Dabura
"I'll win. I am Dabura. I am the demon king! I don't care how many kilis of energy they have. There is no one in the universe who can exceed my power!" -"Next Up, Goku"
Dabura (ダーブラ Dābura) is a character in the anime and manga Dragon Ball Z by Akira Toriyama. He is a ruler of a demon realm.[1] Existing for thousands of years, Dabura is placed under the wizard Babidi's control by a spell, becomes his right-hand man, and does his bidding.[2] His name is originally taken from the last half of the famous incantation, "Abracadabra".[3]
His title, "Demon King", is not to be confused with that of one of the previous villains, King Piccolo (Piccolo Daimao).
Biography[]
Dragon Ball Z[]
Babidi Saga[]
Dabura's cold stare.
Dabura is first seen when Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and Krillin are led to Babidi's spaceship by Kibito and Supreme Kai to aid them in preventing Majin Buu's awakening. Babidi and Dabura are aware of their hiding place in the mountains nearby and, as it takes a massive amount of energy to awaken Majin Buu, Babidi decides to use theirs; Dabura is ordered to kill all but Supreme Kai and the strongest three and lure the remainder inside the ship. Dabura obeys and quickly charges the group and, with a single blast, kills Kibito; he then leaps in the air and spits on Piccolo and Krillin, turning them to stone, before retreating back into Babidi's ship, telling the brave Saiyans to trapse into their domain if they dare.
Dabura joins Babidi in a monitoring room and watches as first Vegeta easily kills Babidi's henchman Pui Pui and Goku then destroys Yakon before he himself emerges to confront Gohan. When first encountered, Goku mentions that Dabura's power level is comparable to that of Perfect Cell.[4] Though initially it seems that Gohan and Dabura are even, Goku corrects himself and states that Dabura might be more powerful than he thought, with his usage of magic and several tricks. [5]
During his battle with Gohan, Dabura takes notice of Vegeta's poor temperament and his one-track mind for settling things with Goku. Dabura then retreats from the fight with Gohan in order to inform Babidi; Babidi quickly takes advantage of that information and possesses Vegeta, when this was actually what Vegeta wanted all along, so he would gain a greater power and finally defeat Goku.
With Vegeta now battling Goku (after refusing to kill the Kai and Gohan, saying they're of no interest to him), Dabura stands with Babidi to fight against Supreme Kai and Gohan. Before they can start though, they are all shocked as the energy released in Vegeta and Goku's battle has already been enough to release Majin Buu, as both fighters were fighting at Super Saiyan 2, the form thought to be the pinnacle of Super Saiyan states at the time, rapidly landing colossal amounts of damage.
Majin Buu Saga[]
Dabura is angered after his deadly sword is shattered.
When Majin Buu emerges, Dabura is disappointed, as it seems the fat being is nothing more than a useless imbecile. Majin Buu overhears this remark and attacks Dabura, quickly gouging him in the eyes and then kicking him into a mountain, leaving him broken. Dabura does manage to recover somewhat though, and throws a magical spear through Majin Buu. He tries to convince Babidi that Majin Buu is uncontrollable and should be contained again but Babidi refuses to comply, and then tells him that he was nothing more than a pawn, and like all pawns, regardless of his loyalty or efficency, should be tossed away when not needed anymore. Majin Buu then retaliates against Dabura under Babidi's orders, turning him into a large cookie and eating him.[6] This in turn reverts what he did to Piccolo and Krillin, restoring them to normal.
King Yemma punishes Dabura in the afterlife by sending him to Heaven since, being a demon, he would enjoy Hell.[7] This is his final mention in the manga, though he makes several more appearances later in anime filler.
Angel Dabura with Videl, ChiChi and Bulma
Fusion Saga[]
In the anime, Dabura is seen content in Heaven, repenting of his previous sins and looking back on them with remorse. He is accompanied by Bulma, Chi-Chi and Videl in their search for Gohan in the Other World. Here, he is consumed with joy and love which unnerves everybody near him.
Kid Buu Saga[]
He is last seen in Heaven with a wreath of flowers around his head picking flowers in a bouquet wandering around Heaven. Ironically enough, despite having become a pure soul himself in these anime filler episodes, he is not revived along with all those innocent souls who were killed by Buu and the villains, as Vegeta only specified that the evil ones be kept dead (in the manga, this presumably left him dead, as Vegeta himself suggests that the reason he made this specification was so that villains such as Babidi and Dabura would not return).
Special abilities[]
Dabura unleashes his devastating flame breath attack.
- The most basic form of energy wave.
Bushitsu Shyutsu Gen Majyutsu (Magic Materialization)
- Dabura can create weapons out of nowhere with which to fight his opponents. During his battle with Gohan he conjures a sword (which Gohan breaks when caught in a struggle), and later he creates a spear which he throws and impales Majin Buu with, to no effect, as the rubbery monster merely pulls it out whole and regenerates easily.
Zanzôken (After Image Technique)
- Is an ability to move so quickly that an image of the technique's user is left behind.
Honoo (Evil Flame)
- A stream of fire which is shot from the mouth.
Dabura uses his Darkness Sword Attack.
Honoo no Tama (Flaming Ki Blasts)
- Fireballs that Dabura can launch from his hands.
Sekikatsuba (石化唾, Stone Spit)
- Dabura gathers saliva in his mouth and spits it on an opponent who then turns to lifeless stone. The victims are only released upon Dabura's death.
Evil Impulse
- A large ball of dark energy, fired from one hand. Also seen in the video games.
Darkness Sword Attack
- Dabura's Utimate Blast, a rushing attack where Dabura creates a sword using Bushitsu Shyutsu Gen Majyutsu and uses it to attack his opponent, slashing them multiple times then uses it to knock them away. He then flies towards them with tremendous speed and immediately stops right in front of the opponent (just a they are recovering from the earlier attack), then he blasts them right in the face (with a Rush Ki Wave, mimicing how he killed Kibito).
Piccolo is turned to stone by Dabura's spit attack.
Video games[]
Dabura has been a playable character in:
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 3
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legend
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road
He is a boss/NPC in:
- Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2 (support type)
Trivia[]
- Dabura's character model is very commonly used in Toriyama's other mangas. A highly similar look-alike character like Dabura is depicted in a later manga by Akira Toriyama, Cowa!. In Cowa!, he is an oni named Reonald (Leonardo in the English translation) and aids the character of Witch-Sama as her servant. [8] In another manga by Toriyama, Sand Land, there is also a character that bears more of an identical appearance to that of Dabura's, as well as reprising his role as a "Demon King" in the story, only he possesses two huge horns (similar to a minotaurus), and appears to be much larger.[9] Toriyama's use of recycling characters is fairly common in his other works and designs.
- King Piccolo is also a Demon King, although it was revealed that he is in fact a Namekian who knew nothing of his true alien origins during the Namek arc, making him merely a self-proclaimed demon ruler. In addition, whenever Dabura fights Spike the Devil Man in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, the two get special dialogue intended only for each other, with Devilman saying he will rule the underworld instead of Dabura.
- As his power level is similar to that of Cell, Dabura is stronger than Frieza, whom King Kai once said was the fiercest warrior in the universe. In light of this, it is possible that Dabura was the strongest fighter in the universe at one point (prior to Gohan's ascension to Super Saiyan 2), though Dabura may have achieved this level of strength only after stronger fighters had appeared. In addition, the Demon Realm at which he is king exists as a flip dimension to the rest of the universe, and so he might not have been counted or even known to the other Kais at the time.
- Dabura is the only Manga villain to be admitted into Heaven. (As a result of King Yemma's decision that he would have enjoyed it in Hell)
- Just like Vegeta, Dabura had lost the M on his forehead after he had died.
Voice actors[]
- Japanese Dub: Ryuzaburo Otomo
- Ocean Dub: Scott McNeil
- FUNimation Dub: Rick Robertson
- Latin American Dub: Gabriel Pingarrón
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Archived discussion found here at http://www.daiex.com/
- ↑ Official website information at http://www2.dragonballz.com/
- ↑ Archived discussion found here at http://www.daiex.com/
- ↑ Stated by Goku in the anime and manga
- ↑ Short bio at http://www.pojo.com/dragonball
- ↑ When Majin Buu is released, Dabura tries to kill him, but is turned into a giant cookie and devoured by Majin Buu
- ↑ Anime episode #249
- ↑ Cowa! manga, volume 1, chapter 11.
- ↑ Sand Land manga, volume 1, chapter 1