Dragon Ball will always have a special place in anime fans’ hearts. The legendary anime paved the way so that the Big Three of anime could walk and help the industry become mainstream. Akira Toriyama’s generational work has given the fans several iconic moments, especially the transformations. Even though there are several memorable moments, there are also a few that the fans may have forgotten.
The Saiyan Saga laid a strong foundation for the upcoming episodes. Apart from Nappa and Vegeta, there were other characters brought to Earth by the Saiyans, who were responsible for handing Yamcha his first death. These ferocious characters were known as the Saibamen. Even though they were brought by the Prince of all Saiyans, they originally belonged to a different planet. Not only the fans, but Toei also seemed to have forgotten about them.
Akira Toriyama Confirms Saibamen’s True Nature
Akira Toriyama was one of the greatest mangaka ever. The anime world will be forever grateful to him for introducing two of the most iconic characters ever, Son Goku and Vegeta. Apart from them, certain small side characters leave a big impression but are conveniently forgotten. One such side character was the Saibamen. They were seen aiding the Saiyans during the battle against the Z Warriors, but originally, they did not belong to planet Vegeta.
During an interview with Saikyo Jump, in the issue of January 2018, Akira Toriyama was asked about the Saibamen. He answered,
“The Saibaimen are one of the Saiyans’ classic weapons. But the Saiyans didn’t invent them; rather, they are a lifeform discovered on a certain planet. Saibaimen are handy since they can fight on their own, but they are also an extremely rare and valuable item since harvesting their bulbs is difficult, so not everyone gets to use them. Plus, they’re so wild they might attack you, so only a select few warriors are capable of handling them.”
They are born from plants, and the Saiyans found them useful in battle. Vegeta brought six Saibamen seeds to Earth. He used all of them to fight the Z Warriors. Unfortunately, they were quickly defeated, but one self-destructed and killed Yamcha. Even though Yamcha’s death spree has earned massive popularity on the internet, fans seem to have forgotten the characters who started the trend.
The Forgotten Villains Were More Than Just Additional Man-Power in Dragon Ball
The Saibamen were more than just additional manpower to the Saiyans. The Saiyans grow powerful by training or fighting strong warriors. To fight strong warriors, they had to travel to different planets, and time-consuming. So, the Saiyan scientists developed a way to harvest Saibamen on planet Vegeta. They were used for training purposes. Each was as powerful as Raditz, with a combat power ranging from 1000-1500.
The Saibamen are ferocious beings and can attack their handlers if they cannot handle them. As a result, they were harvested with the bare minimum intelligence of understanding their handler’s commands. The Saiyan Saga was the only time the Saibamen made an appearance. They could have become a powerful tool for the Z Warriors in their future battles if the harvesting method had been passed on to Bulma. But with time, the animation studio seemed to have forgotten about it, and so did the fans.
