Dragon Ball Z

Raditz (ラディッツ, Radditsu) is a character in Dragon Ball Z. Biological brother of Goku and the eldest son of Bardock, he is essentially a warrior in Frieza's army, and works alongside Vegeta and Nappa. 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 Saiyan violent 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. In the manga, it was said that his power level was over 1,200. According to Daizenshu #7 ("SANGOKU"), however, his fighting power is stated as 1,500. Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), Jason Gray-Stanford (English) Justin Cook voices him in the Ultimate Uncut version and in video games.
Contents [hide]
1 Saiyan Conflict/Vegeta Saga
2 Personality
3 Special abilities
4 Trivia
5 Voice actors
editSaiyan Conflict/Vegeta Saga

Main article: Vegeta Saga


Raditz working with Vegeta and Nappa prior to his journey to Earth
Raditz 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.
Raditz 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.
Later, 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 afterwords, 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.


Goku fighting Raditz
Seeing 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 Super 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 mercifulness 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.
While 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.


Raditz after being impaled by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon.
However, 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. 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. Laughing his head off, Raditz is finished off by Piccolo, and dies shortly before Goku does so. In the Other World, Raditz attempts to fight King Yemma, who overpowers him and sends Raditz to Hell.
After 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.
He is not seen again, except for in flashbacks later in the series. In Dragon Ball GT's Super 17 Saga, he makes a cameo appearance flying next to Cooler (this is coincidental as they are both the older brothers of Goku and Frieza, respectively) when all the villains escape from Hell. It is unknown who defeated him, but he was most likely sent back with the rest. This is probably not the first time Raditz escaped from Hell, though, as the game Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu implies that Raditz had a relationship with Princess Snake, which wouldn't have been possible unless he had access to Snake Way.