Paikuhan

Paikuhan
パイクーハン (Paikūhan)
English Name(s)	Pikkon
Name Pun	Pork ribs + rice
Anime Debut	Dragon Ball Z Episode 195
Japanese VA	Hikaru Midorikawa
Canadian VA	Brian Drummond
Funimation VA	Kyle Hebert
Personal Data
Classification	Alien
Occupation	Martial Artist

Paikuhan is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball universe, introduced as one of the many fighters in the Afterlife Tournament that Son Goku encounters in Age 767, hailing from the West Galaxy.

Paikuhan is first introduced in episode 195 of the Dragon Ball Z television series, as scripted by Aya Matsui, which debuted 28 July 1993 on Fuji TV. Paikuhan went on to appear in a supporting role in 1995's twelfth Dragon Ball Z film, and following the nostalgia boom in the aughts with various video game releases, began making regular appearances as a playable character, particularly in fighting games.

Biography

Afterlife Tournament

TBD

Battle Against Majin Boo

In filler material as a part of episodes 278 and 279 of the Dragon Ball Z television series...

DBZ Movie 12

TBD

Name

Characters from the Afterlife Tournament have names that are largely sourced from east/southeast Asian food, or are an on-the-nose description of their appearance.

Paikuhan's name is written in katakana as パイクーハン (Paikūhan), a name spelling that is adjusted from 排骨 (paikū) meaning "pork ribs" and 飯 (han) meaning "rice"; in other words, his name is effectively an adaptation of "pork ribs with a side of rice."

"Pikehan" as a spelling was regularly used in English fansubs, while FUNimation themselves adopted a name change of "Pikkon" for the character.

Production

Due to the production schedule inherent in producing a weekly anime series based on a weekly comic, the writers of Dragon Ball Z interjected anime-only material both as a means of extending the runtime and to flesh out the Dragon Ball universe. Paikuhan and the entire Afterlife Tournament arc was written to depict Son Goku's experience in the afterlife prior to the time-skip and the arrival of Boo.

In April 2023, collector and fan hagero shared photographs of a variety of character design sheets on Reddit, all purported to come directly from Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, obtained as part of a visit to Toei in the late 1990s. As part of this batch, two designs are labeled with Paikuhan's name and "rough" (ラフ rafu as in "rough draft"). In particular, the first design of a man with a vest and necklace has パイクーハン (1) ラフ scratched out entirely and replaced with what appears to say "unknown martial artist" (無名の武闘家 mumei no budōka); this design was actually used in Dragon Ball Z episode 195 in a brief cutaway scene shortly after Son Goku arrives with North Kaiō to Dai Kaiō's planet. The second design of a more traditional-looking human man with glasses and a ponytail still has パイクーハン (2) ラフ listed with text (not crossed out as with the first).

• 
  Full first photograph of purported character design sheets from hagero
• 
  Cropped "Paikuhan (1) Rough"
• 
  Cropped "Paikuhan (2) Rough"
• 
  Character from Dragon Ball Z episode 195

Both 1995's Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 5: TV Animation Part 2 and Jump Anime Library guide book for the twelfth Dragon Ball Z film showcase various costume arrangements and facial expressions for Paikuhan.

Alongside his finalized character design, the 2003 guide book TV Animation Guide: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu notes that Paikuhan was developed as a "Piccolo-type character".

He's a Piccolo-type character, and even in the anime's production materials, there are memos left that say "use Piccolo as a reference for the facial expressions."

• 
  Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 5: TV Animation Part 2 designs and notes
• 
  Jump Anime Library designs and notes
• 
  TV Animation Guide: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu designs and notes

Notable Skills

Hyper Tornado

TBD

Thunder Flash

TBD

Performance

Japanese

Paikuhan is played in all appearances by Hikaru Midorikawa, a veteran voice actor who previously played Artificial Human No. 16. Midorikawa took over several of Hirotaka Suzuoki's roles after his passing, starting in 2009 for the Dragon Ball franchise as Tenshinhan in the "refreshed" Dragon Ball Kai television series, and onward into Tenshinhan's video game performances and other cameo appearances.

English

TBD

Notable Appearances

The following is a chronological, non-comprehensive list of some of Paikuhan's most notable appearances throughout the franchise, including those in various television series, films, video games, and more.

• Dragon Ball Z Episode 196 to Dragon Ball Z Episode 199 (1993): Paikuhan appears throughout the entirety of the Afterlife Tournament.
• Dragon Ball Z Movie 12 (1995): Paikuhan returns as a supporting character during this film, the events for which partially take place in the afterlife.
• Dragon Ball Z Episode 278 to Dragon Ball Z Episode 279 (1995): Paikuhan makes a brief appearance in filler material dealing with Majin Boo as he teleports around the universe in search of Son Goku and Vegeta.
• Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (2004): Paikuhan is a rare notable case of a character appearing in this western-produced video game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance ahead of any major appearances in a Japanese-developed game, albeit as an opponent rather than as a selectable character.
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (2006): Paikuhan makes his debut as a playable character in this fighting game for the Sony PlayStation Portable.
• Super Dragon Ball Heroes Promotional Anime (TBD): TBD
• Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 (TBD): TBD

Legacy

Inclusion in video games

Inclusion in Toyble's Dragon Ball AF

External Links

• https://dragon-ball-official.com/news/01_453.html
• https://en.dragon-ball-official.com/news/01_453.html