Yajirobe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yajirobe | |
|---|---|
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| Japanese | ヤジロベー |
| Romaji | Yajirobē |
| Anime Name | Yajirobe |
| Manga Name | Yajirobe |
| Alternate Name(s) | Yajirobi Yajirobey |
| First Appearance | Issue #138 DB Episode #104 |
| Appears in | Image:One Star DB.svg 
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| Race | Human |
Family
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| DB Character Listing - Category | |
Yajirobe (ヤジロベー Yajirobē) is a fictional character from the manga Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and the anime Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. He is a human who first appeared near the end of the Dragonball series. Yajirobe is typically found on the sidelines, helping occasionally but prefers to avoid major skirmishes. He is somewhat mischaracterized as a coward, and prefers to be thought of as intelligently careful. Despite his overweight appearance and desire to avoid fighting he is actually quite strong and highly skilled with a samurai sword. His seiyū in the Japanese version is Mayumi Tanaka, and his voice actor in the English dub is Brian Drummond.
[edit] Background/History
Yajirobe is a samurai mountain man with an insatiable appetite, and his first appearance is a confrontation between him and Goku. Goku had eaten his big fish, and Yajirobe picks a fight because of it. He and the hungry Goku have an even fight, until Cymbal intervenes. While the two are talking, Piccolo Daimaō's child, Cymbal sneaks up on them. Both Goku and Yajirobe are eager to fight him, but Yajirobe wins a game of paper-scissors, so he gets to fight. He demands Yajirobe gives up his Dragon Ball if he wants to live, but Yajirobe refuses, and fights Cymbal, who he quickly and easily slices in two, cooks and eats. He helps Goku, who had been severely injured in the initial battle with Piccolo Daimaō, get to the Karin-Tower -- but only after being promised that there would be food waiting for him at the top of the tower. He also helps Goku get the sacred water which gives Goku the power to beat Piccolo Daimaō. He later competes in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai in disguise, but he dosn't make it past the preliminaries, defeated by the disguised Kami.
In Dragonball Z, he assists in the fight against the Saiyans, by first slicing through Vegeta's tail, reverting him back to a regular Saiyan, and slicing through Vegeta's armor to protect Gohan, but gets several injuries in return. His role has been lessened from the original Dragon Ball, as he now merely assists by giving Goku and company Senzu Beans, and now lives in Karin Tower with Karin. Yajirobe shows up a lot in Dragon Ball Z, up to the appearance of Freeza. During the Garlic Junior Saga, they receive a visit from Maron, Kuririn’s girlfriend at the time, and the perfect example of a dumb blonde. Maron nearly drives Yajirobe and Karin up the wall, as neither is quite prepared to handle a helpless, sexy woman in their household. After that, he shows up during the beginning of the Android Saga, but that's about it. In the Android Saga, Yajirobe finally meets his match – baby Trunks. Apparently, Trunks doesn’t think too highly of the overweight warrior, and just about every time Yajirobe holds him, baby Trunks manages to pee on him. Of course he makes a few more appearances in the manga, (and many more short ones in the anime), but he loses a lot of his importance, like many of the original Z Fighters near the end of the series. By the end of Dragon Ball Z, he grows a mustache. He makes a Cameo appearance in Dragon Ball GT, in episode 40, "Piccolo's Decision".
[edit] Trivia
- Yajirobe is the only character besides Goku to appear on the manga picture twice. (When all Manga volumes are lined up, their spines make a picture). Akira Toriyama stated this as an honest mistake.
- In the Japanese version of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Yajirobe speaks in a Nagoya dialect. The dialect he speaks is often translated into Yajirobe speaking words such as "ain't", "s'posta" (supposed to), or "What'cha doin'" and also dropping sounds in certain words since this is the best way to convey the dialect.
- Goku once considered him a challenge saying "I've never met someone so tough!"
- When Yajirobe arrives at the Kame House to tell Kuririn and the Z warriors that they will be trained by Kami, Kuririn says the name of Yajirobe incorrectly: in manga - Itchyrobe, in anime - Armadillo.
[edit] Video Games
Yajirobe usually appeared as nothing more than a one-line character in cut scenes for most Dragon Ball video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3. However, in 2006 he made his first appearance as a fighter in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.
