King Piccolo

Demon King Piccolo.

"What would my dad say in this situation." — Piccolo thinking about his father in "Daddy Issues"

King Piccolo (ピッコロ大魔王 Pikkoro Daimaō, lit. "Piccolo the Great Demon King"), sometimes referred to just as the Daimao(lit. "Great Demon King"), was the father of Piccolo who also claimed to be the reincarnation of him. He was the main antagonist of the last arc in the original series, Dragon Ball. He was killed by Son Goku. Before dying he birthed an egg that later hatched into Piccolo so his son could avenge him by killing Goku. He does not appear in the Abridged series but his role is mentioned frequently throughout the series, mainly by Kami and Piccolo himself.

Appearance

A young King Piccolo.

He is designed to appear as a strange divine-looking creature, like a mix between a goblin and an orc, having pointy ears and fangs. The audience is later introduced to Kami, King Piccolo's good counterpart, and the two share an almost identical resemblance; with Kami's outfit even being a palette swap of King Piccolo's robe outfit. Kami never removes his robe for combat, but in a flashbacks, he is shown wearing the same dark gi as King Piccolo, but with the kanji for God on it. Later in the series, when other normal Namekians are introduced, it is revealed that this is the Namekians' typical appearance. At over eight feet tall, King Piccolo is by far one of the tallest and largest of the villains in the original Dragon Ball series, towering over all his opponents, including Master Mutaito, Master Roshi, Tien Shinhan, and Goku. King Piccolo's size and height are never explored upon, as no other Namekian (including Kami) is shown in their normal state to be King Piccolo's size and height, being that most are shown to be the size of normal humans, even Nail, their last remaining warrior, being at the height of Piccolo's reincarnation who was slightly shorter. Though, it is never determined if he is actually taller than Kami in his advanced age. One explanation to this could be His demon origins are much larger and less sleek than the Namekians, as shown from Grand Elder Guru and his humongous size Namekians can probably control their size at will.

When he first fully appears, King Piccolo is very aged and wears a black robe outfit with the kanji for demon, a red cape, along with brown light-weight footwear. His main outfit, without the robe and cape, is an indigo Asian martial arts uniform, with a light purple obi. King Piccolo's outfit is later revealed in the Namek Saga as being Namekian Clothing with Demon Symbols, rather than actually having much to do with martial arts, though his kanji is something he added when he came into being which was meant to be the opposite to Kami's kanji.

After, King Piccolo removes the robe for better performance, he nearly kills Goku with simple blasts and temporarily stops his heart, which may imply that, like his son Piccolo Junior's cape, his robe is weighted.

Personality

Being the concentrated evil that use to live within Kami before the separation, King Piccolo is very cold, ruthless, manipulative, sadistic, vain, cunning, oppressive, power-hungry, and intelligent. Whenever he is inflicting pain on an opponent, or watching one of his subordinates attack someone else, he always smiles or laughs.

He was born when Kami separated himself from his evil side in order to become God of Earth. King Piccolo is notable to be the most evil and threatening villain at this point in the series, whose story arc toned down its comedic aspect, and the first villain responsible for the death of many major protagonists. It was because of him that Kami created the Dragon Balls for Earth and is the arch-nemesis of Goku, alongside Frieza and Dr. Gero.

Biography

Background

King Piccolo came into being some 300 years before the beginning of Dragon Ball sometime after a nameless Namekian on Earth attempted to assume the position of guardian of Earth, he was denied the position due to the evil that lay within (a guardian's motives must be pure, but the nameless Namekian also wanted the job for the power it brought). As a result, the Namekian concentrated and trained to relinquish the evil within; which conspired into producing two separate entities — if one should perish, the other would also. This resulted in two beings — the concentrated evil being known as King Piccolo, and the pure being known as Kami. At first, the name "Piccolo" was a reference to the wind instrument, but then a revelation by Mr. Popo to Bulma meant it translated to "different world" in Namekian.

Piccolo created several offspring and watched as they terrorized and killed helpless citizens and destroyed the cities they lived in but stepped in himself later on, after his sons were killed by Master Mutaito's pupils, including a young Master Roshi and a young Master Shen who were the only two who survived. Master Roshi and Master Shen could not as much as lay a finger on Piccolo, and Mutaito soon steps in, but is himself outclassed and left to die by Piccolo. Despite Piccolo's devastating attacks, Mutaito lived. After being nursed back to health by his two remaining pupils, but before he could heal his wounds, Mutaito left, in shame because he lost in front of his two students. While Master Roshi never lost faith in his master, Master Shen did, and the two parted ways, with Master Roshi escaping to the mountains while Piccolo continued to kill human after human and destroy city after city.

Several years later, Mutaito, carrying an Electric Rice Cooker in a bag, reunites with Master Roshi in the cave that Master Roshi was training in (balancing on a stick while meditating). The two track Piccolo down for the final confrontation, which by this time the majority of Earth's population had been slaughtered. They find Piccolo in the ruins of a city, which is hauntingly quiet, and Mutaito wastes no time launching his attack on him, this special technique is revealed to be the suicidal Evil Containment Wave. Piccolo is trapped in the Electric Rice Cooker and Mutaito dies, and sometime afterward Master Roshi personally tosses the rice cooker into the deepest depths of the ocean.

Afterwards things slowly return to normal, with the cities being rebuilt and the Earth being repopulated, and over time people eventually forget King Piccolo ever existed, with the exception of Master Roshi, Master Shen and of course Kami. Some, such as Tien Shinhan and Yajirobe, heard the tale, but dismissed it as a mere bedtime story.

Techniques

• Flight – Literally meaning "lighter than air skill", the user forces their ki upon the ground in order to levitate and take to the skies.
• Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
• Life Link - Due to being created via Namekian Fission, King Piccolo's life and the life of Kami are linked thus one will die if the other perishes either via natural or unnatural causes. As it made King Piccolo or Kami killing the other essentially a suicidal act, it effectively resulted in a stalemate between the two as King Piccolo could not kill Kami and Kami could not kill King Piccolo, though this allowed King Piccolo to terrorize the Earth with Kami helpless to stop him unless he was willing to perish along with King Piccolo, though King Piccolo was later sealed by Mutaito putting an end to his evil allowing Kami to survive and continuing to serve as Guardian of Earth. However King Piccolo inadvertently saved Kami's life when he reincarnated himself into Piccolo Jr. which transferred the life link to his final son after he was fatally injured by Goku, which was fortunate as Kami was the only one who could restore Shenron and the Dragon Balls would be rendered inert anyway if Kami died. The life link is also neutralized if King Piccolo and Kami perform Namekian Fusion resulting in them becoming the Nameless Namekian once more.
• Ageless - After making a wish upon Shenron, King Piccolo was restored to his physical prime, regain his youthful health and appearance as well as peak power and prowess. In addition, he became immune to aging, which made him able to potentially live forever he would never grow old, however due to being life linked with Kami this ability is rendered moot as Kami still ages thus King Piccolo would still die if Kami were to die of old age. This ability was passed to his son Piccolo Jr. upon King Piccolo's death.

• Finger Beam – Basic energy attack fired from the index finger. King Piccolo's version is named Laser Shot in the Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game.
  • Scatter Finger Beam - A variation of his finger beam where he fires a beam from each finger on his right hand.
  • Multiple Masenko - A two-handed variation of his finger beam that appears in Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden.
• Explosive Demon Wave – A very powerful blast shot from one hand while the other hand is used to support the arm that is firing the blast. King Piccolo can turn an entire city into dust using this move, and he claims that he could destroy 1/43rd of the entire world's surface with it.
• Don't Get Cocky Kid – A clear ki blast of a sudden wind attack that can be launched theoretically from any part of the body. It is generally not as powerful as other attacks.
• Exploding Wave – It involves waving the arm and having the land explode in its wake. King Piccolo uses this technique to show his power while at King Castle, destroying a city.
• Evil Wave Explosion – King Piccolo's Explosive Wave technique. Named in the Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game. In Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, King Piccolo uses this after recovering from dizziness, or as a quick counterattack, or randomly in battle as a more charged version while saying "I'll blow you away!"
• Soumasen – A precise laser eye beam shot from both eyes. This attack is used to kill a guard posted at the gates leading to King Furry's Castle, and during his battle with Goku in order to incapacitate one of Goku's legs. Named in the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series.

• Great Namek – The Namekian ability to increase size. King Piccolo increases his size after becoming enraged when Goku knees him in the face with a boost from his Power Pole after losing the use of his right leg. During this, King Piccolo's strength and power increased, but he was unable to destroy Goku with his destructive wave. He also uses it during one of his combos in Super Dragon Ball Z and is a transformation in Dragon Ball Heroes.
• Mouth Energy Wave – A beam shot from the mouth; considerably more powerful than normal ki bolts. King Piccolo used this attack to destroy Shenron after having his wish for eternal youth made. This move is usually spelled as Kochi kara kikou ha.
• Makosen – King Piccolo fires power ki beams from each hand, one after the other. He first uses it at the end of his first fight with Goku, causing the young boy's heart to stop momentarily. The first blast is intentionally meant to be a distraction; forcing the opponent to evade it, while the second more powerful blast actually hits the target dead on. Goku falls for this trick a second time, but is unharmed by the second blast that hits him. He uses this technique again on Chiaotzu to prevent him from stealing his wish, killing him.

• Pokopen – The ability to spit out an egg from his mouth which is the natural form of reproduction for Namekians though perverted by King Piccolo to create Mutant Namekian offspring. King Piccolo can give the son part or all of his powers and memories. He also uses this technique as part of his Blast 2 called Your name is Drum, in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Semi-Reincarnation - King Piccolo possesses the ability to give birth to an egg that contains his essence including his power and memories, but not his soul. This ability circumvents the life link as it allows his own offspring to inherit King Piccolo's life link with Kami thus allowing Kami to survive King Piccolo's death. Used by King Piccolo to create the egg that gave birth to his final son/, Piccolo Junior. Though his reincarnation inherits his memories and powers, they do not apparently inherit his mind or personality, as Piccolo was never as evil as his father, though he was dedicated to killing Goku at first and taking over the Earth, Piccolo was capable of acts of selflessness and even acts of altruism long before he met Gohan as shown by him saving a mother and child from falling debris in the Piccolo Jr. Saga.
• Scattering Bullet-like technique – King Piccolo uses this technique in two variations in Revenge of King Piccolo only. He first lowers down to knee level, then raises his right hand and fires seven to eight beams in the air, eventually crashing down at the opponent. With the second variation he draws back his hand, the he fires multiple ki blasts, spreading across the battlefield.
• Telekinesis – This technique involves controlling and manipulating people or objects with the mind. King Piccolo performed this just by lifting a finger, as it was first seen when he magically lifted the five Dragon Balls that Master Roshi had hid under the ground.
• Telepathy – This is the ability to channel one's thoughts to another being. King Piccolo used this technique to immediately contact Tambourine to avenge Cymbal's death.
• Full Power – One of King Piccolo's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
• Kaikosen – One of King Piccolo's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
• Magic Materialization – A magical ability used to create objects from seemingly thin air. King Piccolo was never actually seen using this technique, but it is assumed he knew it since he was seen with the same skeletal-like throne of his twice (the first was in Pilaf's airship and apparently, the same throne appeared in the king's castle). His skeletal throne was alike to that of Guru's from Namek.
• Namek Finger – Although he never displays the Namekian ability to expand his arms in the anime or manga, he is capable of doing so in most video games he has appeared in.
  • Demon Fist – King Piccolo extends his arm to grab his opponent, tosses them in the air, and shoots them with an energy blast. One of King Piccolo's techniques in Super Dragon Ball Z, also used by Piccolo Jr.
• Drill Kick – A powerful kick technique used in Super Dragon Ball Z.
• Majin Rendan – A powerful energy blast used in Super Dragon Ball Z.
• Masougenki – A charge attack that ends with one of two blows. Used in Super Dragon Ball Z.
• Fusion - King Piccolo is capable of performing at least three different fusion techniques in various video games.
  • Namekian Fusion – In the Game Boy Advance game Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, King Piccolo (after being beaten in a fight) fuses with Piccolo (who was already fused with Kami), becoming the original nameless Namekian again. This fusion is enough for Piccolo to equal and surpass the power of Super Buu. In the Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game, King Piccolo can fuse with any other Namekian in the game.
  • EX-Fusion - By wearing a Metamo-Ring and performing the Fusion Dance he can perform EX-Fusion with Demon King Dabura to create Demon King Daccolo. Used in Dragon Ball Fusions.
  • Five-Way Fusion - By performing the five-way fusion dance with 4 other people, King Piccolo can fuse to create an Ultra Fusion. If initiated by King Piccolo it will produce a Namekian Ultra Fusion. Can be used by King Piccolo outside of the main story of Dragon Ball Fusions.
• Heavenly Demon Body-Crushing Cannon (魔天砕身砲) – A descending physical attack from the sky used in Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu.
• Special Beam Cannon - used in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 by his son Piccolo, but since King Piccolo is an alternate costume for Piccolo, he can use this attack too.
• Light Grenade - used in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 by his son Piccolo, but since King Piccolo is an alternate costume for Piccolo, he can use this attack too.
• Hellzone Grenade - used in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 by his son Piccolo, but since King Piccolo is an alternate costume for Piccolo, he can use this attack too.

Appearance

• "The Punchline" (Part 1/mentioned)
• "Lord Slug" (mentioned)
• "Battlefield Ee-arth" (mentioned)
• "The Island of Dr. Gero" (flashback)
• "Cell Reception" (mentioned)
• "Percussive Maintenance" (mentioned)
• "Tiles and Tribulations" (mentioned)
• "It's Been A Year If It's Been A Day" (mentioned)

Voice Actors

• HIs abridged voice actor is unknown, but it presumed to be Lanipator.
• In the original Funimation dub, he is voiced by Christopher R. Sabat, who also voiced Vegeta, Piccolo Jr. and Yamcha.

Trivia

• The word Piccolo means "another world" in the Namekian language. This means that the literal translation of Piccolo Daimaō is "Demon King from Another World", which is fitting considering the fact that he retroactively is a Namekian.
• King Piccolo made an appearance in a deleted scene, "Daddy Issues".