Namu
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia
Namu (ナム; FUNimation "Nam", Viz "Namu") is a martial artist.
Contents
Biography
Dragon Ball
Tournament Saga
Namu was from a desert village. He competed in the 21st Tenkaichi Tournament in a match against Ranfan. Ranfan's sexy looks made Namu get too close to the edge of the ring, but he overcame this problem by closing his eyes and using his other senses to defeat her. His next fight was against Son Goku and, while it was an intense fight with him using his Aerial Attack, he lost in the end. He competed because he needed the money to buy lots of water. Where he was from, there was a terrible drought and he had been sent to find a solution. Being defeated, however, he was unable to get the money to buy water and decided to leave. Turtle Hermit read his mind and got acquainted with his intentions. He then gave Namu a capsule so that he could store water from a well and in return asked Namu to impersonate him in the crowd as to protect Turtle Hermit's secret identity from his students, who were suspicious of Jackie Chun being Turtle Hermit.
Red Ribbon Army Saga
In a filler episode shortly after the Tournament, Namu returned to the desert to find the source of the drought that has been plaguing his people. He was rescued by Goku after he was grabbed by a Pteranodon. They found out that Giran and other members of his race were blocking the dam with rocks. Goku used the Kamehameha to destroy the rocks and the drought ended. In "The Roaming Lake", it was shown that Namu had a pure heart since he was able to ride the Kinto Un.
Tien Shinhan Saga
Namu made an appearance at the the 22nd Tenkaichi Tournament in a filler episodes during the Tien Shinhan Saga. He told Goku and Turtle Hermit that this time he he come to enjoy himself, but he ended up losing against Tenshinhan in the preliminary rounds. He was left unconscious and nearly killed as Tenshinhan wanted to leave a message to Goku and his friends.
King Piccolo Saga
Soon after, Namu was killed when Piccolo Daimao ordered Tambourine to prevent any and all martial artists from learning the Evil Containment Wave. Namu's picture appeared on the TV along with fellow tournament fighters Chapa-o and Panpoot. Later in the saga, he was revived by Shen Long along with all of Piccolo Daimao's other victims.
Dragon Ball Z
Kid Buu Saga
Namu was killed either by Super Boo's Genocide Blast or by Kid Boo's Planet Burst. He was revived by Polunga and contributed to Goku's Super Genki Dama to defeat Kid Boo.
Dragon Ball GT
Baby Saga
Namu made a brief appearance at the end of the Baby Saga when Goku was trying to round up the remaining people on Planet Earth before it exploded. His appearance had changed little from the original series, but he now sported a thick, black beard and mustache.
Video games
Namu appeared in Dragon Ball Z: Sūpā Gokū Den: Totsugeki Hen.
Namu made his first appearance as both a boss character and a playable character in Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure.
Namu appeared in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 in a similar role.
Abilities
- Heightened senses – Namu has strong senses (as shown when he fights against Ranfan) which allows him to feel his opponent's moves rather than just see or hear them.
Techniques
- Cross Arm Attack – An attack in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 where he rams into his opponent at full speed.
- For the Village – Namu remembers the people of his village and fights at full strength.
- Tenku pekeji-ken – The Tenku pekeji-ken (天空 ペケジ拳, Tenkū pekeji-ken; Literally meaning "Heavens x-Mark Fist") enables Namu to jump into the air about 40 feet high and come down on his enemy with his arms crossed, knocking them out for ten days. This is called the Aerial Attack in some English dubs and the Heaven Cross in the manga.
- Cho-tenku pekeji-ken – The Cho-tenku pekeji-ken (超天空 ペケジ拳, Chō-tenkū pekeji-ken; Literally meaning "Super Heavens X-Mark Fist") enables Namu to jump higher than the Tenku pekeji-ken to add more height between himself and his opponent and then crash down with even more momentum and damage.
- Shura Gekiretsu-ken – Namu senses his opponent is about to attack and jumps over them, karate chopping their neck from behind. This attack is used on Ranfan to knock her out. The name is given in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Zanzo-ken – As shown in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Namu can use the Zanzo-ken to move so fast an image is left behind.
Voice actors
- Japanese dub: Kaneto Shiozawa
- FUNimation dub: Jerry Jewel
- Latin American dub: Gerardo Reyero
Trivia
- Namu and his brother's names come from the Buddhist chant "Namuamidabutsu".
- Namu may be a Buddhist. This is shown in the manga as when using the Heaven Cross he shouts, "For the Buddha"!
- Though darker-skinned in the anime and manga, Namu appears as a light-skinned man in the North American version of Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure for unknown reasons. He appears as a dark-skinned man, however, in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Namu makes a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball: Gokū no Kōtsū Anzen crossing the street behind the girl from Metro West to whom Goku gave money in "A Trip to the City" and some other civilians.
- It is unknown how Tambourine kills him as he is one of the only offscreen kills besides Chapa-o's students and Man-Wolf.
- A character who looks like Namu appears in Turtle Hermit's story about the Devilmite Beam in "The Mysterious Fifth Man".
- Namu also shares a similar appearance with Chapa-o.
- Biographically, Namu bears many similarities to Oob, who is introduced much later in the series. Both come from poor Human villages. Both enter the Tenkaichi Tournament with the hopes of using the prize money to buy things with which to sustain his people (water for Namu, food for Oob) where they fight against and befriend Goku. The only difference is that Oob actually becomes a member of the Z Warriors in Dragon Ball GT, whereas Namu is never seen again after the tournament outside of anime filler. Both also have pure hearts.
- The Narrator pronounces Namu's name wrong in "He's Here! The Mighty Foe Giran".
