakusanyūdōkōdan (Expanding Dispersion of Homing Light Projectiles): Multiple ki bolts are shot which surround the opponent, they then all simultaneously smash into the target at the users command. Piccolo uses this attack in his battle against Android 17. Called Guided Scattershot in the US dub and Hellzone Grenade in the Budokai video games.
;Kuchikarakikouha (Energy Wave from the Mouth): A beam shot from the mouth; considerably more powerful than normal ki bolts. Piccolo uses this attack in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai as a giant and again as a surprise attack to cripple Goku; he also uses it in the Sayian Saga to quickly finish off the last of the Saibaimen. Usually spelled as Kochi kara kikou ha.
;Kousengan: A thin laser-like beam shot from the eyes. Quite weak, but very fast and able to nullify small projectiles. Piccolo uses this in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai to nullify Kuririn's homing attack and again in an attempt to break a grapple with Goku; he also uses while training Gohan as a mild attack to shock the boy.
;Kyodaika (Giant Form): This technique allows Piccolo to grow much larger than his size, increasing his strength greatly. It increases his strength, but also makes him a larger target and puts considerable strain on his body. He only uses this once in the original series while fighting Goku in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai.
;Mafuba (Demon Sealing Wave): A technique which allows the user to capture magical beings, such as namekians, in small containers. Though Piccolo never directly initiates this technique, he knows how to reflect it and properly use it. It can be assumed that, if he didn't know how to do it previously, he learned after he merged with Kami.
;Makankōsappō (Demonic Penetrating-LightDeath-Cannon): One of Piccolo's most powerful, but time-consuming attacks, it drills through nearly everything. This move killed Raditz and Goku with a single beam. Called
Special Beam Cannon in US translations.
;
Masenko (Devil Blast): A quick blast fired with one open hand directly in front of the other. Piccolo likely taught this to Gohan prior to the Saiyan's invasion and used it himself, with no result, against Freeza shortly after the murder of Dende.
;
Nobiru ude (Extending Arm): Piccolo extends his arms to tremendous lengths to attack or grab an opponent. Nobiru means "to extend" and ude means "arm". In English, this move is often called
Mystic Attack.
;
Sai Sei (Rebirth): A namekian trait that allows Piccolo to replace limbs lost in battle. In the Buu Saga, Piccolo demonstrates that he can regenerate from any wound so long as his head is intact. It severely drains him to do this though.
;Shogekiha: An invisible ki blast that can be shot from any part of the body. It's generally not as powerful as other attacks.
;
Tsu no Beam: A blast of electricity shot from Piccolo's antennae, he used this attack as a quick counter in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai against Goku. The attack left Goku somewhat stunned.
;
Tsuihidan: A beam attack of considerable power, it follows its target until contact has been made. It is fired in the same way as the Bakurikimaha.
;
Yūgō: This is the ability for two nameks to fuse together into one being. Piccolo uses this with Nail and then later with Kami to drastically increase his Power Level. This technique can be only used between two consenting namekians. Once it is performed then the fusion is permanent. This technique also enabled for Piccolo to inherit Kami and Nail's memories as well.
;
Zanzōken (After-Image Fist): An ability to move extremely fast over short distances, it leaves an after image behind.
* Piccolo is among the youngest of all the adult Z-Fighters, being roughly three years old when he is first seen in the Piccolo Jr. Saga. His rapid growth into adulthood is never explored, though it is not common to nameks. He is really no more than 33 at the end of Dragon Ball Z. In the anime, at the end of the series Piccolo is asked why he isn't taking part in the tournament, he replies that he is getting too old for fighting. Gohan replies by saying Piccolo doesn't look like he's aged since they first met.
* Piccolo briefly becomes the strongest Z-Fighter on the two occasions when he merges with another namek. Each time though, Goku and Vegeta soon gain more power and surpass him.
* Piccolo has four fingers in the manga and five in the anime (both including the thumb).
* In the original
Japanese series Piccolo is voiced by
Toshio Furukawa. In the original
English dub of Dragon Ball Z, he was originally voiced by
Scott McNeil, from the first episode through the end of the initial run of dubbed episodes (roughly halfway through the Freeza Saga).
Christopher Sabat took on the role for the remaining dubbed DBZ episodes and Piccolo's appearances in the Dragon Ball dubs. When
FUNimation produced the Uncut English versions of DBZ, Sabat was brought in to re-record Piccolo's lines for the episodes that McNeil originally voiced, for continuity's sake.
* Piccolo's name is originally derived from the
musical instrument, as all of the Demon King's henchmen had the names of various instruments. At the start of the Freeza Saga, it's revealed that his name means "another world" in namekian.
* In the animated series, Piccolo has a blue waistband. In most movies and the colored pictures in the manga, Piccolo's waistband is red after he fuses with Kami.
* In the anime, Piccolo's nails are white. In most (if not all) Dragon Ball Z video games they are purple/black, a trait that most villains in DBZ possess (Frieza, Cell, Buu etc.)
*
Capsule Corporation Headquarters
