| “ | 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. 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.
Voices
| Japanese | Sho Hayami (DBZ) Hiroaki Miura (DBZ Kai) |
| English | Paul Dobson (DBZ, Ocean Group) Christopher Sabat (DBZ, Funimation) J. Michael Tatum (DBZ Kai, Funimation) Doug Rand (AB Groupe) |
Personality
Zarbon despises transforming into his beast form because he values his own physical appearance above everything else. He is very cunning, vain, resourceful, intelligent. It should also be noted that Zarbon is very terrified of Frieza like many of Frieza's henchmen.
History
Past
Zarbon was a member of Frieza's elite warriors. 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's unhappy face.
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. After 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, but Vegeta ruthlessly killed him with an energy wave through the chest, sending him flying into the Namekian sea to a watery grave.
Abridged Series
In TeamFourStar's Dragon Ball Z Abridged series, Zarbon, like every other character, was played more comically than in the original anime. While not much about his role changed, Zarbon's personality was far different, being much more flamboyant to the point where, even though he stated he had a girlfriend (much to Frieza's surprise), his sexuality was up for debate. During his rant to Captain Ginyu about how his mission on Namek was a complete failure, Frieza states that he is convinced that Zarbon's girlfriend is named Chuck.
Powers and Abilities
Zarbon's monstrous form.
Like nearly every villain in the Dragon Ball Series, Zarbon can fly, generate multiple Ki attacks and possesses super human 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 23,000 but when he transforms into Monster form it multiplies by 1.3 to become 30,000.
Notable Technique
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.
Gallery
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 to Frieza that it is 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 proceeded 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. 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 onscreen 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 onscreen 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.
 Villains
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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 | ||