About Me
Mr. Popo is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z manga and Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT animes . He is an immortal djinn, who tends the grounds of Kami's Lookout and is Kami's assistant. He uses a flying carpet for transportation.
Mr. Popo, with his inky skin; wide eyes; and prominent, bright-red lips, is a variant of darky iconography, a racist style of caricature that originated in the United States and became widely utilized internationally for a time. Post World War II, the manufacture and export of primarily kitchenware kitsch in the darky mode, with googly eyes, dark skin and exaggerated lips, became a major industry in Japan, where darky iconography has remained an accepted style of portraying black people. May 4, 2000, children's book author Carole Boston Weatherford wrote an article titled "Japan's Bigoted Export to Kids", claiming that Mr. Popo and the Pokémon Jynx were derogatory stereotypes. DragonBall was accused of being racist, and as a result of public pressure, Viz removed Mr. Popo's large lips in the American release of the manga.
Kami’s very old and faithful servant, Mr. Popo is thousands (possibly millions) of years old, and has served every other Kami (God/Guardian of the Earth) of the past. His purpose consists of tending to Kami’s Palace, keeping the lookout clean, helping to reconstruct Shenron if he is destroyed, and most importantly, taking care of Kami. He also tends to the ancient butterfly garden that he planted thousands of years ago, and enjoys the more simple things in life. While Funimation’s Mr. Popo speaks using complete, highly intelligent sentences, the Japanese version proves him to be a seemingly primitive figure. His grasp of the common tongue is less than the English-dubbed version makes it out to be, and in addition, the Japanese version has him commonly referring to himself in the third person, which is not done in the English version. (However, he does refer to himself in the third person ..on Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi; the quote is: "You're here. Mr. Popo is happy.) Though not shown much in the series, Mr. Popo is an excellent martial arts master. In Dragon Ball, Mr. Popo is far stronger than Goku when he first arrives at Kami’s Palace. He trains Goku for three years until the boy learns everything he knows. Some of the techniques he teaches Goku later prove valuable, such as the ability to sense ki. In Dragon Ball Z, he helps Bulma, Kuririn, and Son Gohan get to Namek by showing Bulma the location of Kami's old ship.
In the Majin Buu Saga, Trunks and Son Goten turn Super Saiyan and briefly spar with Mr. Popo. He blocks every one of Trunks and Goten's punches and manages to evade one. Goten eventually lands a punch, causing Mr. Popo to flip around and land on the ground. He is seemingly uninjured, proving him a far stronger character than the others assume he is.
Mr. Popo appears in the following Dragon Ball movies and specials:
-Return of Cooler
-Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans
