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“ | Ever hear the old saying beauty is only skin deep? Well, right now, all you can see is the beauty. | „ |
~ Zarbon |
“ | As I said, you only saw the beauty side of me before. Now with great pleasure, I introduce you to the BEAST! | „ |
~ Zarbon to Vegeta after transforming. |
“ | I'm going to have so much fun making you talk. | „ |
~ Zarbon to an unconscious Vegeta. |
Zarbon is a high ranking PTO commander and Frieza's right-hand man. He is an antagonist in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai series specifically being a major antagonist in the Namek Saga and the 1990 TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock The Father of Goku, an overarching antagonist of the Frieza Saga, the 2015 film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F, it's Dragon Ball Super adaptation and the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga as well as a minor antagonist in the 2018 film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. In contrast to Dodoria, he is quite handsome, with blue skin, long green hair, and customized armor. He can transform into a stronger, yet extremely hideous form.
In Japanese, Zarbon was voiced by Show Hayami (who has also voiced Odin in Record of Ragnarok) in Dragon Ball Z and Hiroaki Miura Dragon Ball Z Kai. In English, Zarbon was voiced by Paul Dobson and Christopher R. Sabat in Dragon Ball Z (particularly the Ocean Group and Funimation dubs respectfully), Doug Rand in Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, and J. Michael Tatum in Dragon Ball Z Kai's dub.
Personality[]
Zarbon despises transforming into his beast form because he values his own physical appearance above everything else. He despises ugliness and values beauty. He does, however, remain proud of the power his monstrous form provides him while still wanting to remain in his normal state as much as possible, and only uses his second form when absolutely necessary. When he does use his second form, he is very proud of its power and becomes overconfident. He tends to become much more brutal when using his monstrous form as he is normally more affable and even-tempered.
He is very cunning, vain, resourceful and intelligent, serving as Frieza's intellectual advisor. Like many of Frieza's soldiers, Zarbon tends to look down on Saiyans, though this is mostly only shown toward Vegeta, whom Zarbon inexplicably hates. Zarbon always enjoyed mocking Vegeta and referring to him as a "monkey". It should also be noted that Zarbon is very terrified of Frieza like many of Frieza's henchmen. Despite Zarbon being Frieza's most powerful henchman apart from super elite warriors such as the Ginyu Force and the brother duo of Abo and Kado, as well as being his personal advisor and one of his two attendants/commanding officers who are the highest in the chain of military command in his army, Zarbon is still shown to get little respect from Frieza, who has no problem threatening to kill him. Zarbon is very understandably afraid of Frieza since he is known to execute henchmen for reasons ranging from failing a mission to cowardice.
Out of Frieza's elites, Zarbon is arguably the most humane, being very professional with his kills and not nearly as sadistic as Dodoria or Cui. He only seems to kill when it's his order to do so, and he isn't as openly mean as other soldiers, only directly antagonizing and looking down on Vegeta. This does not mean that he has any sympathy for any of his or Frieza's victims though, nor is he shown to actually feel explicit remorse for any of his horrific crimes he is complicit in, and despite treating his soldiers well in comparison, he still is willing to kill them if they fail him.
He is shown to be very polite however, unless dealing with Vegeta. Zarbon is very soft spoken in his normal state, and this polite tone is to such extents that in the "Raging Blast" series, he still refers to Frieza as "lord" even when he's rebelling against him. Zarbon does seem to have some standards, as he asked Frieza if killing the entire Saiyan race was really warranted instead of just eliminating the more powerful ones.
The Xenoverse games portray Zarbon as being very proud of his intelligence and looking down on Dodoria for both his ugliness and his simpleminded brute nature. They also show him as being quite capable of recognizing talent and being complementary toward those with skill such as the future warrior. On the other hand, if the player does poorly during their missions, he worries more about how their failure will "ruin his reputation" than the player's safety.
Biography[]
Past[]
Zarbon was a member of Frieza's elite warriors. Due to his intelligence and power, he became Frieza's intellectual advisor and the one in charge of reconnaissance, effectively serving as Frieza's eyes and ears around the universe. His power made him Frieza's strongest soldier outside of the Ginyu Force and the brother duo of Abo and Kado. He and Dodoria witnessed Frieza destroying Planet Vegeta with delight.
Searching for the Dragon Balls[]
Zarbon and Dodoria accompanied Frieza to Planet Namek to find the seven Dragon Balls. Zarbon's scouter was broken from Vegeta's power level as he battled Cui. At the fifth Namekian village they attacked, Zarbon killed two of the three oldest Nameks there, as well as one of Frieza's henchmen; when one of the stronger Nameks knocked the soldier toward Zarbon, he kicked him into the lake.
After Dodoria was separated from them by Krillin and Son Gohan, and killed by Vegeta, Frieza returned to his spaceship. Zarbon set out in search of Namek villages and Dragon Balls, with a few henchmen like Appule also searching for villages.
Confronting Vegeta[]
Zarbon soon encountered Vegeta, and fought him. Zarbon was initially at a disadvantage, but transformed into his monstrous form and defeated Vegeta, knocking him into the water. Resuming his original form, Zarbon returned to Frieza, who was furious that Zarbon did not make sure Vegeta was dead. Upon finding out from another of his henchmen that Vegeta attacked a Namek village and hid a Dragon Ball, Frieza sent Zarbon to bring Vegeta to him and make him say where the Dragon Ball was.
Zarbon brought Vegeta back and put him in the rejuvenation tank. However, while Zarbon was out of the room, Vegeta finished his recovery, broke free and killed Appule before stealing Frieza's five Dragon Balls. Enraged, Frieza gave Zarbon one hour to find Vegeta and the Dragon Balls or he will kill him.
Rematch with Vegeta[]
Zarbon soon found Vegeta, and Krillin with Guru's Dragon Ball, and followed them to Bulma's cave where he fought Vegeta again. Though he transformed again, Zarbon was at a disadvantage to Vegeta this time despite landing a few good hits. When Zarbon demanded to know why this was, the Saiyan prince revealed a Saiyan's ability to dramatically increase their power after they are badly hurt. He reveals a combination of the beating he received from Zarbon earlier and the battle on Earth, this has increased his power. Greatly shocked, Zarbon couldn't believe this but gloated even if true that Vegeta would still lose before resuming the battle. After a several minute long fight, Vegeta brutally slammed his fist clean through Zarbon's stomach. Zarbon begged Vegeta to spare his life saying he was only following orders and deceitfully offered an alliance to usurp Frieza, but Vegeta saw through this and ruthlessly killed him with an energy wave through the chest, sending him flying into the Namekian sea to a watery grave.
Powers and Abilities[]
“ | It's time I showed you my true power, so watch closely. This isn't something I like to do very often. You ever hear the saying beauty is only skin deep? Well, right now, you're only seeing the beauty. | „ |
~ Zarbon to Vegeta before the former transforms. |
Like nearly every villain in the Dragon Ball Series, Zarbon can fly, generate multiple Ki attacks and possesses superhuman abilities such as speed and strength. He also has an alternate form, were he has an ugly, reptilian form. In this form, Zarbon's Power Level increases which also increases his speed and strength.
His base form has a power of twenty-three thousand, but when he transforms into Monster form it becomes thirty thousand.
Notable Techniques[]
Elegant Blaster[]
Zarbon's signature (and possibly his most powerful) attack. To use it, Zarbon puts his hand forward with the other supporting it in a manner similar to the Explosive Demon Wave. Then, he charges an orange Energy Sphere and fires it in the form of a giant Energy Wave at the opponent, inflicting a high amount of damage.
Possibility Cannon[]
The Possibility Cannon is a very versatile technique that can be fired from both one hand or two. It can be used as a regular Full Power Energy Wave or a giant Energy Sphere. It is purple and does high damage regardless of form.
Shooting Piledriver[]
Zarbon lifts one hand up and charges and orange Energy Sphere that transforms into a barrage of blasts when he swipes it down.
Super Beautiful Arrow[]
A Full Power Energy Wave Barrage made of Possibility Cannons.
Elegant Combination[]
A vicious and painful combination of punches and kicks that ends with a kick to the ground.
Monster Break[]
Super Zarbon knees the opponent in their stomach. Then, he slaps the opponent in the face and kicks them up into the air. Finally, while saying "behold my power!", Zarbon grabs the opponent by their leg and swings them onto the ground, inflicting a high amount of damage.
Monster Throw[]
Super Zarbon grabs the opponent by their head and throws them up into the air. Then, he jumps up and slaps the opponent downwards before grabbing them in a bear hug, then a piledriver and releasing them as they are sent crashing down into the ground, inflicting a high amount of damage.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Frieza
- Dodoria
- Cui
- King Cold
- Appule
- Banan and Sūi
- Ginyu Forces
Enemies[]
- Vegeta
- Krillin
- Gohan
- Elder Moori
- King Vegeta
- Bardock
- Dende
- Bulma
Trivia[]
- In an issue of Beckett Anime, a Beckett magazine publication, Zarbon was voted as one of the top five greatest henchmen of all anime, and was the only character from Dragon Ball Z on the list.
- Zarbon is confirmed to be a prince among Frieza's men due to two separate indications. The first comes from the Freeza saga, when it is mentioned that when Frieza wiped out an entire species or planet, he kept the strongest warrior from each planet alive. The other instance is noted in the battle mode in the video game Tenkaichi Tag Team, where Zarbon and Vegeta are both entitled as "Prince of Another Planet" on a stage select title.
- His voice in the games greatly differs from his voice in the English dubs of the anime. The original FUNimation dub, first seen in Frieza's flashback to King Vegeta's rebellion against him, has Zarbon's voice sound similar to the Ocean dub. In later versions of the FUNimation dub, his voice was changed so it resembled King Cold's or Caroni's (similar to how later versions made Vegeta's voice deeper than it did in the original FUNimation).
- In the Ocean dub, when Zarbon's scouter breaks, Dodoria says "Zarbon, what was that?". But, in the flashback Dodoria has while he encounters Vegeta, he says "What was that, Zarbon?".
- Zarbon is the first villain in the entire series who is shown to be able to transform at will. Vegeta needed to use a Power Ball to transform and was an antagonist, but never remained a villain.
- In the manga, Zarbon informs Vegeta about Frieza's ability to transform. This was removed from the anime, but Vegeta still tells Frieza that it was Zarbon who told him about his ability to transform. This presumably happened off-screen, possibly at a point during their battle on Namek.
- Due to the fact that Vegeta still survived and escaped with his last breath from his battle against Goku, Krillin, and Gohan, Zarbon is the first character to actually defeat Vegeta in a battle. Krillin had attempted to kill Vegeta, but Goku told Krillin not to, thus ending the battle in a draw. However, after Zarbon had transformed, he easily dominated Vegeta, toying with him and coming out completely victorious. As Vegeta's battered and unconscious body was later recovered by Zarbon, this proves that Zarbon was the first character to defeat Vegeta in a battle.
- When Zarbon arrived for his second confrontation with Vegeta, Bulma fell in love with him at first sight (though he did not seem to notice) and thought he was a handsome hero that was there to rescue her until he transformed. Ironically, she later marries Vegeta, who killed Zarbon.
- A mistake regarding Zarbon's armor was made during the scene where Vegeta kills him. At the beginning of this scene, Zarbon's armor is already battle-damaged and his cape is gone. While they are fighting, however, his armor and cape are completely intact, as the animators used a clip from a previous Vegeta vs. Zarbon scene. This is fixed in DBZ Kai.
- Zarbon and Dodoria are the first and final villains to appear on screen in the history of all Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. When looking at the timeline chronologically, the first movie to take place is the Bardock - The father of Goku TV Special, where Zarbon and Dodoria appear first (not counting Vegeta, who switches sides). In the final episode of Dragon Ball GT (episode 64), Zarbon and Dodoria are the final villains to appear on screen when Goku remembers all the villains who escaped from Hell.
- According to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Chi Chi has mixed feelings about Zarbon's appearance. If you listen to her commentary about Zarbon in his base form, she will say "It's a face that superficial Bulma would like" (which was true since Bulma did find Zarbon highly attractive), but if you listen to her commentary on Monster Zarbon, she will say "Eek! For that good-looking face to become so dreadful!".
- The Potara earrings greatly resemble Zarbon's earrings and the charm on his headpiece.
- Zarbon has a close resemblance to Orgodemir, a blue-skinned villain worried about beauty and also has a hideous, more powerful form. Both villains were drawn by Akira Toriyama.
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Saiyan Army Galactic Frieza Army Garlic Jr.'s Clan Red Ribbon Androids Babidi's Majins Majin Buu's Forms Other Video Game Exclusive |
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Machine Mutants Army of Hell Shadow Dragons Pilaf Gang Other |