History Characters / DragonBallPiccolo

[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | '''Piccolo''' | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chi-Chi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]

* AntiHero: What he becomes after his HeelFaceTurn. At the start of ''Z'', he only [[EnemyMine helps]] Goku fight off Raditz, and join forces with the other Z-Fighters to stop the remaining Saiyans because the Saiyans want to destroy the world, while he wants to conquer it. After he starts becoming more heroic through CharacterDevelopment and turns mostly good, he's still [[GoodIsNotNice ruthless]] and has no qualms against killing his opponents instead of disabling them. This has mostly subsided after fusing with Kami, where he adopts his former good half's compassion and genuinely cares for the people of the Earth. [[GoodIsNotNice However, he's still merciless towards his enemies, planning to kill Vegeta once he had finished with Frieza, and slicing Babidi in half.]] Although, he and the other Z-Fighters went out of their way to make sure they didn't kill any of Frieza's men in ''Resurrection 'F'''.

* BerserkButton: Piccolo hates when people bring up the fact that he was a demon king in the past. He yells at Krillin for doing so.

** In the TV Special ''History of Trunks'', his death is the most felt after Goku's since his final death means the Dragon Balls are forever inert, [[KilledOffForReal rendering all deaths permanent]].

* OvershadowedByAwesome:
** But not so much that he loses plot importance. He enters a period of CantCatchUp after the Cell Saga, where in he switches roles to [[MentorArchetype The Mentor]] for the younger heroes. He gets a better deal in the movies though (if you consider them canon), where he usually at least gets to dispatch the BigBad's EliteMooks and, in two of them (''[[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Dead Zone]]'' and ''[[Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug Lord Slug]]''), he even saves the day.

* TheSmartGuy: He's probably the smartest of the main cast, serving as TheStrategist for the team and considered a sage. After fusing with Kami, his other half, he gained the latter's wisdom to compliment his intellect and became far more effieicnt in his planning. It's no wonder the others come to him for advice when he possesses the wisdom of God. During the Buu Saga, Super Buu even absorbs him specifically to acquire his intelligence.

* SpiritAdvisor: During his fight with the Universe 6 Namekians where he panics due to [[spoiler:the shock of knowing U6 fused the entire Namekian race into two beings, he sees Nail and Kami standing beside him as he lays on the ground. Neither of them says a word, but Kami points at Gohan as if to tell Piccolo to keep going for Gohan's sake.]]
* StealthExpert: Shown in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'' where he's shown infiltrating Red Pharmaceuticals.
* StockShonenRival: While Vegeta became the TropeCodifier, it is actually Piccolo who came first as Goku’s nemesis turned ally and overall {{foil}}. Like Goku, his parents are deceased and he was born with the purpose to destroy the Earth. However, while Goku started down a heroic path, Piccolo turned to evil before reforming. After joining the good guys, Piccolo continues to contrast Goku’s carefree, friendly, and BookDumb nature by being TheStoic and [[TheStrategist strategic]]. While at first, he held the desire to be better than Goku, he eventually got hit with CantCatchUp and this trait got permanently moved to Vegeta.

%%* StraightMan: ''Especially'' while paired with Gotenks.

* TakenForGranite: In the Buu Saga, thanks to Dabura.

* TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential: The only reason he chose to merge with Kami. He needed to become the Nameless Namek again to fight the androids. [[spoiler: He does this again in ''Super Heroes'' thanks to Shenron.]]

** After he trained with King Kai and merged with Nail, he went from being easily killed by Nappa to fighting evenly with Frieza's second form.

* TookALevelInKindness: [[RuleOfThree Three times.]] Once after [[LickedByTheDog training Gohan,]] once after [[FusionDance merging with]] [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Nail]], and at last after [[FusionDance reuniting with]] [[GodJob Kami]].

** His whole fight against Goku was chock full of Piccolo performing a technique against Goku, either with a glaringly obvious flaw or a flaw that ''he himself'' would point out- which Goku would then respond by taking advantage of these weaknesses and beating him up repeatedly of it.
* ToughLove: His treatment of Gohan. He brutalized Gohan for months when training for the Saiyans. While harsh, he did it so Gohan would be ready for the harshness of a live battle. He also came to care for the boy like his son, wanting him to reach his full potential, which is why he tears Gohan a new one when he chickened out of their three-way attack on Nappa.

* UndignifiedDeath: More like Undignified Elimination. Despite an overall amazing showing throughout, Piccolo is unluckily subject to one of the most embarrassing eliminations in the Tournament of Power. After the defeat of Universe 4's invisible warrior Gamisaras, another apparently invisible Universe 4 enemy appears. Falling for the Universe 4 God of Destruction's obvious WoundedGazelleGambit, Piccolo wrongly assumes that the second enemy is actually invisible and is lured to the edge of the ring, where he is promptly knocked off with no time to defend himself. The second enemy turns out to be a microscopic bug-man, Damon. This is mortifying for a number of reasons:

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: He is pretty smart as a kid, having inherited his father's memories, but this trope really kicks into high gear when he fuses with Kami, who has the wisdom of God, and hundreds of years of experience as well.

** Despite TakingALevelInBadass, he is powerless against Nappa and is eventually killed by him with a single energy blast.

* WorldsStrongestMan: He’s easily the strongest Namekian (discounting the non-canon Lord Slug) and his father King Piccolo was the strongest character on Earth and was completely unequaled, forcing Master Mutaito to use the Evil Containment Wave to defeat him. Goku being able to defeat him was shocking for everyone especially Daimao Piccolo himself. His son/reincarnation was tied with Goku (before Vegeta and other Saiyans showed up) but Piccolo managed to temporarily reclaim this title in the Android Saga after fusing with Kami, becoming the strongest of the heroes and able to easily match 17, but he gets overtaken by Cell and the Saiyans again. [[spoiler:In ''Super Hero'', Piccolo becomes a contender again with his Orange form which allowed him to clobber Gamma 2 who was as explicitly as powerful as Goku and Vegeta (at least in their base forms), Piccolo also managed to do well against Cell Max who is ludicrously powerful meaning Piccolo is now well within the ballpark of the Saiyans, Frieza and Jiren.]]

-->'''Piccolo''': It's a darn shame. You could've put this hand to good use! [[CutLexLuthorACheck What a waste of technology!]]

** He does this with Goku, saving him from Frieza when he's about to put a hole in his heart. He also tries to pull this when Goku is getting his energy drained by Android 19. He isn't happy that Vegeta interfered.

* TheAgeless: Never addressed in the series, but ''Daizenshuu 2'' reveals that he actually inherited his father's Dragon Ball wish that granted eternal youth, and thus won't age past his physical prime.

* ComboPlatterPowers: At the end of the original ''Dragon Ball'', he was easily one of the most powerful people on the planet, and demonstrated the rare-at-the-time ability to fly and could shoot ki blasts with ease (the only other people who could do this nearly as much was his father and Goku, who relied more exclusively on physical ability). He also demonstrated some other unusual abilities that haven't been seen very widely since, like [[RubberMan stretching arms]], [[SizeShifter growing huge]], and [[HealingFactor regenerating limbs almost instantly]].

* SinkOrSwimMentor: When he first started training Gohan, he had no qualms about [[DieOrFly throwing him at a sheer cliff]] to trigger his hidden power, and followed that up by leaving him in a wasteland filled with dinosaurs for half a year. [[HeroicSacrifice He made up for it.]]

* AntiHero: What he becomes after his HeelFaceTurn. At the start of ''Z'', he only [[EnemyMine helps]] Goku fight off Raditz, and join forces with the other Z-Fighters to stop the remaining Saiyans because the Saiyans want to destroy the world, while he wants to conquer it. After he turns mostly good, he's still [[GoodIsNotNice ruthless]] and has no qualms against killing his opponents instead of disabling them. This has mostly subsided after fusing with Kami, where he adopts his former good half's compassion and genuinely cares for the people of the Earth. [[GoodIsNotNice However, he's still merciless towards his enemies, planning to kill Vegeta once he had finished with Frieza, and slicing Babidi in half.]] Although, he and the other Z-Fighters went out of their way to make sure they didn't kill any of Frieza's men in ''Resurrection 'F'''.

** Piccolo saved the soldier #15's life when Gohan destroyed the plane they were out of rage in Dragon Ball Super Super hero.

[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | '''Piccolo''' | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chichi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]

[[folder:Character Index]]

'''[[Characters/DragonBallMainCharacters Main Characters]]'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | '''Piccolo''' | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]]\\
'''[[Characters/DragonBallMajorSupportingCast Major Supporting Cast]]'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]\\
'''Ancillary Characters'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast DBZ/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunksTimeline Future Trunks' Timeline]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGalacticPatrolAndPrisoners Galactic Patrol and Prisoners]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBardock Bardock/Burdock]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallNamekiansAndDragons Namekians and Dragons]]\\
'''Antagonists'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] ([[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero/Android 20]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallDemonKingPiccolo Demon King Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]\\
'''Multiversal Characters'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallMultiversalCharacters Multiversal Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu/Zamas]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse7 Universe 7]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBeerus Beerus]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse2 Universe 2]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse3 Universe 3]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse4 Universe 4]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6 Universe 6]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHit Hit]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKale Kale]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse9 Universe 9]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse10 Universe 10]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse11 Universe 11]] ([[Characters/DragonBallJiren Jiren]])\\
'''New Media Characters'''\\
Characters/DragonBallHeroes | [[Characters/DragonballHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | Characters/DragonBallOnline | Characters/DragonBallXenoverse | [[Characters/DragonBallFusions Fusions (Video Game)]] | Characters/{{Dragon Ball FighterZ}} | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]] | Characters/DragonBallFighterzBaseRoster | Characters/DragonBallLegends-]]]]]
[[/folder]]

* OverprotectiveDad: Even when Gohan becomes ''far'' more powerful than he will ever be, Piccolo would still lay his life down to protect the boy.

* BadassBaritone: Has one of the deepest voices in the series, and the skill to match

* PetTheDog: Piccolo saved the soldier #15's life when Gohan destroyed the plane they were out of rage in Dragon Ball Super Super hero.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Like the original Demon King Piccolo, Piccolo Jr. bled red in his initial few appearances until his Namekian heritage was revealed. His blood was then recolored purple by the time of his fight with Frieza and ''Kai's'' re-versioning of the Saiyan arc also changed scenes of red-blooded Piccolo purple.Althought in DBS Super Hero he has red blood once again, which maybe a case of his real blood color being red and is purple in the anime series due to censorship reason, or maybe its dragonballs incosistent color case striking once again.

* MasterApprenticeChain: He trained Gohan who went on to train Goten in the main timeline and Future Trunks in the BadFuture:
** Piccolo > Son Gohan > Goten
** Piccolo > Future Son Gohan > Future Trunks

** After the Buu arc, not only is he {{God}} (well, he fused with Kami...), but he's the fifth most powerful non-fused protagonist (unless you count the Supreme Kai) and one of the top ten most powerful beings in the universe, period. Too bad that's still not enough to compete with Buu, Vegeta, Gohan, Goku, the Supreme Kai, and Dabura. He even implicitly admits at one point that the little kids (Goten and Trunks) are stronger than him after obtaining Super Saiyan,[[note]]Specifically, he says that they're Earth's best defenders left after Gohan and Vegeta are seemingly killed by Buu; this is before he knew about fusion.[[/note]] though this is likely not the case by ''Battle of Gods'' given that he's been training for five years while they've been slacking off.

** Subverted in the Buu Saga. He doesn't engage in active combat, but he remained in the mentor role for Trunks and Goten, made use of the intelligence he inherited from Kami to act as a GuileHero to distract Super Buu, and was on the battlefield with them right until Buu absorbed him. He has significantly more screen time in the Buu Saga than the Frieza Saga and contributes much more to the plot, even if he never gets to fight anyone (well, unless you count [[SingleStrokeBattle Dabura spitting on him]]).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Like the original Demon King Piccolo, Piccolo Jr. bled red in his initial few appearances until his Namekian heritage was revealed. His blood was then recolored purple by the time of his fight with Frieza and ''Kai's'' re-versioning of the Saiyan arc also changed scenes of red-blooded Piccolo purple.

* CantCatchUp: Played with; Piccolo lasted the longest out of all of the non-Saiyans, remaining the third most powerful hero all the way until Semi-Perfect Cell was born. His year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber did result in enough improvement to receive praise from Goku and allow him to stand up to the Cell Jr. onslaught before Gohan intervened, being the only one able to stand up to them other than Vegeta and Future Trunks. By the Buu saga, when the three main Saiyans have all unlocked Super Saiyan 2 and gotten even stronger than they were at the Cell Games, Piccolo's role shifts to that of a mentor (again) and his role is to finish teaching Goten and Trunks the FusionDance. In ''Super'', due to Gohan neglecting his training, he seems to be more powerful than him. After training with Gohan for a while, he was even able to overpower Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Gohan became stronger than him once again once he regains his Ultimate form.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Piccolo Jr. was a cackling, raving psychopath in the 23rd World Martial Arts saga, often prone to [[LargeHam shouting]] and [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]]. In the following saga (the beginning of ''Z''), he's suddenly much more composed, being a brooding loner, and only occasionally gives a PsychoticSmirk.
** However, it should be noted that during the 23rd World Martial Arts saga, [[FridgeBrilliance he was only three years old]]. By the beginning of ''Z'', he had more than doubled in age.

** During the Saiyan Saga, when Gohan wants to learn martial arts from his father instead of Piccolo, Piccolo states that Goku is too soft-hearted to be an effective teacher. These concerns prove to be justified in anime filler of the Cell saga when they go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and Goku initially holds back for fear of hurting Gohan accidentally.

** But not so much that he loses plot importance. He enters a period of CantCatchUp after the Cell Saga, where in he switches roles to TheMentor for the younger heroes. He gets a better deal in the movies though (if you consider them canon), where he usually at least gets to dispatch the BigBad's EliteMooks and, in two of them (''[[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Dead Zone]]'' and ''[[Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug Lord Slug]]''), he even saves the day.

* UndignifiedDeath: More like Undiginified Elimination. Despite an overall amazing showing throughout, Piccolo is unluckily subject to one of the most embarrassing eliminations in the Tournament of Power. After the defeat of Universe 4's invisible warrior Gamisaras, another apparently invisible Universe 4 enemy appears. Falling for the Universe 4 God of Destruction's obvious WoundedGazelleGambit, Piccolo wrongly assumes that the second enemy is actually invisible and is lured to the edge of the ring, where he is promptly knocked off with no time to defend himself. The second enemy turns out to be a microscopic bug-man, Damon. This is mortifying for a number of reasons:

* TheSmartGuy: He's probably the smartest of the main cast, serving as TheStrategist for the team and considered a sage. After fusing with Kami (aka God), he became much more intelligent, not to say that he was ever stupid. It's no wonder the others come to him for advice when he possesses the wisdom of God. During the Buu Saga, Super Buu even absorbs him specifically to acquire his intelligence.

* BornWinner: Much like the Saiyans, the Namekians are born winners with their larger than average battle power along with their mystical talents like some being able to heal, awakening others' hidden powers, and create Dragon Balls. However, the Nameless Namek is a winner even among them. He's called a prodigy among his race and is said to be strong enough to challenge a Super Saiyan and beat Frieza, according to the Elder Namek and Nail. After training for years after re-fusing with Kami, he's easily more powerful than Super Saiyan Goten and Trunks and holds his own while fighting one-handed against Frost while only able to fight one-handed due to charging his Special Beam Cannon. Frost only wins through cheating, notably.

* ClippedWingAngel: His [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever Great Namek form]], which he uses against Goku in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. While it ''does'' increase his strength and durability quite a bit, according to Goku, the form doesn't actually increase Piccolo's PowerLevel and essentially just makes him a bigger target.

* EatingOptional: Namekians can survive on water alone, but Piccolo is often seen eating solid food.