10 Things You Never Knew About Piccolos Gi In Dragon Ball

In the Dragon Ball anime, Piccolo has had one of the most consistent outfits. But there are subtle changes to his wardrobe most fans haven't noticed.

They say clothes make the man, and that couldn’t be more true for a series like Dragon Ball. You could do entire write-ups on how outfits change as characters develop. Just look at Gohan. Every single Gi he wears is loaded with some kind of commentary relating to his arc. This naturally applies to other martial artists in the series, but what of the few who keep a single Gi?

Such is the case with Piccolo. While he’s worn different outfits over the course of the series — albeit not many — and he’s someone who generally looks the same across all iterations. Or so you’d think. While Piccolo has one of the most consistent outfits in the series, his Gi not only subtly changes as Toriyama’s linework sharpens, but there’s just as much to uncover diving into one of Piccolo’s Gi as there is ten of Gohan’s.

10 It All Began With A Cloak

It’s interesting to note that young Piccolo only appears for a single panel in the manga. Freshly hatched, he’s distinctly dressed in proper attire unlike the rest of Piccolo Daimao’s children. Considering Piccolo’s role later in the series, it’s easy to take for granted that this was likely Toriyama’s way of signaling that this hatching wasn’t just another demon.

He’s not just wearing modesty pants like the rest of Piccolo Daimao’s children. Ma Junior’s cloak here is shorthand, signifying that he’s more “human” than the rest of Piccolo’s children. Not just that, it’s a visual clue that Ma Junior is more intimately connected to the Demon King than his brethren.

9 The Demon Kanji

Of course, observant fans will catch onto that fact just by looking at the Kanji on young Piccolo’s cloak. Like dear old dad before him, Ma Junior sports the “Ma” Kanji, wearing his demon heritage loud and proud. Come the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, however, the Kanji is gone and Piccolo only references it again when he gives Gohan the mark in the Saiyan arc.

It makes sense, though. Coming into the tournament, Piccolo very consciously wants to keep his identity a secret. The very reason he wears the turban is to hide the fact he looks like Piccolo Daimao, after all. Wearing the demon Kanji on his chest past childhood — something the heroes would recognize asap — goes against Piccolo’s M.O..

8 Those Are Veins, Not Wristbands

It’s kind of hard to believe it once you see it, but there are quite a few fans who don’t realize Piccolo’s wristbands aren’t wristbands at all — they’re actually his veins. Looking at Piccolo shirtless, those red veins also wrap around his shoulders. In fact, this is a trait Piccolo seemingly shares with all Namekians.

This also explains why Gohan is usually depicted wearing blue wristbands in the manga whenever he’s wearing Piccolo’s Gi: it wouldn’t make sense for Gohan to wear his veins. At the same time, don’t feel bad if you’ve never caught this. It’s subtle and it’s not like Dragon Ball ever shines a spotlight on Namekian biology.

7 Blue Belt Or Red Belt?

Speaking of red and blue wristbands, what’s the deal with Piccolo’s belt? It seems that Toriyama prefers to color Piccolo with a red belt in the manga whereas Toei opts for a blue one in the anime. Interestingly, this isn’t actually consistent in the former. There’s at least one chapter where Toriyama colors Piccolo with a blue belt before switching to a red one.

It’s likely there where Toei got their color inspiration for Piccolo. By the time Toriyama switched Piccolo over to a red belt, the anime had already picked blue. This is just speculation, of course, with no definitive proof one way or another, so take it with a grain of salt. It’s entirely possible Toei just thought a blue belt would contrast well with Piccolo’s green skin, purple Gi, and red veins.

6 The Evolution Of Piccolo’s Turban

Piccolo’s turban is as iconic to his character design as his antennae. It’s quite impressive Akira Toriyama managed to pull off two distinct silhouettes for one of his most iconic characters (technically four when we bring in cape variations.) But while quite the feat, Piccolo’s turban does subtly change with time.

In the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, his turban is a bit looser, even visibly wrapped in the back. It’s a look that’s almost unrefined, but it works with how young Piccolo is at this point in the series. Come the Saiyan arc, the turban is much tighter, sitting fully on Piccolo’s head. Worth noting, he replaces his turban with a weighted one in between arcs, potentially explaining the minor visual change.

5 His Cape Keeps On Getting Bigger

You have to respect a man who knows how to rock a cape. It’s a skill few can lay claim to, and Piccolo does it best. It’s hard to think about Piccolo without envisioning those massive shoulder pads. But it is a bit strange how his cape keeps getting bigger, honestly. It’s very nice and reasonable looking in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, but Piccolo adds weights to it in between the tournament and the Saiyan arc.

From there, Toriyama’s evolving art style just keeps emphasizing Piccolo’s shoulder pads until his cape is hilariously unreasonable. To his credit, it still looks pretty badass even exaggerated, but it’s funny to think Piccolo’s cape was fairly normal-looking at some point.

4 Piccolo Never Changes His Gi

Pretty much every major character in Dragon Ball changes their main Gi at least once. Goku goes through a bunch of variations of the Turtle Gi, and Vegeta has half a dozen different sets of armor, each inherently reflecting an era of his character arc.

This isn’t the case for Piccolo. His outfit is unusually static. This is just speculation, but maybe it has something to do with Piccolo being Toriyama’s favorite character. It’s entirely possible Toriyama was just completely satisfied with Piccolo’s overall design and kept him as is. To be fair, it is a great design.

3 The Junior Gi

While Piccolo doesn’t wear any variations of his own Gi, Gohan does. Each junior version of Piccolo’s Gi differs from his own in some subtle way. In the case of the first junior demon Gi, Gohan wears a white scarf around his neck instead of a cape. This is his main Gi during the fight with the Saiyans, first two thirds of the Freeza arc, and early Cell arc.

In the Saiyan arc, Gohan even wears a white bandana to keep up his hair. Interestingly, one colored chapter of the manga depicts the junior demon Gi as green, not purple. The anime uses purple, but it’s possible Toriyama’s ultimate vision for Gohan’s Gi was as a green version of Piccolo’s. Worth noting, green is Gohan’s signature color during the first half of the Boo arc.

2 The Junior Gi (For Big Boys!)

So you’ve trained with dad inside of the Room of Spirit and Time for nine months and are now the strongest man alive at just nine years old. Not bad. Naturally, you need some new duds to celebrate. What better way to honor your transition from boyhood into adulthood with a cape of your own?

This is the closest Gohan comes to wearing an outfit exactly like Piccolo’s, but he’s noticeably missing the turban. This obviously makes sense from a design standpoint, however. Gohan’s supposed to be in Super Saiyan all the time at this point. With the turban, there’d be no shorthand showing his mastery of not only the transformation, but his innate power.

1 The Junior Gi (For Grown Men With Families)

Very interestingly, Toei and Toyotarou veered in completely different directions with Gohan’s arc. In the anime, Gohan enters the Tournament of Power repping his father by wearing the Turtle School Gi. In the manga, Gohan enters the Tournament of Power repping Piccolo, wearing a new variation of the Demon Gi.It’s basically just the capeless version, but with a much deeper V-neck. Really, it’s fascinating to note that Piccolo and Gohan have an explicit master/student relationship in the Dragon Ball Super manga, whereas the anime tends to depict them working as equals. One has to wonder where Toyotarou is going with this.