Master Roshi, known in Japan as as well as , is a fictional character in the Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'' and its

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptations created by

Akira Toriyama was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential and important authors in the history of manga, authoring highly influential and popular series, particularly Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dra ...

. Within the series, he is an elderly

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

master, born on March 20, who is the creator of the technique. His students include

Grandpa Son Gohan ''Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the cha ...

, The Ox-King, Son Goku, Krillin and Yamcha. He is bald, sports a thick van dyke beard, and wears sunglasses, beach clothes, or martial arts suits. He usually wields a walking stick and, in early appearances, wears a turtle's shell on his back. In spite of his lechery, cantankerousness and occasional whimsy or foolishness, he is often depicted as wise and perceptive. While a popular character with ''Dragon Ball'' fans, the depiction of some of his antics has been met with criticism or deemed highly controversial.

Voice actors

Master Roshi's design was inspired by the character of Kami-sama from Toriyama's previous manga '' Dr. Slump'' and accordingly was originally voiced by Kōhei Miyauchi, who also voiced Kami-sama in the original ''Dr. Slump'' anime. For unknown reasons Miyauchi was unavailable for the recording of Dragon Ball Episode #137; the role was played by series narrator

Jōji Yanami was a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator who was affiliated with Aoni Production. Some of his major voice roles included the ''Dragon Ball'' anime series, which he narrated and voiced Dr. Briefs, Kaiō-sama ( King ...

. Miyauchi's final acting session before he died was for episode 260 of ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

'', which he recorded only 3 months before his death. Kame-Sennin is voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka from episode 288 of ''Dragon Ball Z'' onward, in ''

Dragon Ball GT is a Japanese anime television series based on Akira Toriyama's ''Dragon Ball'' manga franchise that ran from February 1996 to November 1997. Produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and ran for 64 episodes. Unl ...

'' and the '' 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour film''. He is voiced by Kinya Aikawa in the 10th anniversary movie, by Takko Ishimori in gameplay of '' Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure'', by Masaharu Satō in the

thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is most commonly major or minor . A thirteenth chord is th ...

''Dragon Ball Z'' movie and all media following ''

Dragon Ball Kai ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' is a recut and remastered version of the long-running sequel anime television series ''Dragon Ball Z'', produced to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The series was produced by Toei Animation with the intention of creating ...

''., and by Nobuaki Kanemitsu in '' Dragon Ball Daima''. In the

Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

dub, he is voiced by Michael Donovan, Ian James Corlett, Peter Kelamis, Don Brown, and

Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...

at various points. Dean Galloway voices him in the

Blue Water Maritime geography is a collection of terms used by naval military units to loosely define three maritime regions: brown water, green water, and blue water. Definitions The elements of maritime geography are loosely defined and their meanings hav ...

dub, while Mike McFarland voices him in the Funimation dub. Other English dub voice actors include Ed Marcus, Nesty Ramirez, Dave Bridges, and Kirk Thornton.

Appearances

''Dragon Ball''

Master Roshi's first appearance is in chapter #3 of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga. Roshi lives with his longtime companion, an anthropomorphic turtle referred to as Umigame (ウミガメ, "Sea Turtle"), on an island with a house built on it known as "Kame House". Kame House eventually serves as a gathering place for Goku and his associates throughout the series, as well as a home for certain recurring characters like

Oolong Oolong or Wulong (, ; ; , "black dragon" tea) is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea (''Camellia sinensis)'' produced through a process that includes withering the leaves under strong sun and allowing some Enzymatic oxidation, oxidation to ...

or Krillin and his young family. Graduates of Roshi's training (i.e. Goku, Krillin, Yamcha) often wear the

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

for "Turtle" ("Kame") 亀 on their '' dogi''. When wishing to fight anonymously at the World Martial Arts Tournament, Roshi assumes a disguise and calls himself "Jackie Chun". Master Roshi is consistently depicted as a pervert who frequently flirts with or harasses physically attractive female characters. In Chapter 5 of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series, published in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' on January 15, 1985, Roshi makes sexual advances on "Bulma" who is wearing a suggestive bunny costume; it is in fact an impersonation by a shapeshifting Oolong, who seduces Roshi by inviting him to place his face between his "breasts" and calls the act "Puff Puff". The term is derived from the Japanese

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...

for a woman rubbing her breasts in another person's face, though it can also be used to refer to a woman juggling her own breasts. When tasked with putting out a fire on Mount Frypan, Master Roshi demonstrated an ability to greatly increase his energy. In this state, his appearance changes dramatically, with an enormous increase in muscle mass and likewise height which was nearly equal to Piccolo. Due to his natural precision in battle, this bulky state does not appear to affect his speed and agility. In this state, he can perform many ki attacks at their maximum potential, most noticeably an enhanced version of his ''Kamehameha'' attack, which was so powerful that it was able to destroy the moon. At the beginning of the ''Dragon Ball'' series, he is considered to be the strongest mortal fighter in the ''Dragon Ball''

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

, however his power level began to pale in comparison to Goku and his allies later in the series. While his legacy is demonstrated in the prolific use of the ''Kamehameha'' technique by numerous characters in the series, his prominence has diminished greatly by the time Goku reaches adulthood. He would only make occasional appearances as a supporting character and no longer operate as an active fighter.

''Dragon Ball Super''

Master Roshi would return to prominence as a major character with the revival of the ''Dragon Ball'' series in the 2010s. In the film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' and its counterpart story arc in '' Dragon Ball Super'', Master Roshi would join Goku and his friends in their fight against a resurrected Frieza leading his army to Earth and exact vengeance against Goku. It is also implied on one episode that the Paradise Herb is the source of Master Roshi's long lifespan, as he claims that eating some of it would allow him to live on for another millennia. In the Universe Survival arc of the ''Dragon Ball Super'' manga, Roshi is revealed to have been secretly training and holding back his true strength, and he is later recruited as one of the representatives of the Seventh Universe by Goku, not for his strength, but for his knowledge in fighting in tournaments. But as his perverted behavior got him caught in a mind control spell by a Crane School student named Yurin, Roshi enlists Puar to build up a resistance to beautiful women. Master Roshi manages to eliminate competitors from other universes during the tournament and is one of the last 6 remaining members of universe 7 in the tournament. Roshi later instructs Goku as he struggles fighting against Jiren, telling him that plain old fighting strength is not a way to measure things, that they master the martial arts not to win fights but to conquer their own selves. Jiren begins to attack Roshi, but the old master is able to avoid all attacks as he focuses on controlling his body. Ultimately, Jiren is able to eliminate Roshi after chopping at his neck, but his sacrifice is not in vain as Goku uses Roshi's teaching to unlock the new form, "Ultra Instinct", as Roshi watches from the sidelines. In the anime he is forced to eliminate himself when an altercation with the Sixth Universe warrior Frost nearly kills him from excessive use of the ''Mafuba'' technique.

In other media

In June 1988, Master Roshi along with other ''Dragon Ball'' characters were featured in two public safety announcement shorts. The first was entitled , and the second called where he along with Krillin, Yamcha, and later Goku become volunteer fire fighters. Master Roshi is portrayed by

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility, encompassing action to melodrama and comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awar ...

in the American live-action film '' Dragonball Evolution''; his voice was dubbed over by Tsutomu Isobe in the Japanese version. Roshi was included as one of eight character pairings in ''Dragon Ball x One Piece: Cross Epoch'', a crossover manga between their respective ''Dragon Ball'' and ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'' series. In the 2013 crossover TV special , Roshi is one of the participants in the Food Tournament (Tenkaichi Kuōkai), consisting of a race to the center of the hosting island and the championship prize of luxuriously rare Carat Sizzled Cattle, hosted by the International Gourmet Organization (IGO). Roshi is a playable character in the following

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

: *'' Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22'' *'' Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi'' *'' Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2'' (Playable w/Jackie Chun as an alternate outfit, has MAX Power Mode as transformation) *'' Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3'' (same as above.) *'' Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure'' (Playable as Jackie Chun) *'' Dragon Ball FighterZ'' (DLC)

Reception and controversy

Master Roshi is a popular and widely recognized character, who has appeared in several "top" character lists by fans and critics. Japanese fans voted Master Roshi the thirteenth most popular character of the series in a 2004 poll. Master Roshi was ranked second place in a Japanese fan poll conducted by Charapedia for their favorite lecherous male anime and manga characters. Master Roshi was ranked among IGN's Top 13 ''Dragon Ball Z'' Characters List published in 2015, which acknowledged Roshi's primary role within the series as a comic relief character but also emphasized the importance of the character's in-universe legacy for being the inventor of the Kamehameha, "the franchise's most recognizable move and Goku’s signature technique", and that he can still hold his own in battle when necessary. Roshi came in 12th place on ''Complex''s list "A Ranking of All the Characters on 'Dragon Ball Z": Pearce observed that while Master Roshi's role in the series deteriorated with the arrival of the Saiyan characters, he still pops up to offer advice, support, and comic relief. Master Roshi has received particular attention for his lewd sensibilities as well as his constant attempts to catch the series' female characters in revealing positions. Tim Jones from Them Anime Reviews believed that while fan service is prevalent in the original ''Dragon Ball'' series, he opined that it is not very extremely offensive as characters like Roshi quite often gets beaten up or punished in retaliation for comedic effect. Master Roshi's scene with Oolong who is disguised as Bulma originated the slang term "puff puff", which is later referenced in other works which has Toriyama's involvement, such as the ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

'' franchise. References to the act were removed from the American television broadcast of the ''Dragon Ball'' anime adaptation. The character's lecherous behaviour towards a female character named Yurin in a ''Dragon Ball Super'' episode provoked a major complaint by Japan's Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization due to the underlying theme of sexual harassment. Another ''Dragon Ball Super'' scene, where Roshi persuades Pu'ar to shapeshift into a scantily clad young woman in order to motivate him to train better, provoked controversy in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. This led to the series being banned in the country as of September 2021. Reviewing the live-action ''Dragonball Evolution'' for ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'', Christopher Monfette said that Chow Yun-Fat's performance successfully captured Master Roshi's "whimsical, half-drunken essence".

References

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