Am I the only one who thinks the Yamcha meme is in poor taste?

[sintzu]

If Naruto and Batman are the only other franchises you can think of, then you haven't seen much.

I know, there's a lot of things I'd like to see but I haven't found the time to do so.

[Lord Beerus]

I've never found the Yamcha death pose meme in poor taste. Especially considering this a franchise that is well aware of how cheap death is and how Yamcha is a essentially a bit of a joke character.

[TheZFighter]

This isn't recent. Yamcha became a bit of a joke years ago. Yes, his death in the Saiyan arc was sad, but that was nearly 30 years ago. This is not due to a meme. Besides, the meme didn't come out of nowhere.

I meant "recent" in relation to the franchise in general, which it is.

[Nickolaidas]

As a fanfic writer who always writes the human Z Fighters in a way of making them important and relevant, I have to say that no, you're not alone. My big brother's favourite character was Yamcha up to the entire DB era. Yamcha's fight with Tien (22nd Budokai) and the mummy are considered to be his best moments.

It was only in Z where my brother got tired of his losing streak and Yamcha becoming irrelevant that he decided not to outgrow of Yamcha, but to outgrow of Dragon Ball.

That's right. My brother refused to watch more Dragon Ball instead of refusing to keep having Yamcha as his favourite character. That's how much he loved him in his prime.

[Cure Dragon 255]

That is amazing. No, really. I like it when people love stuff that much. And when they quit shows that keep dissapointing them. I really feel we would be in a much better world if we all did.

[ABED]

It's certainly better than staying with a show that you hate and complain about it on the net and piss and moan and act like you are entitled to be heard by the the writer(s). Although, I think Yamcha being demoted is a silly reason to give up the show even if he is your favorite.

[Lord Frieza]

Depends on your mood and how black your sense of humor is.

[Thanos]

I'm glad Tenshinhan got into the tournament, but I do find it odd that they went for Kame'sennin instead of Yamcha. That would've been perfect, like classic DBZ. On some level I feel like he was left out for the sake of the joke, which leads into this--outside of official material some of the memes are cute, but now he's just a blatant joke.

[DragonBallKing]

His entire character was a gag from the beginning, the gag being his fear of women. Even Toriyama see's Yamcha as a joke, the death pose meme and TFS just poured more fuel on the fire. Yes the meme is bad taste, but he's always been someone to poke fun at since he first appeared.

[TheZFighter]

Yamcha has always been more of a source of humour that perhaps most of the main cast, because he is a bit of a goof and says daft things, but he was still a relatively credible front line character throughout Dragon Ball right up to the Saiyan Saga. He had a lot of pride and confidence in his abilities, even if it was often misplaced, and was (generally) pretty fearless as well. It was only after his death that he became aware of his mortality (yeah, death is one way of making us aware of our own mortality!).

As you move into the Android Saga you start getting these Yamcha moments where you're just like "Aw jeez...". I'm not sure whether they're English dub only or in the manga or whatever, but his disastrous attempt to train in 300g's and his fearfulness after getting impaled by Android 20 spring to mind. After that he was reduced to a background character really, mostly standing around with Bulma like a glorified Oolong. It is a shame but there you go, that's the direction this series went in.

I just try to remember his good moments. All those brilliant Wolf Fang Fist's, never the most effective move but always looked and sounded really good. His fight against Tien was great. Remember when he first debuted his Spirit Ball as well? That was the first time we'd ever ki control/ manipulation like that, what a pioneer!

[TheGreatness25]

I don't know why anyone would ever think that Yamucha is there for anything more than a gag. His first fight, he freaked out because Bulma was there and got his tooth knocked out. Then, how many times did he freak out and have silly moments even back to his first appearances? The only time where he was serious was in the Tenkaichi Budokai and even then, he was made to look like a dummy with the "Is he or isn't he?" thing with Roshi and Jackie Chun. In the Saiyan arc, Yamucha had a cool baseball playing scene, but other than that, he was just another guy there until he became the Saiyans' first Z Warrior casualty.

Yamucha was never depicted as cool, a bad ass, or as strong. Yamucha was always the silly guy in the background. Is it that people just don't see what I saw?

[ABED]

Yamucha was never depicted as cool, a bad ass, or as strong. Yamucha was always the silly guy in the background. Is it that people just don't see what I saw?

He's not a pure gag character, though. You're correct about those incidents but he's somewhere in between. He's not as serious as Piccolo and he's not a purely comic relief character either.

[TheZFighter]

Yamucha was never depicted as cool, a bad ass, or as strong. Yamucha was always the silly guy in the background. Is it that people just don't see what I saw?

He had moments but yes he has always been more of a comic relief character.

[Gaffer Tape]

It really bugs me when people play the "he was always a comic relief character" card and then point to the first arc. That's because it's a very disingenuous argument. Yes, Yamucha is played for comedy in the first arc. So is Blooma. So is Oolong. So is freaking Goku! I mean, Yamucha's not going around patting himself on the back for patting girls on the crotch, now is he? Every character in that arc has foibles that are played for comedy. That's the kind of story it was. And yet Yamucha demonstrates himself as a competent warrior and not exactly lacking in cunning either.

After the first arc, almost none of that early buffoonishness stays around, as he's basically conquered his fear of women (yes, the anime shows him occasionally getting tongue-tied, but it never happens in the manga again), almost to the detriment of his character. As I've stated in my Dragon Ball Dissection series, he basically becomes Fred from Scooby-Doo. He's the straight man of the group with little going for him to make him stand out. He gives exposition. He drives people around. He serves as the only-somewhat-effective leading man to contrast with against the silliness of the kid fighters of Goku and Kuririn. If anything, he became too bland, not too comedic.

Yeah, he whacks himself in the balls once. So what? Tenshinhan's been pantsed. Kuririn sniffs crotch diamonds. People really tend to overblow that moment and conveniently ignore that everyone treats him like he gave a really impressive fight, including God himself praising him for his abilities and potential.

So, yeah, I feel when people use that argument, they're using blinders created out of knowledge from later in the series. Sure, Super portrays Yamucha that way now. And, yes, even in the "good old days" there was a lot that was lacking in how Yamucha was utilized. But "Yamucha was always just a pathetic comic relief character, full stop" is just plain wrong.

[ABED]

But most of those characters weren't played for comedy. They had plenty of comedic moments, but they weren't played for comedy. I don't think Yamcha becomes too bland, but he does get lost in the shuffle. He feels like the first to fall behind. I can't remember if it's in the manga, but in the anime, Oolong points out that he always loses in the first round of the Tenkaichi Budokai. He very quickly becomes cannon fodder.

Tenshinhan's been pantsed.

I think falling on your balls is far more humiliating than that and certainly moreso than sniffing a diamond that was stuffed in a girls bikini.

[Gaffer Tape]

But most of those characters weren't played for comedy. They had plenty of comedic moments, but they weren't played for comedy.

I honestly have no idea what the difference is supposed to be. Seriously. Give me an example from the first arc how Yamucha is supposedly more comedic or buffoonish than all of the other characters.

I think falling on your balls is far more humiliating than that and certainly moreso than sniffing a diamond that was stuffed in a girls bikini.

Obviously that's a matter of opinion. But I don't get how hitting your balls once is the be-all, end-all humiliating event that so many people play it off as. I think that's lending a very minor moment way too much importance. I mean, if that's all it takes, every single man is a complete and total loser because I defy you to find one who has managed to make it to adulthood without taking a whack in the nuts more than once.

[ABED]

There's a world of difference. A serious character can have comedic moments, but overall still be serious and did I once say he was played for comedy? No, just that there's a difference between being played for comedy and beign a gag character. I don't think he's a gag character, but of all the characters you mentioned, at least of the fighters, he's certainly the one that's most prone to failure which is fodder for laughter.

It's the way he got hit below the belt. He didn't get hit, he landed. The way he did it makes him look incompetent.

Obviously that's a matter of opinion.

Really? Who would rather be hit in the groin than be pantsed?

[8000 Saiyan]

I don't know why anyone would ever think that Yamucha is there for anything more than a gag. His first fight, he freaked out because Bulma was there and got his tooth knocked out. Then, how many times did he freak out and have silly moments even back to his first appearances? The only time where he was serious was in the Tenkaichi Budokai and even then, he was made to look like a dummy with the "Is he or isn't he?" thing with Roshi and Jackie Chun. In the Saiyan arc, Yamucha had a cool baseball playing scene, but other than that, he was just another guy there until he became the Saiyans' first Z Warrior casualty.

Yamucha was never depicted as cool, a bad ass, or as strong. Yamucha was always the silly guy in the background. Is it that people just don't see what I saw?

The anime did make him cool by having him beat Recoome, although it's just filler.

[ABED]

I'm hard pressed to think of a fight he's won (that wasn't filler), or how much he contributed to the plot, at least in terms of contributing to achieving the protagonists' goals.

[8000 Saiyan]

I'm hard pressed to think of a fight he's won (that wasn't filler), or how much he contributed to the plot, at least in terms of contributing to achieving the protagonists' goals.

He defeated that invisible man and knew that Oozaru Goku needed to return to his normal state by cutting his tail.