Who is Demon King Dabura?

With the arrival of Dragon Ball DAIMA, fans are getting to see a whole new chapter in the larger history of the Dragon Ball franchise. Nestled between the beloved classic Dragon Ball Z and the more recent Dragon Ball Super, DAIMA fills an interesting gap full of new characters with plenty of nods to the past. The Demon Realm is under a brand-new regime in Dragon Ball DAIMA, but the impact of former Demon King Dabura forms a foundation beneath each new development in the series.

While Dabura was defeated during the Majin Buu Saga of Dragon Ball Z, that wasn’t the last time the once King of the Demon Realm made his presence felt in this franchise. Dabura is seen a few times throughout the Future Trunks Saga of Dragon Ball Super, the first of which comes in a flashback where Future Trunks explains that he defeated Babidi and Dabura to prevent Majin Buu’s resurrection in his own timeline. His second brief appearance in Super came when Krillin had to battle illusions of terrifying enemies from his past, one of whom was Dabura.

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Who is Demon King Dabura in Dragon Ball DAIMA?

The premiere episode of Dragon Ball DAIMA quickly addressed the basics of Dabura’s demise at hands of Majin Buu, and the power vacuum of his fall was filled by the new Supreme Demon King Gomah. When Goku, Glorio, and Shin arrive in the Third Demon World, they pass by a massive statue of former king Dabura holding up a peace sign. This look is a far cry from the diabolical Dabura seen in Dragon Ball Z, but there’s a very key reason for that.

The statue of Dabura does not feature the iconic ‘M’ symbol on his forehead. This mark is later seen on Vegeta when he allows the evil wizard Babidi to seize control and boost his power while bringing forth Vegeta’s darkest instincts. That same control was exerted on Dabura, and it means the pure evil version of him seen throughout most of Dragon Ball Z could be a far cry from the Dabura that reigned over the Demon Realm. King Kadan of the Third Demon World expresses his desire in Episode 5 of DAIMA to become Supreme Demon King after Gomah is defeated for the peace of the Demon Realm.

Dabura exudes a terrifying presence in Dragon Ball Z when he quickly kills Kibito before turning Piccolo and Krillin to stone just by spitting on them. Dabura continues to stand against the Z fighters until Babidi’s final goal of resurrecting the monstrous Majin Buu is completed, but one snide comment towards Buu quickly leads to Dabura being turned into a cookie and eaten. While many of the villains from this saga and others end up in Hell, King Yemma decides to send Dabura to Heaven since he may have enjoyed Hell too much. Dabura seems to be completely reformed into a pure joyful soul in Heaven and even forms friendships with Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Videl, but a wish made to resurrect everyone but the most evil ones killed by Buu still leaves Dabura in Heaven.

So far, Gomah appears to be a far more dangerous and sinister ruler of the Demon Realm in Dragon Ball DAIMA. Each new episode expands on what is currently known about the Demon Realm, and new details about the reign of Demon King Dabura could continue to be revealed. There’s also a chance that the reformed Dabura could be resurrected with the Dragon Balls at some point throughout the series, but fans will have to keep tuning in to Dragon Ball DAIMA to learn if that possibility becomes reality.

Dragon Ball DAIMA

Dragon Ball Daima is the latest anime in Akira Toriyama’s legendary franchise. After being transformed into a child, Goku must travel to a new world to try and turn things around. 

Seasons

1

Story By

Akira Toriyama

Writers

Akira Toriyama