Namekians

Nameks (ナメック星人, Namekku-seijin), also commonly known as Namekians, are a race from Planet Namek. Namek's are the creators of the dragonballs. Nameks are humanoid with slug-like characteristics, including green skin and antennae. Namekians are at full length at the age of eight (not counting demonic and Super Nameks)

History - In the era of the Dragon Ball series, there were just over 100 Nameks alive on their home planet; they had been killed off a generation before, by a great tempest. The only known survivors are Grand Elder Guru, and the nameless Namekian, who was sent to safety on Earth. their home-world Planet Namek, was terrorized by Vegeta, Frieza, his henchmen: Dodoria and Zarbon, as well as host of his other soldiers. The planet was ultimately destroyed by Frieza as a last-ditch effort to kill Goku, in their battle during the Frieza Saga. All of the Nameks were temporarily transported to Earth, where they lived for nearly a year before being resettled on New Namek.

What is known of pre-series Namek history is very limited. Approximately three-hundred years prior to the beginning of the series, the earliest Namekians encountered on Earth (King Piccolo and his sons, though not counting Kami) were evil and destructive and caused chaos throughout the Earth until their eventual narrow defeat at the hands of Master Mutaito and his pupils (including Master Roshi and Master Shen).
Nameks seen during the Kid Buu Saga
BeadtmdcAdded by Beadtmdc

It is also clear that they were a well-known space faring race at some point in the not-too-distant past, as most of the Saiyans who came to Earth immediately recognized Piccolo as a Namek. It is also known that Nameks had a vast knowledge of technology, because the Nameless Namek was spirited away to Earth in a spaceship (with Namek-language voice recognition) prior to the massive climate shift disaster. Also, Lord Slug was an avid space-traveler, and was most likely exiled from Planet Namek prior to the climate shift.

Appearance and Physiology - Nameks are humanoids with slug-like characteristics, including antennae, light green skin, and pink patches appearing throughout their bodies (also, many Namekians are named after words meaning "slug" or "snail"). Elderly Nameks have darker green skin and less prominent pink patches (these appear to become dull-orange as the Namek advances in age), pointy ears, and red rings, in which they have three red conjoined rings on their ankles and wrists, making them look like they have ankle bands and wristbands. Namek's only require water to keep them alive but may eat food if they wish. Namekians appear to have very long lifespans. For example, Grand Elder Guru, the only Namekian known to die of natural causes, was over 500 years old when he died Kami also lived to be around 300 years old before fusing with Piccolo.Namekians can withstand more cold than humans without being cold, as proven when it was revealed that the nameless Namekian spent several years in the cold Yunzabit Heights as a child and when Piccolo stated humans are so delicate after Krillin said he was freezing during the Androids Saga.

Namekians do not have genders and reproduce asexually by spitting out an egg, but they possess physiques similar to those of Human males. The sons are not usually genetic copies of the father like with Piccolo; rather he appears as if the father has some control over what type of child will be formed. This is carried to the extent that they may be mutated and not closely resemble others of the species. King Piccolo was able to spawn demonic Nameks that did not resemble a Namek at all to help him in his quest for eternal youth and complete domination. It appears Nameks are usually close to their children, and though King Piccolo treated his sons as minions he appeared to care for the sons he gave life in his old age (in contrast, he was seemingly unfazed by the deaths of his sons at the hands of Mutaito and his students, as well as Drum after his youth was restored). Nameks are also telepathically linked to their sons and can reach them from seemingly anywhere, as well as sense their deaths (as seen by Guru).

Most Namekians appear to be roughly the size of normal Humans, but King Piccolo, Kami, and Guru are all shown to have a height and size beyond normal humans, this is never explained.

Namekians also appear to be quite capable as warriors, as evidenced by Vegeta and Nappa concluding that it was not surprising that it would be a Namekian that would be capable of killing Raditz, as well as Vegeta specifically stating that one trait among Namekians are their unusually high power levels.

Namekians have the innate ability to not only sense the overall magnitude of someone's power, but also the inherent alignment within that person's heart. This is especially apparent when Tsuno declined Vegeta's request to get a Dragon Ball because he could sense the evil within Vegeta's heart, as well as Dende initially refusing to heal Vegeta because of the evil in Vegeta's heart.

Namek Rank's

Dragon Clan - The Namekian support caste. These Nameks have abilities that pertain to magic, and are the only ones capable of creating / manipulating Dragon Balls. Nameks in this class include Guru, Kami, and Dende.

Warrior's - The combat caste. These are Nameks who are proficient in combat, and their power levels are usually around the 3,000 range. As stated previously, Nail is by far the most powerful warrior-type Namek, with a power level of 42,000. Warrior-type Nameks are unable to use some of the magician-like abilities of members of the Dragon Clan, as shown by how when Piccolo merges with Kami and uses his body as the base, the Dragon Balls lose their power and another Dragon Clan member (Dende) is needed to restore it. The Daizenshuu states that the first batch of three Nameks who fought Frieza's men were warrior-types. The anime states that all combat-capable Nameks (including Nail) were of the same caste and that Nail was far more powerful because he was the best of them.

Abilities - Namekians demonstrate a wide variety of abilities, many of them magical in nature.

Heightened sense of hearing: Namekian sense of hearing is far greater than that of Humans. Emperor Pilaf discourages his servants Mai and Shu from whispering things to him, exclaiming King Piccolo could hear everything (implying he had displayed the ability already). Piccolo told Goku that the large ears were not just to frame his face and that he heard all that Future Trunks told him, indicating that their large outer ear structure gives them heightened hearing. In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, it is stated that very high-pitched sounds like whistling can be irritating to Namekians, to the point of causing them pain, particularly when they are in their Great Namek form (as their eardrums are massive in size). However, removing the ears beforehand can lessen the effects, as demonstrated in the same film by Piccolo ripping out his ears so he won't have to be affected by Gohan's whistling after stating Gohan to whistle to weaken Lord Slug.

Thick skin: Namekians evidently have thick skin capable of shielding them from extreme drops in temperature. After his spaceship lands on Earth in the frigid Yunzabit Heights, the nameless Namekian spends his life alone in the region from youth through adolescence. Polar regions are also a common venue for Piccolo's training, as seen throughout Dragon Ball Z as well as the film The World's Strongest. In the episode "Nightmare Comes True", Piccolo speaks aloud his satisfaction in not being an Earthling, in response to Krillin's complaints that the vicinity of North City is too cold

Regeneration: Nameks are an extremely resilient race and capable of healing themselves and regenerating body parts instantly, as long as their brains are intact. This does not make them completely invulnerable, though, as it takes a large amount of reserve energy to perform and it is possible for a Namek to die with his body more or less intact after a battle.

Stretching arms (Body flexibility): A Namekians body and limbs are also extremely flexible. They can elongate their arms and legs at will. With considerable effort, they are even able to grow many times their size (although Goku claims in the Piccolo Jr. Saga that growing like that does not increase the Namek's power level, and essentially does nothing but make them a bigger target).

Awakening potential: A somewhat mystical ability used by Guru, he was able to raise the power level of individuals by awakening their potential. It is not just a normal power boost; it makes the person as powerful as they possibly could be at that point in time, assuming they already aren't. If the individual is already at their max, and they already meet their potential, the technique will do them no good.

Magic Materialization (Object creation): Namekians can create items like clothing out of thin air. It is likely this ability is what is used for their most potent skill, the creation of Dragon Balls. It was noted in the series that only members of the "Dragon Clan" of Namekians were able to create the Dragon Balls, but it is unclear whether their creation is a learned skill or innate to the species, as Kami created them based on a racial memory of sorts.

Fusion: Nameks have an assimilatory technique where they are able to permanently join themselves with other members of their race. When this is done one of the Namekians serve as the base and gains the skills, memories and many of the personality traits of the other. It is unknown what happens to the soul of the fused Namek, but it is hinted that the other soul simply remain with the body until it perishes, or that, at least, the personality and memories are, to some extent, present within the host being. This is evident when Nail talked to Dende through Piccolo, proving that Nail's knowledge and personality were still present (although this was only in the anime), to an extent, or when, after the fusion of Kami and Piccolo, Piccolo's personality changed somewhat. The Namek fusion will not obtain any caste specific abilities from the other. This is shown when Piccolo, a fighter-type, is unable to restore the Dragon Balls, even though he had fused with Kami, who was a member of the Dragon Clan.

Fission: The reverse of fusing, a single Namek can also split into different copies of himself. One instance of this ability being used was when Kami purged all the evil within himself by casting it off into a separate being, resulting in his evil twin brother King Piccolo. Both Nameks were able to read each others thoughts, and if one died the other would as well. Because of the drawbacks this ability should not be considered a perfect fission as they, in all considerations, are still one being. However, if one half were to die and give life to another Namek, the other half would remain intact. Just before King Piccolo died he spawned his final son Piccolo, and Kami didn't perish, though it should also be noted Piccolo is his own father reborn in the form of a son and very well may have been the only reason Kami lived.

Healing: Dende is shown with the ability to heal other beings of virtually any injury.

Increased lifespan: Guru was several hundreds of years old before he passed on. The Nameless Namek's good and evil counterparts Kami and King Piccolo are the first Nameks to be portrayed in advanced age.

Aging: Namekians possibly age differently than Humans; three years after his birth, Piccolo is physically Goku's age. However, Dende appeared the same age as Gohan when he first appeared, stayed the same age in the five years between the Namek Saga and the Cell Games Saga, only to become a teenager by the time of the Majin Buu Saga.

Telekinesis and Telepathy: Piccolo was able to mentally lift a pyramid in the anime. King Piccolo and Guru communicated with their offspring, despite their locations on Earth and Namek respectively.

Ki manipulation: Namekians are shown to be capable of controlling their ki, as they surprised Frieza and his troops when they raised their power levels after arriving at a village being attacked and the scouters showed that they initially had low power levels.