Dragon Ball Episode 125: Kami-sama Appears!!

Dragon Ball Episode 125: Kami finally shows himself, and he looks exactly like King Piccolo. They were once one being. He will restore Shenron if Goku stays to train.

Updated on October 19, 20263 min read

Episode 125 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on August 31, 1988 and known in the English dub as Earth's Guardian Emerges, delivers one of the most important revelations in the series. Goku finally comes face to face with Kami, the guardian of the Earth, and finds himself staring at the face of the enemy he just killed. From here on, King Piccolo and everything that came from him can no longer be dismissed as just a demon.

Summary

Mr. Popo tells Goku to go home, but the boy refuses outright: he will stay at the temple and train until he can beat Popo. So Popo starts teaching him discipline. He shows him how to move without a single wasted motion, without so much as ringing a bell, and asks him to sense other people's presence instead of relying on his eyes alone. When Goku learns that Kami is even stronger than his attendant, he raises the stakes: he will train until he surpasses them both.

At Kame House, meanwhile, Tien trains outdoors and vows that at the next World Martial Arts Tournament he will be the one to beat Goku. In a forest, a patrol riding hover bikes finds a dead bear and follows a trail of footprints straight to Piccolo Jr. The young demon wrecks a rifle and stops the bullets barehanded, and the men flee in terror.

Moved by the boy's determination, Kami decides to show himself. Goku is floored: in front of him stands a green-skinned old man with antennae, the spitting image of King Piccolo. Convinced the demon is still alive, he lunges at him, but is stopped and learns the truth. Long ago, Kami and Piccolo were a single being. To become Earth's guardian, the future Kami had to cast the evil out of his heart, and that evil took on a life of its own.

Kami also knows why Goku came all this way. Only Shenron can bring his friends back, and Kami is willing to rebuild the dragon. On one condition: Goku must stay at the temple and train. The boy agrees on the spot and bursts with joy.

Our take

The twist still lands because it overturns everything the audience thought it knew. The ultimate evil of the previous saga is not some outside force: it is what the Earth's own guardian threw away. Good and evil are two halves of the same being, and from this moment on every clash with Piccolo carries an extra layer of meaning.

Kami himself is no textbook wise old man. He is a stern figure with a heavy shadow behind him, someone who sets terms rather than handing out favors. The botched attack is perfect for Goku, who as usual acts first and thinks later.

In the background, the Piccolo Jr. scenes remind us that the clock is ticking: the demon's son is growing fast, and the fleeing patrol makes it clear what he can already do.

Trivia

  • The episode adapts chapter 164 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 17.9% ratings share in Japan.
  • Tien's scene at Kame House, the forest patrol and Popo's bell exercises are anime-only. In the anime Kami's story is also illustrated with a flashback, which the manga does not have.
  • The patrol weaving between the trees on hover bikes is a nod to the speeder chase on the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi.
  • In a flashback to his training with Master Roshi, Goku has his tail, even though he had lost it during that period.
  • This is the first episode of the Funimation dub in which Shenron is called by name instead of simply "the Eternal Dragon".

Did you know? Korin knew all along that Kami and King Piccolo were connected, yet never said a word to Goku. Kami is not surprised: the old cat kept quiet purely for the fun of it.

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