Garlic Jr.

"That little pimple of a shield is going to pop and the three of you are going to ooze into the Dead Zone like the pus that you are!"

-"Brief Chance for Victory" Garlic Jr. is a Makyo-seijin from the Dragon Ball Z series and was the main antagonist in the first Dragon Ball Z film, Dead Zone. His father was imprisoned by Kami in the realm of darkness, leaving Garlic Jr. with a deep feeling of resentment and desire for revenge. Though defeated, he later reappears in the anime in the gap between the Frieza and Trunks Sagas, and battles once more against the combined efforts of Krillin, Piccolo, and Gohan. The puns on the names of Garlic Jr. and those affiliated with him are fairly straight-forward; in this case they are all derivatives of spices. He oddly resembles Emperor Pilaf, only more evil and cunning. Garlic Jr. is also noted as the only villain who was actually successful in wishing for immortality using the Dragon Balls (this seems to be the most commonly sought after wish by most of the villains in the series, second being the much related youth). Also, he is also the only character to have ultimate immortality.

Storyline[]

Dead Zone[]

A squat and off-putting looking dwarf of a demon, Garlic Jr. is the only villain in the Dragon Ball saga ever successfully granted eternal life by the Dragon Balls (with the exception of Frieza in an alternate ending in the videogame Dragonball Z Budokai), which his trio of lackeys, Nicky, Ginger, and Sansho, had gathered from around the globe. In the process they kidnapped Gohan for the Four-Star ball sewn onto his cap and hurt Chi-Chi, thus earning the ire of Goku. Delirious with joy after the granting of his wish, Garlic Jr. is then accosted by Goku and Kami, and resolves to settle an old score with the latter. Many ages ago, it was Kami who defeated his father Garlic for the throne of Kami, vanquishing him and his demon hordes as a result. Now fearing nothing thanks to his newfound immortality, Garlic's son intended to return the favor.

While Garlic Jr. is preoccupied making good his grudge with Kami, Goku engages his minions, who bulk-up twice their size in the ensuing battle. Not long after Krillin and Piccolo (who had survived an earlier attack by the villain's underlings) make their appearance, and the three henchmen meet an early end. Piccolo sends Sansho flying into the ceiling then fries him with a ki blast for a painful death. Goku kills Nicky and Ginger with one directed Kamehameha, blowing them up into each other. Beset now by the combined might of Earth's greatest fighters, Garlic Jr. goes from miniature to gigantic, shifting into a brutish second form able to handle both Goku and Piccolo at once. It's a back-and-forth confrontation; being immortal the heroes can do no real damage to Garlic Jr., and Goku and Piccolo are too resilient to fall to any of the monster's attacks. Livid, Garlic Jr. opens up the portal known as the Dead Zone, intending to suck his enemies into a void whence they could never return. Upon seeing his father and friends in danger, the power latent within Gohan explodes, and enraged he attacks and overwhelms an awed Garlic Jr.

While he might live forever, Garlic Jr.'s powers are finite, and Gohan knocks him into his own vortex to be trapped for all eternity.

Garlic Jr. Saga[]

Years later, Garlic Jr. escapes imprisonment after the source of his power, the Makyo Star, comes close in axis to Earth. Garlic Jr. gathers his team of demon henchmen named the Spice Boys. The Monarchs include Spice, Vinegar, Mustard, and Salt. Garlic Jr. then schemes to take control of Earth's population by use of the Black Water Mist, which caused those who breathed it in to become mindless demon slaves under his rule. If kept unchecked the Black Water Mist's effects would be irreversible after twenty-four hours. When Kami and Mr. Popo investigate, they are captured, shrunk down, and trapped in glass bottles by Garlic Jr.'s henchmen. With only Gohan and Krillin left to fight for Earth, Garlic Jr. and his cronies have a decisive advantage, especially since Piccolo was now a brainwashed servant under Garlic Jr.'s control. Complicating matters was Makyo Star - orbiting ever closer towards Earth, it served to amplify Garlic Jr. and his henchmen's already considerable power. Vegeta has a minor role in this saga but does not fight Garlic Jr. because he is searching the galaxy for Goku after the supposed death of Frieza. (It should be noted that, except for once in the Saiyan Saga and while under Baby's control, this is the only time where Vegeta calls Goku "Goku" and not his traditional "Kakarot").

A fight ensues in Kami's Lookout between Gohan, Krillin, and the Spice Boys. When Krillin is damaged in the fight, Gohan powers up and obliterates Mustard and Salt with extremely powerful blasts. At this point, Piccolo is seen to be a rival and has presumably been turned into a slave of Garlic Jr. As Piccolo begins to attack Gohan, Krillin tries to intervene, only to be bitten by Piccolo and be taken over by the Black Water Mist himself. However, this is all a ruse. When Piccolo - who was immune to the Black Water Mist all along - bit Krillin, he told him to act as if he was possessed as well, so they could get in arm's reach of the bottles containing Kami and Mr. Popo. Krillin and Piccolo begin their assault against Gohan, and when Garlic Jr. tires of the show and instructs them to finish him off, they instead smash the bottles, releasing them both.

With the advantage and hostages lost, Garlic Jr. again converts to his second form. Spice and Vinegar also pump up their bodies thanks to the power of Makyo Star. At the same time, Kami and Mr. Popo make their way into the inside of the lookout, to use the Sacred Water to reverse the effects of the Black Water Mist. En route to the opening at the bottom of the lookout (where all the four winds of Earth blow) they must pass through the Shinsenkai (essentially a graveyard for former Kami) where the spirits of the former Guardians confront Kami and begin to assail him. Above, Piccolo (who is linked to Kami) starts to lose strength as a result of the beating, and Garlic Jr. gains the upper-hand. In the meantime, Spice and Vinegar manage to topple Krillin with ease and this ignites Gohan's anger once more, resulting in a chaotic battle between Gohan and the two henchmen at the same time. Gohan releases a seismic two-sided blast which makes both Spice and Vinegar explode at the same time in midair. As the battle progresses, Garlic Jr. reopens the Dead Zone, with Kami and Mr. Popo successfully being granted access to the Sacred Water and nullifying the Black Water Mist's effect on Earth. No longer handicapped by Kami's pain, Piccolo regains the ability to fight, and he and Krillin fly up to meet Garlic Jr. and distract him. Gohan then fires a powerful Masenko into Makyo Star, destroying it and leaving an emaciated and powerless Garlic Jr. to fall prey to his Dead Zone once again, this time with no hope for return, doomed to spend an eternity in complete nothingness.

Video games[]

Unlike many of his fellow movie villains who appeared in the English dub of the Dragon Ball Z movies and television series, Garlic Jr. was absent from most recent video games, with the Legacy of Goku series skipping his saga entirely (however in Legacy of Goku 2, Gohan notes that many creatures are still affected by the Black Water Mist showing that the saga indeed happened). However, Garlic Jr. is a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3, available in both his base and post-transformation forms. Garlic Jr. has an attack involving the Dead Zone, however he uses it a bit differently, instead of projecting the portal for an opponent to get sucked into, he actually throws it at his enemy, trapping the enemy inside it temporarily as it takes a large amount of the victim's health.

Garlic Jr. is one of the only two filler characters in Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3, the other being Pikkon.

Special abilities[]

Belly Blast
Dead Zone
Full Power Energy Ball
Eye Laser
Death Impact
Ki Blast, the most basic form of energy wave.

Trivia[]

As he is immortal, Garlic Jr. is one of the few characters not to die in Dragon Ball Z, however, being trapped in the Dead Zone forever is as close to dead as Garlic Jr. can get.
In "The Heavens Tremble", Garlic Jr. said that he had been imprisoned in the Dead Zone for ten years. However, Gohan (who was responsible for sealing him in the Dead Zone) was only six or seven years old at the time.
Garlic Jr.'s fangs make him look like a vampire, which is likely a play on the name "Garlic".
Garlic Jr. can apparently heal any hole made in his stomach, as shown in "The World Awakens", however this might only be because he is immortal.
Vegeta never fights Garlic Jr., as he is out in space looking for Goku during their battle.
Garlic Jr. seems much stronger in the anime than he was in the movie, as Goku and Piccolo were able to beat him up at power levels 330 and 320, respectively (weaker than Raditz's 1,200), and yet Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin seemed somewhat evenly matched with him, and were having a bit of trouble with his henchmen, the Spice Boys. However, this may be because the Makyo Star was closer to Earth in the anime.
Garlic Jr. is the only villain in the franchise to successfully wish for immortality.
Despite being the only movie villain featured in his own saga, he is not present in Akira Toriyama's original manga and is instead a brainchild of Toei Animation. Many fans believe there to be a major plot inconsistency here, as Krillin was not aware of Gohan's existence until the events of the Vegeta Saga, yet the Dragon Ball Z movie where he makes his first appearance supposedly takes place before then. However, this is a plot hole strictly in the two English dubs of the movie, where Goku refers to Gohan clearly as his son in front of Krillin. On the other hand, a year has gone by (as it would take the Dragon Balls that long to regenerate) and Krillin could have forgotten.
In the English dub of the episode "Call for Restoration", Garlic Jr. refers to Piccolo as a Namek. However, Piccolo (and Kami) weren't aware of their heritage until after Garlic Jr. was freed from the Dead Zone. However, it's possible Garlic Jr. may have had scouts on the outside reporting to him such as the Spice Boys who overheard Kami speaking of his past or Vegeta referring to Piccolo by species during the Saiyan Saga. It's also possible Garlic Jr. may have always known, being an alien himself.
It can be assumed Garlic Jr.'s favorite foods are apples, considering he was seen with a large bowl of apples by his side in the Garlic Jr. Saga.
Oddly enough, Garlic Jr. strongly resembles the first Dragon Ball saga villain, Emperor Pilaf, though he is much more evil, cunning, and competent in comparison. Coincidental or not, this serves as an excellent glimpse into the overall shift in the series direction.
Garlic Jr. also shares similarities with Babidi. Both of their fathers try to take over the world and are stopped. Both attempt to avenge their fathers' defeats and fulfill their goals, only to be stopped as well. And both have henchmen at their disposal.

Voice actors[]

Japanese Dub: Akira Kamiya (Movie 1) Shigeru Chiba (Garlic Jr. Saga)

Ocean Dub: Don Brown

FUNimation Dub: Chuck Huber

Latin American Dub: Salvador Delgado