The Army that Never Quite Made It - The Red Ribbon Army
When we think of DragonBall, we immediately have the image of Son Goku or Piccolo in our head, but have you ever stopped to think the people that Son Goku continued to torment by foiling their plans repeatedly. Enter: The Red Ribbon Army.
An army set out to find all seven Dragon Balls and thus achieve world domination, the Red Ribbon Army are one of the main antagonist groups of the original DragonBall manga and anime, and also have recently appeared as the main atagonist`s in the most recent blockbuster film, DragonBall Super - Super Hero. There efforts to collect the Dragon Balls in the orifginal series were constantly and ultimately interrupted by Son Goku, although this didnt stop them from continuing to try and best the Small Saiyan.
There are many characters that Son Goku encounters in the Muscle Tower [one of the most important Red Ribbon Army bases], amongst them such classics as Major Metallitron [visually directly inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger], Ninja Murasaki, General Blue, and Mercenary Tao [hired by the RRA to defeat Son Goku]. Furthermore, the RRA also uses mechanical warfare. The most notable amongst these war machines are the Pirate Robot and the Red Ribbon Army Battle Jacket.
While this all may sound like an army not to be messed with, the RRA eventually failed to defeat a short boy with a tail called Son Goku. The members often acted with the classic humorous style that Akira Toriyama, author of DragonBall, is known for. The RRA didn’t manage to uphold its image of a brutal paramilitary, which is yet another reason why we love them.
Nonetheless, the RRA marks a turning point in the series after which things got more serious in terms of fighting. For example, Major Metallitron was the first enemy that withstood several hits from Son Goku and Ninja Murasaki even took more than one episode to be defeated. As we all know, the enemies and fights got more and more intense later in the franchise. One thing is sure about the Red Ribbon Army: they always tried but never quite made it.
Join us next time when we explore the more serious and dark side of the RRA: The Android series.
