Now that we’ve seen Piccolo kick some serious butt in the latest film following the adventures of the Z Fighters facing off against a resurfaced Red Ribbon Army in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, it brought a brand new form for the fighter whose ancestors hail from planet Namek as well as some brief mentions of his previous forms that could cause casual fans to raise an eyebrow in puzzlement.
Fear not, because we have gone through the trouble of tracing all of Piccolo’s various forms in the mainline TV shows from the mind of Akira Toriyama, from Dragon Ball, to Dragon Ball Z, to Dragon Ball Super. For the purposes of this list, we will be focusing mainly on those three shows, and the aforementioned Super Hero, not the manga, Dragon Ball GT, or the non-canon movies.
It’s sometimes hard to categorize what can be considered a “form” and what is merely a fighting move. However, we are considering any time Piccolo physically transforms in some way to be a distinct “form.” In addition, any time Piccolo’s consciousness moves from one body to another — or when he absorbs another person’s consciousness — is also something we consider to be a distinct “form.” When only minor physical changes occur from a technique, such as Piccolo being able to stretch his arms or regrow limbs, we don’t consider that distinct enough to warrant its own category. Although measuring power levels could be considered its own transformation, we will leave that criterion off of this list since it could go up or down without changing Piccolo’s physical appearance. Power levels are also so nuanced, such as Piccolo’s power being suppressed at times, that it would be worthy of its own list.
Without further ado, let’s count down all of Piccolo’s forms from his earliest appearances on the Dragon Ball timeline through his pumpkin-hued form in the latest adventure in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
The Nameless Namekian Splits Into Kami and King Piccolo
The origin of King Piccolo predates the events of Dragon Ball by hundreds of years. Before the Demon King plotted to plunge the Earth into mayhem and destruction, he was merely one-half of a being known as the nameless Namkeian. The nameless Namekian in question had aspirations for being Earth’s guardian, and the overseer of its Dragon Balls, however, he was denied that throne due to having evil within himself. In order to get around this, the nameless Namekian split himself into two parts: the good side became earth’s Guardian, Kami, and the evil side became King Piccolo. The two beings remained two parts of a whole, even if they were physically separated, throughout their respective existences.
From Old to Eternally Young King Piccolo
The old and decrepit King Piccolo would receive the gift of eternal youth, as well as a boost to his strength from being physically in his prime, during the events of Dragon Ball, thanks to a wish that was granted by the dragon Shenron, whom he later killed so no others could make wishes.
Piccolo Jr.
Piccolo Jr. was the Namekian who served as both the descendent and reincarnation of King Piccolo after the latter was defeated by the child-aged Goku. King Piccolo was able to spit out an egg with his last dying breath, after Goku punched a hole in his chest, with the young Piccolo Jr. poised to avenge his death in Dragon Ball. Though Piccolo Jr. may seem like nothing more than a descendent of King Piccolo, he is more than that because Piccolo Jr. also retained all of King Piccolo’s memories and abilities. Therefore, it’s not exactly correct to call Piccolo Jr. an entirely separate character since aspects of King Piccolo’s consciousness were obviously inherited by the younger Nemakian. However, Piccolo Jr., as an adult, would later carve an entirely distinct legacy from his ancestor and former self when he later teamed up with Goku to help fight larger threats, such as Raditz, Nappa, Frieza, and others.
Ironically, Piccolo Jr. would later kill Goku, but this occurred while being on his same team in order to take down Raditz. While Goku was holding his Saiyan sibling in place, Piccolo shot his Special Beam Cannon, killing them both, during the events of Dragon Ball Z.
King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr. Great Namekian Form (Giant Form)
Both King Piccolo and his progeny, Piccolo Jr., have used their Great Namekian form, AKA Giant form, in their respective battles against the child-aged Goku during Dragon Ball. Though both King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr.’s strength and power increased during their giant state, it still wasn’t enough to overcome Goku, who subsequently defeated them both. Piccolo Jr. would not use this ability again until the latest movie in the franchise, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (we’ll touch upon that a little later).
Piccolo (Deceased)
With the transition of Dragon Ball to its follow-up series, Dragon Ball Z, we not only saw Goku transform from a child to an adult but also Piccolo Jr. slowly transformed from a villain to a hero. The character’s arc was further signified by eventually ditching the “Jr.” moniker at the end of his name, entirely, and going by simply “Piccolo.” He even trained Goku’s son, Gohan, to become a fighter during the events of the Saiyan saga.
Throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, Piccolo has died multiple times, something that occurs for a lot of characters in the series. Luckily, the world of Dragon Ball also features the titular magical orbs that can wish people back to life. The most notable instance when Piccolo lost his life was probably when he nobly sacrificed himself to stand in the way of an energy beam sent by the Saiyan Nappa, which was targeted toward the young Gohan (Piccolo would later lose his life by protecting Gohan — again — during the Golden Frieza saga of Dragon Ball Super). This moment in Dragon Ball Z fully cemented the once arch-nemesis Piccolo as a full-blown hero, long before the hot-headed Vegeta made a similar arc later on in the series.
After Piccolo died, he entered the afterlife, traveled the path of Snake Way, and resided in King Kai’s abode. The only alteration to his appearance during this period was a tiny floating halo that all deceased persons wear above their heads. Kami also died when Piccolo lost his life, due to the two beings being one person that was split into two.
Piccolo Fuses With Nail
In case it wasn’t already obvious, Namekians have the ability to fuse together. That’s exactly what happened when Piccolo, newly revived from death by the Nakmekian Dragon Balls, comes across Nail, a dying warrior on the planet Namek who was badly injured by Frieza. After the two merge, Piccolo retained his own personality but saw a boost in power from Nail.
Piccolo Fuses With Kami (Reunified Nameless Namekian)
During Earth’s battle with Cell in Dragon Ball Z, Piccolo fuses with his better half, Kami — who was revived alongside Piccolo with the Namekian Dragon Balls during the Frieza saga — in order to become more powerful. The two halves becoming whole once again makes Piccolo a reunified nameless Namekian from this point on, with Dende eventually taking the position of the new Guardian of Earth who reactivates the Dragon Balls.
Cloning (Multi-Form)
When Piccolo briefly did battle with Frost in Dragon Ball Super during the Tournament of Power, he used a move that is a rare sight in the anime by cloning himself in a move known as Multi-Form. Frost, who is the same species as Frieza but from Universe 6, made quick work of Piccolo in the battle, however, swiftly wiping out all of his doppelgängers and defeating him. Still, it’s a good reminder that Piccolo’s move sets are as alien as they are varied.
Piccolo Potential Unleashed Form (Ultimate Form)
After Piccolo is granted a wish from Shenron to unlock his dormant potential in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, he soon transforms into his Potential Unleashed, AKA Ultimate, form. While Piccolo sports a gold-colored aura in this state, the physical differences to his actual body remain relatively minor, compared to how he normally looks. He still has green skin and antennae, but the horizontal lines on the green portions of his arms are now smooth (the pink oval portions of his arms that resemble exposed muscles still have lines). This form only saw a brief appearance in the film before Piccolo appeared to be defeated by the android Gamma 2. However, it wasn’t long after this that we saw the evolved version of this form that resembles Piccolo as a pumpkin spice flavor.
Orange Piccolo
Sometimes it seems unfair that not every character in the world of Dragon Ball can be a Super Saiyan. Though Sonic the Hedgehog famously borrowed from Akira Toriyama’s vision of a gold-haired version of his heroes, with the existence of Super Sonic bearing a striking resemblance, only characters who are part of the Saiyan race in the Dragon Ball franchise can boast the legendary ability.
However, Piccolo was finally able to get his moment to shine by transforming into Orange Piccolo in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, seemingly placing him among the heavy-hitters alongside his Saiyan buddies. This was the second transformation Piccolo enjoyed in the movie following his initial Potential Unleashed state, which only slightly altered his appearance. After seemingly being defeated in the film, Piccolo arises with a bulkier, taller physique and orange skin, which he dryly dubs “Orange Piccolo.”
The Orange Piccolo form is an evolved version of his Potential Unleashed state, with both forms being unlocked thanks to a wish from Shenron to unlock his potential. The Orange Piccolo form represents a bonus boost by Shenron, which reportedly puts the Namekian on par with the likes of his enemy-turned-companion Goku and company, according to a translation of notes from Toriyama himself.
Orange Piccolo Great Namekian Form (Giant Form)
During Piccolo’s fight with Cell Max in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Krillin helpfully reminds the Namekian of his giant form, which he uses to get out from underneath Cell Max’s boot. Despite the bigger size, Piccolo indicates his power level did not increase from his Orange Piccolo form.