How Garlic Jr. became the only Dragon Ball Z villain to win

Dragon Ball: The Dragon Ball series, especially the 1989 anime about fantasy martial art Dragon Ball ZThe creation of anime was made possible by the efforts of. The popularity of Akira Toriyama’s magnum opus is such that it damn near precipitated an international incident in 2018 when the Japanese embassy in Mexico reportedly issued a letter to the governor of Coahuila, Mexico, to discourage the latter from allowing a public screening of the Dragon Ball Super finale in violation of Toei Animation’s rights (though many public screenings were still held in stadiums, plazas, and parks across the country). Series protagonist Goku has a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon, and in America you’ll be hard-pressed to get any bigger than that — both literally and figuratively. Dragon Ball’s villains, which were introduced in the original series, are arguably the most prolific characters attached to it.

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There are obvious fan-favorite Dragon Ball villains: the galactic tyrant Frieza; the bio- android Cell; the amorphous pink incarnation of evil, Majin Buu; maybe even Dr. Gero or Mercenary Tao Pai Pai if you’re talking to an older Dragon Ball fan trying hard to stunt by demonstrating their deep knowledge of the series. That’s not even counting all the new villains and antagonists appearing in Dragon Ball SuperBeerus, also known as the God of Destruction, Zamasu, aka Goku Schwarz, and the legendary Pride Trooper Jiren. Then there are the innumerable variant reappearances of villains like Frieza and Cell and the reintroduction of Super Saiyan Broly into the series’ canon.

This is the important point. There have been many famous anime villains during the run of original series. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball ZThe non-canonical sequel to anime series Dragon Ball GTAnd Dragon Ball Super. And yet, there is one villain in particular who is conspicuously absent from nearly any and all discussions of Dragon Ball’s greatest villains, a villain who — despite being attached to one the most maligned story arcs of Dragon Ball Z — nonetheless stands the test of time as one of the only Dragon Ball villains to date to actually get just shy of everything he wanted.

This is Garlic Jr. who was the antagonist in the anime movie 1989. Dragon Ball Z: Dead ZoneThe antagonist of the 10 episode Garlic Jr. Saga is named after him. Dragon Ball Z.

Image: Toei Animation/Funimation

Even if you’re a die-hard Dragon Ball fan, it’s entirely possible that you have no idea who this weird little blue dude is, so here’s some background for the sake of those unaware: Garlic Jr. first appeared in 1989’sDragon Ball Z: Dead ZoneThe continuity of the original Dragon Ball movie was supposedly maintained by the first Dragon Ball movie. Dragon Ball Z anime. Daisuke Nisho was the series director of the first 199 episodes. Dragon Ball ZTakao Kyama is known as the author of anime series and has written many other anime such as Dragon Ball. Saint SeiyaThe film takes place chronologically between the events of Dragon BallThe beginning of Dragon Ball Z. Garlic Jr., the son of Garlic (a malign entity that 300 years ago vowed to become the Guardian of Earth), is presented. After being rejected for the role by the previous Guardian, who sensed Garlic’s desire to subjugate the planet, Garlic amassed an army of demons and stormed the lookout in order to take the position by force. Garlic and his followers were defeated and subsequently banished to the “Dead Zone,” a void-like prison dimension (think the Phantom Zone from DC Comics) housed inside a dodecahedron-shaped crystal. The crystal eventually comes into the possession of Garlic Jr., Garlic’s demon spawn and apparent reincarnation, who then swears an oath to release his father and exact revenge on Earth.

Garlic Jr., along with his friends, manages to collect all seven Dragon Balls. Shenron is then released, and Garlic Jr. receives his wish of immortality. Garlic Jr. almost kills Kami (the then-current Guardian on the Earth), but Piccolo and Goku resolve their differences to defeat them. Garlic Jr., in revenge, opens a portal into the Dead Zone to try to imprison his enemies as well as himself, all in desperate search of a pyrrhic win. This is until Gohan becomes angry at his family and friends who are in distress and unleashes his Saiyan powers and immediately yet Garlic Jr. into The Dead Zone.

Image: Toei Animation/Funimation

Garlic Jr. does not return to the scene until the Garlic Jr. Saga. It is a 10-episode story that occurs between the Frieza arc’s aftermath and the Trunks Saga. Garlic Jr. was the only original character from the Dragon Ball spinoff movie to appear later in the anime series. This is before Super Saiyan Broly’s formal inclusion into the manga canon. Dragon Ball SuperBy 27 years. The arc opens with Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, and the rest of the so-called “Z Fighters” acclimating back to their life on Earth following their battle against Frieza. Goku, having narrowly escaped from Namek following Frieza’s defeat, is training on a faraway planet in order to learn the instant transmission technique; meanwhile, Vegeta is off searching the universe for Goku so he too can learn how to become a Super Saiyan. The central premise of the Garlic Jr. Saga can be summed up as: “How would the Z Fighters fare if the Earth was under attack and Goku and Vegeta were nowhere to be found?” The answer is: Not well!

Using the power of a malevolent celestial object known as the Makyo Star, Garlic Jr. is able to escape from the Dead Zone and gathers a new group of followers known as the “Spice Boys” to mount an attack on Kami’s Lookout. After beating Kami in combat and imprisoning him in a sphere, Garlic Jr. uses an artifact containing the Black Water Mist, a magical element capable of summoning the evil in people’s hearts and turning them into mindless soldiers, unleashing it upon the surface of the Earth. The majority of the Z Fighters, with the exception of Gohan and Krillin, are transformed into mindless warriors for Garlic Jr. After, the pair proceed to face off against Garlic Jr.’s Spice Boy warriors at Kami’s Lookout, wherein they are joined by Piccolo, who reveals that he is actually immune to the effects of the mist. It is difficult because Garlic Jr. remains technically immortal, and the Makyo Star’s power only increases his power. Garlic Jr. is within striking distance of winning, and he uses the star’s power to open another portal to the Dead Zone in order to kill Earth and free his father. All hope seems lost — that is, until Gohan devises a way of destroying the Makyo Star and once again yeeting Garlic Jr. back into the Dead Zone, this time seemingly for good.

Given its status as an anime-exclusive, non-canonical “filler” arc of Dragon Ball ZThe Garlic Jr. Saga is a shaming story that stretches over 10 episodes. Its egregious dependence on deus ex Machina plot contrivances, which are too excessive by Dragon Ball standards, and its absence of series protagonists Goku or Vegeta have earned it a bad reputation. Garlic Jr. remains, however, one of only two Dragon Ball villains (with Cell), to have ever come even close to defeating the Z Fighters. And, even though he has been able to achieve his ultimate goal, which is to liberate his father, while also becoming immortal, it’s still a very popular series. He only needed to go to a faraway vacation with Vegeta and Goku in order to complete these feats. While that doesn’t speak very highly of the competency of the superheroic martial artists ostensibly known as “Earth’s Special Forces,” it certainly speaks highly of Garlic Jr.’s impeccable sense of timing.