Namekian

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A group of Namekians on their home planet.

A Namekian (Namekkusei-jin) is a fictional race in the manga Dragon Ball and the anime Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. They are humanoid with slug-like characteristics, including green skin and antennae. Namekians are philosophical warriors. They are among the most important races in the series.

The name "Namek" is taken from the word namekuji which means "slug" in Japanese.

1 History
2 Physiology and abilities
3 Super Nameks
4 Namek castes
5 See also
6 Notes

[edit] History

In the era of the Dragon Ball series, there were just over 100 Nameks alive on their home planet; they had been killed off a generation before by a great storm. The only known survivors are Saichoro, who gradually began to repopulate the planet, and a namek who was sent to safety on Earth, the namek that Kami and Piccolo Daimaō used to be.

During the Namek Saga, their homeworld Planet Namek, was terrorized by Freeza and his henchmen, Zarbon and Dodoria. The planet was ultimately destroyed by Freeza as a last-ditch effort to kill Son Goku in their battle during the Freeza Saga; Freeza could survive in space whereas Goku could not. All of the nameks were temporarily transported to Earth, where they lived for nearly a year before being resettled on New Namek.

What we know of pre-series namek history is very limited. It is clear that they were a well-known spacefaring race at some point in the not-too-distant past as the saiyans who came to Earth immediately recognized Piccolo as a Namek. It is extremely unlikely that they would be so well-known, of the many alien races introduced over the course of the series, if they were only a primitive farming culture on a single planet. It is also known that nameks had higher technology because one namek was spirited away to Earth in a small space capsule (with namek-language voice recognition) prior to the genocide.

Up until the arrival of Raditz, Piccolo and the other nameks on Earth were considered demons due to the evil nature of Piccolo Daimaō and his spawn. Kami's status as a namekian was not generally known, though he would not have been considered a demon. When the namek who Kami and Daimaō used to be originally came to Earth, he lost all the memory of his homeworld, and thus, neither Kami nor Piccolo Daimaō knew that they were aliens. Except for Piccolo Jr., the offspring of Piccolo Daimaō were not considered namekians. It is possible that Piccolo Daimaō's evil caused his own offspring (Tambourine, Cymbol, Piano, and Drum) to be mutated and malformed, so much so that they didn't even resemble normal namekians.

[edit] Physiology and abilities

Namekians are humanoids with slug-like characteristics, including green skin and antennae. They require only water for sustenance and are adapted to a world with three suns, with at least one up at all times. They do not have genders and reproduce asexually by spitting out an egg. The offspring are not genetic copies of the parent; rather it appears as if the parent has some control over what type of child will be formed. This is carried to the extent that they may be mutated and not closely resemble others of the species.^[1] It's interesting to note that in the original manga, the Namekians' hands only had four fingers, while in the anime they were given five fingers like humans. Their physiology grants them many unique abilities.

In the series, Namekians demonstrate a wide variety of abilities, many of them magical in nature. These abilities are seen mostly by important characters, such as Piccolo, so it is unknown how many are common to the species versus the individual. It is likely that the vast majority of them are restricted to fighter-type Nameks as opposed to sage-like Nameks, as none of the normal Nameks displayed the ability to use them when facing the crisis of Freeza's invasion.

Heightened sense of hearing: Namekians' sense of hearing is far greater than that of humans. Piccolo told Goku that the large ears weren't just to frame his face and that he heard all that Future Trunks told him, indicating that their large outer ear structure gives them heightened hearing. In the Dragon Ball movies, it is stated that very high-pitched sounds like whistling can be irritating to Namekians, to the point of causing them pain.
Regeneration: Namekians are an extremely resilient race and capable of healing themselves and regenerating body parts instantly, as long as their brains are intact. This does not make them completely invulnerable, though, as it takes a large amount of reserve energy to perform and it is possible for a Namek to die with his body more or less intact after a battle.
Body flexibility: A Namekian's body and limbs are also extremely flexible. They can elongate their arms and legs at will. With considerable effort, they are even able to grow many times their size.
Awakening potential: A somewhat mystical ability used by Saichoro, he was able to raise the power level of individuals by awakening their potential. It's not just a normal power boost; it makes the person as powerful as they possibly could be at that point in time, assuming they already aren't. If the individual is already at their max, and they already meet their potential, the technique will do them no good.
Object creation: Namekians can create items like clothing out of thin air. It is likely this ability is what is used for their most potent skill, the creation of Dragon Balls. It was noted in the series that only members of the "Dragon Clan" of nameks were able to create the balls, but it is unclear whether their creation is a learned skill or innate to the species, as Kami created them based on a racial memory of sorts.
Fusion: Namekians have a form of inverse reproduction where they are able to permanently join themselves with other members of their race. When this is done one of the Namekians serves as the base and gains the skills, memories and many of the personality traits of the other. It is unknown what happens to the soul of the absorbed Namek, but it is hinted that the other soul simply remain with the body until it perishes, or that, at least, the personality and memories are, to some extent, present within the host being. This is evident when Nail talked to Dende through Piccolo, proving that Nail's knowledge and personality were still present, to an extent, or when, after the fusion of Kami and Piccolo (although this type of fusion was somewhat different, Piccolo and Kami were two parts to a whole) Piccolo's personality changed somewhat.^[2]
Fission: The reverse of fusing, a single Namekian can also split into different copies of itself. One instance of this ability being used was when the son of Katas purged all the evil within himself by casting it off into a separate being, resulting in the good natured Kami and the demonic Piccolo Daimaō. Both Namekians were able to read each others thoughts, and if one died the other would as well. Because of the drawbacks this ability should not be considered a perfect fission as they, in all considerations, are still one being. However, if one half were to die and spawn another Namekian, the other half would remain intact. When Piccolo Daimaō died he spawned the current Piccolo, and Kami didn't perish.
Soul control: Both Kami and the Piccolo Daimao demonstrated the ability to manipulate the very soul of beings. With Piccolo, he was able to prevent the souls of those he killed from going to the afterlife, forcing them to remain in limbo for eternity; with Kami, he was able to incarnate his soul into another being, essentially possessing them. It is also likely that in Namekian fission, the soul is shared between the two new namekians.
Kaifuku/Healing: Dende is shown with the ability to heal other beings of virtually any injury.
Increased lifespan: Both Guru and Kami were several hundreds of years old before they passed on.
Telekinesis and telepathy: Piccolo was able to mentally lift a pyramid in the anime. Guru can communicate with his offspring, despite their location on Namek.
Ki manipulation: Namekians are more adept at manipulating ki than humans, granting them superhuman strength and speed, as well as flight and the ability to shoot concussive blasts.
Sensing Evil: Namekians can sense the presence of evil in a power level where as other fighters can only sense the magnitude. This was shown in "The Tree of Might" by Piccolo and in the Dragon Ball Z episode 48 - Arrival of The Ginyu Force by Nail.

[edit] Super Nameks

Lord Slug, one of the Super Nameks.

After Piccolo merges with Kami, he powers up to levels well beyond of the existing Namekians. Thus, he is called by Kuririn a "Super Namek".

In the movies, some extremely powerful Namekians found the ancient secret to becoming Super Nameks. These Super Nameks were extremely aggressive and very different from their agrarian counterparts. They were banished from the planet using the Dragon Balls. The only example shown of such is Lord Slug.

It is doubtful that Super Nameks are a fundamentally different type of Namek in the same way that a Super Saiyan is completely different from a normal Saiyan. Super Saiyans are an entirely new form of Saiyan, a result of an important metamorphosis. But Super Nameks, as far as can be discerned, are simply very powerful Nameks, and the term "Super Namek" is only a nickname.

[edit] Namek castes

Combat castes^[3]
- Fighter-type: Fighter Nameks are the most powerful of the Nameks, being much stronger than other Nameks in combat ability. Nail and Piccolo Ma Junior are the only two of this type seen. Power Levels of Fighter-type Nameks estimate at 40,000 and beyond.
- Warrior-type: Described in the Daizenshuu, these are Nameks who are proficient in combat, but not at the same level as Fighter-types. The three Nameks who challenged Freeza are of this type. Note that this variety only appears in the Dragon Ball Z anime. Power Levels of Warrior-type Nameks estimate at 25,000 to 30,000.
- Soldier-type: Described in the Daizenshuu, these are Nameks who are proficient in combat, but not at the same level as Warrior-types. The three Nameks who fought Dodoria are of this type. Power Levels of Soldier-type Nameks estimate at about 10,000 to 20,000.
Support castes
- Healer-type: These Nameks can heal the wounds of others^[4]
- Dragon Clan: These Nameks are the only ones capable of creating / manipulating Dragon Balls.^{[citation needed]}

Only plot-important Nameks are shown or described as being one of the above castes. It is unknown if the other Nameks in existence belong to one of them or to other unmentioned castes.

[edit] See also

List of Namekians in Dragon Ball

[edit] Notes

^ Within the namek culture on their home planet, it seems as the right to reproduce is restricted only to the Great Elder. Demon King Piccolo used a somewhat corrupted version of this process, creating several demonic, non-namekian minions to serve him. When he did create an actual offspring (Piccolo Jr.), he was able to pass on all of his memories, personality and likely his very soul into it, making it virtually a reincarnation. This might explain why Piccolo Jr. matures so rapidly; he goes from an egg to a young adult namek in three years, whereas other nameks (such as Dende) are more like humans in their growth rate.
^ The absorbing namek will not obtain any caste specific abilities from the other. This is shown when Piccolo, a fighter-type, is unable to restore the Dragon Balls, even though he had fused with Kami, who was a member of the dragon clan.
^ The Daizenshuu states that the first batch of three Nameks who fought Freeza's men were soldier-types and the second, anime only, batch of three were warrior-types. The anime states that all combat-capable Nameks (including Nail) were of the same caste and that Nail was far more powerful because he was the best of them. In both the manga and anime, Saichouro states that Nail was the only Namek born a fighter-type.
^ Dende is the only Namek shown to have this ability and it is proved later that he is a member of the Dragon Clan. This might therefore not be a caste, but a unique ability to Dende. A bit of confusion arises from this as it is also stated that Piccolo can not heal others because he is a fighter-type, insinuating that the ability is restricted to or from various castes.