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The very definition of a tyrant...

Emperor Daibazaal of Galra is a regular supporting character in the anime series Go Lion. Though he is technically the lead villain, most enemy activities in the series are left to his subordinates : Supreme Commander Sadak, Sorceress Honerva and his son and heir, Prince Imperial Sincline. Though rarely a combatant and definitely a coward, his personal power, political skills and fighting prowess should never be discounted, and his evil is nearly unparalleled.

Next to nothing is known of Daibazaal's origins. The name of his father is not known, nor is whether or not he founded the Galran Empire, or when he took the throne. What is known is that he was over five hundred years old at the time of the series, and was the son of Sorceress Honerva, who may have used her powers to place him on the throne, though nothing is ever stated to support this notion. Also, no one outside of Honerva and Daibazaal seemed to be aware of this. In any event, the Galran Empire was well known and feared in systems outside of Earth's, which apparently had no contact with alien life prior to its annihilation by nuclear war in 1999.

At some point just over a century before the events of the series took place, he kidnapped and held an Altean woman as a slave, and made her bear a child by him, his son Sincline. Altea was long within Daibazaal's sights, since the planet was said to be the resting place of the legendary super-robot Go Lion, a power that he certainly had to be concerned about. Honerva was disgusted by her grandson's half-Altean nature, but Daibazaal made Sincline Prince Imperial. Whether he ever had other children is not known; in a court as ruthless as his, some of these supposed other children may simply have not survived into adulthood. Sincline's mother was killed when she pleaded for better treatment for the other slaves, as she now bored Daibazaal. This early loss left Sincline imprinted and fixated on women who resembled the mother he sometimes saw in dreams, including Altea's Princess Fala and Heraclean Princess Amue.

Within twenty to thirty years of the series' start, Daibazaal directed Sadak to attack Altea in earnest, devastating the planet he believed held the super-robot, and culminating in the executions of what he believed to be the entire royal court. In fact, Minister Raible, royal nanny Lady Hys, Lady Elena, the late King Raimon's sister, and the infant Princess Fala, now heir to the throne, all managed to escape the slaughter and go into hiding. Many Alteans were either killed or ended up as slaves on Galra. Unknown to Daibazaal, the late King Raimon and his ancestors had long since found the five lions that Go Lion had been broken up into, but had been unable to activate or control them. No real reason is ever given for failing to reactivate Go Lion during the invasion; it is possible that the five eventual pilots were figures of prophesy, or that Alteans, too long used to peace, were no longer able to use them. With Altea seemingly a dead or broken ruin, Galran forces withdrew. At some point after Sincline reached maturity, his father sent him to conquer the planets in a nearby Nebula. How long he was away is unknown, since Sincline was himself just over one hundred years old during the series.

In the Earth Year 1999, the planet underwent a final nuclear war, ending all life on it. It is possible that Daibazaal's forces had been raiding Earth for some time, or perhaps took notice of it after the nuclear exchange. He was known to have many slaves originally from Earth, so it is possible some were taken before radiation could claim them. Five such subjects were the young space explorers who returned to find their homeworld ruined; Kogane Akira, Shirogane Takashi, Kurogane Isamu, Seido Tsuyoshi, and Suziushi Hiroshi. Sentenced to the slave pits to fight, die and eventually get eaten, they gave their first hard slap back at Daibazaal when they used one of his own slave ships to escape to Altea, where they met up with Minister Raible and the now-teen Princess Fala. Together they united the five lions and brought Go Lion back to life, defeating the MechaBeastman sent from Galra. Another prisoner taken in a sweep of Earth was Shirogane's younger brother Ryou, who missed reuniting with his brother but lived a somewhat free life in the caverns of Galra.

For a brief moment, solace for the wicked Emperor was found when Honerva killed Blue Lion pilot Shirogane Takashi, but then Princess Fala herself took up that position. As yet more schemes and plans failed, Daibazaal became increasingly frustrated with Supreme Commander Sadak, though never with Honerva, possibly owing to his relationship to her.

As Sadak faced death for his largely scapegoated failures, Sincline returned and impressed his father with his conquests. Sadak was quickly disposed of and Sincline made to replace him as Supreme Commander of Galran forces. However, Go Lion was not defeated, despite several close calls. Sincline began to notably let his focus waver in his obsession over Princess Fala, and had his eyes on his father's throne as well. The old tyrant proved tougher than poisons, diseases, and a physical challenge from his son, and showed that, while not very brave per se, he would fight and fight to win when necessary. The relationship between father and son took a while to boil over; frequently Sincline would turn his father's admonishments around and point out the benefits his actions brought them. In the meantime, planets were attacked and would-be allies frequently learned that treating with Daibazaal meant a lot more tricks than not. One such recipient of this harsh lesson was Altea's sister world of Heracles, whose Prince Alor and Princess Amue watched as their family was destroyed as a result of allying with Galra.

As Go Lion's renewed legend grew, however, many worlds were more and more actively defying Galra. Father and son came to loggerheads and Sincline was arrested on Daibazaal's orders, a combination of not trusting his son's ambitions and his seeking of another scapegoat to blame for their defeats by Go Lion. Sincline staged a palace coup and arrested Daibazaal instead. Persuaded by Honerva to give Daibazaal a chance, Sincline let the old witch build their ultimate BeastMan - a Mecha made in the image of Daibazaal himself. The agreement was, should Daibazaal prevail over Go Lion, he would regain his throne. Inside the large, powerful, well-armed and well-armored fighting machine, Daibazaal fought viciously, and even broke the great sword King's Cross (Blazing Sword). Go Lion seemed on the verge of destruction, but Sincline attacked his own father, having no intention of giving up his new throne. This provided time for Go Lion to reform the great sword and bring Daibazaal's mecha low. Inside his doppleganger mecha, Daibazaal was slowly incinerated as the devices that enable him to control the MechaBeastman received feedback from Go Lion's attack. The butcher of many worlds died with no one to scapegoat or stand behind as he kept to safety. His son and mother did not long outlive him.

In Voltron, Daibazaal's counterpart King Zarkon was just a bit less cowardly, a bit more caring about his son, and willing to chastise Witch Haggar, who was not his mother. In addition, he survived and escaped his dopple-mecha and later reconciled with his son and the old witch to re-occupy and re-arm Planet Doom. Two different later Voltron series showed him removed from power, one featuring a false reform on his part, and the latest (as of 2011) apparently set after his demise, as Sincline's counterpart Lotor now reigns in his place.

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