Tambourine

"I'm not here to challenge. I'm just going to kill you."
— Tambourine in "Tambourine Attacks!"

Tambourine (タンバリン, Tanbarin; FUNimation "Tambourine", Viz "Tambourine") is Piccolo Daimao's second son, a Gargoyle-like Mutant Namekian. Another offspring who closely resembles Tambourine, but different colored clothes and lighter skin, is seen earlier in Turtle Hermit's flashback depicting him terrorizing various Humans.

Tambourine's Japanese name is a pun on the word Tanbarin, or Tambourine in English.

Biography

Tambourine fighting against Yamucha.

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Tambourine fighting against Goku.

Tambourine was born shortly after Piccolo Daimao was released by Pilaf. Under orders from Piccolo Daimao, Tambourine set out to assassinate all of the competitors from the last two Tenkaichi Tournaments and collect any Dragon Balls that he came across in the process.

His first victim was Kuririn, whom he confronted shortly after the end of the 22nd Tenkaichi Tournament. Kuririn fought with everything he had, but proved no match for Tambourine, who killed him by kicking him in the face and snapping his neck. Tambourine then stole the Four-Star Ball and a list of all tournament contestants.

While on his way, Tambourine was confronted by Son Goku, who was determined to avenge Kuririn's death. Tambourine gloated over Kuririn's death, which only enraged Goku further. Goku and Tambourine engaged each other in combat, but, as Goku was still weak from his fight against Tenshinhan, Tambourine easily outmatched him and destroyed the Kinto Un and proceeded to beat Goku senseless and drop him to the ground, leaving him for dead. Tambourine subsequently attacked and murdered Panpoot, Chapa-o, Man Wolf, Giran, Bacterian, and others. When he was about to attack Yamucha, he was telepathically ordered by Piccolo Daimao to track down the one responsible for the death of Cymbal.

Tambourine confronted Yajirobe, but was distracted from attacking him when Goku showed up. Tambourine started off this rematch confident that he would quickly beat Goku again, but instead, Goku overpowered him and viciously beat him into the ground. Tambourine desperately attempted to escape, but Goku finished him off once and for all with a Kamehameha.

Video games

• Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure (boss battle, playable)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (playable)
• Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (boss and playable character)

Techniques

Tambourine's Ki Blast

• Cho Makoho – Like Piccolo Daimao and most of his offspring, Tambourine has the ability to shoot a beam of energy from his mouth. He uses it to destroy Goku's Flying Nimbus, and later tries it on Goku during their final battle.
• Flight – Tambourine can fly using his wings.
• Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave. We see him use one to destroy a hay wagon and kill the Horse in "Tien's Atonement".
• Lick Twister - Tambourine wraps the opponent in his tongue and then does a high speed spin.
• One-Hundred Arms – After mocking King Chappa's eight arm technique, he uses this more advanced version.
• Shocker Flatline – Tambourine channels electricity through his palm into his opponent. Used on Bacterian.
• Sidearm Flamer – His hand glows orange like fire for a second and he the impales his opponent from the side with it. Used against Giran.

• Somasen – Also like Piccolo Daimao, Tambourine is also capable shooting lasers from his eyes. He is never actually seen using this technique in the anime and manga, but he uses it in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
• Super Marengeki – Tambourine's ultimate attack in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. An advanced version of the Sidearm Flamer (see above). Tambourine kicks his opponent into the air and attacks them with a series of punches, until using his hand to impale his victim. This attack never appears in the anime nor manga, though it is possibly the attack he was about to use on Yamucha before he was interrupted with news of Cymbal's death.
• Tommy Gun Tsuki – Similar to Tenshinhan's Machine Gun Tsuki except with kicks.
• Wah-Tah Kick – He leaps and does a stereotypical kung fu movie pose kick. Used on Pamput.

Voice actors

• Japanese dub: Ryūsei Nakao
• FUNimation dub: Dameon Clarke
• Latin American dub: Humberto Solórzano
• German dub: Dietmar Wunder
• Italian dub: Gianluca Iacono
• Brazilian dub: Afonso Amajones

Trivia

• Tambourine's name is a pun a musical instrument, the Tambourine.
• There are some misconceptions that Tambourine and Cymbal were seen during Muten Roshi's flashback in "Enter King Piccolo".
• Tambourine is actually the first non-Human villain to ever defeat Goku, though Goku's disadvantage was that he was tired and hungry from his fight against Tenshinhan. It is not known for sure if Goku could have killed Tambourine (at least in the same manner) with his strength as it was when he battled Tenshinhan since a Saiyan's strength increases after a brutal beating, such as the one Tambourine gave Goku.
• Out of all of Piccolo Daimao's sons (with the exception of Piccolo), Tambourine is one of the few to come close to resembling a normal Namekian (with the shape of his body and head, as well as his pointy ears, making it easier to compare to a normal Namekian), though like most of King Piccolo's sons, his outfit is far different than what most Namekians are shown to wear.
• In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, there is a what if where Tambourine survives Goku's Kamehameha. This is unlocked by pressing the transformation button once in Story mode when Goku fights againstPiccolo Daimao, but not the second time. If this happens then Tambourine appears, but Goku is too tired to beat him. Chichi then appears and finishes Tambourine off.
• Out of all the henchmen seen in the Dragon Ball series, Tambourine has one of the highest onscreen body counts, killing 50 or more people.
• Nuova Shen Long and Eis Shen Long, who later appear in Dragon Ball GT, resemble Tambourine. This is somewhat appropriate considering Nuova was born out of Piccolo Daimao's wish to restore his youth and Tambourine was one of Piccolo Daimao's offspring.
• In the Japanese dub of Dragon Ball, the young Bear who Giran was attempting to kill thought that Tambourine was actually Kami. Coincidentally, Kami and Tambourine are technically related.