Porunga

Porunga (ポルンガPorunga) is a magical Namekian dragon from the anime Dragon Ball Z and the Dragon

Porunga

Ball manga. His name in the Namekian language translates to 'Dragon of Dreams' or 'Dragon of Law'. In the anime, Dende refers to Porunga as the "Dragon of Love".

Description

Porunga is the Eternal Dragon of Namek. He is summoned when all the Dragon Balls of Namek are gathered. Compared to the Dragon Balls of Earth, the Namekian Dragon Balls are quite large, being more towards the

size of a basketball rather than the size of a small grapefruit. Also, since a year on Namek is only 130 days (as opposed to a year more than twice as long as that on Earth), the Namekian Dragon Balls can be gathered more often than the ones on Earth, and thus, Porunga can be called on more often than Shenron. As far as physical characteristics go, Porunga is much more brutal-looking

than the dragon of Earth, Shenron, with a heavily muscled upper body (large

shoulders and a buff six pack). Instead of looking snake-like in appearance, like Shenron does, Porunga appears to be more alligator-like. He has a long green slithery tail instead of legs. He also has a large fin down the center of his back, and large spikes on his shoulders and head, as well as two antennae on his forehead.

Like Shenron, Porunga is good and kind-hearted, but being that he is a dragon, he has a temper and sometimes comes off as impatient. However, he has demonstrated a greater eagerness to grant wishes (he was even shown to be happy for everyone after Tien and Chiaotzu were brought back to life after the battle against Frieza), and also is more friendly and patient than Shenron, who tends to be grumpy and even more impatient when a summoner takes an inordinate/excessive amount of time to make a wish. He has also shown to be able to show embarassment when Bulma says he's "kinda cute".

Grantable wishes

Besides being more friendly than Shenron and being able to be summoned more often, Porunga is also

stronger than Shenron in that he can grant three wishes instead of one or two (technically, in the Buu Saga, Shenron was capable of giving three wishes, but the attempt at reviving a mass amount of people that were killed by Majin Vegeta drained his energy to the extent that he was only capable of granting one more wish).

Though he doesn't actually appear or get mentioned by name, it is stated that Lord Slug and other Namekians were exiled with the help of the Dragon Balls. It is not actually originally explained what they did, but the FUNimation dub seems to indicate it was for misusing their powers.

Initially, Porunga had ability to bring only one person back to life at a time (though he could bring people back multiple times), as compared to Shenron who can bring back an unspecified number of people but can only do so once. Later, Porunga's power is strengthened to bring back as many lives as needed. The Elder Kai criticized this as "a blasphemous act that disrupts the order of nature" (the meaning of this would later be explained in Dragon Ball GT) but did not seem to mind after that.

Like Shenron, Porunga's wish-granting powers are limited by the power of his creator, Guru (and later on, Elder Moori). Any wish that is encompassed within his creator's power is able to be granted.

Non-grant-able wishes

It could be argued that Porunga is morally opposed to killing anyone who is good. When everyone had thought Goku had died when Namek exploded after his fight with Frieza, they asked Porunga to bring him to the check-in station in other world, from where Goku could be wished back to life and would end up on Earth. However, Porunga refused, as he not only informed them that Goku was alive, but that if he moved Goku to the check-in station, Goku would die. This is another potential contrast between Porunga and Shenron, the latter of whom had been known to be more threatening

While Shenron also has this limitation, it has been shown that Porunga will not revive or relocate someone against their will. For example, when Bulma and Dende asked Porunga to bring Goku back to Earth after Namek exploded, Goku requested to not be brought back to Earth. Porunga honored Goku's request and did not carry out the wish.

Also, wishes must be given in the Namekian language. This limitation prevented Frieza's wish for immortality from being granted, so it is possible that this may be some sort of safeguard against off-worlders misusing the Dragon Balls. Porunga is still able to respond to inquiries regarding his wish-granting abilities that are not made in the Namekian tongue, such as when Dende made a wish during the end of the Kid Buu Saga in the common language, and Porunga responded with "Such a wish is well within my power to grant. Okay." However, Dende still had to deliver the wish in Namekian before Porunga would grant the wish. The one exception to the language rule was during that same summoning, when Dende wanted all the inhabitants of Earth, except the most evil ones, to be restored to life. Porunga did not understand the Namekian translation, and so, he allowed Dende to make the wish in the common language.

Granted wishes

Dragon Ball Z

Asked by Dende during Frieza Saga on Namek:

Revive Piccolo.
Transport Piccolo to Namek.
Transport everyone except Goku and Frieza to Earth.
- Porunga couldn't bring back everyone killed by Vegeta or his commrades on earth.

Asked by Dende on Earth:

Bring Krillin's and Goku's souls to Earth's check-in station to the spirit well
Revive Krillin
Revive Yamcha.
- Porunga couldn't bring Goku to Earth's check-in station, as Goku was not dead
- Porunga also could not bring Goku back to Earth, as Goku wasn't dead

Asked by Dende on Earth, 130 days later:

Revive Tien Shinhan.

Revive Chiaotzu.
Transport all Namekians, with the exception of Piccolo and Kami, to the new planet Namek.

Asked by Dende during Kid Buu Saga on planet New Namek:

Re-construct Earth.
Revive all the people who died since the day of the 25th Martial Arts Tournament, except the very evil ones
Restore Goku's energy.

Dragon Ball GT

Asked by the Namekian Elder Moori on planet New Namek:

Re-construct Earth after it being destroyed by the Black Star Dragon Ball's side-effect.

Video Games

Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury:

As this is an adaptation of the manga/anime, he grants the same three wishes he granted in the Kid Buu Saga.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai:

In The True Ruler, after defeating Super Saiyan Goku, Porunga appears and grants Frieza wish for Eternal Life (despite the fact it wasn't spoken in Namekian).

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2:

Zarbon collects the Namekian Dragon Balls in his story mode entitled Beautiful Treachery and wishes for eternal youth and eternal beauty.

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors:

In Piccolo What-If story, Piccolo wishes for Demon King Piccolo be brought back to life so he can fuse with him and become whole as a Namekian.

Dragon Ball GT: Transformation:

At the end of the game, he grants the same wish he granted in the Baby Saga.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3:

The Dragon Balls can be collected and Porunga can be summoned. He will allow three wishes for items.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2:

The Dragon Balls can be collected to summon Porunga who will allow three wishes for items.

Voice Actors

Japanese: Daisuke Gōri (Dragon Ball Z, Early Dragon Ball Z Kai) Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (Dragon Ball Z Kai onwards)
Ocean Group Dub: Richard Newman (Buu Saga)
FUNimation Dub: Christopher R. Sabat
Brazilian Dub: Jonas Mello

Triva

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Porunga grants Frieza's wish even though it is not in Namekian language.
In the credits of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Porunga's name is spelt Polunga.
Though Porunga cannot accept wishes made in the common language, he is a fluent speaker of it, and even responds to Namekian wishes using it.
King Kai said that, when Porunga restores a person to life, he returns them to the place that they died. However, this contradicts an earlier event, when Piccolo was wished back to life, yet, as he lost his Halo, he was still on King Kai's planet until the Z Fighters used their second wish to wish him to Namek, even though he died on Earth.
- However Piccolo had been reunited with his body so he came back to life where he was. The same happened with Goku before the Sayian fight. Those who are just spirits will come back where they died.
During the episode 92: "Goku's Alive!!" (edited), the Police Officer yells out "What! It's Godzilla!"
In the 2008 NIS America video game Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, when changing rooms there is a chance of randomly encountering a dragon named Parunga, who declares "I am Parunga. I shall grant you one wish,"

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