There’s Something About Nappa. The Mystery of Nappa Revealed

[the_abberration]

There’s Something About Nappa. The Mystery of Nappa Revealed ?!?

As you all know, when we first see Nappa in the DBZ series, he’s bald. However, when he was shown in a flashback in the anime as well as in the Bardock Special, he had hair. According to Vegeta, a Saiyan does not change their hairstyle from birth (GT non-withstanding).

Now since this is only anime canon (he was never shown with hair in the manga), I’ve come up with a possible in story explanation for Nappa’s baldness:

Nappa’s daddy (or mommy) got some alien strange, which in turn produced a Half-Saiyan Nappa. This may explain the reason it was talked about that Half-Saiyans (such as Gohan) having so much power (Can’t remember where this came from but I know it was discussed in the past).

Now I’m not saying that Nappa was as strong as Gohan was as a child. I’m just theorizing that if he was a Half-Saiyan, his power level may have been higher at birth. This kept him from being classified as a low level Saiyan. It may also explain why he is with Vegeta (part of the royal court per se) prior to their planet’s explosion (Raditz being weaker most likely joined them after planet Vegeta’s destruction since they were the only ones left).

Now you could argue that Vegeta only said their hair doesn’t grow. He says nothing about them going bald. So let’s look at that:

(Vegeta: In the manga) “Pure-blooded Saiyans have thankfully been spared the grotesquery of “hair growth.”

Now while he does specifically mention hair growth only, there still is the possibility that they would view baldness equally as grotesque. So as far as the manga goes, it’s possible that Saiyan’s may naturally go bald . But what about the anime?

(Vegeta: In JP Sub)The hair of a pure Saiyan does not undergo any weird changes from the time they’re born.

For humans (and Half-Saiyans), hair growth is a natural process. According to Vegeta, for “pure” Saiyans, hair growth is a “weird change”. So it would stand to reason that baldness (which is a normal human natural process) would be equally as weird. Again this is debatable, but I for one am leaning towards Vegeta meaning if a pure Saiyan is born with a certain hairstyle, they keep that hairstyle.

(Vegeta: In ENG Dub) For your information a pure Saiyan’s hair does not change from the day that he is born.

Although the dub means $h1t among many DBZ fans, this translation pretty much matches the subtitles. The only difference is that Vegeta clearly states that whatever hairstyle a “pure” Saiyan is born with, they keep.

Other possibilities that deserve honorable mention:

• Nappa was born bald. His parents not wanting to suffer the humiliation of this, put a toupee on him. As he got older, he continued with the charade until Freeza blew up planet Vegeta. At that point there was no reason to hide his shameful secret, so he ditched the toupee.

• He looked in the mirror one morning and got pissed because he didn’t have big poufy hair like the other Saiyans. So he started shaving it.

Your thoughts?

[The Tori-bot]

EX, can you scan that part of the Vegeta doujinshi you have?

You know what I'm talkin' 'bout.

[Herms]

Now you could argue that Vegeta only said their hair doesn’t grow. He says nothing about them going bald. So let’s look at that:

(Vegeta: In the manga) “Pure-blooded Saiyans have thankfully been spared the grotesquery of “hair growth.”

Now while he does specifically mention hair growth only, there still is the possibility that they would view baldness equally as grotesque. So as far as the manga goes, it’s possible that Saiyan’s may naturally go bald . But what about the anime?

(Vegeta: In JP Sub)The hair of a pure Saiyan does not undergo any weird changes from the time they’re born.

For the record, the line in the anime is the same as in the manga, it's just that Viz's translation is a bit more liberal than the Funi subs.

Anyway, here's my summary of what Toriyama said in SEG: Character Guide on Saiyan aging:

Saiyan aging
Next Toriyama is asked whether Saiyans are always young. As a fighting race they stay young for a long time in order to maintain their power, but Toriyama explains that their actual lifespan isn’t much different than Earthlings, and they quickly deteriorate after a certain age. Toriyama adds that Saiyan hair style still changes with age, and that Nappa went bald. Like with Earthlings, hair composition various from person to person.

[Jackal puFF]

Interesting.. But i just think he shaved it off.

[Kaboom]

Simple. The hair's general form and length relative to their head doesn't change. But eventually once they get over the hill, they get facial hair and can go bald. Nappa ends up doing both, balding and growing his fancy mustache. Some other older Saiyans we've seen, albeit only in the anime, are sporting facial hair too. Like Paragus and King Vegeta.

[the_abberration]

Saiyan aging
Next Toriyama is asked whether Saiyans are always young. As a fighting race they stay young for a long time in order to maintain their power, but Toriyama explains that their actual lifespan isn’t much different than Earthlings, and they quickly deteriorate after a certain age. Toriyama adds that Saiyan hair style still changes with age, and that Nappa went bald. Like with Earthlings, hair composition various from person to person.

Damn. I thought I was on to something. But I guess I'll have to concede that what Mr. Toriyama says supercedes what his character said.

Thanks for the info.

[VegettoEX]

EX, can you scan that part of the Vegeta doujinshi you have?

You know what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Was is this one/part...?



(Real quick scans; click for bigger; left page 1, right page 2)

[Dayspring]

Saiyan aging
Next Toriyama is asked whether Saiyans are always young. As a fighting race they stay young for a long time in order to maintain their power, but Toriyama explains that their actual lifespan isn’t much different than Earthlings, and they quickly deteriorate after a certain age. Toriyama adds that Saiyan hair style still changes with age, and that Nappa went bald. Like with Earthlings, hair composition various from person to person.

Damn. I thought I was on to something. But I guess I'll have to concede that what Mr. Toriyama says supercedes what his character said.

Thanks for the info.

A way to coincide Vegeta's comments with Toriama is that hair grows in slowly over time (years). Once a certain length is reached (be it facial hair or whatever), it stops growing. If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

[Innagadadavida]

A way to coincide Vegeta's comments with Toriama is that hair grows in slowly over time (years). Once a certain length is reached (be it facial hair or whatever), it stops growing. If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

Goku has had his hair chopped off before (in Movie 1). Also, in GT, Vegeta grew his hair back after he cut it.

[bkev]

A way to coincide Vegeta's comments with Toriama is that hair grows in slowly over time (years). Once a certain length is reached (be it facial hair or whatever), it stops growing. If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

Goku has had his hair chopped off before (in Movie 1). Also, in GT, Vegeta grew his hair back after he cut it.

Here it comes, I'm warning you...




...It's GT. :p

[Rod]

Saiyan aging
Next Toriyama is asked whether Saiyans are always young. As a fighting race they stay young for a long time in order to maintain their power, but Toriyama explains that their actual lifespan isn’t much different than Earthlings, and they quickly deteriorate after a certain age. Toriyama adds that Saiyan hair style still changes with age, and that Nappa went bald. Like with Earthlings, hair composition various from person to person.

Damn you Herms, you beat me to it.

So, what does the doujinshi say?

[Dayspring]

A way to coincide Vegeta's comments with Toriama is that hair grows in slowly over time (years). Once a certain length is reached (be it facial hair or whatever), it stops growing. If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

Goku has had his hair chopped off before (in Movie 1). Also, in GT, Vegeta grew his hair back after he cut it.

Movie 1 and GT are the same as filler.

[Saiyan-Professor]

A way to coincide Vegeta's comments with Toriama is that hair grows in slowly over time (years). Once a certain length is reached (be it facial hair or whatever), it stops growing. If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

Goku has had his hair chopped off before (in Movie 1). Also, in GT, Vegeta grew his hair back after he cut it.

Movie 1 and GT are the same as filler.

Does GT necessarily have to be considered filler, could be that a different animation studio drew his hair in longer?

[SaiyaMel]

If hair falls out or gets shaven after that point, it would simply stay gone.

I'm not sure why so many assume that? It has always sounded dumb to me thinking their hair doesn't have the capacity regrow to it's original length/form.

[Rod]

Because Vegeta and Toriyama say so?

[SaiyaMel]

Toriyama (neither he himself, nor through any of his characters' words) to my knowledge, has never specified that it will never regrow if cut or whatever,, and even he does state that I'd still think it sounds stupid.

[Dayspring]

Toriyama (neither he himself, nor through any of his characters' words) to my knowledge, has never specified that it will never regrow if cut or whatever,, and even he does state that I'd still think it sounds stupid.

Vegeta says it stops growing after a certain age when he exits ROSAT. So it won't grow back to its original length because it simply won't grow at all. Basically it's not length-related, it's age-related.

[Travis Touchdown]

Also, in GT, Vegeta grew his hair back after he cut it.

...Huh? When?

[SaiyaMel]

Toriyama (neither he himself, nor through any of his characters' words) to my knowledge, has never specified that it will never regrow if cut or whatever,, and even he does state that I'd still think it sounds stupid.

Vegeta says it stops growing after a certain age when he exits ROSAT. So it won't grow back to its original length because it simply won't grow at all. Basically it's not length-related, it's age-related.

Maybe you're right... but I interprate that statement like this: akin to an animal's fur - it simply grows to adult length and won't ever surpass it, but will regrow to that given length if cut. Humans' on the other hand will grow and grow... Otherwise I think we'd be seeing all these Saiyans with ragged and manged looking hairdues.

[Herms]

Because Vegeta and Toriyama say so?

All Vegeta says is "The hair of a pure Saiyan does not undergo any weird changes from the time they’re born". How does that translate into hair not regrowing once it's cut off?