How popular was Piccolo as a character?

[90sDBZ]

I've been thinking about Piccolo recently and how he managed to stay in the limelight all the way until the Cell saga and also kept up with the likes of Goku and Vegeta while the humans all fell behind after the saiyan saga. Was he actually that popular when the Z portion of the Dragonball manga was coming out in Japan? In recent years it seems like the Saiyans get all the attention. Also his role was greatly reduced in the Buu arc. Was that anything to do with the popularity of his character or just because Toriyama couldn't figure out a way to work him into the action? It just seems odd how he was consistently giving big villains trouble for most of the series but then became worthless in the last portion of the story while the humans had long since stopped being useful.

For the record I'm a fan of his character and his badass and team player attitude.

[Kamiccolo9]

Best character ever. In fact, his badassery threatened to overwhelm everyone else, so Toriyama gradually gave him less important roles in the story.

But seriously, if I recall correctly, he usually did fairly well in the character polls. I'm not sure how well, though.

[kazamino]

seems to me that ANY character in anime/manga will be sticking around for a long time based solely on how well they do in polls... while Piccolo is actually one of the few I don't have a problem with, I've noticed that a lot of characters that annoy me or even infuriate me are saved from the chopping block due to either the creator loving the hell out of them or fan polls keeping them above water.


Personally why I think Piccolo is so popular is just how he isn't human and therefore should be around the level as the other alien races and/or villains... it is a shame that he got treated so poorly after Cell

[Herms]

Gaffer Tape wrote about this very well not too long ago, but despite how fans often say Piccolo had a reduced role in the Boo arc, he actually has a huge role there.  Just not a fighting role.  It's understandable that fans of a martial arts series would focus on how much fighting a character does, but I think the big part Piccolo plays in the Boo arc as a strategist/mentor/exposition-er/straight man is sadly overlooked.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Agreed on the thought that he still had a big role in the Boo arc, it was just a different role than he'd had in previous arcs. Where his character usage went was still pretty different from the shafting that the human characters had and would continue to get. I think it says a lot too that Piccolo was still deemed worth absorbing by Boo.

As far as his popularity goes, I dunno about back when the series was running, but he's always been a pretty popular character amongst fans as far back as I can remember. Seemed like back when I first started getting into the series, all the female fans were either Future Trunks fans, or they were Piccolo fans. Make of that what you will.

[DBZAOTA482]

I've always figured Piccolo was the most popular non-Saiyan character of the series.

[Herms]

As for the main topic, here's a bit I wrote elsewhere summing up some Jump DB popularity polls:

Daizenshuu 1 gives the results of two popularity polls taken during the course of the series, each one ranking the five most popular characters at the time. The first one appeared in Weekly Jump #12 for 1993, towards the end of the Cell Games (the issue features chapter 411, where Cell self-destructs). It lists Gohan in first place, followed by Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, and Piccolo. The second one appeared in Weekly Jump #5/6 for 1995, near the end of the Boo arc (this issue has chapter 501, the color chapter where Goku comes to the rescue while Gotenks-absorbed Boo continues to beat up on Gohan), and lists Goku in first place, followed by Vegeta, Trunks, Gotenks, and Piccolo.

And here's the popularity poll from DB Forever, a guide published to go along with the kanzenban re-release of the manga about ten years after the series ended:

1.Son Goku: 6,235 points
2.Vegeta: 2,527 points
3.Son Gohan: 2,131 points
4.Trunks: 1,487 points
5.Piccolo: 1,176 points
6.Son Goten: 798 points
7.Kuririn: 736 points
8.Majin Buu: 421 points
9.Freeza: 324 points
10.Android No.18: 204 points
11.Mister Satan: 201 points
12.Karin-sama: 185
13.Kame-sennin: 172 points
14.Cell: 170 points
15.Yamcha: 163 points
16.Tenshinhan: 125
17.Bulma: 112 points
18.Android No.17: 98 points
19.Yajirobe: 93 points
20.Videl: 86 points

So, based on this Piccolo would indeed seem to be the most popular non-Saiyan character, among Japanese fans at least. And always the 5th most popular character overall, for some reason.

[kazamino]

Gaffer Tape wrote about this very well not too long ago, but despite how fans often say Piccolo had a reduced role in the Boo arc, he actually has a huge role there.  Just not a fighting role.  It's understandable that fans of a martial arts series would focus on how much fighting a character does, but I think the big part Piccolo plays in the Boo arc as a strategist/mentor/exposition-er/straight man is sadly overlooked.

Okay, you have changed my mind... he wasn't treated poorly. It just felt weird at first I think

[Kamiccolo9]

And here's the popularity poll from DB Forever, a guide published to go along with the kanzenban re-release of the manga about ten years after the series ended:

Which Trunks is that referring to? Or does it not differentiate between the two?

[Saiga]

That popularity poll from DB Forever is so interesting! I'm surprised that Goten and Boo are as popular as they are. I'm not terribly surprised Piccolo is so popular. He has the most unique design and clothing of the main cast, and from my observation was hugely popular in the English-speaking fanbase.

[Herms]

Which Trunks is that referring to? Or does it not differentiate between the two?

It lumps them both together.

[B]

I've been thinking about Piccolo recently and how he managed to stay in the limelight all the way until the Cell saga and also kept up with the likes of Goku and Vegeta while the humans all fell behind after the saiyan saga. Was he actually that popular when the Z portion of the Dragonball manga was coming out in Japan?

I think the misstep in logic here is that fighting/keeping up with the power scale made the characters popular; I would honestly say it's the reverse: the more popular a character was, the more reason for Toriyama to keep them relevant. It's why Vegeta didn't end up like Tambourine or Raditz or Kewi, the way he was originally planned to.

[ABED]

I've been thinking about Piccolo recently and how he managed to stay in the limelight all the way until the Cell saga and also kept up with the likes of Goku and Vegeta while the humans all fell behind after the saiyan saga. Was he actually that popular when the Z portion of the Dragonball manga was coming out in Japan?

I think the misstep in logic here is that fighting/keeping up with the power scale made the characters popular; I would honestly say it's the reverse: the more popular a character was, the more reason for Toriyama to keep them relevant. It's why Vegeta didn't end up like Tambourine or Raditz or Kewi, the way he was originally planned to.

I think you mean like Freeza, Vegeta is hardly a henchman.

[B]

Toriyama intended to knock Vegeta off until he received such positive reaction from the readerbase at the time. That's why his original scrawny design is the way it is; once Toriyama realized he had a new regular, he beefed him up considerably.

Kuririn and Mr. Satan have similar stories. Kuririn wasn't originally going to be a big character, and that's why he has such a simple design compared to everyone else. Mr. Satan is introduced in the Cell as a fairly hulking, brutish guy, and then the Buu arc arrives and Toriyama is cozying up to his gag-manga roots, so Mr. Satan adopts a pseudo-super-deformed look.

[Saiga]

Was he intended to kill Vegeta in the Saiyan arc or Freeza arc? And what's the source for that?

[90sDBZ]

I absolutely agree that his role in the Buu saga was of great importance. He was the only one to keep his cool when Super Buu came to the lookout. It was his planning that ultimately lead to Gotenks lasting against Buu and as a result preventing him from destroying the earth before Gohan could arrive. I guess I just felt it would have been nice if he'd had one last chance to kick some ass. He had that moment of chopping Babidi's legs off sure, but he didn't even finish the job properly. And seeing him quit against Supreme Kai wasn't great either. The way things play out later on I have to wonder if Piccolo actually was weaker than him. Imo Piccolo should have had a chance to fight on Babidi's spaceship. Maybe he could have fought Dabura too. Former Demon King vs Current enslaved Demon King.

On a side note I've always liked his conversation with Vegeta before his final atonement. Piccolo understood what it meant to go from being a villain to sacrificing yourself for the good of others.

[PhoenixEX]

He is one of the most badass characters of the series for sure.
Although probably debatable in many ways, I personally feel like they even managed to make his character pretty badass in the GT series; like when he sacrificed himself.

[SSJ YUSUKE]

He is one of the most badass characters of the series for sure.
Although probably debatable in many ways, I personally feel like they even managed to make his character pretty badass in the GT series; like when he sacrificed himself.

GT handled Piccolo pretty badly to be honest, I mean he barely got any screen time. I clearly remeber watching GT for the first time when Baby had taken over Gohan and Piccolo came out of nowhere, I was expecting a huge battle between the corrupted student and his master, but that battle litraely ended before it even began.
As for Piccolo in the Buu arc I can appreciate Piccolo in his non fighting role, but Piccolo in the Saiyan, Freeza and Cell arcs was never one to backoff from a fight, it was just very dipointing that we never got to see Piccolo be the badass he was in the previous sagas.
Now that I think of it Krillan played similar role to Piccolo in the Cell arc, while he was no longer able to keep up with evryone elsee he still had a siginificant non fighting role which made him an important character in that arc, however unlike Piccolo in the Buu arc Krillan was still given a fight against imperfect Cell in filler and he still got to kill Cell something which Goku can't even claim to have done.

[DarkPrince_92]

Dude is the most responsible character in the series. That's why he's my second favorite after Vegeta, he was a "no bullshit" character to put it simply. I know plenty of people who watch the show, hardcore or casual, that love Piccolo.