Piccolo's blood color?

[DevilsAlwaysCry]

I am a bit confused on why Piccolo's blood color changed from red to purple. At the end of DB and at the beginning of DBZ, Piccolo's blood color is red in the anime. Then from the fight with Nappa onwards in DBZ, it became purple (from what I remember). Is there a explanation for this that connects to the story (like is there a explanation given in the show) or is it just due to artists changes?

[DaemonCorps]

Well, a technical question calls for a technical answer!

Way back when Piccolo was introduced in DB, Toriyama just figured that he was an evil alien. He didn't have a race, or a background... nothin'. But as the story progressed, Toriyama decided to add some background to Piccolo, connecting him to Kami, and eventually even giving him a race. I'm guessing that his blood color changed to purple to give his race some sort of trait that set them apart from humans.

Note that Toriyama first mentions the race of Namekians with the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta. Vegeta says something like "We can kill them all, since there's a planet of dragonball-makers on Namek." So, it would make sense that that would have been the first time that Toriyama changes Piccolo's blood, instead of the first time being when he was shot by Freeza.

Ah, me and my long explanations...

[Steven Perry]

I'm pretty sure about this, but not certain...

On my recorded Toonami version of the Raditz episodes, Piccolo got his arm blown off and it was purple (I think). But in the UUE, it was red. Maybe it was... editing?

[Duo]

Are there any colored chapters in the Kanzenban that show Piccolo's blood? I'm thinking this might be an exclusively Anime issue.

[Akira]

Akira Toriyama wrote the Manga volumes. I doubt he made any changes to the blood color.

It was Toei and Bird Studios who made the anime version, so any color variations are of thier doing. They change the colors on a lot of things throughout the series. What is the correct color or variation on a lot of things is up for debate. Piccolo also has a darker green skin in the 23rd World Tournament and during the Saiyan story arc, but changes to a brighter green during Freeza arc and stays that bright green through the end of the Buu arc.

Other examples:

-Different orange variations on Goku's outfit ranging from reddish orange to bright yellowish orange at different parts of the anime.

-Goku's undershirt and Vegeta's jumpsuit ranging from almost black in color to navy blue to light blue in various instances.



The real answer is they tried to stay accurate with thier colors, but things got brighter and clearer as the series went on. It was denser and grittier earlier on with darker colors. They had various animation teams working on the series later on too, and that probably contributed to a lot of the inconsistancies.

If you want an "In universe" example as Duo would say, then the commonly accepted answer for the blood color change was that the Demonic evil within Piccolo had faded away, and his blood was purer and purple again like the rest of the nameks.

Yeah, hokey, but that's the best explanation I've heard on an actual explanation continuity wise to make sense of it.

[Brad Redfield]

On my recorded Toonami version of the Raditz episodes, Piccolo got his arm blown off and it was purple (I think)

The original dub had Piccolo bleeding green blood, unless the broadcast version is different from the home video version.

[DevilsAlwaysCry]

I'm pretty sure about this, but not certain...

On my recorded Toonami version of the Raditz episodes, Piccolo got his arm blown off and it was purple (I think). But in the UUE, it was red. Maybe it was... editing?

In the japanese versions it was red so thats why the UUE has it red. Also, the fight between Son Goku and Piccolo at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai has Piccolo bleeding red as well (in the japanese version, so I am guessing that the uncut english DB episodes have it red as well).

[DevilsAlwaysCry]

Akira Toriyama wrote the Manga volumes. I doubt he made any changes to the blood color.

It was Toei and Bird Studios who made the anime version, so any color variations are of thier doing. They change the colors on a lot of things throughout the series. What is the correct color or variation on a lot of things is up for debate. Piccolo also has a darker green skin in the 23rd World Tournament and during the Saiyan story arc, but changes to a brighter green during Freeza arc and stays that bright green through the end of the Buu arc.

Other examples:

-Different orange variations on Goku's outfit ranging from reddish orange to bright yellowish orange at different parts of the anime.

-Goku's undershirt and Vegeta's jumpsuit ranging from almost black in color to navy blue to light blue in various instances.



The real answer is they tried to stay accurate with thier colors, but things got brighter and clearer as the series went on. It was denser and grittier earlier on with darker colors. They had various animation teams working on the series later on too, and that probably contributed to a lot of the inconsistancies.

If you want an "In universe" example as Duo would say, then the commonly accepted answer for the blood color change was that the Demonic evil within Piccolo had faded away, and his blood was purer and purple again like the rest of the nameks.

Yeah, hokey, but that's the best explanation I've heard on an actual explanation continuity wise to make sense of it.

Those are both great explinations. I thought it was just a change in the artist that did the blood color change, I just didn't know why. I would like to think that the reason is "in universe" but I doubt it (though the explination you gave works very well). I guess this is kinda along the same lines as the color change with Vegeta's hair/armor.

[Jerseymilk]

On my recorded Toonami version of the Raditz episodes, Piccolo got his arm blown off and it was purple (I think)

The original dub had Piccolo bleeding green blood, unless the broadcast version is different from the home video version.

That was only for the orginal broadcast version that was edited when Saban was calling the shots.

[Big Momma]

I would love to see some of this...blood....(Call me Gaara, but I can't get enough of the stuff![On TV, of course!])

[Drunken Master]

All in all, it's the animators and the anime. I love manga.

[Grandmaster J]

I've seen Piccolo with red blood in Dragon Ball, purple blood in Dragon Ball Z and also green blood in Dragon Ball Z when he regenerates his arm. So.....

[DaemonCorps]

I've seen Piccolo with red blood in Dragon Ball, purple blood in Dragon Ball Z and also green blood in Dragon Ball Z when he regenerates his arm. So.....

Well, I always thought that the green blood was something like that liquid that reptiles kinda seep out (or is that suck in?) whenever they re-grow a limb.

[Bardock the Mexican]

My guess is that the body makeup of Namekians is different than humans in more ways that just looks. Like having more than one body fluid for example. If we look at it it seems that there is the green mucus slime that acompanies regeneration, red oxygenated blood, and then perhaps a carbon dioxide laced blood type. The other explanation is that the editors in the edited version changed the blood color in the US version and couldn't find a blood color they liked and stick with it.

[DevilsAlwaysCry]

My guess is that the body makeup of Namekians is different than humans in more ways that just looks. Like having more than one body fluid for example. If we look at it it seems that there is the green mucus slime that acompanies regeneration, red oxygenated blood, and then perhaps a carbon dioxide laced blood type. The other explanation is that the editors in the edited version changed the blood color in the US version and couldn't find a blood color they liked and stick with it.

Well even in the japanese versions, it went from red to purple.

[veshira]

Well, let's take a look at what Piccolo's body can do:

- Photosynthesis: like autotrophs on Earth (e.g. plants, phytoplankton)
- Respiration: like any living organism on Earth
- Regeneration: like some forms of mollusk (e.g. slug, snail, starfish), amphibian and lizard

Trivia:
- When you ripe off a piece of a plant, it oozes a liquid usually white or clear. They can't regenerate, but up to a point they'll heal themselves nicely and continue living.
- When you ripe off a limb on a human, they often bleed red, and usually to death.
- When a mollusk, amphibian or lizard gets a limb ripped off, they don't bleed, because they have a special regeneration mechanism that takes immediate affect.
- For some types of lizards, they're tails have a special mechanism which allows it to fall of it held by it, however these same lizards often can't regeneration body parts other than the tail. (I know from experience - my desert lizard's mate's ( ) toes never regenerated, even though he lost his tail more than twice. Of course, he also turned black and died from a lizard disease. Of course, we never saw our lizards bleed even once, although we'd often see scratches on their bodies when they fought. )

I have no conclusion as of yet, but I hope my information serves some sort of purpose.

[Steven Perry]

Well, let's take a look at what Piccolo's body can do:

- Photosynthesis: like autotrophs on Earth (e.g. plants, phytoplankton)


I have no conclusion as of yet, but I hope my information serves some sort of purpose.

I... err... don't think Piccolo photosynthesizes. But then again... there's no proof as to what would happen if it was eternally dark (it's always day on Namek ). Who cares about that silly cucumber (Piccolo) anyway?

[Xyex]

Well, let's take a look at what Piccolo's body can do:

- Photosynthesis: like autotrophs on Earth (e.g. plants, phytoplankton)


I have no conclusion as of yet, but I hope my information serves some sort of purpose.

I... err... don't think Piccolo photosynthesizes. But then again... there's no proof as to what would happen if it was eternally dark (it's always day on Namek ). Who cares about that silly cucumber (Piccolo) anyway?

Namek's don't eat, only drink water. That's a plant related thing and pretty much requires photosyntesis to generate the nutrients he needs. Figure, on a world where it's always day out photosynthesis would be a highly effective method of survival.