Yamcha


 * This article is about the original character. For the character portrayed in live-action by Joon Park, see Yamcha (Joon Park).

"Let me have a crack at 'em. I think it's time I show these thugs no one comes to Earth and pushes us around."

- "Yamcha's Struggle! The Terrible Saibamen!", Dragon Ball Z Kai

Yamcha (ヤムチャ, Yamucha) is a former desert bandit. He was once an enemy of Goku, but eventually reformed and became a lifelong friend and ally. He was the first of the eventual Z Fighters to meet and team up with Goku. He was once the boyfriend of Bulma, and finds a constant companion in Puar. His name is a play on "Yum cha" (literally "drinking tea"), referring to a gathering to drink tea and eat dim sum. He has the distinction of being the one Z Fighter that has known Goku the longest, even longer than Krillin.

Creation and conception
When Akira Toriyama decided to create Dragon Ball, he used Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West as a prototype for his own series. Yamcha is most likely based on Sha Wujing, also known as Sha Seng, from this novel. Both are powerful bandits (Yamcha from a sandy desert, and Sha from a sand river), who eventually change their ways and help the heroes on their quest.

A likely prototype design for Yamcha was the title character to Akira Toriyama's one-shot Pink. Although Pink was a female, she also was a bandit living in a desert hideout who had an animal companion and rode a flying vehicle similar to Yamcha's vehicle, the Jet Squirrel.

Appearance and Personality
Yamcha's appearance changes throughout the series, mainly his clothes and hairstyle. Yamcha started out the series with long hair and bangs. After settling down in the city, he cut his hair to fit in. Later on, he would grow his hair out again. Several of Yamcha's hairstyles are also used by Gohan at various points in his life. Another of Yamcha's most significant appearance changes were the mysterious scars he got sometime during his three years training for the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Yamcha enjoys eating hard-baked Soba, a Japanese dish consisting of noodles. According to Android 19's scanner, Yamcha is 183 centimeters tall and weighs 68 kilograms, during the Androids Saga. Series creator Akira Toriyama suggested that Yamcha would be a baseball player in anime filler material for Dragon Ball Z. The first kanji Yamcha has on his clothes 樂 stands for "happy" or "music". After training with Master Roshi, he takes the "turtle" or "Kame" kanji "亀" as a sign of respect. Later, after training with King Kai, he wears both "Kame and "Kai" kanji. He wears them the opposite way Goku did ("Kame" on the back and "Kai" on the chest), except in Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might where he wears the "Kai" kanji on the back and "Kame" on the chest.

Yamcha is originally characterized as a deadly warrior, who fears nothing but talking to women. After befriending Goku and the others, his personality remains mostly the same, but becomes very caring and considerate of the people he protects. He is showcased as a courageous warrior who strives his very best to be the best, but is unable to reach this status, a fact that appears to plague him. He has a great network of information, recognizing Goku's Power Pole as Grandpa Gohan's during their first fight.

Yamcha is a huge fan of the World Martial Arts Tournament and has always wanted to compete and someday win; it is likely this is why he has knowledge of famous fighters like Grandpa Gohan, Monster Carrot, Bacterian, and King Chappa. When ever the tournament date neared, Yamcha would always go through vigorous training and invent a new a technique like the Blinding Wolf Fang Fist, Neo Wolf Fang Fist, and the Spirit Ball. Sometime during his three years of training for the 23rd World Tournament, Yamcha got his face scarred.

In early Dragon Ball Z, he shows great pride in defending Earth from the Saiyans, and is willing to put his life on the line to stop them; which he evidently does. After returning from the dead, he prepares to battle the Androids. During this time he and Bulma break up for good (though they remain friends), and she ends up with Vegeta, which frustrated him. After seeing Vegeta's emotional reaction to Future Trunks' death, Yamcha forgave him and is later seen being friendly with Vegeta. Yamcha is also on good terms with Trunks and tells Future Trunks that his father really loved him. About after being nearly killed by Dr. Gero, he takes more of a comical approach, and becomes all but useless in battle due to the ever growing power of the villains the Z Fighters face. It appears whatever passion for fighting he had disappears with the emergence of the Super Saiyans, who severely outclass him in fighting ability, and he eventually comes to accept this. Despite this fact, he remains a trusted ally and fights on occasion when needed. During the latter half of Dragon Ball Z, he retires from fighting, but continues training and goes off on his own.

Yamcha expressed a strong desire to marry, which was the reason why he wanted to cure his fear of women. He also expressed excitement at the thought of starting a family. The Dragon Ball: Bouken Special book, released during the King Piccolo Saga, says he is nervous around women except for Bulma, and Future Trunks states during the Trunks Saga, in both the manga, anime, and video games, that he fully got over his nervousness around women and that his promiscuity caused Bulma to break up with him. Despite originally saying it was his dream to get married and Trunks saying that he found love again, Yamcha appears to be single in Dragon Ball GT.

In the manga, Future Trunks states that after Bulma and Yamcha broke up, Yamcha found a new girlfriend. Although she never appeared in any Dragon Ball media, Yamcha's new girlfriend is mentioned at the end of the Cell Games Saga, when Shenron asks for a wish and Yamcha jokingly proposes he wish for a necklace for the said girlfriend.

Bandit Life and Meeting Goku
‎ Yamcha is introduced in the Emperor Pilaf Saga as a 16 year old bandit that lives in Diablo Desert along with his companion, an anthropomorphic cat named Puar, and robs travelers who pass through. He ambushed Goku, Bulma and Oolong in order to steal their money and capsules. When challenged by Goku, they fought, with Yamcha using his signature technique, the Wolf Fang Fist, seemingly knocking Goku out. However, it only injured Goku. Then, Goku starts to have the disadvantage when he starts to get hungry, which drains his power. As Yamcha was about to defeat Goku, he spots Bulma and makes his retreat, due to his extreme fear of women. Yamcha returned to their camp that night and, while spying on them, learned of the Dragon Balls and their ability to grant a wish. He then decided to steal their Dragon Balls and make a wish to overcome his phobia, as he dreams of getting married. He and his companion Puar broke into the group's van that night to do so, but were foiled when the orbs under the sheet which Yamcha thought were Dragon Balls were actually the breasts of a nude and sleeping Bulma, causing him to leave in a confused daze. He attacked again the following day, by knocking over the group's van with a panzer faust, but was again challenged by Goku and retreated when Goku damaged his vanity by knocking one of his teeth out. Yamcha's attack to the wagon had still done its damage so Goku's group was forced to leave it behind and walk. As Shu had earlier planted a bomb in the van which exploded shortly after it was abandoned, Yamcha's actions had inadvertently saved Goku.

Realizing that he could not beat Goku, Yamcha instead decided to let the group collect all seven balls and then take the wish. He again came to the group, this time apologizing for his behavior, and gave them a car to make up for damaging their van. The car, of course, had a tracking device in it.

While on the group's trail, Yamcha encounters a mysterious girl who destroyed a T-Rex and was frightened by Yamcha and attacks him, causing him to retaliate and knock her out. Later, when eavesdropping on Goku's conversation with Ox-King, he realizes that the girl is Chi-Chi, Ox-King's daughter. Not wanting to face the wrath of an angry Ox-King, Yamcha races back to the scene and apologizes to Chi-Chi, saying he did what he did because he is crazy with love for her. He quickly hides when he sees Goku coming and, by luck, witnesses Chi-Chi pull Goku's tail, exposing his weak spot. Yamcha returns to Fire Mountain and remains hidden as Goku returns with Chi-Chi and Master Roshi, the legendary martial arts master who trained both Ox-King and Goku's grandfather, Grandpa Gohan. He is awed by Master Roshi's display of the Kamehameha, an energy wave Master Roshi used with the intention of putting out the massive fire at Ox-King's residence, but instead, destroyed the castle and the entire mountain it was on. He also can't help but be somewhat envious after Goku is chosen by Master Roshi to be his disciple.

Yamcha continues to tail the group, letting it slip in front of Puar he thinks Bulma has a beautiful voice, after they recover the sixth Dragon Ball from Ox-King into a remote village. There, he has to intervene and help Goku after Bulma is turned into a carrot by Monster Carrot, leader of the Rabbit Mob. He orders Puar to turn into a bird and rescue the hostage carrot-Bulma while he takes out Monster Carrot's two henchmen. Working with Goku, the two recover carrot Bulma and through Puar's trickery get Monster Carrot to change her back. Yamcha quickly hides again after this, letting Goku deal with the gang without having to worry about Bulma's safety. While watching Bulma's disappointment at his absence, Yamcha silently curses his shyness around her.

When Shu ambushes Goku, Bulma and Oolong, stealing five of their six balls along with destroying their car with his Pilaf Machine, Yamcha has to again intervene, this time joining the group. They track the balls to Pilaf's Castle, but are soon trapped. From a hole blasted in the wall by Goku they witness Emperor Pilaf summoning Shenron and Yamcha orders Puar to go with Oolong and stop it. Emperor Pilaf's wish is interrupted by Oolong and, as punishment, the group is moved into a giant solar-oven like cell to die the next day when the sun comes up; they are not contained long though before Goku transforms into a Great Ape and destroys their cell by the light of the full moon.

To get the group to safety, Yamcha is forced to pick up Bulma despite his girl phobia.Just as Goku is about to crush Bulma, pinned by some rubble, Yamcha comes to the rescue and grabs his tail, stunning him long enough for Puar to transform into a giant pair of scissors and cut the tail off, returning Goku to his normal state. The next morning, with the balls now inert, the gang goes their separate ways. Yamcha and Bulma are satisfied though, as they now have each other and, therefore, no need to make any wishes. They go with Bulma back to the city while Goku goes off to train with Master Roshi.

The World Tournament
Excited about the Martial arts tournament, Yamcha goes to the wildernes to hone his skills. After a month Yamcha returns and saves Bulma from getting hit by a truck. Bulma does not recognize Yamcha at first due to his beard and dishelved appearance. When she does realize its him she is both happy and annoyed that he did not call or contact her during his long absence.

Yamcha next meets up with Goku at the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament where he says he had a haircut at Bulma's request. Yamcha makes it to the quarter-finals, but is eliminated by Jackie Chun, who dodges all of Yamcha's attacks and knocks him out of the ring by creating a powerful wind with a hand chop.

This level of power, along with the physical likeness, causes Yamcha to suspect Jackie Chun is Master Roshi in disguise, before Roshi solicits Nam to wear a fake beard and convince Yamcha that he is not Roshi.

When Goku sees the full moon and turns into a Great Ape during his battle with Jackie Chun, Jackie Chun fires a MAX Power Kamehameha in the ape's direction despite Yamcha's desperate attempt to stop Chun. When the smoke clears, Goku is nowhere to be found, and Yamcha and his friends start to cry. Fortunately, it turns out Goku was just knocked out of the ring and they celebrate by going out to dinner on Roshi's tab after Jackie Chun wins the tournament.

Red Ribbon Army conflict
‎ After the tournament, Yamcha returns to West City with Bulma and the others. Bulma gets angry at him because the other girls in the city are all over him. When Goku was flying on the Nimbus on a tour to West city, he (and Bulma through the Micro Band) comes across Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar. Oolong and Puar tell Goku that Bulma has been treating Yamcha badly. Yamcha says this is true, but he still likes her. Bulma, resizes herself after hearing these comments, gets angry at Yamcha again, and heads alone to the Dream Land amusement park. Yamcha is upset by this, but goes with Goku, Oolong, and Puar to the amusement park anyway. On the way, the two save a fortune teller from thugs. However, it is actually Hasky, a thief hired by the Red Ribbon Army to take the Dragon Balls. Hasky has a bunch of failed attempts to steal the Dragon Balls, but no one catches on.

Eventually Goku leaves the dragon ball with Yamcha. Seeing her chance, Hasky attempts to seduce him, but Yamcha finds out she's a fake by coming across the real fortune teller. Hasky attacks Yamcha with a sword and he fights her off. Unfortunately, Bulma comes across them and in her view it looks like the two are kissing. Bulma hurls a cabinet at Yamcha right as he just beat Hasky and stomps off. This allowed Hasky to tie up Yamcha and take the Dragon Balls, but not before revealing she planted a bomb in the park. Yamcha later helps Goku take care of Hasky, get the Dragon Balls back, and defuse the bomb.

But due to the incident with Bulma, Yamcha's already strained relationship with her was strained even further and she left with Goku to find a new boyfriend with the Dragon Balls.

Later on, after Goku defeats the entire Red Ribbon Army, Yamcha and the rest of the gang rush to help him in a helicopter, but they learned that their help ultimately proved unnecessary because Goku finished them off without them.

Fortuneteller Baba Saga
Yamcha decides to accompany Goku and travels with him to see Fortuneteller Baba at her palace to learn the location of the last Dragon Ball to revive Upa's father, Bora. Fortuneteller Baba does not give readings free though and will only do it after her five warriors are beaten. Yamcha faces her second warrior, See-Through the Invisible Man.

Unable to see his opponent Yamcha can’t land a blow and was losing the match. He tried to locate his opponent by sound which works initially, but is foiled when Fortuneteller Baba starts singing. Krillin thinks quickly though and brings both Bulma and Master Roshi to the ring; he then exposes Bulma's breasts causing Master Roshi to have a nose bleed which covers the Invisible Man. With his opponent now visible, Yamcha uses his Wolf Fang Fist and quickly dispatches him.

Fortuneteller Baba then takes the warriors to a new ring, the Devil's Toilet which has a thin platform over a pool of powerful acid. In this arena Yamcha battles his next opponent, Bandages the Mummy, who is both a fast and strong mummy. Things look bad for Yamcha until he manages a quick sneak attack, tripping Bandages the Mummy off the ledge; though it is proved futile as Bandages the Mummy is able to use his bandages like a rope and climb his way back up. They fight again, and again Yamcha is pummeled until he is held up by his neck before being tossed down towards the acid. Fortunately, Goku intervened and saved him with his Power Pole.

Goku takes over the fighting at this point and defeats Bandages the Mummy with one hit, as well as the rest of Fortuneteller Baba's fighters. It is not in vain for Yamcha though, as Master Roshi accepts him to become one of his students.

Meeting Tien Shinhan
‎Three years later, Yamcha competes in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. While in the preliminaries he has confrontational words with Tien Shinhan, the prize student of a rival school, who mocks Yamcha and claims to destroy Yamcha in the ring. When the finals are about to begin, Tien has his friend Chiaotzu use his psychic powers to fix the fight schedule numbering so that he and Yamcha face off first in the quarterfinals.

At the start of their fight, they seem to be trading an equal number of blows. Yamcha then attempts his Wolf Fang Blowing Wind, but it is beaten by Tien who parries the assault and counters with a quick punch to Yamcha's gut. Yamcha decides to go all out and utilizes, to everyone's surprise, the Kamehameha; this is stopped by Tien who reflects the attack back at Yamcha with a Kiai, making Yamcha jump into the air. Tien also jumps and kicks Yamcha, knocking him out. However, Tien does not stop at that. Tien then shatters the unconscious Yamcha's leg with a diving knee attack. (Note that this is Yamcha's only tournament match where he is defeated by KO rather than ring-out).

Yamcha is eliminated by KO and goes to the local hospital with Puar turning into a carpet for Yamcha to lie on. In hospital for the rest of the competition, Yamcha listens to the remainder of the fights on the radio, and manages to be there for the fight between Goku and Tien. When Tien wins and decides to turn over a new leaf due to Roshi's advice, Yamcha is one of the first to clap for him. Later, when a reformed Tien apologizes for the unnecessary beating, Yamcha says bones can always grow back and that he awaits their next bout. The two then forge a friendly rivalry and promise to meet again at the next tournament.

The Evil King Piccolo
‎ Due to his injuries, Yamcha spends the majority of the King Piccolo Saga on the sidelines. He is powerless to intervene as first Krillin, followed by Master Roshi, and then Chiaotzu are killed by King Piccolo.

Tambourine attacks Yamcha and they battle at the Training Island. In part due to Yamcha's injured leg, Tambourine gets the upper hand, but Yamcha is luckily saved from death when King Piccolo calls Tambourine to go after Cymbal's killer. When he learns of King Piccolo's takeover of the world capital, as well as Tien's seemingly suicidal mission to take him out, Yamcha joins in and races to the scene. He arrives with Bulma and Launch only to find it a desolate wasteland. They soon encounter a battered Tien who fills them in that Goku's actually alive and defeated the Demon King (although they heard on radio that "a small boy" was fighting Piccolo and deduced that it must be Goku, Tien gave them confirmation); Yamcha then assists Tien in getting back to the Kame House to recover.

Not long after, Goku quickly bursts in and announces that he is training with Kami before taking off again after recovering his Power Pole. This knowledge causes Yamcha to redouble his preparation for the next World Martial Arts Tournament.

Yamcha trains along with Tien and the resurrected Krillin and Chiaotzu until Master Roshi informed them that, to be able to reach Goku's level of power, they are going to need to find better ways to train than those available at the Kame House. After that, they all head to Korin Tower and train with Korin before each going their own separate way in preparing for the next, 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament.

King Piccolo's Reincarnation
Yamcha next meets with the group at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he has trained for last three years for this tournament (earning his trademark scars in the process) and looks forward to the fights.

Yamcha is present when Goku reunites with an adult Chi-Chi and like the others did not recognize her as an adult. After Goku remembered his proposal to Chi-Chi, she apologized to Yamcha for not marrying him (referring to Yamcha's false love confession), making Bulma angry at him.

‎ Yamcha makes it to the quarter-finals and must contend with a nerdy human named Hero and finds himself injured by what seem like accidental clumsy mistakes made by his opponent (like getting kicked in the kidney after Hero supposedly tripped, and landing on the back of Hero's head, hurting his groin). When they both state that they'll fight seriously, Hero proves to be a fighter in a class well beyond Yamcha and quickly counters every move Yamcha makes. In desperation Yamcha uses his secret weapon, the Spirit Ball, a powerful ball of guided energy. While it proves to be an effective attack, it is ultimately futile as Hero (who is actually Kami) recovers from being hit with it and knocks Yamcha out of the ring. At the end of the match Yamcha is oddly calm and congratulates hero on his win. Hero says Yamcha has great skill and potential but needs to work on his focus and defense.

Yamcha can only watch from there on out, in awe at the massive power displayed in the fight between Goku and Piccolo Jr. at which he is powerless to intervene. When Goku eventually does defeat Piccolo Jr., Yamcha joins the others in celebrating his victory.

Battling the Saiyans
Over the next five years, Yamcha retired from fighting and became a baseball player on the team called the "Taitans", wearing number 00. Being the best player, he still longed for the days of being a fighter.

After Goku sacrifices his life to defeat Raditz, Yamcha is summoned along with Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin and Yajirobe to train at Kami's Lookout for the battle against Vegeta and Nappa. After completing Kami's training, Yamcha trains on his own until the Saiyans arrive.

Yamcha arrives at the battlefield just prior to the fight beginning. After Tien defeats one of them, Yamcha volunteers to do battle with one of Nappa's spawned Saibamen in place of Krillin who had already been revived once with the Dragon Balls. Yamcha's fight with the Saibaman is quite fast and he seemingly defeats the creature with utter ease after evading its attack and smashing it with a Kamehameha from behind. The creature was now believed to be dead, as it was beaten brutally by Yamcha. But as a turn of events, it was just barely alive and gathered the remainder of its energy to leap and cling onto Yamcha and self destruct, killing both Yamcha and itself in the process.

His death devastates Bulma and Puar, as well as Krillin who swears to avenge Yamcha's sacrifice, and does so by destroying most of the Saibamen.

The Space Tyrant, Frieza
Because of the influence of Kami, after he died, in the Namek Saga and Frieza Saga Yamcha was allowed to train on King Kai's planet in the Other World as Goku did earlier. Joining him were the other warriors who also perished in the battle against the Saiyans: Piccolo, Tien and Chiaotzu. On King Kai's planet, King Kai tells Goku that they all crossed Snake Way in a far shorter time than he did, and that they all requested for tougher training than what Goku had received.

Through King Kai, he is able to witness everyone's (Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Gohan, Dende and Piccolo fused with Nail) battle with the evil tyrant Frieza on Planet Namek. Yamcha takes on Recoome of the Ginyu Force and, similar to Goku, dispatches him with relative ease. When Goku is thought to have been killed in the destruction of Namek after defeating Frieza, Yamcha relays the information to everyone through Bulma. He is returned to life 130 days later in the first batch of wishes from Porunga and continues to live at Capsule Corporation with Puar, Bulma and now Vegeta.

Black Water Mist
‎ In the filler Garlic Jr. Saga, while Goku was still out in the Galaxy after his battle with Frieza the Z Fighters all came to Master Roshi's House for a get together. During the time he becomes possessed by the Black Water Mist and became a mindless zombie who was loyal to Garlic Jr., along with the rest of the group except Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, and his new girlfriend Maron. Afterwards, he is brought back to normal with everyone else after the Sacred Water was poured into the Seven Air Currents and Garlic Jr. was defeated. Not long after he resumed his baseball career for a brief period.

The Mysterious Youth
When a rebuilt Frieza and his father invades the Earth, in the Trunks Saga Yamcha is one of the defenders who prepares to confront him, though he is overwhelmed by the tyrants' power. He is just as amazed as everyone else though when a mysterious youth suddenly appears and quickly destroys Frieza and his force. He listened to the youth, who claims that Goku will be arriving shortly and, after waiting for Goku's return, witnesses their sparring in awe. He was then filled in by Piccolo, who could hear the entire conversation between the two, that in three years powerful androids will appear and kill everyone if they are not fully prepared; Goku invited Yamcha to train with him, but Yamcha refused, saying that he liked training at his own pace. Around this time Yamcha drops hints to Bulma that he is ready to settle down.

During this saga, Yamcha sneaks into the Capsule Corporation shuttle at night-time to attempt to train in 300 times the gravity of Earth, so that he can prove he is just as adept a fighter as Vegeta. However, after activating this gravity setting, Yamcha suddenly finds himself completely overwhelmed and on the verge of being crushed to death by the gravity. He ultimately manages to shift his hand to the control deck to restore the gravitation level.

The Androids
Nevertheless, he spent the next three years in training for the Androids' arrival. During his training, Yamcha ends up distracted by various women working out at the gym he was currently training at, and a mishap with the weights resulted in him deeply reconsidering his training methods. During this time, he and Bulma breakup once and for all. After the three years, in the Androids Saga Yamcha meets Goku, Gohan, Piccolo and Tien at the location of the androids arrival. Realizing that they can't sense the androids, the group splits up and searches the city for them. Yamcha is the first to find them, and unaware that the two are the Androids is quickly grabbed around the mouth by Android 20 (later revealed to be Dr. Gero), draining his energy and preventing him from calling for backup or battling them. Yamcha is then incapacitated after Android 20 punches a hole clean through his mid-section; the sudden drop in his ki alerts the rest of the group though, and they arrive shortly after.

Krillin quickly takes Yamcha away from the battle and gives him a Senzu Bean, causing him to recover to full strength. Though he does not want to fight the Androids again, he then tags along to watch the fight and, after Goku succumbs to his heart disease, takes him home to get him his medicine. Yamcha soon after transports Goku to Kame House to hide him from Android 16, Android 17 and Android 18.

The New Threat, Cell
From watching the news he hears of the new threat, Cell, a monster that goes around absorbing people during the Imperfect Cell Saga. He aids Piccolo on the search for Imperfect Cell by piloting an airplane so it would not detect their ki, but it continuously evades them. When the Androids later arrive on Master Roshi's island looking for Goku, Yamcha stays behind while Piccolo goes off with them to fight on a deserted island.

‎ Later on when Perfect Cell broadcasts his intentions to hold his Cell Games, a tournament of sorts with himself as the only opponent, Yamcha decides to accompany the fighters, but along with Tien decides not to participate. During the Cell Games Saga Yamcha does not get the opportunity to fight until Perfect Cell creates his Cell Jrs, who attack the Z Fighters and quickly take most of them out, including Yamcha, who got his arm brutally broken in the battle. He quickly recovers after eating a senzu once Gohan destroys the Cell Jr's and spends the rest of the match as an observer. (Though in the anime he, along with the rest of the Z Fighters, help in distracting Cell long enough for Gohan to raise his power level and destroy the android.)

Once Gohan finally destroys Super Perfect Cell, he carries Gohan back to Kami's Lookout and then makes the wish to resurrect everyone killed by Cell. When the group has difficulty thinking of a second wish, he jokingly contemplates asking the Dragon for an expensive diamond necklace for the girl he's going out with. He and the rest of the group see Future Trunks off as he leaves for his own time and then they go their separate ways.

Alternate Timeline
In the Alternate Timeline, Yamcha was killed by Android 17 and Android 18, along with many of the Z Fighters.

Seven Years Later
Seven years later, Yamcha attends the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament as a spectator since he gave up fighting professionally. Soon the tournament is interrupted though as the other Z Fighters leave, and then return with Vegeta now possessed by Babidi, an evil wizard. Yamcha manages to survive Vegeta's massacre along with his other friends in the crowd, barely escaping from Vegeta's blasts.

After Vegeta attacked the crowd, Yamcha went with Bulma and a few others to ask Shenron to bring back all the goodhearted people who were killed that day by Babidi and Vegeta. He then heads to Kami's Lookout to take refuge from the assault of the new terror, Majin Buu, and witnesses Goten and Trunks' first attempts at performing the Fusion Dance, and finally their success when they become Gotenks.

The Evil Majin Buu
A day later, Super Buu eventually finds everyone at the tower and allows them to live for a short time. When Super Buu escapes from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber Yamcha is quickly turned into chocolate and eaten with the others.

The Final Battle
Yamcha and Krillin go to Grand Kai's planet, where Yamcha recovers his passion for fighting. It does appear that Yamcha has been training despite his lack of willingness to fight due to the fact that he can stand against two of the North quadrant's strongest fighters. Later they have a brief fight with Kid Buu in the Other World. After being resurrected, Yamcha's last real action in the series is giving Goku his energy to help form the Spirit Bomb that defeats Kid Buu.

10 years later, he is seen along with the rest of the Z Warriors at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament and witness the emergence of Uub, the good, human reincarnation of Kid Buu.

Baby Saga
Yamcha makes a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball GT in episode 40, "Piccolo's Decision". He is first seen among a group of people in an undisclosed area. Later, he can be seen attending a party at Bulma's house with the rest of the Z Fighters.



Shadow Dragon Saga
By the end of Dragon Ball GT (in the final episode), Yamcha is seen fixing his car in the middle of the desert with Puar. He is seen in the final ending montage of the episode as well.

Dragon Ball Movies
Yamcha has appeared in all of the Dragon Ball movies.

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
As a partial retelling Yamcha's basic history starts out the same (scared of girls, likes Bulma, and plots to steal the Dragonballs) but diverges at a certain point. After hearing Goku is going to visit the Turtle hermit, Yamcha tries to get Roshi to beat up Goku by telling the hermit that Goku plots to steal his shell. The plan fails due to Goku showing his purity by riding the Nimbus cloud and Yamcha retreats after Bulma gets close to him. In the next Part of his plan, Yamcha raids King Gurumes for the remaining six Dragonballs and other valuables. The Desert bandit rides up the castle walls with the Silverstar 4 while simultaneously avoiding gunfire. At the top Yamcha effortlessly simultaneously defeats six of King Gurumes soldiers with nun chucks and then runs into a room full of blood rubies. Yamcha and Puar stuff their pockets with rubies and while exiting come across Oolong and Bulma. There is no time to say hello as an armed Raven bursts into the scene and riddles Yamcha's chest with bullets seemingly killing him to Puar's distress. Raven points her gun towards Bulma but Yamcha sweep kicks her as Blood rubies pour out of his shirt.

He easily disarms Raven, but refuses to fight after seeing her gender. Undeterred Raven pulls out her grenades and starts tossing them after the gang causing the hallway to fall apart. The grenades caused a huge boulder to head down in Bulma's direction, acting fast Yamcha jumps up and catches it. In gratitude for saving her Bulma gives Yamcha a big hug making the shy rogue blush and scream. Yamcha later watches with Bulma as the Dragon Balls come together and Penny wishes to get rid of the Blood rubies. Yamcha realizes he no longer needs to wish away his fear of girls and hooks up with Bulma.

Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
Yamcha appears in the film as Bulma's boyfriend and Goku's friend (likely continuing from the previous movie). After hearing from Roshi that he sent Goku and Krillin off to Devil's Castle, Yamcha and the others head there in a helicopter. Near the castle, their helicopter is attacked by demons and crashes.

Yamcha, Puar and Oolong wake up inside the castle. In an effort to rescue Bulma from getting her blood drained, using the transforming abilities of the latter, they disguise themselves as demons but are caught when Oolong's transforming ability gives away. They are then stuck in a stone wall along with Goku, Krillin, and Launch. When Goku breaks them out by turning into his Great Ape form, Yamcha and Puar cut his tail to ensure everyone's safety. They Reach Lucifer and Yamcha takes out an ax equipped Igor to rescue Bulma. After Lucifer is defeated, Yamcha returns Goku, Krillin, and Launch to the Kame House.

Dragon Ball: The Path to Power
Yamcha is a main character in The Path to Power, an adaptation that is a mix between the Pilaf and Red Ribbon Army Sagas. Similar to the show Yamcha attacks Goku (who is not hungry in this version) for his valuables and is winning but flees upon seeing Bulma due to his girl phobia. His affection for Bulma is more obvious, Puar getting him to admit she is all thats on his mind.

The bandits follow the gang north to icy weather by Muscle Tower, missing the desert heat Yamcha and Puar go into a cave to warm up with a family of bears. Still spying on them as they meet Roshi, Yamcha upon hearing about the Dragon Balls realizes with them 'he could get rid of his phobia and "be with.....whoever he wants." Unfortunately the gang is then attacked by by a Red Ribbon Fleet, Roshi fights back with a Kamemeha (amazing Yamcha), but they are still captured by General Blue. Yamcha decides to make a rescue attempt by sneaking attacking General Blue, Bulma is so excited to see Yamcha that she yells at to him making the Desert Wolf freeze and lose his cover, both him and Puar captured with everyone else.

While in prison with the Gang, Yamcha mostly gets over his anxiety around Bulma, connecting with her and even sharing an accidental kiss after an explosion rocks the prison. Escaping the prison, Yamcha watches Goku's fight with Officer Black and Eighter's sacrifice. As Shenron appears, Yamcha willingly gives up his wish, as he and Bulma look into each others' eyes.

Dragon Ball Z Movies

 * Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might
 * Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks
 * Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound

Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!
Yamcha is among the group attending Mr. Satan's party in Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!. He sits on the sidelines during the battle against Abo and Kado, although this is due in part to that they were decided weak enough that Goten and Trunks would be enough to defeat them. Gotenks uses Yamcha's Wolf Fang Fist against the fused version of Abo and Kado, Aka. After Aka unleashes his Super Destructive Energy Wave, Yamcha himself briefly enters action and uses a Spirit Ball to destroy the top of a large building that was about to crush Bulma, Puar and Oolong, as well as the various pieces of rubble. Despite having apparently given up on fighting, he is shown to be wearing his gi under his suit.

Techniques and special abilities

 * Flight – The ability to fly with the use of ki.
 * Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
 * Ki Sense – The ability to sense Ki energy, which Yamcha learned while training on Kami's Lookout.
 * Kamehameha – Yamcha is able to pull off the basic Kamehameha attack as well as some variations. One such variation is specific to Yamcha alone. Yamcha launches a Kamehameha made of three thin intertwining rays of ki that barrels into the opponent. He uses this to defeat a Saibaman when fighting the Saiyans.
 * Wolf Fang Fist – Yamcha's trademark attack. It is a very fast series of powerful punches, swipes, and kicks. Before the attack, a wolf's howl can be heard, along with an aura around Yamcha.
 * Blinding Wolf Fang Fist – A one-hit variant of the Wolf Fang Fist.
 * Tiger Jackhammer Fist – Yamcha punches his opponent repeatedly before finishing with a kick. Named in the Budokai series.
 * Neo Wolf Fang Fist – An upgraded version of the Wolf Fang Fist. Also called "Wolf Fang Blowing Wind" or "Wolf Fang Whirlwind Claw".
 * Wolf Hurricane – A weaker version of the Wolf Fang Fist used in Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. Yamcha can combine it with Krillin's and Tien's rush attacks to form the Earthling Strike.
 * Wolf Slice Fist – Yamcha kicks the opponent up in the air, and then he kicks and punches them down again. Used in the Budokai series.
 * Spirit Punch – Yamcha charges ki into his fist and delivers an energized punch. It is used to defeat Recoome in the anime.
 * Spirit Ball – A controllable energy ball of great precision.
 * Extra Large Spirit Ball – A much more powerful version of the Spirit Ball, and is even bigger than Yamcha himself.
 * Wolf Fang Blast – Yamcha uppercuts his opponent up in the air, then he flies up and knock them down to the ground again. Yamcha then fires a barrage of ki blasts on the opponent, only to finish the attack with a large ball of ki. Used only in the Budokai series.
 * Afterimage Technique – One of Yamcha's Blast 1's in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. It allows him to dodge any sort of incoming attack (except normal ki blasts), with blinding speed.
 * Power up to the Very Limit – One of Yamcha's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. It instantly put him in MAX power mode, along with adding all stat bonuses.
 * All-Out – Increases Attack power while depleting ki at the same time (Raging Blast series only).
 * Fusion Dance – Yamcha can fuse with Tien Shinhan to create Tiencha (Budokai 2 only).

Weapons & Vehicles

 * Yamcha's Sword – A sword Yamcha uses to fight with on rare occasions.
 * Nunchucks – Used in Curse of the Blood Rubies.
 * Panzer Faust – Yamcha's Bazooka which he uses to destroy Oolong's House-Wagon.
 * Jet Squirrel – A flying jet scooter.
 * Mighty Mouse – Yamcha's Old Fashioned Buggy. This is also his favorite car. Used to track Goku, Bulma and Oolong from Diablo Desert to Fire Mountain.
 * Silverstar 4 – Yamcha's hovercar. He used it to track Goku, Bulma and Oolong from Fire Mountain to Pilaf's Castle. In the filler episode "He's Always Late", Yamcha has a new hovercar.

Video game appearances

 * Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan
 * Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza
 * Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan
 * Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzōningen
 * Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budōkai
 * Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Legend (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
 * Dragon Ball
 * Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
 * Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
 * Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 (Support-type Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
 * Dragon Ball Z: Bakuretsu Impact
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu (Support-type Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
 * Dragon Ball Z: W Bakuretsu Impact
 * Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
 * Dragon Ball: Origins (Non-Playable Character)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World
 * Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers
 * Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
 * Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
 * Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
 * Dragon Ball Online
 * Dragon Ball: Origins 2
 * Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team
 * Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
 * Dragon Ball Heroes
 * Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

Voice actors

 * Japanese Dub: Tōru Furuya
 * Harmony Gold Dub: Kerrigan Mahan
 * Ocean Group Dub: Ted Cole
 * FUNimation Dub: Christopher Sabat
 * Blue Water Dub: Victor Atelevich
 * Latin American Dub: Jesús Barrero (DB; first voice), Ricardo Mendoza (rest of DB, DBZ, DBGT, DBZ Kai), Enrique Mederos (†) (DBZ; some eps. Boo saga)
 * Portuguese Dub: António Semedo
 * Italian Dub: Diego Sabre
 * French Dub: Eric Legrand
 * Brazilian Dub: Márcio Araújo
 * Croatian Dub: Matko Knešaurek

Major Battles

 * Yamcha & Puar vs. Goku and Oolong
 * Yamcha, Goku, Oolong and Puar vs. Monster Carrot and Rabbit Mob
 * Yamcha and Puar vs. Goku (Great Ape)
 * Yamcha vs. Jackie Chun
 * Yamcha vs. See-Through the Invisible Man
 * Yamcha vs. Bandages the Mummy
 * Yamcha vs. Tien Shinhan
 * Yamcha vs. Tambourine
 * Yamcha vs. Hero
 * Yamcha vs. Chiaotzu and Yajirobe
 * Yamcha, Tien, Krillin and Chiaotzu vs. Scarface & Shorty
 * Yamcha vs. Saibaman
 * Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu vs. Piccolo
 * Yamcha vs. Recoome
 * Yamcha vs. Android 20
 * Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, Vegeta (SS 2nd Grade), Goku (Full Power SS), Future Trunks (SS 2nd Grade), & Piccolo vs. Cell Juniors
 * Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Piccolo, Vegeta (SS 2nd Grade) and Gohan (SS2) vs. Cell (Super Perfect)
 * Yamcha vs. Olibu & Gorilla
 * Yamcha, Krillin, Pikkon and Olibu vs. Kid Buu

Movie Battles

 * Yamcha vs. Bora (Mystical Adventure)
 * Yamcha vs. Igor (Sleeping Princess)
 * Yamcha vs. Cacao (Tree of Might)
 * Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin & Piccolo vs. Turles (Tree of Might)
 * Yamcha, Tien & Gohan (SS) vs. Bujin, Bido, & Zangya (Bojack Unbound)

Live-action films
Yamcha and Puar both appear in the 1990 Korean Dragon Ball film. Yamcha appears in Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins under the name of Westwood portrated by Cheng Tung-Chuen.

Yamcha appears in the 2009 live-action film Dragonball: Evolution, portrayed by Joon Park.

Trivia

 * Yamcha is one of the only active Z Fighters seen having the ability to drive on a regular basis in Dragon Ball Z. The other is Yajirobe; Piccolo has been seen driving only once; Goku, twice and Vegeta once.
 * In early Dragon Ball, after cutting his long hair, Yamcha is very similar to the Dr. Slump character Tsukutsun Tsun, in appearance and characteristics.
 * In every World Martial Arts Tournament, Yamcha has been in, he has always lost in a quarter-final match (in the 21st he was defeated by Jackie Chun, in the 22nd he lost to Tien, and in the 23rd he was defeated by Hero who was actually Kami).
 * Yamcha is the second fighter to learn the Kamehameha (the first is Goku) since the beginning of Dragon Ball.
 * In the anime, Yamcha is the first Z Fighter seen with a full time paying job. Yamcha can be seen playing for a baseball team called the "Taitans". "TAITAN" (タイタン) is the Japanese spelling of "Titan", which is also the name of several sports teams.
 * In "The Androids Appear", Android 19's scanner reads that Yamcha's address is NB: 8250012B, his height is 183 cm, his weight is 68 kg, special ability is the Kouga Whowhoken, and that he is a Class B warrior. These statistics are also used in the Dragon Ball: Bouken Special.
 * When Dragon Ball Z rolls around, Yamcha stops using his trademark move, the Wolf Fang Fist. However, Gotenks briefly uses it in Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
 * Sometimes when Yamcha is not appearing to use one of his Wolf Fang techniques, his aura will still make him appear as a wolf such as in Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
 * In his appearance in Dragon Ball GT, Yamcha is about 57 years old. Despite this he shows no real age difference aside from another hairstyle change.
 * Yamcha is the only character to be voiced by their FUNimation Entertainment voice actor Christopher Sabat in all four Dragon Ball movies.
 * In the video game Attack of the Saiyans, Yamcha and Puar mention having bandit friends back at their hideout in Diablo Desert.
 * Yamcha has his own theme song sung by his voice actor Tōru Furuya. It is titled Wolf Hurricane and sings about his desert life and loneliness.
 * In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, there is a What-if story where Yamcha faces Vegeta and beats him trying to prove that he should be Bulma's lover. Future Trunks appears to stop Yamcha changing history and making Trunks not exist, but Yamcha defeats Vegeta anyway. However, since Yamcha was a bit of a playboy according to the game, the future would not be altered anyway. Yamcha also beats Vegeta in Budokai 3 at the World Tournament in the Buu Saga.
 * He, along with Krillin and Android 16, is one of the starting masters in the Hero Mode of Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi. He is present if the player uses a Standard-type custom character.