MERCENARY TAO
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The ruthless, cold-blooded assassin hired by Commander Red who redefines early Dragon Ball's power ceiling. Tao famously kills General Blue using only his tongue, breaks a stone pillar off a building, and rides it through the air across continents to his target. He murders Bora in cold blood and delivers Goku's very first crushing defeat with his lethal Dodon Ray.
MERCENARY THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
SAGA SUMMARIES //
Open page →Bora dies · Korin becomes necessary
Mercenary Tao changes the temperature of the Red Ribbon story immediately. He kills Bora, defeats Goku cleanly, and leaves him alive only because the Four-Star Ball absorbs the Dodon Ray that should have killed him.
The answer is not a hidden transformation. Goku has to climb Korin Tower and discover that the 'Sacred Water' is basically a trick designed to make him chase somebody he cannot catch. He gets stronger because Korin forces his movement, timing and awareness forward.
The answer is not a hidden transformation. Goku has to climb Korin Tower and discover that the 'Sacred Water' is basically a trick designed to make him chase somebody he cannot catch. He gets stronger because Korin forces his movement, timing and awareness forward.
Why it matters
This is one of Dragon Ball's clearest early statements that training is not a magic refill. Goku loses, learns why he lost, then comes back as a better martial artist.
