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"Pipokupipo!"
— Gatchan


Gajira Norimaki (則巻ガジラ Norimaki Gajira), known as Gatchan (ガッちゃん Gacchan) for short, is an Angel that was adopted into the Norimaki family and split into two beings with no distinct differences, who are collectively known as the Gatchans (ガッちゃんズ Gacchanzu). The Gatchans are very close to Arale Norimaki, and often follow her around.

They served as part of the main cast to Akira Toriyama's previous series, Dr. Slump but appeared as minor supporting characters in the Dragon Ball manga, anime and Dragon Ball Super.

Biography[]

Background[]

Gatchan is an Angel born from an egg placed on Earth by the God of the Galaxy during the prehistoric ages, to prevent further development of the human civilization after seeing that other civilizations eventually destroyed themselves and the planets they lived on. Gatchan's ability to replicate as well as its fondness of metal should have ensured that humanity would remain primitive and innocent.

Dr. Slump[]

Gatchanborn

Gatchan is born

Gatchan hatched from an egg brought home by Senbei Norimaki from a time traveling trip. Later on, it inexplicably splits into two identical beings. Gatchan eats almost anything, except for rubber, and particularly likes to eat metal. It is unknown if there is a reason Gatchan doesn't eat rubber or if he/she simply dislikes it. She/he can also shoot rays from his/her antennae.[1] Gatchan speaks in his/her own language consisting primarily of sounds like "Koo pee pee poo" that Arale Norimaki somehow seems to understand. However, in the manga, Gatchan has said a few words in Japanese/English. Being a baby, Gatchan also imitates what others do (most of the time, what Arale does). Gatchan does not physically age. Gatchan later splits into two beings.

Gatchan has no known gender, though was originally assumed to be female by Arale, due to both of them having no genitalia, but is generally considered male.

When the God that placed them on Earth sees that Gatchan failed in the mission they were originally sent to do (due to Senbei's time traveling intervention), God was about to destroy humanity. However, after seeing the life of Penguin Village and how happy the Gatchans had become, he changed his mind and left Earth as it is.

Dragon Ball[]

General Blue Saga[]

Main article: General Blue Saga

GatchanS2

The Gatchans in Dragon Ball

The Gatchans accompany Arale during the time Goku arrives in Penguin Village when trying to chase General Blue for the Dragon Balls. Goku who was amazed by Arale's strength when beating General Blue gets surprised when the Gatchan's demonstrate their strength as well by zapping a tree. They also proceeded to eat what remained of General Blue's car (actually Taro's stolen car) after Arale crashed into it, much to the Red Ribbon Army general's shock and horror upon witnessing it.

Interlude[]

Gatchan was shown to have split into at least eight separate beings by Age 759 during a look at the cast of Dr. Slump five years from the time the main series took place, however this may have been undone due to Akira Toriyama discovering that he was a homeless beggar, and declaring he was changing the future.

Dragon Ball Super[]

"Future" Trunks Saga[]

Main article: "Future" Trunks Saga Both Gatchans follow Arale to a world invention conference in West City that Senbei was receiving an award at. They eat the entire building while Arale was fighting Goku outside.

Film Appearances[]

Mystical Adventure[]

Main article: Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure

Gatchan (Mystical Adventure)

The Gatchans in Mystical Adventure

They fire their Antenna Beam at General Tao, when the latter attacks Arale with his Dodon Ray.

Techniques and Special Abilities[]

  • Flight – The Gatchans have the ability to fly using their wings.
  • Antenna Beam – The Gatchans can shoot rays from their antennae. They first used this technique in Dr. Slump chapter 27, "Kids Gone Wild". They also uses this against General Tao in Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, as well as in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 as part of Arale's Playing Pro-Wrestling technique and in J-Stars Victory Vs.
  • Metal Consumption - The Gatchans can consume and digest metal. This ability was originally meant by the Kami of the Galaxy to keep the humans of Earth primitive and innocent by impeding their technological development. However their removal from prehistoric times to Penguin Village prevented them from fulfilling the plan.
  • Transformation - The original Gatchan was able to transform into a cocoon-like egg in order to spawn a second Gatchan. It is implied that the two resulting Gatchans retain this ability, as at least eight Gatchans appeared in a future timeline.
    • Fission - Gatchan has the ability to perform fission through its egg transformation.

Equipment[]

Dr

Gatchan wearing a Ninja Suit and wielding a sword in Dr. Slump

  • Ninja Suit - In "How Adorable! The Lovely Middle-aged Trio", Gatchan wears a Ninja Suit while playing War Games with Arale and her friends.
  • Sword - While playing War Games, Gatchan wields small katana-like blade.

Appearances in other media[]

Live-action commercial[]

Dr

Live-action version of Gatchan flying

Gatchan appears in a live-action Dr. Slump themed commercial for GU clothing store flying next to Akane Kimidori and above Kinoko Sarada.

Video Game Appearances[]

The Gatchans appear in Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu, Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden, Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen, Jump Ultimate Stars, Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan, Dragon Ball: Origins 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. One of the Gatchans can be seen in the audience of the World Tournament stage in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2. Gatchan 1 & 2 are featured in Arale's Ultimate Blast in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Playing Pro-Wrestling, shooting the enemy with their Antenna Beam after Arale says "The Gatchan are really strong too". Gatchan also appears using his Antenna Beam to attack for Arale in J-Stars Victory Vs. Gatchan is a supporting character in Dragon Ball Heroes.

Voice Actors[]

Trivia[]

  • Gatchan's real name is a combination of the names of Gamera and Gojira, who is known as Godzilla in the West; hence s/he is occasionally referred to as "Gadzilla" in the English manga. The name was given by Arale after her suggestions of "Gamera" and "Godzilla" were rejected by Senbei.
    • This was changed in both animated adaptations of the manga. In the original anime, Dr. Slump Arale-chan, Gatchan's name came from the sound of a shattering vase (though "Godzilla" and "Gamera" were both suggested names in the anime as well). In the second anime, Doctor Slump, Gatchan's name came from the Japanese onomatopoeia for gnawing on something, gajigaji (ガジガジ), due to Gatchan's appetite for inorganic objects.
  • Gatchan was created due to Akira Toriyama thinking that the Norimaki household seemed a bit lonely, and thought that Arale and Senbei could use a pet to liven things up. Originally, Gatchan was intended to be a small lizard-like monster, but this idea was rejected by Kazuhiko Torishima. Toriyama then took inspiration from his sister's newborn baby, which led to the final version of Gatchan.
    • Additionally, elements of Gatchan were taken from an angel-like child that served as a main character in Toriyama's work Ageha Town Observation Diary, a manga pitch that was rejected by Torishima, many elements of which were reused in Dr. Slump.
  • On the cover of the 11th chapter of the sequel manga The Brief Return of Dr. Slump by Takao Koyama and Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, a Gatchan is shown dressed up as Piccolo and the other is dressed as Teen Gohan, while Arale is dressed as Goku.
  • At one point, Senbei's grandfather pointed out that Arale could not really be Senbei's 15-year-old sister (as he had previously claimed), due to Senbei's parents dying 20 years previously. This led to Senbei creating a new backstory claiming that Arale was a prize from a box of extra-large caramels. Midori went on to ask if Gatchan was a prize from a chocolate bar, to which Senbei proceeded to claim that s/he was from chewing gum instead.
  • The failure of the Kami of the Galaxy's plan to use the Gatchans to impede Earth's technological development was ironically a good thing as had Earth remained primitive it would have likely negatively effected the Mortal Level of Universe 7 as civilization level of planets within said Universe is one of the factors that is considered. Additionally it would have prevented the development of the Dragon Radar and other technologies used by the Dragon Team resulting in a very different history for both Earth and Universe 7 had it succeeded.
    • This isn't the only time that Arale Norimaki altered Earth's history as she headbutted a meteor in 75 Million Before Age inadvertently creating the Earth's Moon and allowing the Dinosaurs to survive (given Beerus' claims in Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Super to have killed the dinosaurs implies that he send the meteor to wipe them out, only for Arale's time traveling shenanigans to prevent their extinction).

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Dr. Slump chapter 27, "Kids Gone Wild"

External links[]

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