Commander Magenta is a major antagonist in the Dragon Ball franchise.
He is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Dr. Gero) of the Android Saga in Dragon Ball Z, and the main antagonist of the 2022 anime film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and it's retelling in the Dragon Ball Super manga.
Magenta was the son of Commander Red, the leader of the Red Ribbon Army which attempted to dominate the world until it was defeated by a child named Son Goku. Hoping to continue his father's legacy, Magenta founded a front company called Red Pharmaceuticals and used it as a way to fund the restoration of the Red Ribbon Army in secret. He is also revealed to be the one who funded Dr. Gero's androids back in the Dragon Ball Z.
Magenta is voiced by Volcano Ōta in Japanese and Charles Martinet in English also voiced Wario and Waluigi in the Super Mario franchise.
Appearance[]
Magenta was an incredibly short man with a strong build, olive skin, and black eyes. His short, black hair was swept back and his facial hair was arranged into a pencil moustache. Magenta took greatly after his father physically, particularly in regard to his short stature, stocky build, and facial hair. The Commander of the Red Ribbon Army usually wore a black long-sleeved turtle-neck shirt, a double-breasted magenta suit jacket with accompanying trousers, and white-and-magenta derby shoes. He also had a gold chain hung around his neck and a Red Ribbon Army insignia pinned on his left lapel. Underneath his turtleneck were cybernetics secretly grafted onto his body.
Personality[]
Magenta is a corrupt, power-crazed businessman bent on world conquest and rebuilding the Red Ribbon Army. He is also highly manipulative as he was able to trick Dr. Hedo into working for him and the reborn Red Ribbon Army after telling him that the Z-Fighters and Capsule Corp were evil. Magenta is obsessed with revenge on Goku and his family for causing the death of his father many years ago and would resort in having Pan kidnapped to lure Gohan into a trap to have Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 kill him just to spite Goku. However, despite his ruthlessness, Magenta cares about the well-being of his soldiers and thinks very highly of his second-in-command Carmine and they seem to be good friends. Unlike his father Commander Red, Magenta is a good leader and treats the Red Ribbon Army with respect and has no insecurities like his father and holds his most trusted assistant in high regards.
Synopsis[]
Background[]
Magenta was the son of the power-hungry Commander Red, the founder and leader of a powerful world-spanning military faction called the Red Ribbon Army which had the intention to take over and rule Earth. The dreams of the Red Ribbon Army were cut short however, as a powerful Earth-raised alien child named Son Goku decided to put a stop to the organization's evil goals. With the help of his friends, Goku was able to nearly single-handedly destroy the entire Red Ribbon Army.
Magenta decided to follow in the footsteps of Commander Red.
Commander Red was betrayed and killed in the conflict by his right-hand man Assistant Black. Determined to succeed in killing Goku and attaining world dominion where his father could not, Magenta founded a medical company called Red Pharmaceuticals Company as a front to fund his plans. Magenta's business provided him with a vast fortune that allowed him to secretly reconstruct the Red Ribbon Army and instate himself as its new Commander. Seeking a way to remove Goku and his allies, Commander Magenta began funding the research of Dr. Gero, a scientist who had served in the old Red Ribbon Army.
Gero intended to create a series of incredibly powerful Androids that would be capable of defeating their enemies, although he was betrayed and killed by two of his own creations: Android 17 and Android 18. However, the scientist's finest work, a Bio-Android named Cell was able to indirectly continue his creator's legacy by attempting to kill Goku and his allies the Z-Fighters. Although Cell proved incredibly formidable and was even able to kill Goku until the latter's eventual resurrection, the Bio-Android was eventually slain climatically by Goku's son Son Gohan. Thus, Magenta's plan to use Dr. Gero and his creations ended in failure.
A New Saga of Androids[]
Recruiting Hedo[]
Magenta nearly lost all hope that his dreams would ever be realized, until he learned that Dr. Gero had actually had a grandson named Dr. Hedo whose genius surpassed him. After having his right-hand man Carmine survey Hedo while the young doctor was still in prison, Magenta decided to recruit him and have him build a new series of Androids for the Red Ribbon Army. When Dr. Hedo's prison term was finished, Magenta and Carmine picked him up. Hedo revealed that he was aware of who Magenta was, as he had been spying on Red Ribbon using a mechanized bee called Hachimaru. Dr. Hedo explained that he had no interest in the Red Ribbon Army, as he viewed them a villainous organization whereas he preferred the aesthetic of superheroes.
Commander Magenta manipulated the young doctor into believing that Goku and his friends were the true villains, painting them as a band of aliens set on world domination who the original Red Ribbon Army had simply wanted to stop. Furthermore, he promised to fully fund Hedo's research and pay him handsomely for every completed project. Hedo eventually agreed, and proceeded to create a pair of powerful superhero-like Androids called Gamma 1 & Gamma 2. Commander Magenta also commissioned Hedo to make Cell Max, a new Bio-Android based off of the previous Cell who would be far superior to his predecessor.
Attack on the Z-Fighters[]
Key Red Ribbon targets labelled for defeat were Goku and his rival Prince Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo Jr., and Majin Buu. In order to test the strength of the Gammas, Gamma 2 was sent to eliminate the first of their targets: Piccolo. Gamma 2 attacked Piccolo while he was meditating in his home and seemingly vaporized him after a short fight. Magenta, who witnessed the fight unfold via surveillance, was impressed by Gamma 2's performance but nevertheless wanted to know when Cell Max could be activated, leading Hedo to explain that it would be unsafe to released the Bio-Android until a control device could be installed.
Considering Goku and Vegeta were nowhere to be found, Commander Magenta decided that Gohan should be their next target. In order to draw the son of Goku out, Magenta sent a pair of Red Ribbon soldiers to kidnap Gohan's infant daughter Pan. When the soldiers returned with the child, they filmed a hostage video which they showed to Gohan. The son of Goku fell into a rage upon seeing his daughter in peril and immediately travelled to the Red Ribbon Army's base where he proceeded to fight Gamma 1. Before Gamma 2 could intervene in the fight, Piccolo, who had survived the attack, revealed that he had been posing as a Red Ribbon soldier.
Commander Magenta and the rest of the Red Ribbon Army could only stand and watch as the Gammas fought a titanic battle against Gohan and Piccolo. Although Gohan and Gamma 1's fight was fairly evenly matched, Piccolo was able to easily win his fight after unlocking a new power up. Seeing that his new Androids were on the ropes, Magenta decided to activate Cell Max prematurely in the hopes he would be able to crush the Z-Fighters. As Commander Magenta made a break for his transport, Pan tried to stop him, although Carmine intervened and held her off so that the Commander could escape.
As he began releasing Cell Max, Magenta was confronted by Dr. Hedo. Hedo had come to the realization that the Red Ribbon Army were the truly evil ones, rather than the Z-Fighters. Having no intention of being thwarted, Magenta shot Hedo several times and continued the activation sequence. Hedo survived thanks to cybernetic augmentations, and had Hachimaru sting Magenta. Hachimaru's special mechanical sting began to destroy all of Magenta's biological components. As he died, Magenta finished the activation sequence and released Cell Max, although the Bio-Android was destroyed in a climactic battle with the Z-Fighters soon after.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Superhuman Strength: Commander Magenta had himself cybernetically modified so that a large part of his body was comprised of a mechanical exoskeleton that increased his natural physical strength greatly. Although he deemed his augmentations advanced enough to allow him to defeat Dr. Hedo, the work done to his body was nonetheless rudimentary compared to the cybernetics the doctor was able to apply.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Commander Magenta was named after the color magenta, continuing the trend of Red Ribbon Army personnel being named after colors.
- A Fan Theory suggests his mother was Violet (combining colors red and violet results in magenta), though this has yet to be confirmed. The fact he has photos of Red and Violet on his desk supports this theory.
- In the Funimation dub, he has an Italian accent, fitting his Mob Boss appearance.
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 Villains
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