Live action TV
Description
Oozaru is a character in the 2009 film Dragonball Evolution. In this adaptation, Oozaru is a version of the Great Ape, the giant primate form associated with members of the Saiyan race elsewhere in the Dragon Ball franchise, but within the film it is treated as a distinct being rather than an ordinary transformation. Master Roshi describes Oozaru as one of two gods who, along with Lord Piccolo, nearly destroyed Earth two thousand years before the events of the story. Oozaru is also identified as Piccolo's disciple, and together the two are said to have terrorized the planet during that earlier era.
The reign of Piccolo and Oozaru ended when seven mystics used the Mafūba technique to seal Piccolo inside a container. Oozaru's whereabouts after that event were left uncertain, but a prophecy stated that Oozaru would return during a solar eclipse. Piccolo later reveals the meaning of that prophecy when he explains that Goku, an infant who arrived on Earth by meteor to hide among humans until his eighteenth birthday, would be reborn as Oozaru when the eclipse came. This prediction is fulfilled near the end of the story, when Goku's body transforms into Oozaru during the solar eclipse.
As a character, Oozaru has no human personality. It is shown as a primal, bestial being whose mind is reduced to a primitive state, driven by the desire to destroy and kill anything in sight. During its rampage, it attacks Bulma, Yamcha, and Roshi without any sign of recognition, and it shows no capacity for speech, reasoning, or negotiation. The form is presented as pure destructive instinct, an overwhelming force that erases the awareness of the person it emerges from.
Because Oozaru is not portrayed as a rational character, its motivations are tied to its nature and its history. As Piccolo's disciple, it served alongside him in their campaign to destroy the world two thousand years earlier. When it resurfaces through Goku during the solar eclipse, it acts out of raw instinct rather than any deliberate plan. Within the structure of the story, Oozaru represents the hidden and uncontrollable side of Goku, a dormant power that is expected to surface at a specific moment and become a threat to those around him.
Oozaru's role in the story is to serve as the fulfillment of the prophecy and the central crisis of the climax. Its appearance turns Goku into a rampaging threat that his friends cannot stop through ordinary means. Roshi is the one who ends the rampage, not by matching Oozaru's strength but by calling out to Goku and reasoning with him, which allows Goku to regain control and revert to his human form. After this, Goku accepts that Oozaru is a part of him, and this acceptance allows him to face Piccolo in the final battle.
Oozaru's most direct relationship is with Piccolo, who is described as its master; the two share a history of destruction dating back two thousand years, and Piccolo sets in motion the circumstances that bring Oozaru back. The relationship with Goku is that of an inner identity and a separate beast at once, since Goku is reborn as Oozaru during the eclipse but is also able to separate himself from it and eventually embrace it. With Bulma, Yamcha, and Roshi, Oozaru forms the relationship of a monstrous threat, and Roshi in particular stands out as the one who reaches the human Goku still present inside the beast.
Oozaru itself does not develop as a character in the sense of changing beliefs or goals. Its arc is limited to reemerging after two thousand years and then receding back into Goku. The meaningful development connected to Oozaru belongs to Goku, who moves from being unaware of the beast within him, to being overwhelmed by it, to finally acknowledging it as part of himself. In the film, this integration is what enables Goku to draw on the creature's power without fully transforming and to defeat Piccolo in their final confrontation.
Oozaru's defining abilities are its enormous size and greatly increased physical power, which make it capable of smashing the ground, swatting trained fighters aside, and causing destruction on a large scale. The film version differs from the original version of the Great Ape in several ways: the transformation is triggered by a solar eclipse rather than by looking at a full moon, it does not require a Saiyan tail, and Oozaru serves Piccolo rather than acting as an independent creature. The transformation can also be undone through reasoning rather than by removing a tail, since Roshi talks Goku back to himself. In the tie-in video game based on the film, Oozaru appears as a playable character who can slam the ground up to five times, knocking opponents away with the final hit, and the game also depicts it as a foe confronted inside Goku's mind.
The reign of Piccolo and Oozaru ended when seven mystics used the Mafūba technique to seal Piccolo inside a container. Oozaru's whereabouts after that event were left uncertain, but a prophecy stated that Oozaru would return during a solar eclipse. Piccolo later reveals the meaning of that prophecy when he explains that Goku, an infant who arrived on Earth by meteor to hide among humans until his eighteenth birthday, would be reborn as Oozaru when the eclipse came. This prediction is fulfilled near the end of the story, when Goku's body transforms into Oozaru during the solar eclipse.
As a character, Oozaru has no human personality. It is shown as a primal, bestial being whose mind is reduced to a primitive state, driven by the desire to destroy and kill anything in sight. During its rampage, it attacks Bulma, Yamcha, and Roshi without any sign of recognition, and it shows no capacity for speech, reasoning, or negotiation. The form is presented as pure destructive instinct, an overwhelming force that erases the awareness of the person it emerges from.
Because Oozaru is not portrayed as a rational character, its motivations are tied to its nature and its history. As Piccolo's disciple, it served alongside him in their campaign to destroy the world two thousand years earlier. When it resurfaces through Goku during the solar eclipse, it acts out of raw instinct rather than any deliberate plan. Within the structure of the story, Oozaru represents the hidden and uncontrollable side of Goku, a dormant power that is expected to surface at a specific moment and become a threat to those around him.
Oozaru's role in the story is to serve as the fulfillment of the prophecy and the central crisis of the climax. Its appearance turns Goku into a rampaging threat that his friends cannot stop through ordinary means. Roshi is the one who ends the rampage, not by matching Oozaru's strength but by calling out to Goku and reasoning with him, which allows Goku to regain control and revert to his human form. After this, Goku accepts that Oozaru is a part of him, and this acceptance allows him to face Piccolo in the final battle.
Oozaru's most direct relationship is with Piccolo, who is described as its master; the two share a history of destruction dating back two thousand years, and Piccolo sets in motion the circumstances that bring Oozaru back. The relationship with Goku is that of an inner identity and a separate beast at once, since Goku is reborn as Oozaru during the eclipse but is also able to separate himself from it and eventually embrace it. With Bulma, Yamcha, and Roshi, Oozaru forms the relationship of a monstrous threat, and Roshi in particular stands out as the one who reaches the human Goku still present inside the beast.
Oozaru itself does not develop as a character in the sense of changing beliefs or goals. Its arc is limited to reemerging after two thousand years and then receding back into Goku. The meaningful development connected to Oozaru belongs to Goku, who moves from being unaware of the beast within him, to being overwhelmed by it, to finally acknowledging it as part of himself. In the film, this integration is what enables Goku to draw on the creature's power without fully transforming and to defeat Piccolo in their final confrontation.
Oozaru's defining abilities are its enormous size and greatly increased physical power, which make it capable of smashing the ground, swatting trained fighters aside, and causing destruction on a large scale. The film version differs from the original version of the Great Ape in several ways: the transformation is triggered by a solar eclipse rather than by looking at a full moon, it does not require a Saiyan tail, and Oozaru serves Piccolo rather than acting as an independent creature. The transformation can also be undone through reasoning rather than by removing a tail, since Roshi talks Goku back to himself. In the tie-in video game based on the film, Oozaru appears as a playable character who can slam the ground up to five times, knocking opponents away with the final hit, and the game also depicts it as a foe confronted inside Goku's mind.