Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Dragon Ball Z Villains

Go To

In order of appearance.


    open/close all folders 

Saiyan Saga

Saiyans

Others

    Ferocisaurus 

Ferocisaurus (ワイルドサウルス, Wairudosaurusu)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images___2021_11_27t214755079.jpg

A large predatory dinosaur who develops a fixation on Gohan and tries to eat the young boy whenever they encounter each other. It serves as the first real adversary Gohan has to contend with on his own.


  • Behemoth Battle: It engages in one against an Apatosaurus that Gohan had recently befriended at that point. Unfortunately, the Ferocisaurus wins and devours the Apatosaurus to Gohan's anguish.
  • The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Eventually, the Ferocisaurus finds itself being hunted by Gohan after the boy becomes more than capable enough to fend for himself and to not fear the dinosaur. Though Gohan doesn't kill the dinosaur, instead cutting off pieces of its tail anytime they meet for Gohan to take and cook as dinner for himself.
  • Interim Villain: Until Nappa and Vegeta arrive, the Ferocisaurus is the main antagonist of Gohan's lone adventure to become stronger and realize his true potential. Despite Gohan being incredibly scared of the dinosaur, he does eventually overcome his fears whereupon the Ferocisaurus no longer bears a threat to him.
  • Super-Persistent Predator: It's pretty dead-set on trying to kill Gohan and gobble him up for lunch. That is, until Gohan starts hunting him instead, cutting off a slice of his tail to take for eating.
  • T. Rexpy: It's basically a Tyrannosaurus with longer forelimbs and crests not too different from what you'd expect from a hadrosaur. Interestingly, it happens to coexist with the real dinosaur in the general setting.
  • Token Motivational Nemesis: It serves as one for Gohan, being its first true enemy he has to deal with, all a part of a training regime by Piccolo to toughen the boy up by the time the Saiyans arrive on Earth. Gohan is initially terrified of the dinosaur, but over time becomes braver and even outsmarts the beast.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Its not picky about what it wants to eat and is more than eager to chase Gohan down for lunch.

    King Moai 

King Moai (モアイ王, Moai-ō)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_moai2.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Banjo Ginga
Voiced by (English): French Tickner (Ocean dub); Kent Williams (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Ernesto Lezama

A filler villain who only appears in the anime. He is the dictator of planet Arlia. He comes into conflict with Vegeta and Nappa when they come to conquer Arlia, and is eventually killed by them.


  • 0% Approval Rating: Downplayed. His men seem to be loyal to him, even though he treats them like dirt. Everyone else hates his guts.
  • Aliens Are Bastards: He is a tyrant who forces his men to fight each other to the death, and he keeps the good Arlians locked in a dungeon.
  • Asshole Victim: He becomes one of the victims of Vegeta and Nappa's planet-looting ways, but is shown to have been an evil ruler who got what he deserved.
  • Bad Boss: He forces his men to fight each other to the death, and feeds any survivors to Yetti.
  • Canon Foreigner: He doesn't appear in the original manga.
  • Dirty Coward: Once Yetti is destroyed, Moai abandons all pretenses and tries to flee. Vegeta immediately calls him out and kills him.
  • Eviler than Thou: Vegeta and Nappa are this to him. They easily kill him and all his guards.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Him and his guards vs Vegeta and Nappa.
  • Expressive Hair: Or antennae if you want to get technical. They stand straight up whenever he's surprised.
  • Insectoid Aliens: He's an Arlian and they all resemble humanoid crickets.
  • I Have Your Wife: Inverted. Moai forced Lemlia to be his queen by holding her husband captive in his dungeon.
  • No Name Given: Neither the Ocean nor Funimation dubs use his name directly.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Averted. He may be the ruler of Arlia, but he has his men do the dirty work, and once he realizes how strong Nappa and Vegeta are he immediately begs for mercy.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Not Moai himself, but all of his men have red eyes.
  • This Cannot Be!: He's incredulous after Nappa tears off Yetti's finger and tries to flee once his monster is destroyed.
  • Torso with a View: Meets his end by having a rock thrown through his chest.
  • The Usurper: Took over Arlia by locking up the original king.
  • Villain of Another Story: Moai led a war on Planet Arlia in order to usurp the throne from the original king, and once he got the throne also stole said king’s wife. However in the main story, he serves as little more than a footnote in Nappa and Vegeta’s year-long trip to Earth.
  • Villains Want Mercy: He begs for mercy after Nappa kills Yetti.

    Princess Snake 

Princess Snake (蛇姫, Hebi hime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princess_snake_2.png
Click here to see her true form
Voiced by (Japanese): Mariko Mukai
Voiced by (English): Ellen Kennedy (Ocean dub); Colleen Clinkenbeard (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Lourdes Morán

Another filler villain who only appears in the anime. She appears as a very beautiful woman but in reality, she is a giant snake temptress who lures people into her castle on Snake Way.


  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: She disguises herself as a beautiful woman, when in actuality she is a giant snake.
  • All There in the Manual: Daizenshuu 7 reveals that she and King Yemma were married once but something occurred to estrange them. If what we see of Yemma's workload in the series is the norm, however, it could imply that Snake grew disillusioned with having to wait for him to come home, later deciding to fool around with anybody who came across her on Snake Way...and devouring them in case Yemma ever did decide to return.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: She and her attendants all have blue skin.
  • Animal Motifs: Snakes.
  • Animal Theme Naming: Again, snakes.
  • Beauty Is Bad: She appears as a very beautiful woman, but in reality, she is a giant snake temptress who lures people into her castle on Snake Way.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Princess Snake appears to be a kind and friendly host until Goku rejects her.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Goku could've easily destroyed her even in her true form, if he felt like it, but he settles for literally tying her up since she gave him good food.
  • Canon Foreigner: She doesn't appear in the original manga.
  • The Cameo: While Snake herself doesn't appear again in the anime after Goku gives her the slip, her castle is shown as Goku flies past it when making his trip back to the living world. Two of her handmaidens witness him while doing laundry but (in the original Japanese) don't seem to recognize Goku due to his immense speed.
  • Determinator: Vows to chase Goku through the afterlife for all of eternity until she devours him.
  • Evil Redhead: Has a full head of orange hair.
  • Fangs Are Evil: Grows a pair of fangs when she shows her true evil face.
  • If I Can't Have You…: She lusts after Goku, and wants to make him her husband. After she finds out he's already married, she decides to just eat him.
  • Lack of Empathy: If she had any second thoughts about eating Goku upon seeing the visions of Nappa and Vegeta arriving on Goku's family to kill them in his dreams (and how much they mean to him), she shows no signs of that. It's possible she didn't even notice.
  • Literal Maneater: Tries to eat Goku after she finds out he's married.
  • Master of Illusion: Not only does she manage to disguise herself as a beautiful woman, but she also disguises her stomach as a fancy building.
  • Mistaken Identity: Goku mistakes her for King Kai when they first meet.
  • Noodle Incident: Apparently had a run-in with King Yemma 500 years ago. Daizenshuu 7 elaborates on it a bit more, saying that they were once wedded, and may still be, but something happened to estrange them from each other.
  • One-Winged Angel: She is able to transform into a giant snake.
  • Playing with Fire: She can breathe fire in her serpentine form.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: When she shows her evil face.
  • Scaled Up: She can transform into a giant snake, though it's strongly implied that the serpent is her true self.
  • Settle for Sibling: Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu implies that she and Raditz have formed some kind of relationship.
  • Shout-Out: A temptress trying to lure a married hero while he's in the middle of a long voyage sounds remarkably similar to Circe and Calypso from The Odyssey. Her being able to transform into a giant snake also recalls Circe being able to turn men into animals (most famously pigs).
  • Snakes Are Sinister: Her name is Snake and her true form is a giant snake.
  • Villainesses Want Heroes: Is interested in Goku, until she finds out he's already married.
  • Villainous Princess: At first she offers Goku food and shelter in her castle but then demands he stay as her husband. When he reveals he is already married she transforms into a giant snake and tries to eat him.
  • "You!" Exclamation: All she can do is scream this at Goku after he tricks her into tying herself up and leaves.

    Saibamen 

Saibamen (栽培マン, Saibaiman)

Six plant monsters grown by Nappa to fight the Z warriors. As they are products of Saiyan creation, you can find them here.

Frieza Saga

Frieza's Empire

Others

    Raiti and Zaacro 

Raiti (ライチ, Raichi) and Zaacro (ザークロ, Zākuro)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raiiti_and_zacro.png
Zaacro (left) and Raiti (right)
Raiti voiced by (Japanese): Isamu Tanonaka
Raiti voiced by (English): Michael Dobson (Ocean dub); R. Bruce Elliott (Funimation dub)
Raiti voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Ernesto Lezama

Zaacro voiced by (Japanese): Yasuo Tanaka
Zaacro voiced by (English): Alvin Sanders (Ocean dub); Bob Carter (Funimation dub)
Zaacro voiced by (Latin American Spanish): José Luis McConnell

Two filler villains who appear only in the anime. When our heroes arrive at a planet they mistakenly believe is Namek, Raiti and Zaacro disguise themselves as Namekians in an attempt to steal the heroes' ship so they can get off the planet, on which they are stranded.


  • Accent Adaptation: Raiti is given a cartoonishly over-the-top Canadian accent in the Ocean dub. Zaacro, by contrast, is given a slight southern drawl.
  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Both disguise themselves as Namekians in order to trick the heroes and take their ship.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: In their Namekian disguise they have green skin, and in their true form they had red skin.
  • Anti-Villain: Subverted. They were stranded on the planet and wanted off, but even after Bulma offers to use the group's spaceship to take them back to their own home planet so they can all leave together, they refuse because they now want to go to Namek and use the Dragon Balls for themselves to rule the universe.
  • Asshole Victim: Not as bad as some other creeps in the series, but given they would willingly strand three innocent people to the horrid planet they've been trying to escape from, coupled with the fact that they were going to raid Planet Namek first and use the Dragon Balls for universal domination, you can’t say that the good of the universe is much more likely if the two never get off the planet. Not to mention their mocking of Bulma that she'll love it on the rock if she knows how to feed herself shows they have no respect for other lifeforms.
  • Big Guy, Little Guy: Raiti being the little guy and Zaacro being the big guy.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both put on a kind facade when disguised as Namekians.
  • Canon Foreigner: They don't appear in the original manga.
  • Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Zaacro's becomes noticeable in the Ocean dub after he reveals his true form. This is in contrast to the Funimation dub and original Japanese where he had a deep oily voice.
  • Evil Genius: Raiti is technologically abled and spends most of his time during the "hunt" working on getting Kami's spaceship fixed up. While he presents himself as the leader of the two while in disguise, once they reveal themselves it's Zaacro who appears to be the one pulling the strings (he explains the plan, elaborates on how the illusions were created, etc.).
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Zaacro has the lower octaves of the two in the Japanese and Funimation dubs. The Ocean dub, in contrast, gives him the opposite.
  • Evil Sounds Raspy: Raiti in the Japanese and Funimation dubs.
  • Fat and Skinny: Raiti is the fat and Zaacro is the skinny; this is only in their Namekian disguise, however.
  • Foreshadowing: Hieroglyphics on the walls of illusionary catacombs show their true forms long before their proper reveal.
  • Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: When demonstrating their psychic abilities, Zaacro grabs a cigar from a box and smokes it.
  • Horns of Villainy: They both have tiny horns on their heads.
  • I Knew There Was Something About You: Bulma speculates fairly early on that Raiti is just using her and the boys to find the dragon balls for his own gain. Turns out this was Right for the Wrong Reasons as the entire planet and its locations are an illusion he and Zaacro created after reading their minds and they were planning to go to Namek themselves once they escape and wish for total dominion over the universe.
  • Identical Twin ID Tag: While not twins, their true forms look remarkably similar. The only way to tell them apart is that Raiti's form is shorter and is a darker shade of red.
  • Master of Illusion: They can do this to an entire ecosystem as long as they have a blueprint to work off of i.e. the memories/ideas within one's mind (which they scan from Bulma and the boys). Technology is involved in some manner, as shown in the penultimate episode of their tenure, but it isn't given clarification.
  • Mind over Matter: Zaacro demonstrates this ability to Krillin.
  • No Sympathy: Krillin and Bulma, in particular, are not amused when these two reveal their deception and their story does nothing to make the heroes feel sympathetic toward their situation. It probably didn't help that they also stole the dragon radar and were planning a trip to Namek in order to wish for dominion over the entire universe.
  • Non-Action Guy: Don't let their scary appearances fool you. It only takes a singular hit from Gohan and Krillin for them to go down. Zaacro even spells out that they prefer the non-violent approach, if only for the fact they've got no combat to speak of. Raiti reiterates it seconds after he and Zaacro are beaten.
  • Opportunistic Bastard: They genuinely wanted to go home at first, but upon learning about the dragon balls from Bulma and the others' minds, they decide to put that on hold and go to Namek first so they can collect the orbs and wish to rule over the universe.
  • Overly-Long Tongue: Raiti has the ability to grasp things with his tongue.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Both of them have pinkish skin. Zaacro's is similar to Dodoria's while Raiti's is more pinkish-orange.
  • Shapeshifting: Both shapeshift into Namekians to trick our heroes.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Both of them have a trio of moderate-sized spikes on their heads.
  • Take Over the World: After reading the gang's minds and learning about the Dragon Balls, they decide that after they use their spaceship to escape Fake Namek, they will go to the real planet Namek and use the Dragon Balls to rule the universe.
  • Telepathy: They are able to read minds using appendages that come from their body.
  • Thrill Seeker: Raiti in particular says he found the fake dragon ball hunt quite thrilling when mocking Bulma, implying that the illusions he and Zaacro make can cause genuine harm to them as well if mishandled. Yet they went through with it regardless just to kill time.
  • Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Like many minor villains in the franchise, their sclera is colored yellow. The fact that their Namekian forms' eyes are colored this way should've been a big hint that they weren't normal.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Zaacro is astonished by Bulma's Brutal Honesty in that she has no thirst for adventure when they flee from a tornado in the desert and also when she brags about being the one to save Krillin and Gohan when they escape the giant's castle. He more than likely was just playing along with/to her ego.

Garlic Jr. Saga

    Spice Boys 

Spice Boys (魔族四天王, Mazoku Shitennō, "Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan")
Spice (ガッシュ, Gasshu)
Vinegar (ビネガー, Binegā)
Mustard (タード, Tādo)
Salt (ゾルド, Zorudo)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spice_boys_kame_island.png
From left to right: Mustard, Salt, Spice, and Vinegar.
Spice voiced by (Japanese): Hikaru Midorikawa
Spice voiced by (English): Bart Myer (originally), J. Michael Tatum (remastered)
Spice voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Humberto Solórzano
Spice voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese): Afonso Amajones

Vinegar voiced by (Japanese): Daisuke Gōri (Z), Mitsuaki Hoshino (Dragon Ball Heroes)
Vinegar voiced by (English): John Freeman
Vinegar voiced by (Latin American Spanish): José Luis Castañeda
Vinegar voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese): Aníbal Munhoz

Mustard voiced by (Japanese): Masaharu Sato
Mustard voiced by (English): Chuck Huber (originally), Brandon Potter (remastered)
Mustard voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Armando Coria
Mustard voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese): Gilberto Baroli

Salt voiced by (Japanese): Tetsuo Mizutori (Z), Yasuhiro Takato (Dragon Ball Heroes)
Salt voiced by (English): Dylan Thompson
Salt voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Marcos Patiño
Salt voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese): Sérgio Rufino

Four Makyans who assist Garlic Jr. with his attack on Earth.


  • Accent Adaptation: Spice and Mustard were given light English accents (cockney) in the English version whereas Vinegar had a gruff Southerner's dialect. Salt, meanwhile, was given a vague New Yorker's accent. Mustard's was done away with for the remastered dub in favor of a gravelly American-sounding voice with a slight rasp whereas Spice was given a deeper and more formal English voice, a staple of his actor really.
  • Affably Evil: Spice genuinely wants Piccolo to join the Makyans of his own free will and as a fellow Demon Clansmen. He also doesn't get offended by Piccolo's deriding of Garlic Jr., laughing it off, unlike his comrade Vinegar. Even after Piccolo has (seemingly) been infected with the Black Water Mist, he forbids Vinegar from killing Piccolo and calls the latter an ally, though he did have a more pragmatic reason; killing Piccolo meant that the Dragon Balls would also become useless.note  Later, he even invites Gohan to join their demon clan despite the latter being responsible for Salt and Mustard's deaths whereas Vinegar wanted vengeance for his teammates. Most of this goes out the window after being powered up by the Makyo Star and he becomes just as brutish and arrogant as Vinegar.
  • Anime Hair: Spice has large pointy white hair that looks vaguely like Goku's in his Super Saiyan form, albeit with a Villainous Widow's Peak.
  • Ax-Crazy: Both Spice and Vinegar become absolutely bloodthirsty upon their transformations, savagely overwhelming Krillin and Gohan before the latter's rage bursts forth. All that dark power can't be good for one's mental health.
  • Badass Cape: Spice has a long yellow cape over his collar. It gets shredded later with most of his outfit when he powers up via the Makyo Star.
  • Berserk Button: Vinegar doesn't take insults to Garlic Jr. lightly and is ready to kill Piccolo right then and there for calling his master brainless. He also didn't take kindly to Gohan killing Mustard and Salt and was determined to get even before Piccolo cut him off.
  • Big Applesauce: Salt is given an off but thick New Yorker-style accent in the American dub.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Mustard has some serious bushy eyebrows colored the same as his hair.
  • The Brute: Vinegar is pretty much your garden variety thug with a nasty temperment and limited intelligence and very little else. He becomes even more so after his power up from the Makyo Star. Mustard barely has anything going himself besides being the second biggest after Vinegar and is the second to be killed off.
  • Canon Foreigner: They were all created for the anime.
  • Cleavage Window: Vinegar sports a rare male example when his armor stretches to accommodate his muscle mass upon powering up with the Makyo Star. Him already having a window displaying his abs combined with this new opening makes for a rather bizarre look. It’s possible that Mustard would've had one too had he still been alive to change.
  • Clothing Damage: Spice loses the majority of his outfit when he powers up via the Makyo Star much like his master, only retaining the black undersuit, which even then lost almost the entirety of its upper area, giving him a sort of pseudo-toga. Vinegar bizarrely avoids this with his outfit stretching out with his muscles.
  • Combination Attack: Salt and Mustard have an attack where they both charge up an energy sphere and then combine it into one. Spice and Vinegar also have an attack like this, but they don't get to launch it. All four together are shown to create a web of energy that binds its target from escaping, as Gohan, Kami, and Mr. Popo found out the hard way.
  • Deep South: Vinegar has a gruff Southerner's voice in the Funimation dub.
  • Depraved Dwarf: Salt is the smallest of the Spice Boys, roughly the same height as Guldo (4' tall), and is shown as the most outwardly cruel with his stomping on Gohan and seriously injuring Krillin, albeit unintentionally.
  • The Dragon: Spice for Garlic Jr.
  • Dub Name Change: Gasshu became Spice, Tard became Mustard, and Zald became Salt in the American dub. Vinegar is the only one to keep his name unaltered.
  • Dumb Muscle: Both Vinegar and Mustard are characterized as brawny musclemen with little in terms of brainpower. Vinegar ends up needing to have Spice explain to him how the Black Water Mist works several times and had to be restrained from killing Piccolo because he didn't know that the Namekian's death would also cause Kami's demise and render the Dragon Balls useless. Mustard also proceeds to attack an angered Gohan in an attempt to avenge Salt only to get killed himself in seconds. Real smooth. That said, Mustard was at least smart enough to realize that he and Salt were better off taking Gohan two-on-one when the latter snapped which prompted them to use their combined energy ball on him...only for it to be no selled.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mustard was horrified and then enraged when Gohan killed Salt, rushing in to avenge his teammate...only to get killed himself. Vinegar, upon seeing Gohan's hidden power, wanted to jump in and help his comrades only for Garlic Jr. to say "Let them fight their own battle." Later, he voices wanting vengeance for Mustard and Salt before Piccolo rushes in and interrupts his and Spice's attack on Gohan.
  • Evil Brit: Spice has a cockney accent in the original dub of Z as does Mustard. For the remastered version, they redubbed Spice but gave him a more standard British accent along with deeper pipes. Mustard was redubbed as well but lost his accent entirely, now sounding like a standard gravelly-voiced thug.
  • Evil Redhead: Mustard has red hair.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Vinegar has the lowest octaves of the four in both Japanese and English. Spice gets a fairly deep voice himself in the remastered Funimation dub, courtesy of J. Michael Tatum.
  • Evil Sounds Raspy: Mustard has a higher-pitched scratchy voice in Japanese while the diminutive Salt, ironically, has a lesser rasp and sounds deeper. In English, Salt is the raspy sounding one but a smidgen lighter than in Japanese while Mustard's original Funimation voice lacked it. His voice in the remastered version makes him sound slightly deeper with a more gravelly tone.
  • Expy: The group as a whole are expies of Garlic Jr.'s original crew of Makyans (Ginger, Nicky, and Sansho) that served him as Mooks in the movie Dead Zone.
    • Spice on his own can be seen as an analogue to Zarbon. They're both their boss' strongest fighter as their second-in-command (though Zarbon is below Captain Ginyu in terms of power) along with being the most attractive and polite members of their sect. Also their respective transformations cause them to become larger and more blood-thirsty towards their opponents; Zarbon with his hideous reptilian form and Spice becoming enhanced with the power of the Makyo Star. Hell, his voice in the remastered dub is even performed by Zarbon's actor in Kai.
  • Fangs Are Evil: All of their teeth are pointed. Salt, in particular, has his canines sticking out even when not speaking.
  • Fur and Loathing: Salt has a furry yellow collared scarf as part of his ensemble. His hat and Vinegar's also seem to have a fur origin.
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: Most of what we see of the Spice Boys had been staples of Dragon Ball villains for three going on four years at the time going back to Demon King Piccolo (who debuted in mid-1987 in manga form). Really, Spice is the well-mannered pretty boy second-in-command i.e. Zarbon. Conversely, Vinegar is the vicious and unintelligent muscleman yet makes even Dodoria seem like a compelling villain by comparison. Mustard and Salt are more memorable for their designs than anything they do character-wise, which is mainly to just be more generic thugs to toss around Gohan and Krillin until the former snaps at the latter getting injured and destroys both. Garlic's original lackeys had more personality displayed in under forty-five minutes during Dead Zone than these guys had in a ten-episode story arc.
  • The Giant: Vinegar and Mustard are the big guys among the four with the former around Burter's height (8'2") and the latter comparable to Recoome's (7'7").
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Vinegar has a short fuse and needs to be kept in check by Spice when Piccolo casually insults their master.
  • High Collar of Doom: Spice has one as part of his ensemble. He wears his cape around it. It gets destroyed when he goes One-Winged Angel.
  • Horns of Villainy: Vinegar and Mustard both have them; Vinegar's are smaller and poke through his hat while Mustard's curve upwards and are more bull-like. The former's horns get larger upon his Makyo Star power-up.
  • Hot Blooded Sideburns: Mustard has the long-"braid" variety on both sides of his head. His reckless charging of Gohan after the latter obliterates Salt leaves him open to a kick to the head, stunning him long enough for Gohan to kill him as well.
  • Human Aliens: Downplayed with Spice, who is the most conventionally attractive of the four. His giveaways are the pointy ears and cyan/turquoise colored-skin, plus his white spiky hair (though that last one is excusable by the standards of the dragon world). Other than that, he could pass pretty well.
  • Identical Stranger: A Makyan with a resemblance to Mustard cameos as one of Frieza's men in the Resurrection 'F' manga adaptation. This grunt lacks Mustard's horns and only has a single spike on each bicep.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Spice appears to die when Gohan uppercuts him into a wall with a spike sticking out. Said spike pierces his heart. It doesn't stick when the Makyo Star arrives and heals him. The American broadcast surprisingly retained it with the only edit being to make the spike shorter.
  • Jerkass: All of them to varying degrees, especially Vinegar and Salt who delight in causing pain to Krillin and Gohan during their battles on Kami's Lookout.
  • Kick the Dog: Salt gets a hit in on Gohan before he asks Garlic Jr. if he and Mustard can "play around" with their new "buddies". There's also his stomping on Gohan when the latter couldn't defend himself during their fight, and to rub in the salt, he mocks Gohan for being as pathetic as his father despite him never meeting Goku in person. Finally, there's his attack on Krillin who took energy blasts that were meant for Gohan. This last action caused Gohan to snap and kill Salt first.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: Salt literally and viciously stomps on Gohan after knocking him down during their battle on Kami's Lookout.
  • Killed Off for Real: Unlike Ginger, Nicky, and Sansho who cameo in Fusion Reborn, the Spice Boys never appear again after their deaths the Garlic Jr. Saga. Not even in GT during the Super 17 Saga are they shown when villains from all across the series (even Cooler from Z Movie 5) make a brief comeback.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Unlike the trio of henchmen from the Dead Zone movie, the Spice Boys aren't shown to possess any comedic quirks and are far nastier in their fights with Gohan and Krillin. Compare Nicky's subplot in watching over a tipsy Gohan from the movie with Mustard and Salt's cruel murder of a couple intruding on the ruins of their master's old castle. There's also Salt's deriding of Gohan for being weak and seriously injuring Krillin when the latter took a hit for his friend.
  • Leotard of Power: Both Spice and Mustard wear black leotards under their armor. Surprisingly, the bottom part of Spice's remains intact despite the majority of his outfit being torn apart by his Makyo Star power-up.
  • Magic Pants: When Vinegar goes One-Winged Angel with Spice via the Makyo Star, unlike the latter, his armor actually stretches along with his muscle mass, similar to how Saiyan battle armor can stretch whenever they transform into their great ape forms. The only difference is that Vinegar now sports a Cleavage Window. Seriously. It can be reasonably inferred that Mustard's armor had the same quality, but he was killed before getting the chance to show it.
  • Master of Threads: All of them combine their energy into a web that binds its target in place, and it can also be invisible to the naked eye. Kami, Mr. Popo, and Gohan both get caught in it, but the latter manages to escape with Piccolo's help.
  • Monstrosity Equals Weakness: Alongside the Bishōnen Line. Salt is a short, red-skinned imp with peduncle-like whiskers. His power level is 400,000. The bovine-esque Mustard is slightly less ugly but not by much, like if Bowser and Ganondorf Dragmire had a kid together. His power level measures at 450,000, putting him halfway over Salt. Vinegar, while not much of a looker compared to Spice, is more humanoid aside from his purple skin and pointy ears and can be considered moderately hunky to have his six-exposed like his commander. His power level caps at 800,000 making him twice as powerful as the previous two. Finally, Spice is the most humanoid of the four and could pass as a conventional Pretty Boy if not for his pointy ears and turquoise skin. His power level is equal to Frieza's second form at 1,000,000 which is only 500,000 lower than his master Garlic Jr. during his return.
  • Mr. Exposition: Spice mainly, as he reveals the nature of the Makyo Star to the heroes as well as the properties of the Black Water Mist to all unfamiliar with it.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Spice by virtue of being the most conventionally attractive and having his abs on full display.
  • My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: Salt remarks to Gohan that he has a sister who could tank more punishment than the stomping he gave the boy. This is only in the English version.
  • The Napoleon: Salt may be small but gives Gohan a severe beating during their fight. His power is given in a video game at 400,000. For an idea of scale, the similar-sized Guldo was never above 20,000.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Spice explaining to Piccolo how the Makyo Star works in conjunction with demons' dark energies gives the latter the idea to destroy it later on when Garlic Jr. reopens the Dead Zone after the Black Water Mist's effects are cured. Gohan proceeds to destroy Makyo which in turn drains Garlic's power so that the five-year-old can knock the demon right back into the Dead Zone for all eternity.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Like with Piccolo, Demon King Piccolo, and the rest of his late spawn, the Spice Boys are demonic in nature while also being aliens. Namely from the Makyo Star.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Salt's English voice appears to be an almost flawless impersonation of Bobcat Goldthwait.
  • No-Sell: Vinegar has the honor of being the first villain in the anime to stop the Destructo Disc, an attack normally stated to not be touchable unless one wants to lose a hand. Unlike Cell later on, who isn't affected when Krillin tries it on his new perfect form, Vinegar physically grabs the disc with no ill effect. This was before he got powered up with the Makyo Star's energy.
  • Not Quite Dead: Spice and Vinegar are supposedly killed when Gohan impales and blasts them away while fighting on the Lookout. The Makyo Star, however, in addition to increasing their power, heals their injuries even if they're fatal. Being blown up by an enraged Gohan's Masenko proves too much, however.
  • Number Two: Spice for Garlic Jr.
  • Odd Name Out: In the Japanese version Vinegar is the only Spice Boy whose name isn't based on a food pun, it is flat-out Vinegar.
  • Oh, Crap!: Mustard and Salt when they see a pissed-off Gohan survived their combined energy ball and glaring daggers at them. Both die via Masenko shortly thereafter. Likewise, Spice and Vinegar are both in bewilderment when Gohan obliterates them in rage for preventing him from rescuing a falling Krillin.
  • One-Winged Angel: Spice and Vinegar both get gigantified when the Makyo Star gets close to the Earth. Not only do their muscles get larger, but their speed becomes frighteningly more difficult to keep pace with and their bloodthirsty behavior really stands in contrast to how affable Spice was portrayed up to that point. Vinegar, already a savage brute himself, mostly just screams and laughs during his brawl with Krillin after the change. It is assumed that the star would've done the same to Mustard and Salt if Gohan hadn't killed them before it arrived.
  • Our Minotaurs Are Different: Mustard resembles a humanoid bull with his features being vaguely bovine. He never utilizes his horns for combat, however.
  • Pinned to the Wall: Spice gets taken out initially when Gohan uppercuts him into a wall where he gets impaled through the heart with a spike. Thanks to the Makyo Star enhancing his demonic power, he heals from this.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Salt is no larger than the likes of Gohan and Guldo, but is still just as vicious an opponent with his kicking of Gohan while he couldn't defend himself and almost kills Krillin while the former took an energy blast for the latter.
  • Pointy Ears: All of them with the exception of Mustard who lacks ears entirely.
  • Prehensile Hair: Spice is able to grow his hair out and attack with it.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Vinegar has purple skin and is supposedly the second strongest of the four.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The second to Garlic Jr.'s after the death of his original henchman Ginger, Nicky, and Sansho in Dead Zone. Unlike the somewhat comedic trio from that film, however, they are taken just as seriously as a threat by the heroes as their master.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Spice wears pink armor, bracers, and boots, and is the leader of the Spice Boys.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Vinegar is the red being impatient, easily angered, and hateful towards those who kill his fellow Makyans while Spice is the blue by being calm, polite to potential allies, and knowledgeable about the Makyan culture.
  • Reused Character Design: Their armor, particularly Vinegar and Mustard's, bears a resemblance to the battle armor that the Saiyans and the majority of the Frieza Force use, down to the oversized shoulder guards. Given that the Bio-Warriors' armor from The World's Strongest was confirmed to be modeled after Saiyan armor by chief character designer Minoru Maeda, it is not unreasonable to assume that the same references were used for the Spice Boys' look. All of their boots have armored points plus a Makyan similar looking to Mustard appears in the manga adaptation of Resurrection 'F'.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Both Mustard and Salt are killed roughly halfway through the battle to demonstrate why it is never a good idea to piss Gohan off i.e. harm his friends by happenstance or purposely.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: Salt wears a furry yellow collar that has a tail longer than he is tall. It accents his Mongolian-style appearance including his hat.
  • Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Played straight with Spice, whose outfit is almost completely shredded once he powers up with the Makyo Star, much like Garlic Jr.'s. Surprisingly averted or at least downplayed with Vinegar whose armor stretches out along with his muscle mass, not dissimilar to how Saiyans' armor functions with their great ape forms.
  • Shout-Out: The name of their group is most likely a reference to the Spice Girls.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Spice's Japanese name, Gasshu, has been romanized as Gash, Cash, and Cashew in different sources.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Mustard has two additional "horns" located on each bicep. Like with his main horns, he never weaponizes them.
  • Super-Speed: Spice manages to shock Gohan with his speed.
  • This Cannot Be!: Just before Gohan destroys them, Spice and Vinegar have this to say:
    Spice: NO WAY!!
    Vinegar: YES WAY!! OH NO!! (both spend their last moments screaming before exploding)
  • Villainous Valour: Say what you want about their cruelty, but they're no cowards. Deconstructed with Mustard charging Gohan after the latter kills Salt since all it accomplished was getting himself atomized by a Masenko. Compare with Sansho panicking that Piccolo is a monster before being killed and Nicky's bug-eyed expression when he saw Ginger being blasted his way by Goku.
  • Villainous Widow's Peak: Spice has a small one, not being as prominent as Vegeta or Raditz's.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: Spice's hair is white and is no less evil than his companions, though he is more polite than most of them.
  • Would Hurt a Child: None of them had any problems fighting the five to six-year-old Gohan at the time. Salt takes his time to stomp on the boy during their brief fight and Spice, after Gohan rejects his offer to join the Makyans, pulls no punches in trying to strangle him to death with his hair. Doubly so after Spice powers up from the Makyo Star and he and Vinegar viciously prevent him from rescuing Krillin who was falling to his death.

Android/Cell Saga

    Mr. Shu 

Mr. Shu (周災悪 (しゅうさいあく), Shū Sai'aku)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aqzpc6d.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Hirotaka Suzuoki
Voiced by (English): Chuck Huber
Voiced by (Latin American): César Soto

A private tutor Chi-Chi hires for Gohan during a filler episode of the Trunks Saga... who turns out to be a Sadist Teacher who is all too eager to give his students A Taste of the Lash.


  • Berserk Button: Talking back even once will ensure a taste of his whip. Eventually, Gohan and Chi-Chi stand up to him and he loses his threat.
  • The Bully: He is heavily implied to be using his profession as a private tutor in order to demean and assault "problem children" just to make himself feel important.
  • Destination Defenestration: When Chi-Chi discovers what a Jerkass he really is, she tosses him out a window.
  • Dirty Coward: The minute Gohan stands up to him and breaks his whip, he freaks out and calls Chi-Chi for help. And then when he decides to badmouth her after being thrown outside, Chi-Chi angrily gives chase and he bolts for good.
  • Entitled Bastard: Expects Gohan to fully submit to his lashings even though he'd done nothing to earn the boy's respect as a human being, let alone an educator. Hell, he even thought that Chi-Chi would accept the insults thrown at Goku and Gohan, her husband and son no less, to the point he gleefully relished in his own hateful remarks. Chi-Chi gave him a satisfying taste of defenestration.
  • Expy: Not especially obvious at first glance, but particularly in the Japanese, Shu is essentially a human counterpart to Frieza. His being a sadistic, sniveling classist who compares Gohan to a monkey and feels the need to endlessly insult Goku is a subtle indication of this. More proof can be found in Gohan's nightmare of Frieza attacking him which cuts to his actually attacking Shu in his sleep, and Frieza's voice in the dub even morphs into the tutor's before the dream fades out.
  • Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: To cap off his utter contemptibility, Shu has the balls to sadistically laugh at his own degrading of the Son family right in front of Chi-Chi. Needless to say, she quickly shuts him up.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses and is quite horrible.
  • Greed: He demands a higher fee for tutoring those whose intelligence he feels are beneath that of a monkey's as payback for Gohan standing up to him. It's likely the only "humane" (and that term is being used loosely) reason he has for his occupation.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: At one point he attempts to lash Gohan just for glaring at him, never mind that his badmouthing of Goku was the cause of earning the boy's ire.
  • Hate Sink: Every moment of his screen time is spent either openly mocking and trash-talking Goku or beating Gohan with a whip for the slightest transgressions, so it's incredibly satisfying when Chi-Chi, upon realizing what a scumbag he is, throws him out a window and then chases him off of her property.
  • Hypocrite: Calls Goku a brainless brute martial artist and a bad influence on Gohan despite most of his onscreen apperance involving violence to towards Gohan. To drive home the point, he antagonizes Gohan repeatedly, even after Gohan almost broke his arm in his sleep.
  • Jerkass: A complete asshole who abuses Gohan and insults Goku. It was so satisfying to see Chi-Chi throw him out of her house.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After insulting and belittling Goku and Gohan, and also whipping Gohan right in front of his mother, Mr. Shu gets what's coming to him big-time when a rightfully pissed Chi-Chi bodily throws him out the window and chases him into the horizon.
  • Manchild: His behavior and easily riled-up temper are basically equivalent to a schoolyard bully in a man's body. This is more emphasized in the dub where his Politically Incorrect Villain trait is mostly removed.
  • Mugging the Monster: Doesn't know the student he likes to whip has enough power to destroy the Earth, then insults his father. Chi-Chi quickly deals with him in a rather satisfying way.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His first name "Sai'aku" can be translated to "the worst teacher". What was Chi-Chi thinking when she first looked him up?
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Particularly in the original Japanese, where he shows signs of being a textbook classist in comparing Gohan's intelligence to be inferior to that of a monkey. His abuse of Gohan also brings to mind the corporal punishment educators had long since been banned from using by the time of his appearance.note  He seriously believed that Chi-Chi would accept this behavior to the point he whipped Gohan hard enough to draw blood...right in front of her and laughed about it. Chi-Chi snaps and tosses his rotten ass out of their house.
  • Reused Character Design: He's a lighter-skinned bespectacled Pamput with the afro to match.
  • Sadist Teacher: He beats his students with a freaking whip for the slightest transgressions. Plus (in the Japanese only) he insults Gohan's intelligence by comparing him to a pig and monkey and saying he has no academic potential. Chi-Chi didn't let him have the last laugh.
  • Stern Teacher: What he initially claims himself to be to Chi-Chi. He's actually something far worse.
  • Stupid Evil: He'd already successfully prevented Chi-Chi from finding out about his sadistic acts towards her son Gohan while acting as a strict teacher by making himself out as the victim and Gohan supposedly the perpetrator when the latter decides to fight back. But rather than continue capitalizing on this, immediately afterward, he decides to insult Goku — Chi-Chi's husband, mind you — mocking him as a failure and how he never acts like a father to them. He also decides to whip Gohan right in front of his mother, which ended up making him obviously the guilty one. No mother would want anyone who insults their family like that to stick around, and that includes Chi-Chi, who promptly drives him out of her house and tells him to never come back again.
  • A Taste of the Lash: He's a little too eager to beat his students with a whip.
  • Too Dumb to Live: He frequently belittles and insults Gohan and Goku even when he has no reason to even in front of Chi-Chi. Gohan told him to stop no fewer than three times and Shu either ignored or, at one point, whipped the boy for talking back. This indicates that he never cared period about advancing Gohan's studies and blatantly mocked him for essentially being, by his definition, a lost cause academically. This was the last straw for Chi-Chi, who wasted no time kicking him out of their house and chasing him away.
  • Whip of Dominance: He's a Sadist Teacher that always carries a whip which he uses to beat his students for misbehaving or seemingly misbehaving even slightly.
  • Would Hurt a Child: He gleefully and persistently whips Gohan whenever the latter misbehaves or seemingly misbehaves according to his extremely rigid standards. It's actually implied in the original version that this and Greed are the main reason for his occupation.

Majin Buu Saga

Babidi's Forces

    Babidi 

Babidi (バビディ)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/babidi_artwork.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Joji Yanami (Z), Bin Shimada (Kai)
Voiced by (English): Terry Klassen (Ocean dub); Duncan Brannan (Z, Kai, Budokai 2 and 3), Bill Townsley (Budokai Tenkaichi 3) (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Arturo Mercado (Current Voice)

A small alien wizard who is trying to take over the world using his doppelganger father Bibidi's living weapon Majin Buu. It works for a while, but when he gets too mouthy, it backfires royally.


  • Adaptational Badass: In the manga, Piccolo takes him down with no effort. In the anime, Babidi's not a true threat to Piccolo but does make him put a little effort into taking him down.
  • Aliens Are Bastards: He's a sadist with a childish obsession with destruction.
  • Alien Blood: Bleeds purple when Buu decapitates him.
  • Arc Villain: Despite not lasting very long, he's the one who awakened Majin Buu and sent him to terrorize the Earth.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: As long as somebody has evil in their heart, Babidi can take control of them.
  • Asshole Victim: He's easily the least sympathetic of Buu's victims unless you count Van Zant.
  • Ax-Crazy: He is a gleeful sadist that takes joy in actively harming others.
  • Bad Boss: His Establishing Character Moment is having Spopovich and Yamu killed on the spot after they give him Gohan's stolen Ki, with Shin outright saying that Babidi always kills his minions when he doesn't need them anymore. This also kills him in the end regarding his treatment of Majin Buu, who after realizing he doesn't have to take his shit, smashes his head apart like a watermelon.
  • Big Bad: Babidi is effectively the main antagonist from the time the main plot is introduced to the moment Buu kills him and lasts a surprisingly long time in this role. He lasts about two volumes- the second half of volume 37 (where he doesn't appear directly, but his minions and name do), all of volume 38, and the first half of volume 39. Though in the case of 39, he shares the role with Fat Buu, who is absolutely more dangerous than him and only follows the bare minimum of Babidi's orders to not get sealed.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: In spite of his dark magic powers, formidable enough that Shin treads lightly against him, physically he's really no match for any of the Z Fighters or even a normal human girl (one tossed him around like it was nothing after Fat Buu ate everything at her bakery and he didn't want to pay for it) and is completely reliant on the likes of Dabura and Majin Buu to do all the fighting for him. His magic, however, is extremely powerful; he can mind control the likes of Dabura and Vegeta, teleport himself and others, generate barriers strong enough to block attacks from Fat Buu, create lamp-like containers capable of piercing a Super Saiyan 2's flesh, draw out peoples' dormant power to make them stronger, make weaker beings explode with his mind, broadcast messages telepathically to billions of people, and so on. In other words, a Glass Cannon. As Shin put it:
    Shin/Supreme Kai: Basically, he is nothing to fear but the magic at his disposal is powerful indeed.
  • Brainwashing: How he recruits his minions, by targeting any trace of evil in their hearts to outright possess them.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Unlike his father who favored the carrot (cake), Babidi preferred to use the stick in controlling Buu. Whenever Buu showed some disobedience, Babidi would threaten to reseal him. This continued until Goku scolds Buu for letting such a weak coward order him around. After Goku left, Babidi continues to insult Buu for not killing Goku right then and there and shortly after this, Babidi found himself lacking a head.
  • The Cameo: He makes a background appearance in GT flying out of Hell with Recoome, Guldo, King Cold, Cui, and Appule during the Super 17 Saga. Later, he can be seen in line at King Yemma's check-in station awaiting his trip back to Hell behind the Ginyu Force and Cui. Despite Babidi's old minions Pui Pui and Yakon making appearances with his "M" insignia once more, they share no scenes with him. He's set to become one in Dragonball Daima, alongside Dabura and Buu.
  • Combat Commentator: In the anime, he watches the fight with Kid Buu in Hell, and unlike all of the other villains, he wants Goku to win because Buu killed him (unaware that it's Kid Buu and not the Fat Buu).
    Babidi: Do it, Goku! Beat the Buu!
  • Corrupted Character Copy: As a diminuitive, ancient alien with mystical abilities, it's not hard to see Babidi as a manga take on Yoda, if Yoda was devoid of empathy and discipline.
  • Creepy High-Pitched Voice: The Funimation dub gives him a wonderfully creepy rasp that gives his scenes using spells an especially unsettling feel, particularly when he's trying to manipulate Vegeta.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Babidi’s entire plan revolved around blackmailing Buu to do his dirty work while threatening him with imprisonment should he act out of turn. Needless to say, Buu quickly gets very tired of Babidi’s antics and turns his head to paste.
  • Deadline News: Theatrically declares the beginning of his genocidal rampage through a global telepathic broadcast. Keeps giving updates to the increasingly-terrified populace as he makes progress, only to have his last broadcast show everyone Goku's Super Saiyan 3 transformation followed by Buu and Goku's first fight, and then his own death.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Babidi shows why being a Bad Boss who is prone to You Have Outlived Your Usefulness is a detriment in the long run. He ruthlessly kills Spopovich and Yamu when they exceeded his expectations and allowed Buu to eat his loyal Dragon Dabura, despite his warnings that Buu would turn on him and begs him to reseal him. When Buu did turn against him, he had no one left to protect him.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Despite Goku fighting evenly with Majin Buu (who up to this point had no equal), Babidi still felt brave enough to flip off Goku when he says that Buu was far too talented of a fighter to be controlled by someone like Babidi. In the Japanese text, he flips off Goku when he says that he will ask Yemma to really torture him in Hell.
  • Didn't Think This Through: He does this a grand total of three times:
    • First, he tries to keep Piccolo from killing him by pointing out without someone to seal Majin Buu away, he'll destroy the world. Piccolo points out that's what Babidi intends to do anyway, so the end result would be no different, and bisects him.
    • Babidi gets Buu to heal him, and threatens him into compliance, with the threat of sealing him away. When Goku challenges them, he tries to repeat the threat only for Buu to point out that if he does, Goku would kill Babidi easily. Luckily for him, Buu is willing to fight Goku anyway.
    • The last time proves fatal, as trying to control Majin Buu through the fear of a spell falls apart when Buu simply crushes his windpipe, rendering him unable to speak, and kills him.
  • Dirty Coward: Justified since he's weaker than most of the villains at this point, and he relies more on his minions since he knows he's done once one gets him. Goku even outright calls Babidi a "cowardly worm" while criticizing Buu for letting Babidi boss him around.
  • Enemy Mine: Sort of. He doesn't directly aid Goku in regards to defeating Kid Buu, but in the US dub he cheers him on solely because he wants Buu dead as revenge for killing him in the first place.
  • Entitled Bastard: In the Funimation dub. Despite being a sadistic bastard who regularly tortures others and a Bad Boss to the nth degree, Babidi has the gall to beg Piccolo to help him after being cut in half and left to die. Piccolo rightfully tells him to screw off. note  He manages to get Buu to heal him shortly after, insisting that if he dies, no one will be able to set Buu free should he be sealed up again.
  • Epic Fail: During Vegeta's fight with Pui Pui, Babidi transforms the environment into that of Pui Pui's home planet of Zoon, which has gravity 10 times that of Earth, in order to give Pui Pui an advantage. It backfires completely, because not only does Vegeta regularly train in 450 times Earth's gravity, but his own home planet of Vegeta had gravity equal to that of Zoon anyway.
    Vegeta: Maybe... if your planet had five hundred times Earth's gravity, you'd have an advantage, but ten? I don't even feel it!
  • Establishing Character Moment: When first introduced, Babidi thanks Spopovich and Yamu for collecting energy to revive Majin Buu, and then declares he has no more use for them and gleefully has them killed on the spot. This alone tells the audience everything they need to know about Babidi's character: a sadistic and insecure man who compensates for his shortcomings by torturing and abusing beings more helpless than himself.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Played for Laughs, albeit very twisted laughs in an anime-only scene. When Babidi is asking for people who might know about the whereabouts of Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo, Idasa and Ikose's mother, an annoyingly obnoxious and arrogant woman who resented Trunks and Goten for beating her sons at the tournament, contacts the wizard and reveals Trunks' residence at the Capsule Corporation to him as an act of payback. Babidi, while begrudgingly thanking the woman for this info, at the same time finds her shrilly and nagging tone so grating that he venomously threatens to murder her if he ever has to listen to her voice again.
  • Evil Gloating: Once Buu is resurrected and beats Shin into the ground, Babidi spends several seconds rubbing it into Shin's face, even remarking that despite all his efforts to stop him, Shin's bringing the Z-Fighters, beings with a lot of energy, right to him did nothing but speed Babidi's plans along and essentially handed him victory on a silver platter.
    Babidi: What a wonderful day this is! Though I fully plan to rip you into pieces, let me first say thank you. After all, if it weren't for all the incredibly strong fighters you brought me, I wouldn't have been able to bring Majin Buu back to life.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: With some encouragement from Goku, Majin Buu eventually turns on Babidi and kills him.
  • Evil Is Petty: After being restored by Buu following Piccolo's attack, Babidi vows to make Piccolo and the kids suffer for it and so has Buu kill countless people cities at a time in an attempt to find them (he intentionally delays wiping out the planet for this mind you). When Goku asks him to stop, he then spitefully declares that he'll have even more people killed.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's one of the oldest characters in the series, and a sadistic bastard to boot. He was more than five million years old at the time of his death. The Japanese version emphasises this by making him sound like a whiny old man.
  • Evil Sorcerer: What does he use his magic for? Summon an Eldritch Abomination like his father did to take over the universe.
  • Evil Sounds Raspy: His voices in the English dub have a particularly scratchy quality to them to emphasize his depravity, especially in the Funimation dubs. Duncan Brannan actually made it scratchier from Kai onward to add to the character's "evil chops".
  • Faux Affably Evil: Acts dignified and polite when he's in control. The moment things go wrong, he turns into a Spoiled Brat, throwing tantrums and whining. He's also extremely sadistic and loves to torture people.
  • Foil: To Fat Buu, in that they are both childlike antagonists that are centuries old. The difference is that while Fat Buu is childlike in a pure and innocent way, genuinely doesn't know that killing people is wrong, looks ageless despite having existed for centuries, is smarter than he looks, and can be reasoned with; Babidi is more of a Spoiled Brat that sadistically enjoys killing people, looks old in stark contrast to his immaturity, turns out to be incredibly Stupid Evil, and ignores anyone that tries to reason with him- resulting in his Karmic Death later.
  • Genre Blindness: It never occurred to him that Buu could betray him despite Dabura's warning to him, and he's completely flabbergasted that anyone, let alone Vegeta, could possess the willpower to resist mind control.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Everything that happens during The Buu Saga is because of his actions.
  • Hate Sink: Like Raditz, Babidi seems to be made to be as unlikable as possible and thus all the more satisfying when Majin Buu kills him. He's a sadistic, utterly callous villain who's also an idiotic Dirty Coward, in stark contrast to the much more likable Majin Buu and Dabura. He's up there with Frieza in being utterly despicable without even the excuse of being born evil, and as horrible as Frieza was, even he was competent and had Evil Is Cool going for him. Babidi is just a Big Bad Wannabe.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: If Buu turning on him wasn't enough, in Dragon Ball Heroes, he can be absorbed by Kid Buu.
  • Home Field Advantage: He can use his magic to teleport his minions and fighters to various environments, and his henchmen use it to their advantage. Of course, it doesn't work out: sending them to Pui Pui's home planet to use the increased gravity against the Z-Fighters fails because Vegeta himself is a Heavyworlder who's trained under much higher gravity, and hosting a fight on Yakon's homeworld of complete darkness fails because Goku's Ki Sense allows him to keep pace with Yakon's Innate Night Vision.
  • Hypocritical Humor: He threatens Idasa and Ikose's mother for annoying him with her admittedly grating shrill, never mind that Babidi himself has a high-pitched raspy tone that is arguably just as bad if not worse.
  • Immortal Immaturity: He's a five million-year-old wizard, but acts like a Spoiled Brat.
  • Inexplicably Awesome: Babidi and his past self/father Bibidi are enormously powerful wizards who have lived for millions of years, bound the primordial representation of destruction to their will, wiped out galaxies using him, and cowed the gods themselves, to the point where the last remaining Supreme Kai is outright scared of what Babidi can do. Babidi's magic is powerful enough to do things no other characters can and mind control Dabura, the ruler of the Demon Realm who himself surpasses the highest gods of both his realm and the mortal realm.note  We never even get a hint of where they came from.
  • Irony: In the anime, he actively cheers Goku and Vegeta on from Hell during the fight with Kid Buu, wanting Buu to die for betraying and killing him, but doesn't notice (or seem to care) that the fat Majin Buu, the one who actually killed him, lives on.
  • Karmic Death: Since Majin Buu's release, Babidi threatened Buu with sealing Buu back up if he doesn't submit to him and/or obey his command, and was verbally abusive. After Babidi makes the mistake of telling off Buu for not killing Goku when he had the chance, Buu decides that he has had enough, and after tricking Babidi into coming closer, he strangles Babidi so that he can't utter the incantation that would seal him away, and then punches his head off in a bloody mist. To add an extra heap of karma on top, Babidi spent most of the arc killing his minions once he had no more use for them, leaving nobody around to defend him once Buu turns on him. And Buu kills him for the same reason.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • Killing Spopovich and Yamu even after they followed his orders. And afterward, he killed a random bystander just for not knowing where Goten, Trunks, or Piccolo are.
    • Him showing the entire world Buu turning entire cities into candy and chocolate before eating them alive. He then reminds everyone that he will have the Earth destroyed in five days if Trunks, Piccolo, and Goten don't reveal themselves. And that random bystander he murdered, he made his head explode from the inside out and broadcast it.
  • Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Not a single damn was given once Buu killed him, even though Buu went completely on a rampage without anyone to control him.
  • Lack of Empathy: Common Dragon Ball villain trait.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After he ruthlessly disposed of anyone who wasn't of use to him, Buu kills him because he no longer needs Babidi. Even better, since Babidi allowed Buu to kill his most loyal servant, there was no one who would have gone out of their way to save him.
  • Logical Weakness: He manages to keep Buu in line by repeatedly threatening to seal him back up again. When Buu inevitably turns on him, the very first thing he does is strangle him; after all, Babidi can't recite the incantation to seal him away if he can't speak.
  • Losing Your Head: When Buu punches his head apart, his body continues to move until Buu obliterates it.
  • Moral Myopia: He wants to kill Shin because he killed his father to stop Majin Buu's rampage. Babidi's father caused the death of millions if not billions by unleashing Buu, including all of the Supreme Kais except one. Babidi also regularly murders others, including his own men, without care. In the Funimation dub, Babidi has the gall to beg Piccolo for help after Piccolo cuts him in half, with Piccolo calling him on it.
    Piccolo: When you help others, you receive help. When's the last time you used your powers to help someone? I'll bet it's been a while, hasn't it?
    Babidi: Help! Don't lecture me!
    Piccolo: You don't like being hurt, do you? But you delight in hurting others. You're right. You don't need a lecture. You need to be exterminated.
  • More than Mind Control: The way Babidi's control spell works is to seek the evil within a person's heart and manipulate it into making a person want to serve them. It is mind control, but it relies on how much darkness lies in a person's heart to be amplified. There's no known way to break it, presumably outside of Babidi's death, but there is one known exception: Vegeta's absurdly strong sense of Pride allows him to exert his own will and ignore Babidi's orders, which was thought to be impossible by Shin and Babidi.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Babidi takes this to a ridiculous level, relying on taking control of others and making them fight in his place while screaming orders at them. Even in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, his attacks are mostly summoning others to do his dirty work.
  • Oh, Crap!: After Piccolo points out that he Didn't Think This Through, and after he mouths off one too many times to Buu.
  • Punny Name/Shout-Out: Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu.
  • "Pop!" Goes the Human: How Babidi prefers to kill his victims, inflating them with his dark magic until they pop, doing this first to Spopovich after he proved to be no longer useful, and attempted this on Piccolo but only succeeded at slowing him down and expanding his muscles (implying that people who have a significant amount of power can prevent the worst of it) and later on to a World Martial Arts Tournament employee after he gave him little information on Goten and Trunks' whereabouts outside of their names. He threaten to do this to Idasa's and Ikose's mother, mainly because she was an annoying nuisance and only stopped once she revealed where Trunks lived.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: Despite being an eons-old wizard, he acts like a spoiled child. He is prone to throwing tantrums, whining, and bullying others when things don't go his way. He also treats hurting and killing people like some kind of game, laughing in delight when Buu ate entire cities or when his former loyal servant Dabura was beaten senseless and devoured.
  • Rapid-Fire "Shut Up!": Delivers this to Dabura after the former tries to convince his master that Majin Buu cannot remain loyal to anybody. To top it off, he even tells Dabura that he no longer needs the demon king for his plan and basically allows Buu to wail on and devour him.
  • Rat Men: Variation; he closely resembles a humanoid naked mole-rat minus the overbite. Mole-rats in real-life aren't particularly known for having long fleshy whiskers either, but otherwise, Babidi fits.
  • Sadist: Just like his "father", he loves destruction and killing as much as they do.
  • Secret Identity Apathy: He wanted revenge on Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo for interfering with and injuring him. Since he doesn't know their names, he has Majin Buu blow up cities one by one and gives a general description to the people of Earth while demanding they show themselves. A man recognizes the description and tells Babidi their names, only for Babidi to say he couldn't care less what their names are and kill him.
  • Shout-Out Theme Naming: To Walt Disney's Cinderella. Combine his name with his father's and Buu's, and you get "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo".
  • Sidekick Creature Nuisance: A villainous example, especially since he needs his minions to back him up.
  • Smug Snake: Ohh boy, is he ever. Not helped at all by his status as a smarmy Squishy Wizard Non-Action Big Bad Wannabe in a series full of Blood Knights.
  • Spoiled Brat: Goes hand in hand with him being a Psychopathic Manchild. He rants and yells when things don't go his way and refuses to consider that he can be wrong. This really stands out since he's one of the oldest characters introduced in the series.
  • Squishy Wizard: Only villainous example of this series. His magic is very powerful. He can kill weaker people from far distances, teleport others to different planets, and his curse allows him to control monsters like Dabura if they have any evil in their hearts. He is also a weakling who is nearly killed by Piccolo. His only close combat defense is a barrier that can be shattered if enough force is applied and a type of gel that can cause a person to explode, which can be blown off.
  • Stupid Evil: Babidi has this horrible habit of killing anyone he thinks he doesn't need anymore. This leads to him killing Spopovich and Yamu when they succeeded in their mission to collect energy. When he learns that they managed to gather enough energy to fill Majin Buu up by half, he has no clue how they did it since he killed them. He also gleefully allows Buu to fight and eat Dabura when he tries to warn him that Buu wouldn't remain loyal and will eventually kill him. To top it all off, he constantly demeans and threatens to reseal Buu, despite having no other protection since he no longer has Dabura around. This ends with him having his head crushed by Buu.
  • Take Over The Universe: Initially, he had plans for universal domination after Majin Buu was revived, but Vegeta blew up his spaceship. So he settled for terrorizing Earth instead. Probably should have forced them to build a new spaceship instead.
  • The Sociopath: Low-functioning example. He doesn't care about anyone else, loves the pains he inflicts and throws his minions under the bus when he doesn't need them. He's also very impatient and doesn't think things through, which leads to his demise.
  • This Cannot Be!: His reaction when Majin Vegeta actively resists his commands in favor of going after Goku: according to Babidi, this is the first time any of his brainwashed slaves have ever defied him.
    Babidi: How can the possessed say no to the possessor?!
    • And again when it looks like Buu's revival was botched. He's so demoralized that he even cries a little.
  • 13 Is Unlucky: Even more meta; the Babidi Saga is the thirteenth saga of Dragon Ball Z.
  • Time Abyss: At least five million years old, as his father was killed then.
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • See Bullying a Dragon.
    • Dabura, who has been nothing but loyal to Babidi, warns him that Buu is uncontrollable and that the demon will eventually kill him. Instead of even considering Dabura's warning, Babidi throws a tantrum, yelling that he didn't need Dabura anymore since he had Buu. By the time Buu turns on him, Babidi had absolutely no one who would save him.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Like Shin, he badly underestimated the Saiyans. If Vegeta hadn't felt the need to sell his soul to close the power gap and to beat Goku, Babidi's entire plan would have been ruined. He also keeps underestimating his enemies, like thinking Piccolo wasn't strong enough to break his barrier or that Super Saiyan 3 Goku couldn't kill Majin Buu. Amazingly, he even underestimates Buu, thinking that he could keep the Majin under control with threats and brute force.
  • Undignified Death: Buu fools Babidi into moving close enough for Buu to grab Babidi, lock his mouth, and execute him, which involves Buu punching Babidi's head off and then throwing his body to blow it up. What makes this undignified? That Buu could have turned Babidi into candy but had chosen not to, in effect saying that Babidi is disgusting from head to toe.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Towards his loyal right-hand man Dabura. This quote from the original Funi dub sums it up.
    Babidi: There is no "us" anymore! Don't you understand? He's been my life's ambition and now that he's here, you are nothing!
    • It backfires when Buu finally realizes (working off a hint from Goku) that he doesn't actually have to take it... The Z Fighters and his two Dragons were all stronger than he was, so first Dabura, then Buu, basically served as his bodyguards.
    • In one instance, he threatens to kill Idasa and Ikose's mother despite supplying him with accurate intel on Trunks' home address at Capsule Corporation. Admittedly though, that was less for her giving him information and more with to do with that he couldn't stand her nagging tone.
  • Villain Ball: Babidi has the tendency to kill his henchmen after he's done with them and verbally abuse Majin Buu. This backfires on him when Majin Buu decides to kill him since he no longer has any henchmen left to protect him.
  • Villain Respect: In the anime filler, when the villains in Hell are watching Goku fight Kid Buu, Babidi is shown rooting for Goku in secret, though this is mostly to see his death at the hands of Buu get avenged.
  • Villains Want Mercy: When Piccolo has him cornered, Babidi begs for his life, pointing out that without him, Majin Buu will be completely uncontrollable and destroy the Earth. Piccolo states that it's no different than what Babidi plans to do anyway, and he and the Z Fighters will stop Buu, before slicing Babidi in half. Babidi manages to cling to life long enough for Buu to heal him.
  • Vocal Evolution: Duncan Brannan's voice for Babidi became slightly raspier from Kai onwards, likely to fit his age and to add to his cruel nature.
  • We Have Reserves: Babidi considers all of his minions expendable as long as he gets to Majin Buu. His first scene has him have Spopovich and Yamu killed on the spot after they give him Gohan's stolen Ki, with Shin stating outright that Babidi always kills any minions he thinks he doesn't need anymore, and the very second Buu is revived, Babidi immediately casts off Dabura, his loyal right-hand man, and allows Buu to kill and eat him, spelling it out to him that he doesn't need anyone to serve him but Majin Buu. This ends up biting him in the ass once Buu realizes, with a little prodding from Goku, that that he doesn't have to take Babidi's shit.
  • Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: The only reason that Babidi is a threat is that he is able to mind control powerful fighters and get them to fight for him, as shown with Vegeta. Buu, who Babidi does not use mind control on, eventually turns on him and kills him with minimal effort.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Played With. Shin stated that while Babidi is physically weak his magical powers were so great that it may take all of the Z Fighters to defeat him. However, it isn't Babidi's magic in itself that is dangerous, but his ability to enslave powerful servants who have even a hint of evil within them and use them as his bodyguards like Dabura. His spell also makes those he possesses stronger by bringing out their inner evil. By himself, however, Babidi is basically helpless outside of a few defense spells that can kill weaker people like Spopovich, and is nearly killed by Piccolo who was in full Papa Wolf mood since he believed Gohan was killed by Buu at Babidi's orders.
  • Wizards from Outer Space: He's an alien wizard.
  • Would Hurt a Child: He's hellbent on killing Goten and Trunks, who are only 7 and 8 respectfully, for crossing him and ends up putting the entire world on edge in order to flush them out.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: His philosophy, since the only ally he considers important to his cause at all is Majin Buu. His putting all of his eggs in the strongest basket he has at the time and discarding ones he's already used comes back to bite him several times, and ultimately he falls victim to this trope as well.
  • You Killed My Father: He sought revenge on Shin for killing Bibidi.
  • Your Head Asplode: Buu kills him by punching him in the face so hard that his head explodes.

    Demon King Dabra/Dabura 

Demon King Dabra/Dabura (ダーブラ)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lineart_041___dabra_001_by_vicdbz_d3e7hqd.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
Voiced by (English): Scott McNeil (Ocean dub); Rick Robertson (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American dub): Gabriel Pingarrón (Current Voice)

The King of the Demon Realm and Babidi's right-hand man. He assists in his plans for some time, until Babidi abandons him in favor of Buu. He tries to fight Buu to prove his worth but winds up killed as a result. If that wasn't bad enough, King Yemma sends him to Heaven because since he is a demon, Hell wouldn't be a suitable punishment for him.


  • Adaptational Badass: While his power in both versions is the same, his presentation varies. In the manga, Dabura's skills and abilities are extremely lacking in comparison to his anime counterpart. He mostly uses sneak attacks and in fact, he never once throws a single physical punch in the entire manga. He's unable to overpower a rusty Gohan and is quickly dealt with by Buu before he can even throw a single attack. The anime, however, amps him up, giving him a much longer fight with Gohan and even letting him stand up to Buu for quite some time. At least part of this may be due to the fact that most of his fight with Gohan was off-screen in the manga,note  so the anime expanding on it offered a good chance to properly use him.
    • Xenoverse 2 gives him a massive power boost during the events of the final story DLC, roughly around the level of the god-tier fighters, causing him to be a credible penultimate opponent in that story (with the final opponent either being Fu or Goku depending on the player's choices).
  • Affably Evil: Regal and gentlemanly, the picture of evil nobility.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Even if he was the Demon King, he got a raw deal by being disposed of by Babidi and actually eaten by Buu.
  • Alien Blood: He bleeds purple.
  • Ascended Demon: Invoked. King Yemma punishes Dabura by sending him to Heaven, believing that Dabura would have enjoyed Hell too much. The anime filler shows him having repented his evil acts and become a genuinely good person.
  • Big Red Devil: Missing wings and tail notwithstanding. He's about seven and a half feet tall, towering over everyone except Fat Buu.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: It's to the point where a couple of his attacks are even called Evil Flame and Hate Ray Cannon. Subverted after his Heel–Face Turn though.
  • Cassandra Truth: He warns Babidi that Buu will eventually turn on him and he should seal him away before it's too late. Babidi blows him off and eventually does meet his end at Buu's hands.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He doesn't return to cameo in GT in the Super 17 Saga like his ex-master Babidi and comrades Pui Pui and Yakon, likely due to still being in Heaven.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: After he dies, King Yemma punishes him by sending him to Heaven as he would've likely enjoyed Hell instead of suffering there.
  • Cool Big Bro: To Towa in Dragon Ball Xenoverse, which is her entire motivation for her actions.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
    • Mere minutes after being introduced he obliterated Kibito, turned Krillin and Piccolo into stone statues, and fended off both Goku and Vegeta. His future counterpart also quickly killed Kibito and Elder Kai before easily demolishing Shin and Super Saiyan Trunks at the same time.
    • He got on the receiving end of one of these after Buu was awakening, having his eyes gouged and then being turned into a cookie and eaten.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Postmortem, when he pulls a Heel–Face Turn in the afterlife.
  • The Dragon: He is brainwashed into being Babidi's right-hand man.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Is much more of a threat than Babidi. It was actually his plan to turn Vegeta evil that allowed Majin Buu to be revived.
  • The Dreaded: Shin and Kibito are horrified when they learned Babidi had charmed Dabura, the King of the Demon World. Goku and Vegeta, however, don't think much of him since he's only as strong as Perfect Cell, and by that point, they had surpassed him.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: In both the dub and the Japanese version, he has a deep, very regal voice. Fitting for someone called the Demon King.
  • Eye Scream: Majin Buu punches his eyes out shortly after being freed from the seal. He didn't blind him though. It also qualifies under Disproportionate Retribution, seeing how he did this after Dabura called him a bumbling idiot.
  • Genius Bruiser: He's almost as strong as Perfect Cell and is also extremely clever. During his fight with Gohan, he tricks Gohan several times and sees through all of Gohan's moves. It is also his plan to turn Vegeta that allows Majin Buu to be released. He tells Babidi to order Vegeta to kill Shin and Gohan immediately so they don't interfere with their plans later, though Vegeta is able to No-Sell this order. Once he sensed how powerful Buu was, he begged Babidi to seal him up, correctly predicting that he wouldn't be able to control the monster.
  • The Ghost: In the Xenoverse games. Dabura's younger sister, Towa, is a time-traveler screwing with history and wants revenge on Buu for her brother's death. Yet, Dabura would not actually appear in Story Mode until the final DLC of Xenoverse 2, long after the main story was finished.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Anime only and it's more due to the environment he's now stuck in turning him into a Love Freak, but Dabura does help the spirits of Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Videl try to look for Gohan in the afterlife and comforts them when it doesn't seem they're able.
  • Hellish Pupils: An evil demon king with slitted pupils.
  • Hero Killer: As was said above, he disintegrated Kibito, turned Piccolo and Krillin into stone (effectively killing them, though they do not stay in stone very long), and gives Gohan one heck of a fight.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Tries to use his petrifying spit on his nephew Fu (after Fu reveals he has no intention of avenging Towa) in the final Xenoverse 2 DLC, only for Fu to send it back at him with his sword and turn his uncle to stone.
  • Hyperspace Arsenal: He can conjure his sword and spear using magic.
  • Ironic Hell: He was sent to Heaven for his crimes. King Yemma believed he'd enjoy it too much in Hell. He did eventually reform himself there in the anime, as Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Videl discovered, to the point he became a Love Freak.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: Dabura is one of the relatively few characters in the Dragon Ball setting who is trained in both magic and Ki Manipulation.
  • Love Freak: After going to Heaven, he basically becomes a big bulky hippie.
  • Maou the Demon King: Unlike King Piccolo, Dabura's a born and bred demon who ruled as King of the Demon World. He definitely looks the part, and is as strong as the previous Arc Villain. He was even sent to Heaven because he'd enjoy Hell too much.
  • Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight: His mighty demonic sword is snapped in half by Gohan during their fight.
  • Noble Demon:
    • Whether or not the curse comes into the equation, Dabura remains admirably loyal to Babidi even as he is abandoned by the ungrateful mage, warning his master that Buu will not stay loyal and will be the death of him if not quickly sealed. He was, naturally, completely right.
    • He also challenges Gohan, Goku, and Vegeta to attack him all at once, thinking he'd be too much for any one of them (an overestimation of his power, but it's the thought that counts). When Babidi asked him where he'd like the fight to take place, he requested a planet similar to Earth, so as not to give him an unfair advantage.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Dabura punctuates his first scene with killing Kibito, turning Piccolo and Krillin to stone, and then taunting the rest of the group to go into Babidi's ship for a chance at revenge.
  • Only Sane Man: Unlike Babidi, he actually realizes Majin Buu will screw him over.
  • Power Levels: Dialogue between him and Babidi gives the only Power Levels in the series post-Frieza. They use a different system called kiri, which measures energy instead of power. On that scale, Super Saiyan 1 Goku is a 3,000 and Yakon is an 800. It's not clear where Dabura is, but he does claim that 4,000 kiri is far inferior to him, so presumably, he's at least a 5,000. He says that 200-300 kiri is enough to destroy a couple of very large planets.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Inverted. He becomes good after dying, thanks to a combination of not being under Babidi's control anymore and being sent to Heaven.
  • Satanic Archetype: He's stated to be the King of the Demon World, meaning that, for all intents and purposes, he's the Devil himself.
  • Sinister Scimitar: His large sword greatly resembles one.
  • Spell My Name With An S: The Funimation dub writes and pronounces his name as Dabura. The manga and subtitles go with Dabra.
  • Shoot the Medic First: Whether it was intentional or not, the first person Dābura attacked when Babidi ordered him to lure in the Dragon Team was Kibito, the only person with healing capabilities with the heroes. Given the fact that he and Babidi are very familiar with the Kaiōshin and Kibito, it is likely Dābura's targeting of Kibito was intentional.
  • So Last Season: Played with as he SHOULD be this like Pui Pui and Yakon are but because Gohan hasn't fought anyone close to his level in years and is rusty, he manages to give him a pretty good fight plus some of his magic tricks like his stone spit are stuff most of the heroes don't have a counter for. It's notable though that for all he manages to catch Gohan off guard and toss him around he doesn't really manage to hurt him much and the one time he tried to overpower him head-on with his sword he ended up losing that struggle. Vegeta suggests both he and Goku could have killed Dabura easily and Gohan should have as well if he wasn't so careless and sloppy.
  • Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Dabura can use the Magic Materialization ability. He uses it to create a sword when fighting Gohan and a spear when fighting Majin Buu.
  • Story-Breaker Power: Dabura's Super Spit that can turn anyone hit by it into stone, regardless of power. If you're not expecting it or don't know about this ability, you're almost guaranteed to be a lawn statue. Once hit, you are for all intents and purposes dead and the spell can only be reversed with Dabura's death. Thankfully, spit tends to be slow, making it somewhat easy to dodge and if the spit hits clothing, they can be removed.
  • Super Spit: His spit can turn anything into stone.
  • Taken for Granite: His spit can turn anything into stone.
  • Theme Naming: Just as Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu got their names from a magical incantation, Dabura's is derived from "abracadabra" (while also sounding similar to "abura", Japanese for "oil"). More apparent in the Viz Manga, which romanizes his name as Dabra.
  • Underestimating Badassery:
    • Upon Buu's awakening, he thought the reviving spell was a failure since Buu acted like a little kid and not the terror of the universe he heard about. He outright called Buu a bumbling idiot and mused how Buu doesn't understand him. That is before Buu punches him in the eyes and knocks him into a cliff, critically wounding him. After that, he tries to kill Buu, recognizing that a demon of that power wouldn't stay loyal to Babidi.
    • He goes back and forward with the Saiyans. Although he recognizes their power, he thinks he can easily beat them and expected Pui Pui and Yakon to make quick work of them. When they failed, he dismisses them for being careless. Fighting a rusty Gohan and getting a read of Vegeta's power (either from sensing it or just from hearing him belittle Gohan) cures him of this problem. While he maintains that he can handle "trash like [Gohan]", he labels Vegeta as potentially the strongest Majin warrior, which is why he advises Babidi to take control of him.
  • Undignified Death: He's the king of the Demons and a powerful warrior in his own right. He's killed when Buu turned him into a cookie and ate him up.
  • Undying Loyalty:
    • Curse or not, he is by far the most loyal minion on Babidi's side. He goes as far as to fight Buu, trying to save Babidi from the demon's eventual betrayal. Babidi, on the other hand, sees Dabura as nothing more than a tool that has outlived its usefulness.
    • In the Time Breaker/Time Patrol-related video games, he and his sister Towa share this dynamic. They each take turns trying to manipulate history to avenge the other's death in the Xenoverse series and clearly have each other's backs in the Dark Demon Realm saga of Heroes.
  • Weak, but Skilled: He gains the upper hand on Super Saiyan 2 Gohan in their brief battle despite being moderately weaker (as shown by their direct struggle over his sword), by using all of his available magic abilities and tricks.
  • World's Strongest Man: Shin says that, while Goku/Gohan/Vegeta are the strongest in their realm, Dabura is by far the strongest in the Demon Realm. Toriyama further clarifies that even the gods of the Demon Realm, the Demon Supreme Kais, are far weaker than Dabura. Specifically, he says that the current Supreme Kai, Shin, is stronger than the Demon Supreme Kais. In the series proper, Shin admits that he's much weaker than Dabura.
  • The Worf Effect: He's about equal to Perfect Cell, can use magic, and is able to fight back a rusty Gohan. Buu easily beats him up and turns him into a cookie before eating him.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He got this from Babidi despite all his loyal service and being the one who came up with the plan to awaken Buu. Talk about Ungrateful Bastard.

    Pui Pui/Pocus 

Pui Pui (プイプイ)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pui_pui_artwork_0.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Tomohisa Aso (Z and Kai: The Final Chapters), Shinobu Satouchi (GT and Budokai Tenkaichi 3)
Voiced by (English): Ted Cole (Ocean dub); Mike McFarland (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Enrique Mederos (Z), Armando Coria (Kai the Final Chapters)

Babidi's alien minion from the planet Zoon. Tasked to fight the Z-Fighters so Babidi can resurrect Majin Buu, Pui Pui faces Vegeta. Boasting about how Zoon has 10 times the gravity of Earth, Pui Pui is humiliated and then killed by Vegeta after he tells Pui Pui that he trained at 500 times Earth's gravity.


  • Alien Blood: Purple.
  • Back for the Dead: His brief appearance in GT, like almost all the returning villains, results in him getting swiftly killed by Goten with just one kick.
  • The Cameo: His return in GT basically amounts to this showing him escaping Hell with Cooler, Android #19, Yakon, Jeice, Raditz, Major Metallitron, and General Rilldo and is then seen blasting things up with #19. After his death at Goten's hands, he is seen back in the Other World waiting in line for his return to Hell alongside Captain Yellow and Captain Dark.
  • Cold Sniper: His one move is portrayed as a sniper shot, using it to off Yamu, and he's an evil minion of Babidi's.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
    • The victim of an outright one-sided take of the trope against Vegeta (who didn't even bother going Super Saiyan).
    • Hilariously carried over into Buu's Fury for the GBA. Without level grinding at all, you can kill him in a single punch. He has one of the lowest hp counts in the game (including the early random enemies).
    • And again in GT when Goten, who also doesn't go Super Saiyan, is able to dispatch him with one hit.
  • Evil Gloating: Especially about how his planet has higher gravity than Earth's. Vegeta being totally unaffected by it is what finally breaks Pui Pui's overconfidence.
  • Evil Sounds Raspy: His voice is rather scratchy in the Funimation English dub.
  • Gone Horribly Right: He had Babidi turn the battlefield in his homeworld, with 10 times the gravity of Earth. It just happens that his opponent comes from a homeworld with the same gravity and is used to the gravity levels of 500 times that of Earth...
  • Heavy Worlder: Boasted about how his homeworld has 10 times the gravity of Earth.
  • Light Is Not Good: He wears white armor and loyally serves an evil wizard who delights in causing havoc across the universe.
  • Lost in Translation: His name fits the magic incantation theme naming of Babidi's minions, but it's not apparent to an English viewer; "chichin puipui" is often used as a magic word in Japanese popular culture, much like "abracadabra" (note the name of his boss, Dabura, his boss's bosses: Bibidi-Babidi-Buu). The Viz English manga changes his name to "Pocus" (as in "hocus pocus") in an attempt to rectify this. It's also stereotypically associated with Arabic-themed magic in Japanese shows, hence the faction's genie theming.
  • Monochromatic Eyes: Green in color.
  • Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Accompanying a "Toyotaro Drew It!" sketch of the character, Toyotaro theorizes that, like Vegeta, Pui Pui was probably not completely evil before he became a Majin, but Babidi can manipulate any trace of darkness in a person's heart to make them a minion. However, this causes a Voodoo Shark as if this was true, Pui Pui would have been revived and not excluded from the "everyone except those that were evil are brought back" wish. GT makes exponentially clear that he's a Hell denizen and also still seems to be working for Babidi if his retaining the "M" crest is an indication.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: The sad thing is that he is genuinely one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Despite genuinely being one of the strongest beings in the universe, he, like many other villains, is ignorant that all the strongest fighters in the series at this point are on Earth, leading to a humiliating defeat. His very emotional and ineffectual tactics against Vegeta show him to be this.
  • Smug Snake: Definitely. He was way too confident that no matter how strong the Z-Fighters were, they wouldn't be any match for him, especially considering he didn't have a clue who they were or exactly how powerful they really were. Vegeta proved him dead wrong the moment they started fighting.
  • So Last Season: His implied level of power, and the specific measuring stick of ten times Earth's gravity, are woefully behind the curve—the latter was last considered impressive back in the Saiyan arc.
  • Spell My Name With An S: His homeworld is given as Zoon in most translations but the original Z dub refers to it as Voon.
  • Theme Naming: His name comes from "Chichin-puipui", a Japanese good luck incantation that mothers use when children hurt themselves. Like Yakon's name pun, it's Lost in Translation into English. The official Viz manga changes his name into Pocus instead (as in "hocus pocus"), to preserve the theme.
  • Underestimating Badassery: To say that he underestimated Vegeta would be, well, an understatement. It becomes even funnier when he thought he had the home advantage since his planet had ten times the Earth's gravity. That's the exact same gravity of Vegeta's birth planet, and even then, Vegeta had trained under literally hundreds of times Earth's gravity prior to their battle.

    Yakon 

Yakon (ヤコン)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Yakon_Trans_3273.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Yoshiyuki Kono
Voiced by (English): Dave "Squatch" Ward (Ocean dub); Paul LeBlanc (Z), Cris George (Kai: The Final Chapters and Kakarot) (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Mario Sauret (Z), David Camarillo (Kai The Final Chapters)

Babidi's monstrous "pet" from the planet Dark Star who battles against Goku. During the fight, Yakon drains the "pure light" from Goku whenever he turns Super Saiyan, temporally de-powering him. Goku feeds Yakon so much light that the monster explodes.


  • Balloon Belly: Yakon gets one just before dying.
  • Back for the Dead: He makes a quick return in GT attacking Goten, who has just killed his comrade Pui Pui, but gets quickly blown back to Hell by a ki blast from Trunks.
  • Bizarre Alien Biology: In addition to being able to eat light, he can somehow survive on a planet with no sun. And he can be perfectly okay in normal or bright light despite being born on a planet with no light.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Can pull his 'bones' in and out to attack his opponent.
  • The Cameo: Before his second death in GT, he can be seen flying out of Hell with Pui Pui, Cooler, Android #19, Major Metallitron, Jeice, Raditz, and General Rilldo at the start of the Super 17 Saga. After Trunks kills him, Yakon is shown waiting in line at King Yemma's check-in station waiting to be sentenced.
  • Death by Gluttony: Subverted. Dabura, Shin, and Gohan assume Yakon did this when eating so much of Goku's Super Saiyan energy that he explodes. Vegeta (as well as Babidi), however, is sharp enough to catch on that Goku briefly changed to Super Saiyan 2, drastically increasing the amount of energy Yakon was trying to inhale all at once, overloading and killing him.
  • The Dreaded: Shin stated that he was one of the most powerful and feared creatures in the universe, and the Daizenshuu states that even Shin is afraid of him.
  • Energy Absorption: Yakon's ability to eat light.
  • Exposed Extraterrestrials: Unlike the rest of Babidi's minions, he wears no clothing.
  • Expy: Of a Rancor.
  • Flat Character: He's basically just a ravenous drooling beast in the grand scheme of Babidi's forces and is treated more like a pet than a servant. Even Pui Pui had a bit more to his character from what little we saw in his battle against Vegeta.
  • Green and Mean: He has green scales and is introduced devouring two Majin Soldiers who came to retrieve him.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Goku defeated him by using his light-absorbing ability against him by force-feeding him more than he could handle.
  • Innate Night Vision: As a native of Dark Star, he can see in complete darkness.
  • It Can Think: Surprisingly, Yakon is sentient enough to be capable of speech and come up with plans of his own.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Managed to catch Goku off guard with a quick slash attack.
  • Fed to the Beast: He's the beast.
  • Phlebotinum Overload: Too much light, however, proved to be a bad thing.
  • So Last Season: Not as much as Pui Pui, but still. He's a terrifying monster and one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but by the time the Buu arc happens, his level of power is woefully inadequate. His best feat is making Goku use Super Saiyan at all.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He only shows up to fight Goku and be killed, but the fight reveals to Vegeta that Goku is able to become a Super Saiyan 2. This reawakens Vegeta's inferiority complex to the point he's willing to let Babidi possess him for more power, setting in motion his fight with Goku and Buu's freedom.
  • Spell My Name With An S: His name is spelled Yacon in the English closed captions of Z episode 222, whereas its romanized as Yakon everywhere else.
  • Theme Naming: Gets his name from "tekumaku-mayakon", a magical chant that originates from the late 1960s anime Himitsu no Akko-chan. In the show, the protagonist uses this phrase to transform through the power of a magic compact mirror given to her by a mirror spirit. Unlike Pui Pui/Pocus, there has never been an attempt to localize Yakon's name, making him seem like the odd one out of the theme naming to non-Japanese viewers.
  • Villainous Glutton: He can eat light and sucked Goku until he turned back to normal from being a Super Saiyan. His Establishing Character Moment in the anime has him devour two Majin grunts who were sent to retrieve him for the Stage 2 fight.
  • Weakened by the Light: Averted. Despite coming from a planet shrouded in darkness, his eyes are not sensitive to light. Yakon can see in both the dark and light.

    Spopovich and Yamu 

Spopovich (スポポビッチ, Supopobitchi) and Yamu (ヤムー)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spopovich_and_yamu_3.png
Spopovich (left) & Yamu (right)
Spopovich voiced by (Japanese): Hisao Egawa
Spopovich voiced by (English): Michael Dobson (Ocean dub); Andrew Chandler (Funimation dub)
Spopovich voiced by (Latin American Spanish): César Soto

Yamu voiced by (Japanese): Naoki Tatsuta (Z), Yasuhiro Takato (Kai: The Final Chapters)
Yamu voiced by (English): Brian Drummond (Ocean dub); John Burgmeier (Funimation dub)
Yamu voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Ricardo Brust (Z), Rubén León (Kai the Final Chapters)

Two human fighters possessed and empowered by Babidi, sent to infiltrate the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai and to drain all of the strongest fighter's ki in order to draw out enough energy to revive Majin Buu. Once their job was done, Babidi, having no more use for them, has them both killed.


  • Adaptational Jerkass: In the manga, Yamu stops Spopovich from torturing Videl any further because he is disgusted by it. In the anime, at least in the English dub, his reason is instead that Spopovich was wasting time tormenting her and they were supposed to gather energy for Babidi.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: In-Universe, the Z Fighters are horrified at the way Babidi callously has them obliterated even after they accomplished their task for him. Even Gohan finds it sickening, and need we remind you these are the same two guys who jammed a needle into his side, sucked out almost all of his energy, and in Spopovich's case, ruthlessly beat Videl within an inch of her life.
  • Alien Blood: Probably related to the spell, Spopovich has purple blood. He and Yamu also have purple tongues.
  • Asshole Victim: In spite of their Alas, Poor Villain moment and the fact that they were brainwashed the entire time, it's noticeable that when Bulma uses the Dragon Balls later on the same day to bring back everyone who died and wasn't evil they're not among those resurrected, since they were only brainwashed due to willingly going to Babidi for power.
  • Bald of Evil: Both lost their hair when they went to the dark side, or at least Spopovich did.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Thanks to Babidi's spell, especially Spopovich who nearly kills Videl.
  • The Brute: Spopovich. He isn't known for much except for how he tortured Videl for no good reason, although the anime implies it was to get back at her father for Curb Stomping him at the last Tournament.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: The minute he stops holding back, Spopovich goes out of his way to do this to Videl; by the end of the match, he's sadistically stomping on Videl's head while Videl is screaming in agony.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Spopovich receives one of the most gruesome deaths in the series, slowly and horrifically inflating until he explodes (and it's not even the last time this happens to a minor villain in this saga!) Given that he gave one of the most brutal beatdowns in the series to a hero, a young girl at that, you won't find many fans who don't consider this well-deserved.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: It's implied that Spopovich almost murders Videl in retaliation for her father defeating him at the last tournament — in the anime at least. In the original manga, he just does it because he's an evil bastard.
  • Dumb Muscle: Spopovich. He doesn't seem too much even before his face-heel turn.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In spite of being enslaved by Babidi's magic, Yamu retains enough of his humanity to be disgusted and angered by Spopovich's torture of Videl in their battle. When the latter was about to kill the girl, he could tolerate it no longer and erupted:
    Yamu: ENOUGH, Spopovich! [with a look of genuine pity and sadness for Videl] This isn't what we came here to do; ring out the girl and finish this match.
  • Evil Is Petty: In the anime, it's implied Spopovich beat Videl within an inch of her life because he lost to her father. It's even implied that he became Babidi's servant just so he could get back at Mr. Satan.
  • Fat and Skinny: While Spopovich is bulky and bulges with muscle, Yamu is comparatively slim.
  • Flat Character: Yamu's history is never explored. All we know is that he had enough negativity in his heart to be brainwashed by Babidi.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Spopovich started out as an average fighter in the 24th World Martial Arts Tournament who lost in the first round. By the time of the 25th, he's now Babidi's lackey who beats Videl to a bloody pulp and is instrumental to Buu's revival.
  • In the Back: Yamu is killed after Pui Pui shoots him in from behind as he runs for his life.
  • It's Personal: Spopovich inadvertently invokes this against Gohan after brutally taking down Videl. Subverted, though, as seen in The Unfought below.
  • Karmic Death: Spopovich sadistically abuses the power granted to him by Babidi against Videl. In the end, Babidi takes that same power and uses it to gruesomely blow him up from the inside.
  • Kick the Dog: Spopovich's entire fight against Videl, once he starts fighting seriously.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: In the anime's version of the Spopovich vs. Videl fight, when Videl finally manages to concede that she's in over her head against the magically-enhanced Spopovich and lets herself get thrown out of the ring... only for Spopovich to grab her leg in mid-air and toss her back in, returning her to a Curb-Stomp Battle that seemed to be doing its damnedest to rival the Frieza vs. Vegeta fight in sheer brutality.
  • Killed Off for Real: Neither returns after their deaths, not even for a cameo in GT during the Super 17 Saga where the majority of Babidi's forces came back.
  • Malaproper: Spopovich's last line in the Funimation dub of Z:
    "When you're as strong as us, this kind of job is like taking baby from a candy!"
  • Mysterious Past: We never get a backstory for Yamu, unlike Spopovich.
  • Neck Snap: Spopovich finds himself on the receiving end of an accidental one from Videl. No problem; he just forcefully wrenches it back into place.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Spopovich gives a brutal one to Videl in their fight, to the point that Videl is left crying in agony.
  • Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Spopovich did this to Videl at first. He took a lot of free hits, without receiving damage at all, and even an apparently lethal kick in the neck, which was deserving of disqualification for Videl... until Spopovich turned his neck back to place, and then he proceeded to fight seriously, brutally harming Videl in the process.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Spopovich is the brutish chaffing to pummel others red and Yamu is the calmer more sensible blue.
  • The Stoic: Yamu, until he's faced with death.
  • Sympathy for the Hero: Yamu genuinely felt sorry for Videl when she was being tormented by Spopovich.
  • Took a Level in Badass: They were normal humans prior to their brainwashing. Post-brainwashing, they have flight, super-strength, and energy blasts. They're still incredibly weak by the standards of the main characters, but far stronger than any regular human.
  • The Unfought: After Spopovich cripples Videl, an angry Gohan assures him that they will face off in the next round, where Gohan hoped to seek revenge. After it becomes clear who Spopovich and Yamu are working for, however, Gohan never gets the chance to make good on that promise, as the duo are killed off by Babidi and his minions. Yamu is never even shown fighting someone before his death.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: In terms of skill, Videl is actually better than Spopovich, but thanks to Babidi, he has power that far exceeds that of a normal human. It's actually what tips the Z-fighters off that there is something wrong since they can't fathom how someone could be that unskilled but so strong.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Yamu doesn't wear a shirt at all.
  • Why Am I Ticking?: How Babidi kills Spopovich. He makes him expand until he explodes from the inside out.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The victims of this despite succeeding in their mission.

    Majin Buu 

    Bibidi 

Bibidi (ビビディ)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bibidi.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Isamu Tanonaka (Z), Takumi Yamazaki (Dragon Ball Heroes), Naoki Tatsuta (Kai: The Final Chapters)
Voiced by (English): Terry Klassen (Ocean dub); Duncan Brannan (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Arturo Mercado

A stubby wizard responsible for summoning the demon Majin Buu millions of years prior to the beginning of Dragon Ball. The wizard Babidi is his doppelganger but refers to him as his "father".


  • Aliens Are Bastards: He's a sadistic, murderous wizard.
  • Ax-Crazy: Much like his doppelganger, he's a gleeful sadist.
  • Bad Boss: Possibly. We don't see a whole lot of his interactions with Buu, but we do know that Buu rebelled against him somewhat regularly. With that said, he favored the carrot (cake) when it came to handling Buu, something Babidi should have taken notes from.
  • Dark Is Evil: He's shown to wear a black cap with the "M" insignia and is very much an evil bastard.
  • Evil Sorcerer: He uses his magic to create (later retconned as "summon") Majin Buu to take over the universe!
  • Fat Bastard: He's fairly rotund, especially in comparison to Babidi.
  • Food as Bribe: He got Buu to destroy planets for him by serving him cake every night as a reward for his services.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Though the heroes never meet him (barring Shin), he sets the events that lead to the Buu Saga in motion.
  • A Lighter Shade of Black: Both he and Babidi are evil, no doubt about that, but it's suggested that Bibidi is more of a Benevolent Boss. Whereas Babidi was mostly an asshole to Buu, causing Buu to become The Starscream, Bibidi willingly rewarded Buu with cake when he did well (granted, it was because he was using Food as Bribe, but at least he willingly rewarded his minion).
  • Me's a Crowd: Had the ability to split himself into multiple copies, but doing so divided his power among all of his copies. Once he died, his doppelganger/"son" Babidi gained all of the power.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: He planned on using Buu to annihilate everything in the universe so that he could shape the remains to his liking.
  • Posthumous Character: He's mentioned a lot but has less than five minutes of screentime in the anime, and none in the manga. We only see a brief flashback to him late in the anime when Shin is explaining Buu's original form.note 
  • Predecessor Villain: To Babidi, who is his doppelganger and is using his plan.
  • Rat Men: Like his son, he closely resembles a naked mole-rat minus the overbite.
  • Shout-Out Theme Naming: Just like his son and Buu, his name comes from the Disney song Bibiddi-Bobbidi-Boo, from Cinderella.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He may have a small amount of screentime, but the entire Buu Saga and the massacre of the Kais occured because of his actions.
  • Truly Single Parent: Babidi is actually a magically-created clone of him.

Others

    Van Zant 

Van Zant (ライフル銃の男, Raifuru Jū no Otoko, "Man with Gun")

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3c315f373443dbad992e3a50d31a500d.jpg
"All bets are off now when I'm cashing my chips in!"
Voiced by (Japanese): Nobuhiko Kazama (Z), Yusuke Numata (Kai: The Final Chapters)
Voiced by (English): Michael Dobson (Ocean dub); Mark Orvik (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): César Soto
"Every single person on Earth is gonna die soon. Wouldn't you like to go out with a bang in the end?"

A deranged human gunman who uses Majin Buu's threat as an excuse to kill as many innocent people as possible. His actions lead directly to the birth of Evil Buu, of whom Van Zant is the first victim.


  • Accent Adaptation: He was given a cockney accent for the English dubs.
  • Adaptational Karma: Inverted. Buu's Fury has him retreat after shooting Mr. Satan, thus avoiding his death at Evil Buu's hands.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: In Dragon Ball Z Kai, many of Van Zant's most heinous crimes, such as mass murder and murdering an elderly couple, were omitted.
    • He and Smitty have still killed people in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, but when they get to Buu's house, they explicitly aim their gunfire at him instead of Mr. Satan and Bee. Doesn't stop the former from getting shot in the crossfire anyway.
  • Apocalypse Anarchy: He uses Majin Buu's killing spree as an excuse to go on his own. His rationale: Buu's most likely going to kill everyone anyway, so why not?
  • Asshole Victim: Alongside Babidi, he's easily the least sympathetic of Buu's victims.
  • Ax-Crazy: He's a lunatic gunman who eagerly uses Buu's rampage as an excuse to kill as many people as possible.
  • Bad People Abuse Animals: As if he wasn't monstrous and evil enough already when he hunts down Buu, he shoots Bee the puppy for the hell of it. Mr. Satan is outraged and promptly beats him to a pulp.
  • Bullying a Dragon:
    • He decides to try to kill Majin Buu so he can continue to kill people after Buu's personally wiped out most of humanity. Brilliant idea.
    • This also applies to Hercule. While nowhere near as strong as Buu is, Satan is more than enough to beat the stuffing out of Zant and Zant only shoots him by ambush and sheer dumb luck shooting blind while Hercule Flash Steps.
  • Dark Is Evil: His black long-sleeved shirt is just the cherry on top of highlighting how nasty a piece of work the man is.
  • Diabolus ex Machina: With Kai removing his initial scenes shooting the elderly couple and explaining his depraved joy of killing people, he and Smitty are introduced already en route to Buu's home and deciding on killing him, consequently making their contribution to the narrative more than a little contrived.
  • Dirty Coward: The moment he sees Evil Buu gunning for him, Zant tries unsuccessfully to worm up a cliffside to safety. His last moments are spent soiling himself just before the Evil Buu vaporizes him.
  • Establishing Character Moment: In his first scene, he shoots an old lady dead and talks his pal Smitty into doing the same to her husband.
  • Evil Brit: The Funimation and Ocean dubs give him a thick Cockney accent.
  • Evil Counterpart: Kai makes him seem like a counterpart to Mr. Satan, if he wasn't one already, sharing physical characteristics, wildly underestimating Buu, and now with the removal of his original "Why not?" motive for shooting things up, explaining his presence by hoping to destroy Buu and be "worshiped" as the world's greatest hero... except he's still a trigger-happy crazed shooter.
  • For the Evulz: He takes advantage of Majin Buu's killing spree to go on one of his own, stating that since Buu's going to destroy the world anyway, he can do whatever he wants. Since he later drops this and decides to try to kill Buu himself so he can go on killing people, it's clear Van Zant loves hurting and killing people so much that all he needs is an excuse.
  • Hate Sink: Everything he does is basically meant to make the viewer hate him. In his first scene, he and Smitty shoot an elderly couple dead, and Van Zant then revels in how awesome it feels to kill someone. We next see the two shooting people at random in a nearby town before going to Buu's house, which leads up to Van Zant shooting Buu's dog and Mr. Satan, triggering the release of Buu's evil side. All this for no reason other than the sheer thrill of killing people. What's worse is that he uses Buu's destruction spree as an excuse, reasoning that everyone will be killed eventually, and even going so far as to pretend that Buu killed his victims.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Van Zant is living proof that humans can be just as evil and cruel as the monsters and aliens Goku and his friends fight on a regular basis. He uses Buu's killing spree as an excuse to go on one of his own, and eventually shoots and nearly kills Mr. Satan and Bee, causing Buu to spawn Evil Buu. From here on out, the Buu Saga consists of the rest of the universe paying the price for Van Zant's actions. The episode he appears in to kickstart this is called "The Evil of Men."
  • Hypocrite: Even if he had a point with what he saw (thinking that Mr. Satan was trying to save his own skin by becoming Buu's toady), a depraved lunatic who freely admits to shooting human beings for fun has no right calling other people traitors to humanity.
  • Karma Houdini Warranty: The GBA game Buu's Fury depicts him retreating after shooting Mr. Satan, avoiding being killed by Evil Buu like in the manga/anime. However, given that Kid Buu later blows up the Earth and all people besides the truly evil ones killed by Buu got revived in the end anyway, Zant doesn't have the last laugh.
  • Karmic Death: Considering he's a Spree Killer who foolishly tries to take on Majin Buu (even though it should have been clear to him that he has no chance at winning) and shoots both of his friends in the process, it's only fitting that Van Zant would be the first to die by being killed by Evil Buu, who was split off from Majin Buu and created as a result of his actions.
  • Kick the Dog: Literally; the first thing he does upon finding Buu is shoot Bee, the little puppy, for fun.
  • Lack of Empathy: When Satan throws Smitty off a cliff, Van Zant doesn't show concern for Smitty's safety and instead says "Idiot, what the heck happened?".
  • Motive Decay: His initial reason for his killing spree is because he thinks that since Buu is eventually going to destroy the world anyway, he can do whatever he wants. This spirals into him trying to kill Buu himself because he wants to keep killing people.
  • No Name Given: In the manga and Japanese anime.
  • Oh, Crap!: He freaks out and attempts to run away when Evil Buu spots and heads right for him, then spends his last moments in sheer terror when shooting him inevitably doesn't work.
  • Rich Bastard: In the manga and Japanese anime, it's implied that he comes from a wealthy background or family, as Smitty calls him "Young Master".
  • Shooting Superman: He tries to assassinate Buu with a missile, which more confuses Buu than anything. He has more luck shooting Mr. Satan and Bee with a normal gun, but considering that's what caused the creation of Evil Buu, he probably should have stuck to the original plan. He also tries to shoot Evil Buu in his last moments, but, of course, the bullets have no effect on him.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's only around for a couple of episodes, but it's because of him that Evil Buu/Super Buu came into existence.
  • Spree Killer: His entire sub-plot is played over a days-long killing spree and the only reason he decides to take on Buu is to not have anybody ending his rampage.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Evil Buu shoots him with a blast powerful enough to destroy the entire hill he's standing on. At point-blank range. He absolutely deserved it.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Goes out of his way to provoke and attempt to kill Majin Buu despite knowing how powerful and dangerous he is. This proceeds to quite literally blow up in his face when this causes Evil Buu to spawn.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As he caused the creation of Super Buu, he is indirectly responsible for all the bad stuff that happens afterward.
  • Villain Has a Point: In the English version of the anime, he points out what a lousy hero Mr. Satan is, cooking meals like a nanny for Buu while he is destroying their world. While Satan was trying to reform him, from an outsider's viewpoint it just looked like he was saving his own neck.
  • Villainous Friendship: With his lackey, Smitty. Zant calls him an "old friend" at one point, and they do get along fairly well. Zant asked Smitty to help him kill people because he wanted him to join in on the fun.
  • What the Hell Are You?: In the Funimation dub, when he sees for himself that bullets are useless against Evil Buu, Van Zant can only weakly mutter "Wh-What are... you?" just before Evil Buu kills him.
  • Would Harm a Senior: His first scene is him shooting an unarmed elderly woman and encouraging Smitty to shoot her husband.

    Smitty 

Smitty (召し使い, Meshitukai, "Servant")

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e9606dfeb71b47d9710b7aaf89f31a93.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Yasuhiko Kawazu
Voiced by (English): Ted Cole (Ocean dub); Duncan Brannan (Most media), Daman Mills (Kakarot) (Funimation dub)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Armando Réndiz (Z), Ernesto Casillas (Kai The Final Chapters)

Van Zant's toady. He also plays a part in the creation of Evil Buu (and, by proxy, Super Buu).


  • Accent Adaptation: He's given a Scottish accent in the English dubs.
  • Asshole Victim: Just like his boss. He mercilessly kills several people and is shown visibly enjoying himself despite his initial reluctance. Smitty gets quite possibly the most brutal death in the whole series.
  • Battle Butler: In the manga and Japanese anime, it is implied that Smitty is Van Zant's butler, as he addresses him as "Young master".
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Buu turns into liquid and goes down his throat, making him expand until he explodes. You almost feel sorry for him given how his boss got off so much easier. Even Mr. Satan and Bee (who were shot and nearly killed by his boss) are sickened.
  • Diabolus ex Machina: Kai removed the scenes of his and Zant's killing spree including their introduction murdering the elderly couple. As such, their first scene shows them coming upon Buu's house just as things are looking up for the Earth, making the killers' contribution to the plot seem more contrived then originally presented.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's an older man who comes to find killing people fun despite his initial reluctance.
  • Fat Bastard: He's rather plump in addition to being murderous.
  • Hate Sink: Admittedly, Smitty is not as nearly as bad as Van Zant is, as he does seem to at first follow him out of loyalty. But once it becomes apparent that he's starting to enjoy killing people as much as his boss and goes through with his plan to shoot Bee, then it’s become apparent he's no better than him, so you won’t feel sorry when Super Buu gives him a brutal death.
  • Ignored Epiphany: He is distraught when Van Zant tells him to kill an old man, but he does so anyway and finds it fun.
  • No Name Given: In the manga and Japanese anime.
  • Oh, Crap!: When he sees the newly created Super Buu has turned his attention on him, he panics and climbs the hill for his gun. He even utters the trope word-for-word in the dub of Kai.
  • Older Sidekick: He's shown to be a great deal older than his master, Van Zant.
  • Orifice Invasion: How he dies; Buu liquifies and shoots down his throat, causing him to expand until his body pops like a zit.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: He isn't a sociopath like his master and follows Van Zant more out of servitude than the enjoyment of killing people. That said, he does come to like committing murder.
  • Shooting Superman: He shoots at Super Buu with a machine gun, only to be shocked when Buu just stands there and regenerates. This is after Buu survived being hit with a missile.
  • Villainous Friendship: With his boss, Van Zant. The two get along a bit better than the average boss and evil henchman do.

    Rock 

Rock (ロック, Rokku)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rock_067.png
Voiced by (Japanese): Masaharu Sato (Z), Tetsu Inada (Kai: The Final Chapters)
Voiced by (English): Dale Wilson (Ocean dub), Chuck Huber (Funimation dub), Phil Parsons (Kai: The Final Chapters)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Mario Sauret

The leader of the Red Shark Gang and most powerful thug in Satan City.


  • Dragon Ascendant: In the Dub & Peter 1 manga, Rock was a minion of Lord Asatias. But later in Dragon Ball Z, he forms his own gang of thugs and becomes the leader of the Red Shark Gang.
  • Egopolis: He wants to take over Satan City and rename it 'Rock City'.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He is willing to help Asatias kidnap Elizabeth and later kill Videl all because she is the daughter of Mr. Satan.

Top