Ginyu Force
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The Ginyu Force (ギニュー特戦隊 Ginyū Tokusentai?) is a fictional group of characters in the manga and anime of Dragon Ball Z. They are an elite mercenary team working for Freeza to conquer planets.
A team of super-elite and powerful warriors, they are called upon by Freeza to assist in the defeat of Vegeta and obtainment of the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek during the course of the Freeza Saga in an attempt to regroup from Zarbon and Dodoria's previous failure. Though physically some of the very strongest in the universe, the Ginyu Force's members delight in coming up with strange poses, betting candy on fights, and playing Janken to decide the order they should fight. The strongest of them all is Captain Ginyu himself, a horned, purple-skinned mutant capable of changing bodies at will. All but Ginyu were killed by Vegeta, with the last having the unfortunate mishap of body-switching with a Namekian frog.
The Ginyu Force members follow the tradition of Dragon Ball characters being named for puns, in this case all manner of dairy products. The name Gi'nyu Tokusentai itself translates to "Special Corps. Milk".
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[edit] Butta 
Butta (Burter in the dub) is the tallest member of the team, a blue-skinned alien nicknamed the Blue Hurricane who fancies himself the fastest person in the universe. And indeed he has incredible speed which he demonstrates by swiftly retrieving a Dragon Ball thrown by Vegeta in an effort to prevent it from falling into Freeza's hands.
Along with Jheese, Butta sits out the fighting until Goku arrives and defeats Reacoom singlehandedly. Butta and Jheese jump in to attack Goku, but the Earth Saiyan proves both faster than Butta (much to his fury) and stronger than both of them. He then defeats Butta with two crippling blows to the back, and shortly thereafter, Vegeta finishes Butta off by dropping a knee on and breaking Butta's neck.
In an extra bit of storyline exclusive to the anime, he and the rest of the deceased Ginyu Force (minus Captain Ginyu himself) travel to North Kaiō's planet and square off against the Z Warriors who were training there. Butta teams up with Jheese again, though both are blasted by Tenshinhan.
Butta's Japanese name, Baata is a pun for the Japanese pronunciation of butter, batā. The Viz manga romanizes his name as Butta to reflect this pun. He returns in the movie Fusion Reborn along with Reacoom, Jheese and Gurd. His signature maneuver is known as the space mach attack.
[edit] Captain Ginyu
Captain Ginyu is the leader of the Ginyu Special Corps., as well as being the strongest fighter on the team with a power level of 120,000 - 150,000. He possesses the unique ability to switch bodies when he encounters a stronger opponent (in reality, he transfers his mind into the opponent's body and vice versa). While strong, he was outdone by Goku, and he changes into the Saiyan's body after purposefully injuring his own. After changing bodies he realizes he cannot use Goku's body to its full potential. When he sees Vegeta is even stronger he allows himself to be badly beaten, before accidentally landing back into his own body. He's further tricked when Goku throws a frog between he and Vegeta, trapping him in an amphibian's body with no voice to transform.
His name is a play on gyū'nyū, or milk. The pun carries over into the team name as well as his attack in the Budokai series, Milky Cannon.
[edit] Gurd 
Gurd (Guldo in the dub) is the smallest and least powerful member of the team physically, a short, rotund green alien with four eyes (which prevents him from wearing a scouter like the other members). Though clearly the weakest member of the group, Gurd possesses some psychic abilities, including being able to stop time for as long as he can hold his breath.
He and the other members of the Ginyu Force play a game of Janken at Captain Ginyu's insistence to decide who gets to fight Vegeta and who gets stuck with the "trash," Gohan and Kuririn. Reacoom wins outright, and Gurd, as the runner-up, fights Gohan and Kuririn. But their speed and strength caught him off guard, forcing him to resort to sneak attacks and time-freezing and finally use the full extent of his psychic powers to mentally paralyze their bodies, rendering them helpless. But as he prepares to finish them off Vegeta unexpectedly steps in and saves them by cutting off Gurd's head (in the manga this is done with a sideways chop, while in the anime Vegeta uses a ki beam). Gurd's severed head lives long enough to curse Vegeta for interfering, before the Saiyan prince blows the head up with another blast.
Later, in an anime-only arc, Gurd attacks Chaozu while on North Kaiō's planet, only to be easily defeated like the rest of his group. Gurd also makes a small appearance in Dragonball GT and it shows him flying out of hell with the other villains.
Gurd's Japanese name is Gurudo and is either a take on yōguruto (yogurt) or kurudo (curd). He's called Gurd in the VIZ manga to reflect the latter pun. He makes an appearance in the movie Fusion Reborn along with Reacoom, Butta, and Jheese.
Gurd made his first video game appearance in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, in which, to reflect the anime-only fight, he battles Chaozu on Namek. He returned in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. He is voiced by Bill Townsly.
[edit] Jheese
Jheese (Jeice in the dub) is an extremely flamboyant and showy, often portrayed as the rookie of the Ginyu Force, white-haired alien who appears human apart from his red skin. His precise strength is difficult to determine, although he is clearly at least as powerful as Butta, who he often partners up with for combination attacks. Due to his red skin, Jeice boasts the nickname Red Magma.
Like Butta, he lost the initial Janken contest with Reacoom and didn't get to fight either Gohan and Kuririn or Vegeta, although after Gurd's death, he and Butta play to see who will get to take on the two Earthlings and finish what Gurd started. After Reacoom defeats Vegeta, Jheese and Butta allow him to have fun with Gohan and Kuririn as well, as by this point they are clearly bored and want to leave. After Goku arrives and defeats Reacoom with one blow and revives Gohan, Kuririn and Vegeta using senzu beans, Jheese is not impressed with Goku's 5,000 power reading according to their scouters, and convinces himself that Goku just got lucky combined with Reacoom letting his guard down. He and Butta jump in to kill Goku, but the Saiyan proves more powerful than they had anticipated.
For all his boasting, Jheese is actually quite cowardly when faced with a strong threat such as Goku. Left alone when Goku defeats Butta as well, he leaves his friends behind and flees back to Freeza's ship and informs Captain Ginyu of the team's decimation. It is implied that Ginyu is angry at Jheese for running away, and he treats him harshly from this point onward. All throughout Ginyu's battle with Goku, Jheese remains on the sidelines as a spectator, apart from one instance when, unbidden, he steps in and tries to help the Captain. This results in Ginyu almost killing him and warning him never to interfere again. For the rest of his screentime, Jheese just sort of tags along with Ginyu (by this point in Goku's body), and ultimately runs in to Vegeta who toys with him before brutally destroying him.
In an extra bit of storyline exclusive to the anime, he and the rest of the deceased Ginyu Force (minus Captain Ginyu himself) travel to North Kaiō's planet and square off against the Z warriors who were training there. Jheese teams up with Butta again, though both are blasted into hell by Tenshinhan.
In the FUNimation dub he is voiced by Christopher R. Sabat with a pronounced Australian accent; in the Ocean Studios dub, he is voiced by Scott McNeil and speaks with a Scottish accent.
Jheese's Japanese name, Jiisu, is derivative of chīzu, or cheese. He's called Jheese in the VIZ manga to reflect this pun. He appears in the movie Fusion Reborn with Reacoom, Gurd, and Butta.
In Salza's profile in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, it reveals that he and Jeice are the same race.
[edit] Reacoom
Reacoom (Recoome in the dub) is a large, muscular human-like alien with red hair. He is the most flamboyant member of the Ginyu Force, seen striking poses more often in battle than Captain Ginyu himself, and generally behaving in a deceptively goofy manner, however Reacoom is actually fairly intelligent, not to mention sadistic, as he greatly enjoys toying with his opponents and egging them on with taunts.
Of all the members of the Ginyu Force, Reacoom is the one who does the most damage to the Z Warriors. His exact power level is not known, but he appears to be as strong as Butta and Jheese, perhaps slightly more powerful. When Captain Ginyu has his men play Janken to divy up Gohan, Kuririn and Vegeta, Reacoom wins hands-down and gets to fight with Vegeta. Despite Vegeta striking first, throwing Reacoom into a mountain and blowing it up, and using a number of other crafty and underhanded tactics and techniques, Reacoom dominates the battle, apparently taking little damage from Vegeta's attacks except for his armor being destroyed and (later) his hair being burned off. It's likely that Reacoom would have killed Vegeta with his Eraser Gun attack had Gohan and Kuririn not stepped in, with Kuririn attacking Reacoom from behind while Gohan pulls the wounded Vegeta out of the path of Reacoom's attack.
Reacoom's only ill effects from Kuririn's attack are a few loose teeth, and after Butta and Jheese (bored by this point and anxious to leave) give him permission to fight the two Earthlings as well, he nearly kills Kuririn with a single kick to the head. Gohan he takes his time with, apparently admiring the boy's bravery and tenacity, but he ultimately brings the game to an end by breaking his neck with another kick. As he is about to finish off all three of them, Goku arrives, and after healing them using senzu beans, proceeds to defeat Reacoom by elbowing him in his stomach as he began warming up for his most powerful attack in a theatrically hammy fashion. The redheaded giant then keels over unconscious, much to the shock of everyone. Later, after Vegeta kills Butta, he also kills Reacoom, completely destroying his body with a huge ki blast (although in a later episode, a blooper results in Reacoom's perfectly intact corpse remaining on the battlefield).
He later travels to North Kaiō's planet with the other members of the Ginyu Force. There they find Tenshinhan, Chaozu and Yamcha. Reacoom gets to fight with Yamcha, who was holding back on him, because he saw what Reacoom did to Vegeta. After Yamcha realises that Reacoom is on a lower level than he is, Reacoom is quikly disposed off and sent into Hell along with the rest of the Ginyu Force. In the English dub, while in the prison of Hell, he offers an arm-wrestling challenge to anyone in their cell, but the only reply he gets is a unified "Shut Up!" from the rest of the Ginyu Force.
Reacoom is one of the longest lasting Ginyu Force members in terms of screentime, though chronologically he is defeated second and dies not long after. He is also the first member of the Ginyu Force to appear onscreen during the team's elaborate introductory routine to Freeza. Reacoom also makes a small appearance in Dragonball GT and it shows him flying out of hell with the other villains.
Reacoom's Japanese name, Rikuumu, is the Japanese word for cream kurīmu (cream) rearranged. Viz went with the spelling of Reacoom in the DBZ manga to reflect this pun. He returns in the movie Fusion Reborn along with Butta, Jheese and Gurd.
Ironically, in the Ocean Group dub of Dragonball Z, his voice sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger's. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Christopher Sabat and his voice sounds like Sylvester Stallone's.
[edit] Sentai and the Ginyu Force
The Ginyu Force has some resemblances (maybe references) to early Sentai teams: five color-coded warriors, tendences to pose during battle, role calls and supernatural powers. However, because Toriyama's works usually feature parody, the stances used by the Ginyu Force may be a parody of the stances seen in magical girl animes of the time. Some of the recent references to the Ginyu Force's stylistic forms of poses and colorful display comes from Super Sentai and even Sailor Moon.
[edit] Video Games
Ginyu Force members have been playable characters in:
- Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (Ginyu and Reacoom only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors (Ginyu only but Reacoom, Jheese and Gurd are Attacks)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2 (Ginyu only but Reacoom, Jheese, Gurd and Butta are Attacks)
Ginyu Force members have appeared as enemies in:
- Dragon Ball Z: Chou Saiya Densetsu
- Dragon Ball Z Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen
- Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitouden
- Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (except Gurd)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (except Gurd)
