Captain Ginyu
Captain Ginyu is a male anime and manga extrateerrestrial character who features in Dragon Ball.
Contents |
Biography
Ginyu (Japanese: ギニュー, Hepburn: Ginyū) was a humanoid male extraterrestrial who came to enlist into the armies of the Frieze Force. In time, he came to head an elite group of warriors that came to be known as the Ginyu Force. Captain Ginyu and his comrades are commissioned after Frieza learns that Vegeta is searching for the seven Dragon Balls on Namek and that the Saiyan's Power Level is growing rapidly, quickly surpassing Frieza's personal henchmen, Dodoria and Zarbon. The force spends five days traveling the stars en route to Namek, and upon reaching the planet, Frieza dispatches the team to capture Vegeta, kill his two companions, and recover the Dragon Balls which have since been stolen by Vegeta. Efficient as they are, the Ginyu Force does not take long to track down their targets and locate all seven Dragon Balls, with the rest of his team showing off their special talents, such as Burter's tremendous speed and Guldo's time freezing. Initially, Captain Ginyu intends to slay Vegeta by himself, but when his subordinates complain that they have not had the opportunity to fight, Ginyu concedes, allowing them to deal with Vegeta and the others while he returns the Dragon Balls to Frieza's Spaceship. Captain Ginyu transfers the Dragon Balls back to Frieza, using his telekinetic powers to levitate the Dragon Balls, but the two almost instantly discover that they can not activate the artifacts to summon the Eternal Dragon. Remembering one of his previous Namekian victims whose last words told of how Frieza could never make a wish even with the seven Dragon Balls gathered, Frieza deduces that there must be a secret Namekian Language custom used to activate them. The tyrant uses his scouter to investigate the vicinity for Namekians, finding three of them in an area that his forces left untouched. Captain Ginyu volunteers to force the secret out of them, but Frieza declines in favor of handling the task himself. In the meantime, Captain Ginyu was assigned to watch over the seven Dragon Balls.
Whilst guarding the Dragon Balls, Captain Ginyu was joined by one of his subordinates which was a panicked, frantic Jeice. He confirmed that a powerful warrior has arrived on Namek, and their comrades, Recoome, Burter, and Guldo, had been defeated. Captain Ginyu scolded Jeice for running away from the battle and advised against Jeice's proposal to warn Frieza, as he did not want this to compromise his reputation. As such, Ginyu decided to confront this new fighter called Goku himself, leaving his subordinates to care for the Dragon Balls. Upon convening with Goku, Captain Ginyu determines that the Saiyan is capable of masking his true power level speculating his true strength to be somewhere around 60,000. The commander's first advance on Goku is only amplified when Vegeta escapes the scene in spite of the alliance they had formed specially for the encounter.[16] This distraction leaves Goku open for an elbow bash to the face. Goku and Ginyu continue to do battle, with Ginyu eventually realizing his shortcomings against the Saiyan from Earth. Ginyu started to believe that Goku might even be a Super Saiyan. However, he disproved this as no Saiyan he ever encountered or heard about was as sympathetic as Goku. As Ginyu and Goku continue their battle, both Ginyu and Goku manage to trick each other, using certain tricks and stealth attacks to land hits, as they seem evenly matched. Despite managing to capture Goku in a full nelson, Ginyu releases him upon deducing that he was only able to take hold of Goku as a result of Jeice's interference, blasting Goku with a beam, which distracted him. For this, he admonishes Jeice, even threatening to kill him if he intrudes on the conflict once more.
Captain Ginyu realised that Goku was not using his full power in their fight and requested Goku to reveal his true strength. After powering up, Ginyu and Jeice were shocked to see that Goku's power level was 180,000, whilst Ginyu's was 120,000. Accepting that he was at odds with Goku, Ginyu's next action is a startling one. He spontaneously stabbed himself in the chest, before revealing his true plan. This was resorting to his ability to exchange bodies in an attempt to level with Goku, showing the reason why he stabbed his old body; so that Goku cannot fight back and will eventually die of blood loss. The body change was a success, but Captain Ginyu fails to make the most of Goku's shell's power level of 180,000, stopping short at just 23,000. With this, he was promptly forced into a losing battle against Gohan and Krillin, while Vegeta battles Jeice. However, midway through the battle, he began to learn how to draw out Goku's full power and begins to fight back and win against Gohan and Krillin, even when Goku tried to come to their assistance but Ginyu easily defeated all three of them. It was not until Vegeta, having finished off Jeice, appeared and pummelled Ginyu with his new maximum power that they survive. Beaten into the ground, Ginyu attempted switching bodies with Vegeta twice. The first time, Goku, still rendered within Ginyu's body, interferes with the attack. The second time, the further injured Goku successfully tosses a Namekian Frog within the trajectory of the Body Change's Energy Wave, thus rendering Captain Ginyu's soul trapped within the shell of the frog. Unable to pronounce the technique, he was unable to transfer himself to a new body. Likewise, Ginyu's original body was inhabited by the Frog's soul, and in a similar manner, can only speak in croaks. Though Vegeta has the opportunity to finish the captain off after Ginyu switches bodies with the frog, Vegeta opted not to kill him so as not to get toad guts all over his boots.
After successfully trading bodies with Goku, he easily fooled Gohan and Krillin, who did not realize what had happened. Later a weakened Goku arrived on the scene to announce that Ginyu had not mastered his fighting techniques inside Goku’s body, and so he was still vulnerable. The others ganged up on him until he was forced to attempt a body swap with Vegeta, although Goku jumped in the way of the body-changing beam before it hit Vegeta, and as a result Ginyu was back in his old, wounded body. Vegeta, taking advantage of this, proceeded to pound the living daylights out of Ginyu. This was exactly what Ginyu wanted, and he attempted to use the body swap on Vegeta one last time. Goku however caught and threw a frog into the path of the beam, and Ginyu instead changed bodies with the amphibian.
Ginyu managed to trick his way into switching bodies with Bulma, but was soon sent back to his frog body. He remained trapped in that body thereafter, and was eventually transported to Earth with the Namekians during Goku's final battle with Frieza.
Still trapped in the body of a frog, Ginyu came upon Sorbet and Tagoma who had arrived on the planet to retrieve Frieza's body parts into their containment. Several months later, at the start of Frieza's revenge, Ginyu snuck into Jaco's ship so he can fly to the battlefield. After many of Frieza's soldiers were defeated and Tagoma was about to engage the Z Fighters in battle, Ginyu climbed out of Jaco's ship. When Tagoma lay on the ground in pain after having been hit by Gotenks, Ginyu appeared and approached him. Ginyu changes bodies with Tagoma by tricking him into reading the word 'Change' that he wrote in the dirt in a foreign language. Ginyu, now with the body of Tagoma, left the real Tagoma in the body of a frog, and had a brief discussion with Frieza explaining how he was still alive and had always been faithful to the belief that one day he would fight for Frieza once more despite his hardships as a frog. After doing his new pose to commemorate his revival he attacks the Z Fighters on Frieza's orders, decimating them in combat. In response to Ginyu overwhelming them, Ginyu is challenged by Gohan in a one-on-one fight, but he later transforms because he proved no match for him due to not training. As a Super Saiyan, Gohan manages to knock down Ginyu in two blows, but spares him, saying there is no point in continuing the fight. Frieza steps in and exclaims that he will finish Gohan off in Ginyu's place, blasting him with a barrage of Death Beams. While Frieza is attacking Gohan, Ginyu holds off the other Z Fighters who tried to help him against the tyrant. After Goku and Vegeta arrive, Ginyu joins in the discussion, stating his contempt for Goku and Vegeta having trapped him in a frog's body. Almost immediately after, Vegeta kills Ginyu with a ki blast, noting that he did not want him interfering with their upcoming fight with Frieza.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Ginyu was a tall, purple-skinned humanoid alien with large black horns growing from the sides of his slightly oversized cranium. He wore the standard Frieza Force battle armor with a brown chestplate, white shoulder guards, and matching boots and gloves, accented with a scouter over one eye for measuring power levels.
Captain Ginyu’s personality was defined by absolute loyalty to Frieza, strict military discipline, and flamboyant theatrics. He valued hierarchy and expected obedience from his squad, yet also embraced showmanship, orchestrating elaborate poses with his team to emphasize their unity and superiority. He was ruthless and pragmatic in combat, unhesitant to injure himself in order to use his Body Change technique. Despite his pride, he was not blind to reality, recognizing when he was outmatched and seeking alternative strategies rather than fighting recklessly to the death.
Ginyu’s personality was defined by theatricality and pride in his elite status within Frieza’s forces. He placed great emphasis on appearances and formality, often demanding his team perform elaborate poses to display unity and strength. This flair for dramatics extended to combat, where he combined precision with style, emphasizing the spectacle of battle as part of his identity.
Unlike his comrades, Ginyu was a very calculating and methodical man, preferring a pragmatic approach in battle. It was shown that he displayed a highly strategic and adaptable mindset. When confronted with Goku’s unexpected power increase, he immediately adjusted his approach by employing the Body Change technique, prioritizing survival and tactical advantage. He could act ruthlessly, willing to injure himself or manipulate situations to gain an upper hand, demonstrating both cunning and resourcefulness in high-stakes combat. He was noted by his subordinates to always research the mission at hand before acting. In addition, he was shown to have a very developed understanding of ki and fighting.
He showed a degree of cunning when fighting strong foes as he could use his body change ability to swap places with them. When fighting a strong foe, he was known to actually wound his body prior to swapping bodies so that his opponent was in a weakened condition in his old body.
Powers and abilities
Ginyu was a member of an unknown alien species where he gained the power to manipulate his ki. Through this, he was able to achieve a wide variety of feats including increased strength, endurance, flight and channel energy blasts. Ginyu possessed immense physical strength, resilience, and ki-based combat abilities far beyond that of an ordinary human. He was capable of flight, energy projection, and surviving extreme environments, traits shared by other advanced warriors under Frieza’s command. He was shown as having some form of telekinesis as he was able to lift objects through his mind alone. By far the strongest of the Ginyu Force with a power level of 120,000. When Frieza confronted Goku, he stated that he did not think anyone in the universe had surpassed Ginyu.
The most notable ability of Ginyu was the power to swap his essence with another. Through his Body Change (ボディチェンジ, Bodi Chenji) technique, he switched bodies with another whereby he gained their former and they moved to his old body. After possessing Tagoma's body, he was shown to hold a greater power level than his new host form. This ability made him one of Frieza’s most dangerous subordinates, as it provided not only a way to escape death but also a means of stealing the powers and physiology of stronger opponents.
Among the techniques known to him included:
- Galaxy Dynamite (ギャラクシーダイナマイト, Gyarakushī Dainamaito) :
- Milky Cannon (ミルキーキャノン Miruki Kyanon) :
Similar to the other members of the Frieza Force, he was known to be equipped with a Scouter that allowed him to register power signatures.
Notes
- Captain Ginyu was created by Akira Toriyama where he featured in the setting of the Dragon Ball universe.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Dragon Ball Z:
- Dragon Ball Super:
External Links
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