Highlights
- The Dragon Ball franchise's success is attributed to factors such as consistent storytelling and the addition of new characters.
- Fans often overlook the original antagonist, Emperor Pilaf, who began the hunt for the Dragon Balls in the original Dragon Ball series.
- Although Pilaf and his gang eventually became comic relief characters, it would have been interesting to see Pilaf rise as a formidable threat with a power upgrade.
The Dragon Ball franchise has been successful in preserving and carrying on its legacy with the new installments of the franchise like the Dragon Ball Super (DBS) series and movies like Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero adding to its growing legacy. This has been possible because of certain factors like the consistency and remarkable storytelling skills of the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, Akira Toriyama, and the set of numerous new and unique characters that have been added to the roster of the franchise. Apart from these, one major reason for the franchise's success has been the intense rivalries between the protagonist and the antagonists which have led to some of the greatest over-the-top fights some of which are the finest in the history of shōnen.
The antagonists of the Dragon Ball franchise are what make its storylines and fights so good that the fans go crazy over them. Even the antagonists in this franchise are some of the most iconic shōnen antagonists of all time like Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, Jiren, etc. However, the fans seem to have forgotten the first and original antagonist with whom the original Dragon Ball series started. Let's explore the first antagonist of one of the greatest manga and anime franchises of all time.
The First Antagonist
The very first or original antagonist that the fans of the original Dragon Ball series were introduced to was, Emperor Pilaf. He is an impish blue-colored monster-type Earthling whose only ambition in life is to become the most powerful creature in the world and rule over it. Pilaf planned to execute his plan of ruling over the world by seeking the Dragon Balls and fulfilling his wish through them. He was the one that everyone's favorite Saiyan Goku had to face in his childhood since the former was collecting all the seven Dragon Balls and the latter had one of them which he inherited from his late grandfather.
Pilaf is a self-proclaimed emperor and lord living in his castle the Mushroom Forest with his two subordinates. His two subordinates are Shu, an anthropomorphic ninja dog, and Mai, a female minion of Pilaf who is fairly intelligent but still fails to execute her plans. Together the three of them are called the Pilaf Gang. They were the nuisance that started the hunt for and tried to defeat Goku during the Emperor Pilaf Saga.
From An Antagonist To A Comic Relief
As the franchise expanded further with the airing of Dragon Ball Zand Dragon Ball Super, Toriyama put Pilaf and the gang in the backseat since the newer series needed some extremely powerful antagonists like Cell and Majin Buu, etc. This was done to provide Goku with an appropriate antagonist who could go toe to toe against the former and pose a real threat to him and his friends. Therefore, Toriyama did not remove Pilaf and his subordinates from the series and the story but limited them to just comic relief.
Even if Toriyama was to give Pilaf another push as the main antagonist, the latter would have failed given the fact that he did not possess any special abilities or powers. Hence, It would not make sense to put him against Goku who is an ever-progressing warrior, especially in terms of gaining new special abilities and more strength over time.
Pilaf's Future In Dragon Ball
Pilaf and his minions, Shu and Mai have been recurring characters in the Dragon Ball franchise, and they have been put in the story just for comic relief. Even though Mai got a push as an important side character during the Future Trunks Saga where she was the leader of a small group of survivors who were resisting Goku Black in an alternate future reality. She even becomes the eventual partner of Trunks together they become the true successors of Vegeta and Bulma. At the same time, Pilaf and Shu remained two of the few comic relief characters. Pilaf made a return to the Dragon Ball franchise in Dragon Ball Super during the God of Destruction Beerus Saga, and he tried to steal the seven Dragon Balls that Bulma had kept at her home.
Though he still exists in Dragon Ball Super, it would have been somewhat amazing to see Pilaf rise to the ranks of the likes of Frieza after having received a decent power upgrade and posed a threat to Goku, his friends, and the entire Earth. If written carefully and dedicatedly executed, this would have turned out to be a rather unorthodox and quite engaging arc for Dragon Ball Super, but things do not always go this way, especially in the entertainment field where creative risks are taken seldom. However, for what it is worth, Akira Toriyama still has not removed Pilaf and the gang from the story and who knows may be the fans someday get to see Pilaf become the powerful antagonist he was always meant to be.
Dragon Ball Z is available to stream on Crunchyroll.