Raditz is a minor villain of the Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z. He is the older brother of Goku, the eldest son of Bardock and Gine, the paternal uncle of Gohan and Goten, the brother-in-law of Chi-Chi, the paternal great-uncle of Pan, and also the uncle-in-law of Videl. He is the first villain in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai. He is one of the last four surviving members of the Saiyan race, and comes to Earth in search of his younger brother, to see if he had taken over Earth, as he was supposed to. However, Goku hit his head as a child and lost all memory of his mission and who he was. Raditz is also the first Saiyan to come to Earth, and at that point he was much stronger than Goku, and Piccolo, who had teamed up to fight and defeat him.
Appearance[]
Raditz's appearance consists of having extremely long, spiky black hair with a prominent widow's peak, brown and black colored Battle Armor in the same style as the rest of Frieza's soldiers, with boots, armored gloves, and a scouter that is blue in the manga and green in the anime. Additionally, he wears two accessory bands that are white in the manga and red in the anime: one is tightened around his left arm, and the other on his left leg.
Personality[]
Like all Saiyans, Raditz is brutal, ruthless, cruel, prideful and sadistic. He loves to fight and he will gladly kill any member of his family if it means coming out on top. Despite being a heartless brute, Raditz is a manipulative coward in the face of death. To prevent being killed by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, while Goku twists his tail in order to subdue him, Raditz "promises" to leave Earth and never come back. Because of his naivete, Goku releases him and he fights back, this proves that Raditz is very manipulative, cunning and dishonest as he likes to trick his enemies into lowering their guard, so he can kill them nice and slow. Raditz is also cold-blooded and uncaring as he doesn't care about his family or the well-being of others as he considers in kidnapping and torturing his nephew, Gohan and attempt in killing his younger brother Goku for no reason at all.
Trivia[]
- In the American English dub, before Justin Cook was cast, Peter Jacobson, Jon Hamm, Alan Tudyk, Gary Cole, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, and Joe Mantegna were considered to voiced Raditz.
- Something curious about Raditz is that many official sources do not seem to agree on what Raditz's status was within the Saiyan army. Daizenshuu 7 not only says that Raditz was Low Class, but in fact he was one of the weakest Saiyans ever, while other sources say that he was Middle Class, having the same rank as Nappa.
Family[]
- Bardock (father, deceased)
- Gine (mother, deceased)
- Goku (younger brother)
- Chi-Chi (sister-in-law)
- Gohan (eldest nephew)
- Goten (youngest nephew)
- Videl (niece-in-law)
- Pan (great niece)
Relationships[]
- Ox-King - His younger brother's father-in-law, his sister-in-law's father, and also his nephew's maternal grandfather.
- Mr. Satan - His great-niece's maternal grandfather, his nephew's father-in-law, and also his niece-in-law's father.