"No longer am I Kami or Piccolo. I am the Namek who has long since forgotten his name." |
Nameless Namek is the unnamed Namekian son of Katas and was originally one being until he seperated the evil out of his body, becoming Kami and removing King Piccolo from his soul . He makes his debut in a flashback during "Earth's Guardian Emerges", the 125th episode of the Dragon Ball anime, which premiered on August 31, 1988. He continues making cameo appearances in flashbacks throughout the Dragon Ball anime and manga, and reappears in the Dragon Ball Z episode "Plans for Departure", and continues to make brief cameo appearances until making his formal debut (in the form of Piccolo) in "The Reunion", the 141st episode of Dragon Ball Z, which premiered on May 27, 1992.
Biography
The nameless Namek as a child, living and isolated in Yunzabit Heights, the farthest corner in the Earth.
The nameless Namekian was born on Planet Namek in 242 Age to the Namek Katas. As a child, the planet underwent a catastrophic natural disaster that killed everyone except him, Guru, and the non-canon Lord Slug. To survive, he was launched into outer space by his father in a spaceship which requires at least a basic knowledge of the ancient Namek language to pilot. The spaceship landed on Earth in the frigid Yunzabit Heights, where the nameless Namek spent his life alone from youth through adolescence. In the story of his origin told to Mr. Popo, Kami confesses that he has no memory of how he (as he is the embodiment of the nameless Namek's essence of good) came upon Yunzabit Heights (he is not even aware of being an extraterrestrial until Piccolo is made aware of this by the Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa), because of an accident early in his life which rendered him amnesiac. As the nameless Namek grew up, he looked to the sky for an explanation of his origins. It was during this time that he discovered the Namek spaceship in a plateau, which he used as a house while awaiting someone to come looking for him. After many years the disappointed Namek eventually left Yunzabit Heights to explore the rest of Earth, but with false hope, would continue to return on occasion but never found anything out of the ordinary.
The nameless Namek as a young adult, leaving his "house" and Yunzabit Heights behind him.
As he explored the world, his pure heart was tainted by all the violence and hate throughout the world. Later in his life, when the nameless Namek sought the position of Guardian of Earth, the then-current guardian rejected him because of these evil essences suppressed in his soul. The dedicated Namek goes on to separate himself from his evil, which takes the form of the self-proclaimed King Piccolo. It is revealed in the Dragon Ball Z film Dead Zone, and later the Garlic Jr. Saga of Dragon Ball Z that Garlic was the nameless Namek's adversary with whom he competed for the position of Guardian of Earth. The nameless Namek was able to outclass Garlic in the competition after separating himself from his evil essence, as Garlic's ambitions for the position were far more selfish in nature
However, this fission had two significant drawbacks. First, their power levels took a huge plummet. It was believed by the rest of the Namekians in the Frieza Saga that the Nameless Namek could have easily defeated Frieza. However, when he separated, their power levels plummeted to less than 300 apiece.
Second, though Kami and King Piccolo were separate, they were spiritually linked; if one died, the other dies as well. King Piccolo wreaked havoc on Earth for several years before being sealed away by Mutaito, only to be freed by Emperor Pilaf centuries later, and finally killed by an adolescent Goku thereafter. Before dying, King Piccolo creates a final son called Piccolo Jr., who from that point onward shares a lifeline with Kami (had King Piccolo not done this Kami would have died as well).
The nameless Namek later in his adult life, as the apprentice of the Guardian of the Earth.
After Kami merges with Piccolo's body (as Piccolo Jr. is the offspring and reincarnate of King Piccolo), the nameless Namek makes his triumphant return, though with Piccolo's outfit and appearance, and he still prefers to be referred to as Piccolo, although some characters such as Krillin and Goku at first have trouble referring to him by name; for example, after recovering from his heart disease, Goku meets with the Z Fighters for the first time since Kami and Piccolo's union, where he calls the Namek "Kamiccolo"; Piccolo gets irritated and shouts, "Look, I've gone through some changes, but my name is still Piccolo!".
In Dragon Ball GT, it is revealed that, before splitting his good and evil halves, the nameless Namek created the all-powerful Black Star Dragon Balls, though when he did so is unknown.
Personality
It is unknown what personality the Nameless Namek had before he split into Kami and Piccolo; however, when the two reunited, he seemed to be dominately Piccolo. This could possibly be due to the fact that Piccolo was stronger than Kami, and so, just like Supreme Kai was to Kibito, his personality remained. However, the Nameless Namek did display increased intelligence, particularly on the battlefield, by thinking up strategies on the spot. Since his strength became obsolete due to the Super Saiyans, his wisdom became his most valuable asset to the Z Team.
Movie Appearances
- Dead Zone (seen briefly as the original version of the Nameless Namekian)
- The Return of Cooler (as Piccolo)
- Super Android 13! (as Piccolo)
- Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (as Piccolo)
- Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (as Piccolo)
- Bojack Unbound (as Piccolo)
- Broly - Second Coming (seen briefly as Piccolo)
- Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! (as Piccolo)
Voice actors
- Japanese Dub: Takeshi Aono and Toshio Furukawa (DBZ Episode 141 onward)
- Westwood Media Dub: Scott McNeil and Ethan Cole
- FUNimation Dub: Christopher R. Sabat
Trivia
- Although he only appears in a single flashback, he is by far the strongest character to appear in Dragon Ball.
- In most flashbacks he appeared in during Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z he eventually splits into two beings.
- The Nameless Namek may have had some connection to the Bancho Fan. In the Dragon Ball episode Dress in Flames Goku and Chi-Chi discover a giant rock with a map of how to make the fan. The instructions appear to be carved in the Namek language, though it's unknown if the Nameless Namek actually carved the instructions into the rock. It's likely he did however, as he was the only Namek on Earth for many years.
- It's also implied in Supersonic Warriors that the Nameless Namek's full potential could only be unlocked if Piccolo Jr. fuses with not only Kami, but also with his father/past self, King Piccolo, as while Piccolo is the reincarnation of King Piccolo, he is not King Piccolo, to which Piccolo himself states though this would mean inviting evil back into his heart (but considering the ending, it is likely Piccolo could suppress it). According to this alternate version, the Nameless Namek was surprisingly capable of even surpassing Majin Buu in power (although it still wasn't enough to destroy Majin Buu).
- In the manga, Guru says that the Nameless Namek's original potential was so great that only a Super Saiyan could have a chance at defeating him (which is further supported by the fact that as soon as Piccolo arrived on Namek, a near-dead Nail immediately states that he could have defeated the same Frieza the Namekian Warrior lost horribly against, if he were to fuse with Kami). However this could be argued as it is later stated that after fusing with Kami, Piccolo's potential was even greater than an Unmastered Super Saiyan by Krillin in the Imperfect Cell Saga. One of the reasons why could be because Piccolo Jr. is stronger than his father/past-self King Piccolo, and grew much stronger fusing with Nail prior to Piccolo fusing with Kami. In addition, the chapter cover for a training period between the death of Frieza and the arrival of the Androids depicts Piccolo and Gohan training with a Super Saiyan Goku , and after the three years, Krillin is in awe after witnessing his growth in power against Dr. Gero (a fight in which Piccolo dominates against him, despite the android draining him of his power earlier and absorbing energy from a blast from Vegeta intended to destroy the rocky terrain that he hid in), remarking that "He's so strong... and he's not even a Super Saiyan!".
- Interestingly, both the Nameless Namek and Goku have some things in common: they both suffered injuries that resulted in them becoming amnesiacs (though Goku did regain his knowledge by it being told to him and the Nameless Namek only regained his by remerging with Kami), and they both came to Earth on a spaceship when they were children.
- Shortly before the battle with Frieza on the Namekian homeworld, Piccolo fused bodies with a Namek known as Nail, who cryptically referenced the Nameless Namek by noting that if Piccolo had come in his "original form" he would have been much stronger.