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You poor fool. With the power I possess, you don't stand a chance against me! You're going to die just like this planet! It'll be your grave! But I'll give you a decent burial at least. After all, you're a Saiyan."
Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

Turles (ターレス, Tāresu; "Tullece") is a space-pirate Saiyan who was once a member of the Saiyan Army under the Planet Trade Organization, but he went defunct and off into the cosmos to conquer planets for himself with his group of henchmen known as the Turles Crusher Corps. He is the main antagonist of the movie Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might.

Overview[]

Creation and Concept[]

Toei Animation stated that Turles' physical similarities to Goku are not coincidental, and that Turles was intended as an alternate version of him. Turles was developed as a version of Goku if Goku had not bumped his head and forgotten his purpose, however, his in-universe story has varied from dub to dub from Goku's long lost twin to simply a Saiyan that shares his appearance.

Appearance[]

Aside from a different skin tone and spikiness of his hair, Turles looks exactly the same as Goku. Their slight difference in hairstyle is that Turles is given at least two "devil horns" (this spikiness of his hair is excluded for his appearance in Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, but Turles still has this in every other appearances). In the Dragon Ball Z: Anime Film Comics, it is stated that the reason why Turles and Goku look alike is because the facial patterns of each warrior are similar within the low-rank Saiyans. Turles wears gray and black Battle Armor.

In the poster for the showing of The Tree of Might, Pink, and Kennosuke-sama at the 1990 Toei Anime Fair, Turles is featured with Battle Armor that is white with a dark chest plate and gauntlets, and yellow shoulder pads.

Name[]

Turles' name is a pun on the vegetable "lettuce". The name is written out as ターレス, Tāresu. If the first two syllables are rearranged, it becomes レタース, retāsu. Ignoring the elongated "a" sound, it becomes the accurate Japanese spelling of "lettuce", レタス retasu.

Personality[]

Turles was developed to be 'Kakarot', the personality of Goku that was erased when the latter fell from a cliff. Therefore, Turles is shown to be merciless, prideful and confident. His cruel treatment of Gohan proves that he cares little to nothing for others, shown again when he reveals no sadness what-so-ever when Goku defeats his loyal subordinates. As with many other villains before and after him, his main objective is to conquer the universe, though he plans on doing so by using his Tree of Might, even if it means killing so many innocent people in the process. He also seems to enjoy sake [Japanese Dub] and finds pleasure in seeing others suffer, as how he laughed when Goku was being attacked by his own son.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Turles is a lower class Saiyan warrior and former servant of Frieza. Though he appears to be around same age as Goku, Turles is older. The Supplemental Daizenshuu adds that when Goku was born, Turles should have already been a first-rate warrior, and perhaps they met at that time.[1] Turles escaped Planet Vegeta's destruction by luck, and learned of the fruit of the Tree of Might. Wanting to rule the universe, he traveled around destroying planets and gaining more and more allies. The medley of ragtag thugs he gathered are called the Turles Crusher Corps. He and his men all got stronger by repeatedly planting the Tree of Might on planets and eating its fruit.[2] Nearly thirty years after Planet Vegeta's destruction, Turles and his squad of henchmen make their way toward Earth to check up on the Saiyan called Kakarot (Goku). Supplemental Daizenshuu says that since Turles knew in advance that Goku was on Earth, he might have had an interest in the famously brave Bardock and his son.[1] In the video game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, Bardock initially believes Gohan to be Turles' son, implying that Bardock and Turles know each other. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3, when Bardock and Turles face each other, they have a special in-battle conversation in which Turles' starts with "So, you're Bardock? What do you want with me?", showing that they never met each other in person before.

The Tree of Might[]

Main article: Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

Turles seeks out a planet that he would be able to plant the seed of the Tree of Might on, so he can eat the Fruit of the Gods and become exponentially stronger than before.

After his arrival to Earth, Turles mainly watches the battle between his men and the Z Fighters in his spaceship. He does not appear until he sees Gohan defeating one of his men, single-handedly. He realizes that he is the son of Kakarot (Goku), and soon meets with him. Gohan is shocked to find that he has almost an identical appearance to his father, and is also in fact a Saiyan. Turles asks him to join his team, but Gohan refuses his offer. Piccolo soon comes to Gohan's rescue, but is defeated easily by Turles.

Turles soon sees that Gohan has grown back his tail. He quickly creates a Power Ball and forces Gohan to look at it. Helpless, Gohan transforms into a Great Ape. Gohan soon goes on a rampage, and nearly kills Goku. He abruptly stops when he sees his friend Icarus in the area. He stops and, thanks to his childhood innocence, plays around with Icarus. However, Turles attacks Icarus, thus provoking Gohan. To Turles' surprise, Gohan is able to control himself and specifically attack Turles. However, Great Ape Gohan is no match for Turles, and is nearly killed. But Goku cuts his tail off before getting hit with Turles' deadly final attack. Goku swears revenge on Turles for causing harm to his son.

With the Z Warriors defeated with much ease, Turles' men all attack Goku. Watching at the sidelines, Turles is ambushed by Piccolo. Turles is able to survive Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon at point blank range, and with one blast, Turles defeats Piccolo. With a single Kaio-ken, Goku kills all of Turles' men with a single hit each, all dying at the same time. To the anger of Turles, Goku's power continues to increase. Turles soon learns that he had highly underestimated Goku's power, and resorts to eating the fruit from the Tree of Might.

Eventually, Turles successfully grabs and eats a piece of fruit, which causes his strength to increase dramatically. Even with a Kaio-ken at ten-times (twenty-times in the English FUNimation Dub) its normal strength and a Spirit Bomb formed from what little remained of the planet's energy, Goku is unable to topple Turles, with Turles greatly injuring Goku, scorching his back with a couple of energy blasts. It is only with a newly formed Spirit Bomb containing energy from the Tree of Might that Goku is able to obliterate both Turles and the Tree of Might once and for all.

Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans/Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans[]

Main article: Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans

Phantom versions of Turles, Cooler, Lord Slug and Frieza are shown harassing the Z Fighters. In the battle, Turles is killed by Gohan.

Power[]

Despite being considered a low-class Saiyan warrior, Turles' base power level is higher than that of other Saiyans of that tier. He is able to beat Piccolo (before eating any fruit) whose power level is at 18,000 (the same as Cui's and Vegeta's during the Saiyan Saga). This could be due to his travels across the galaxies making him stronger as he ravaged countless planets.

Turles calculates Goku's a power level as roughly 30,000. When a battle ensues, Goku gains a slight edge, but Turles is still able to hold his own, which could imply that Turles' power level is comparable to 30,000, but the movie pamphlet states that Turles has a power level of 19,000 during this point. After eating a piece of fruit from the Tree of Might, Turles' power level increased dramatically; over 300,000 according to the movie pamphlet. Goku then multiplies his Kaio-ken by tenfold to try and match him, but Turles defeated Goku's Kaio-ken x10 (x20 in the English dub) with ease, and Goku's power level is roughly 300,000 when he uses the Kaio-ken x10. If Turles is able to defeat that with ease, this would possibly put Turles at a level to where he could rival that of Frieza in his first form, who had a confirmed power level of 530,000 (in the FUNimation Dub of the movie, Goku says Kaio-ken x20; which may have been added to show how great Turles' power is and show it could be over 600,000, making him stronger than Frieza's first form).

Turles also eats another fruit after beating Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin and Chiaotzu, which could have boost his power to even greater heights, although by how much is unknown.

Techniques and special abilities[]

  • Fruit of the Tree of Might – Turles has somehow obtained the seeds of the Tree of Might, and has planted them on various planets to produce fruit that gives the eater immense strength enhancement. Turles has eaten plenty of them to become extremely powerful, dramatically transcending the levels of his former status as a low-class warrior.
  • Flight – Like most characters in the series, Turles can manipulate his ki to push him off the ground and take flight.
  • Finger Beam – An energy blast he fires it from his index and middle fingertips. Turles uses this to attack Icarus in order to make Gohan angry and draw out his Great Ape form.
  • Kill Driver – Turles creates a fiery ring of ki and launches it at his opponents, releasing a massive explosion that is strong enough to kill a Great Ape.
  • Full Power Energy Barrage Wave – Turles releases a rapid barrage of purple energy spheres at his opponents, causing a massive accumulation of damage.
  • I'll Dig Your Grave! – Turles punches the opponent, followed by a knee strike to the air. Then, he knocks the opponent to the ground, followed by a Full Power Energy Barrage Wave. Turles used this attack against Goku towards the end of the film.
  • Meteor Break – Turles charges at the foe and knees them into the air, then flies up to them in midair, knees them in the stomach and smashes them down to the ground, then right before the foe hits the ground, Turles charges down at them, knees them in the stomach again. Then to finish them off, he blasts the helpless enemy with the same column of energy that he used against Piccolo in the film. It is Ultimate Blast in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Rock Crusher – A knee strike technique used as part of the Meteor Break. Named in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2.
  • Calamity Blaster – A large and powerful beam of energy. Turles used this twice to counter Goku's Spirit Bombs. Named in Raging Blast 2.
  • Power Ball – By combining his ki with the planet's atmosphere, Turles can create a ball of condensed Blutz rays, which simulates the effects of a full moon, allowing him to transform into a Great Ape. In the FUNimation Dub, he calls this technique a Moon Blast.
  • Chou Makouhou – One of Great Ape Turles' Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Chou Makouhou Barrage – One of Great Ape Turles' Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Chou Makousen – Great Ape Turles' Ultimate Blast in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Howl – One of Great Ape Turles' Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Explosive Wave – One of Turles' Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
  • Dragonthrow – Turles uses this throw in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

Transformation[]

Great Ape[]

Like all Saiyans with a tail, Turles can transform into a Great Ape at the sight of a full moon (or similar sources). Though he has never transformed in the Movie, and he stated that he would lose his wits if he does, he is seen transformed in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

Video game appearances[]

Turles appears as a Ghost Warrior in the Famicom game Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku and its Playdia adaption Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku - Chikyū-Hen, turles apper sin chikyu but is eventually killed again, this time by Gohan. In an alternate ending in the Playdia version, Turles ends up killing Gohan instead.

He made his first appearance as a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, featuring a never before seen Great Ape transformation.[3] His Great Ape form in the game is typical of untrained lower-class soldiers, and cannot control his mind (as he had implied in the film itself). Turles is also a playable character in his base and Great Ape forms in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and he is playable only in his base form in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 and the arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes.

In Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and the next installment, Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Turles and Vegeta have a special pre-battle conversation (he and King Vegeta have the same dialogue). Vegeta starts it by saying "Your face is utterly disgusting!", to which Turles replies by saying "Well, this brings back memories." In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, their pre-battle quote involves Turles asking Vegeta to join him by saying "Together, we would be the strongest force in the universe!", to which Vegeta replies "I don't like the way you look...". If Turles defeats Vegeta in all three games, he mocks him by calling him "The Princess of all Saiyans."

Voice actors[]

Trivia[]

  • In the French AB Group and Danish dub, Turles is stated to be Goku's brother. This was likely a way of explaining their physical similarities for that version.
  • In Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, Turles claims that his hatred for the Saiyans is greater than Frieza's, Cooler's and Lord Slug's, an arguably hypocritical sentiment. However, this Turles was merely a phantom, which could explain the irony in his statement when the real Turles actually displayed noticeable pride in his Saiyan heritage in The Tree of Might.
  • In Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Gohan mistakes Turles for his father due to sharing physical similarities with Goku. Turles also has special dialogue with Goten, where he correctly assumes that he is Goku's other son.
  • In Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3, there is special dialogue between Turles and Goku while he is a Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, or a Super Saiyan 3 where upon seeing Goku's transformed state says, "What? No, This is impossible!". If Turles wins, he will say to Goku "You surprised me a little, but not much."
  • In Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3, and Raging Blast 2, if he gets mistaken for Goku, he will say: "Sorry, but you've mistaken me for someone else".
  • Out of all the low-class Saiyans seen wearing Scouters in the series, Turles is the only one whose Scouter lens is red.
  • In some games, Turles' alternate costumes will have his Battle Armor colored similar to Tora's and a Scouter with a lens colored similar to Tarble's.
  • Turles is the only character that actually managed to destroy a Spirit Bomb. Even Frieza and Kid Buu, both of whom are significantly stronger than Turles, only managed to slow it down or repel it outright, respectively.

Gallery[]

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