Nappa, a bald giant in blue and yellow armor, shouts with his index finger raised; Vegeta, arms crossed and a pink scouter over his eye, stands back on the right.

Nappa: The Hulking Saiyan at Vegeta's Side

CharacterSaiyansSaiyan Saga

Nappa is the hulking, bald, mustached Saiyan who comes to Earth with Prince Vegeta after Raditz's death. The moment he arrives, he razes East City with a single gesture; he then grows six Saibamen, rips an arm off Tien Shinhan and kills Piccolo, who steps in to protect Gohan. Goku takes him out of the fight, and it's Vegeta who finishes him off. Here's a look back at his past alongside the prince, the scenes added by the anime, his downfall, his escape from Hell in GT, his brief appearances in Super and his voices.

He razes a city by way of saying hello and boasts of being an elite warrior: Nappa is Vegeta's fighting partner. Here's the story of this hulking Saiyan, from Planet Vegeta to his end on Earth.

Contents

Nappa, the Hulking Saiyan at Prince Vegeta's Side

Nappa is a Saiyan warrior from Planet Vegeta and the prince's fighting partner, and he goes everywhere with him. In the manga, he follows Vegeta's orders but talks to him as an equal; the Dragon Ball Z anime instead makes him a subordinate who has watched over the prince since childhood and addresses him with deference. Dragon Ball Z Kai goes back to the manga's tone.

Like most Saiyans, he's named after a vegetable: in Japanese, “nappa” refers to a leafy vegetable, and the name also plays on a type of Chinese cabbage, napa cabbage.

In the manga, he first appears in chapter 204, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in late 1988: out in space, at Vegeta's side, a tall, bald, mustached warrior with a scouter over his eye announces Raditz's death. In the anime, after a brief cameo in episode 2 of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on May 3, 1989, he makes his first real appearance in episode 5, which aired on May 24, 1989.

He's an extremely tall, muscular man with a bald head and a thin mustache. He wears Saiyan battle armor with wide shoulder guards, plus hip and crotch guards, along with fingerless gloves and reinforced boots. According to the Daizenshuu 7 guide, he was around fifty when he died. When he was younger, he still had hair: the TV special Bardock – The Father of Goku (1990) leaves him a small tuft, and a production drawing for the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly, revealed in October 2018, shows him “younger and still with hair.”

His rank is still up for debate. In chapter 225, Nappa yells that he's an elite warrior and that Goku is nothing but a low-class warrior. But according to an interview with Akira Toriyama, there are also mid-class warriors, and Nappa would be one of them; in the game Dragon Ball FighterZ, he even proudly calls himself a mid-class warrior. Outside the story, Weekly Shōnen Jump and the Daizenshuu 7 guide put his power level at 4,000.

Nappa, tall and muscular, with a small tuft of black hair and a mustache, stands behind a young Vegeta, both in Saiyan battle armor.
In the TV special Bardock – The Father of Goku, Nappa still has a small tuft of hair and stands beside Prince Vegeta, who is still a child.

👒 On Earth, Nappa shows off a smooth, bald head; to protect yours from the sun, choose from our Dragon Ball bucket hats, including a design where he poses with Goku, Piccolo and King Kai.

From Planet Vegeta to the Stopover on Arlia

Before Planet Vegeta was destroyed, Nappa is said to have held the rank of general in the Saiyan army. In the 1990 TV special, he watches the young prince train against Saibamen, then hands him back his armor while flattering him; Vegeta tells him to stop sucking up to him, then confides that he'll put an end to Frieza's reign one day, which is what Nappa wants too.

In an anime-only flashback (episode 104 of Dragon Ball Z), Nappa, Raditz and Vegeta return from conquering a planet; insulted by Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria, Nappa nearly attacks them, and Vegeta has to hold him back. In the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), he's on a mission with Vegeta, Raditz and two other Saiyans when they learn that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed “by a meteor.”

In chapter 204, after hearing over the scouter about Raditz's death and the existence of the Dragon Balls, Nappa suggests bringing Raditz back to life; Vegeta thinks that would be a waste and wants eternal life instead. Nappa also suggests breeding with the Earthlings to rebuild a stronger Saiyan empire; Vegeta would rather wipe everyone out, so they won't see kids born who are stronger than them.

During the journey, the anime adds a stopover on the planet Arlia: it's episode 11 of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on July 12, 1989, a filler episode. There, Nappa disintegrates all of King Moai's guards with a single gesture, two fingers raised, then Vegeta destroys the planet from space. Dragon Ball Z Kai, which sticks closer to the manga, cuts this episode.

Nappa, scouter over his eye, burgundy shoulder pads and black chest plate, crouches down amid crackling energy facing insect-like guards.
In the anime, during the stopover on Arlia, Nappa faces King Moai's guards and disintegrates them with a single gesture.

East City Razed and Saibamen Planted

In the manga, the two Saiyans' space pods land on Earth at the end of chapter 212; in chapter 213, a crowd of onlookers gathers around the two craters they've dug into East City. As soon as he steps out, Nappa raises his hand, index and middle fingers extended, and unleashes a white explosive wave that razes the city; he jokes about his way of “greeting” the Earthlings, and Vegeta scolds him: they're not here to put on a show. In the anime (episode 22), Vegeta also chides him because he could have destroyed one of the Dragon Balls they're looking for.

Facing Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan (chapter 214), Nappa reads their power levels on his scouter and mocks them; Vegeta has him take the device off, because the Earthlings can change their power levels. Nappa then pulls out a small vial, plants six seeds in the ground and waters them with its liquid: six Saibamen instantly spring up from the soil.

In chapter 215, Nappa points out that these creatures have a power level of 1,200. In the same chapter, Yamcha dies: a Saibaman he thought he had beaten latches onto him and self-destructs.

Nappa, bald and mustached, towers over several green, red-eyed Saibamen while Vegeta watches them on the right, under a blue sky.
Nappa and Vegeta behind the Saibamen, whom they first pit against the Z Fighters.

🧴 Nappa's little vial holds the liquid that makes the Saibamen grow; to take your drink with you everywhere, choose from our Dragon Ball water bottles.

Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo: The Z Fighters Decimated

In chapter 216, Nappa announces that he'll take on the remaining fighters by himself. In chapter 217, he rips an arm off Tien Shinhan with a single punch, a scene from episode 24 in the anime. Chiaotzu then clings to Nappa's back and blows himself up: the Saiyan is unharmed, and the sacrifice is in vain.

In chapter 218, Tien Shinhan pours his last strength into his remaining arm for a Tri-Beam: the attack shatters Nappa's armor without hurting him, and Tien dies from it. In chapter 219, Vegeta, amused to learn that the “Goku” they've been waiting for is Kakarot, grants a three-hour truce; Nappa, unhappy, wants to keep fighting, and the prince has to call him to order twice.

In the manga, the wait goes by without incident. The anime (episode 26) fills it in: Nappa terrorizes reporters, destroys a fleet of warships and at least one other city; Dragon Ball Z Kai only keeps the reporters.

In chapter 220, Piccolo grabs Nappa's tail, hoping the grip will paralyze him as it did Raditz, but the hulking Saiyan knocks him out with an elbow: Vegeta explains that elite Saiyans have trained their tails to overcome this weakness. In chapter 222, Gohan sends Nappa flying into a mountain; furious, the Saiyan hurls an explosive energy ball at the boy, and Piccolo throws himself in the way to protect him. Piccolo dies in chapter 223, and Kami along with him: he's the only Z Fighter Nappa kills with his own hands.

Piccolo grabs Nappa's brown tail from behind; Nappa is bare-chested, his fist clenched, against a green grass background streaked with speed lines.
Piccolo grabs Nappa's tail from behind, but the hold that paralyzed Raditz has no effect: Nappa has trained his tail.

Goku, the Kaio-ken and Vegeta's Betrayal

Still in chapter 223, Nappa tries to stomp on Gohan, but the boy has vanished: he's floating on the Flying Nimbus, sent by Goku, who finally arrives.

In chapter 224, Nappa asks what Kakarot's power level is; Vegeta answers that it's over 8,000, then takes off his scouter and crushes it in anger. In the anime (episode 28), the English dubs changed this line to the famous “It's over 9000!”: first the original Ocean dub in 1997, then Funimation's uncut redub.

Goku humiliates Nappa at every turn: he stands on Nappa's head, then hits him in turn for Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Piccolo (chapter 225). In chapter 226, Nappa fires a huge energy blast from his mouth, his best technique; Goku cancels it out with a Kamehameha.

When Vegeta orders him to pull out of the fight, Nappa dives at Krillin and Gohan. Goku powers up with the Kaio-ken, strikes him in the back, catches him and throws him at Vegeta's feet, asking Vegeta to take him away and leave Earth.

In chapter 227, Nappa begs Vegeta to help him. The prince takes his hand, tosses him into the air and obliterates him with a blast of energy: a paralyzed Saiyan is of no use to him anymore. In the anime, the scene is in episode 29 of Dragon Ball Z, where Goku's Kaio-ken breaks Nappa's back.

Nappa lies on the ground, arm outstretched, white and blue boots in the foreground, in front of Vegeta, who looks down on him, between purple rock spires under a pink sky.
Taken out by Goku's Kaio-ken, Nappa is thrown at Vegeta's feet; instead of taking him away, the prince finishes him off with an energy blast.
Figure of Goku in an orange gi, legs apart, lifting a bare-chested, muscular Nappa above his head, on a round orange and black base.

For fans of Nappa

Dragon Ball Figure - Goku Lifting Nappa

Goku catches Nappa and holds him above his head with one hand: this figure freezes the hulking Saiyan hoisted at arm's length.

€45.90

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GT, Dragon Ball Super, Video Games and Nappa's Voices

In the Dragon Ball GT anime (episode 43, which aired in Japan on April 23, 1997), Nappa escapes from Hell and razes a city with the same technique he used when he arrived on Earth, before Vegeta takes him out again with a single blow. In the Dragon Ball Super anime, an illusion of Nappa appears, along with other old enemies, in the forest where Goku and Krillin are looking for an herb for Master Roshi; Krillin is terrified, even though Nappa never killed him.

Nappa never transforms into a Great Ape in the manga or the anime, even though he has a tail; he's seen in that form in the games Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3, Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Xenoverse 2. In Super Dragon Ball Heroes, he even reaches Super Saiyan 3: he stays bald, but his facial hair grows out into spikes and his eyebrows disappear.

In Japanese, Nappa is voiced by Shōzō Iizuka in Dragon Ball Z and by Kiyoyuki Yanada when he returns in Dragon Ball GT; Tetsu Inada takes over in Dragon Ball Z Kai, then in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

In English, Nappa was first voiced by Michael Dobson in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z. At Funimation, Christopher Sabat voiced him in the original dub of the Bardock TV special, then Phil Parsons took over with the 2005 uncut redub of Dragon Ball Z and kept the role in Dragon Ball Z Kai and the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

Nappa, standing at the bottom of a glowing crater, sends huge chunks of rock flying around him against a dark blue background.
In the Dragon Ball GT anime, Nappa, having escaped from Hell, razes a city with the same technique he used when he arrived on Earth.

Nappa at a Glance

Key fact Nappa
Japanese name ナッパ Nappa, from a leafy vegetable
Role Prince Vegeta's fighting partner
First appearance Chapter 204 of the manga; cameo in episode 2 of Dragon Ball Z, first real appearance in episode 5 (May 24, 1989)
Techniques Explosive wave, Bomber DX, blast fired from his mouth
Death Finished off by Vegeta in chapter 227; episode 29 of Dragon Ball Z
Voices Shōzō Iizuka, Tetsu Inada (Japanese); Phil Parsons, Michael Dobson (English)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who is Nappa?
    He's a Saiyan warrior, Prince Vegeta's fighting partner, who comes with him to Earth to look for the Dragon Balls.
  • Who kills Nappa?
    Vegeta. Goku takes him out of the fight with the Kaio-ken and asks for him to be taken away, but Vegeta finishes him off, in chapter 227 of the manga and in episode 29 of Dragon Ball Z.
  • Did Nappa kill Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Tien Shinhan?
    No. Yamcha dies in a Saibaman's explosion, Chiaotzu blows himself up on Nappa's back and Tien Shinhan dies of exhaustion after his Tri-Beam. Of the Z Fighters, Piccolo is the only one Nappa kills directly.
  • Why does Nappa raze East City?
    In the manga, he destroys the city as soon as he arrives, joking about his way of “greeting” the Earthlings; Vegeta scolds him for putting on a show.
  • Does Nappa transform into a Great Ape?
    Not in the manga or the anime, even though he has a tail. He's seen in that form in video games such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3.
  • Who voices Nappa?
    In Japanese, Shōzō Iizuka in Dragon Ball Z, then Tetsu Inada. In English, Phil Parsons in Funimation's uncut redub of Dragon Ball Z, in Dragon Ball Z Kai and in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly; before him, Michael Dobson voiced Nappa in the Ocean dub.

🖼️ With his scouter, Nappa reads the power levels of the opponents lined up in front of him; to hang this face-off in your home, pick the Vegeta and Nappa vs. the Z Fighters canvas from our Dragon Ball home decor.

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