Some of the concept art has been revealed for the latest Dragon Ball Super movie set to release next year. Among some new character designs and Pan being shown to be older in age, a lot of fans have noticed that Piccolo seems to have changed in appearance as well. Where he normally had pink-colored armor pads on his skin, they have become yellow in color. This is likely down to time advancing forward for the movie. Does this mean Piccolo is considered an elder?
Namekian Lifespan
Namekians live longer lives than both humans and Saiyans. Standard Namekians will live to be around 200 years old while those born with special abilities could live to be 500 years old or older in the case of Kami Guru. Piccolo is indeed a special case here. We can expect him to have a longer lifespan than the average Namekian no doubt. As they age, their bodies do seem to go through changes. While having yellow armor pads doesn’t mean the Namekian is of old age, it has been shown on much older Namekians throughout the series.
Pink vs Yellow
We first see this difference with King Piccolo and Kami in Dragon Ball. Both of them appear to have yellow-colored pads but when King Piccolo regains his youth, they become pink. This right here is telling us that it deals directly with age. When the gang heads to Planet Namek in Dragon Ball Z, we see Kami Guru who is the oldest Namekian on the planet sporting yellow pads. While it is not considered canon, Lord Slug is shown with yellow pads reverting back to pink as well.
So How Old is Piccolo?
Piccolo’s age is quite hilarious when you think about it. He is only 3 years old when he battles Goku in Dragon Ball. Goku essentially was beating up a toddler! He was 8 years old at the start of Dragon Ball Z where he is hardly much older than Gohan yet managed to be a wonderful father figure in the absence of Goku for Gohan. He is 25 when Dragon Ball Super starts. Knowing the latest movie will be taking place when Pan starts school, this would likely make Piccolo around the age of 30.
Yellow is a Sign of Maturity
Knowing Namekians can live to be 200 years and beyond, being 30 years old hardly makes Piccolo an elder. This would mean that yellow is more or less a sign of adult-level maturity for their race. When King Piccolo wished for his youth, he was likely reverted back to being under the age of 10 again. There is no telling what this will mean for his power level or if we will see him continue to increase in strength or not but we know he is far from being an old bag of Namekian bones!
What are your thoughts on the look for Piccolo?
Do you have a different theory behind this color change?