Hildegarn is the big bad that Son Goku’s team faces in the film Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Dragon. From his place in Toriyama’s work to his role in the series and the extended universe, here is a look back at 8 facts that you (maybe) didn’t know about Hildegarn:
#7 Hildegarn is the creation of one of Dragon Ball’s greatest writers (and it’s not Akira Toriyama)
Even if Akira Toriyama has regularly been involved in feature films Dragon Ball Z, he never really initiated it. It is in fact a little-known Japanese screenwriter who is behind the vast majority of these films: Takao Koyama. This screenwriter specialized in anime productions has, in fact, for many years, written the scripts for all the films Dragon Ball Z, including the legendary Dragon Ball Z: The Super Saiyan Eradication Planwhich was reserved for the video game of the same name, as well as the highly contested Dragon Ball: The Return of Son Goku and His Friends!, marked by the first appearance of Vegeta’s little brother: Tarble.
During this long period, the only film Takao Koyama didn’t write is Dragon Ball Z: Trunks’ Story. From Dragon Ball: Bardock Episode (not to be confused with the film Dragon Ball Z: Baddack vs. Frieza), which he did not sign, the author left his place. Interesting fact: Dragon Attack deviates from one of his writing methods.
One of the rules that Takao Koyama set for himself when writing each film was simple: in each of his films, the antagonist that Goku faced always had to be more powerful than the previous one. The only exception according to him had to be Broly, who was the strongest of all, no matter what. Only here, Hildegarn is the only exception he made to his first rule. Indeed, according to the Toei website, Hildegarn is as powerful as Goku in Super Saiyan 3. However, the site also specifies that Super Janemba is even stronger than Hildegarn, since the latter was destroyed by Goku in Super Saiyan 3, while Super Janemba was able to stand up to this same Goku. It is therefore noted that Janemba is the most powerful of the first thirteen antagonists of the films, with Hildegarn in second position (Broly obviously being out of ranking, as we mentioned earlier).
#6 Hildegarn got her name from a joke between the members of the film crew
The producers of Dragon Ball are particularly strict when it comes to the choice of character design. We know, for example, that Perfect Cell only exists because the appearance of each cyborg and each of its first transformations displeased Akira Toriyama’s editor (we talk about it in more detail here by the way). Precisely, Hildegarn also underwent an extreme makeover following the strict and final disagreement of the film’s producer, Seiichi Hiruta. After requesting that they redesign the character, he said his “jaw metaphorically dropped” when he saw the new design.
In Japan, the sound effect of a “dropping jaw” is “gaan”. This onomatopoeia, combined with the name of the producer, gave “Hiruta gaan”, hence the name of the character in original version: Hirudegān. The French version, for its part, obviously did not take this little anecdote into account and opted for a more European-sounding name. Indeed, Hildegarn recalls the personality of Hildegard of Bingen, an abbess and poet of the 11th century.
#5 Hildegarn is very important to the French public
Dragon Ball: Attack of the Dragon was released in July 1995 in Japan and only three months later (October 25, 1995) in France. At that time, and after years of being singled out, Japanimation in general and Dragon Ball in particular finally have the right to a start of recognition. In June 1995, it was first Porco Rosso by Hayao Miyazaki who opens the ball with his hero Porco Rosso, who is completely voiced by Jean Reno (a huge star at that time) and some of the biggest names in French dubbing, like Gérard Hernandez, also participate in the VF Later, in October, so it’s Dragon Ball the film that comes out in theaters, proposing to bring together in a double bill Dragon Ball Fusion et Dragon Attack.
The film will bring together 152,000 spectators, but soon a second wave of censorship will fall on Japanese pop culture. The Club Dorothée show, which broadcast these titles, was canceled and we had to wait until the very beginning of the 2000s, with 757,870 spectators and the rave reviews surrounding the release of Princess Mononoke’s, for things to change again.
#4 Hildegarn is linked to one of the most unknown populations in the lore
Thousands of years ago, on the peaceful planet Konats, Hirudegarn was a Demon God who placed his spectral body in a statue. He monitored the planet Konats and purified the hearts of the inhabitants, absorbing evil Ki. However, wizards of the Kashvar race transformed him into a Phantom Majin, and he escaped from the statue to start ravaging the planet. It is implied that before being transformed into a Phantom Majin by the Kashvar, he possessed a certain benevolence, hence his initial role of purifying the souls on his planet. However, this connection with the Majin is somewhat difficult to grasp, since the Majin population is, to this day, still shrouded in mystery.
Indeed, the Majin population is as complex as it is heterogeneous, making their definition difficult. Used to designate creatures of supernatural origin, the term “Majin” encompasses a wide variety of characters, ranging from Majin Buu to Hildegarn, the “Phantom Majin”. In Toriyama, these entities can be associated with both demons and jinns. In fact, it is difficult to find a logical link between characters as different as Majin Ozotto, Majin Boo, Hildegarn or the genius of the teapot seen in the series Dr. Slumpor even Neko Majin and his paunchy cat appearance. The universe of Dragon Ballespecially with games like Dragon Ball Xenoverse or Dragon Ball Heroes, tried to create logical links, but not always being developed by the same teams, these stories also regularly contradict each other.
#3 The Expanded Universe made the connection between Hildegarn and the Majins
As we have just seen, it is difficult to establish a precise definition of what the Majins are in the lore of Dragon Ball. However, the film featuring Hildegarn (Dragon Attack) was clearly thought of as a mirror of the Buu saga. Whether it’s Hildegarn or Buu, both are ancient monsters that are locked away and that wizards want to awaken and control. Babidi wants to wake Buu and Hoi wants to wake Hildegarn. On their way stand two new heroes, both wearing Iroquois haircuts: the Kaio Shin of the East for Buu and Tapion for Hildegarn. Finally, the two monsters, once freed, will end up killing the wizards who free them. This link, more than obvious, was further accentuated by the game Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission.
In the chapter 2 of this game, Hoi and Babidi’s Majin team team up to help each other awaken their respective Majin. Once awakened, Hildegarn fights alongside Dabura, Pui Pui, Spopovich and Yamu (all marked with the Majin seal). The two new heroes, Beat (a character who could be the descendant of Goku) and Note (a human warrior, but avatar of the Saiyans), manage to overcome the threat since between them, they are as strong as a Super Saiyan 3. Here, their victory creates several distortions of timelines, thus neither Hoi, nor Babidi, nor Tapion’s brother die.
#2 Hildegarn put Jiren and Broly in trouble
Let Saga you Kaioshin of Time East the eighth original saga of the spin-off series Dragon Ball : Dragon Ball Heroes. During this arc, we discover the Super Space-Time Tournament, organized by a former Kaio Shin of Time named Aeos (who, at the start of this arc, is the main villain). The tournament features powerful warriors of Earth from different stories throughout time and space. Like the Tournament of Power that we discover in Dragon Ball Superit is a team battle royale aimed at eliminating unnecessary realities from existence. But here, the reality Hildegarn comes from is one of the participants.
Indeed, from the start of the competition, an incarnation of Hildegarn appears as an intruder in the Super Space-Time Tournament. In the animated series version, when the tournament begins, Hirudegarn directly confronts Hit. The paper manga version differs somewhat, since here, Hildegarn appears in a forest, knocking out General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army and other fighters in the process. He then throws an Evil Flame which hits Broly, while Jiren is saved thanks to Hit’s Time Jump technique.
#1 Hildegarn was infected by Baby
The highly contested series Dragon Ball GT still has some pretty flashes among them, the arcs concerning the antagonists Super C-17 and Baby. Baby comes from a galaxy far away and was created during the Saiyans’ war against his people, the Tuffles. The latter having been eradicated by the Saiyans, Baby was designed to avenge them. To achieve his goals, Baby can project spores that possess people they come into contact with. and make them evil (or at least in Baby’s service). Thanks to this technique, he even manages to possess Vegeta’s body for a time before finally being defeated. However, Baby later returned in several storylines in the Expanded Universe of Dragon Ball and even had a joint plot with Hildegarn in Dragon Ball Fusions.
Dragon Ball Fusions offers a potential sequel scenario to the Toriyama universe via a spin-off. Here, Tekka and his best friend, Pinich, ask Shenron for entry into the “ultimate martial arts championship.” The dragon then throws them through a portal which takes them to a place where space-time is distorted. Our friends discover a mysterious world where several characters from Dragon Ball, from different eras, are present. It is in this context that Tekka meets Baby, who manages to infect Hildegarn here, he also passed through the space-time gap in the game. Together, they become Baby Hirudegarn and come into conflict with Tekka’s team (Tekka, Trunks as a child, Goten as a child, Goku as a child and Pan). After being defeated, Baby is kicked out of Hildegarn and flees, freeing Hirudegarn parasitic control of Tsufuls.
If you liked this article you can now find “8 facts you didn’t know about”: Yamcha, Beerus, or even Shenron.
Source: hitek.fr
