I was really hoping the explanation would be that he took back the energy Kami had originally put into the dragonball. That the “little bit extra” was power he had long since forgotten.
That's an explanation I've heard and it's my personal favourite. The Dragon Balls are now under Dende's care and power meaning Shenron/Shenlong no longer needs the power Kami once gave it, so he's given it back to Piccolo to help him in the current and future battles.
I played a dbz game I forget the name of but it had a bunch of “what if “ scenarios.
One was piccolo needed more power so he gathered the dragon balls to revive king piccolo and fuze with him.
I think this is the theory most piccolo fans (including me) subscribe to. Was hoping toyataro would run with it as well in the Manga, and he still might... But so far it's just a fan theory I feel many subscribe to.
To be fair, Namekian fusions are super broken so his base strength doesn’t have to be a factor. Think of the boost Piccolo got to fight 17 even though Kami’s power was probably less than 1000
It’s like when the first guy ran the 4 minute mile. Everyone thought it was impossible until he did it, now some 2,000 people have broken the 4 min mile since then. Once you shatter the idea of something being impossible you can then start working towards the goal. Also it was 3 years from Trunk’s warning until the androids showed up and training with Goku helped a bunch.
It's more like kami giving up a large amount of his energy just to create shenron which is given back to him via shenron since dende actually never created his own dragon.
Yeah I'd consider it as a multiplicative kind of scenario rather than additive (i.e. a greater fraction of Kami's power is now boosting all the other training and whatnot Piccolo has done over the years rather than it being like +100 old man power levels)
This has to be it. The statue of Shenron changes when Dende upgrades it, making it completely his, so any remnants of the old Shenron were from Kami, which is then transferred into Piccolo.
Nameless Namekian was known to be a special dragon clan Namekian at first. As we know, Piccolo change to a warrior clan member. So, Orange form could be the mix of both power in him and something truly unique to him and not others namekian
Piccolo specifically wished Shenron to unlock his potential like the elder namekian could. Guru/Moori could have done the same thing for him if they were there
Yeah, but the potential unlock is all Piccolo wished for and it was the same thing that the namekian elder could have done. Shenron gave him the extra bit because Kami is part of Piccolo and they have a special relationship so Shenron went out of his way to show some respect to his former master
Interviews give us s cells as an explanation. More s cells means easier to become to super saiyan. You get them via being kinder. Thats why u6 saiyans do it way easier than u7. Also why goteb and trunks do it aswell
Imagine if orange piccolo had always been planned and the original manga had shown Frieza standing over the corpses of several orange Namekians, and he commented about how they were surprisingly much stronger than the green ones. And those orange Namekians were just never explained or mentioned again until the superheroes movie decades later.
If that were the case, by the time they realized they needed to use the Namekian Dragonballs to have Porunga give Nail “a little bit extra,” it would have been too late.
The Dragonballs weren’t pregathered and ready to use. They were separated and cared for by various town elders across the planet. The Namekians would have realized Frieza as an existential threat once he started killing and taking possession of his first four Dragonballs, thus rendering that plan unavailable.
If the power up actually was intended to be given to Namekian warriors in times of "dire need", then it seems like it was pretty dang stupid of them not to keep the dragon balls pregathered and ready to use. Or even better, just give the power up to worthy warriors during peaceful times so they already have it available to use during emergencies. A contingency plan that cannot be quickly and easily put into action when a crisis happens is kind of a useless plan.
It's really obvious that this explanation for orange piccolo is a poorly thought through retcon since it creates this plot hole.
I don’t see it that way. A plot hole isn’t when characters make suboptimal decisions, or find themselves in suboptimal decisions. Sometimes it just be that way.
The Namekians were largely depopulated and their Warrior Clan almost completely wiped out. At that time of the story, they were a small agricultural peoples confined to their planet with almost no visitors from the outside world. Shit, it didn’t even seem like the villages had immediate communication amongst each other. Them not perfectly prepping ahead of time isn’t a plothole, but a set of circumstances that we are told is the starting point for that part of the story.
IIRC the Namekians almost went extinct due to a climate crisis and were rebuilding their society. I don’t think they were ready at that point for a genocidal invader with a PL that is completely untouchable by their strongest warrior
Because everything in Dragon Ball actually happens fast af, they had a peaceful time until Frieza randomly dropped on the planet and wrecked havoc.
Most of their population probably died in the first hour of the invasion, with the Dragon Balls being too difficult to collect with all the powerful soldiers around
Brother in christ as i said before, nail was their strongest warrior. And he didnt budge Frieza in his weakest form. Orange would do no good for him. Also if you watch the show(ik a hard task) frieza, vegeta, then the ginyu force, all had the dragonballs, all of these people they’re weaker than. Getting them back wouldnt be a easy let alone do able task. Piccolo got his potential unlocked, the extra being the orange form
Just a point of note about Shenron not being "as strong as the Z fighters": we've seen several times, most notably with Moro, that magic and ki are not comparable. Shenron can still do things that NONE of the Z fighters will EVER be able to imitate.
"Why that upstart little--BOY!! We're going to the Time Chamber. Now!!"
Goku would be the one who inexplicably taps into magic but it would be a cheap shot by the writers and completely out of character for him. I'd say if anyone it would be Piccolo just cause Namekians are already kinda close to that and, well, Kami and Dende do some mystical stuff.
There's also the precedent that seems to have been forgotten where Goku was pushing forward in time during his fight with Hit. That seems completely within the scope of divine ki, but it IS a forbidden practice, which is why they don't. Wishes like restoring a planet and its population, though? Just 🤌🫰 boom, people. Even with divine ki, Saiyans are too close to Destroyers to be able to use that kind of power. That's kaioshin business.
Current shenron isn’t the same as that shenron. He’s been upgraded in different ways and remade. Previous one could have had more limitations on it potentially.
It definitely seems that way, the orange comes from the DB’s themselves. The tree on his back are the Namekian ones we see in early Namek saga as well, so there’s deep connections between the form, the planet, and the DB’s
>Plus, Piccolo is probably the only active Z Fighter who would ignore his standards to help save the world (that being him gaining new power via a wish).
Goku did that in BoG.
It's interesting in theory. But I think it has more to do with his Namekian roots. The symbol on Piccolo's back when he transformed is supposed to be one of the trees that grows on Namek. It could be that the power unlocked was not just latent potential from piccolo but maybe even latent potential from Kami and Nail that was inside Piccolo since they fused. This could also be some sort of lost transformation, long forgotten by the Namekian. Sort of like their version of Super Saiyan God.
I just figured Orange Piccolo was his “Super Namek” form. Everyone always claim he “became” a “Super Namek” after assimilating with Kami, but isn’t that technically him just becoming WHOLE again since Piccolo & Kami were originally ONE being?
So this sounds stupid, but look up electrocuting a pickle, here’s a short https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=euj8n66MYvQ essentially, what was green becomes orangish yellow, when there’s a lot of power flowing through it. I think Toriyama saw the video, said, pickle and piccolo sound similar… let’s do it. Now the canon theory may just be that Dende is just hiding his true power and Shinron realized it. Remember, there are two classes of Namakian, dragon and warrior. Piccolo, in his original form before the initial split, had to be a super namekian, capable of both. Nail made him more warrior, but with Kami back, Piccolo may just not have understood how to tap into the dragon side. Shenron unlocked that ability and helped him see how much power he really had. I just don’t get why piccolo doesn’t make his own men like king piccolo did with drum and tambourine.
Kami granted Shenron life and power. Dende inherited Shenron and now Shenron no longer needs the life Kami once gave him. Orange Piccolo is Shenron paying that power back with interest.
Here’s my theory: The orange form is a transformation available to namekians like super saiyan transformation for saiyans and it’s is not easy to achieve. In all dragon ball media (some canon and some not) the term Super Namekians is used to describe Namekians more powerful than the average Warrior Namekians. Lord Slug (not canon) was one and I believe the original nameless Namekian was one as well. The issue with being a Super Namekian is, if you are not pure of heart, it will amplify your evil side as well. The nameless Namekian dealt with this by splitting into Piccolo and Kami. Now, after Piccolo and Kami (and Nail) were fused into one body, the resulting Namekian (still called Piccolo) was pure of heart and a super namekian. On Namek, a Warrior Namekian was allowed to use the dragon balls to unlock their potential in their times of need. It allowed the average warrior to become a Super Namekian, and a natural Super Namekian to get the Orange form. But in recorded Namekian history, no super Namekian had ever gotten their potential unlocked because they were too evil, and hence Piccolo became the first to do so
I feel like Orange Piccolo should be the “canon” version of the dragon balls manifested into a being not unlike the shadow dragons. Because of this Orange Piccolo could grant a wish if need be but if he does he’ll look like an old Namekian (i.e. Kami) with a reduced power level and unable to assume the Orange Piccolo tranformation for a year.
Maybe its not the Dragon Balls directly, but the color of that intense energy that namekians can imbue Dragon Balls with. I'm thinking the OG Namekian that either found/made the Super Dragon Balls had this form as well
I dig this theory. Even if the DBZ fighters are potentially stronger than Shenron, they still currently are not able to grant wishes or eternal life to anyone even themselves. Kame is also still there and “he” could be upgraded
Interesting theory, but in reality, the answer is probably "because it looks cool." Out of all the fan theories I have ever seen about ANYTHING related to Dragon ball, they've always been wrong because the answer is far more simple, "Toriyama forgot about this or that" or it's just a design they liked.
Simple answer, plot armor. Toriyama wanted Piccolo to get a major boost. He had Shenron unlock his latent potential, which wouldn't have amounted to enough in the grand scheme of things, so we conveniently get Shenron saying he unlocked it but added a little extra as a thank you for being his original creator. Same as when his power level grew so drastically from a mere 3,000 to 260,000 with just 5 days of training with King Kai and then got boosted to 1.2mil simply by merging with Nail.
I hate the name. No “Namekian God form”, “Ancestral form”, “Namekian evolution” or anything cool. Just “orange Piccolo”. Really bums me out.
Same goes for golden/black Freeza/Cooler.
And like, Gohans “Beast form” isn’t called “Super Saiyan grey”. It’s got a good name, even though it is nostalgia bait to make people like it. His hairs spikes and outfit is just Super Saiyan 2 Gohan during the Cell games.
Idk. What does “the power of the dragon balls” mean? Cuz I doubt piccilo can grant wishes now😂 I think shenron unlocked a deep portion of genetic inheritance piccilo has as a namekian. Maybe the original creators of the dragon balls had this form unlocked. And that’s why they’re orange, I mean it makes sense that his form is orange cuz his species invented dragon balls. But it’s a lot of head cannon and I doubt we’ll ever really get an answer. Prob best to just chalk it up to orange looks cool and makes the transformation clear. That’s how dragon ball does things lol
I had the theory that he just "completed him", and with this I mean Shen Long literally took Piccolo as the vessel and unlocked his potential as if he fused all the u7 namekians.
I think it would be better if he had the power of kamis dragon balls instead of the current ones. It would also lead to more power ups for him considering that Kami’s dragon balls were never awakened like the current ones are
> Maybe Shenron allowed Piccolo to tap into the potential of the Dragon Balls as his extra gift. It explains the colors of the form, and why it’s so powerful.
the form is orange cuz the trees on namek grow a fruit similar to oranges on earth. thats what the symbol on his back is, the namekian tree those fruit grow on.
The explanation is "we need a cool new power up so people will talk about the movie". That's it. There's no lore or thought put into any of these unfortunately.
> The explanation is "we need a cool new power up so people will talk about the movie". That's it. There's no lore or thought put into any of these unfortunately.
thats not true at all. Toriyama wrote the movie. He put tons of lore and thought into it. The symbol on Orange Piccolo's back is those famouse Namekian Trees. They grow a fruit similar to oranges, hence the color. It has lore.
Stupid me legit thought the full height mirror was the “a bit more” Shenron gifted him. Turned out it was only out of habit due to all the wishes Bulma has made over the years
Complete tangent, but I appreciate Piccolo having forms with real size differences that work for him. No other major players have had size differences that really work for them, but Piccolo used to turn into a giant, or stretch his arms effectively. Saiyans used to transform into Oozaru but they have abandoned that. When Trunks bulked up against Cell he got his lunch handed to him. Frieza had a "giant" form, and Cell's second form was pretty burly, but neither were even their final forms. Imagine Piccolo forms where he gets bigger without sacrificing speed, strength, or agility?
my theory: orange piccolo is the nameless namekian, brought to his true power once again, this is what the nameless namekian strength was and looks like. His strength was always meant to be insane to the point he could wipe out vegeta like it was nothing when he first invaded earth.
The split limited his power instead of just splinting it. This is him made whole once and for all. Yes he uses the dragon balls but that just the hidden power the nameless namekian had.
A simple explanation like a super ancient orange varient of Namekians or something would have been just fine with me. It will never be explained though.
Strictly speaking, if Piccolo remained green then calling him orange Piccolo wouldn't make sense. So he had to be made orange for the name to make sense
No, Goku is as pure as picolo, at least in Z not in super where he becomes a 5 years old baby mentally, the explication? He's a namekian, the creator of dragon ball, and the previous master of Shenron before dende take the lead
It's a transformation to make people who are half checked out on DB turn back and watch so they can keep getting paid. They would have done another Saiyan form but those are really starting to pile up at this point
I like to think that because Kami ended up splitting himself and creating King Piccolo? He ended up hurting his potential, because you have to remember. Piccolo is only a reincarnation of King Piccolo with his memories passed onto him, so he essentially didn't carry on King Piccolo's potential or skillset upon his passing/hatching. So what I like to believe? Is that the dragon restored his potential and linked it back with his fusion to Kami, finally making him one being. Then the dragon unlocked said potential and gave Piccolo access to Kami's diety form in lieu of him finally, becoming a true Super Namekian. Because the moment Piccolo reuinted with Kami? He literally became stronger than all the Supreme Kai's and even final form Frieza. That was a MASSIVE powerboost. So for a time? Kami was literally the strongest being in the universe barring Beerus and Majin Buu.
This was my theory too. But the problem is it isn't presented that way. It's just used as a lazy power up with no fleshing out. We might get more in the future on it but the damage is done. Giving no context or reason for a new form conveniently appearing leaves a sour taste in your mouth. They could've added this and an extra layer of having his orange form drain the dragon balls for a year when he uses it. So it comes with a risk of not being able to revive anyone from the fight.
The original purpose of the dragon balls was to reward righteous namekian warriors, I think that something extra shenron gave him was the reward the dragon balls were originally meant for.
I recognize that it’s my own reading of it, and probably not canon. But I feel like that was kind of the passing of the torch moment where shenron officially became dende’s dragon, and no longer kami’s. So the power that Kami used to originally create the dragon balls, and shenron, was returned to piccolo, which allowed him to become orange piccolo.
Canon or not, it’s my head canon.
You explanation reminds me of my little "what if" headcanon of Piccolo traveling to HELL and convincing the soul of OG Demon King Piccolo to fuse back into him for a massive power boost from finally being 100% whole.
considering Papa Piccolo killed Shenron before I believe that was Shenron's Gift to Piccolo Jr. He succeeded his previous incarnation in power and prowess. He honored Kami and promotes his legacy.
Real reason: WOW MOVIE SO COOL WITH NEW 10 MINUTE TRANSFORMATIONS!!
Headcanon: Piccolo’s potential unlock is a piss yellow. He goes orange by dehydration.
That's what my theory was- piccolo is channeling the potential of making dragon balls in the manner of being a warrior class instead. Orange form. Orange balls.
I'm gonna keep headcanoning it until we get more info
I honestly just thought that the more was basically not just piccolo's potential but kami/nameless namekian's potential too, making him go back to the maximum strength of the self that originated him
This is a theory almost as old as the movie itself, the only difference is the 'why piccolo' part. Which is because Piccolo is Kami, and Shenron's caretaker/parent was Kami. Kami is Piccolo, so he graced him with power of the dragon or their heritage. Either way. This is the most accepted.
I think this is a cool theory/idea. Definitely agree and like that the coloring is an ode to the Dragon Balls.
When you say tap into the power of the DB are you also suggesting that Piccolo might potentially be able to discover a way to grant wishes/have things manifest similar to Shenron does when granting a wish? I don't know if I'd like that or not, but it's certainly an interesting premise of him like unlocking even more from this form
My take has been that since we learned recently that the guardian of earth has god ki that Shenron only unlocked the god ki that kami had in piccolo and he just use it and that what orange piccolo is to me
I took it as when piccolo asked for his potential to be unlocked, shenron unlocked Nail, Kami, and his potential all at once. But idk if that would scale to the level we were shown lol
The dragon balls could very well be an integral part of it because Kami (and Dende) are part of the Dragon Clan which is the clan responsible for creating and caring for the DBs.
Edit: I say THE dragon balls but like, any. I've either forgotten the explanation for the Super Dragon Balls or there wasn't one but it suggests there's more than one group of people that can make them, probably the gods or angels, but as far as we know Dragon Clan Namekians are the only mortals capable of making them.
I think you should change the "Piccolo is the most worthy" to "Piccolo is a Namekian and also has the original creator of the Dragon Balls within him"
Other than that it's pretty interesting
I really didn’t like how shenron just gave him that power, I like the theory that it’s piccolo’s dragon since he’s also a magic type namekian, that said I think they make it pretty clear it was just shenron giving him a random form.
Yeah the theory of him getting kamis contribution of energy and completing himself. I mean, most people in the show when power level started happening was supposed to say how strong they were and everybody training is going to have it differently based on species and blah blah blah, but nobody can hit their full potential without being complete within themselves right? So his spirit is now completely unified so why wouldn't he?
Orange piccolo really reminds me of omega shenron, and I’m not sure if that was on propose, but the form should of atleast been called “Omega piccolo” ngl
I really like when fans will add all of these nice explanations for plot elements.
When the writers are all likely "Ok guys bandai namco wants some new creative forms to sell merchandise, brainstorm ideas for piccolo"
"Ok maybe piccolo gets angry and then transforms?"
"He's not SSJ don't be dumb OK LET'S JUST MAKE SHENRON GIVE PICCOLO A NEW FORM LOL"
"OH THAT SOUNDS GOOD WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT BEFORE!!! So we have that and Gohan do the usual angry thing, gonna be nostalgic"
I was really hoping the explanation would be that he took back the energy Kami had originally put into the dragonball. That the “little bit extra” was power he had long since forgotten.
That's an explanation I've heard and it's my personal favourite. The Dragon Balls are now under Dende's care and power meaning Shenron/Shenlong no longer needs the power Kami once gave it, so he's given it back to Piccolo to help him in the current and future battles.
Agreed, I like to think Orange Piccolo is the proper fusion of Piccolo, Kami, and Shenron like the original Namekian was when he arrived on earth.
And Nail
That's true as well thinking about it, Nail was Nameks greatest warrior by far and he significantly contributes to Piccolo's powers as well.
Can't forget Nail...:)
Naaaaiillll!
Yes super Kami guru?
Don't take his coat...
WHY ARE YOU STILL HEEEEERRE!!????
NAIIIILLLGUUU-
#*NNNAAAAAAAAIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL*
I saw a pretty bird… FUCK IT UP!
"I saw a bird... it was pretty... kick it's asssss!"
I will do this in the car in Guru’s voice. It’s so hilarious to me.
Dbza is fucking goated lmao
I played a dbz game I forget the name of but it had a bunch of “what if “ scenarios. One was piccolo needed more power so he gathered the dragon balls to revive king piccolo and fuze with him.
Supersonic Warriors 2 on DS I believe
That was in piccolo's story mode in super sonic warriors on the GBA
When Piccolo and Kami fused the dragonballs reverted to stone. Dende used the same model for the dragon but he basically had to remake the dragonballs
Compound interest lol
I think this is the theory most piccolo fans (including me) subscribe to. Was hoping toyataro would run with it as well in the Manga, and he still might... But so far it's just a fan theory I feel many subscribe to.
Doesn't really make sense though, kami wasn't that strong or have that much energy.
To be fair, Namekian fusions are super broken so his base strength doesn’t have to be a factor. Think of the boost Piccolo got to fight 17 even though Kami’s power was probably less than 1000
Honestly I think what's even more broken is how Piccolo went from Nail-fusion strength to Super Saiyan level with just a year of training
It’s like when the first guy ran the 4 minute mile. Everyone thought it was impossible until he did it, now some 2,000 people have broken the 4 min mile since then. Once you shatter the idea of something being impossible you can then start working towards the goal. Also it was 3 years from Trunk’s warning until the androids showed up and training with Goku helped a bunch.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah the fusions scaling never really made sense so I guess it could continue that.
It's more like kami giving up a large amount of his energy just to create shenron which is given back to him via shenron since dende actually never created his own dragon.
Yeah I'd consider it as a multiplicative kind of scenario rather than additive (i.e. a greater fraction of Kami's power is now boosting all the other training and whatnot Piccolo has done over the years rather than it being like +100 old man power levels)
Dende did create his own dragon
This has to be it. The statue of Shenron changes when Dende upgrades it, making it completely his, so any remnants of the old Shenron were from Kami, which is then transferred into Piccolo.
Imagine how much potential the clothes beam has now
Piccolo can now get the recipient absolutely dripping in balenciaga
Namekciaga
Big ORANGE threads.
It must be so metro now!
It's Piccolo but orange
#PICCOLORANGE
#ORANGICCOLO
That is indeed true.
Orangesicleolo
Nameless Namekian was known to be a special dragon clan Namekian at first. As we know, Piccolo change to a warrior clan member. So, Orange form could be the mix of both power in him and something truly unique to him and not others namekian
Orange piccolo is the reward namekian warriors got in dire need.
Makes you wonder why no Namekian warriors used this power against Frieza
I mean Frieza kinda stole some of the Dragon Balls so they wouldn't have been able to get that same potential unlock from Porunga
Piccolo specifically wished Shenron to unlock his potential like the elder namekian could. Guru/Moori could have done the same thing for him if they were there
The Orange form is an 'extra' Shenron gave Piccolo, he literally says that himself. Guru and/or Moori wouldn't have been able to do that.
Yeah, but the potential unlock is all Piccolo wished for and it was the same thing that the namekian elder could have done. Shenron gave him the extra bit because Kami is part of Piccolo and they have a special relationship so Shenron went out of his way to show some respect to his former master
But we're talking about the extra on top that Piccolo got and not the potential unlock itself.
He wished for that, got the wish granted, and then Shenron added some cherries and sprinkles on top.
Yeah, that's basically what I said
Also why don’t any saiyan so super saiyan before goku when fighting frieza. What are they stupid or something?
Literally all you gotta do is focus energy to your back to transform, it's apparent super easy, so yeah I guess they are stupid lol
Interviews give us s cells as an explanation. More s cells means easier to become to super saiyan. You get them via being kinder. Thats why u6 saiyans do it way easier than u7. Also why goteb and trunks do it aswell
No matter how kind you are, German kids will always be kinder
Nail was the strongest and he didnt amount to a suppressed frieza. Orange wouldnt do any good for them
Imagine if orange piccolo had always been planned and the original manga had shown Frieza standing over the corpses of several orange Namekians, and he commented about how they were surprisingly much stronger than the green ones. And those orange Namekians were just never explained or mentioned again until the superheroes movie decades later.
If that were the case, by the time they realized they needed to use the Namekian Dragonballs to have Porunga give Nail “a little bit extra,” it would have been too late. The Dragonballs weren’t pregathered and ready to use. They were separated and cared for by various town elders across the planet. The Namekians would have realized Frieza as an existential threat once he started killing and taking possession of his first four Dragonballs, thus rendering that plan unavailable.
If the power up actually was intended to be given to Namekian warriors in times of "dire need", then it seems like it was pretty dang stupid of them not to keep the dragon balls pregathered and ready to use. Or even better, just give the power up to worthy warriors during peaceful times so they already have it available to use during emergencies. A contingency plan that cannot be quickly and easily put into action when a crisis happens is kind of a useless plan. It's really obvious that this explanation for orange piccolo is a poorly thought through retcon since it creates this plot hole.
I don’t see it that way. A plot hole isn’t when characters make suboptimal decisions, or find themselves in suboptimal decisions. Sometimes it just be that way. The Namekians were largely depopulated and their Warrior Clan almost completely wiped out. At that time of the story, they were a small agricultural peoples confined to their planet with almost no visitors from the outside world. Shit, it didn’t even seem like the villages had immediate communication amongst each other. Them not perfectly prepping ahead of time isn’t a plothole, but a set of circumstances that we are told is the starting point for that part of the story.
IIRC the Namekians almost went extinct due to a climate crisis and were rebuilding their society. I don’t think they were ready at that point for a genocidal invader with a PL that is completely untouchable by their strongest warrior
Logically yeah this does make you wonder, but the realistic answer is that this definitely wasn't planned
Because everything in Dragon Ball actually happens fast af, they had a peaceful time until Frieza randomly dropped on the planet and wrecked havoc. Most of their population probably died in the first hour of the invasion, with the Dragon Balls being too difficult to collect with all the powerful soldiers around
I think Nail was in dire need
Brother in christ as i said before, nail was their strongest warrior. And he didnt budge Frieza in his weakest form. Orange would do no good for him. Also if you watch the show(ik a hard task) frieza, vegeta, then the ginyu force, all had the dragonballs, all of these people they’re weaker than. Getting them back wouldnt be a easy let alone do able task. Piccolo got his potential unlocked, the extra being the orange form
Just a point of note about Shenron not being "as strong as the Z fighters": we've seen several times, most notably with Moro, that magic and ki are not comparable. Shenron can still do things that NONE of the Z fighters will EVER be able to imitate.
Oh, give it time. Goku can do anything. Then Vegeta later because, monkey see, monkey do. 😂
"Why that upstart little--BOY!! We're going to the Time Chamber. Now!!" Goku would be the one who inexplicably taps into magic but it would be a cheap shot by the writers and completely out of character for him. I'd say if anyone it would be Piccolo just cause Namekians are already kinda close to that and, well, Kami and Dende do some mystical stuff. There's also the precedent that seems to have been forgotten where Goku was pushing forward in time during his fight with Hit. That seems completely within the scope of divine ki, but it IS a forbidden practice, which is why they don't. Wishes like restoring a planet and its population, though? Just 🤌🫰 boom, people. Even with divine ki, Saiyans are too close to Destroyers to be able to use that kind of power. That's kaioshin business.
In the Saiyan saga, I remember that they thought of wishing Shenron to be stronger than the Saiyans but he said he can't because they're stronger
Current shenron isn’t the same as that shenron. He’s been upgraded in different ways and remade. Previous one could have had more limitations on it potentially.
It definitely seems that way, the orange comes from the DB’s themselves. The tree on his back are the Namekian ones we see in early Namek saga as well, so there’s deep connections between the form, the planet, and the DB’s
>Plus, Piccolo is probably the only active Z Fighter who would ignore his standards to help save the world (that being him gaining new power via a wish). Goku did that in BoG.
I meant like willing without any external force. Cuz in a way, Beerus kinda forced that to happen.
Yeah, but the existence of the Gammas and Cell Max were the eternal forces that forced Piccolo to have to wish for a power boost.
It's interesting in theory. But I think it has more to do with his Namekian roots. The symbol on Piccolo's back when he transformed is supposed to be one of the trees that grows on Namek. It could be that the power unlocked was not just latent potential from piccolo but maybe even latent potential from Kami and Nail that was inside Piccolo since they fused. This could also be some sort of lost transformation, long forgotten by the Namekian. Sort of like their version of Super Saiyan God.
No hair to turn to yellow ala super Saiyan so, orange namekian it is!
Ikr I never understood why they keep throwing these random power ups. I wish they just called him super namek piccolo or something
Super Kami Piccolo
Piccolo > cell Gohan > everyone else I'm glad Piccolo being respected still power wise
Piccolo is just slowly evolving into one of the wishing dragons.
Piccoleto Atreides? :)
I just figured Orange Piccolo was his “Super Namek” form. Everyone always claim he “became” a “Super Namek” after assimilating with Kami, but isn’t that technically him just becoming WHOLE again since Piccolo & Kami were originally ONE being?
So this sounds stupid, but look up electrocuting a pickle, here’s a short https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=euj8n66MYvQ essentially, what was green becomes orangish yellow, when there’s a lot of power flowing through it. I think Toriyama saw the video, said, pickle and piccolo sound similar… let’s do it. Now the canon theory may just be that Dende is just hiding his true power and Shinron realized it. Remember, there are two classes of Namakian, dragon and warrior. Piccolo, in his original form before the initial split, had to be a super namekian, capable of both. Nail made him more warrior, but with Kami back, Piccolo may just not have understood how to tap into the dragon side. Shenron unlocked that ability and helped him see how much power he really had. I just don’t get why piccolo doesn’t make his own men like king piccolo did with drum and tambourine.
I wish he looked kinda like the demons he used to make. And the idea was that he was part dragon. Using some of shenrons power
Good thing shenron didnt hold a grudge for piccolo Nuking him in DB
In Piccolo's defense, that was his Dad who did that, not him lol
Something in between since hebis the reincarnation with all memories
Kami granted Shenron life and power. Dende inherited Shenron and now Shenron no longer needs the life Kami once gave him. Orange Piccolo is Shenron paying that power back with interest.
Mind naming the artist who did this?
Here’s my theory: The orange form is a transformation available to namekians like super saiyan transformation for saiyans and it’s is not easy to achieve. In all dragon ball media (some canon and some not) the term Super Namekians is used to describe Namekians more powerful than the average Warrior Namekians. Lord Slug (not canon) was one and I believe the original nameless Namekian was one as well. The issue with being a Super Namekian is, if you are not pure of heart, it will amplify your evil side as well. The nameless Namekian dealt with this by splitting into Piccolo and Kami. Now, after Piccolo and Kami (and Nail) were fused into one body, the resulting Namekian (still called Piccolo) was pure of heart and a super namekian. On Namek, a Warrior Namekian was allowed to use the dragon balls to unlock their potential in their times of need. It allowed the average warrior to become a Super Namekian, and a natural Super Namekian to get the Orange form. But in recorded Namekian history, no super Namekian had ever gotten their potential unlocked because they were too evil, and hence Piccolo became the first to do so
I really like your theory. With my theory, it was to also explain the massive power increase Piccolo gets as well. Your theory seems great.
It's the demon who returns
Man I'm getting mad Akuma vibes from Orange piccolo
I feel like Orange Piccolo should be the “canon” version of the dragon balls manifested into a being not unlike the shadow dragons. Because of this Orange Piccolo could grant a wish if need be but if he does he’ll look like an old Namekian (i.e. Kami) with a reduced power level and unable to assume the Orange Piccolo tranformation for a year.
Maybe its not the Dragon Balls directly, but the color of that intense energy that namekians can imbue Dragon Balls with. I'm thinking the OG Namekian that either found/made the Super Dragon Balls had this form as well
Yeah, that’s seems reasonable as well
Orange Piccolo is just regular Piccolo with kidney, pancreatic and liver failure.
Super saiyan form makes your hair yellow, but since piccolo has no hair, green + yellow = orange Orange piccolo really is a creative super saiyan form
Shenron restored the tip
Well he's piccolo...but orange
My theory is that he is an asspull.
He’s a super namekian like lord slug
The height difference we deserve
I dig this theory. Even if the DBZ fighters are potentially stronger than Shenron, they still currently are not able to grant wishes or eternal life to anyone even themselves. Kame is also still there and “he” could be upgraded
The theory is everyone gets a new colour
Consider also that the Dragon Balls were entrusted to the Namekians who also have the power to unlock a fighter's inner potential
Interesting theory, but in reality, the answer is probably "because it looks cool." Out of all the fan theories I have ever seen about ANYTHING related to Dragon ball, they've always been wrong because the answer is far more simple, "Toriyama forgot about this or that" or it's just a design they liked.
Simple answer, plot armor. Toriyama wanted Piccolo to get a major boost. He had Shenron unlock his latent potential, which wouldn't have amounted to enough in the grand scheme of things, so we conveniently get Shenron saying he unlocked it but added a little extra as a thank you for being his original creator. Same as when his power level grew so drastically from a mere 3,000 to 260,000 with just 5 days of training with King Kai and then got boosted to 1.2mil simply by merging with Nail.
I hate the name. No “Namekian God form”, “Ancestral form”, “Namekian evolution” or anything cool. Just “orange Piccolo”. Really bums me out. Same goes for golden/black Freeza/Cooler. And like, Gohans “Beast form” isn’t called “Super Saiyan grey”. It’s got a good name, even though it is nostalgia bait to make people like it. His hairs spikes and outfit is just Super Saiyan 2 Gohan during the Cell games.
I think it's simply because they were running out of colors due to all the other rainbow transformations we been getting
Idk. What does “the power of the dragon balls” mean? Cuz I doubt piccilo can grant wishes now😂 I think shenron unlocked a deep portion of genetic inheritance piccilo has as a namekian. Maybe the original creators of the dragon balls had this form unlocked. And that’s why they’re orange, I mean it makes sense that his form is orange cuz his species invented dragon balls. But it’s a lot of head cannon and I doubt we’ll ever really get an answer. Prob best to just chalk it up to orange looks cool and makes the transformation clear. That’s how dragon ball does things lol
I had the theory that he just "completed him", and with this I mean Shen Long literally took Piccolo as the vessel and unlocked his potential as if he fused all the u7 namekians.
A really bad name for a good transformation
I think it would be better if he had the power of kamis dragon balls instead of the current ones. It would also lead to more power ups for him considering that Kami’s dragon balls were never awakened like the current ones are
> Maybe Shenron allowed Piccolo to tap into the potential of the Dragon Balls as his extra gift. It explains the colors of the form, and why it’s so powerful. the form is orange cuz the trees on namek grow a fruit similar to oranges on earth. thats what the symbol on his back is, the namekian tree those fruit grow on.
The explanation is "we need a cool new power up so people will talk about the movie". That's it. There's no lore or thought put into any of these unfortunately.
> The explanation is "we need a cool new power up so people will talk about the movie". That's it. There's no lore or thought put into any of these unfortunately. thats not true at all. Toriyama wrote the movie. He put tons of lore and thought into it. The symbol on Orange Piccolo's back is those famouse Namekian Trees. They grow a fruit similar to oranges, hence the color. It has lore.
Stupid me legit thought the full height mirror was the “a bit more” Shenron gifted him. Turned out it was only out of habit due to all the wishes Bulma has made over the years
Maybe not the right avenue for the question but where do I watch this? I’ve seen everything till end of Super and idk where to go next
i misread as “by tapping the Dragon Balls” i thought to myself that’d be hella ticklish
What is orange piccolo from?
The most recent Dragonball Super movie. It is the same movie where Gohan gets his own new form.
Complete tangent, but I appreciate Piccolo having forms with real size differences that work for him. No other major players have had size differences that really work for them, but Piccolo used to turn into a giant, or stretch his arms effectively. Saiyans used to transform into Oozaru but they have abandoned that. When Trunks bulked up against Cell he got his lunch handed to him. Frieza had a "giant" form, and Cell's second form was pretty burly, but neither were even their final forms. Imagine Piccolo forms where he gets bigger without sacrificing speed, strength, or agility?
I just hope they don't pull the big guy trope with this form piccolo doesn't need to be lumbering
my theory: orange piccolo is the nameless namekian, brought to his true power once again, this is what the nameless namekian strength was and looks like. His strength was always meant to be insane to the point he could wipe out vegeta like it was nothing when he first invaded earth. The split limited his power instead of just splinting it. This is him made whole once and for all. Yes he uses the dragon balls but that just the hidden power the nameless namekian had.
A simple explanation like a super ancient orange varient of Namekians or something would have been just fine with me. It will never be explained though.
what if it is that he also unlocked Neil's potential too?
Who did the artwork?
Imagine a TOP now
The real explanation: they needed a cool transformation for the movie
I feel like this is the most popular theory, is it not? Definitely not a hot take
Strictly speaking, if Piccolo remained green then calling him orange Piccolo wouldn't make sense. So he had to be made orange for the name to make sense
I think he really is a namekian
No matter what, he's too strong in the db lore.
my personal theory is that it's the worst recolor of all time
fuck it we ball
No, Goku is as pure as picolo, at least in Z not in super where he becomes a 5 years old baby mentally, the explication? He's a namekian, the creator of dragon ball, and the previous master of Shenron before dende take the lead
Maybe he just unlocked Kami and Nail's hidden potential, too.
It's a transformation to make people who are half checked out on DB turn back and watch so they can keep getting paid. They would have done another Saiyan form but those are really starting to pile up at this point
I like to think that because Kami ended up splitting himself and creating King Piccolo? He ended up hurting his potential, because you have to remember. Piccolo is only a reincarnation of King Piccolo with his memories passed onto him, so he essentially didn't carry on King Piccolo's potential or skillset upon his passing/hatching. So what I like to believe? Is that the dragon restored his potential and linked it back with his fusion to Kami, finally making him one being. Then the dragon unlocked said potential and gave Piccolo access to Kami's diety form in lieu of him finally, becoming a true Super Namekian. Because the moment Piccolo reuinted with Kami? He literally became stronger than all the Supreme Kai's and even final form Frieza. That was a MASSIVE powerboost. So for a time? Kami was literally the strongest being in the universe barring Beerus and Majin Buu.
Hes completely embracing his Netherlands heritage, especially today during the Dutch Kings Day.
Real
A recolor with a bigger number. There I cracked the case.
Not a bad theory.
This was my theory too. But the problem is it isn't presented that way. It's just used as a lazy power up with no fleshing out. We might get more in the future on it but the damage is done. Giving no context or reason for a new form conveniently appearing leaves a sour taste in your mouth. They could've added this and an extra layer of having his orange form drain the dragon balls for a year when he uses it. So it comes with a risk of not being able to revive anyone from the fight.
The original purpose of the dragon balls was to reward righteous namekian warriors, I think that something extra shenron gave him was the reward the dragon balls were originally meant for.
Should watch Carthus dojo video, it was very good
Why not The true super namekian form that shenron has unlock because kami fuse with piccolo?
I got all excited thinking about how Toriyama can expand on this when I remembered :(
I recognize that it’s my own reading of it, and probably not canon. But I feel like that was kind of the passing of the torch moment where shenron officially became dende’s dragon, and no longer kami’s. So the power that Kami used to originally create the dragon balls, and shenron, was returned to piccolo, which allowed him to become orange piccolo. Canon or not, it’s my head canon.
Because piccolo and shenron had the power of plot. 👌🏻
I always saw it as a combination of him being a warrior type and kami being a dragon type namekian
You explanation reminds me of my little "what if" headcanon of Piccolo traveling to HELL and convincing the soul of OG Demon King Piccolo to fuse back into him for a massive power boost from finally being 100% whole.
Best explanation I saw was that Shenron didn't just unlock Piccolo's potential, but also Kami and Nail's.
considering Papa Piccolo killed Shenron before I believe that was Shenron's Gift to Piccolo Jr. He succeeded his previous incarnation in power and prowess. He honored Kami and promotes his legacy.
He's going to become zalama
Piccolo with liver failure
Real reason: WOW MOVIE SO COOL WITH NEW 10 MINUTE TRANSFORMATIONS!! Headcanon: Piccolo’s potential unlock is a piss yellow. He goes orange by dehydration.
Unfortunately with the quality of writing super has it's never going to be properly explained
That's what my theory was- piccolo is channeling the potential of making dragon balls in the manner of being a warrior class instead. Orange form. Orange balls. I'm gonna keep headcanoning it until we get more info
If Piccolo created his own set of dragon balls in the orange state, would you call them super dragon balls?!
All that power given to him just to get bodied by Cell Max a few moments later, nah they did Piccolo wrong for that
Namekian god
I honestly just thought that the more was basically not just piccolo's potential but kami/nameless namekian's potential too, making him go back to the maximum strength of the self that originated him
also Piccolo being a Namekian could be why Shenron chose him... as well as the fact that part of him technically created Shenron
XD XD
This is a theory almost as old as the movie itself, the only difference is the 'why piccolo' part. Which is because Piccolo is Kami, and Shenron's caretaker/parent was Kami. Kami is Piccolo, so he graced him with power of the dragon or their heritage. Either way. This is the most accepted.
Man how do I save pictures from Reddit now without getting the stupid watermark and border?
Not going to lie, I wish Orange Piccolo was less bulky but hey it's Toriyama's design.
Isn't it sort of like the power of shenron?
Wow this image looks so dope. I love it
I think shenron have piccolo a extra kick
Why tf isnt it called Dragon King Piccolo or something. Orange Piccolo? Bro said it proudly too😭
I think this is a cool theory/idea. Definitely agree and like that the coloring is an ode to the Dragon Balls. When you say tap into the power of the DB are you also suggesting that Piccolo might potentially be able to discover a way to grant wishes/have things manifest similar to Shenron does when granting a wish? I don't know if I'd like that or not, but it's certainly an interesting premise of him like unlocking even more from this form
It’s purely Pickles just SUPER hydrated lads been chugging some cosmic radiated water for those gains
My take has been that since we learned recently that the guardian of earth has god ki that Shenron only unlocked the god ki that kami had in piccolo and he just use it and that what orange piccolo is to me
I took it as when piccolo asked for his potential to be unlocked, shenron unlocked Nail, Kami, and his potential all at once. But idk if that would scale to the level we were shown lol
Green piccolo = more chlorophyll Orange piccolo = more beta carotene
I'm happy to get a new piccolo form before toriyama passed on to other world
I love this!!
The dragon balls could very well be an integral part of it because Kami (and Dende) are part of the Dragon Clan which is the clan responsible for creating and caring for the DBs. Edit: I say THE dragon balls but like, any. I've either forgotten the explanation for the Super Dragon Balls or there wasn't one but it suggests there's more than one group of people that can make them, probably the gods or angels, but as far as we know Dragon Clan Namekians are the only mortals capable of making them.
I don't think Shenron cares if you do evil or good.
Piccolo would be worthy because of kami being shenrons father no?
Yeah, I think it's something like "the maker of the super dragon balls Inheritor"
I think you should change the "Piccolo is the most worthy" to "Piccolo is a Namekian and also has the original creator of the Dragon Balls within him" Other than that it's pretty interesting
I like it. I didn't even put it together that piccolo is orange because the Dragonballs are orange.
Omega shenron incoming
It’s the super namek form essentially.
I really didn’t like how shenron just gave him that power, I like the theory that it’s piccolo’s dragon since he’s also a magic type namekian, that said I think they make it pretty clear it was just shenron giving him a random form.
Yeah the theory of him getting kamis contribution of energy and completing himself. I mean, most people in the show when power level started happening was supposed to say how strong they were and everybody training is going to have it differently based on species and blah blah blah, but nobody can hit their full potential without being complete within themselves right? So his spirit is now completely unified so why wouldn't he?
I personally think that anyone can push past Mystic’s limits and if it’s a Saiyan they get Beast but for Namekians it is Orange but ofc idk.
Orange piccolo really reminds me of omega shenron, and I’m not sure if that was on propose, but the form should of atleast been called “Omega piccolo” ngl
I really like when fans will add all of these nice explanations for plot elements. When the writers are all likely "Ok guys bandai namco wants some new creative forms to sell merchandise, brainstorm ideas for piccolo" "Ok maybe piccolo gets angry and then transforms?" "He's not SSJ don't be dumb OK LET'S JUST MAKE SHENRON GIVE PICCOLO A NEW FORM LOL" "OH THAT SOUNDS GOOD WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT BEFORE!!! So we have that and Gohan do the usual angry thing, gonna be nostalgic"