Does Piccolo beings an alien make his former title "Demon King" less valid?

[Captain Strawberry]

Well since the evil entity known Piccolo wasn't from the Demon realm but Planet Namek, does that really he wasn't a "Demon King"?

[sintzu]

Well since the evil entity known Piccolo wasn't from the Demon realm but Planet Namek, does that really he wasn't a "Demon King"?

The demon relm could have Namakines and other beings so I don't think that goes against anything.

[RedRibbonSoldier#42]

Dende is a god while also being an alien. But he was born as just a human, while kaioushin are born dieties (but train as kaiou?).Similar to the dragonball divinity, demonness seems to describe a state of being that one can enter into and exit as well as a type of creatue. Dabra is likely a born demon, as is Piccolo Daimao(though he was born as far as we know under different conditions) His son is an alien who happened to also be a demon at first, then stopped being one because he wasn't evil enough. Now he has fused with kami and sensed Kaioushin but not Beerus so who knows how that works.

[cheddarsword]

Personally, I think it is still valid, as in Japanese culture, someone who is very evil may be called a Demon.

As an example, Nobunaga called himself "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven".

So the term is applicable for anyone who has either an evil or monstrous nature.

[GigaDrill]

It's a title he gave himself so I doubt it

[Tectorman]

The nameless Namekian child of Katatz that landed on Earth was a normal mortal Namekian, albeit one with great potential. The Great Demon King Piccolo came into being when that Namekian sought to become the next Kami of Earth and had to purge his wickedness to do so. Given that origin, I'd call the Demon King title very valid, as it seems to be more a result of the "evil purge" that Kami had to do to become Kami than what race he started as.

Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to the entities created by the previous Kamis' "evil purges".

For that matter, why hasn't Dende purged anything yet?

[Makaioshin]

It is more than just a self-given title. Piccolo was created from the evil within God's heart and the spirits of those that he killed were unable to pass into the afterlife. I don't think it is ever suggested that Piccolo came from the Demon Realm. It is not like God was considered a demon.

[Cipher]

Piccolo is still a demon, regardless of the fact that he's also biologically alien. God points out that while the souls killed by Piccolo Daimao could not move onto the afterlife, a property of those killed by mazoku, those killed by the reborn Piccolo can. Ergo, the original Piccolo certainly possessed demonic traits. He's also a manifestation of pure evil, produces demonic and misshapen offspring, etc. He isn't a normal Namekian.

In the Dragon Ball world, being a demon does not necessarily require ties to the demon realm. Though he may be anime-only, Garlic Jr. also claims to be a member of the mazoku. It's more an extreme evil alignment, combined with the ties to some form of mysticism, than a natural or inherited trait. As others have pointed out in this thread, while Piccolo, as a manifestation of God's evil, may be a demon from the start, the series largely implies that much like divinity, demonhood(?) is a status that mortals may enter into or out of depending on their abilities and intentions.

And yes, this is a very Japanese concept (though it has roots in Hinduism), which is why it can be such a hang-up point for Western viewers, who are more used to demons being a set "species" of sorts.

[Adrian Malacoda]

Not any more than God being an alien makes his title of God less valid.

Nowhere it is suggested that Piccolo's alien ancestry invalidated his past as a demon. It is indeed suggested by God (also an alien, and a god) that Piccolo is no longer his demonic self when Goku and Raditz pass on to the afterlife. His transition from a demon to a human ("mortal") is due to character development, and has nothing to do with him being an alien.

[Pantalones]

He's considered a demon because he was literally pure evil -- created when the Namekian who became Kami got rid of all of the evil parts of himself, and that evil somehow congealed into another being rather than just dissipating off to wherever or absorbing into the surrounding environment and creating some very evil trees and rocks.

As we see from Piccolo Jr., he no longer counts as a demon by the time Raditz comes along (since Raditz and Goku's souls weren't stuck in limbo when he died but passed on normally), since over time his soul had developed and was no longer pure evil like Daimao's was originally. He shifts even further away from "demon-ness" after that.

But yeah, basically there's two different categories of "demons" -- natives of the Demon Realm, and the "Demon Clan" which are natives of the mortal universe who are just so evil that they take on demonic properties. Piccolo Daimao and his spawn were in the second category.

[The Monkey King]

Piccolo should count himself lucky that Dabura didn't sue him.

[Nejishiki]

Hm, "Daimao" is a bit of a generic title considering how it's regularly used on an island. Bringing whatever law system we're using into this, Dabra is king to a Demon Realm while Piccolo claimed rule over the Mazoku (personally created Mazoku, at that). He wouldn't have a case against him!

[KorgDTR2000]

I don't think so. Piccolo wasn't truly an alien born of another world, he was the physical embodiment of an alien's immorality.

So even if he wasn't of the Demon Realm, he was still a supernatural being.

[floofychan333]

He's not a Demon King in any way but since nobody on Earth except the Dragon Team knows about Namekians he could easily go around calling himself the Demon King and everyone would believe him.

[DanielSSJ]

As a bunch of other people have said, Piccolo Daimao's status as a demon has nothing to do with his alien ancestry. Just as Kami-sama (aka God) is both a god and a Namekian at the same time, Piccolo Daimao is both a demon and a Namekian. He was born from the concentrated evil within God's heart, his children, while born through the same means as Namekian reproduction, come out looking almost nothing like Namekians, and the people he and his children kill are unable to pass on to the afterlife, which both Karin and God note is a demonic trait.

Herms goes over the topic far more extensively here.

[Nejishiki]

He's not a Demon King in any way but since nobody on Earth except the Dragon Team knows about Namekians he could easily go around calling himself the Demon King and everyone would believe him.

I'm not sure how one would reach that conclusion. He's very much a ruler of the Mazoku whenever we see him. I find it more implausible to suggest Piccolo is required to sit through an official demon coronation. It's not impossible but I don't think purely evil beings would conduct their business in that manner, considering the preference for chaos.

[Nightmare Wheel]

Doesn't Kami continue to refer to Piccolo's demonic nature even after finding out they're an alien? Either way, when you consider that the original Piccolo was literally made of evil I think he qualifies as something other than a standard Namekian.