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"Giran was just a job. Your father I killed for fun."
— "Terrible Tambourine"


Tambourine (タンバリン Tanbarin) is a mutated Namekian and one of King Piccolo's children.

Appearance[]

Tambourine is a mutant Namekian of average height, with wings and fangs. He has a humanoid gargoyle-like appearance.

Personality[]

Tambourine's favorite hobby is slaughtering humans, as he considers them inferior to his kind.[2] Tambourine is extremely cold-hearted, killing innocent people just to entertain himself, and has no remorse for any of his victims nor their loved ones,Tambourine is also a consummate assassin, managing to kill almost all of his targets by following orders from the King Piccolo. He considers all other races besides his useless, stating humans serve no purpose other than to be killed. Even on duty, he will attack people not involved in his mission just for fun. At most times Tambourine is very arrogant, constantly taunting his opponents, and declaring that he is superior. When Tambourine meets an opponent stronger than him however, he seems to show a cowardly side, as after being pummeled by Goku, he attempted to fly away and flee.

Biography[]

Background[]

Tambourine is born offscreen shortly after King Piccolo was released by Emperor Pilaf. Under orders from King Piccolo, Tambourine sets out to assassinate all the competitors of the last three World Martial Arts Tournaments who may pose a threat to Piccolo's return to power and collect any Dragon Ball that he comes across in the process.

His first victim is Krillin, whom he confronts shortly after the end of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament when Krillin goes back to the area to collect Goku's objects that he forgot. Krillin fights with everything he has, but proves no match for Tambourine, who kills him by kicking him on the head, crushing his frontal lobe. Tambourine then steals the Four-Star Dragon Ball and a list of all tournament contestants.[3]

Dragon Ball[]

King Piccolo Saga[]

TambourineVsGokuDB01

Tambourine after beating down Goku

DisciplesVsTambourine

Tambourine is attacked by King Chappa's disciples

While on his way, Tambourine is confronted by Goku, who is determined to avenge Krillin's death. Tambourine gloats over Krillin's death, which only enrages Goku further. Goku and Tambourine engage each other in combat, but as Goku was still weak from his fight with Tien Shinhan, Tambourine easily outmatches him and destroys the Flying Nimbus. Tambourine proceeds to beat Goku senseless and drop him to the ground, leaving him for dead. Tambourine subsequently attacks and murders King Chappa, Pamput, Bacterian, Man-Wolf, Giran, and a few other fighters, facing no problems. In the anime, he subsequently confronts Yamcha, but before he can kill him, he is telepathically ordered by King Piccolo to track down the one responsible for the death of Cymbal, one of Tambourine's brothers.

Tambourine's death

Tambourine killed by Goku's Kamehameha

‎Tambourine confronts Yajirobe, but is distracted from attacking him when Goku shows himself. Tambourine is surprised Goku is still alive and starts off this rematch confident that he can quickly beat Goku again, but instead, Goku overpowers him. After failing to destroy Goku, Tambourine realizes he cannot win and desperately attempts to escape, but Goku finishes him off once and for all with a Kamehameha. Tambourine's death gives King Piccolo the location of where Goku is, which leads to King Piccolo taking his Dragon Ball and gaining eternal youth.

Dragon Ball Super[]

"Future" Trunks Saga[]

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Tambourine in Dragon Ball Super

An illusion of Tambourine appears in the Forest of Terror, where Master Roshi sent Goku and Krillin to train. Krillin, remembering his first death at Tambourine's hands, notably showed more fear of this illusion than any other, even when they were surrounded by such foes as Frieza, Cell and Super Buu.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes[]

Demon Invader Saga[]

In one particular Space-Time, Tambourine is absorbed by Majin Ozotto.[4]

Other Dragon Ball Stories[]

Dragon Ball Online[]

In Dragon Ball Online, it is revealed that unlike Tambourine some of King Piccolo's children such as Bolon and Bongo survived the King Piccolo Wars and continued to live secretly on Earth, breeding in the wild. Tambourine's younger brother Piccolo became aware of the surviving Demon Clansmen but knew he could do nothing on his own. However, after New Namek was destroyed by the new King of Demon Realm Mira using a Spirit Bomb formed from the energy of his Dark Makai Army, Grand Elder Moori having relocated to Earth along with his surviving brethren, suggested that they assist Piccolo in gathering them up.

Evil mutant namek dbo 5

The Tambourine-like Demon General Subordinate in Dragon Ball Online

After capturing them, some Dragon Clansmen studied them and discovered how to replicate King Piccolo's Pokopen technique allowing them to create their own and control them, giving birth to the Poko Priest class. Among the spawns that Poko Priests could create includes Tambourine-like spawns. In Age 1000, one of these Tambourine-like spawns is the Demon General Subordinate who serves the Demon General Gamelan.

Power[]

Manga and Anime

At the time of his death, Tambourine was the most powerful son of King Piccolo. He is shown to effortlessly defeat several martial artists, including Krillin, Goku (albeit tired and hungry), Nam, Giran, and in the anime: King Chappa and Bacterian as well. King Piccolo also references him as being several times more powerful than his younger brother Cymbal. However, Tambourine is far inferior to a prepared and enraged Goku at full power.

Statements according to authors and guidebooks

The Tree of Might movie pamphlets state that his power level is 340.

Techniques and Special Abilities[]

  • Flight – Tambourine has the ability to fly using his wings.
TambBlast

Tambourine's Ki blast

  • Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
Kid goku bound up02

Lick Twister

Manga Appearances[]

Chapter Appearances
v  e
Tien Shinhan Saga
113. Return to the Tournament Absent
114. The Qualifying Rounds Absent
115. King Chappa Absent
116. The Doctored Lottery Absent
117. Yamcha's Kamehameha! Absent
118. The Cruelty of Tenshinhan Absent
119. The Full Moon Grudge Absent
120. Look Out! The Dodon Blast! Absent
121. Kuririn's Master Plan Absent
122. Goku vs. Panpoot Absent
123. Tenshinhan vs. Jackie Chun Absent
124. Young Tenshinhan Absent
125. Goku vs. Kuririn Absent
126. Goku vs. Kuririn, Part 2 Absent
127. Goku vs. Kuririn, Part 3 Absent
128. Goku vs. Tenshinhan Absent
129. The Volleyball Play Absent
130. The Fist of the Sun Absent
131. Tsuru-Sen'nin Absent
132. The Arms Race Absent
133. Desperation Move Absent
134. Up in the Air Mentioned
v  e
King Piccolo Saga
135. The Death of Kuririn Debut
136. Target: Tenka'ichi Budokai Appears
137. We Need You, Goku! Appears
138. The Weirdo with the Ball Mentioned
139. Yajirobe's Prey Mentioned
140. The Martial Artist Hunters Appears
141. Goku vs. Tambourine Death
142. Piccolo Descends! Mentioned
143. Goku vs. The Demon King Absent
144. Goku... Loses? Absent
145. The Muten-Rōshi's Decision Absent
146. The Mafū-Ba Absent
147. The Demon King of Old... Restored! Absent
148. Go Ask Karin! Absent
149. World Domination Absent
150. Karin's Quandary Absent
151. The Superest Super Water!!! Absent
152. Piccolo's World Absent
153. Tenshinhan's Resolve Absent
154. Tenshinhan vs. Drum Absent
155. Guess Who's Back? Absent
156. Fury Absent
157. The Immortal Battle Absent
158. Goku's Greatest Crisis! Absent
159. The Blasted Earth Absent
160. Goku's Final Gamble Absent
161. The Fist of Son Goku Absent

Video Game Appearances[]

TambourineBT3

Tambourine in Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Voice Actors[]

Battles[]

Dragon Ball
  • Tambourine vs. Krillin (anime only, off-screen in the manga)
  • Tambourine vs. Goku
  • Tambourine vs. King Chappa (anime only)
  • Tambourine vs. Pamput (anime only)
  • Tambourine vs. Bacterian (anime only)
  • Tambourine vs. Man-Wolf (off-screen; anime only)
  • Tambourine vs. Giran
  • Tambourine vs. Yamcha and Launch (anime only)
  • Tambourine vs. Goku
Dragon Ball Super
  • Tambourine (illusion), King Piccolo (illusion), Vegeta (illusion), Nappa (illusion), Ginyu (illusion), Burter (illusion), Jeice (illusion), Recoome (illusion), Guldo (illusion), Frieza (Final Form) (illusion), Cell (Perfect Form) (illusion), Super Buu (illusion), Dabura (illusion), Raditz (illusion), Bulma (illusion), and Super Shenron (illusion) vs. Goku (Base/Super Saiyan/Super Saiyan 3/Super Saiyan Blue) and Krillin (anime only)

List of characters killed by Tambourine[]

Dragon Ball
  • Krillin - Killed when he kicked him in the forehead causing his neck to break.
  • King Chappa - Punched into a pillar after using his One Hundered Arms technique on him causing his neck to break.
  • King Chappa's students - Killed after they try to avenge their teacher's death.
  • Pamput - Killed by his Wah-Tah Kick causing him to slam into a turnbuckle and break his neck.
  • Nam - Killed during his mission to eliminate the tournament fighters.
  • Bacterian - Killed by his Shocker Flatline technique.
  • Man-Wolf - Stabbed in the back with a spear.
  • Giran - Impaled by his Sidearm Flamer technique.
  • Father Bear - Chest sliced open with his claws.

Trivia[]

  • Like his siblings, Tambourine is named after a musical instrument, the "Tambourine" in this case.
  • Out of all the henchmen seen in the Dragon Ball series, Tambourine has one of the highest onscreen body counts, killing 50 or more people.
  • In the Japanese version of Dragon Ball, the young bear Giran was attempting to kill in the Animal Village thought that Tambourine was actually "Kami" (meaning "god" in Japanese).
  • Another offspring who closely resembles Tambourine with different colored clothes and lighter skin was seen earlier in Master Roshi's flashback, depicting him terrorizing various Earthlings.[5]
  • In the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball, Dameon Clarke's depiction of Tambourine is nearly identical to the voice used for Imperfect Cell.
  • There is a what-if where Tambourine survives Goku's Kamehameha in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. This is unlocked by pressing the transformation button once in story mode when Goku fights King Piccolo but not the second time. If this happens, Tambourine appears, but Goku is too tired to beat him. Chi-Chi then appears and finishes Tambourine off.
    • In the same game, if the player arranges for a match between Tambourine and Krillin, they will have a special dialogue where Tambourine expresses confusion about Krillin still being alive and then decides just to kill him again, with Krillin stating that he will not let him this time around.
  • Tambourine is the final villain to be killed by Goku's Kamehameha in Dragon Ball.
    • Tambourine is also the first villain to have killed Krillin to have been killed by Goku with a Kamehameha, the second being Frieza whom Goku killed with the Dash Kamehameha.
  • In Dragon Ball Super, it is shown that Krillin has a post-traumatic fear of Tambourine years after his death at the hands of the mutant Namekian and even after having been killed by the likes of Frieza and Super Buu. Tambourine was shown to cause Krillin more fear than even Frieza or Super Buu.[6][7]

Gallery[]

References[]

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