Dragon Ball Super Manga Drops Piccolo a Throwback to Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Super’s manga is retelling the story of the latest film of the shonen franchise, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Luckily, the latest arc is adding some major new story beats to the feature-length movie that saw the resurrection of the Red Ribbon Army and Cell, while also giving Gohan and Piccolo some major new transformations. Now, a new character moment in the manga’s latest chapter calls back to a pivotal moment in the early days of Dragon Ball Z, showing how the more Piccolo has changed, the more he stays the same.

Much like Vegeta, Android 17, Android 18, and many other shonen characters that have come into Goku’s life, Piccolo started out as a villain that was threatening the world. While the Dragon Ball manga might see a much kinder, friendlier Piccolo take center stage than his former elderly self in the first series, it’s clear that the Namekian still has some ties to his former title as a demon king. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero saw Piccolo finally receive two new transformations, with “Piccolo Unleashed and Orange Piccolo” putting him on potentially even footing with Goku’s Ultra Instinct and Vegeta’s Ultra Ego. Needless to say, should Piccolo show up in a future Dragon Ball movie and/or the manga, it will be interesting to see how the Namekian fares. 

Piccolo The Demon King

In the latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super’s manga, Chapter 91, Piccolo states that he will make Pan a “splendid demon” to become a part of his clan. In the early days of Dragon Ball Z, when the Namekian began Gohan’s training following Goku’s death, Piccolo stated something similar when it came to Son Gohan’s brutal regiment. While Piccolo is no longer a villain in the series, it’s clear that he still has some deep ties to his more nefarious resume.

Piccolo’s demon nod wasn’t the only new detail added to the latest chapter of the manga, as we also witnessed more of Krillin’s police detail in the face of the Red Ribbon Army’s resurrection. Goku’s best friend had quite the encounter with Dr. Hedo’s robotic wasp, proving that Krillin still has some training to do in his off-hours. As the manga continues, it will be interesting to see what other changes the print story makes to the events that took place in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.