Demon King Piccolo and the Black Star Dragon Balls question

[Gokitalo]

Hi, gang: I was trying to fill the remaining gaps in my Dragon Ball viewing, namely the King Piccolo arc (Ma Junior is next), when I came upon something I found quite surprising. As we all know, the first arc of Dragon Ball GT focused on the Black Star Dragon Balls, which were stated to be a Dragon Ball set created before Kami and Demon King Piccolo separated from one another...

...and yet, it's pretty clear in Dragon Ball that King Piccolo didn't even know what Dragon Balls were until Pilaf told him about them. I'm assuming the same is the case in the manga (If it's not, let me know!), so I thought I'd ask: did GT ever reveal on-screen why King Piccolo had no memory of what a Dragon Ball was when he supposedly took part in creating seven of them?

I tried watching a few stray GT episodes for clarification, but only learned that Piccolo Jr. didn't remember making any Black Star Dragon Balls. Understandable, as he inherited all of his "father's" memories.... but you'd think if King Piccolo had created the Black Star Dragon Balls previously while still a part of Kami, he'd at least remember what Dragon Balls were in general, even if he might not have recalled making a set. Although apparently Kami didn't remember making the Black Star Dragon Balls, either: if he had, Piccolo Jr. would have known about it by GT, as he'd assimilated Kami in Z.

Anyway, looking forward to clarification. I won't be able to give GT a full watch through for a while, so I thought I'd turn it over to the community for an answer!

[TobyS]

Nothing is GT is canon or well written but to answer your question.

When Piccolo and Kami re merge it has been a couple of lifetimes.

I don't know if it's filler but her even says “I am the namekian who has long since forgotten his name.”

If the time or a side affect of being split so long that the memory loss is so bad that he can't even remember his name it's fair to say he could forget about the day he made some stuff.

Especially when those were inactive and irrelevant for so long after he did split.

[Matches Malone]

If the time or a side affect of being split so long that the memory loss is so bad that he can't even remember his name it's fair to say he could forget about the day he made some stuff.

His name is Kamiccolo.

In terms of the question, it's safe to say he simply forgot about them, as he said he had no memory of anything after fusing with Kami.

[blacksymbiote]

The nameless namekian lost his memory as a child and I guess you could argue the black star balls were made out of instinct before the split much like Kami created the dragonballs not even knowing he was an alien at the time.