Tao Pai Pai

[Vijay]

What's your impression about Assasin Tao/Cyborg Tao?

I think he is freaking cool guy. Came outta nowhere at tail-end of Red Ribbon Army Arc to retrive Goku's DB's back to RRA's base.

Up until that point, no 1 has defeated Chibi Goku clean, except Jackie Chun which was pure luck. But Tao Pai Pai was this 1st true despicable villain & squashed Goku like do any previous antagonist before him did. And that gives him some credit

His Cyborg incarnatiob was ROFL. His showdown against Tien at 23rd TB while offered solid drama (and some growth to Tien's character) his helplessness was rib-tickling.

His filler scenes in Cell Saga were gold. His encounter with Goku offered some of heartiest laughter in the show. Slapstick comedy coated with subtle dramatic moments. Ex: Tao hatches an ingenius plan to trick Goku into giving his DB's to Tao as the latter realizes he stands no chance against Goku.

Overall, I felt he was a fun character & truly deserve a welcome in Super. Thoughts?

[RedRibbonSoldier#42]

Up until that point, no 1 has defeated Chibi Goku clean, except Jackie Chun which was pure luck.

Overall, I felt he was a fun character & truly deserve a welcome in Super. Thoughts?

I think you aren't giving The Muten Roshi enough credit when you say he beat Gokuu with "pure luck". As for him appearing in Super, I don't see what he has left to do. He can't be a deadly threat anymore, his relationship to Tenshinhan is resolved and comic relief from him was done in the Cell arc as you say.

[Vijay]

Up until that point, no 1 has defeated Chibi Goku clean, except Jackie Chun which was pure luck.

Overall, I felt he was a fun character & truly deserve a welcome in Super. Thoughts?

I think you aren't giving The Muten Roshi enough credit when you say he beat Gokuu with "pure luck". As for him appearing in Super, I don't see what he has left to do. He can't be a deadly threat anymore, his relationship to Tenshinhan is resolved and comic relief from him was done in the Cell arc as you say.

Dont get me wrong. Muten Roshi is my favourite character next to Goku & kawaii Pan-chan. My point was Jackie Chun vs Chibi Goku at 21st TB was super fun as both contestants were so evenly matched. Whatever moves Jackie (essentially Roshi) uses, Goku counters in his style. Ex: Kamehameha gaishi/counter or Jackie's Drunkard kung fu vs Goku's cat-esque moves.

So even that it ultimately boiled-down to Roshi using Goku's short leg as weakness & exploit it to landing the decisive kick. Desperate times, desperate measures. Even after receiving the kick, Goku was the 1st to stand & about to declare "I win", as Jackie was struggling to his feet. Not to mention his monologue of Goku being the only 1 to push him that far. Miracle played major part imo

As for Tao. Super could shed some light on his backstory. Or even delving deep into his relationship with Tsuru Sennin & Kami Sennin's School of Martial Arts to develop secondary Z fighters

[Kuririn Fan]

Tao was such a badass & first real threat for Goku, but sadly he won't come back, Toriyama forgot him.
And his story arc is done, i would rather have Lunch back, is it so hard to just put her in the backround with the rest of the Gyumaos and Chaozus?

[Vijay]

Tao was such a badass & first real threat for Goku, but sadly he won't come back, Toriyama forgot him.
And his story arc is done, i would rather have Lunch back, is it so hard to just put her in the backround with the rest of the Gyumaos and Chaozus?

Lunch was an entertaining character. Too bad she never had any relevant scene frm Saiyan Arc onwards. Iirc, the last scene of Lunch (with actual dialogue unlike the brief scene in Buu Arc) was mid Goku vs Vegeta. She was drunk in bar & grieved abt how all those money she stole is useless as Tien's dead. Kinda touchy...

[LuckyCat]

Probably my favorite villain of the early manga, and his connection to Tenshinhan is interesting. I also like Toei's addition of the black kintoun he could ride.

[Draconic]

Up until that point, no 1 has defeated Chibi Goku clean, except Jackie Chun which was pure luck.

Overall, I felt he was a fun character & truly deserve a welcome in Super. Thoughts?

I think you aren't giving The Muten Roshi enough credit when you say he beat Gokuu with "pure luck". As for him appearing in Super, I don't see what he has left to do. He can't be a deadly threat anymore, his relationship to Tenshinhan is resolved and comic relief from him was done in the Cell arc as you say.

Dont get me wrong. Muten Roshi is my favourite character next to Goku & kawaii Pan-chan. My point was Jackie Chun vs Chibi Goku at 21st TB was super fun as both contestants were so evenly matched. Whatever moves Jackie (essentially Roshi) uses, Goku counters in his style. Ex: Kamehameha gaishi/counter or Jackie's Drunkard kung fu vs Goku's cat-esque moves.

So even that it ultimately boiled-down to Roshi using Goku's short leg as weakness & exploit it to landing the decisive kick. Desperate times, desperate measures. Even after receiving the kick, Goku was the 1st to stand & about to declare "I win", as Jackie was struggling to his feet. Not to mention his monologue of Goku being the only 1 to push him that far. Miracle played major part imo

As for Tao. Super could shed some light on his backstory. Or even delving deep into his relationship with Tsuru Sennin & Kami Sennin's School of Martial Arts to develop secondary Z fighters

Muten Roshi spent almost all his energy doing the Kamehameha that destroyed the moon and was still able to keep up with Goku who lost nothing turning into a Great Ape. If he wouldn't have transformed, Roshi would have won with the electrical technique anyway. I don't think there is any doubt Kame-Sennin was the fair winner of that fight.

Anyway, regarding Tao Pai Pai. What an amazing character... From his introduction, to his means of transportation, to his and Goku's first fight. Everything he did was mind-numbingly awesome. However, I really don't see what else he could bring to the table. He had a definitive end when Tenshinhan humiliated him at the 23rd and I think the Cell Arc filler episodes of DBZ with him served as a nice epilogue to the character.

[LightBing]

Tao Pai Pai is awesome, abandoning his office job to become the greatest assassin the World ever saw. That's a courageous businessman right there. His approach and mannerisms made a great character.
I gotta say his second coming as a cyborg was disappointing, I would've preferred if him and Tsuru Sennin gathered some underlings and we had a full Kame vs Tsuru arc. It would be a great way to close Master Roshi story has the greatest teacher on Earth and complete Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu changes. While maybe adding a couple of crazy humans to give Kuririn and Goku some fights.

I'm kinda wanting to write this as a what-if scenario...

[Lord Beerus]

An immensely underrated villain that should have had a bigger impact on the story. Great design, unique abilities and a killer personality.

[FoolsGil]

Two things I wish had happened, for such a great character.

1) Cyborg Tao appears in the 23rd Budokai, and wollomps Tenshinhan to hell and back, and faces Goku in the Quarter Finals.

2) Cyborg Tao loses to Tenshinhan like in Canon, and comes back to the series as Android 19.

[omaro34]

Mercenary Tao was an evil badass that really stood out because of his no nonsense attitude, killer personality, and overall villainous nature. 5 things come to mind when I think of this character:

1) when Mercenary Tao killed General Blue with his TONGUE. That was truly shocking to first time viewers who saw this live and did not except the main bad guy for the last number of episodes who was Blue get one shotted the way he did.

2) When Tao killed Upa's father, Bora. This was a dark scene for a series that was relatively light hearted up until that point. I vividly remember seeing this scene during the show's original run and was shocked at Mercenary Tao's cruelty. His entrance was pretty epic, as he lands comfortably on the pillar, the camera shows his feet and goes all the way to his face then he says "Pleased to Kill You". He had no regard that a child (Upa), was now without a father figure, and was crying over his father's body.

3) His method of travel was very unique to me; no other character in the series travels by throwing a pillar or a tree branch and stands on it while it flies. His clothes at the back where it says "Kill You", was cool too.

4) After Bora's death, Goku rages and attacks the notorious Mercenary head on, but to no avail. It was the first time Goku was totally outclassed, Tao beat him with minimal effort. If it weren't for the 4 star ball in Goku's shirt. Tao's Do Don Ray would have pierced through Goku's heart, killing him instantly. This fight showed Goku that he must get stronger to protect the ones he cares about the most. This fight also showed how big of a threat Tao was, because up until that point no one in the series introduced prior was stronger than Tao.

5) His relationship with Tien was interesting, and this is evident in the 23rd tournament when Tien shed mercy on his old master. I felt that this relationship wasn't developed enough, but oh well.

Overall, I don't think Tao is coming back in Super. I just don't see it. Toriyama tends to forget about his earlier work, and with all of these new concepts and ideas, I think the writers totally forgot about Tao as a character, which is sad. Such an underrated villain that never got enough credit. He's in my top 5 list of favorite characters in the entire series.

[Cipher]

Tao Pai Pai's the god damn man.

That anime-only sequence that follows him through his day around town and ends with him hard-boiling an egg in his own bathwater is one of the funniest things in the series.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Tao Pai Pai's the god damn man.

That anime-only sequence that follows him through his day around town and ends with him hard-boiling an egg in his own bathwater is one of the funniest things in the series.

[Soppa Saia People]

Probably my favorite villain of the early manga, and his connection to Tenshinhan is interesting. I also like Toei's addition of the black kintoun he could ride.

As cool as that was that filler was so dumb.

[Sandubadear]

Toriyama supposedly said that Tao and Tsuru died and weren't revived since they're bad. I couldn't find proof, though.

[Silver Sinspawn]

I know it's not canon, but he does reappear in Dragon Ball Online as Tao X, and a robot based on his image built by Shen, Tao-Pai-Pai-EX, in Attack of the Saiyans.

Tao is pretty boss.

[Zenith]

He's a very cool, interesting character that reminds me of how disappointed I am that so many people haven't seen the original Dragon Ball. Hopefully Funimation can somewhat remedy this by releasing Blu Ray sets in the future.