Dragon Ball: Why is Orange Piccolo so powerful? The transformation, explained

Dragon Ball made a very interesting decision in the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie by giving Piccolo a much more prominent role in the story and almost serving as the protagonist instead of Gohan. However, the most fascinating part for many fans is that the Namekian got a new transformation, Orange Piccolo, which allowed him to become a lot more powerful.

Piccolo has always been one of the most popular Dragon Ball characters out there, including author Akira Toriyama, who has said that he is his favorite from the cast. While that is well and good, there are still some questions in the fandom regarding the transformation of Orange Piccolo, how it works, and the reasoning behind the Namekian getting such a boost in power.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Dragon Ball series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

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Explaining why the Orange Piccolo transformation made the character so powerful in Dragon Ball

A lot of Dragon Ball fans have been waiting for Piccolo to get an opportunity to catch up with the main cast, and he finally got his moment during the final portion of the Super Hero movie. His Orange Piccolo transformation was a change of look and a massive power-up for the character, raising his strength to a level similar to Super Saiyan Blue Goku of the Moro arc.

However, many people wanted to understand how Piccolo got this power-up, which was explained in the movie through Dragon Balls. The Namekian asked an improved version of Shenron to grant him the ability to reach his potential as a fighter, leading to him unlocking his Orange Piccolo transformation during a critical moment of the final battle, becoming a lot stronger in the blink of an eye.

This is a decision that has a lot of different opinions. However, most people agree that it is the right direction for the character since he has fallen behind the likes of Goku, Vegeta, Broly, and Gohan. However, author Akira Toriyama played a big role in this movie's script and gave Piccolo a very prominent role in the story, going as far as having a lot more relevance than Gohan and getting a new transformation.

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Piccolo's role in the series

Piccolo in the Dragon Ball Z anime (Image via Toei Animation)

As mentioned earlier, Piccolo is one of the most prominent and popular characters in the franchise, although there is no denying that his role and relevance have been diminishing for quite some time. Once Goku's greatest rival and the offspring of Demon King Piccolo, the biggest threat in the series at some point, he became less and less relevant throughout the story, failing to keep up with the Saiyan characters.

That wasn't an issue that only Piccolo had, with the likes of Ten Shin Han, Krillin, and many more failing to have a prominent role in the series as the arcs went on. Even Saiyan characters such as Goten, Trunks, and even Gohan were failing behind the Goku and Vegeta duo, which was one of the biggest criticisms that Super has had during its entire run.

Now, it seems that the Dragon Ball franchise seems interested in giving other characters a much more prominent role, as was proven by including Broly in the canon and giving Piccolo and Gohan much-needed power-ups to compete. However, it has to be said if these characters are going to be used satisfyingly in the upcoming arcs.

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Final thoughts

The Orange Piccolo transformation in the Super Hero movie directly resulted from the Namekian asking an improved Shenron to allow him to reach his potential. This proved to be the catalyst he needed to reach this form and become much more powerful.