History Recap / DragonBallRedRibbonArmyArc

** In the Viz translation of the manga, of all places, for Android 8. His English nickname, "Eight-Man", is a reference to the [[Anime/EighthMan manga of the same name]].

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: A theme that happens to some degree in this arc. The Red Ribbon Army puts all its stock in their technological capabilities (such as their [[MiniMecha Battle Jackets]]) in their goal of getting the dragon balls, but gets thwarted largely by a super strong boy with nothing else but his martial arts skills and power pole. It takes the Red Ribbon Army hiring another martial artist, Tao Pai Pai, to finally inflict a defeat on Goku. Also amusing to note that one of the creations of the Red Ribbon Army, Android 8 (who has a resemblance to the creature from ''Literature/Frankenstein'', developed his own free will and decided against serving his creators and instead to protect people and nature from the RRA.

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: A theme that happens to some degree in this arc. The Red Ribbon Army puts all its stock in their technological capabilities (such as their [[MiniMecha Battle Jackets]]) in their goal of getting the dragon balls, but gets thwarted largely by a super strong boy with nothing else but his martial arts skills and power pole. It takes the Red Ribbon Army hiring another martial artist, Tao Pai Pai, to finally inflict a defeat on Goku. Also amusing to note that one of the creations of the Red Ribbon Army, Android 8 (who has a resemblance to the creature from Frankenstein, developed his own free will and decided against serving his creators and instead to protect people and nature from the RRA.

** The anime drives this home further, as the beginning of the arc features Silver shooting a shopkeeper dead when he realizes he's trying to cheat him with a fake Dragonball, the first time in the show where a human character was killed onscreen. While the Red Ribbon Army does have its comedic moments, it also shows that [[NotSoHarmlessVillain they're still more of a threat]] than Pilaf, something that's reinforced by bring temporarily bringing Pilaf back early on and having him race against them to obtain one of the Dragonballs, [[EvilerThanThou ultimately losing it to them.]]

** In the Viz translation of the manga, of all places, for Android 8. His English nickname, "Eight-Man", is a reference to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Man manga of the same name]].

Meanwhile, Goku begins his assault on the Red Ribbon Army. Despite their weapons and numbers, none of the enemy soldiers can touch Goku, and it isn't long before those who aren't beaten flee. Furious at the failures of his men, Commander Red grumbles at how close he was to become tall-- Wait, what? Officer Black is outraged to learn that the intended wish of the Dragon Balls--that the Red Ribbon Army has sacrificed so much for--was for Red to wish himself taller! Red claims that it'll be easier to conquer the world if he has an imposing height, but it becomes apparent that his NapoleonComplex is all he cares about. Black puts a bullet into Red's head and promotes himself Commander, just in time for Goku to arrive.\\\

* MookHorrorShow: Goku raiding the Red Ribbon Army's main base. Eventually, the soldiers just flee for their lives.

!!The ''Red Ribbon Army'' arc has the following tropes

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_ribbon_saga.png]]

* DopplegangerAttack: Parodied. Ninja Musasaki uses a technique that supposedly creates an illusion of him splitting into five, but he really just has four other identical siblings.

** Major Mettalitron, the hulking robot that Goku fights, scans Goku using his RoboCam and detects Goku's alien nature.

* MookHorrorShow: Goku raiding the Red Ribbon Army's main base. Eventually, the soldiers. just flee for their lives.

* SkewedPriorities: Tao Pai Pai contacts Red Ribbon HQ to inform them that he's eliminated Goku, but they ask him whether he's retrieved the Dragon Ball in his possession. He replies no, but also tells them that he'll do so in three days [[RealMenWearPink because he's waiting on a tailor to repair his gi]]. Tao has clearly demonstrated that it wouldn't take even an hour to travel to Korin Tower even from Red Ribbon HQ, so from his location, it wouldn't be hard to head over there. More so, he believes that he's killed Goku, so taking the ball from his corpse, and again, returning to HQ shouldn't be a problem. Curiously, Red is completely fine with this, reasoning that Goku isn't a thorn in the Red Ribbon's side anymore. Amusingly, when Tao finally heads over, [[NotQuiteDead Goku turns out to be not quite as dead as he believed]].