Captain Ginyu (ギニュー Ginyū) makes his debut in "Hidden POWER", the 61st episode of Dragon Ball Z, which premiered on September 12, 1990, and he makes his first manga appearance in "The Ginyu Force", the 272nd chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, issued on October 8, 1990. His name is a pun gyunyu, the Japanese word for milk.
Captain Ginyu is the leading member of an elite mercenary platoon, the flamboyant Ginyu Force. He and his comrades are commissioned after Frieza learns that Vegeta is searching for the seven Dragon Balls on Namek, and that the Saiyan's strength is growing rapidly, quickly surpassing Frieza's personal henchmen, Dodoria andZarbon. The force spends five days traveling the stars en route to Namek, and upon reaching the planet, Frieza dispatches the team to capture Vegeta, kill his two companions (Krillin and Gohan) and recover the Dragon Balls which have since been stolen by Vegeta. Efficient as they are, the Ginyu Force does not take long to track down their targets and locate all seven Dragon Balls, with the rest of his team showing off their spiecial talents, such as Burter 's tremendous speed and Guldo 's time freezing. Initially, Captain Ginyu intends to slay Vegeta by himself, but when his subordinates complain that they haven't had the opportunity to fight, Ginyu concedes, allowing them to deal with Vegeta and the others while he returns the Dragon Balls to Frieza's spaceship.
Ginyu with his comrades finding the Dragon Balls
Captain Ginyu transfers the Dragon Balls back to Frieza, but the two almost instantly discover that they can't activate the artifacts to summon its Eternal Dragon. Remembering one of his previous Namek victims whose last words told of how Frieza could never make a wish even with the seven Dragon Balls gathered, Frieza deduces that there must be a secret Namek language custom used to activate them. The tyrant uses his scouter to investigate the vicinity for Nameks, finding three of them in an area that his forces left untouched (Nail , Guru and Dende ). Captain Ginyu volunteers to force the secret out of them, but Frieza declines in favor of handling the task himself. In the meantime, Captain Ginyu is assigned to watch over the seven Dragon Balls.
"Body Change!"[]
Captain Ginyu wants to face Goku after Jeice alerts him of the threat
While guarding the Dragon Balls, Captain Ginyu is joined by one of his comrades, a delirious Jeice, who confirms that a powerful warrior has arrived on Namek, and their comrades, Recoome, Burter and Guldo, are dead. Captain Ginyu advises against Jeice's proposal to warn Frieza, as he does not want this to compromise his reputation. Ginyu decides to confront this new fighter, Goku, himself leaving his subordinates in the care of the Dragon Balls (in the manga, Jeice is left to hide the balls, while in the anime, they are left to be buried by Frieza's low-class soldiers).
Ginyu performing the Body Change technique
Upon convening with Goku, Captain Ginyu determines that the Saiyan is capable of manipulating his power level (as Ginyu is the only member of the Ginyu Force able to do so), speculating his true strength to be somewhere around 60,000 (in contrast to what has appeared on the Ginyu Force's scouters as a mere 5,000). The commander's first advance on Goku is only amplified when Vegeta escapes the scene in flight, in spite of the alliance he and Goku had formed specially for the encounter. This distraction leaves Goku open for an elbow bash to the face. Goku and Ginyu continue to do battle, with Ginyu eventually realizing his shortcomings against the Saiyan from Earth. Ginyu started to believe that Goku might even be a Super Saiyan, however he disproved this as no Saiyan he ever encountered or heard about was as sympathetic as Goku. Despite managing to capture Goku in a full nelson, Ginyu releases him upon deducing that he was only able to take hold of Goku as a result of Jeice's interference. For this, he admonishes Jeice, even threatening to kill him if he intrudes on the conflict once more. This act makes him seem to be an honorable fighter.
Ginyu is pummeled by a relentless Vegeta
Accepting that he is at odds with Goku, Ginyu's next action is a startling one. He spontaneously stabs his chest, before revealing his true plot: resorting to his ability to exchange bodies in an attempt to level with Goku, showing the reason why he stabbed his old body; so that Goku cannot fight back and will eventually die of blood loss. The body change is a success, but Captain Ginyu fails to make the most of Goku's shell's power level of 180,000, stopping short at just 23,000. With this, he is promptly forced into a losing battle against Gohan and Krillin while Vegeta battles Jeice. However, midway through the battle he begins to learn how to draw out Goku's full power and begins to fight back and win against Gohan and Krillin, even when Goku (having also learnt how to utilise Ginyu's body's power) tries to come to their assistance Ginyu easily defeats all three of them. It isn't until Vegeta, having finished off Jeice, appears and pummels Ginyu with his new maximum power. Beaten into the ground Ginyu attempts switching bodies with Vegeta twice. The first time, Goku, still rendered within Ginyu's body, interferes with the attack. The second time, the further injured Goku successfully tosses a Namekian Frog within the trajectory of the Body Change's energy wave, thus rendering Captain Ginyu's soul trapped within the shell of the frog. Unable to pronounce the technique, he is unable to transfer himself to a new body. Likewise, Ginyu's original body enhabits the Frog's soul, and in a similar manner, can only speak in croaks.
Captain Ginyu is ultimately the only member of the Ginyu Force not to be killed by Vegeta. Though Vegeta has the opportunity to finish the captain off after Ginyu switches bodies with the frog, Vegeta opts not to kill him so as not to get "toad guts" all over his "nice clean boots" (in the manga and Kai, Vegeta lets him live after Goku mentions that he is no longer a threat, and states that the life he has ahead of him is torture enough).
Filler episodes[]
Ginyu and Bulma share a moment on Namek, after Ginyu accidentally exchanges bodies with a frog
In the manga, Ginyu is never seen or heard from again. In the anime, however, Ginyu continues making subsequent filler appearances as a frog. Here, he is discovered by Bulma and kept as her companion. After realizing that the frog understands human dialect, Bulma creates a device used to translate his croaking into speech, which Ginyu in turn uses to betray Bulma with his regained ability to pronounce the Body Change technique. Seizing Bulma's body, Ginyu uses Bulma's airski to visit the site of Frieza and Goku's showdown, also attended by Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan; Bulma takes hold of the airski, and despite Ginyu's attempt to lose the frog, Bulma is able to reach her oblivious friends. Captain Ginyu attempted to pose as Bulma and watch the fight between Goku and Frieza, although he lets slip about his true identity when he blurted out cheers directed towards Frieza. Sensing that he ended up exposing himself, Ginyu wages an attack on the trio, before deciding to switch bodies with the most powerful of the three, Piccolo. Gohan comes to realize that the frog is in actuality Bulma, which leads him to throw Bulma in the path of the wave, reverting Ginyu to the shell of a frog once again, and restoring Bulma to her human body. Bulma and Ginyu are then blown away by the force of one of the blasts from Goku and Frieza's fight. They are eventually blown into a cliff by Goku's Spirit Bomb. Ginyu is eventually used to scout out to see where they are by Bulma, who is still sore about Ginyu's earlier betrayal. By the time Ginyu reports back to Bulma, she notices the immense aura overtaking an island in the vicinity: The same island Frieza, Goku, and Gohan are on as Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan.
Captain Ginyu at the Capsule Corporation
After a wish made to Porunga, the Eternal Dragon of Namek, Ginyu is later transported to Earth with all living beings on Namek except Goku and Frieza. Afterwards, Ginyu goes on to live among the frogs surrounding Capsule Corporation. It is never revealed what becomes of the frog whose soul is within Ginyu's shell, save for one scene where he hops around the Earth forest where Porunga evacuates the people of Namek to. Ginyu makes infrequent appearances in later episodes as a frog, such as outside a window at Goku's house during Gohan's 11th birthday, or when he is picked up by a Great Saiyaman-disguised Gohan, after an attempt by Sharpner to unmask him.
Death[]
Ginyu at the Check-In Station in Dragon Ball GT
Ginyu is ultimately killed when Kid Buu destroys the Earth. He makes his final appearance in Dragon Ball Z in Hell, after having apparently been reunited with his body, where he watches the fight between Goku and Kid Buu through a crystal ball along with Ogres and fellow Dragon Ball villains.
Captain Ginyu is shown again in the Super 17 Saga of Dragon Ball GT, but he is defeated again and sent back to Hell.
Power level[]
Captain Ginyu's maximum power level in the manga, anime, video games (like Dragon Ball Z: Sagas) and Daizenshuu is stated to be at 120,000. In the anime, when Ginyu trades bodies with Goku, his power level decreases to 23,000 according to Jeice. In the Famicom video game Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza, his battle point is 160,000.
Body Change – Ginyu's special ability to switch bodies.
Body Change Special – Used in Supersonic Warriors 2.
Cracker Formation – Used in Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.
Galaxy Dynamite – Also called Energy Beam in Legend of the Super Saiyan.
Got You!
Milky Cannon – A Full Power Energy Wave. Called Energy Beam in Legend of the Super Saiyan.
Triple Milky Cannon – A variation of the Milky Cannon that is Captain Ginyu's ultimate attack in Burst Limit.
Parmesan Shower
Strong Jersey – Ginyu elbows his opponent with massive force.
Self-Harm – One of Ginyu's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
SP Fighting Pose 5 – One of Ginyu's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
Ginyu Fighting Pose: Heart
Ginyu Fighting Pose: Technique
Telekinesis
Full Nelson
Fire Energy Blast
Video game appearances[]
Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan (also gets two color edits as recurring foes named "Nanoy" and "Mekrol")
Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
Dragon Ball Z: The Legend
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors
Captain Ginyu's character model in Raging Blast 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
Dragon Ball Heroes
Dragon Ball Online
Voice Actors[]
Japanese dub: Hideyuki Hori, Katsuyuki Konishi (DB Kai)
Ocean Group dub: Richard Newman
FUNimation dub: Dale Kelly (Originally), Brice Armstrong (All video games and remastered box sets), R. Bruce Elliot (Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2)
Latin American dub: César Soto, Octavio Rojas (DBZ Kai)
Portuguese Dub: Henrique Feist
Italian dub: Marco Balzarotti
Brazilian Dub: Sergio Moreno
Trivia[]
Captain Ginyu's "Character Introduction" biography in the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series states that Ginyu has used the Body Change technique numerous times in his career, and that his humanoid appearance in Dragon Ball Z is the result of a previous Body Change, rather than Ginyu's original shell. However, this is debatable, as after dying in the body of a Namek frog (the product of an awry Body Change), Captain Ginyu assumes this form during his stay in Hell. It may be possible, however, that this body was simply his preferred one, the one he'd stayed in for the most time (even longer than the frog), or that the animators wanted to ensure he was recognized easily by the viewers.
Ginyu's true race is unknown, due to the fact that the body he had might not have been his original. However, he did state once that he and Jeice are mutants.
In Chi-Chi's commentary in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, she notes that Ginyu appears to like comic book heroes. Indeed, he does often strike poses like a hero.
In both the Ocean and initial FUNimation dubs, Captain Ginyu is voiced by whoever served as the series' narrator, although Dale Kelly would later be replaced by Brice Armstrong as Ginyu and Kyle Herbert as the narrator.
In Dragon Ball Z Kai, for the preview for "Surprise! Goku is Ginyu and Ginyu is Goku!", Ginyu breaks the Fourth Wall by saying that he is taking charge and comments on changing the series name to "Ginyu Force Kai".
Gallery[]
Ginyu's first appearance
Captain Ginyu is on his way back to Frieza's ship, along with the Dragon Balls
The disciplined Ginyu promises Frieza that he will not fail
Captain Ginyu furious at Jeice for running away from the battle
Jeice and Ginyu try to pull off their poses without the rest of their team
Ginyu's Special Fighting Pose 1
Jeice and Ginyu's pose failing in an awkward moment
Captain Ginyu embarrassed
Ginyu dashes to meet his opponent
Ginyu is surprised by Goku's courage
Goku imitates Captain Ginyu's pose
Ginyu is surprised by Goku's speed
Ginyu attempts to swipe at Goku
Ginyu attempts to attack Goku
Ginyu has a secret... the ability to switch bodies
