Raditz' (ラディッツ, Radditsu) is a character in Dragon Ball Z. Raditz is the biological brother of Goku and
he eldest son of Bardock, he works alongside Vegeta and Nappa, and is essentially a warrior in Frieza's army. While working on a team led by Vegeta, Raditz traveled to Earth to find out if Goku had finished the mission that he was sent on as a baby: the overthrow of Earth. Upon arrival however, Raditz discovered that Goku had lost his violent Saiyan tendencies and also had no knowledge of his ancestry or his true species. Raditz attempted to persuade Goku to join him and take over the planet, but to no avail. Shigeru Chiba voiced him in Japanese version, Jason Gray-Stanford voiced him in the English version, and Justin Cook voices him in the English version of the Ultimate Uncut version and video games.
aditz arrives on Earth in search of a man named "Kakarot", later revealed to be Goku. After he incapacitates a farmer who challenged him, Raditz detects a power reading on his scouter and assumes it's Goku. He tracks down the source of the energy and comes face to face with Piccolo, Goku's enemy at the time. Raditz asks Piccolo where he can find "Kakarot", but Piccolo refuses to tell him, warning him to leave Earth at once. Raditz laughs at Piccolo, who fires a powerful attack at Raditz, leaving him unscathed. Just as Raditz prepares to destroy Piccolo, he detects another power level, and this time knows that it's the Kakarot he's looking for.
aditz tracks the power level down to the Kame House, where Goku, his son Gohan, Bulma, Krillin, Master Roshi, and Turtle are enjoying a reunion. Raditz identifies Goku as Kakarot, and informs Goku that he is his big brother, who arrived on Earth to find him. When Goku asks where Raditz came from, Raditz tells Goku that they are both Saiyan warriors, and tells him the history of the Saiyan race including the Planet Trade Organization's practice of conquering planets and selling them for profit. Goku and Krillin express their disgust at Raditz and tell him to leave. When it becomes clear to Raditz that Goku is not coming with him, Raditz kidnaps Gohan (who still has a Saiyan tail) and holds him for ransom. He informs Goku that if he ever wants to see Gohan again, he should eliminate one hundred Earthlings and bring them to Raditz by the next day. Laughing, Raditz flies off with Gohan in his hands.
ater, he shuts the crying Gohan in his spacepod, unable to stand his crying. Raditz is surprised to find that his scouter reported a power level of 710 for Gohan, which Raditz dismissed as a malfunction because it would mean that child was even stronger than his father. Shortly afterwards, Raditz sees Goku and Piccolo who have joined forces to beat him, and since his scouter accurately warned him of their approach, he came to the realization that Gohan may actually be as strong as his reading said.
eeing that Goku has not only refused to join him, but also brought Piccolo as reinforcement, Raditz declares his younger brother a shame to their race and sentences him to death. A battle commences, but it is not an easy fight, as Raditz is stronger than both Goku and Piccolo combined and easily overwhelms them. Raditz even manages to blast off Piccolo's left arm, but the tables turn when Piccolo reveals he created a special attack that could be able to kill Raditz, the Special Beam Cannon and the only problem is it takes him a while to build up, meaning Goku has to fight him alone for five minutes. As Piccolo prepares the attack, Goku and Raditz battle it out, yet Raditz easily takes the lead. Goku, however, launches a Kamehameha. Raditz is startled that he is able to increase his power into one spot, and is even more shocked to find Piccolo's rising as well. Before he can think, Goku launches his attack. Raditz tries to run from it, but can't. He is, however, able to block it with his hand. Raditz then launches a more powerful attack back at Goku, badly wounding him. He tries to make the kill, but soon sees Piccolo's attack ready. To his dismay, the attack is too powerful for him to block, and he is shocked that Piccolo could summon that much power. Piccolo launches the attack, but Raditz is fast enough to dodge, yet it does pierce through one of his shoulder blades. He almost kills Piccolo, but is stopped by Goku, who grabs Raditz's tail, causing immense pain. As Piccolo prepares the attack, Raditz begs for mercy from Goku with brotherly words ("I would never harm my own flesh and blood!"). Piccolo tries to warn Goku, but Goku's mercy gets the better of him. Goku lets go of Raditz's tail. Raditz takes advantage, and throws Goku to the ground, stomping on his chest multiple times, crushing his ribs. Goku calls the trick dirty, Raditz in turns say that he is a first-class warrior, and never hesitates to make the kill, even his own brother. He also edges Piccolo his attack, but Piccolo says its useless.
hile Goku cries out in pain with Piccolo helplessly watching, a power suddenly erupts and Raditz's spacepod explodes. Just as Raditz prepares to kill Goku off, an enraged Gohan emerges and flies straight into Raditz's chest, seriously wounding him. Raditz, incensed and in awe of the small child, limps over to Gohan, preparing to kill him, in fear of Gohan's power, which he complimented as he approached. Before this can happen, however, Goku grabs Raditz from behind in a full nelson, giving Piccolo enough time to fire the Special Beam Cannon at Goku and Raditz, killing both.
owever, just before dying, Raditz is successful in tricking Piccolo into telling him about the Dragon Balls that will revive Goku shortly after the wish is made. Laughing his head off, Raditz is finished off by Piccolo, and dies shortly before Goku does so. Using his scouter to transmit Piccolo's message, Raditz calls for help from his two fellow Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta, who eventually journey to Earth to gather the Dragon Balls, not to revive "That weakling Raditz", but for immortality. In the Other World, Raditz attempts to fight King Yemma, who overpowers him and sends Raditz to Hell.
fter Goku dies, Bulma and Krillin remove Raditz's scouter from his corpse (which remains unseen). Bulma modifies the scouter so it can read actual numbers rather than the strange symbols that represent numbers. The scouter later explodes when Goku powers up during his fight with Vegeta. http://
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n an anime only flashback, Raditz, along with Nappa and Vegeta return from their conquest on Planet Shikk. However, they are met with insult rather than congratulations by Dodoria, Zarbon, and Frieza. Raditz and Nappa nearly lose control and try to attack Frieza along with Zarbon and Dodoria, but Vegeta orders his comrades to stand down, knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance against them. http://
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http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Gero Dr. Gero] states that he has been tracking Goku's fighting abilities for some time, such as his fight with Raditz. http://
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flashback of Raditz is shown, when Gohan describes his hidden powers to Cell. http://
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aditz can be briefly seen escaping from Hell along with the other past villains when Super Android 17 frees them, he is presumably defeated like the others and sent back at some point. http://
nlike his brother Goku and his father Bardock, Raditz is mean and brutal like most Saiyan warriors, he constantly mocks Piccolo, and he takes great pleasure in seeing Goku and Gohan in pain. He is incredibly manipulative, begging for Goku to let him go when Goku grabs his tail to weaken him. Goku does and Raditz damages him tremendously, and begins to crush his ribs, taunting him on his stupidity, laughing.
aditz can also be quite a coward when facing death, as he kept struggling and begging with panic in his usually arrogant attitude when facing Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. Apparently, unlike most Saiyans in general, especially Goku, Raditz fears death greatly. He was only willing to accept his death when he arrogantly believed his comrades would revive him with the Dragon Balls.
e claims to want to anger Goku in order to get his Saiyan blood boiling, so he could realize his Saiyan heritage and get him to join the remaining Saiyan clan in collecting planets for Frieza. He is extremely proud of his Saiyan heritage, like Vegeta and makes many comments on it, even explaining the near extinction of the Saiyans. He is also very disgusted to learn Goku's tail has been cut off and mocks and ridicules him for forgetting his mission to depopulate the Earth, due to an injury to Goku's head when he was a baby. He also mocks Goku for becoming soft and becoming a part of the Earth's population. He seems confident that Goku will join him, Nappa and Vegeta. While kidnapping Gohan, he mocks his nephew for crying, telling him he is a Saiyan, he has no problem whatsoever killing his brother or his nephew without hesitation.
aditz also is very dependent on his scouter and when a power level gets too high (close to his level), he assumes it is broken. Raditz displays a high level of confidence in his power level and his strength, and is slightly arrogant. He didn't take Piccolo and Goku seriously and severely underestimated them due to their low power reading.
efore dying, Raditz also states that he has no doubt Nappa and Vegeta will bring him to life with the Dragon Balls. On the contrary, although Nappa does suggest that they bring Raditz back, Vegeta answers: "No, that would be a wasted wish. Any Saiyan who could be defeated so easily doesn't deserve to live." http://
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n the series, it is stated that his power level was over 1,200. According to Daizenshu #7, however, his fighting power is stated as 1,500, a number also supported on the double edition of Weekly Jump back in 1989, where Raditz is also listed as 1,500.
