Yamcha

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Not to be confused with Yum cha.
Yamcha
Dragon Ball character

Yamcha (right) with Pu'ar, drawn by Akira Toriyama and digitally colored by Shueisha
First appearance Dragon Ball chapter #7 Yamcha and Pu'ar: 11 September 1984 (1984)
Created by Akira Toriyama
Portrayed by Joon Park (Dragonball Evolution)
Japanese: Tōru Furuya
Voiced by
English: Christopher Sabat (FUNimation dub)
In-universe information
Species Human
Occupation Professional baseball player

Yamcha (Japanese: ヤムチャ, Hepburn: Yamucha) is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball
manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is first introduced as a desert bandit and an
antagonist of Son Goku in chapter #7 Yamcha and Pu'ar (ヤムチャとプーアル, Yamucha to
Pūaru), published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on September 11, 1984,[1] alongside his
constant companion Pu'ar. He is eventually depicted as being reformed, becoming an ally of
Goku's.

Yamcha has received mixed reviews since his inception, being criticized for his weak abilities
compared to other characters, but he has also been praised as being a fun character.
Contents
 1 Creation
o 1.1 Voice actors
 2 Abilities
 3 Summary
 4 Appearances in other media
 5 Reception and legacy
 6 References
 7 Bibliography

Creation
When Toriyama decided to create Dragon Ball, he used Chinese author Wu Cheng'en's Journey
to the West as a prototype for his own series.[2][3] Yamcha took the role of Sha Wujing.[4] His
name is a pun on a form of Cantonese brunch called yum cha.[5] A prototype for Yamcha was
Gojō, the river monster, from Toriyama's one-shot series Dragon Boy.[6]

Voice actors

In the original Japanese version, Yamcha is voiced by Tōru Furuya in all media.[7] In the
Funimation English dub, Yamcha is voiced by Christopher Sabat. Sabat currently voices him in
all Dragon Ball related media.[8]

Abilities
Though Yamcha is a skilled swordsman[9][10] he is an exceptional martial artist.[11] His signature
technique is the Rōgafūfūken (狼牙風風拳, "Fist of the Wolf Fang", "Wolf Fang Fist" in the
English anime dub), a quick flurry of punches and kicks.[12] He has the ability to perform the
Kamehameha, a concentrated beam of a chi energy blast that many other characters in the series
have the ability to perform as well.[13] Yamcha also uses the Sōkidan (繰気弾, "Spinning Chi
Bullet", "Spirit Ball" in the English anime dub), a technique that forms a ball of chi energy to
assault an opponent with. He can fully control the ball, allowing it to home in on enemies and to
go underground for a surprise attack.[14]

Summary
Yamcha's original outfit with his unique emblem (left) is replaced with an orange dogi bearing
the emblem of the Turtle School (right) after he is formally accepted as Master Roshi's student.

Yamcha enters the series ambushing Goku, Bulma, and Oolong as they are traveling through his
territory and attempts to rob them of their money and hoi poi capsules.[15] He also becomes a
student under Kame-Sennin, known as Master Roshi in the English anime, and loses a long-held
fear of women through his relationship with Bulma.[16] Yamcha also enters the 21st, 22nd, and
23rd Tenkaichi Budokai along with Goku, but loses in the first round of each tournament, to
"Jackie Chun", Tien Shinhan, and Shen (Kami) respectively.[17] Yamcha is shown to be a
baseball player in the anime filler material for Dragon Ball Z. This was suggested by the series
creator Akira Toriyama.[18]

Yamcha becomes a major league baseball player for the West City Titans. Later, Yamcha is
killed along with Tien Shinhan, Chaozu, and Piccolo in a battle against the Saiyans. He is killed
when a Saibaiman grabs onto him and self-destructs. Yamcha goes on to train with Kaiō-sama in
the afterlife just as Goku did, growing greatly in power.[19] Through Kaiō-sama, he is able to
witness his friends battles on Planet Namek; when Goku is thought to have been killed in the
destruction of the Planet Namek after defeating Freeza, Yamcha relays the information to
everyone through Bulma. He is later returned to life from a wish to Porunga and continues to live
at Capsule Corp with Bulma and, after the two finally end their relationship, she and Vegeta
enter a long-term relationship.[20]

During the Android arc, Yamcha is the first to encounter Android #19 and #20, and is left for
dead when #20 absorbs his chi and drives a hand through his chest.[21] He is healed by a Senzu
bean and takes the heart-diseased Goku home to get his medicine after the Super Saiyan loses to
#19. Yamcha later joins the others in the Cell Games and teams up with Tien Shinhan to protect
the weakened Goku from the Cell Juniors, before losing to them.[22] Following Cell's defeat at the
hands of Son Gohan and Goku's death, Yamcha and the others return to their peaceful lives. In
the alternate timeline of the Cell arc, like most of the heroes, Yamcha was killed in the encounter
with the Androids.[23]

By the time of the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, Yamcha has given up fighting and goes with the
others to be a spectator and also meet Goku, who is given a single day to return from death.[24]
Yamcha is later killed again when Majin Buu turns him into chocolate and eats him, along with
Krillin, Bulma, and the other allies. During Goku and Vegeta's battle against Buu, Yamcha and
Krillin try to fend off the Majin who's rampaging the Grand Kai's Planet; before he is brought
back to life by the Namekian Dragon Balls, and he and the others on Earth give their energy to
Goku's Genki-Dama, which he uses to destroy Majin Buu and restore peace to the universe.[25]

Yamcha returns in Dragon Ball Super where he and Puar attend Bulma's birthday party along
with the other characters, while there he meets Beerus the God of Destruction and later witnessed
Goku's fight against the deity. Sometime after Frieza's 2nd death, he goes with the others to the
Nameless Planet to watch the Tournament between Universe 6 and Universe 7. Yamcha plays a
prominent role during the baseball match between universe 6 and Universe 7, he is the team's
captain uses his newly invented technique (Wolf Fang Pitching Fist) to effortlessly strike out
Universe 6 during the first half of the first set, afterwards both Whis and Vados call off the
match after Beerus and Champa started fighting physically, not before Vados points down to
Yamcha laying at home base. During the Universal Survival saga, Yamcha's eager of the
Tournament of Power, but wasn't recruited by Goku at all.

In the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc, Yamcha is informed of Moro's invasion of Earth and is
recruited by Gohan and the Galactic Patrol. Yamcha flies off on his own and easily
defeat/subdue 3 of Moro's goons, before flying off to the next location. Yamcha soon finds
himself in a difficult battle against Saganbo's adviser Zauyogi (even with the later assistance of
Tenshinhan and Chaozu). Luckily for the three, Son Goku intervenes and easily beats Zauyogi,
Yamcha informs Goku to assist Son Gohan and Piccolo, whilst assuring the Saiyan that he,
Tenshinhan, and Chaozu can handle the rest of the remaining convicts. Yamcha later appears and
collectively lends his energy to Vegeta (whom reverse engineers his newfound technique) in
order for Goku to re-awaken Mastered Ultra Instinct. Yamcha and the others continue to view
the battle, until Goku attains the power-up he needed to finally defeat the earth-infused Moro.
Yamcha and the others (barring Vegeta) cheer for Goku's victory, and later attended a party
hosted at Mr. Satan's house.

Appearances in other media

In Dragon Ball GT, Yamcha makes two cameo appearances.[26]

Yamcha is the main subject of the spin-off manga Dragon Ball Side Story: The Case of Being
Reincarnated as Yamcha (ドラゴンボール外伝　転生したらヤムチャだった件, Doragon
Bōru Gaiden: Tensei-shitara Yamucha Datta Ken). Written and illustrated by Dragon Garow
Lee, it is about a high school boy who after an accident wakes up in the body of Yamcha in the
Dragon Ball manga. He trains as Yamcha to make him the strongest warrior, having known what
happens to him later in the manga against the Saiyans.[27]

Yamcha is a playable character in multiple Dragon Ball-related video games, including the
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series, the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, and Dragon Ball
FighterZ.

Yamcha also appears in an unofficial Chinese live-action remake of the first Dragon Ball feature
film, played by Cheng Tung-Chuen. Here he is known as Westwood. He joins Monkey Boy,
Sparkle, Turtle Man and Seeto in the quest to destroy King Horn and his powerful warriors.[28]
He was played by Korean pop singer Joon Park[29] in the film Dragonball Evolution, for which
James Kyson Lee also auditioned.[30]

Reception and legacy

Yamcha is one of the oldest protagonists in the Dragon Ball series. He is a skilled human martial
artist, in the Wolf Fang Fist style. While he is greatly outclassed by other fighters by the time
Dragon Ball Z rolls around, he was a major presence and a fun and popular character in the
original Dragon Ball series.

Ryan Parreno from GameRanx[31]

Yamcha has had mixed reviews during his inception. He is commonly described as useless and
outclassed as a fighter in the Dragon Ball series yet has also been described as fun and an iconic
anime character to other publishers.[31][32][33] A few have noted that his most highlighted moments
in the anime was in the original anime adaptation compared to the more popular Dragon Ball Z
anime.[31][33] In 2004, Japanese fans voted Yamcha the fifteenth most popular character of the
series.[34] He was ranked as the thirty-eighth greatest Dragon Ball Z character of all time by
Complex describing his willing to sacrifice himself as being the best part of his character.[35]

Yamcha is commonly joked about as one of the weaker fighters by fans of the series. When
younger fans would belittle the character as weak, Krillin's voice actress Mayumi Tanaka said
she would explain to them that Krillin and Yamcha are the strongest earthlings, the other
characters are all aliens.[36] Despite this, he has been used as a joke that appears in internet
memes, T-shirts and action figures,[37][38] especially regarding his initial death which has been
described as "iconic" and is subject to many parodies and homages.[39] So much so that online
writers such as Moviepilot's Ak Khan Ten's described him as an "iconic troll legend". He felt that
despite being a weaker fighter he still is an important character from the Dragon Ball mythos
since the creation of the manga and felt that he deserves respect as "an iconic Dragon Ball
character". He also described Yamcha as Goku's first real rival in the series. He also praised the
revealing of him mastering the Spirit Ball technique and also him being the first one who
realized that he should cut Goku's tail to stop Goku in ape form.[33] Yamcha's initial death has
inspired a phrase by fans on when somebody dies in the Dragon Ball universe as being
"Yamcha'd".[39][40][41] Yamcha's "death pose" was even referenced in the official Dragon Ball
Super anime during the 2016 episode, "A Challenge From Champa! This Time, a Baseball
Game!", in which Yamcha, during a baseball game between Universe 7 and 6, steals home base
during a confrontation between God of Destruction Beerus and his brother, Champa. In the
ensuing fight between the two Destroyers, Yamcha ends up wounded, laying face down in a
crater in the same pose with his hand on home base. Krillin comments that this scene looks
familiar.[42]

Tōru Furuya has been Yamcha's Japanese voice actor in every single piece of Dragon Ball
media.
Furuya, the character's voice actor, designates Yamcha as one of the characters by whom he was
inspired to create his music, as well as one of the top six favorite characters he voiced.[43]
Rebecca Bundy of Anime News Network takes note of resemblance of scars between Yamcha
and Kenshin Himura, but also observes that their meaning is quite different.[44] Furuya has
expressed disatissfaction for the way Akira Toriyama handled his character on multiple
occasions. The first was the way Yamcha was murdered by a Saibaman despite his constant
training during the Saiyan Arc which made him a supporting character in following arcs. The
second time he was shocked with Yamcha's development was when it was the revealed when the
characters Trunks was Bulma's and Vegeta's child from the future despite the fact that Yamcha
and Bulma were often in a relationship and Yamcha was turned into a cheater to cause such
change. Hiromi Tsuru, Bulma's first Japanese actress, was also shocked by this change, believing
her character would end with Yamcha. This caused Furuya to protest against Toriyama who said
that Yamcha was always a cheater while laughing.[45]

References
1.

 "週刊少年ジャンプ 1984/09/11 表示号数 7". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency
for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  Wiedemann, Julius (2004-09-25). "Akira Toriyama". In Amano Masanao (ed.). Manga
Design. Taschen. p.  372. ISBN  3822825913.
  Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2001-09-01). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide
to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (1st ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 101–
102. ISBN 1-880656-64-7. OCLC 47255331.
  DRAGON BALL 大全集 1 COMPLETE ILLUSTRATIONS. Shueisha. 1995. pp. 206–
207. ISBN 4-08-782751-8.
  Dragon Ball Forever (in Japanese). Shueisha. 2004. p.  158. ISBN  4-08-873702-4.
  Interview with Toriyama, Shōnen Jump (Japanese volume 23, issue #59); 11-1986
  "Hawaii's Kawaii Kon Adds Voice Actor Tohru Furuya, Artist Range Murata". Anime
News Network. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  "Anime Boston 2017 Announces Cherami Leigh and Christopher R. Sabat as its Twelfth
and Thirteenth North American Guests". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  Dragon Ball manga, volume 1, chapter 8
  Dragon Ball: The Path to Power
  Dragon Ball manga, volume 4, chapter 37
  Dragon Ball manga, volume 10, chapter 117, page 9
  Dragon Ball manga, volume 10, chapter 117, page 13
  Dragon Ball manga, volume 15, chapter 175
  Dragon Ball manga, vol. 1, chapter 9
  Dragon Ball manga, vol. 3, chapte 35
  Dragon Ball manga, volumes 3, 10, and 15, chapters 37, 118, 175
  "Biography for Akira Toriyama". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  Dragon Ball Z manga, vol. 5, chapter 261
  Dragon Ball Z manga, vol. 12, chapter 337
  Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 13, chapter 337
  Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 18, chapter 408
  Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks
  Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 20, chapter 432
  Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 26, chapter 515
  Dragon Ball GT, episodes 40, "Piccolo's Decision" and 64, "Until We Meet Again..."
  Chapman, Paul (2016-12-12). ""Dragon Ball" Spin-Off Imagines a World Where
Yamcha Totally Rules". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  "Dragon Ball: Magic Begins". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  "Live-Action DBZ info". McKlde's Live-Action DBZ movie blog. 2007-12-14. Archived
from the original on March 3, 2007.
  "Heroes' Lee Auditions for Dragon Ball Z Movie". Anime News Network. 2007-11-11.
Retrieved 2008-02-06.
  Parreno, Ryan (16 March 2015). "Dragon Ball Xenoverse New Costumes: Mr. Popo,
Yamcha, And More". Gameranx. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  Rauch, Joseph (22 October 2015). "5 Shows In My Generation That Jumped the Shark".
Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  "Yamcha The Human Warrior -Analyzing Yamcha's Power". Moviepilot. 3 December
2015. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  Dragon Ball Forever (in Japanese). Shueisha. 2004. ISBN 4-08-873702-4.
  Pearce, Sheldon (2 April 2015). "A Ranking of All the Characters on 'Dragon Ball Z'".
Complex. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  DRAGON BALL 大全集 補巻 TV ANIMATION PART 3. Shueisha. 1996. pp. 107–113.
ISBN 4-08-102019-1.
  "Flaunt Your Failures In The Form Of An Official "Yamcha Is Dead" T-Shirt". Anime
News Network. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  "Infamous Dragon Ball Z Scene Gets A Figure". Anime News Network. 26 March 2016.
Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  Ashcraft, Brian (27 March 2015). "Dragon Ball Failure Meme in Collectible Form".
Kotaku. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  Fobian, Peter (4 March 2015). "FEATURE: "Dragon Ball XenoVerse" Review".
Crunchyroll news. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  "How Dragon Ball XenoVerse Made Me Go Over 9000". Game Revolution. 2 February
2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  Ashcraft, Brian (12 December 2016). "One Of Dragon Ball's Most Famous Memes
Returns". kotaku.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  "Music Japan Interview". Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  "Answerman of Anime News Network". Retrieved 2008-09-27.

45.  2004, TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu

Bibliography
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 1 — ISBN 1-56931-920-0
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 2 — ISBN 1-56931-921-9
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 3 — ISBN 1-56931-922-7
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 10 — ISBN 1-56931-848-4
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 15 — ISBN 1-59116-297-1
 Dragon Ball manga, Volume 16 — ISBN 1-59116-457-5
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 5 — ISBN 1-56931-934-0
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 12 — ISBN 1-56931-985-5
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 13 — ISBN 1-56931-986-3
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 18 — ISBN 1-59116-637-3
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 20 — ISBN 1-59116-808-2
 Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 26 — ISBN 1-42150-636-X
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