Story Arcs: 1: Pilaf Arc | 2: Tournament Arc | 3: Red Ribbon Army Arc | 4: Baba Arc | 5: Tien Shinhan Arc | 6: King Piccolo Arc | 7: Piccolo Jr. Arc
The Red Ribbon Army Arc is the third story arc in the Dragon Ball series
Short Summary
After the tournament concludes, Goku heads off to find the Four Star Dragon Ball. However, in the midst of his search, he runs afoul of a military corporation called the Red Ribbon Army who are searching for the Dragon Balls as a means of World Domination and trampling over anyone to do it. Not surprisingly this leads to many confrontations against the young warrior.Main Summary
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Note: Due to the length of this arc, it is divided into several sections.
With the World Tournament over with, Goku prepares for the next step of his training; but Master Roshi tells him that he and Krillin need to go out and experience the world in order to further develop their skills. While Krillin decides to hang around Kame House (much to Master Roshi's annoyance—he wanted alone time with Launch), Goku realizes that a year has passed and that the Dragon Balls have regained their power. Taking the Dragon Radar, he flies off on the Flying Nimbus to find the Four Star Ball that belonged to his grandfather.
Silver Corps
The Radar leads Goku to a clearing that a group of soldiers are searching. He finds a Dragon Ball, but it's not the Four Star. The soldiers try to take the Ball, but Goku defeats them all. The leader of the platoon, Colonel Silver, blasts Flying Nimbus out of the sky with a bazooka and fights Goku, only to get defeated. With his cloud apparently destroyed, Goku finds a robot belonging to the soldiers, who helpfully agrees to use a plane and fly him to the next Dragon Ball. The minute they leave, Silver recovers and reports what happened to his leader, Commander Red of the Red Ribbon Army. While Red is furious to hear that Silver was beaten by a kid, his Officer Black wonders how a single boy managed to find a Dragon Ball when their own forces all over the world have yet to capture one.
White Corps
Goku's plane crash lands in a northern climate due to his robot pilot literally freezing up. He's found by a girl named Suno and taken to her village. He learns that the Red Ribbon Army has occupied the area, and are forcing the men to look for the Dragon Ball. They're even holding the mayor in their base, Muscle Tower. Goku decides to save the mayor and take down the soldiers led by General White. He attacks Muscle Tower, a Trojan Gauntlet of Red Ribbon weapons and elites. After defeating White's forces, he finds that his Dragon Radar broke, and decides to go to Bulma's home to get it fixed. The villagers tell him that Flying Nimbus can't be destroyed by mortal means, and Goku is able to fly to West City.
Blue Corps
After some hijinks in the big city, Goku finds that his friend is the heiress to Capsule Corp, the company that makes those incapsulated tools. With her relationship with Yamcha on the rocks, Bulma forces herself along on the Dragon Ball hunt. The repaired Radar takes them to the sea, at a point too deep for Goku to swim. Goku realizes that Master Roshi's island is nearby, and decides to ask if he has a submarine to use. They get the sub, and Krillin to help out. Meanwhile, a scout for the local Red Ribbon base headed by General Blue follows after them. He reports his findings, and the leaders of the Red Ribbon Army conclude that Roshi made the Dragon Radar, and decide to kill two birds with one stone; General Blue will take half his forces to follow Goku's group to steal the Dragon Ball, while sending a squad to capture Roshi.
While Roshi mops the floor with his would-be captors, Blue chases and tries to kill Goku and co at the location of the Dragon Ball- an abandoned pirate's lair. Although the kids are able to escape with the Ball, Blue follows them to Kame House and uses his psychic powers to subdue and steal the Ball and Dragon Radar, leaving a bomb to kill them. Luckily, Launch is able to free the others, allowing Goku to stop the bomb and chase after Blue.
The two fighters crash-land in the very weird town of Penguin Village, home to such characters as Arale, the super-powerful robot girl, who sends Blue packing with her trademark headbutt. However, Blue still had the Dragon Radar, so Goku's search has ended...until Dr. Senbei's psychic son Turbo makes a new Radar. Meanwhile, Blue may have stolen the Radar, but seeing as he's been punched into the desert, it'll be a while before he can return to Red Ribbon HQ...
The Sacred Land of Korin
Goku's search leads him to the Sacred Land of Korin, where Captain Yellow and his squad are trying to steal the Dragon Ball belonging to Bora, a powerful Native warrior. Yellow tries to get the Ball by holding Bora's son Upa hostage, but Goku shows up to ruin everything for him. It's then revealed that Bora's Dragon Ball has four stars...the same number of stars that the one Goku's grandfather had!
Frustrated by the failures of his troops, Commander Red decides to hire Tao Pai Pai, a ruthless mercenary killer, to take Goku down and take the Dragon Balls. Tao Pai Pai proves his worth by killing General Blue (having shown up at that moment), and sets out to track Goku down.
Goku learns about the legend of the Korin Tower, a giant pole where a hermit supposedly lives with a magic potion that will increase your strength when Tao Pai Pai arrives. The assassin starts out killing Bora when the warrior gets in the way, and then utterly crushes Goku. Not even the Kamehameha does more than ruin Tao's outfit. Tao Pai Pai finishes Goku off with his own Ki Manipulation, the Dodonpa, a finger-sized beam that strikes Goku's heart. With his task apparently done, Tao Pai Pai takes Goku's backpack and leaves. But instead of going to the Red Ribbon, he goes to a tailor shop for a new outfit. When calling Red about his delay, the Commander tells him that their own Radar shows a Dragon Ball still at the Sacred Land...
As it turns out, the remaining Four-Star Dragon Ball was kept on Goku's person, and blocked the full brunt of Tao Pai Pai's attack. However, Bora is still dead. Goku decides that he will use the Dragon God's wish to bring Bora back to life, but will need to retrieve his Dragon Balls. Knowing that Tao will return, Goku decides to climb the pole and drink the hermit's magic water. After days of climbing, he reaches the hermit's location, and learns that he is a talking cat named Korin who only allow Goku to drink the water...if he can steal it! Furthermore, it took Goku's teacher Master Roshi three years to do it! But after three days of chasing, Goku manages to get the flask. However, it turns out that the water isn't magic at all. It was the exertion of running around in a thin atmosphere that increased Goku's strength. Embolden, Goku returns to the ground just in time to save Upa from Tao Pai Pai. Their next battle is a turnaround from the last one, as Goku utterly pulverizes Tao. He can even catch the Dodonpa now! The battle ends when Tao's usage of a grenade blows up in his face...literally. With the assassin beaten, Goku checks his Radar and learns that two Dragon Balls are in the same place. Realizing that it must be Red Ribbon's HQ, Goku decides it's time to take the fight to the "Army of Evil"!
Red Ribbon HQ
Goku takes off towards the Red Ribbon Base. Along the way, he encounters a flying probe of sorts, another invention of Bulma's. Bulma realizes that Goku's flight path takes him towards the Red Ribbon, so the rest of the Dragon Ball gang decide to band together to save Goku.
Meanwhile, Goku begins his assault on the Red Ribbon Army. Despite their weapons and numbers, none of the enemy soldiers can touch Goku, and it isn't long before those who aren't beaten flee. Furious at the failures of his men, Commander Red grumbles at how close he was to become tall— Wait, what? Officer Black is outraged to learn that the intended wish of the Dragon Balls—that the Red Ribbon Army has sacrificed so much for—was for Red to wish himself taller! Red claims that it'll be easier to conquer the world if he has an imposing height, but it becomes apparent that he only cares about how he's The Napoleon. Black puts a bullet into Red's head and promotes himself Commander, just in time for Goku to arrive.
Black attempts to negotiate with Goku, offering that We Can Rule Together, but Goku isn't interested. Black whips out a Humongous Mecha from a capsule and tries to fight, but, like so many officers before him, fails to do anything. Goku destroys the mecha and Black in one shot, and successfully defeats the Red Ribbon Army.
Meanwhile, Goku's friends are just reaching the Base...
With the World Tournament over with, Goku prepares for the next step of his training; but Master Roshi tells him that he and Krillin need to go out and experience the world in order to further develop their skills. While Krillin decides to hang around Kame House (much to Master Roshi's annoyance—he wanted alone time with Launch), Goku realizes that a year has passed and that the Dragon Balls have regained their power. Taking the Dragon Radar, he flies off on the Flying Nimbus to find the Four Star Ball that belonged to his grandfather.
Silver Corps
The Radar leads Goku to a clearing that a group of soldiers are searching. He finds a Dragon Ball, but it's not the Four Star. The soldiers try to take the Ball, but Goku defeats them all. The leader of the platoon, Colonel Silver, blasts Flying Nimbus out of the sky with a bazooka and fights Goku, only to get defeated. With his cloud apparently destroyed, Goku finds a robot belonging to the soldiers, who helpfully agrees to use a plane and fly him to the next Dragon Ball. The minute they leave, Silver recovers and reports what happened to his leader, Commander Red of the Red Ribbon Army. While Red is furious to hear that Silver was beaten by a kid, his Officer Black wonders how a single boy managed to find a Dragon Ball when their own forces all over the world have yet to capture one.
White Corps
Goku's plane crash lands in a northern climate due to his robot pilot literally freezing up. He's found by a girl named Suno and taken to her village. He learns that the Red Ribbon Army has occupied the area, and are forcing the men to look for the Dragon Ball. They're even holding the mayor in their base, Muscle Tower. Goku decides to save the mayor and take down the soldiers led by General White. He attacks Muscle Tower, a Trojan Gauntlet of Red Ribbon weapons and elites. After defeating White's forces, he finds that his Dragon Radar broke, and decides to go to Bulma's home to get it fixed. The villagers tell him that Flying Nimbus can't be destroyed by mortal means, and Goku is able to fly to West City.
Blue Corps
After some hijinks in the big city, Goku finds that his friend is the heiress to Capsule Corp, the company that makes those incapsulated tools. With her relationship with Yamcha on the rocks, Bulma forces herself along on the Dragon Ball hunt. The repaired Radar takes them to the sea, at a point too deep for Goku to swim. Goku realizes that Master Roshi's island is nearby, and decides to ask if he has a submarine to use. They get the sub, and Krillin to help out. Meanwhile, a scout for the local Red Ribbon base headed by General Blue follows after them. He reports his findings, and the leaders of the Red Ribbon Army conclude that Roshi made the Dragon Radar, and decide to kill two birds with one stone; General Blue will take half his forces to follow Goku's group to steal the Dragon Ball, while sending a squad to capture Roshi.
While Roshi mops the floor with his would-be captors, Blue chases and tries to kill Goku and co at the location of the Dragon Ball- an abandoned pirate's lair. Although the kids are able to escape with the Ball, Blue follows them to Kame House and uses his psychic powers to subdue and steal the Ball and Dragon Radar, leaving a bomb to kill them. Luckily, Launch is able to free the others, allowing Goku to stop the bomb and chase after Blue.
The two fighters crash-land in the very weird town of Penguin Village, home to such characters as Arale, the super-powerful robot girl, who sends Blue packing with her trademark headbutt. However, Blue still had the Dragon Radar, so Goku's search has ended...until Dr. Senbei's psychic son Turbo makes a new Radar. Meanwhile, Blue may have stolen the Radar, but seeing as he's been punched into the desert, it'll be a while before he can return to Red Ribbon HQ...
The Sacred Land of Korin
Goku's search leads him to the Sacred Land of Korin, where Captain Yellow and his squad are trying to steal the Dragon Ball belonging to Bora, a powerful Native warrior. Yellow tries to get the Ball by holding Bora's son Upa hostage, but Goku shows up to ruin everything for him. It's then revealed that Bora's Dragon Ball has four stars...the same number of stars that the one Goku's grandfather had!
Frustrated by the failures of his troops, Commander Red decides to hire Tao Pai Pai, a ruthless mercenary killer, to take Goku down and take the Dragon Balls. Tao Pai Pai proves his worth by killing General Blue (having shown up at that moment), and sets out to track Goku down.
Goku learns about the legend of the Korin Tower, a giant pole where a hermit supposedly lives with a magic potion that will increase your strength when Tao Pai Pai arrives. The assassin starts out killing Bora when the warrior gets in the way, and then utterly crushes Goku. Not even the Kamehameha does more than ruin Tao's outfit. Tao Pai Pai finishes Goku off with his own Ki Manipulation, the Dodonpa, a finger-sized beam that strikes Goku's heart. With his task apparently done, Tao Pai Pai takes Goku's backpack and leaves. But instead of going to the Red Ribbon, he goes to a tailor shop for a new outfit. When calling Red about his delay, the Commander tells him that their own Radar shows a Dragon Ball still at the Sacred Land...
As it turns out, the remaining Four-Star Dragon Ball was kept on Goku's person, and blocked the full brunt of Tao Pai Pai's attack. However, Bora is still dead. Goku decides that he will use the Dragon God's wish to bring Bora back to life, but will need to retrieve his Dragon Balls. Knowing that Tao will return, Goku decides to climb the pole and drink the hermit's magic water. After days of climbing, he reaches the hermit's location, and learns that he is a talking cat named Korin who only allow Goku to drink the water...if he can steal it! Furthermore, it took Goku's teacher Master Roshi three years to do it! But after three days of chasing, Goku manages to get the flask. However, it turns out that the water isn't magic at all. It was the exertion of running around in a thin atmosphere that increased Goku's strength. Embolden, Goku returns to the ground just in time to save Upa from Tao Pai Pai. Their next battle is a turnaround from the last one, as Goku utterly pulverizes Tao. He can even catch the Dodonpa now! The battle ends when Tao's usage of a grenade blows up in his face...literally. With the assassin beaten, Goku checks his Radar and learns that two Dragon Balls are in the same place. Realizing that it must be Red Ribbon's HQ, Goku decides it's time to take the fight to the "Army of Evil"!
Red Ribbon HQ
Goku takes off towards the Red Ribbon Base. Along the way, he encounters a flying probe of sorts, another invention of Bulma's. Bulma realizes that Goku's flight path takes him towards the Red Ribbon, so the rest of the Dragon Ball gang decide to band together to save Goku.
Meanwhile, Goku begins his assault on the Red Ribbon Army. Despite their weapons and numbers, none of the enemy soldiers can touch Goku, and it isn't long before those who aren't beaten flee. Furious at the failures of his men, Commander Red grumbles at how close he was to become tall— Wait, what? Officer Black is outraged to learn that the intended wish of the Dragon Balls—that the Red Ribbon Army has sacrificed so much for—was for Red to wish himself taller! Red claims that it'll be easier to conquer the world if he has an imposing height, but it becomes apparent that he only cares about how he's The Napoleon. Black puts a bullet into Red's head and promotes himself Commander, just in time for Goku to arrive.
Black attempts to negotiate with Goku, offering that We Can Rule Together, but Goku isn't interested. Black whips out a Humongous Mecha from a capsule and tries to fight, but, like so many officers before him, fails to do anything. Goku destroys the mecha and Black in one shot, and successfully defeats the Red Ribbon Army.
Meanwhile, Goku's friends are just reaching the Base...
The Red Ribbon Army arc has the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: General Violet's role in the anime, as she only appeared in two panels in the manga. The Tao Pai Pai section is also expanded as Tao himself climbs Korin's tower during his second bout against Goku. Silver's role is also larger than it is in the manga where he was only involved in two chapters; here he also has a section competing against both Goku and Pilaf to get one of the Dragon Balls.
- Agent Peacock: General Blue. Fairly campy. Very dangerous.
- All for Nothing: Black is not happy to learn that all the soldiers that risked, and gave their lives, especially to Goku, who was storming their base, for Commander Red's ambition — and it turns out to be getting Red taller. He kills him soon after finding out.
- Always Someone Better: Goku fights General Blue in Penguin Village, and is nearly killed, when Arale quickly drop-kicks him into the air, and does a leaping headbutt which Blue disappears into the sky. Goku expresses amazement that there are people (or robots) that are that strong in the world.
- Armies Are Evil: The Red Ribbon Army don't care who has to get hurt in order to get the Dragon Balls.
- Artificial Outdoors Display: The fourth floor of Muscle Tower where Goku fights Ninja Murasaki is made to look like a traditional Japanese garden. It has grass, trees, a stream stocked with piranhas, and a small house.
- Attempted Rape: Two Red Ribbon Army soldiers attempt to rape Bulma. When she figures out what they have in mind, she tells them she's only sixteen. They don't care. Thankfully, Goku shows up and quickly deals with them.
- Blatant Lies: Recently "promoted", Commander Black tells Goku that he wants peace, and wants to help him find the Dragon Balls. This is while he's standing next to the body of the dead Commander Red, who had a bullet into his head. Goku doesn't buy it for a second.
- Blob Monster: Buyon.
- Breather Episode: The anime adds in a 2-part story where Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong visit a theme park in between the Muscle Tower and General Blue sections of the story arc. Commander Red employs a professional thief named Hasky to go after them and recover the Dragon Balls that Goku has collected, but she ends up having little success.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time Yamcha, Krillin, and the others arrive at Red Ribbon Army HQ to lend Goku a hand, Goku has already toppled the organization and the remaining soldiers have fled for their lives.
- Cerebus Syndrome:
- Downplayed. It's largely a lighthearted arc with some rather comedic villains, but Tao murdering Bora is treated with all the seriousness one would expect. This development completely changes Goku's motivation for the rest of this arc and carries over to the next one, though lighthearted moments remain (such as the reveal of what Commander Red's wish would've been).
- The anime drives this home further, as the beginning of the arc features Silver shooting a shopkeeper dead when he realizes he's trying to cheat him with a fake Dragon Ball, the first time in the show where a human character was killed onscreen. While the Red Ribbon Army does have its comedic moments, it also shows that they're still more of a threat than Pilaf, something that's reinforced by bring temporarily bringing Pilaf back early on and having him race against them to obtain one of the Dragon Balls, ultimately losing it to them.
- Crossover: The final part of the General Blue section has Goku and Blue land in Penguin Village, home of the cast from Doctor Slump.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Officer Black is outraged when he learns that Commander Red was going to use the Dragon Balls to make himself tall.
- Doppleganger Attack: Parodied. Ninja Murasaki uses a technique that supposedly creates an illusion of him splitting into five, but he really just has four other identical siblings.
- Entertainingly Wrong: At one point, the Red Ribbon Army decide that Goku must have gotten his Dragon Radar from somewhere else, and decide to follow him when he apparently veers away from the next Dragon Ball. They quickly assume the genius behind the Radar is Master Roshi.
- Evil Is Petty: Commander Red eventually admits he wanted the Dragon Balls so he could grow taller first before attempting World Domination. His assistant, Officer Black, is not pleased when he hears this.
- Finger Poke of Doom: Tao Pai Pai proves he's earned his rep by killing General Blue with his tongue.
- Foreshadowing:
- Commander Red's desire for his true wish is foreshadowed several times throughout the arc. When he hires a painter to hang a new portrait in his office, he's pleased to see himself taller than Black. Much later, when he's playing a golf game, Black tells Red about his excitement about the Army ruling the world. Red doesn't say anything.
- Major Metalitron, the hulking robot that Goku fights, scans Goku using his Robo Cam and detects Goku's alien nature.
- In the anime, when Goku first reaches the top of Korin's Tower, he looks into some pots that give him visions of the past, present and future. The future vision includes images of Baba and Grandpa Gohan... And also a weird centipede monster to represent a future evil...
- Irony: Commander Red hiring Tao Pai Pai to kill Goku ended up destroying the Red Ribbon Army since Tao killed Bora, which made Goku go after all of the Dragon Balls. Before then, Goku was only interested in the 4 star Dragon Ball.
- I Surrender, Suckers: After realizing Goku has outmatched him in their rematch, Tao Pai Pai pulls this, offering to change his ways before throwing a live grenade at Goku, who responds by kicking the grenade back in Tao's face.
- Just a Kid: The Red Ribbon Army frequently expresses shock and disbelief that Goku is steamrolling them. "B-But it's just three kids!" "Just one of those kids decimated Silver Corps. and White Corps.! And now, I've just learned that Squad B was defeated by the old man and the woman! And they didn't even have to unleash the turtle!"
- Magic Feather: Goku receives a task from Korin to take his Sacred Holy Water from him, which is said to grant whoever drinks it great power. After three whole days, Goku manages to seize the water from Korin, and drinks it. The drink is ordinary tap water; it was exertion from Goku's efforts to take the jug from Korin, along with climbing the tower in the first place is what improved Goku's speed and strength.
- Meaningful Name: Suno sounds like "snow". And the village she lives in is indeed surrounded by snow.
- Mook Horror Show: Goku plowed through the Red Ribbon Army's main base. He dodged a projectile fired from a rocket launcher literally meters across, then slammed the soldiers into a wall; shrugged off a sniper shot as if it was a pellet from a BB gun, terrifying the sniper; then he kept punching through the ceiling to reach the leader's floor. Eventually, the soldiers just fled for their lives.
- The Napoleon: Commander Red.
- No-Sell: Tao Pai Pai notably literally shrugs off Blue's psychic hold, and in his first fight against Goku, he didn't so much block his Kamehameha as allow it to glance over his body like water.
- Now, Let Me Carry You: Subverted. Goku's friends realize that he intends to attack the Red Ribbon Base, so they decide to band together to save Goku. By the time they reach the Base, though, Goku has already crushed the whole Army.
- Pirate: Goku, Bulma and Krillin wind up in a abandoned pirate base while searching for one of the balls, with a very much still active robot guardian.
- Pocket Protector: Tai Pai Pai nearly kills Goku in their first confrontation with his Don Dan Ray. It's only thanks to the Dragon Ball that was in his clothes that saved him as it absorbed the blast and Goku was simply knocked out from the impact.
- Poor Communication Kills: Goku doesn't tell his friends about his tussels with the Red Ribbon Army when he sees them in the Blue section. It's only after Blue's submarine is attacking them do Bulma and Krillin learn that their friend is being targeted by the world's most dangerous terrorist army.
- Psychic Powers: General Blue possesses psychokinetic abilities which he uses to freeze his opponents in place, while he attacks them.
- Psycho for Hire: Tao Pai Pai.
- Putting on the Reich: A few of the General, particularly Blue, sport this on their outfits.
- Robotic Reveal: Major Metallitron first seems like a Giant Mook, but after Goku blasts his head off with the Kamehameha that we find out he's a giant robot.
- Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A theme that happens to some degree in this arc. The Red Ribbon Army puts all its stock in their technological capabilities (such as their Battle Jackets) in their goal of getting the dragon balls, but gets thwarted largely by a super strong boy with nothing else but his martial arts skills and power pole. It takes the RRA hiring another martial artist, Tao Pai Pai, to finally inflict a defeat on Goku. Also amusing to note that one of the creations of the RRA, Android 8 (who has a resemblance to the creature from Frankenstein, developed his own free will and decided against serving his creators and instead to protect people and nature from the RRA.
- Shock and Awe: Buyon can fire electricity from his antenna.
- Shout-Out:
- The Red Ribbon Army shares a LOT of similarities to several military dictatorships (at least two could be named): The Nazi regime is referenced by their MO (heck, one of their members, General Blue, is clearly designed to resemble a Sturmabteilung officer, heavily resembles the ideal Nazi soldier in both physical appearance as well as abilities, and has several... quirks taken from Ernst Röhm, the former leader of the S.A., and even spoke German at one point), and the Soviets were mentioned via a similar name, as well as via General White, a high ranking officer who is implied to be of Russian descent.
- In the Viz translation of the manga, of all places, for Android 8. His English nickname, "Eight-Man", is a reference to the manga of the same name.
- Skewed Priorities: Tao Pai Pai contacts Red Ribbon HQ to inform them that he's eliminated Goku, but they ask him whether he's retrieved the Dragon Ball in his possession. He replies no, but also tells them that he'll do so in three days because he's waiting on a tailor to repair his gi. Tao has clearly demonstrated that it wouldn't take even an hour to travel to Korin Tower even from Red Ribbon HQ, to from his location, it wouldn't be hard to head over there. More so, he believes that he's killed Goku, so taking the ball from his corpse, and again, returning to HQ shouldn't be a problem. Curiously, Red is completely fine with this, reasoning that Goku isn't a thorn in the Red Ribbon's side anymore. Amusingly, when Tao finally heads over, Goku turns out to be not quite as dead as he believed.
- Storming the Castle: Twofold. Goku storms the Muscle Tower during his search and helps liberate the village they've enslaved and in the climax, he invades the Red Ribbon HQ and completely decimates them.
- Take Over the World: Why the Red Ribbon Army are after the Dragon Balls. Commander Red's real goal is just to become taller.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Tao Pai Pai. Before, Goku pretty much steamrolled his way through the other Red Ribbon squads. General Blue took a bit more effort thanks to his psychic powers, but suffered from Eek, a Mouse!! and then got sent flying by Arale. But when Tao No Sells the Kamehameha, Goku only has a few precious seconds to realize how screwed he is. He survived the encounter by sheer luck, and it's the first time he's ever lost to such a degree.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: General Blue is afraid of mice, and one appearing when he was using his psychokinetic powers to hold Goku still broke his concentration, allowing Goku to move freely and easily defeat him by knocking him into a wall with a single punch.
- The Worf Effect: Tao is introduced easily shrugging off Blue's attacks — including his 'freeze ability' and kills him in short order, demonstrating that he's seriously bad news. He later defeats Goku easily, although with training from Korin, Goku returns the favor three days later.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Blue determines that Goku must have had some special weapons that allowed him to beat Silver and White Corps.note
- You Have Failed Me: Distressingly common among the Red Ribbon Army.
- While it doesn't happen on-screen, Commander Red's reaction to Colonel Silver admitting he lost the Dragon Ball to a kid is "You idiot! You're sentenced to death!"
- When they learn that Colonel Yellow is unable to take the Dragon Ball from Bora, Officer Black warns that Yellow will be "erased" if the colonel doesn't succeed soon, with Red adding that The Dreaded Tao Pai Pai will be the one to do it.
- When General Blue returns to main base with the Dragon Radar, but no Dragon Ball, Red sentences him to death for being unable to bring the Ball. Blue does get a fighting chance, but since it's against Tao Pai Pai, it becomes an Undignified Death.
