Changes: Tapion

Revision as of 21:39, 5 January 2020

"For too long, you've fed on the misery of others. You stole from me everything precious and dear. But no more. It ends now."
— Tapion towards Hirudegarn in Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon

Tapion (タピオン, Tapion) is described as a "legendary hero" from a planet named Konats.

Appearance

Tapion(Daiz6) — Tapion concept art, drawn by Akira Toriyama (*Daizenshuu 6*)

Tapion is roughly six feet tall, has light skin, a mohawk (similar style to that of Shin) of bright red hair, and something that looks like a golden head band that covers the bald surface of his head. He wields a magical sword and ocarina, which he says are gifts from God.

Personality

Tapion is kind-hearted in personality, wanting to protect his people from any danger that may set foot. While on Earth after being freed, he purposely makes himself isolated from the outside world, solely wanting to focus on destroying Hirudegarn. However, when becoming friends with Trunks, his more happy and upbeat personality returns.

Biography

Background

Main article: Hirudegarn war

Thousands of years ago, Tapion and his younger brother Minotia were ordinary Konatsians, living on the peaceful planet of Konats. However, one day, a group of black magicians known as the Kashvar performed an ancient ritual that revived a statue, the ruthless and enormous monster Hirudegarn. With no sense of reason, Hirudegarn would eventually use his incredible power to destroy the planet Konats.

During the battle between Hirudegarn and the Konatsians, Tapion and Minotia used their Hero's Flutes to hold Hirudegarn at bay. Given this opportunity, a wizard brandished an enchanted sword and used it to slice Hirudegarn in half. Tapion, Minotia and the wizard were then known as Great Heroes among the Konatsians.

To ensure Hirudegarn's eternal imprisonment, Tapion and Minotia agreed to have their bodies guard each spirit of Hirudegarn (his top half went to Tapion and his bottom half to Minotia). They were then enclosed in mystical music boxes, and dispatched to the distant parts of the universe. Minotia was sent to an unknown planet, while Tapion was sent to Earth.

Dragon Ball Z

Wrath of the Dragon

Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon

"I know death seems cruel, but I welcome this blade."
— Tapion to Trunks in Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon

Unfortunately, a Kashvar named Hoi would go off in search for Tapion's and Minotia's music boxes in order to free them and unleash Hirudegarn once again. Hoi plots to use Hirudegarn's destructive powers to take over the universe. With the help of the Dragon Team (Goku, Gohan, Videl, Krillin, Goten, Vegeta, and Trunks) and Shenron, Hoi manages to free Tapion from the music box (Hoi has not revealed his true intentions to the Z Warriors). But Tapion, furious, storms off, determined to stay alone in order to ensure the imprisonment of Hirudegarn's top half. He is visited regularly by Trunks, who has taken a liking to him and brings him food, but Tapion refuses to eat and always shuns Trunks away.

TapionandTrunksvsHirudegarn — Tapion and Trunks face Hirudegarn before Goku becomes a Super Saiyan 3.

However, after seeing the bottom half of Hirudegarn invade the city, Tapion comes to aid Gohan and Videl by playing the magical tune on his enchanted ocarina, which weakens and absorbs Hirudegarn's bottom half into his own body. Leaving the battlefield, Tapion comes to believe that Hoi has already killed Minotia.

Later on, while Trunks is visiting Tapion, Hoi attempts to steal the ocarina from Tapion and tell Trunks that Tapion is the true monster, but Trunks does not believe him, and instead gives the flute back to Tapion. Tapion then befriends Trunks, and asks him to dine with him.

WrathOfTheDragon — Tapion with Goku and Gohan

Tapion and Trunks then form a friendship, and Tapion is invited to stay at Capsule Corporation, by Trunks. Tapion explains the whole story to Bulma, and she announces that she will try to re-create the broken music box so that Tapion can finally rest, much to Tapion's delight. Tapion tries sleeping inside the new music box/chamber, but it is still no use, and Hirudegarn manages to get free from Tapion's body. Now whole, Hirudegarn has finally returned and Tapion's nightmare has come true. Hirudegarn goes on a rampage throughout the city, battling the warriors Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Vegeta, but it is no use. Even Gotenks (the fusion of Goten and Trunks) is not enough to stop Hirudegarn (Gotenks manages to destroy Hirudegarn's first form, but he evolves into a more powerful, insect-like behemoth). Later on, Tapion manages to use his flute to absorb Hirudegarn's spirit once again, but Hirudegarn would soon be free. Tapion begs Trunks to slay him with the sword (Tapion and Minotia were Konatsian Knights who always carried swords), but Trunks cannot find it in his heart to kill his "big brother", and Hirudegarn is free once again. To Tapion's horror, the flute shatters.

TapionTimeMachine — Tapion in Bulma's Time Machine

After killing Hoi, Hirudegarn roars at Tapion and Trunks, but Goku isn't done just yet: he is now a Super Saiyan 3, and is ready to finish Hirudegarn off once and for all. Eventually, Hirudegarn is distracted while attacking Goku, and he is destroyed for good when Goku sees his chance to pierce through Hirudegarn's chest with the Dragon Fist, obliterating the monster forever.

To go back home, Tapion uses a Time Machine (similar to the one used by Future Trunks) to travel back to Konats. As a gift, Tapion gives his sword to Trunks, says goodbye to his newfound brother (as during the battle with Hirudegarn, Tapion found out from Hoi that Minotia, his brother before coming to Earth, was killed by the beast's lower half) and goes 1000 years back in time to Planet Konats: his home.

Techniques and Special Abilities

Flight – The ability to fly with the use of ki.
Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
Brave Cannon – Tapion throws a large, powerful ball of ki. It is one of his Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
Brave Slash – Tapion slashes the opponent with sharp ki attacks created by his sword. It is one of his Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. It appears as one of Tapion's Super Skill under the name Brave Sword Slash in Xenoverse 2.
Brave Sword Attack – Tapion slashes the opponent, then he slices them in half. Tapion's Ultimate Blast in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. This technique was originally used by his master, the Konatsian Wizard, to cut Hirudegarn in half. Also appears in Xenoverse 2 as one of Tapion's Ultimate Skills.

Tapion Released — The Hero's Flute produces a magic barrier around Tapion

Hero's Flute – Tapion plays a song on his ocarina that creates a barrier of mystical energy around him. It is one of his Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. In Xenoverse 2 it appears as on of Tapion's Super Skills.
- Sealing Spell - In Xenoverse 2, Tapion is able to use his Ocarina to cast a sealing spell much like the one used by his mentor to seal Hirudegarn's upper half into Tapion, though Tapion uses it to seal the immortal Future Zamasu in his body.
Afterimage Technique – One of Tapion's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. Tapion is able to instantly move at rapid speed, making him able to dodge incoming attacks. Also used by Tapion as one of his Super Skills in Xenoverse 2.
Super Back Jump - Tapion's Evasive Skill in Xenoverse 2.
Full Power Charge - A ki charging technique used by Tapion as a Super Skill in Xenoverse 2.
Full Power Energy Blast Volley - A powerful energy barrage used by Tapion as on of his Ultimate Skills in Xenoverse 2.

Equipment

Brave Sword - An enchanted sword owned by Tapion, previously used to defeat Hirudegarn. Later given to Trunks.
Ocarina - A mystical potato-shaped flute used by Tapion to previously defeat Hirudegarn. Later shatters upon Hirudegarn's escape from Tapion's body.

Transformations

Hirudegarn

Main article: Hirudegarn

Tapion Hirudegarn2 — Tapion transformed into Hirudegarn's final form

Tapion is the vessel of Hirudegarn's upper half, and later temporarily the vessel of Hirudegarn in its second form, when Tapion cannot control him inside his body, the beast will be released. In Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, Tapion is able to use this to transform into Hirudegarn.

In Heroes, this state was introduced in the eighth mission of the God Mission series (GDM8).

Fusions

Tanks

Main article: Tanks

Taks is the EX-Fusion of Tapion and Future Trunks from Dragon Ball Fusions.

Video Game Appearances

Voice Actors

Japanese: Hiro Yūki
Funimation dub: Jason Liebrecht
Brazilian Portuguese dub: Wellington Lima
Polish dub: Piotr Kozłowski
Greek dub: Tzimis Apergis
French dub: Olivier Destrez
German dub: Matthias Hinze

Battles

Films

Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Upper Half)
Gohan, Videl, and Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Lower Half)
Goku (Super Saiyan 2), Gohan (Potential Unleashed), Goten (Super Saiyan), Trunks (Super Saiyan), Vegeta (Super Saiyan 2), Gotenks (Super Saiyan 3), and Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Pre-Transformation/Post-Transformation)

Trivia

Just like Tapkar, Tapion's name is based on "tapioca", a starch extracted from manioc. His name during the development of the movie was Tapioka (タピオカ).^[1]
Tapion makes a cameo appearance as a statue in an episode of Blue Dragon, an anime adaptation of the role-playing video game of the same name, to which Akira Toriyama contributed.

DBOscreen1 — Trunks: Xeno's wielding Tapion's Sword instead of Future Trunks' Sword in *Xenoverse*

It is mentioned in several Dragon Ball Z video games that Tapion (or possibly a future timeline counterpart) appeared in Future Trunks' timeline. Tapion and Future Trunks have special dialogue in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3, where Future Trunks says "Long time no see" and Tapion responds "Alright, let's see how strong you've become", which suggests that Tapion appeared in Future Trunks' timeline at one point. It is stated in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast that Tapion gave his sword to Future Trunks. One of the hint/trivia screens in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z states that Tapion appeared in Future Trunks' timeline and sealed away Hirudegarn, and then gave his sword to Future Trunks. In the Xenoverse series, the sword wielded by Trunks: Xeno is identical to Tapion's Sword indicating the possibility at some point in his past Trunks: Xeno acquired the Brave Sword (possibly from Tapion before or after becoming a Time Patroller).
- However in Xenoverse 2, Tapion's Brave Sword (which is designed like it appears in the film) is identical to the swords wielded by GT Trunks (which makes sense as its implied to be the Brave Sword that Trunks receive as a child in the film) and Future Trunks (DBZ era), while Trunks: Xeno wields Tapion's Sword from Xenoverse. Its possible that Tapion's Sword is simply another sword once wielded by Tapion and is unrelated to the Brave Sword. Presumably the sword wielded by DBZ Future Trunks simply resembles it (it should be noted that for the film Tapion's Brave Sword was itself an allusion to Future Trunks' sword thus explaining their similarities in the Xenoverse series along with the simple idea that the developers simply used Future & GT Trunks' existing sword model for Tapion's Brave Sword).
- Additionally, Tapion has special dialogue with Kid Trunks and Future Trunks (DBZ & Xeno eras). If he faces Kid Trunks, he will say "Show me your power, Trunks." while Kid Trunks will eagerly state "Let's go, Tapion!". If he face's Future Trunks (DBZ or Xeno), he will say "Your a hero Trunks, through and through." while Future Trunks says "Y-your..." indicating he recognizes Tapion. Interestingly, he has no special dialogue with either GT Trunks or Future Trunks (Super).
Tapion use of Bulma's Time Machine at the end of Wrath of the Dragon is technically a violation of the natural laws of the universe (it should be noted that the film was written long before the concept of Time Travel being dangerous was introduced). Interestingly, it is never explained in Xenoverse or other video games where the Time Patrol appear how Chronoa and/or the Time Patrol dealt with Tapion's use of the Time Machine (it is also unknown if the one Tapion used had the same design flaw that produced alternate timelines as the one used by Future Trunks and Cell). One possibility is that the Time Patrol may have become aware of its use and the events leading up to it and may have fixed the timeline so those the Time Machine's usage would not occur or Tapion's use of Time Travel did not negatively affect which ever timeline the events of Wrath of the Dragon takes place. Given that Bulma (who was ignorant of the danger possessed by time travel technology) was at fault for giving Tapion the time machine, it is unlikely that Chronoa would have erased the timeline, as it is more likely she would have just had the timeline corrected or allowed it to remain as she had with the timelines created by Future Trunks and Cell's use of the Time Machine.
- It is implied in the Dragon Ball Super anime that the events of Wrath of the Dragon either never occurred or at very least Bulma giving Tapion a Time Machine never occurred as Bulma herself stated she had tried to reverse engineer Cell's Time Machine, but failed and left its Capsule on a self, thus it is very unlikely that she would have been able to create a working Time Machine at all as she was only able to fix Cell's after acquiring her counterpart's research notes and realizing its fuel source was something she recently discovered in a previous episode during the Copy-Vegeta Saga. Thus, Wrath of the Dragon either takes place in the GT or another alternate version of the main Timeline.
In Xenoverse 2, Tapion's sword attack sound effect sounds identical to the sword attack effect used by Future Trunks in Budokai 3 and Infinite World.
In Xenoverse 2, Tapion implies that he can keep Future Zamasu sealed for eternity despite the fact that Tapion is essentially mortal thus will eventually die unless he is sealed again like he was after the Hirudegarn War as Tapion nor his brother aged while they were sealed inside the music boxes. However, given that Future Zamasu is sealed within him he may have acquired Future Zamasu's immortality.

Gallery

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Name during development, Daizenshuu 6, 1995

[Name-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Name during development, Daizenshuu 6, 1995

[1]

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 *Tapion vs. [[Hirudegarn]] (Upper Half)
 *[[Gohan]], [[Videl]], and Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Lower Half)
-*[[Goku]] ([[Super Saiyan 2]]), [[Gohan]] ([[Potential Unleashed]]), [[Goten]] ([[Super Saiyan]]), [[Trunks]] ([[Super Saiyan]]), [[Vegeta]] (Super Saiyan 2), Gotenks ([[Super Saiyan 3]]), and Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Pre-Transformation/Post-Transformation)
+*[[Goku]] ([[Super Saiyan 2]]), [[Gohan]] ([[Potential Unleashed]]), [[Goten]] ([[Super Saiyan]]), [[Trunks]] ([[Super Saiyan]]), [[Vegeta]] (Super Saiyan 2), [[Gotenks]] ([[Super Saiyan 3]]), and Tapion vs. Hirudegarn (Pre-Transformation/Post-Transformation)
 ==Trivia==