Despite being destroyed at the hands of Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, Nappa was technically the most successful villain in the Saiyan Saga.
The “Saiyan Saga” in Dragon Ball Z is one of the most iconic arcs in the anime. It marked Piccolo’s turning point from a feared villain to a very important ally, introduced the martial arts master Lord Kaioh, and revealed Son Goku’s intergalactic origins. The “Saiyan Saga” also introduced audiences to the franchise’s villain-turned-hero of the franchise, Vegeta and his subordinate, the monstrous Nappa muscle mountain.
Since his first appearance in episode 5, Nappa has cultivated an unwavering and dedicated fan base. He has made cameo appearances and full appearances in Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, and has appeared in several Dragon Ball films and video games. However, despite his dedicated following and low-key popularity, Nappa is also unfairly dismissed as something of a stock character or something much worse.
It’s true that Nappa was effortlessly dispatched by Goku on his return from the Otherworld and that Nappa’s power was empirically inferior to Vegeta’s, but Nappa proved to be the arc’s superior villain by virtue of one important metric: body count.
Between episode 24, “The Power of Napa” and episode 28, “The Arrival of Goku“, Nappa, with the brief help of six Saibaman, took the lives of Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo. These three held the highest positions of power among the Z Warriors available to challenge the threat of the Saiyans, and Nappa defeated each of them unscrupulously.
What’s more, Nappa survived Chaos‘ devastating attack of self-destruction. Chaos‘ sacrifice, coupled with the inconsequential damage inflicted on Nappa, dealt a significant blow to the morale of the Z Warriors, solidifying Nappa as indomitable in his estimation.
Nappa’s brutality wasn’t limited to dealing with the Z Warriors either. Throughout his time on Earth, Nappa destroyed two cities and their entire populations. Considering all this, the number of deaths on Nappa’s account puts him on the same level as Androids 17 and 18, and even the monstrous Cell.
It is undeniable that Vegeta was the ever-looming shadow behind each of Nappa’s battles, and that Vegeta eventually took center stage as the main antagonist of the “Saiyan Saga” (i.e., extinguishing Nappa like a candle). However, it was Nappa who not only put an end to the greatest number of heroes, but caused the most damage in doing so.
Generally speaking, antagonists have only one integral function: to remove anyone in their path, be they heroes, other villains, or even innocents who stand in the way of their ultimate goal. To that end, Nappa was the scariest of the Saiyan duo. Not only did he eliminate more than half of the Z Warriors, but he demoralized who would be left with each elimination, as well as razing two cities as the world watched in terror. Rather than working under the improper name of a typical tough bone henchman, Nappa deserves to be recognized as a force of terror and power much like Vegeta.
Source: Atualinerd.com.br
