We all frequent message boards and online forums (such as alt.fan.dragonball), and we all contribute as much as we can. Unfortunately, we don't KNOW of all the places people post questions, so it's impossible for us to reach everyone. However, if you're reading this, you at least know where WE are, so it's possible for you to ask us directly.

What we're going for here is sort of an "Answerman" or "Ask John" (from Anime News Network and Anime Nation, respectively). We'd like you to e-mail in whatever questions you may have, so long as it somehow relates to the world of DragonBall; be it the manga, the anime, merchandise.. whatever. We've been around for a few years, now, and we know the ropes... we like to think we know our stuff.

And we want to help. E-mail your questions to VegettoEX@aol.com with the subject "Ask VegettoEX." We'll try to update this section every weekend with at least one question straight from the fans. Thanks!

[ Last Updated: Saturday, 24 July 2004 ]
[ Past "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]

Q. Today I was just thinking about Cell and what exactly his true motives were for killing people and wanting to defeat the "Z-Fighters." Other than absorbing #17 and #18 to achieve his perfect form, I don't recall him ever stating what his true intent was. It can be assumed that Freeza conquered planets for power, and Buu was just pure evil and knew nothing other than destruction. I figured at first that Dr. Gero's intentions for Cell were to possibly defeat Goku and everyone is #17 and #18 fail their job, or perhaps he had a feeling they might turn on him, and Cell would be his way of getting revenge. But now that I look back at it, it seems that Cell just had a lot of Goku in him, and he just wanted a challenge and become stronger. If that is true, then it was in fact Goku's cells of all others that made Cell so dangerous. What do you think? - Andy

A. I think the real danger of Cell came not from any one, individual character's cells... but rather, the deadly combination of them all. Let's look at just a few key characters:

Freeza: Goal was simply to murder, destroy, reign supreme. He was cocky in everything he did, and would never admit defeat.

Goku: While still the "good guy," Goku's innate desire to FIGHT-FIGHT-FIGHT sometimes took over, even putting the Earth in increasingly deadly situations.

So I think you're right... it was partially Goku's own cells that made Cell so dangerous. However, combined with Freeza's cells... I think that's where it starts going beyond "dangerous" to even "deadly." Plus, we've also got all those other cells muxing around with the skills and motivations...

Cell doesn't appear to be all that "complex" on the surface, but I think he actually is... if only because of his structural make up ^^. - VegettoEX

Q. When Goku and Vegeta use the Potara to become Vegetto, the new fused character is considered as a new character. But when Kaiôshin and Kibito fuse, it seems like it's just Kaiôshin in an other body. When this fused character talks about the different forms of Buu, he talks about himself (himself = the fusion betweenKaiôshin and Kibito, but the flashback clearly depicts Kaiôshin). That made me think that Kibito's influence in the fusion is nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, even the announcer calls this fused character Kaiôshin whilst he should have a fused name I guess. Could you explain this?

Also, is there an official name for this character (Kibitoshin?) - Jordy Baar

A. Let's ignore the dub for a moment, since they kinda make up their own things from time to time!

Going strictly by the Japanese original, the fusion between Kaiôshin and Kibito was always something of an anomaly. We had already seen "fusion" characters at this point (Gotenks), and had seen the standard of a fusion character speaking with a dual-voice; the fusion of Kaiôshin and Kibito did no such thing. Also, this fusion is always simply referred to as "Kaiôshin"; no mention of Kibito is ever made in their naming. Very strange, indeed.

Years go by. This fusion is never really given a name, and never particularly needs to be given a name... until DragonBall Z 2 / Budokai 2, when this fusion becomes a playable character! In DragonBall Z 2 (remember, the Japanese version of Budokai 2), the character is named "Kibitoshin," with "Kibito" in kana and the "shin" in kanji (the character meaning "god").

So where did this name come from?

Strangely, FUNimation's English dub, apparently! FUNimation named this fusion character "Kibitoshin" (although it sometimes calls him "Kibitokai" as well) which appears to be the first (official) time this name appears in either written or spoken form (we're not counting any possible fan names). This may very well be the only time that a decision FUNimation has made affected the Japanese version of the property in any way! - VegettoEX & Julian

Q. Is "Son" Goku's last name? - Matt Ostrofsky

A. Yes, it is! In Japan, family names are spoken/written before personal names. This is why many characters (Tenshinhan) refer to Goku as "Son Goku"; others (Piccolo, Bulma) simply call him "Son"). If you want to get into Journey to the West, there's a specific reason why Sun Wukong the Monkey King has that surname, but it's difficult to explain (involving a play on kanji). So... perhaps another time on that.

In order to make the distinction more obvious, sometimes family names are written in all-caps (for example, "SON Goku" or "LABRIE Mike" or "GRYBOWSKI Julian"). - VegettoEX

Q. Could you once and for all tell me what is up with Mr. Satan (Hercule)? What is his real name? Is Hercule a name present in the original manga at all? The reason I ask is because, aside from FUNimation doing a great job as always causing confusion, as well as faulty fan sites, I just recently read through the DBZ manga in the last Shonen Jump, and VIZ did a translation where Hercule is his real name, and he was previously known as Mr. Satan in the wrestling business!! This is just getting ridiculous! What's the bottom line with his name? - Brandon Shalander

A. Mr. Satan is NEVER, EVER referred to as "Hercule" ANYWHERE in the Japanese version of the manga, anime, video games, or ANYTHING else. "Hércule" (the French spelling of "Hercules," as in "Hércule Poirot") appears to have originated in the French dub of DBZ, and was picked up by FUNimation to use in the edited DBZ/GT dub (the uncut version still uses "Mr. Satan"). Viz has unfortunately gone on a puritanical streak with its "A"-rated manga as of late, meaning that DBZ (along with Hikaru no Go and a few others) now has to conform to strict guidelines that only a Midwestern Soccer Mom could love. Thusly, #16's "Hell's Flash" has become "Inferno Blast," and Mr. Satan is now the dreaded H-word.

Early releases of the Super Battle Collection figures in North America by Bandai (yep, Bandai first did it before Irwin or Jakks Pacific, looong ago in the mid-90's) showcased the character as "Mr. Savage" on the back of boxes. Most fans were expecting this name to be used in the dub, honestly, since it could stick with the "Mr. S" standard of the original name. But as we all know, FUNimation isn't exactly a beacon of logic when it comes to that sort of thing.

As for the "wrestling" reference, it's just adding a little more BS to the pile. Mr. Satan uses martial-arts moves, not wrestling ones (despite "pro" wrestling existing in Japan, and being riffed on by Toriyama elsewhere); he also wears something closer to a dôgi (martial-arts uniform) than any sort of wrestling uniform. Therefore, it seems that he was clearly intended to be a martial artist.

A proper translation to the line that Viz purposefully botched is as follows:

The super-genius of unarmed combat, our Satan, has decided that he will definitely appear at the despicable "Cell Game"!!

[He's not referred to as *Mister* Satan until the first panel on the next page.]

So there you have it. Mr. Satan is... *drum roll*... Mr. Satan! For the record, the name is pronounced by Japanese speakers as "mistah - sah - tahn." It's clearly a devilish name, though, and would be acceptable (and encouraged!) to pronounce it as "say - ten" in English. Hopefully that sums things up nicely! - VegettoEX & Julian

THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSION:

Q. I remember a loooong time ago, I picked up a MP3 of Sonny Strait (the voice of Kuririn) phoning someone and talking to them about the use of the phrase "Mondo Cool" (one of my personal favourite lines ) and talking in his characters voice.

But to this day, I have no clue:

1) Who recorded it?

2) Who is he talking to? (Guy named Terry?)

3) When was it recorded?

4) Where did it originally come from?

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to know. It's always been an enigma for me, since nobody I talked to had any idea. - Deus ex Machina

A. Read over the discussion, here! The answer has been discussed (and has even been entered appropriately over on the "Rumor Guide"), but it'll be interesting to hear from you all if you actually thought it was a real "prank call"~!!

We're trying to stay with our weekly schedule for the section... so... e-mail us your questions for next week's update! We love getting all these questions, each week, so the more you send us, the more we can (try to) answer for you!

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