Tao Pai Pai

Tao Pai Pai (also known in the English dub as Mercenary Tao) is an assassin from Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball
Tao Pai Pai was hired by the Red Ribbon Army to take out Goku and he demonstrated his abilities by killing General Blue, a former high ranking officer. He beat Goku with his Dodon Ray, thinking he was dead and killed his friend Bora, but he forgot one of the Dragon Balls. After three days Tao fights with Upa telling him where he was hiding the Dragon Ball. Goku continuously beats Tao up pummling to the ground as his shirt is torn off and he uses his Dodon Ray and Goku blocks the ray with his hands. Tao came back four days later to fight Goku again and lost when Goku kicked a grenade at him blowing him up killing him. Later, it was revealed his brother was Master Shen. In the Piccolo Jr. Saga he participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament, rebuilt as a cyborg and sought to gain vengeance on Tien Shinhan for deserting his brother. However Tao was defeated once again and taken away by Master Shen.

Dragon Ball Z
Tao Pai Pai makes two appearances in Dragon Ball Z, both during the Cell Games saga.

In his first appearance, he acted as the enforcer for a man who ran a shelter that could supposedly protect people from Cell. However Gohan showed up and disrupted the man's plans. When an old martial artist from the town took on a few henchmen, Tao was called out to fight him. After exchanging a few blows, Tao had the man at his mercy and was about to finish him off with his Super Dodonpa, when Gohan stepped in. Though at first relived that the boy was not Goku, whom he still feared from their last confrontation, he soon fled after finding out he was Goku's son.

In his second appearance, Tao was working for a businessman who wanted the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality, in order to save himself from Cell. However Goku showed up, also looking for the Dragon Balls. Though he wanted the two Dragon Balls Tao had, he was disappointed not to have anything to give in return, so the assassin made him a deal. If Goku could solve three complex puzzle rings by dawn the next day, he could have the balls. Tao then took Goku's jacket, with the Dragon Balls inside and he and his boss made a break for it, thinking Goku wouldn't be able to track them down. However Goku managed to solve the puzzle rings and found them with his Instant Transmission.

Abilities
Tao Pai Pai is an extremely skilled fighter and a master assassin, to the point where he can even kill someone with only his tongue, doing so by using his tongue to pierce their temple, striking a pressure point and killing them, a technique he used to kill General Blue. Tao can also manipulate energy in the form of the Dodonpa, the signature technique of his brother Master Shen's Crane School. It is unknown if he invented this technique or Shen did, though his version of the attack in the video game, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is called the Original Dodon Pa, hinting that he may have invented it. After becoming a cyborg, Tao's abilities were enhanced and he gained hidden weapons within his arms that he accessed by removing his hands. These weapons came in the form of a blade and a cannon that could fire the Super Dodonpa, a more powerful blast version of the Dodonpa. He could also use these openings as compartments to store items.

Trivia

 * Tao Pai Pai is the first villain that Goku faced to use an energy attack. He's also the first villain to defeat Goku in a battle.


 * "KILL YOU!" is written on the back of his outfit, though this is edited in some episodes.


 * Normally, Tao charges 10,000,000,000 zeni (the currency in the Dragon Ball universe) for one kill, but he gave Commander Red half off since it was his 20th Anniversary.


 * Tao bears a resemblance to Gabbachi, the main villain of Kajika, another manga created by Akira Toriyama.
 * Tao also appears in the video game Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo as a boss character.