Oct 11, 2022
Piccolo Reclaims Prominence In Dragon Ball Super Hero
From the inception of the Dragon Ball franchise in 1984, the main protagonist Goku faced opposition from the Red Ribbon Army and the legendary Namekian: King Piccolo. After fierce battles with King Piccolo and his army, Goku thwarted his attempt to take over the world. Goku blasted his Kamehameha wave onto the floor and used the power from the blast to propel his body into the air, where he delivered a powerful punch to King Piccolo. Before succumbing to his injuries, King Piccolo spawned an egg containing his son and threw it into a hidden location near a river.
From the egg emerged a Namekian warrior named Piccolo, who received instruction to avenge his father by defeating Goku and reclaiming supremacy of the Earth. Despite rigorous efforts to increase his power level and techniques, Piccolo could not defeat Goku in the World Martial Arts Tournament. The setback caused him to withdraw and restructure his plan of world domination. Before moving to overthrow Goku, Piccolo encountered a powerful foe named Radditz. Radditz displayed vastly superior strength and abilities when matched up against Piccolo. Concerned that Radditz would interfere with his plan of world domination, Piccolo put his ego aside and joined forces with Goku, who also was defeated by Radditz, and helplessly saw his son Gohan abducted and held captive. Goku was perplexed because he received orders from Radditz that instructed him to eradicate the Earth and join his coalition of Saiyan warriors that featured Nappa and Vegeta. Vegeta, Nappa, Radditz, Goku, and Gohan were the only remaining survivors of the Saiyan race at that time.
After a grueling battle, Piccolo and Goku were victorious, defeating Radditz and rescuing Gohan. Piccolo decided to train Gohan to prepare for other warriors that could threaten all of humanity on Earth. The moment became an apex for Piccolo’s character arc because he relinquished his goal to conquer the Earth and discarded all of the malice and hatred he harboured inside his heart. Piccolo developed a kinship with Gohan after training him for a year.
Following the defeat of Radditz, Piccolo’s reign as one of the most valuable characters began to shift, and he slowly fell to obscurity as a supporting character aiding Goku and the rest of the Z warriors. Piccolo made brief appearances as the Earth’s strongest warrior against Frieza when he rivaled strength with the marquee antagonist’s second transformation after fusing with another Namekian named Nail. The moment was short-lived after Frieza transformed into his third form and overwhelmed him with raw strength. After experiencing defeat, Piccolo focused on stalling Frieza to buy time for Goku until he saved the day again. Later in the show, Piccolo gained his final extreme power boost after fusing with Kami to become a Super Namekian. Piccolo became stronger than Cell in his organic form, and he was able to fight on par with Android 17. Cell later absorbed Android 17/18 and easily surpassed Piccolo in strength despite Piccolo attaining power that was on par with Goku and Vegeta in their super Saiyan forms.
These incidents indicated that Piccolo became a lesser character in the show losing his allure and conviction as an elite warrior. In the latest film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Piccolo was shown his proper respect by playing a featured role and ascending to new levels of strength. With Goku, Vegeta, and Broly occupied training with Beerus, the god of destruction, and Whis, the angel of the universe, the onus was on Piccolo to disrupt the plans of Dr. Hedo and defeat the androids (Gamma #1, #2), and prevent the activation of Cell Max; ultimately stopping the Red Ribbon Army on his own accord.
Knowing that Piccolo was facing a daunting task, he utilized the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron and wished for his latent abilities to come to the forefront in battle. The wish paid dividends as Piccolo was on the brink of defeat at the hands of Gamma #2 but was able to reverse his fortunes and dominate the android with sheer power in his Orange ascended transformation. The strength he obtained from the Dragon Balls appears to rival the new ascended forms of Goku (Ultra Instinct) and Vegeta (Ultra Ego) that have appeared in the Dragon Ball Super Manga.
Piccolo joined forces with Gohan on the battlefield against Cell Max after Magenta (leader of Red Pharmaceuticals) activated the foe created by Dr. Hedo in a last-ditch attempt to show the power of the Red Ribbon Army. However, Cell Max was too unstable and was unable to contain his power which threatened everybody in the vicinity. Seeing the fierce Cell Max push Orange Piccolo to the limits allowed Gohan to ascend to a form called Beast Mode. Combined: Piccolo and Gohan synchronized their attacks, and Piccolo held Cell Max in place for Gohan to land a devastating blow. The androids and the rest of the Z warriors aided in successfully stopping Cell Max.
Dragon Ball Super Hero took a different route in the series by re-establishing a marquee character who had become an afterthought. The immense power Piccolo displayed in his orange form against the androids and Cell Max demonstrates that his character development and role will increase in the series.
With Goku and Vegeta achieving new levels of strength in the Dragon Ball Super manga, it seemed as if Piccolo would fade into obscurity because of the gap between his powers and the main characters. However, the new orange transformation unleashed by the dragon Shenron has allowed Piccolo to become a featured character again that could Rival Goku and Vegeta and ultimately bring one of the most feared characters in the series back to prominence.
