When people ask about Goku’s race, they tend to think Asian or Caucasian.

That’s because Goku’s skin tone appears light, even though it varied throughout the series, especially in Dragon Ball GT when he had a darker tan.

Also because of his literary and actual origins in East Asia.

But back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, American Dragon Ball fans started to connect with Dragon Ball and relate it to their own lives.

Some African American fans assimilated Goku and purposefully made him black, so as to better connect with their hero.

Today you’ll learn about this social phenomenon.

You’ll also see how FUNimation, the American dubbing company that licensed Dragon Ball from Japan, may have contributed to or capitalized on this trend, and how this then resulted in Americans further assimilating Dragon Ball into their lives.

Get ready to “Step into Da Grand Tour” of The Black Goku.

DaBlackGoku.com

Dragon Ball reached the height of its popularity in America between 1999 and 2003. During this time, the series appeared on Cartoon Network and was seen by millions.

The affect that this had on American youth was interesting, to say the least.

The first notable example of the African American assimilation occurred in October, 1999, when a young man with the screen name DaBlackGoku founded DaBlackGoku.com

Like many others, the site had general Dragon Ball information and trivia. But the main feature was a showcase of fan created works of Goku with black skin.

Most were simply an original Toriyama drawing edited to have darker skin, but some were modified or even original creations where the character’s hair was styled in an afro or dreadlocks, while their clothes were adorned with ghetto paraphernalia.

Almost every major character was present, including black Krillin, black Trunks, black Piccolo, black Majin Buu, black Freeza and black Vegeta, with a golden watch hanging from his neck like Flava Flav.

The black Bulma and black Chi-Chi were drawn like ghetto girls with skimpy clothes and overly sexy poses.

And my favorite was Super Saiyan black Goku with a golden afro slam dunking a basketball!

In another illustration, black Goku had his dreadlocks stuffed underneath a backwards baseball cap, wearing basketball sneaks and street clothes, jamming to some music with his headphones on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG8TOIV7OKs

The owner held an annual “Draw Me a Black Goku” contest, where fans could submit their work for Dragon Ball related prizes.

What’s noteworthy is that in the rules DaBlackGoku stipulated the following, “No lude or degrading pics. This includes things like guns and gold teeth. Remember Goku is a Dragon Ball Z hero and is not into gangsta rap.”

From this and other content on the site, I surmise that DaBlackGoku simply wanted to express his fandom for the series and share that with others, in his own unique way.

Granted that this website is most likely a representation of a minority within a minority but its social and pop cultural significance is worth further attention.

Accepting and Assimilating

It seems like most of the drawings submitted to DaBlackGoku.com were by little kids.

For children, a hero with super human powers and the ability to save the world is easy to admire.

The illustrations depicted a hero that children were connecting with on a daily basis, yet altered from the original.

Children want to connect with their heroes completely, and the differences in skin color stand out, so these differences are negated or transformed and turned into something new, yet the same.

While the core feelings of the character remain unaltered, the externalities change and cultural additions are made that reflect the artists’ environment, such as clothing and hair styles.

The site even had its own rap song, submitted by a fan in 1999. The techno bass track repeatedly loops, “Here comes Da Black Goku… Hoe’s in this house, got some hoe’s in this house,” and “Bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks.” The last line of lyrics of this song are taken from a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg track.

And it’s not just Goku, either. I remember hearing from fans over the years that, in general, black people often associate with Piccolo, feeling that he is the “blackest” of all the characters.

Perhaps this is due to his physical features, his outcast relationship with the others, his stoic personality, or the deep rugged voice he was given in the American version.

The site stopped being updated after December, 2002, but it showed that for African American youth, Dragon Ball held a special place in their hearts.

It also shows the universal appeal of Dragon Ball. But it might be no accident that Dragon Ball, this inherently Japanese and East Asian creation, connected with so many young African Americans.

Kawaii Culture and American Consumerism

Dragon Ball is a martial arts epic, but it’s also a cute and silly show filled with gags and immature humor, such as poop jokes and boob grabs. These come from the silly mind of Akira Toriyama.

Japan’s stereotypical obsession with cuteness (Japanese: Kawaii, 可愛い) since the 1970’s can be seen in many aspects of its society. For pop cultural examples, look to Hello Kitty or Kirby, a floating pink smiley face. Even Dragon Ball is super cute at times.

But it’s believed by American marketers that Kawaii culture does not necessarily carry over to the general public.

Japan is a homogenous society, where generally speaking, people think alike, act alike, and look alike.

America, on the other hand, is a combination of many races and creeds, as it continually assimilates other cultures into itself. This includes foreign pop culture, such as that from Japan.

In Japan, cute and hardcore can go together. In America they apparently cannot.

Videogames or anime that are cute and colorful in Japan are often edited by American marketing departments to become dark, aggressive, angst filled, overall Americanized, or stereotypically in line with supposed consumer interests.

The makeover from cute to edgy is most likely a manifestation of the overall trend in America to make things more masculine.

The fact that Dragon Ball is already very masculine, filled with characters that have ‘angry eyebrows,’ and huge explosive fights, made it easy to capitalize on while completely downplaying the more cute, friendly and silly aspects.

Why was this done?

To make more money.

FUNimation’s Dragon Ball GT

The changes that FUNimation made to the American Dragon Ball Z were purposefully done to appeal to American youth.

This included a new soundtrack by Faulconer Productions, filled with guitar riffs and synthetic sounds, replacing the orchestral arrangements by Shunsuke Kikuchi.

It also included the addition of American slang in the dialogue, an ideology of ‘constant sound,’ and the removal of Japanese cultural references.

Having achieved success with such edits, FUNimation appeared to go even further to appeal to American youth with Dragon Ball GT, by directly targeting the African American demographic.

Stylistically, Dragon Ball GT represented a return to the cuter aspects of the original Dragon Ball, with Goku being transformed back into a child, and the main cast consisting of kids.

FUNimation felt they had to Americanize it in order for it to sell.

In November, 2003, FUNimation premiered a completely different rendition of Dragon Ball GT then had ever been seen in the world.

In an interview in Wizard Anime Insider magazine, Gen Fukunaga said, “If you think you know Dragon Ball GT, just wait! Nobody has done Dragon Ball GT like we have.”

And boy was that the truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H9di7tCLVg

They attempted to make it hard, dark, and street, even though it was the exact opposite.

The happy go lucky J-Pop intro song of Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku (“Gradually You’re Charming My Heart”) by Japanese band Field of View, and the series’ score, were replaced by a rap song and heavy bass lines.

The Japanese intro was a top charting love ballad used to express the friendship and camaraderie of the adventurers.

The American intro provided by composer Mark Menza was heavy, gloomy, rap-based and repeated the lines, “Step into da Grand Tour, Grand Tour, Grand Tour. Step into da Grand Tour [Grand Tour, Grand Tour], Dragon Ball GT!” The entire mood of the series was edited to appear edgy and serious, even though the actual content wasn’t.

FUNimation producers and executives, such as Barry Watson, decided that this would increase sales of the GT series.

They were right.

For the week of July 20, 2003, the first two GT tapes secured the #1 and #2 positions (compared to all other VHS sales) for the edited versions, and the #9 and #19 for the uncut versions. For DVD’s they earned #17 and #18. These home video sales prepped the market for the series televised debut.

Dragon Ball GT premiered on Cartoon Network in November, 2003, and scored a monstrous 9.7 on the Nielsen ratings for males age 9 to 14, and an 8.6 rating for males age 6 to 11.

Either FUNimation’s business decisions to appeal to Americans were an effective change, or Dragon Ball was an unstoppable winner no matter what was done to it. Artistic integrity be damned.

For the casual fan in America it made no difference that Dragon Ball was a Japanese creation, because they had no idea this was the case. It felt American, and so it was.

In either case, FUNimation’s profits soared, and Dragon Ball became further ingrained in the minds of American youth.

Dragon Ball Rap Music

As the years went on and young African American boys grew up, a small number began to express their continued fandom for Dragon Ball through rap music.

Each of these songs contained references to Goku and Dragon Ball pop culture, while at the same containing heavy rap culture references.

Some of them became popular hits.

In July, 2010 the rapper Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Cortez Way) created a single titled “Goku.”

In “Goku,” Soulja Boy says, “Uhhhhhh, bitch, I look like Goku. Bitch, I look like Vegeta … Super Saiyan swagger. Bitches on my dick … Bitch I look like Gohan, smoking up that marijuana.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kgpbHdbZA0

Soulja Boy is a self professed anime fan. He released this alongside another single titled “Anime” where he apparently tried to say the word anime as many times as possible within the three minute constraint of the song, while dropping the names of different anime series to the beat amidst gunshot sound effects.

In September he provided a more on target follow up in tandem with Lil B titled “Super Saiyan,” with lyrics like “Super Saiyan Chain, Dragon Ball diamonds. Kamehameha, yep boy you know we shinin’. Gimme all your energy, yeah we ‘bout to power up. Super Saiyan swag so you know it ain’t no stoppin’ us. Goku on my wrist. Chi-Chi on my dick. I need Senzu beans cuz my swag super sick!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx772RKxAds

Many of the hardcore Dragon Ball fans laughed in dismay, while others suggested it might lead a new generation in an untapped section of society to watch the series.

In August, 2011, the rapper MarZ B, who actually goes by the pseudonym Black Goku, released a rap song in tandem with rapper Uriah, called appropriately enough,“Black Goku.”

The song is extremely graphic and profane, so I’ll exclude typing out the lyrics, but here is the video in case you want to hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3XGLVLWqo4

Rap is a style of music where the artist sings about their surrounding environment and what they are passionate about. From these rap songs you can see that Dragon Ball definitely had an effect on these young men.

Dropping The Equivalent Beat

There are African American equivalents of most every type of white superhero.

But the assimilation of an already established character founded on East Asian legends and created in Japan that is then transmogrified into an African American cultural equivalent is rare.

In the case of DaBlackGoku.com, the process whereby a sub-culture of a community brought together by racial commonalities redefines the already seemingly established cultural assumption of Goku’s race to that of African American can be likened to the racial recreation of Superman or Jesus.

Superman, Jesus and Goku have all been transformed into a black equivalent, as have other messianic figures.

The questions I wonder about are these.

Would Dragon Ball have become so popular with African American youth if FUNimation hadn’t made the edits they did, to appeal to this demographic?

And would these youth have rapped about Dragon Ball if Dragon Ball GT hadn’t been given the rap treatment and given national syndication?

We can see that Dragon Ball Z had already been accepted and assimilated between 1999 and 2003.

When Dragon Ball GT came out, it was then aimed directly at this demographic, where it became further accepted.

Perhaps it was a combination of the right product, with the right treatment, at the right time.

But Dragon Ball GT is generally considered a lesser product compared to DBZ, so that may not explain everything.

What do you think?

Were FUNimation’s edits necessary? Were they good or bad, overall? And how do you feel about Dragon Ball being turned into rap music?

Resources

DaBlackGoku Internet Archive

Rules for DaBlackGoku contest

The Second Annual DaBlackGoku Contest Results

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

The Black Goku

In Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama incorporates spirit possession as a way to propel character development and plot.

This article explores how Toriyama was inspired by ancient belief systems and spirit possession traditions.

What is Spirit Possession?

Wikipedia defines spirit possession as “A paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behavior.”

In eastern Buddhism, Daoism, Korean Shamanism, Shinto and Japanese new age movements, spirit possession can also include the summoning of a spirit into an inanimate object, such as a sword, medallion or statue. In Japan, Shinto priests imbued samurai swords with foreign spirits (called Kami, 神) to increase their battle power or provide otherworldly protection.

In Dragon Ball Z we have many cases of spirits entering or being forced into inanimate objects. For example, using the Mafuba technique to seal a demon in the Denshi Jar; Tapion playing his ocarina to seal Hildegarn in the music box; and Rou Dai Kaioshin being trapped inside the Z Sword for millions of years, only being set free after the blade broke.

But in this article we’re going to focus on the spirit possession that affects people who are controlled by a foreign spirit unwillingly, or willingly ask a foreign spirit to control them in exchange for something else.

The History of Spirit Possession in Asia

Spirit possession is found in many world cultures, including Christianity. But the majority of Dragon Ball’s inspiration stems from East Asian belief systems, including from India, China and Japan.

The Anunka warriors of ancient India purposefully sought spirit possession to gain greater power. They would chant, enter into a trance, and plead foreign spirits to attach themselves to their bodies or take over their minds. In this manner they were said to become super strong in battle, going far beyond the limits of normal men.

The martial arts practices and religions of India were the precursors to many of the Chinese belief systems. They were inherited by the Chinese through the Ksatreya style of martial arts, and Buddhist and Brahmin systems.

Around 475 BC in Northeastern China there was a group known as the Fang Shi (Esoteric Magic Masters, 方士) who practiced shamanistic spirit possession. They were somewhat of a pre Daoist religious group of ascetics, with beliefs in the Five Elements, a Supreme Ultimate (Tai Ji), exorcisms, divination and alchemical immortality.

Primarily consisting of hermits and wanderers, the Fang Shi used magic arts to seek everlasting life, summon demons or spirits, predict the future and gain supernormal powers.

Considered technicians of magic, their practice grew in popularity and even courtroom influence until the government considered it a dangerous cult and outlawed it, ending the practice in approximately 569 AD.

The belief systems and physical practices of the Fang Shi were inherited by the Daoists, whom, in some of their organized forms, would become the literati immortality cults of China. The Daoists attempted to turn ignoble metals into gold, create immortality elixirs, give birth to ephemeral dragons in their own bodies, communicate with spirits in other dimensions and gain everlasting life through physical exercises.

Across centuries the Daoist and Buddhist martial arts became interwoven with the beliefs of the immortality cults, which then became replaced with elite sectarian religions and the continuation of earlier practices, such as shamanistic rituals.

The Fang Shi “magicians” were the precursors to many of the Daoist and Buddhist magical abilities and rituals of common belief. These became the sources of myths and legends which would find their way into novels like Journey to the West and Great Water Margin.

Dragon Ball is directly inspired by these epic stories, and so we also find them in Dragon Ball.

Virtue and Vice

There have been many different cultivation practices throughout history. Some practices teach honesty, compassion and the letting go of desires, while others promote greed, power and the satisfaction of worldly desires. Some are freed by virtue, while others are controlled by vice.

But no matter the principles, at some point a teacher needs to find a disciple.

In ancient China there was a phrase attributed to Daoism that says, “The master looks for a disciple, not the disciple looks for a master.”

It implies that when the time is right, the master looks for a particular quality within a person to see if they would be a good fit to inherit their practice. In the case of the Daoists, what they were looking for was virtue (Chinese: De, 德).

They had to find somebody with high level inborn quality and a large amount of virtue attached to their spirit. With that, the disciple would have an easier time enlightening, and their cultivation practice would meet with success. Without it, the practice would be very difficult and they may fail.

But masters of unrighteous practices sought just the opposite. They looked for disciples with wicked hearts and selfish minds. They wanted people who desired self validation and externalities.

In other words, those with weak hearts; something the Chinese referred to as “e” and the Japanese as Aku (悪).

In addition to the master seeking a disciple, there are sacred possessions and demonic possessions aligned with a person’s level of character.

In religious systems across the world, such as Christianity and Buddhism, it’s taught that exceptionally good people who are aligned with virtue can have their bodies possessed by ‘angelic’ life forms. They are used by heavenly forces to transmit the holy Law, complete important missions or physically receive marks, such as stigmata, as manifest proof of divinity. Their bodies are taken control of, they receive genius inspiration or they are guided along a fortuitous path to do sacred things.

Similarly, those who seek to achieve worldly desires and perform evil acts are essentially inviting things such as foxes, snakes, demons and ghosts, low level spirits, onto themselves. Because their thinking is the same as these creatures, their weak minds are pushed aside and their bodies are possessed.

So let’s take a look at these two different scenarios. One good. One evil.

First the good.

Kami and Shen

In Dragon Ball episode 139, Piccolo has entered the 23^rd Tenkaichi Budokai to fight and kill Goku.

Kami also enters the tournament so that he can confront Piccolo and defeat him. But he does not do so directly. Instead, he tries to surprise Piccolo by possessing the body of a human being as a disguise.

He chooses a man with the ring name of Shen (シェン), called Hero in the FUNimation dub. Shen is a homonym for Shen (神), an originally Chinese word meaning God, Divine, and Holy, but Shen’s name is written in Katakana instead of Kanji.

Shen is a nerdy, skinny middle-aged man who does not seem like the best choice for a martial arts tournament. Kami said in a later episode that he chose Shen because of his good nature.

Yamcha fights against Shen in the semi-finals and they have a conversation.

Shen says, “This is just between you and me, but I’m not really human.”

Yamcha laughs and dismisses the comment. “Don’t tell me you’re some sort of space alien or something.”

“Maybe, maybe not. All I can tell you is that I’ve borrowed this person’s body for a little while. Simply put, I’ve transferred my spirit into this body.”

What’s funny is that Kami actually is a space alien, but this hasn’t been revealed yet in the series.

Shen defeats Yamcha after a dramatic twist, and Goku realizes that Shen and Kami are the same person.

Goku thinks to himself, “Competitor Shen… Shen… Shen Long… Shen! That’s it! That middle aged man is actually Kami-Sama!”

While Shen and Yamcha are recovering from the match, Shen realizes there is blood on his chin. “Oh my, I’ve gone and injured my host body.”

With blood also running down his chin, but a smile on his face, Yamcha says, “I never had a chance of winning against someone who could take a direct hit from my Soukidan.”

Shen was able to survive Yamcha’s most powerful Ki attack, despite the fact that Shen was a weak, untrained, skinny middle-aged man completely unfit for the Tenkaichi Budokai.

Shen seemingly had all of the powers and abilities of Kami. This implies that it’s not the body that matters most; it’s the spirit that controls it.

Piccolo and Kami

In Dragon Ball episode 142, Kami, inside the body of Shen, faces off against Piccolo.

Shen attempts to use the Mafuba (魔封波) technique against Piccolo, sealing him in the jar for eternity.

Piccolo realizes Kami is in control of the body. He screams, “Kami, what are you doing in the Lower Realm?!”

Piccolo figures out how to win, and the Mafuba technique doesn’t work because he reverses it against Kami!

Trapped inside the Mafuba’s wave, Kami screams, “Dammit, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. At least let this human body go!”

And then the human body drops away and Kami’s true form appears inside the Mafuba’s spiral.

Piccolo, with great satisfaction, traps him inside the jar.

Shen’s body lay on the battle stage, and Piccolo Daimao holds the Mafuba jar in his hand that contains his former self and counterpart, Kami.

Piccolo’s father, Piccolo Daimao, the Demon King, had once been sealed in the Mafuba jar before, and he grew old and weary while inside. Now Piccolo Daimao Jr. had enacted his revenge.

In Dragon Ball episode 143, Piccolo laughs, “I’ve sealed Kami-sama, who had taken control of his body, inside this!”

Shen fails to get up during the 10 count, and Piccolo wins the match.

The announcer runs over to Shen to see if he’s okay. He says, “Shen-san! Shen-san!”

Shen wakes up, blinking his eyes in total confusion. He looks around, puzzled at what’s going on. The crowd cheers for him because of his performance up to that point of the Semi-Finals.

He asks the Announcer, “Um, this wouldn’t be where they’re holding the Tenkaichi Budokai, would it?”

“Eh? Yes, that’s right. Did you happen to hit your head or something?”

Shen looks around at Piccolo, Goku and the others, and is completely baffled. “Ah, silly me!” Then he embarrassingly runs off the stage.

He says to himself, “How strange. When did I get up there? Did I have a couple drinks or something?”

Then Shen’s son comes out from the crowd. “Daddy! I never knew you were so strong, Daddy!”

Shen had absolutely no recollection of the event, and his conscious mind had been completely repressed by Kami’s presence.

Kami took control of a human’s body and did what he felt was necessary for the greater good of mankind, fulfilling his role as Guardian of earth in a way that is very similar to the role of deities in traditional culture: Indirectly, and through the body of a human.

Now let’s take a look at an evil example of spirit possession in Dragon Ball.

The Majin

Much later in the series, in episode 228 of Dragon Ball Z, a higher level deity named Kaioshin has descended to earth in order to defeat the evil sorcerer, Madoshi Babidi.

Madoshi Babidi has the ability to possess the hearts of wicked men. The more evil their hearts, the easier it is to control them.

The beings Babidi possesses gain superhuman strength. Some are filled with intense anger and lose control of their personalities. They become maniacal slaves that are not only more malicious, but also seemingly invincible and impervious to pain.

In the 25^th Tenkaichi Budokai, two fighters named Spopovich and Yamu willingly allow themselves to be possessed by Babidi in exchange for more power.

Like the superhuman warriors possessed by foreign powers in the ancient legends, they have become fearful, almost unstoppable warriors. They violently fight their way up the tournament ladder.

When Videl (Gohan’s girlfriend) fights back against Spopovich’s endless assault, she kicks him in the head and breaks his neck. But he simply twists his head back into place and continues the fight, beating her to the brink of death.

Majin (魔人) is a label in Dragon Ball given to anybody that is possessed in such a manner. You can tell they are possessed because they have the mark of the Majin “M” on their foreheads or elsewhere on the body.

In colloquial Japanese, Ma (魔) has come to mean magic, or enchanted, while Jin (人) means man, or being, so Majin is commonly translated as “magical being.” In some ways this makes sense, but this is a shallow understanding of the original Kanji.

Likewise, Madoshi (魔道師) is a word that is often translated shallowly as Magician.

Ma (魔) means demon, evil spirit, witch, or describes an evil influence, power, enchantment or ability.

Do (道) is the Japanese pronunciation of Dao. It means the way, path, school, or practice, and is the same Dao from Daoism.

Shi (師) means teacher, master, or expert.

When put together, Madoshi means “Demon Way Master,” or “Master of the Demonic Way.”

So you can see that Madoshi Babidi is much more than a simple magician. He’s a genuine master of the dark arts. Similarly, a Majin is more than just enchanted. They are demons.

The Kanji for Ma (魔) suggests that all beings given this label are the antithesis of upright beings, driven to threaten humanity or overthrow the heavens.

In fact, Madoshi Babidi is the son of Madoshi Bibidi, an evil sorcerer who once did battle against the Kaioshin’s (界王神), the deities of the Dragon Ball cosmos.

In order to fight the gods, Madoshi Bibidi conjured up an evil demon that he named Majin Buu (魔人ブウ).

Buu (ブウ), written in Katakana, is also a homonym for Bu (武), meaning martial arts, warrior, war, or martial. Majin Buu thus essentially means “Demonic Being of War.”

Then why is it written as Buu instead of Bu? Because humorously, their names together are Bibidi, Babidi, Buu. This is the same magic incantation used by the Fairy God Mother in Disney’s Cinderella (1950), and is also called “The Magic Song.” Toriyama used it here as a verbal joke. Wikipedia states that “Most Japanese merchandise spells Buu’s name in the proper “Boo,” just like the song.”

Madoshi Babidi seeks to awaken Majin Buu from the egg-like cocoon he was sealed inside by the surviving Kaioshin’s, ages ago. Like Piccolo Daimao, this great evil had been sealed away.

Realizing the threat this poses to humanity, Kaioshin arrives on earth. One planet out of the countless he oversees.

Kaioshin meets with and convinces Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta to attack Babidi’s ship. He wants to destroy Babidi and his spirit possessed slave, Dabura, the King of Demons, before they can awaken Majin Buu.

Dabura is the King of the Demon Realm (Japanese: Makai, 魔界), a world in an inverse dimension to that of earth, where everything is dark, evil and populated by demons. Babidi is an incredibly powerful sorcerer to have been able to possess Dabura. Toriyama named Dabura after the second half of the magical incantation, “Abracadabra.”

Dabura fights against Gohan and in the midst of battle witnesses a moment of impatience and anger in Vegeta, who tires of their drawn out conflict and is disappointed by Gohan’s relative weakness after the 5 years of peace following the Cell Games.

Dabura immediately withdraws from the battle, saying, “I myself do not need to fight. I’ve found a good warrior [to do so for me].”

Babidi and Vegeta

Vegeta is frustrated and wants to end this stupid adventure so he can finally challenge Goku in a fight. He decides he’s going to blast a hole through Babidi’s spaceship, straight down to the lowest level.

Kaioshin stops him, shouting, “If you do such a thing, Majin Buu will be revived! Majin Buu is a monster who does nothing but create destruction and slaughter again and again. He is quite literally a demonic being, as four of the Kaioshin were no match for him! If Majin Buu is revived, then mankind… no, all living things will be put to death, and the earth will unmistakably be turned into a planet of death.”

Just as Kami sensed the goodness in the heart of Shen, Dabura senses the evil in Vegeta’s heart. He advises Babidi to attempt spirit possession on Vegeta.

Goku and Gohan were untouchable, but Vegeta’s impatience and tolerance hinted at flaws in his character.

Babidi looks at Vegeta through his crystal ball, talking to Dabura. “You’re right, he’s different from the others. It’s just as you said. His heart is filled with wickedness. He hasn’t come here for any just cause at all!”

Babidi casts his spell, saying “We’re going to have you serve us.”

Vegeta’s head is filled with pain. He writhes in agony as Babidi fights for control of his body.

Kaioshin tells Vegeta, “Babidi is attempting to use the evil in your heart! That’s right! Madoshi Babidi can manipulate the evil-hearted at will!”

He advises Vegeta, “Vegeta-san, empty your mind! You must not think of anything!”

Perhaps if Vegeta could, at that moment, empty his mind and become peaceful, there would be nothing for Babidi to latch onto. No attachments. No gaps.

Babidi gleefully continues, “All right, while we’re at it, let’s also draw out his hidden power, beyond his limits!”

Vegeta floats into the air, screams in anguish, and red lightning bolts arc throughout the room. The power of his energy causes a small earthquake in the surrounding cliffs around the ship.

Goku shouts, “What a Ki! I can’t get near it!”

The light recedes. Vegeta falls to the floor, crashing to his knees.

A moment of pause.

Vegeta slowly rises, with a Majin M on his forehead and a wicked grin on his face.

Majin Vegeta

Babidi successfully possessed Vegeta.

He chants an incantation, “Papparapa!” and they are transported to a new battleground: the Tenkaichi Budokai stage. Babidi and Dabura want Vegeta to fight against Goku and Gohan so that they can collect the dispersed energy from their battle and use it to awaken Majin Buu from his slumber.

Babidi tries to control Vegeta, telling him to battle and “even kill the others, if you like.”

“Silence!” Vegeta shouts. “My only objective is Kakkarot! I don’t care about anyone else!”

Babidi is in shock. “What a guy! He still isn’t completely under my control. This is a first.”

After calling Goku out in a challenge, Vegeta fires a Ki blast directly into Goku’s face, which Goku blocks, but he cannot redirect the beam. It flies into the crowd, killing over a hundred people immediately. Then the beam flies through the arena wall, burning through the city for more than a mile, finally erupting in a giant mushroom cloud.

Total death count? According to Babidi, 200 people.

Goku realizes what’s going on. “Vegeta! Don’t tell me you fell under Babidi’s spell on purpose. … Answer me, Vegeta!!”

Vegeta fires another blast into the stadium, killing dozens more. He then grimaces at Goku like a psychopathic madman.

Goku fills himself with rage and transforms into a Super Saiyan.

Goku says, “Vegeta. You let yourself fall under Babidi’s spell and lost your self-control, and did all this in order to get me serious? Am I wrong?”

Vegeta replies, “If I hadn’t done all this, you wouldn’t have fought me! In only one day, you’ll disappear from this world. And yet all this gets in the way!”

Kaioshin rebukes him, “So for that… just for that, you’ve done this foolish thing?”

Vegeta is insulted and shocked. “Foolish thing?! FOOLISH THING, YOU SAY?!!”

He powers up, sending dust everywhere.

“This is everything to me! It does not matter to me what happens with Majin Buu or anything else!”

Pointing at Goku, “He… He surpassed my strength! He is a Saiyan, same as me, yet he outpaced me! Me! The Prince, at the height of his overwhelming power! I… I’ve even had my life saved by him! I cannot forgive him for that! Absolutely not!!”

At the request of Goku they are transported by Babidi to a desert battleground away from civilians. Babidi tries to control Vegeta again, ordering him to kill everyone.

Vegeta’s mind is split in two and he writhes in pain. “Do it! Do them in!” The Majin symbol on his forehead pulses with red light.

“I refuse!”

Babidi orders him to do it once more, and Vegeta’s body spasms in pain.

Vegeta speaks to Babidi, “Like I said, all I want to do is fight Kakkarot. I… I am the proud Prince of the Saiyans! You think I would allow myself to become your serf?! You may control my body and my heart, but at least you will not have your way… with my PRIDE!!”

Vegeta screams in anger, powering up, sending a huge golden aura out of his body, while lines of white serpentine energy course out of him. Mountains collapse as the earth quakes.

Kaioshin is in shock, “Unbelievable! To think there’s a person that could defy Babidi while being controlled by him!”

Goku, almost in disgust, says, “So this is how badly you wanted to settle things between us, Vegeta?”

“I’ve waited. I’ve waited so long, Kakkarot!”

The Pride of a Man

In this scenario we see the extent to which Vegeta would go in order to enact revenge against Goku. He would even allow a foreign being to take control of his body and heart in exchange for more power.

Why? For a chance to feel complete once again. And a chance to restore his pride.

Vegeta explains in the following episodes that he willingly let Babidi possess him so that he could remember the feeling of only caring for himself… the simple freedom and joy that this brings. The satisfaction of being a ruthless, cold hearted warrior, and of being the best.

He had tried Goku’s way… the way of kindness and family. The way of protecting others.

But what did it get him?

In Vegeta’s mind it only brought comfort and weakness. Sentimental rubbish! An unfitting way of life for a warrior!

Most importantly, it did not increase his power and it did not satisfy his ultimate desire.

When Vegeta had the opportunity to let this all go and return to his former self, he took it.

After an intense and exhausting battle, the two warriors were evenly matched.

During a moment when Goku offered his kindness, Vegeta attacked with a sneaky blow from behind, knocking Goku unconscious.

Vegeta betrayed Goku’s trust and won the fight.

But shortly afterward he lost his life against the recently awakened Majin Buu… in the ultimate self sacrifice.

He also lost his soul, and was sent to Hell.

Vegeta’s spirit possession resulted in short term satisfaction from a battle with Goku, and the long term death of millions.

Was it worth the cost?

In Vegeta’s eyes, it was. Satisfying his pride is all that mattered.

Such is the price this man paid to achieve his desire.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Spirit Possession in Dragon Ball

It took 7 days for us to gather the 7 dragon balls, and now we can summon the almighty Shenron and have him grant our wish!

“Come Forth, Shenron!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-IUZe6dR_k

Shenron Tattoos

The Dragon Has Awakened!

“You who has summoned me… State thy wish!”

What will you wish for? Add your comments below!

Thanks for joining us on this 7 part series. If you enjoyed these posts, then please let me know in the comments and I’ll do more like them in the future!

And hurry up with stating your wish! Shenron is losing his patience!

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Shenron

Goku passed away and went to Heaven. But now he’s super strong after training with North Kaio, and he’s on his way back to help with the fight!

Let’s take a look at these colorful displays of Dragon Ball fandom from around the world!

Goku Tattoos

Kamehameha!

Goku strikes hard and fast with these latest tattoos. See anything you like?

Be sure to come back tomorrow for part 7 of our multi-part series on Dragon Ball tattoos. Tomorrow’s the last day!

And because it’s the 7th day and we’ve finally gathered all 7 dragon balls, we are going to summon the Immortal Dragon, Shenron!

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Edit: Link to next part… Dragon Ball tattoos part 7

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Goku Returns

An enormous power threatens the galaxy, and our heroes come together to defend it… in the form of Dragon Ball tattoos!

Is there a specific DBZ character you prefer over the others? Why pick and choose? Why not have ALL of them tattooed onto your body!

That’s what these folks did! So let’s take a look!

Dragon Ball Group Tattoos

Wow!

Those were some detailed tattoos!

It’s amazing that people are so dedicated to Dragon Ball that they would go through such a painful process.

Look at the size of some of them. It would take hours of being needled, and a lot of money, to receive such tattoos.

So tell me, are these people a bit strange, or are they super fans? Are there better ways to show your fandom, or is this the tops?

What do you think?

Come back tomorrow for the next post in this series… even more Goku tattoos! There are so many tattoos of Goku that he’s returning for a second round!

Remember, if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the RSS Feed to be instantly notified of each post!

Edit: Link to next part… Dragon Ball tattoos part 6

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Groups

Dragon Ball Heroes

Dragon Ball Villains

Who Would Win In a Fight?

Out of all the available tattoo’s represented here, who do you think would win in a fight?! There’s high power levels on both sides.

Majin Buu is strongly represented, but then so is Gohan. Not so sure about that one Piccolo… Looks a little hurt. But maybe Dende or Mister Popo can help him out.

Come back tomorrow for the next post in this series… group tattoos!

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the RSS Feed to be instantly notified of each post!

Edit: Link to next part… Dragon Ball tattoos part 5

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Heroes & Villains

There are a lot of symbols and icons in Dragon Ball. Many of them are original creations by Akira Toriyama, while others are of Japanese Kanji.

Each icon or symbol has a unique meaning in the Dragon Ball series.

This first tattoo is from a Korean pop star named G-Dragon. Strange that he chose an 8 Star ball, considering there are only 7 dragon balls.

In any case, let’s look at the Dragon Ball fans who decided to embody these icons!

Dragon Ball Icon Tattoos

Thoughts?

What do you guys think of these Dragon Ball tattoo’s? The woman with the Saiyan royal crest on her… uh, chest, is certainly bold, isn’t she?

Stay tuned for the next post in this series… Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks and others!

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Edit: Link to next part… Dragon Ball tattoos part 4

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Icons