Piccolo


Piccolo is the Namekian reincarnation and final son of King Piccolo as well as the final villain in the Dragon Ball series, and a protagonist in the Dragon Ball Z and the Dragon Ball GT series. According to Grand Elder Guru, Piccolo, along with Kami and King Piccolo, are part of the Dragon Clan, who were the original creators of the Dragon Balls.

A wise, expert strategist who was originally a ruthless enemy of Goku, Piccolo later becomes a permanent member of the Z Fighters during Dragon Ball Z, specifically when he forms a close bond with Goku's son Gohan after training him in preparation for the impending arrival of the Saiyans and other future threats.

History
Piccolo was born to avenge his father's death at the hands of Goku. After his narrow defeat against Goku, Piccolo is soon forced to form an, at first, uneasy alliance with Goku and his friends against newer, more dangerous threats. Thus, he and Goku kick off the formation of the Z Fighters. Out of necessity, he also takes it upon himself to train Goku's young son Gohan, forming a powerful bond which ultimately redeems him when he sacrifices himself to save the child's life from Nappa. After his resurrection, he fully joins Goku and the others in their struggles against ever more powerful villains on Namek and Earth. As the story progresses, his role shifts from warrior to mentor.

Piccolo is one of the most intelligent characters in the series, retaining King Piccolo's tactical genius, and later gaining Kami's great wisdom after fusing with the old Guardian.

Appearance
When Piccolo Jr. is introduced as a teenager, he appears very tall, roughly the same as King Piccolo, but with a more solid facial structure (lacking the large cheek bones and a humanly-shaped nose), as well as slightly thinner and a bit shorter (though, technically, he does not appear as a full grown adult until Dragon Ball Z). Piccolo only has four fingers in the Dragon Ball manga, but five in the anime series. During the fight between him and Goku in Dragon Ball, as well as on the fight with Raditz when he loses his arm, Piccolo is seen with red blood. But later in the series, he bleeds purple blood when wounded or killed.

Piccolo Jr.'s outfit when he was a kid is a very similar outfit to the one King Piccolo is first seen wearing, being of exactly the same color scheme in the Kanzenban manga covers. From the time he is a young adult onward, Piccolo wears the same gi as King Piccolo minus the chest symbol and with the color scheme switched; his gi was dark purplish blue rather than dark pale blue, and his obi light pale blue rather than light purplish blue. When not fighting seriously, Piccolo also wears a white turban and a white cape along with it. Like Goku, Piccolo generally wears and trains with Weighted clothing. The cape itself is not weighted, but there is weighted padding underneath; this is seen twice in the series: when his cape is damaged while fighting Frieza in his second form, and when it is damaged by Lord Slug's henchmen. As the series went on, Piccolo Jr.'s outfit became more his own, and by the time he faced Frieza, his gi lost whatever blue was in its color and gained more of a purple one, his neckline becoming more low-cut like Goku's outfit, minus Goku's own undershirt. In the manga, many of the movies, and certain video games (Supersonic Warriors 2 and Super Dragon Ball Z), Piccolo wears a red obi rather than a sky blue one.

Even though Piccolo Jr. discards his old symbol, he uses it once in the series when he made his pupil Gohan a uniform after his previous outfit was torn in a Great Ape transformation. In a filler episode in the anime, Piccolo is seen wearing an old outfit of Goku, which he despised wearing, when both of them are forced to go to driving school by Goku's wife, Chi-Chi.

Personality
Piccolo was originally villainous, much like his father. When battling Goku in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he shows almost no mercy and no regard for his opponent, breaking all of Goku's limbs while laughing sadistically. Despite this, he did possess some sense of good, having once saved a mother and daughter from debris during a storm.[3] Later, when he and Goku team up to battle Raditz, Piccolo began to show more honor during battle, even commemorating Goku on his noble sacrifice.

After he trains and befriends Goku's young son, Gohan, Piccolo's heart and motives quickly begin to change as the boy takes his time to talk with Piccolo and have normal discussions, not resulting in a violent outbreak. Gohan even comments on this, telling Piccolo that he seems to be more grumpy than truly evil. During the battle with Nappa, Piccolo goes as far as to sacrifice his life to save Gohan, stating how his friendship and love had changed him forever. Piccolo has stated that Gohan was the first person to see him not as a monster, and was proud to call him his friend, even going as far as to admit that Gohan is like the son he never had in one of the dubs. Upon his return during the battle with Frieza on Namek and after fusing with the Namekian warrior Nail, Piccolo fights for the honor of his people and to save the innocent.

Years later, during the Androids Saga, Piccolo still does retain a bit of ruthlessness and cockiness, but once he fuses with Kami, all traces of evil and hate disappear, and Piccolo is completely reborn as a pure soul. He is shown to be very wise, and strategic in battle. Even after merging with Kami, Piccolo remains a loner, preferring to stand apart from others. He has little to say unless it involves battle, and does not seem to understand the concept of romance, referring to it as "mushy stuff". As Piccolo carries on in life, he becomes slightly easier to stress and annoy, especially during the Buu Saga, but he normally can still retain his stoic personality if required to not show fear in the face of an enemy.

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