Dragon Ball: Does Orange Piccolo Make Slug Canon?

Highlights

Piccolo and Gohan reach new heights in Dragon Ball Super manga canon, sparking excitement for the series' future.
Piccolo's Orange form, reminiscent of Lord Slug's abilities, adds intrigue to his character's development.
Namekians like Piccolo and Slug share evil tendencies, rare mutations, and gigantification abilities in Dragon Ball lore.

With the Dragon Ball Super manga now beyond the events of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, the brand-new heights reached by both Piccolo and Gohan are manga-canon. The future of the series is exciting as Gohan returns to form as a valuable combatant; however, Piccolo's achievement of the Orange form courtesy of Shenron is interesting for a completely different reason.

Reminded of the gigantification ability he had back when he was Demon King Piccolo, the Namekian's new transformation and skill set makes one wonder: does Orange Piccolo make Lord Slug canon?

Dragon Ball: Piccolo's Self-Discovery, Explained

Piccolo is one of the most important villains-turned-heroes, not just in DBZ, but in Shonen Anime. Here's a closer look at his journey.

There Are Two Namekians In Us All

Good and Evil Separate, Leading to Kami and King Piccolo

In the Dragon Ball universe, the Namekians are the green-skinned inhabitants of the far-away Planet Namek, an alien race of peace-loving humanoids whose biggest contribution to the universe is the invention of the Dragon Balls. While not every last Namekian will create a set, many will leave Namek and find themselves living on another planet, eventually becoming the guardian of their resident planet. They used to be a space faring race prior to a major natural disaster that wiped them out several hundreds of years prior to the events of Dragon Ball.

The only survivors of this cataclysm were a nameless Namekian who was transported to Earth, and Grand Elder Guru, the guardian of Namek during the events of the Frieza Saga of Dragon Ball Z. The individual who ended up on Earth was sent there by his father, Katas, who died on Namek during the disaster. A mere baby when he arrived on Earth, the Namekian grew up alone in one of the most remote regions on the planet, completely disconnected from his heritage.

Shen and I were young and in our prime. We gave everything we had and still King Piccolo prevailed. All those lives lost and we didn't lay a scratch on him. He was immune to everyone, even Mutaito

The Namekian spent some time exploring the planet, and got exposed to the violence of human beings, corrupting his soul. Despite this corruption, he eventually sought to become guardian of the Earth, with the then-guardian telling him about the immense evil brewing deep inside him. The Namekian separated his good side from his evil side, creating the individuals known as Kami and Piccolo, a process known as Fission.

Piccolo would go on to become the Demon King, wreaking havoc on Earth until the intervention of Mutaito and his students, Roshi and Shen, who sealed him away until he was freed by Pilaf hundreds of years later. Kami became the Guardian of Earth. After the fission, Kami and Piccolo's lives were linked, so if one died, so would the other. Shortly before his death in the fight against a young Goku, Piccolo laid an egg that would go on to become his reincarnated self, Piccolo Jr., maintaining Kami's life through linking it to his offspring. Kami went on to beat out Garlic for the position of Guardian of Earth, creating Earth's Dragon Balls in the process.

The Propensity For Evil: Who Is Slug?

Dark Side of Planet Namek

A Dragon Ball villain who emerged during the early days of Dragon Ball Z, specifically, a non-canon character from one of the films, is one of the most interesting additions to the universe. If we're being technical, the first-ever reference to the Super Saiyan transformation actually took place during the events of the Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug movie, during Goku's battle against the titular character, Slug, named after the planet he was sent to as a child prior to the planetary disaster that befell Namek over 400 years prior to the events of Dragon Ball. The concept here is that Namekians are generally peace-loving, but some individuals develop a rare mutation that gives them a propensity for evil and succumbing to evil influences.

These guys would also be far stronger than the average Namekian, leading to their designation, "Super Nameks". King Piccolo/Kami is essentially an example of one such Namekian; however, the goodness in his heart was preserved through his fission. The difference is the fact that King Piccolo, having been part good at some point, still harboured a certain level of filial affection for his children, and could also be concerned about his subordinates, while Slug would wipe one of his own minions from existence over a mere comment about his age.

Slug led an army of demons and conquered planets, which he'd repurpose by freezing the planet's surface to bring the temperature down to levels that are inhospitable for the planet's original inhabitants. Having been alive since before the Namekian mass extinction, Slug is incredibly old and well past his prime upon introduction; however, using telepathy, he learns of Earth's Dragon Balls and wishes for his youth. Since Slug didn't grow up on Namek, like Piccolo, he was detached from his heritage, and therefore knew nothing about the Dragon Balls prior to his arrival.

Slug's impact on the story is similar to that of the other film-only villain, Turles, who was introduced as a kind of "what-if" character, showing us what would have happened if Goku had never suffered a traumatic brain injury as an infant. Slug's first story is very similar to the Nameless Namekian; but unlike King Piccolo, Slug believes himself to have been born pure evil, rather than nutured to be so, embracing all tenets of darkness as an aspiring conqueror of the Demon Realm as well.

Major Similarities to Piccolo

Gigantification As The Ability of The Ancients

During Goku's fight with Slug, the "False" Super Saiyan transformation enables him to come back from certain defeat despite the Super Namek having regained his youth and power. Overwhelmed, Slug unleashes a technique that only a certain kind of Namekian has access to: gigantification. Goku had seen this ability performed by Piccolo Jr. during the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament, however, it isn't used by a single Namekian character in the canonical Dragon Ball story until Piccolo (Jr.) achieves the Orange form after similarly asking Shenron for power – like how Slug wished for perpetual youth. In both instances, these Namekian warriors were removed from their home planet and both were touted to be unusual Namekians with the capacity for immense evil.

With so many similarities between Slug and Piccolo, is it possible that the Lord Slug story will have a place in the canonical story? Dragon Ball Super has been known to repurpose older plotlines from the various Dragon Ball movies and specials, like the return of Broly, the inclusion of Bardock, and others. Piccolo's achievement of Orange and his subsequent gigantification may just be the Super variant of the Lord Slug story, with the strange color change being a reflection of the False Super Saiyan form shown by Goku in the movie.