Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

, sometimes written as Chi Chi or Chichi, is a fictional character from the ''
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 ...
'' media franchise. 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 ...
, she first appears in Chapter #11 of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga entitled "...And into the Fire!". Typically portrayed as the shrewish and fiery wife of series protagonist Son Goku and the overprotective mother of
Son Gohan is a fictional character in the Japanese franchise ''Dragon Ball'' created by Akira Toriyama. Gohan is the son of the protagonist Goku, Son Goku and his wife Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball), Chi-Chi and made his appearance in chapter #196 "Kakarrot", pub ...
and
Son Goten ''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 ...
, Chi-Chi is considered to be one of the most prominent female characters in the franchise, and is featured consistently in merchandise and in cosplay by the ''Dragon Ball'' fandom.


Development

Chi-Chi is known by different names in other language localizations of the ''Dragon Ball'' anime adaptation. For example, she is known as "claudia" in Brazilian Portuguese dub, and in Hispanic-American
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
dub as "Milk". Lisa Nguyen from ''TheGamer'' suggested that her name was changed for
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
n localizations because the word "chi chi" is used as vulgar slang for female breasts or urine in the regions. Her original swimsuit style costume was based on a costume earlier manga character from the same creator called Pola from '' Pola & Roid.'' Toriyama had jokingly expressed slight disdain for the character in a 2003 interview by saying: This was after one of the animators asked Toriyama if he preferred either Bulma or Chi-Chi.


Portrayal

Chi-Chi is voiced by Mayumi Shō in the Japanese version of the series up until ''Dragon Ball Z'' episode 88, from which point she is voiced by Naoko Watanabe. However, in ''
Dragon Ball Daima , stylized as ''Dragon Ball DAIMA'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the sixth televised animated installment in the Dragon Ball, ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, and the second and last to have been wri ...
'', a mini version of Chi-Chi was voiced by
Ai Kakuma is a Japanese voice actress from Fukuoka Prefecture. Filmography Anime television series ;2012 *'' Campione!'' as Hikari Mariya *'' Haiyore! Nyaruko-san'' as Female Student (episode 10) *'' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' as Customer B (episode 1 ...
. In the Funimation English dub, she is voiced by
Laura Bailey Laura Bailey (born May 28, 1981) is an American voice actress. She made her voice acting debut as Trunks (Dragon Ball), Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z'' and has since voiced List of Gunslinger Girl characters#First Generati ...
as a child and Cynthia Cranz as an adult. In the Ocean dub, she was voiced by Andrea Libman as a child and by Laara Sadiq and
Lisa Ann Beley Lisa Ann Beley is a Canadian voice actress who often voices over roles which have either regal, motherly, or older sisterly love and authority within them. Early life Beley grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, before moving to Vancouver, where she stu ...
respectively as an adult. Chi-Chi is portrayed by American actress
Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appea ...
in the American live-action film '' Dragonball Evolution''; her voice was dubbed over by
Ami Koshimizu is a Japanese actress and singer. She has voiced many different types of characters, from young girls to adult women, as well as boys and animals. Her roles include leads such as Ryuko Matoi in '' Kill la Kill'', Charlotte E. Yeager in '' Str ...
in the Japanese version of the film. An important scene in the film involves Chi-Chi fighting a duplicate of herself, the development of which Chung described as a "technical, meticulous process" which took three days to film. Chung worked extensively with her stunt double for the scene, which involved mimicking each other's movements in conjunction with the use of CGI body replacement technology, or engaging with an imaginary version of herself.


Personality

As a child, Chi-Chi's personality is innocent, shy and sweet. In Dragon Ball Z onwards, she takes on a tiger mother archetype and frequently has violent outbursts towards Goku and the other characters.


Appearances


''Dragon Ball''

Chi-Chi first appears as an unnamed child running away from a dinosaur, which she later decapitates with a blade attachment on her helmet. After an awkward encounter with Yamcha, she later meets Goku, who offered her to ride with him on his flying nimbus cloud. When Goku ignorantly patted Chi-Chi's crotch with his foot to determine her gender, she instinctively reacted by smacking Goku, but then became bashful and believed that Goku liked her. Chi-Chi and Goku's interactions would continually display Goku's naivety about love and emotions; Chi-Chi tells Goku that when she becomes older, he will be the person to take her hand in marriage, to which he agrees, thinking that "marriage" was a kind of food. She would meet Goku again at the beginning of the Red Ribbon Army Saga, when he would visit her to search for one of the Dragon Balls, which at the time was being sought by both Emperor Pilaf and Colonel Silver of the Red Ribbon Army. Years later, Chi-Chi resurfaced as a competitor at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai martial arts tournament and kept her identity concealed. Chi-Chi is angry that Goku had never come back to keep his promise to marry her, which he had completely forgotten about. They eventually faced each other in a tournament match; after winning the match, Goku is shocked to realize that his opponent was in fact Chi-Chi, who had grown up as he had. Being a good-natured man, Goku decides to keep his promise of settling down with Chi-Chi, and publicly announces that he will marry her. In the anime-only filler conclusion to the ''Dragon Ball'' TV series, they would go on several adventures to retrieve a magical fan in order to put out the fire on Chi-Chi's mountain home to save her father. By the end of the original ''Dragon Ball'' series, she and Goku are married.


''Dragon Ball Z''

Chi-Chi's role in the succeeding ''Dragon Ball Z'' series revolves around her status as Goku's wife and mother to their son,
Son Gohan is a fictional character in the Japanese franchise ''Dragon Ball'' created by Akira Toriyama. Gohan is the son of the protagonist Goku, Son Goku and his wife Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball), Chi-Chi and made his appearance in chapter #196 "Kakarrot", pub ...
, and later,
Son Goten ''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 ...
. She demonstrates behavior typical of a Kyōiku mama, and is adamant that her children, Gohan in particular, prioritize academic pursuits and stays away from Goku's lifestyle of fighting and constant conflict. She often becomes frustrated whenever Gohan is encouraged to hone his fighting skills or is drawn to a fight, so much that often Chi-Chi is willing to go to battle herself to defend her son. Under her influence, Gohan worked hard to develop a career path as an academic scholar. She is widowed after Goku sacrifices his life to stop Cell from destroying the world, and would go on to raise Gohan and Goten, the latter being born shortly after the events of the Cell Saga arc, as a single mother. During the Buu Saga arc, Chi-Chi's parenting style is depicted as not being as strict with Goten and a now teenaged Gohan, though she is still very protective of her children. She initially disapproved Gohan training Videl, misunderstanding that the two were dating. However, her mind changes drastically when she learns that Videl lives with a rich family, encouraging Gohan to marry her. Along with the family members and associates of the Dragon Team, she was relocated to Kami's Lookout after
Majin Buu , generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is a fictional character and final antagonist in the '' Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the relea ...
was unleashed and went on a rampage throughout the world. When she learned of Gohan's apparent death at the hands of Buu, Chi-Chi takes the news badly. She confronts Buu when he arrives at Kami's hideout, scolding and slapping the creature out of anger for the lives he has taken; Buu retaliates by turning her into an egg and crushing her. Chi Chi and everyone else who had died at Buu's hand are wished back to life at the end of the storyline, and is happily reunited with her husband, who has been brought back to life by Old Kai order to defeat Buu. By the end of ''Dragon Ball Z'', Chi-Chi becomes a grandmother to Pan and mother-in-law to Videl, who ended up marrying Gohan. Chi-Chi appears in multiple ''Dragon Ball'' films which carry the ''Dragon Ball Z'' branding, often in minor supporting roles which provide comic relief.


''Dragon Ball Super''

Chi-Chi's appearances in the ''Dragon Ball Super'' series continue to be defined by her relationships with her husband and sons. She often reminds Goku that he has a responsibility to provide for his family as a husband and a father, and continually nags him about getting a job and earning more money, later Goku begins his job of farming. While she still tries to keep everyone in her family away from physical violence, she appears to accept that fighting is in a Saiyan's nature. However, in the Future Trunks arc, Future Chi-Chi along with Future Goten was killed by Goku Black, after Black had admitted to killing her and Goten to Goku, Goku gets extremely angered and begins fighting aggressively at Black to avenge his wife and younger son's deaths.


In ''Dragon Ball GT'' and other media

Chi-Chi plays a minor role in the ''Dragon Ball GT'' series. She mostly associates with Bulma and Videl, while also supporting her family in times of crisis. Goku is turned into a child by elder Emperor Pilaf's accidental wish at the beginning of the series, which frustrates her, but she still cares for him deeply. Chi-Chi, along with nearly the entire population on Earth, is later possessed by Baby, but later cured with the sacred water. She is last seen with Goku, when he says goodbye to everyone and departs the mortal world with Shenron. Chi-Chi usually appears as a non-playable character in cut scenes or referenced in dialogue for most ''Dragon Ball'' video games. She is a support-type character for Goku and Gohan in '' Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu''. Chi-Chi is a playable character in 2006's '' Super Dragon Ball Z''; her appearance is derived from her time as a competitor at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai martial arts tournament. The child version of Chi-Chi is playable in '' Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3'', while both adult and youth versions are playable in '' Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle''. She appears as an enemy character in ''Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo'', ''Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen'', ''Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden'' and '' Dragon Ball: Origins''. In '' Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot'', Chi-Chi appears as one of several cooks that can cook meals for the playable characters using various recipes and ingredients acquired through gameplay. In the live-action film '' Dragonball Evolution'', Chi-Chi and Goku (played by Justin Chatwin) are high-school classmates; she encounters him and Bulma (played by
Emmy Rossum Emmanuelle Grey Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. The accolades she has received include a Saturn Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award, an Independ ...
) as their quest for the Dragon Balls intertwines with the competitive martial arts world she is active in. At one point, Mai (played by Eriko Tamura) morphs into an evil duplicate of Chi Chi, resulting in a fight scene between her and the real Chi-Chi.


Reception

Chi-Chi is a somewhat divisive character who is disliked by a section of the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise's audience. Some commentators believed that the character had potential based on her early appearances as she was originally depicted as a tough but angry female fighter, but she was later developed as a stereotypical housewife, overprotective mother, and nagging woman archetype instead. Megan Peters from ''Comicbook.com'' described Chi-Chi as "misunderstood", while Monique Jones from Syfy identified the cause of the character's negative reception to Toriyama's lack of interest in the proper character development of certain DBZ women of the franchise, and argued that she deserved to be better written. She has been cited as a responsible adult and empowered female character who introduces a sense of maturity to her family dynamics and to the franchise, despite also being criticized for fighting only to keep both her husband and son out of failing normal lives, rather than allying herself with her family to help fight the threats of the world. In 2016, Chi-Chi was voted third cutest Chinese girl in anime and video games (out of twenty) with seventy-three votes by Japanese fans in a survey conducted by Goo Ranking, a fan poll site.Stimson, Eric (November 24, 2016)
"Japanese Fans Pick Cutest Chinese Girls in Anime & Video Games"
''Anime News Network''. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
Chi-Chi is a popular subject for cosplay activities by ''Dragon Ball'' fandom. Her original appearance as a child wearing a revealing two piece swimsuit costume has been scrutinized by some commentators for not being age appropriate.


Explanatory notes


References

{{Authority control Animated human characters Anime and manga characters introduced in 1984 Child characters in anime and manga Dragon Ball characters Fictional housewives Fictional murdered people Fictional princesses Fictional resurrected characters Martial artist characters in anime and manga Female characters in anime and manga