Namekian

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The Namekians (ナメック星人, Namekkusei-jin^?) are a fictional race of extraterrestrials from the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. 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 derived from the word namekuji which means "slug" in Japanese.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Physiology and abilities 3 Namek castes 4 Notes and references

[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 tempest. 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 Daimao 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 Namekians were temporarily transported to Earth, where they lived for nearly a year before being resettled on New Namek.

The Nameks were well-known spacefaring race at some point in the not-too-distant past as the saiyans who came to Earth for Goku 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 Nappa and Vegeta, Piccolo and the other nameks on Earth were considered demons due to the evil nature of Piccolo Daimao 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 home world, and thus, neither Kami nor Piccolo Daimao knew that they were aliens. Except for Piccolo Jr., the offsprings of Piccolo Daimao were not considered namekians. It is possible that Piccolo Daimao's evil caused his own offsprings (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. The patches on their arms in the anime seem to indicant age; younger Namekians have pink, while elders have a dull orange color. They require only water for sustenance^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} In the original manga, the Namekians' hands had four fingers per hand^{[citation needed]}, while in the anime they hands had five fingers like humans' hands.^{[citation needed]} Their physiology grants them many unique abilities.^{[citation needed]}

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.

• Sorcery^[2]
• 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.
• Enhanced Physiological 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.^[3]
• 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 Katattsu purged all the evil within himself by casting it off into a separate being, resulting in the good natured Kami and the demonic Piccolo Daimao. 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 chi than humans, granting them enhanced strength and super speed, as well as the art of flight and the ability to shoot concussive blasts.
• Sensing Evil: Namekians can sense the presence of evil in a power level where as most 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", and by Kami in the Android Saga, wherein Kami said that he could sense an evil creature growing and changing on the Earth below. This creature was Cell.

[edit] Namek castes

• Combat castes^[4]
  • Fighter-type: Fighter Nameks are the most powerful of the Nameks, being much stronger than other Nameks in combat ability. Nail is the only one of this type seen, as Piccolo is technically a Dragon-type Namekian. Power Levels of Fighter-type Nameks estimate at 30,000 to 40,000.
  • 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 anime. Power Levels of Warrior-type Nameks estimate at 15,000 to 22,000.
  • 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 5,000 to 13,000.
  • Super Namek: The Super Namek is the form when a Namek fuses with another and it's Power Level increases by over 45,000. The term, Super Namek, can also refer to any Namek that has the ability to increase his body size, speed, power, and strength. Piccolo Jr. and Lord Slug are the only known Super Nameks in the series.
• Support castes
  • Healer-type: These Nameks can heal the wounds of others^[5]
  • Dragon Clan: These Nameks are the only ones capable of creating / manipulating Dragon Balls. Namekians in this class include Saichoro and Kami (and therefore, by extension, Piccolo, though he is probably closer to a Fighter-type Namekian in personality).

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.

Piccolo could be considered a hybrid Namek because of his vast abilities. With a mix of Fighter-Type and Dragon Clan. He is an excellent combatant and has many Dragon Clan type mystical abilities. He also is the most powerful Namek by the end of the series, which should place him in an entirely different caste of Namek.

[edit] Notes and references

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