Nappa: The Dragon Ball villain that truly changed the status quo!

 

    Hello everyone, Hector again, and hope you're all doing well! I have an exciting topic today to discuss that involves one of my favorite things in the world: Dragon Ball! I was in the mood to go back into Dragon Ball recently, particularly with Z as that's the one I grew up on, and it was fantastic to revisit! I'm not hugely into anime, but Dragon Ball Z is everything I love rolled into one incredible package: Full of imagination, effective world-building, spectacular action, amazing animation, excellent music, and a lot of beautiful people making stuff explode! It's perfect! 

    I'll gladly go into more detail on how the franchise influenced me, but that's for another time as I don't want to veer off from my topic today too much. As for this topic, it involves a particular character from Dragon Ball Z that caught my eye in more ways than one, and that is none other than the mighty Nappa!!! For anyone who doesn't know or remember, Nappa is a villain who first appeared in the Saiyan Saga, along with one of the most iconic characters in the franchise, Vegeta! He's one of the three Saiyans (a race of humanoid aliens that have tails who can transform into great apes by looking at a full moon) who come to conquer Earth, as well as search for the Dragon Balls to grant any wish they desire. 

  We get a taste of the Saiyans' wrath with Raditz (Goku's older brother) who arrives before Nappa and Vegeta as he attempts to recruit Goku so he can help with conquering the Earth. Goku refuses to join, which leads to Raditz kidnapping Gohan, and a big battle ensues, though not without Goku getting help from his enemy, Piccolo. This fight gets nasty as Raditz is proven too tough to fight off, leading to Goku sacrificing himself with holding down Raditz and having both of them get hit by Piccolo's deadly but effective attack "Special Beam Cannon." Before Raditz succumbs to his wounds, Raditz says two other Saiyans (Nappa and Vegeta) are coming to Earth and are far more powerful than him. Raditz saying they're more powerful than him is an understatement to say the least. 

    

    When Raditz first arrives, all he does is kill one guy and kidnap Gohan. He did overpower Goku and Piccolo for a bit, but they eventually beat him. On the other hand, when Vegeta and Nappa first arrive on Earth, the first thing Nappa does is destroy a city filled with people simply by flicking his fingers up to make an explosion, his signature move. This action immediately catches the attention of all the Z-Fighters, regardless of how far away they were. What makes it more impactful is that the Z-Fighters (consisting of Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Tien) trained for about a year to prepare for the Saiyans' arrival, yet the Saiyans arrive earlier than expected as they said to arrive in a year yet arrived six months earlier. Nappa and Vegeta are there to get the job done and don't care what they'll do to achieve it. 

    Inevitably, the Z-Fighters and Saiyans encounter each other at a valley of sorts, and things go about as well as Spider-Man attempting to save Gwen Stacy as Nappa humiliates and kills the many Z-Fighters that dare challenge him and Vegeta. Nappa brings in these henchmen of sorts called Saibamen (plant creatures that are created by being planted into the ground) that seem weak in appearance, but far more dangerous than the Z-Fighters expected. Yamcha fights a couple off and seemingly, things are going well until one of the Saibamen latches onto Yamcha. Next thing, the Saibaman self-destructs while holding onto Yamcha and both die. Krillin destroys the rest of the Saibamen, but it does little to help with their hopeless circumstances.

    The nightmare for the Z-Fighters gets even worse as Nappa decides to jump in the fight, asking the remaining fighters "Which one of you wants to die first?" Tien becomes Nappa's next victim as Nappa charges at Tien with full speed, and next thing, Nappa literally disarms Tien with just a punch (albeit a powerful one, but regardless). We have seen some other characters disarmed throughout the franchise, mainly robots, androids, and Namekians, but this one stands out as we rarely, if at all, see a human character get brutally disarmed with a punch. Following that vicious attack, Chiaotzu jumps in to help Tien by blowing himself up with Nappa, hoping that it will end Nappa's reign of terror.

    Unfortunately, Chiaotzu's attack was useless as Nappa comes out of it unscathed, making Tien filled with rage and agony! Tien retaliates by blasting Nappa with his Tri-Beam cannon, but despite giving it his best shot, it has no effect on Nappa beyond damaging his Saiyan armor. Tien dies shortly afterwards as he succumbs to his wounds and exhaustion from the use of the Tri-Beam cannon. 

     

    Arguably, the most significant kill that Nappa makes is Piccolo as that has the most impact on the franchise moving forward, more so than what you may expect. With Piccolo, he's connected to the Dragon Balls and how they stay active as Piccolo and Kami are connected due to them being separated into two people (Piccolo being the bad one, while Kami is the good one) and Kami being responsible for the creation of the Dragon Balls on Earth. Whoever dies will affect the other, as well as render the Dragon Balls useless. With Piccolo now dead and the remaining Z-Fighters planning on resurrecting their dead friends, it threw everything off the loop and the survivors had to figure out another way. If it wasn't for this significant moment, we wouldn't have gotten the Namek saga where we would see many elements come into play like the Ginyu Force, Frieza, and especially the legendary Super Saiyan transformation that Goku gains. 

    What also made that moment significant is this was where we see Piccolo's love for Gohan really kick in. Gohan's didn't know the ability to dodge, as well as being overwhelmed by the power of Nappa's energy blast, leading to Piccolo taking the blast instead. Prior to the Saiyans' arriving, Piccolo was training Gohan to be prepared for the fight and at first, only saw him as a way to even the odds, but little did Piccolo expect that he would grow fond of the boy due to Gohan treating him with respect and constantly improving himself despite the harsh environment and circumstances Piccolo threw him in. There were some moments where Piccolo was saying things to keep Gohan on guard, but this one in particular solidified the strong bond Piccolo and Gohan would have following this emotionally powerful sacrifice. If Piccolo didn't take the attack that Nappa thrown at Gohan, we probably would have seen things played out differently and possibly haven't seen Piccolo becoming Gohan's daughter, Pan, mentor of sorts, as well as many other things that happened, and it was all due to this. 

    Speaking of which, Nappa is what truly motivated Gohan into becoming a better warrior after this brutal encounter. Gohan didn't get involved in the fight too much as he is afraid and doesn't know what to do as he didn't really have a proper fight with anyone (save for Raditz, which was brief), but he does jump in the fight after being overwhelmed with grief from Piccolo's sacrifice, using his "Masenko" blast on Nappa. It doesn't do much on Nappa, though he is a bit impressed with Gohan's attack. However, after this encounter, it led Gohan into being more active in future fights and confident with his abilities, where after this, he would fight Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, and many more! 

    

        Eventually, Goku joins in the fight to help the remaining fighters to take on Nappa and Vegeta! Despite being in the afterlife, Goku knew he would come back to fight against the Saiyans, as he trained constantly to be prepared for this inevitable battle! In a way, his fight with Nappa was Goku's ultimate test to see whether or not his training paid off, especially how he struggled with Raditz. Thankfully, it did as he managed to hold his own against Nappa, even surpassing him in the fight. Both Nappa and Vegeta were surprised by Goku's ability and power level, despite Goku being classified as a low-class warrior, which led into the infamous moment that became a meme, "It's Over 9000!" 

    Sometime after the fight, Nappa is told by Vegeta to stand down, as Vegeta has seen enough of Goku humiliating Nappa in battle. But Nappa doesn't want the "fun" to end, so he goes in to kill Krillin and Gohan. Goku immediately notices, leading him to use his new ability taught by King Kai during his training in the afterlife, the "Kaioken Attack." This attack throws off Nappa, as Goku would paralyze him soon after, making Nappa no longer able to fight, as well as frustrating Vegeta. Instead of helping Nappa like a good friend, Vegeta decides to end Nappa's life due to Nappa no longer being of use and not obeying him. Despite Nappa's death, his fight with Goku would spark one of the most iconic and intense rivalries ever that has lasted for decades, Goku and Vegeta! 

    Years later, Vegeta would develop into a better person and grow more powerful, even becoming a Super Saiyan, but what's intriguing is that when we're introduced to Vegeta and Nappa, Vegeta was more of the sadistic and evil one of the two despite Nappa being far more deadly. Nappa is clearly evil, but he was shown to have some care for his comrades, as he was the one who suggested bringing Raditz back to life with the Dragon Balls, which Vegeta shoots down due to finding Raditz pathetic. And while this is no longer canon, in Bardock: The Father of Goku, we see that Nappa would look over Vegeta ever since he was a kid, hinting that Nappa has a bit of a fatherly side to him. Regardless, it does show that Nappa has respect for his comrades and is supportive of them, which has me wonder what would have happened to Nappa had Vegeta not killed him. Could Nappa have also been redeemed, much like Vegeta and Piccolo? 

    This whole redemption aspect leads me to mention who Nappa reminds me of in regard to personality, and why I love him, which is none other than one of my favorite characters ever, Wolf from Gargoyles! Before someone says anything, I know Wolf hasn't been redeemed yet in the Gargoyles comics, but I really want that to happen, okay?! Anyway, back to the topic on hand, both Wolf and Nappa share a lot of similar traits, as both are musclebound henchmen who act on instinct and love to fight, as well as get flustered whenever they don't get their way or are insulted! They also are some of the first villains the heroes go to face off in their respective shows and challenge the heroes in some way, shape, or form, as Nappa would really test the Z-Fighters' strength, while Wolf and the team he's in called The Pack would test the Gargoyles' strength as well, though that outcome in Gargoyles is far less gruesome. Despite them being minor characters in the grand scheme of things, their presence would leave a huge impact on their respective series and leave a lasting impression on both the characters and viewers! 

    What also makes Nappa such a compelling villain in retrospect is he was a simple but effective template for future Dragon Ball villains! Every major villain after Nappa and Vegeta appeared would be more powerful and make all the Z-Fighters look weak in comparison, only for Goku to come in and save the day. There have been other powerful foes in the past like Demon King Piccolo and the Red Ribbon Army, but Nappa was truly the first powerful villain that challenges not only the Fighters, but the whole world as well, making everyone wonder how they will be able to defeat the enemy. Nappa is the one who gave us a true taste of what was to come, as afterwards, we would be given the many great villains afterwards like Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, and more! 

    Another aspect regarding Nappa I appreciate is his abilities, which I did touch upon a bit earlier. Aside from the Volcano Explosion I mentioned earlier, as well as how he literally disarmed Tien, he can also shoot out eye and mouth beams (Mouth beam being called Break Cannon). He also has the "Bomber DX", which is the ability that killed Piccolo, and I would say it's an iconic ability, especially considering the context. Not to mention he is quite resilient to many attacks and can brush off anything thrown at him. Of course, he isn't invincible based on his fate but was still powerful all things considered. 

    For a while, and I still do love this character, Vegeta has become a fan favorite and for good reason due to his compelling character development (Vegeta was my favorite character as a kid when I first saw the show), but from the looks of things, Nappa is rarely talked about or never mentioned, save for his appearances in video games, merchandise, and his cameo in GT (which was such a waste as him and Vegeta don't say much of interest). It's surprising to think about as Nappa arrived with Vegeta when they first appeared. Of course, Nappa was introduced in the early days of Dragon Ball Z and things have greatly evolved ever since, but Nappa did so much for the franchise moving forward and I don't think fans realized how integral he was to the franchise. Had Nappa sticked around for much longer, he could have come a long way into becoming more than just a lackey for Vegeta. As much as I love Vegeta and does think more clearly compared to Nappa, I will say this: when the two Saiyans arrived on Earth, Vegeta was all talk, Nappa was all action, which one sounds more appealing?

    

        Overall, that's why Nappa is not only an important villain to the Dragon Ball franchise, but one of my favorite characters as well! While he is more or less a musclebound lackey that followed Vegeta's orders, Nappa was no pushover by any means as he demonstrated what the Saiyans are truly capable of. The Dragon Ball franchise will never be the same after the Saiyan Saga, and it was due to Nappa and Vegeta's arrival on Earth! I do wish we saw more of Nappa as he had a lot of potential moving forward, especially with how Vegeta evolved, but his involvement in the franchise proved to me one thing: To quote Nappa from Dragon Ball Z Budokai:  Do not underestimate Nappa!!! 

    Hope you enjoy my piece regarding Nappa and why he rules! I like to thank my good friend, Syd, for inspiring me to writing this piece on Nappa. I'll leave a link for one of his blog posts regarding Wolf as it's fantastic, which I did share before in the past, but I don't see why I can't share it again. I'll be back some time in the near future, so stay tuned and stay safe everyone! 

Syd's Wolf blog post: Syd's Hyperfixation Corner: Wolf Volkov: The Queerest Villain in the Gargoyles Universe?