Goku shown wearing a set of Full Battle Armor at the end of a story told by King Kai
Battle Armor,[1] called Saiyan (Battle) Armor by the Earthlings before the Namek Saga, is a standard-issue combat attire currently mandatory throughout the planet trade organization.
Overview[]
Great Apes wearing Battle Armors
Battle Armors are made of an unknown material, which is said to be stretchy, yet very durable. It is said by Malaka that his Battle Armor saved Vegeta from being crushed to death when he was fallen on by Great Ape Gohan, a sign of the armor's durability. They are also known to shatter when dealt enough damage, showing that they are indeed hard and solid. However, even Saiyans in their Great Ape form are able to wear their armor without having any size issues. Vegeta once stated that Battle Armor is the Saiyans' formal attire.[2] Also, he once remarked "one size fits all"; though in the Dragon Ball manga, the original Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Z Kai, he mentioned that there are other sizes as he complained that Frieza only had the older model in his size.
Gohan stretches a battle armor
The most commonly seen ones have dual shoulder guards and some form of skirt armor or crotch guard. Matching boots (often white in color, but others do exist) are standard issue, as is a pair of white gloves or fingerless wrist guards. Standard armor has large shoulder plates, but some simply have reinforced shoulder straps. Many also have skirt armor or plate shielding the groin. Most Saiyans wrap their tails around the armor's waist, appearing as if they have a furry belt. Some armors feature capes, either pinned to the shoulder guards such as that King Vegeta and King Cold, or extending from the back of the lower half of the armor such as Zarbon has. Battle Armor for females does exist too, as seen in Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku where Fasha and some women in a bar are wearing it. It does not include the crotch guards or the shoulder plates, and looks like Vegeta's jumpsuit, but having one strap, same body armor, knee pads with a covering on one leg, and white gloves and boots.
Models[]
Ancient model[]
Kyabira and Toobi's armors
Many years before the events of Dragon Ball a different model of armor is sported by the Henchmen of Frieza's race. This ancestry Battle Armor model is worn by Toobi, Kyabira, and other henchmen of Chilled. Their armor model resembles Cooler's white upper body, with the addition of two shoulder plates. Unlike later models, this model does not cover the lower torso area, leaving the abdomen open for attack. This may be for better flexibility and movement.
Bardock's Elite model[]
Bardock's armor
Bardock's elite armor is worn by Bardock, Fasha, Shugesh, and Borgos, four of the five members of Bardock's Elite. Unlike most other early models used by the Saiyans, this model offers no shoulder protection and features shoulder straps instead of shoulder guards. This armor also implements limited lower body protection, with thigh guards on each side. While Bardock's model has thigh guards, Fasha's, Shugesh's, and Borgos's model do not. Fasha's model also only uses one shoulder strap. One of the other distinguishing features of this armor is the color scheme, which unlike most other battle armors, uses the cooler colors of the color wheel.
Full battle armor model[]
Nappa in full battle armor
Full body armor is the first type of Battle armor featured in the series, and is worn by the three main antagonists of the Saiyan Saga. It offers the traditional torso protection of other armors, but also offers crotch, upper leg, and shoulder protection. Unlike other armors with shoulder guards, the shoulder guards of full battle armor seems to point at more of an upwards angle. They come in a variety of colors such as white and gold, black and brown, and blue and gold.
Vegeta's alternate colored armor
In the fillers of Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta wears an altered full battle armor which is consists of a green khaki chest piece and burnt orange guard pieces, gloves and boots. Vegeta is seen wearing this when he is traveling to Earth in the Saiyan Saga. When he actually arrives on Earth, the armor is much more consistent to the traditional saiyan armor color scheme. The only thing that sets it apart from regular Battle Armor is its coloring. It should be noted, though, that this only occurs in the anime as, at the time the scene was animated, no official colored scenes of Vegeta or Nappa had been introduced in the Dragon Ball manga, so Toei Animation had to make up their own color schemes. In Dragon Ball Z Kai, Vegeta's colored armor is changed to the normal armor.
RIT armor model[]
Gohan wearing RIT armor
RIT armor[3] is the most commonly used variant of battle armor. It is more flexible than full body armor due to the lack of lower body guards, but still offers good upper body protection because of the inclusion of shoulder guards. Unlike the full battle armor, the shoulder guards of RIT armor seems to point outwards more than at an upwards angle. During the Namek Saga it sees use by most of Frieza's men including Dodoria, Zarbon, most of the Ginyu Force (with the Ginyu Force logo on it), and even Frieza. For most of the early Namek Saga, Vegeta sports this armor, as does Gohan in the Frieza Saga. Captain Ginyu, Recoome and Krillin also sport a modified version of this armor which comes in black and gold and features thigh guards.
Basic model[]
Vegeta in basic armor
Basic armor is is essentially just the torso piece of the RIT or full battle armors without the added shoulder, upper thigh, or groin guards. It offers protection to the torso, as well as only basic protection of the clavicles. After being wounded by Recoome, Vegeta switches to this armor and uses it for the remainder of the Captain Ginyu and Frieza Sagas. In the Japanese dub of "Captain Ginyu... The Frog", and in Dragon Ball Z Kai Vegeta says that his armor is an older model and that he wears it because it was the only kind that could fit his base size. In the FUNimation Dub, Vegeta says that his armor is a newer model than the armor Krillin and Gohan have. The latter statement is likely a mistake, since all of Frieza's men, including Vegeta earlier on and even Frieza himself wear the RIT model.
Bulma's armor model[]
Vegeta in Bulma's armor
Bulma's armor is a variant of Battle armor which is largely based upon the basic model. Bulma originally makes the armor for her husband, Vegeta. However, she later provides the armor for Goku, Gohan, and Trunks. She actually makes this armor for all of the Z Fighters; however, Krillin was in a rush to find Android 18 and had no time to put it on. Piccolo refused to wear one because he was a Namekian, "not a Saiyan" and did not want to dress like one, even though various races were known to wear the armor. Tien Shinhan refused as well, stating that he would never wear the same outfit as Vegeta. Bulma also failed to offer the armor to Yamcha and Chiaotzu.
The actual armor is near identical to the basic model, with only a subtle difference in the shoulder area. While the basic model implements an actual armored section to cover the clavicles, Bulma's uses two straps instead, which provides less protection comparatively. Other than that, the two armors are virtually identical. The actual design of this armor also seems to have influenced the concept and drawing of Bardock's Elite armor.
Goku and Gohan wearing Bulma's armors
Bulma's armor mostly sees use in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber where they hold up well considering they endure a full year of battle, implying that Bulma's model is more durable than previous models. Prior to this, previous models are often easily destroyed by relatively low level blasts such as when Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon pierced through Raditz's armor. The notion that Bulma's model provides adequate protection is further supported by the events of the Cell Games Saga. Beforehand, Vegeta admits that he is weaker than Goku. Despite this, Goku was unable to defend himself against the Cell Juniors whereas Vegeta and Trunks (the only two wearing Saiyan Armor) were the only ones able to stay on their feet despite the thrashing that they took from the Cell Juniors, showing the durability of Bulma's model.
Other models[]
Cacao's hidden weapons
In Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, The cyborg member of Turles Crusher Corps., Cacao, has a completely silver, metallic armor which seems to be based on the RIT armor. It is unknown what materials make up this variant, nor if it is elastic like other armors, however it is unique in that is the only armor seen in the series which comes equipped with an on-board weapons system. Amond, another member of the Crusher Corps, has a modified RIT armor with spikes on it.
Cooler's Armored Squadron armors
Cooler's Armored Squadron sports armor which seems to be based on the RIT model. Notable differences include a lime green coloration instead of white or black and the Squadron's insignia (which resembles Cooler's head in his final form) fully covering the abdominal portion of the armor, and a single shoulder plate over the left shoulder.
In comparison to other Saiyans, Paragus wears a unique armor during his appearance in Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan. Its overall design resembled the clothing of those on Yardrat.
Video game appearances[]
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Nappa and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
Battle Armor appears in virtually every Dragon Ball video game that takes place during or after Dragon Ball Z, as one of the series' main characters, Vegeta, usually wears it.
Battle Armor can be used as an item that increases the user's defense in Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu.
In the Budokai Tenkaichi series, a Battle Armor appears as a symbol on the screen to indicate that a character has got a defense increase after using a Blast 1 technique.
In Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, the three customizable hero characters (Standard, Light, and Heavy) can obtain two different styles of Battle Armor to wear. They are referred to as "Saiyan Armor Suit 1" (which resembles Nappa's armor) and "Saiyan Armor Suit 2" (which resembles the model worn by Vegeta when he first came to Earth). Like all other costumes worn the hero character in the game, the player can set the armor's color as well. If logo mark is choose it will appear on the chest of their armor. When either armor suit is worn by the hero, their Saiyan tail will be wrapped around their waist (as most Saiyans wearing battle armor typically do), instead of hanging loose as with other costumes. The two Saiyan Armor Suits can be obtained in Hero Mode after the second fight against Omega Shenron (the one that takes place in the Cell Games Arena) and before the Ultimate Shenron giant boss fight. They can be located on the space pod near West City (it will show up as a star-shaped blip on the Dragon Radar).
Trivia[]
- In the manga, Battle Armor is referred to as Battle Jackets, while in Dragon Ball, Battle Jackets are the armor worn by the Red Ribbon Army.
Gallery[]
References[]
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