King Piccolo

"A musical instrument. Didn't see that one coming, Piccolo."

- Piano to King Piccolo after Cymbal's birth

King Piccolo, originally known as the Demon King is the penultimate villain of the original Dragon Ball series. He was born when Kami separated himself from his evil side in order to become God of Earth. King Piccolo is notable to be the most evil villain at this point in the series, whose story arc toned down the comedic aspect of the series, and the first villain responsible for the death of many major protagonists.

Pre-Dragon Ball
Kami and King Piccolo were once the same being - the Nameless Namek, but when he wanted to become Guardian of Earth, he had too much evil in his heart, so he expelled that evil, dividing him into two, the good half, Kami, and the bad half, King Piccolo.

Dragon Ball
When introduced, he is very aged, which effects his powers. Because of this, he is searching for the Dragonballs to get the dragon to grant him youth. However, the fact that Goku is collecting the Dragonballs gets in his way. After Goku defeats Piccolo's latest creation, Cymbal, Piccolo decides to fight him personally, and wins. He then manages to steal all the Dragonballs, and wishes himself eternal youth. Before Shenron leaves, King Piccolo blasts him, destroying the eternal dragon and preventing anybody else from making a wish on the Dragonballs. Goku fights him again, and is able to win, by jumping off the ground, and ripping through King Piccolo's chest.



Before he dies, King Piccolo shoots out an egg, carrying his final spawn, Piccolo Jr. When Goku meets the guardian of Earth, Kami, he learns that Piccolo is the evil part of him that Kami had to expel in order to get the guardian of earth position.

Dragon Ball Z
King Piccolo is sent to Hell after his defeat but is eventually revived by his son in Supersonic Warriors and fuses with him.

Children/Spawn
Piccolo creates several minions, all named after musical instruments-

Piano, Drum, Cymbal, Tambourine, and his final creation, the reincarnation of himself, Piccolo Jr.. However Piccolo Jr. is much more powerful than his father, possessing all of the powers of his father and more. Piccolo Jr. starts out as evil as his father, he then becomes a hero when he becomes best friends with Gohan, Goku's son. Soon, Piccolo Jr. becomes a bit of father figure to Gohan and a true hero, sacrificing himself to save Gohan.

Powers and Abilities
At the time he appeared, Piccolo was the most powerful villain Goku had faced, easily defeating the boy. Piccolo displays abilities common to most Dragon Ball characters, including super strength, super speed (so fast that he appears invisible to normal humans), energy blasts, and super durability (being completely unaffected by Goku's Kamehameha, which was stronger than Roshi's, which destroyed the moon). However, he also has abilities unique to his Namekian physiology, such as regeneration and the ability to stretch his arms several yards.

King Piccolo's energy blasts are at least strong enough to destroy moons, as the much weaker Master Roshi was able to destroy Earth's moon. Piccolo can also seemingly materialize objects from thin air.

King Piccolo had a power level of 260 when in his youthful state.

Old
King Piccolo takes this form as a result of aging and appears like this until he wishes on the Dragon Balls for eternal youth, in this form Piccolo is weaker than his older form but still stronger than everyone on the planet (other than Popo and Kami).

Great Namek
King Piccolo has the ability to grow to a giant size in order to increase his physical strength, endurance, and durability. King Piccolo uses this form towards the end of his fight with Goku.

Super Namek
King Piccolo and Kami's original form: The Nameless Namek was a Super Namekian. Super Nameks have much greater power than ordinary ones, with Nail stating that the Nameless Namek was at least stronger than Frieza's 1st form.

Dragonball: Evolution The Movie


In the live action movie, King Piccolo, known as just Piccolo, he is an evil alien who wants revenge on the Earth, and to prevent Goku and company from stopping the arrival of his faithful and powerful servant Oozaru by keeping them away from the dragon balls. In the movie, he kills Grandpa Gohan by collapsing the building. Little similarities can be seen between the anime/manga and the movie.