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Everyone gets introduced to the concept of the Antihero through various properties. The former nemesis of the hero that becomes a trusted ally or even close friend is a theme that is pretty common in literature and other forms of entertainment, and it's something that still being used.
For me, perhaps the first and most prominent Antihero ever will be Picollo from Dragonball.
Now, don't kill me as I'm not a walking encyclopedia of Dragon Ball, but if memory serves me correctly originally Kami, overseer of the Earth, decided that in order to better serve his role he decided to split himself into to halves - the good and the bad. The bad half became known as Picollo and I believe was introduced in one of the story arcs of the original Dragon Ball, and if not there, very early on in the Dragon Ball Z series.
After getting the crap kicked out him by Goku (and lets be honest, who in the show HASN'T had their ass handed to them by Goku), for some reason Picollo reforms, going from "guy who loses an arm and will Special Beam Cannon to kill Raditz even if means sacrificing Goku" to "guy who basically makes up for the fact that Goku is a dead beat dad".
Seriously.. a former mass murderer was a better father to Gohan than Goku ever was. What's next? Maybe Freeza will become Godfather to Krillan and Android 18's kid!
As time went on, Picollo's role as Goku's most powerful ally has slipped, with the Goku-Vegeta bromance going full tilt and showing no signs of stopping, and thus as a result he's not in the spotlight a whole lot anymore.
However, the flip side is that I don't have to worry about too many new Picollo figures coming out.
Presenting the Figurarts Picollo, all the way from 2009 when Dragon Ball Kai was in full swing, which in case you weren't aware, is the Dragon Ball saga retold (I think Z series only) without all the mood killing slow paced parts.
I have to say, for a figure that was released almost a decade ago that it holds up pretty well and, thank goodness, seems a lot better than the various Saiyans that came after him.
First off, lets talk toys, as it were. While stands and effects parts were not a thing even back in the day (sadly), Picollo comes with an assortment of hands, three head sculpts (turbaned, general grimace, focused), a set of crossed arms (something that took two releases for Vegeta to get right), and his tradmark cloak with two chest pieces, one of which is for dedicated use with the crossed arm pose.
Not bad for a set that came out 3 years before Vegeta did.
While I have Picollo displayed in pre Super Beam Cannon pose, for me his most iconic look will always be with his cloak and turban on, or as usually put it, before shit gets real and he takes off his physical inhibitors. Of course, Picollo can be displayed without the cloak on, which, if you're going for dynamic posing, is a requirement.
Unlike Vegeta and all the other Saiyans that came out along side him, they did not screw up the face of Picollo. The expression, decal work, everything looks spot on, or at least much more spot on as compared to the Saiyans. Fantastic to see in general, and considering there hasn't been a new Picollo in ages, was definitely a nice to have feature.
Sculpting on the whole looks really good, with no real complaints from me. Paint work is nice and sharp, especially on the yellow paint apps on his arms. Articulation, with the cloak off, is pretty much standard for a Figuarts, I suspect if Picollo were to be remade with more modern Figuarts technology like the fighting body developed for the Street Fighter line, the joints might be better hidden and range of motion would be even greater. But for your general posing needs even this version should be sufficient.
If there is one thing I find kind of odd looking with this figure, it's the lower torso. I think the proportions are off here, making it seem a bit long. That combined with the arrangement of legs makes it look like he's wearing diapers. Now that I think about it, Vegeta has this problem too.
I really do enjoy the character of Picollo, and am quite happy with this rendition of him. Sure, there are some improvements that can be made, particularly to the lower body, but for now this will happily suffice.
So if you're a fan like me, I'd definitely seek out this figure, probably the best action figure version of the character at this point in time.
I like Piccolo more than Vegeta. I actually never liked Vegeta very much, to be honest. As far as redemption stories go, veggie-boy isn't nearly the best that DBZ has to offer - I really give it to Piccolo.
Technically Piccolo is and isn't the Evil King Piccolo from the original series. He's the last child vomited up by Evil Piccolo, but is also a reincarnation of his dad - so he inherited certain powers (such as his connection to kami), and POSSIBLY some memories (it's unclear on this). But he did get Piccolo's motivation - for the first several years of his life, Piccolo Junior had only two ambitions: Avenge his father, and take over the world. He made his first real showing in the third World Martial Arts tournament of the series (fun fact: Goku lost the first two. he hasn't won every fight he's been in!). Piccolo fought his way through the ranks (and imprisoned Kami in a jar!), until he finally got to face Goku. The two had an intense, knock-down drag-out fight, in which Piccolo did things like break Goku's arms, spit fire through his torso, and grow to Godzilla size (something that he never did again, oddly enough). But in the end, Goku earne dhis first tournament championship by defeating the evil Piccolo Junior... and then showed him mercy, giving him a Senzu bean so they could maybe meet again. Piccolo ran off to train so he could kill Goku for REAL next time.
Fast-forward several years later (if you like the Garlic Junior movie, he and Goku met again during that), when Piccolo gets ambushed by Goku's Evil Alien Brother, and ends up teaming up with Goku to SAAAVE THE WORLD. He also kills GOku and Raditz at once, though it was Goku's sacrifice. Piccolo responded logically to the upcoming Saiyan threat - he's get back on track with conquering the world later, right now was the time to train Goku's high-potential son. And that was it. Becoming a father figure softened him. Fighting alongisde earth's heroes ennobled him. And choosing to die to save Gohan's life pretty much sealed the deal. Piccolo remained a loner and kind of a jerk, but his fatherly bond with the boy (even after Goku came back to life) was the crucial turning point. Just in case there was any more question, Piccolo came to Namek, witnessed the remnants of his race, and fought against Frieza as a true hero. As far as the non-Saiyan heroes go, he managed to keep up with the big boys longer than most other characters, although even Piccolo backed down a bit before the end. But since he's not gonna be useless (Sorry, yamcha), Piccolo took the opportunity to train up the next generation as capable heroes.
And if you liked/watched GT, Piccolo eventually sacrifices himself to save the world, and spends his time beating up bad guys in Hell to keep the peace.
Wow, that sounds like a Chuck Norris meme.