Commander Red

"I am the Red Ribbon Army! What's good for me is good for everyone and I want to be taller! All my life, I've drawn the short straw; I've had to contend with being a mere pebble in a land of giants. It is the curse of my existence. You couldn't possibly understand what it's like; the nightmare of being a genius, yet trapped inside this ugly little body!"

- Commander Red trying to justify his petty goal to Assistant Black

Commander Red is the Scottish head of the Red Ribbon Army, and thus the main villain for most of the Red Ribbon Saga of Dragon Ball. He is one of Dragon Ball's five main antagonists (along with Pilaf, Tsurusen'in, Piccolo Daimao, and Ma Junior).

He was voiced by famous voice actor Josh Martin.

Past
Coming from a wealthy family, Red had a complex of inferiority because of him being a midget. He was always picked on when a kid, and the girls disliked him, and because of this he always hated hanging around people taller than him.

He then decided to find the Dragon Balls and wish to Shenlong to become taller. Using his vast resources, he built a military-styled crime organization called the Red Ribbon Army, complete with skilled soldiers, advanced armament and technology.

Searching for the Dragon Balls
Everyone believed he wanted the Dragon Balls to conquer the world, especially his right-hand man, Adjudant Black. He commanded his soldiers from his headquarters, while they were searching for the balls. However, things did not go as he planned, as Son Goku started to beat all of his officers to retrieve the Dragon Balls, since he was looking for the four-star ball. When things got out of control, he hired Tao Pai Pai to kill the boy, but even he was defeated. In order to retrieve the remaining balls, Goku attacked the Red Ribbon HQ in a frontal assault.

Death
Desperately, with the Red Ribbon falling completely, Red accidentally reveals to Black his true intentions, that he wanted to become taller and that world domination was just a matter of time. Black gets furious with Red and pleads that the army had done so much that it was not worth it. But Red refused to listen, and goes as far as to mock his assistant for being a mere lackey, so Black proceeded to shoot his former boss in the head, killing him and assuming control of the fallen organization.

Dragon Ball Online
In the video game Dragon Ball Online, which is often said to be more canon than GT due to Akira Toriyama's major involvement, Commander Red is revealed to be alive, having been resurrected as Android 9.

Trivia

 * In the first few episodes of the Red Ribbon Army Saga, Red's face was not shown, and his hand is seen petting his cat. This is obviously a reference to the James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
 * In the Great Saiyaman Saga of Dragon Ball Z, a director is seen looks exactly like Commander Red, only without an eyepatch. While it is obviously reused design for filler purposes, it is unknown if those two characters has an in universe connection.