Yamcha as a joke character.

[MarCas92]

When did Yamcha become such a loser in the eyes of Toriyama/Toei?

Sure he started off as a sort of joke character, but his incompetence was never a focal point of the character. Sure he's the 2nd biggest jabroni in DB next to Vegeta, but it's only been in recent years where we've retrospectively turned him into a joke character for the most part. When did this happen?

A. He's always been a joke character. Ever since the beginning. I have a hard time believing this. He's no more comedic or foolish than any other character in early Dragon Ball. In fact, after the 1st arc very few jokes are made at his expense. Even his loss to Tenshinhan was played completely seriously with no laughs.

B. The 23rd Budokai. This to me is the start of the downwards spiral. Not to explicit, but the seeds were planted here in my opinion. All other instances of Yamcha being "lame" before this are a case of retrospective, since at the time they happened Yamcha didn't have the reputation he had now. But in this fight Yamcha is made to look like a fool for the 1st half (which is all people seem to remember for some reason). The 2nd half is much more serious. But even here Bulma takes a jab at Yamcha about how he's never made it past the quarter finals. It was the start, but nothing solid.

C. His loss to the Saibaman. The death that launched a thousand memes. It was a huge blow for Yamcha's popularity to be killed by what was even at that point in the story a "weak" enemy. But again, this was never played for laughs in ANY instance. But nowadays even official material treats what was once a very serious moment as a joke. In video games especially. In Xenoverse he has a "play dead" move....What? Why? In Dokkan Battle he has a joke card with this moment (another one for his loss against Tenshinhan as well). In some games, the Saibaman can OTK Yamcha with the self destruct move. I get that it's kinda lame to lose to an underling like that, but I dont think this was ever meant to be a joke. Even DB SD has a section where Yamcha immediately faints at the sight of a Saibaman.

After the Android Arc, Yamcha never partakes in the action ever again. But in the Boo Arc filler he is used for a few gags at his expense. Even in Super episode 43 they kind of use him as an idiot.

What are your thoughts? What brought about this change in the image of Yamcha as nothing more than an incompetent character?

[coola]

Like Lance said in his DB Dissection videos, throughout Hunt for Dragon Balls and 23nd Budokai, Yamcha was exposition man, having very wide knowledge of various fighters and techniques, he was also very unlucky guy, always getting to fight final boss during tournament.

Back in time, Toei actually treat Yamcha with respect, after just few weeks of traning on Kaio's planet, Yamcha was strong enough to beat Recoom without problems, and later, he easily beat Olibu, who hold his own against Paikuhan, who one shot Perfect Cell. Today, lots of media treat Yamcha like joke, he even got his own dead figure http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/ima ... clnpzs.jpg It didn't help, that Japanese VA of Yamcha himself said, that Yamcha is a loser.

[DBZAOTA482]

Why does the fandom write Goku as a bad father who doesn't give a shit about his family cuz he made a few mistakes? Why does the fandom portray Chi-Chi as some mad, raving bitch when there are characters who get more worked up for lesser reasons? Why is Jadakiss as hard as it gets?

[coola]

Why does the fandom write Goku as a bad father who doesn't give a shit about his family cuz he made a few mistakes? Why does the fandom portray Chi-Chi as some mad, raving bitch when there are characters who get more worked up for lesser reasons? Why is Jadakiss as hard as it gets?

In my opinion, Chi-Chi kinda is annoying b.tch, at least in anime, in manga she is ok, i never liked b.tchy characters in any TV show, that main character could easily kicked off from house

[B]

He's only a "joke character" if you base his value entirely on whether or not he can fight and win battles. And doing that is dumb.

Yamcha was always kind of a doofus. People act like he was Tenshinhan or Piccolo to begin with, when he was never that "serious" of a character. Fan perception isn't equivalent to what's on the page.

[precita]

Yamcha was always comic relief ever since his fear of women was established in his debut episode. Him constantly freezing and being goofy around Bulma is what started it. Yamcha was always funny.

[emi_b7]

I don't think he is a joke character at all. Sure, he had some jokes made at his expense but so does almost everybody else.
The fanbase treats him as a joke because he is weaker than most of the cast and mostly because of his death against the saibaiman but I don't think Toriyama nor Toei ever treated as a joke character.

[Xeztin]

I have no idea when or what exactly it started from, all I know is that he's been poked at even since I watched the dub when I was little. That last episode wasn't helping his case any as a character

[Puaru]

I have no idea when or what exactly it started from, all I know is that he's been poked at even since I watched the dub when I was little. That last episode wasn't helping his case any as a character

Yeah, that latest episode of Super made me convinced that Toei now views Yamcha as the resident buttmonkey just as much as the fanbase does.

[floofychan333]

People always say he was stronger than Goku, yet he never was...He only got a stalemate in their fight in the Pilaf saga. So, despite never being a legitimately strong character, Yamcha still managed to be useful in DB because of the lack of actual good fighters, then once Cell showed up he was deemed completely useless.

[Kuririn Fan]

People always say he was stronger than Goku, yet he never was...He only got a stalemate in their fight in the Pilaf saga. So, despite never being a legitimately strong character, Yamcha still managed to be useful in DB because of the lack of actual good fighters, then once Cell showed up he was deemed completely useless.

He helped in the first arc and defeated Invisible Man with the help of Kuririn. That's it.

[FoolsGil]

Is Kuwabara(Yu Yu Hakusho) a joke character? Is Chad(Bleach) a joke character? Is Sanosuke,(Rurouni Kenshin) Rock Lee,(Naruto) and Usopp(One Piece) joke characters?

To call Yamcha a joke character is to imply that Yamcha is special, when really he's from a long line of jobbers from shonen anime. Yamcha's just a normal anime staple.

[omaro34]

The fact that Yamcha lost Bulma to a man who was indirectly responsible for his death is the main reason why I view him as a joke.

Oh yeah, you can't forget his embarrassing fight against Kami in the 23rd Budokai.

[Hyena_Yamcha]

The fact that Yamcha lost Bulma to a man who was indirectly responsible for his death is the main reason why I view him as a joke.

Oh yeah, you can't forget his embarrassing fight against Kami in the 23rd Budokai.

Yamcha is not pissed about losing Bulma at all , he didn't even care
And yeah his fight with Kami was embarrising but atleast he dealt some damage on kami and
Forced him to fight seriously

[Hyena_Yamcha]

The fact that Yamcha lost Bulma to a man who was indirectly responsible for his death is the main reason why I view him as a joke.

Oh yeah, you can't forget his embarrassing fight against Kami in the 23rd Budokai.

Also Kami praised him in that fight so it count as a good momment

[successoroffate]

To be honest, I wanted Beerus to kill Yamcha for almost blowing up everything 2 episodes ago.

[floofychan333]

Is Kuwabara(Yu Yu Hakusho) a joke character? Is Chad(Bleach) a joke character? Is Sanosuke,(Rurouni Kenshin) Rock Lee,(Naruto) and Usopp(One Piece) joke characters?

To call Yamcha a joke character is to imply that Yamcha is special, when really he's from a long line of jobbers from shonen anime. Yamcha's just a normal anime staple.

Nah, Rock Lee's too awesome to ever be a joke character. He's at least made out to be brave because he became a ninja despite the odds.

[Kuririn Fan]

Yamcha is not pissed about losing Bulma at all , he didn't even care

Well, thats not really true, he told Bulma that even Goku thinks they should get married when Goku told Bulma to have a healthy baby and 3 years later, Bulma is seen with Vegetas baby and hes not exactly happy about it. At least he gets pussy everyday because he has Puar.

[Hyena_Yamcha]

Yamcha is not pissed about losing Bulma at all , he didn't even care

Well, thats not really true, he told Bulma that even Goku thinks they should get married when Goku told Bulma to have a healthy baby and 3 years later, Bulma is seen with Vegetas baby and hes not exactly happy about it. At least he gets pussy everyday because he has Puar.

yeah , but he didn't hate bulma or vegeta for it , in fact he still sees bulma as a friend

[Majin Jator]

yeah , but he didn't hate bulma or vegeta for it , in fact he still sees bulma as a friend

Didn't he mention that he had a new girlfriend at the end of the saga?. That probably helped to overcome the breakdown.
Of course, he could be lying about that...