Black history month: Who is your favorite black DB character?

[Jord]

There aren't many black DB characters but I think it would be interesting to look at the ones there are to see who likes who best.

I myself always thought Commanding officer Black (yeah, the name is a bit much) was the coolest and most interesting character of the Red Ribbon army. Quietly serving Red until his chance arrived. He was cool, and probably the most intelligent villain we had at that point and strong in combat as well. Such a shame that he went out in that mech fight.

I would have really liked it if he somehow survived and turned up in Z as Dr. Gero since Black came across as a smart man. It was certainly better than Gero appearing out of nowhere and revealing that he worked for the RR Army, while conveniently forgetting that the audience never saw him and that he was never mentioned before,.

I also did like Black's portrayal in path to power but found his redesign a bit generic. He looked a bit like a black Gomez Addams, without the charisma.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Well Nam and Uub are more Indian. So I guess Officer Black is the only prominent character in the series who can really be considered 'black'. Although some people interpret Piccolo as being coded to be black, and for some reason I tend to think of Beerus that way too.

[PurestEvil]

Officer Black, for sure. He was the most competent RRA leader (more than blue imo) and had the sense to put an end to Red's bullshit.

Although some people interpret Piccolo as being coded to be black, and for some reason I tend to think of Beerus that way too.

While I could definitely see Piccolo as a black character, the fact that he wears an Orientalist looking turban makes me skeptical of it. Also, I am pretty sure Beerus is supposed to be ancient Egyptian, who were not the same race as sub Saharan Africans.

[Polyphase Avatron]

For some reason I just could easily see a black actor portraying Beerus.

[Jord]

Well Nam and Uub are more Indian. So I guess Officer Black is the only prominent character in the series who can really be considered 'black'. Although some people interpret Piccolo as being coded to be black, and for some reason I tend to think of Beerus that way too.

On top of my head we also have
-Killer (from the Buu saga Tournament)
-Dr. Gero
-Major metalitron (Path to power version)

[Polyphase Avatron]

I thought Dr. Gero was Asian...

[Robo4900]

There really aren't many black characters in Dragon Ball.

Is Officer Black really the only option? I mean, he's not a bad character; on the contrary, he's quite good... But I'm trying to think of anyone else. I really can't think of anyone. There's Killa, I guess, but he's barely more than an extra. Mister Popo... I'm having a hard time thinking of anyone else. As noted, Oob and Nam are supposed to be Indian. IIRC as is King Chapa.
Some count Piccolo, and arguably if he counts, then you could make an argument to count him twice, since he had two incarnations, but I think counting him twice is cheating. Daimao and Junior are sort of a character and a half. They're not exactly two distinct characters, but they're not exactly one character. And many would argue that, even though Piccolo can be read as being coded black, he's not actually black in any version so far (maybe Hollywood will get on that in a few years. Disney own Fox now, so maybe they'll try taking a second swing at Hollywood Dragon Ball), so saying "my favourite black character in Dragon Ball is Piccolo" comes off a bit weird to me, since he's actually green, and there is at least one other somewhat prominent black character in the show, in the form of Officer Black. But, I'm a white guy, so it's definitely not my place to say whether Piccolo counts or not.

Picking a favourite from among two characters (three if we count Killa, four if we count Piccolo) isn't very meaningful with a cast as big as Dragon Ball's though, so I don't think I really see any value in picking anyone. I will note that if Piccolo counts, then he is my favourite Dragon Ball character overall anyway, but I would feel weird picking him as "my favourite black character in the show." Kinda feels like a snub for Officer Black and Mister Popo.

[Grimlock]

Uub. Here's to hope he gets more screetime and development. Can't wait for him to get the main role eventually.

[jjgp1112]

For the love of Christ, can you stop baiting?

[Melee_Sovereign]

For some reason I just could easily see a black actor portraying Beerus.

Well a black VA portrays Dyspo, who looks like Beerus.

[Melee_Sovereign]

Staff Officer Black is the only major black character that comes to mind. Though I've said before that Mr. Satan kind of looks mixed black/white to me (though he also looks like he could be middle eastern). I don't think Mr. Popo is human, so I don't think he counts.

Heles is Egyptian-based. She could be black, or semitic.

With all that said, not to get too political, but we need to move past Black History Month being a thing. Black history needs to be studied throughout the year, along with the rest of history.

[goku the krump dancer]

Piccolo stuff

He's not black, nothing he does has ever given me the impression that he's supposed to be "under cover" black or black "coded" or what ever some folks like to say to try to bring some truth to this stupid joke.

It's headache inducing to see some of the lengths people go to prove that Toriyama was on some secret mission to make Piccolo along with the other Namekians black without Toei or whomever noticing as if it mattered. If Toriyama wanted to make a prominent black character he simply would have.

The new Heetas group are more Pseudo Black than Piccolo ever will be and its mostly because of their hair.

This is an inane topic by the way.

[WittyUsername]

Are there any examples of black Dragon Ball characters besides Staff Officer Black and Killa? People keep citing Oob as an example, but I assumed he’s supposed to be Indian.

[jjgp1112]

Piccolo stuff

He's not black, nothing he does has ever given me the impression that he's supposed to be "under cover" black or black "coded" or what ever some folks like to say to try to bring some truth to this stupid joke.

It's headache inducing to see some of the lengths people go to prove that Toriyama was on some secret mission to make Piccolo along with the other Namekians black without Toei or whomever noticing as if it mattered. If Toriyama wanted to make a prominent black character he simply would have.

The new Heetas group are more Pseudo Black than Piccolo ever will be and its mostly because of their hair.

This is an inane topic by the way.

I wish I could upvote this post.

I can't help but laugh at how something that is largely a JOKE amongst black DB fans has somehow mutated into an actual point of discussion from everybody but the black fans who started it. White and other races of DB fans: I promise y'all we don't actually think Piccolo is black or black coded, so stop looking for signs.

Are there any examples of black Dragon Ball characters besides Staff Officer Black and Killa? People keep citing Oob as an example, but I assumed he’s supposed to be Indian.

There aren't. OP just made this thread to get a race debate started because that's what he generally does.

[Polyphase Avatron]

I never really got the whole 'Piccolo is black' thing either, but as I've said, I for some reason see Beerus as black, so I guess people could see Piccolo that way too if they want.

[Robo4900]

Piccolo stuff

He's not black, nothing he does has ever given me the impression that he's supposed to be "under cover" black or black "coded" or what ever some folks like to say to try to bring some truth to this stupid joke.

It's headache inducing to see some of the lengths people go to prove that Toriyama was on some secret mission to make Piccolo along with the other Namekians black without Toei or whomever noticing as if it mattered. If Toriyama wanted to make a prominent black character he simply would have.

The new Heetas group are more Pseudo Black than Piccolo ever will be and its mostly because of their hair.

This is an inane topic by the way.

I wish I could upvote this post.

I can't help but laugh at how something that is largely a JOKE amongst black DB fans has somehow mutated into an actual point of discussion from everybody but the black fans who started it. White and other races of DB fans: I promise y'all we don't actually think Piccolo is black or black coded, so stop looking for signs.

lol. It did seem quite weird to me, but I wouldn't exactly know, so I assumed good faith. Thanks for the clarification.

Regardless, the point I was trying to make is that there's only like two black characters in the show, so if this topic is to be taken at face value, it's kinda weird to bring up.
Looks like OP is frequently making stupid, baity posts though, so I guess I should've taken a closer look for that. My bad.

[Super Sonic]

Now that I think of it, besides Bojack, have there been any Black actors in DB? Haven't watched Super, so no clue who of new guys are there, and with Kai and two movies, most diverse of Funimation's cast are one half-Vietnamese guy and two Hispanic women. Know with voice acting, it doesn't matter so much, but kinda curious.

[jjgp1112]

Now that I think of it, besides Bojack, have there been any Black actors in DB? Haven't watched Super, so no clue who of new guys are there, and with Kai and two movies, most diverse of Funimation's cast are one half-Vietnamese guy and two Hispanic women. Know with voice acting, it doesn't matter so much, but kinda curious.

A lot of Universe 11 characters were played by black actors.

[WittyUsername]

Is Bob Carter (the voice of Bojack) black?

[Jord]

Uub. Here's to hope he gets more screetime and development. Can't wait for him to get the main role eventually.

Uub is a strange case in that in Z he looked more Indian, then in the beginning of GT he looked more like a black man but when he turned into Majuub he once again got a new skin color. Regardless of skin color though, he's still a character with a lot of potential.
Really liked his Majuub look and as much as I like GT, his potential got squandered there.

I saw Popo mentioned but I don't see him as as a human since he's drawn differently from other black people. He's probably based on the Sambo caricature but the way he looks and behaves is way different from the other black people in the series.

And kudos to the board that nobody tried to be smart and mentioned Goku Black

Are there any examples of black Dragon Ball characters besides Staff Officer Black and Killa? People keep citing Oob as an example, but I assumed he’s supposed to be Indian.

There aren't. OP just made this thread to get a race debate started because that's what he generally does.

Actually, I just want to give a spotlight to the minorities in the Dragon Ball world and celebrate the (albeit) small diversity.