Nappa is an antagonist in the Dragon Ball manga, and in the anime Dragon Ball Z, also making short appearances in Dragon Ball GT. He is an elite Saiyan warrior from Planet Vegeta, and Vegeta's partner in combat. Prior to the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Nappa was the General of the Saiyan Army under the Planet Trade Organization and aid/partner to the young Prince Vegeta as well. After his race's demise, he along with Vegeta and Raditz work as soldiers directly under Frieza, which leads him to Earth. His name is a pun on a type of Chinese cabbage.

Appearance and Personality
Though his genes give him the appearance of someone in their mid-30s, Nappa is approximately 50 years old, and is first seen with the Saiyan Prince Vegeta after hearing of Raditz's death at the hands of Piccolo and Goku. At this time, he looks identical all the way to the time of his death. He has hair in the TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku (although it seems to be a smaller patch, lacking sideburns of any kind). He travels to Earth with Vegeta to gather the Dragon Balls, to wish for eternal life. He is the second most powerful Saiyan warrior in Frieza's army and reports his accomplishments to Frieza directly, alongside Raditz and Vegeta. Like most Saiyans, Nappa wears a scouter to detect the ki of his enemies.

Nappa has quite a destructive personality and loves demolition to an extreme level. When arriving on Earth, the first thing he asks Vegeta is if he can destroy a town. When taking time off to wait for Goku, Vegeta allows him to destroy as many things and places as he wants (in the anime only), as long as he does not waste enough energy to break a sweat. Nappa proceeds to demolish an entire Navy fleet division as well as an aerial raid, smashing through many jets and helicopters before leveling a slew of ships. Despite this, however, he usually congratulates his victims when they utilize attacks that come close to killing him, as evidenced when he congratulated Tien on his use on a Spirit Tri-Beam that shattered his Battle Armor, citing that, had his aim been better, it would have severely injured him.

Nappa also has a very cocky personality, as he enjoys toying with his opponents. This shows his dark humorous side as he sometimes tells himself crude jokes when he's alone and laughs at them to himself. He tends to fight first and makes use of his brawn more so than his brain. However, his great ego would immediately vanish the second someone causes him a bruise or scar, and would decide to kill them slowly and painfully as a result. He is, in this instance, vain to the extent that he feels his appearance should remain unscathed. However, he would still eliminate anyone as quickly as possible when losing patience with them. Oftentimes, he allows his anger to get the best of him, becoming extremely enraged and infuriated, which results in Vegeta constantly reminding or, in some cases, ordering him to calm down. Whenever Vegeta tells off Nappa for acting asinine, or not listening, Nappa apologizes to Vegeta, usually in a slightly fearful state, and then proceeds to claim he was not thinking straight, showing his respect for Vegeta. It is only when Vegeta decides to kill him that Nappa abandons all respect for him, even calling Vegeta a "dirty rat" (though only in the Ocean dub) and challenging him in Dragon Ball GT.

An anime-only flashback in the Frieza Saga, however, shows a more sympathetic side to Nappa. He appears to be shocked when Vegeta claims not to care about the death of his father and the rest of the Saiyan race, and his overall dialogue seems to imply that he despises killing innocent people when there is nothing in it for him.

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