DENDE
Home Planet: Namek
Race: Namekseijin
Fusions: None
Appearances: Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT

Dende, the tiny Namek-sei-jin boy Healer, is first introduced in the Freeza Saga when Freeza, Dodoria, and Zarbon were terrorizing the little Namek-sei-jin's home village. After slaughtering the elder of the village and Dende's brother, Kargo (just so all of you who don't already know do know, that "warning shot" Dodoria shoots in the US dub is actually a blast that murders Kargo), Dodoria went after Dende, and it looked like it was all over for him, until Gohan, enraged, leapt in and defended the small child.

After that, Dende was then sucked into Gohan and Kuririn's quest to gather all seven dragon balls. Small, with clothes that are too big for his tiny frame, and a intelligent, with a good heart and a strong bond with his friend, Nail, Dende is a "Healer" - as you probably already know, there are two types of Namek-sei-jin: the Healers (Dende) and the Warriors (Piccolo, Nail) - who I've noticed always looks scared witless. If my family and friends were butchered in front of my eyes, I would probably be that way, too, though...

Dende first helps the heroes when he takes Kuririn to meet Saichorou, who holds the one-star dragon ball as well as a unique ability to awaken the sleeping strength within someone. After taking Kuririn to Saichorou's house, he stays behind to watch the dying old Namek-sei-jin as Kuririn rushes to get Gohan. There, he stays until Saichorou unleashes his healing powers and then sends him with the password to the dragon balls to go and help Gohan.

Dende is the key to the Namek dragon balls - without him, our heroes couldn't have wished Piccolo back and would have been killed by Freeza's second form. After saying a chant in his native tongue, Dende can summon Namek's dragon, Porunga. Dende's healing powers also become vital to the survival of our heroes when he heals a dying Kuririn, an injured Gohan, an immobile Piccolo (twice), and a mortally wounded Vegeta. Dende's abilities also would have been useful in healing Goku, but the Z-Senshi didn't learn of his heavenly powers until it was too late.

Unfortunately, for our heroes and for himelf, Freeza realized Dende's powers and blew the helpless child off of this mortal coil. However, Dende came into play again when he was wished back to life (along with everyone else who had been killed by Freeza) by the Earth's dragon balls. The Namek-sei-jin child proved again to be of the utmost importance when he won a race against Freeza (it really wouldn't have mattered, anyway...Freeza doesn't know the Namek language, so he couldn't have made a wish...) and made the wish to transport everyone on Namek, save for Goku and Freeza, to Earth.

From there, Dende just stands by as the Freeza battle ends and the Namek-sei-jins wait for a chance to colonize a new planet all their own. When the time finally comes, Dende and Gohan say a tear-jerking goodbye. "Good bye, Gohan," Dende says, holding Gohan's hands. A tear rolls down the little Namek-sei-jin's cheek, but before it can even hit the ground, he's gone.

But that's not the end of the little guy. When Kamisama and Piccolo fuse, there's no one left to arise to the thrown of Kami. Goku, however, comes up with the perfect candidate. Using Instantaneous Movement, he transports himself to the planet that the Namek-sei-jins went to and finds Dende. Excited by the prospect of meeting Kuririn and Gohan again, Dende happily goes along with Goku back to Earth. Sporting the ability to create his own dragon balls, Dende becomes the new God of Earth.

Dende creates his own set of dragon balls. But these, like all sets of dragon balls, have their own unique rules.

Dende comes into importance once again in the Majin Buu Saga. Since he created the dragon balls, the only thing keeping the dragon balls different from a common boulder is Dende's life. Mr. Popo, knowing this, throws him off of Kami's Throne when Majin Buu arrives, leaving Dende to be one of the only survivors of the monster's demonic slaughter. Discovered by his friends, Dende's skills with the dragon balls come into use when the Earth is wished back (Buu had destroyed it) as well as all the people with good souls that had been killed since the Tenkachi Boudakai (so that those that Majin Vegeta had killed would be revived).

In Dragon Ball GT, Dende, like most of the rest of the cast, makes only brief cameo appearances. He lacks any really important role in the series.

Although he has no fighting skills whatsoever, Dende's a pretty important asset to the Z-Senshi. Of course, his healing powers and his comfortable skills with the mystical dragon balls are immensely important. Personally, I actually found myself growing quite fond of the little green guy. Even though he always looks paranoid and worried, and sometimes he can seem like a goody-two-shoes (he's the only character in Japanese DBZ that doesn't swear [makes the fact that he's the only character in the dub that does cuss kinda ironic, huh?]), Dende's a (for lack of a better term) good character.

Written by PJ, with minor additions by Dash.