Tullece
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tullece | |
|---|---|
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| Japanese | ターレス |
| Romaji | Tāresu |
| Anime Name | Turles |
| Manga Name | n/a |
| Alternate Name(s) | Taurus Tales Turlus |
| First Appearance | Chikyū Marugoto Chō-Kessen |
| Appears in |  |
| Race | Saiyan |
Relationships
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| DB Character Listing - Category | |
Tullece (ターレス Tāresu) is a character from the anime series Dragon Ball Z, known in the FUNimation English-dub version as "Turles", and "Tarles" in the Spanish dub. His first appearance was in the third Dragon Ball Z movie, Chikyū Marugoto Chō-Kessen ("Super Deciding Battle for the Entire Planet Earth"), released to home video in North America by FUNimation Entertainment as The Tree of Might; his second was in the two-volume VHS OVA released as a "Official Visual Guide" for the Bandai NES game, Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (Side Story: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans) (the footage from which was later used in the Bandai PlayDia video games of the same title).
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[edit] Name pun
There has been some confusion around this character's name pun, which revolves around FUNimation's decision to alter the name for their English dub. Many dub fans speculated the name may be a pun on "turnip," though this is quite a stretch for several reasons (one being that FUNimation typically ignores any intended pun when changing character names, another being that it cannot be derived from the syllables in the character's name).
The character's name is, however, a pun on the English word "lettuce." With the name written out as ターレス Tāresu, if one rearranges the first two syllables, it becomes レタース, retāsu. Ignoring the elongated "a" sound, it becomes the accurate Japanese spelling of "lettuce," レタス retasu.
Prominent and authoritative fansites spell the name as "Tullece" in an attempt to bring out the actual pun, making it more obvious to fans who otherwise might not understand. Older romanizations included "Taurus," which (along with spellings such as "Tarres," "Turres," and others) makes little sense, as no puns on vegetables can be drawn. In the DBZ universe, all Saiyan name puns revolve around some type of vegetable (with the race itself, サイヤ or "saiya" being the rearranged Japanese word ヤサイ or "yasai," meaning "vegetable").
[edit] History & relations
He was created by Toei Animation exclusively for the purpose of showing a "What If...?" version of Goku. Son Goku (originally named Kakarot, the main character throughout the series) is a member of an alien race known as the Saiyans. He was sent to Earth to destroy it, as the Saiyans worked for the maniacal warlord Freeza, wiping out populations of planets. Shortly after Goku landed on Earth, he hit his head, erasing all memories he had of being sent to the planet.
However, Tullece (who looks nearly identical to Goku), represents what Goku could have become if he had not lost his memory. His personality is best mirrored to Goku's own brother, Raditz. Tullece is evil, ruthless, and will stop at nothing to get what he desires. Though the French dub of the film claimed that Tullece was actually Goku's long-lost twin brother, ("Le Combat fratricide") nothing is actually stated in the movie or official Japanese publications to this extent. The color tankōbon for Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans (Super Android 13) includes a Saiyan family tree; in this diagram, Tullece is clearly shown separate from Goku's own tree (which consists solely of Bardock, Raditz, and Goku/Kakarrot). Because he did not appear in written works by Akira Toriyama, his existence is non-canonical to the original manga.
In the movie, Tullece states that there "weren't that many types" of "expendable lower-level warriors" like themselves. This does not mean they had the same parents; rather, it seems to suggest that there were many other similar-looking Saiyans. In the American dub, when Gohan mistook him as Goku, Tullece states that they are "both struck from the same mold" which could be interpreted as him stating that they are brothers (Note: this was said in the TV version of the English dub while the home video version is closer to the Japanese one). Tullece also explains that they (Goku and himself) should fight on the same side, since they have the same background; however, there is absolutely nothing in the dialogue that even remotely suggests that they are of any blood relation. In the dramatic sense, their identical character designs are simply a plot device to show the "other" side of Goku: a literal representation of what he could have become without his human influence.
In the Dragonball Z: Anime Film Comics - basically a colored Manga of the DB/DBZ/DBGT movies and TV specials - it was stated that the reason why Tullece and Goku looked alike is because within the low-rank Saiyans, the facial patterns of each warrior were similar, thus making it easy to mark which Saiyans were low-castes.
[edit] Henchmen
As in most DBZ movies, the main villain has a series of henchmen. In this instance, they all follow a pun on the family of nuts/beans:
- Daīzu (ダイーズ Daīzu; pun on "daizu," meaning "soybean" in Japanese): Seemingly Tullece's second-in-command; moderately short with a ponytail
- Cacao (カカオ Kakao; pun on "cacao" bean): A cyborg-type being with red skin
- Rezun (レズン Rezun; pun on "raisin"): First of small, plump alien twins
- Rakasei (ラカセイ Rakasei; pun on "rakasei," meaning "peanut" in Japanese): Second of small, plump alien twins
- Amond (アモンド Amondo; pun on "almond"): A tall, muscular alien
[edit] DBZ Movie 3: The Tree of Might
The seed of the Shinseiju ("Tree of Godly Might," simply called the "Tree of Might" by FUNimation) has come into possession of the Saiyan Tullece. When the tree is planted, it saps the energy of the world in which the tree has taken root. Therefore, he seeks out a planet that he would be able to plant the seed on, so he can eat the Fruit of the Gods, and become exponentially stronger than before. With him, he has gathered a medley of ragtag thugs, all of whom are quite strong (stronger than the average Z-Senshi). None of them are truly granted personalities, and seem more expendable than most villains (see "Henchmen," above, for more information).
As the tree is tampering with Earth's ecosystem and endangering all of life as we know it, Goku and the Z-Senshi take upon the task of defeating the villain. Tullece's henchmen defeat all of the Z-Senshi except for Goku, who takes them all out after strengthening himself with the Kaiō-Ken. Tullece in turn uses his "Power Ball" technique (which simulates the full moon) to turn Goku's son, Gohan, into a raging giant ape ("Ōzaru"). After Gohan is restored to normal, with the Kaiō-Ken, Goku is able to keep up with Tullece's strength and attacks. However, once Tullece grabs a piece of fruit from the tree (now fully rooted and formed), his strength is dramatically increased, and once again, Goku is on the unfavorable side of this battle. Even with a Kaiō-Ken at ten-times its normal strength and a Genki-Dama formed from what little remained of the planet's energy, Goku is unable to topple Tullece. It is only with a newly formed Genki Dama (seemingly drawing strength from that of the planet and the tree, itself) that Goku is able to defeat Tullece.
[edit] OVA
[edit] The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans
In this OVA, the Tsufurujin (called the "Tuffles" by FUNimation) Dr. Raichi seeks revenge on the Saiyans for overthrowing his race. He draws the Z-Senshi into a battle with ghosts of several DBZ villains - Freeza, Coola, Lord Slug, and Tullece. Tullece seems to have retained the powerup from the God's Fruit, although Goku and his comrades are much, much stronger than when they had last faced these foes. They prove to be nothing more than a nuisance and a distraction.
The animation used to portray this storyline was originally released as a two-volume VHS "Visual Strategy Guide" OVA for the NES video game of the same name. It was later recycled for use in a two-volume series of PlayDia games (also of the same name). The footage was included in 2003 on Toei Animation's second DBZ "Dragon Box" set in Japan (a gigantic DVD boxset containing remastered video footage; this particular footage was not remastered, and simply included "as-is").
[edit] Other appearances
Tullece has never appeared in the manga nor any other parts of the anime, and for a long while did not appear in any video game. For a time, it was believed that Bardock's alternate costume in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 would look like Tullece, due to the fact that an image of the latter was shown on the i-Guide for Bardock's in-game techniques. However, when the game was released this proved to be untrue.
He made his first appearance as a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, featuring a never before seen Ōozaru transformation.
[edit] Special techniques
- Kikou Ha- Tullece fires a purple blast of ki (energy) from his palm.
- Renzouku Kikou Ha- Tullece is able to fires numerous of ki blasts from the palm of his hands.
- Kill Driver (name from Tenkaichi 2) - Bringing his hands above his head, Tullece creates a flaming ring of ki.
- Power Ball - A move where a Saiyan creates a ball of energy, which radiates Bruits Waves (play on "Fruits" and "Brutes"; Blutz Waves, what it's referred to as in the English dub, does not) , causing a Saiyan to become a giant ape (see below).
- Ōozaru - Tullece does not actually become an Ōozaru in the movie; however, he has a tail, which indicates that he should be able to transform. In the movie, he notes to himself that by not looking at this Power Ball, he is kept from transforming. Tullece will be making an appearance as an Ōozaru in the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 as a what-if transformation.
