The
beginning of Dragonball Z has to do with the arrival of Goku's
brother Raditz. Goku, who has grown up on the earth his whole
life, is unaware of his Saiyan heritage. Raditz informs Goku
who is surprised that he is part of a warrior race known as
Saiyans. The Saiyans use their extraordinary powers to take
over planets and then sell them to the highest bidder. When
Goku refuses to join his brother, Raditz becomes impatient and
kidnaps Gohan (Goku's young son). Goku tries to stop him put
Raditz knock the wind out of him and takes off with Gohan.
Things look bad, since Goku is the Earth's strongest fighter.
Despite
the bleak outlook, Goku decides to fight Raditz. Just before
he takes off, Piccolo arrives. Piccolo is from the planet
Namek, but has been Goku's rival for some time now. Putting
aside their differences, Piccolo and Goku join forces to
eliminate the bigger threat - Raditz. Goku and Piccolo are
very equal in power, and together they form the world's
strongest team.
Despite
their pooled efforts, Piccolo and Goku find Raditz to be
stronger. It could all be over... but wait... Gohan reveals
his true power! The four year old boy attacks Raditz upon
seeing his father suffering. The blow weakens Raditz enough to
allow Goku to hold Raditz, while Piccolo charges up a special
beam cannon. The attack kills Raditz, but it also kills Goku.
Raditz
lies dying on the ground, as Piccolo informs him of earth's
Dragonballs. He tells Raditz that Goku's friends will
certainly gather all seven balls and summon the Eternal
Dragon. Their wish, granted by the Eternal Dragon, will
resurrect Goku. Raditz informs Piccolo that his device he uses
to sense powerlevels (the scouter) is also a transmitter.
Everything Piccolo just said was heard by the other Saiyans (Nappa and
Vegeta) Raditz tells them that they have one
year before the other Saiyans arrive... and the others are
much stronger... Shocked, Piccolo finishes Raditz off and then
joins Goku's friends, who have just arrived and are gathered
around their fallen comrade. Goku tells them to take care of
Gohan, and that he'll be back. Then Goku dies...
However,
the earth's protector Kami, having heard about the coming of
the Saiyans, takes Goku to King Yama. King Yama decides what
happens to everyone that dies.
Kami
tells King Yama of the earth's predicament, and asks him to
allow Goku to travel the dangerous Snake Way and seek the
training of the legendary King Kai.
this
ends the first 4 episodes of DBZ.
The
next 11 or so episodes encompass Goku's journey to King Kai's.
The other Z fighters are training for the arrival of the
Saiyans. Gohan is having special training with Piccolo.
The Z team includes: Krillin, who is a short monk who became
Goku's best friend in Dragonball; Tien, the 3-eyed man who is
another close friend of Goku's which he met in the original
Dragonball series; Chaitzu the short pale skinned friend of
Tien, and of course Yamcha, who used to be Bulma's boyfriend.
They have one year to prepare for the arrival of the Saiyans.
They train at Kami's lookout, and at one point are taken on a
mental combat simulation (sort of virtual reality). It is here
that the four Z-fighters square off against two Saiyans. The
Saiyans crush the Z-fighters in the simulation. Kami thought
that it would be good to show the Z-fighters the startling
reality of the Saiyan's strength. When the exercise is
finished, the Z-fighters are informed that the Saiyans
approaching earth are twice as strong as those in the
simulation. The Z-fighters vow to train vigorously for the
inevitable arrival of these super-powerful beings.
As
the Z-fighters train up on Kami's lookout, Piccolo trains
Gohan. He must turn Gohan from a crying four year-old boy to a
warrior, and he only has one year to do it. After seeing
Gohan's true power in the fight with Raditz, Piccolo feels
Gohan will be a big asset when the other Saiyans arrive. Gohan
must endure wilderness survival training and sparing with
Piccolo, as he matures a great deal. Piccolo and Gohan
eventually grow quite fond of each other, as a sort of
teacher-student bond forms between them. During this period
Gohan is also subjected to the moonlight which triggers the
transformation into an Oozaru. Piccolo must destroy the moon
in order to save the planet!
While
all this is going on, Goku must use caution as he travels down
the ten thousand miles of Snake way. Along the way he
must find an escape from the "Home for Infinite
Losers" (hell in Japanese) and fight off the temptations
of the Snake Princess. Eventually he makes it to King Kai's,
who is a rather odd fellow. King Kai's first task for Goku is
to catch Bubbles, his pet monkey. Not an easy task, as the
gravity on King Kai's planet is ten times greater than
Earth's.
It
takes Goku three weeks to finally catch Bubbles. His next task
is to use an extremely heavy mallet, and try and hit King
Kai's other companion, Gregory (who happens to be a cricket).
Finally, King Kai teaches Goku the art of Kaioken, as well as
how to form a "Spirit Bomb." Time is running out
however...
Finally,
the Saiyans arrive... Nappa the larger bald one and Vegeta the
smaller Saiyan, who plays a major role in DBZ from here on
out. They demand to know where the Dragonballs are but
earth's special forces showed up to fight not to give in to
their demands.. and so the battle begins.
Basically,
the Saiyans arrive and are way more powerful than the Z-team
(even with Gohan and Piccolo). First Nappa releases these
plant like creatures known as Saibamen. Each Saibaman has a
powerlevel equal to that of Raditz (1200). Yamcha is killed in
the battle with the Saibamen, but everyone else survives. Then
Nappa joins the fray, and the warriors learn that an Elite
Saiyan is very tough. Nappa kills everyone ( Tien, Chaoutzu
and Piccolo who sacrifices his life to save Gohan) except
Gohan and Krillin. Gohan and Krillin are about dead when Goku
returns. Goku immediately beats the crap out of Nappa, who is
promptly killed by Vegeta for his failure. Then Gohan and
Krillin leave in fear of their lives in the upcoming battle.
Next is the fantastic finish to the Saiyan saga which pits
Goku against his strongest opponent yet, VEGITA!
Vegeta
is unimpressed by Goku's Kaioken attack, so Goku tries a
double and still isn't good enough to compete. Pushing his
body to the limit Goku attempts a Kaioken X3! His power level
increases at a tremendous rate, and as he engages Vegeta
again, he proves to be too quick for the Saiyan Prince. Vegeta
can't understand how Goku increased his powerlevel so much in
just one year. Angry and frustrated, he decides to just blow
earth up entirely. He flies high above Goku and starts to
charge up his Galett Gun. A tired Goku has no choice but to
gather his strength, and charge up a Kamehameha. Vegeta:
"Let's see what you have Kakarot! GALET GUN, FIRE!!"
Goku counters it with his Kamehameha, and neither beam is
winning. They are equally as strong. until Goku pushes himself
to an incredible Kaioken X4 and overpowers Vegita's attack.
Vegeta is so pissed now! He realizes that the only way to win
is to use artificial moonlight to transform himself. All
Saiyans (who have a tail) have the ability to transform at a
full moon into their Oozaru state.
In
his transformed state, Vegeta proves to be too much for Goku.
He is about to finish Goku, when Gohan, Krillin, and the
coward Yajirobe intervene. Yajirobe reluctantly cuts Vegeta's
tail off causing Vegeta to return to normal. After his fight
with Goku, Vegeta is not quite at full power, so Gohan is able
to hold his own against. Meanwhile, Krillin receives some
Spirit Bomb energy from the severely wounded Goku. Krillin
throws the energy at Vegeta, which initially misses it's
target, but hits Vegeta when Gohan bounces it back at him. The
blow nearly finishes him off.. and after Gohan transforms into
his Oozaru form and it's all over for Vegeta. Krillin had the
opportunity to finish Vegeta, but Goku told him not to. They
allow Vegeta too escape, who returns half-dead to Freeza's
base and starts to heal.