The Story of the Red Ribbon Army Explained

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

Long ago, the Red Ribbon Army was the strongest military force in the world. Then, everything changed when Son Goku attacked.

[@pokemonwilliams2176]

Surprisingly, this meme sums up the red ribbon army in a nutshell lmao

[@mynamewastaken06]

It all began as most stories do...with a little girl shooting a boy in the face.

[@bigd1348]

@@mynamewastaken06 thanks for the laugh 😂

[@nia1waifu107]

The Red Ribbon Army easily Dragon Ball’s most underrated antagonist hopefully we see them again in the form of The Brown Squadron, General Copper or The Red Pants Army!!!😆😆😆👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏😇😇😇

[@zev2x762]

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@alcatrazvongola]

The Red Ribbon Army are such underappreciated villains. This was a fun arc in DB.

[@joelgittens6857]

And that theme they had omg it kinda gave me Nazi vibes the first time I watched it. I've really been thinking about a re-write for Dragon ball all the way up to Z making movie plots and characters canon too, it would have been 100 times more epic.

[@GrahamLopezIV]

@@joelgittens6857 What ideas did you have?

[@joelgittens6857]

@@GrahamLopezIV More in depth backstory of characters like Yamcha, Tien, And Krillin Master Roshi and his rival Shen too. Making the RRA a serious threat like Commander reds goal wouldn't be to simply wish for 5 extra centimeters or something goofy like that. More build up to the Piccolo arc which Master Shen will play a pivotal role in. Also making the Ox King, Chi Chi, Launch and Mai ( Emperor pilafs cronie) meaningful characters. I even planned on making Krillin something of a jinchuriki by using the mafuba to seal an ancient turtle guardian creature in him.

[@grandcanyon-d4d]

More like the red army, look at their outfits. ​@@joelgittens6857

[@Victory-in-YAHUSHA]

To this day, the smartest tactic that Goku ever used to defeat an opponent was to punch through a concrete wall to allow in extremely cold weather to freeze Buyon.

[@yuiillest5731]

Mhm

[@Eminster]

What about the ki mines in the top against Jiren?

[@Victory-in-YAHUSHA]

@@Eminster A good strategy but it wasn't the unthinkable. It is the kind of tactic Krillin would have devised.

[@animefan77]

To think all the calamity of a future turned into a hellhole, an alternate multiverse wiped out, and two iterations of bug-men almost wiped out the planet- was due to a man who couldn’t stand being short.

[@adambraun1990]

If you combine Red and Violet, you get Magenta. So I think the photos on his desk, plus his name sake pretty much is a subtle way of telling us that yes both Red and Violet are Magentas parents.

[@drswag0076]

if that is the case then one of two ways this can happen. either Magenta was already born and Violet went on to raise him or she was already pregnant with him and after everything she carried him to full term and when he learns who is father was and what happened, he swore revenge. either way, Violet robbing the vault was probably due to either Magenta already a part of her life or she found out she was with child and wanted the baby to have a good life. all while Red didn't know that he was going to be a father or he did but kept it to himself or Violet never told him.

[@onojioboardwalk9748]

18:20 .. Theres nothing ''Socially-Conscious'' about how you, And alot of these other people live, geekdoof. Its a joke the things you've done. +

[@sludgy4468]

I honestly think that Officer Black is my favorite member of the army. He was just so cool. And I always loved that short fight with Goku he had. That high kick is peak awesome.

[@joelgittens6857]

For me it was definitely Colonel Silver.

[@Railhog2102]

Captain Yellow and as a history buff he is based upon the Flying Tigers a real WW2 air force unit that fought in the Pacific War in 1941-1942, I used to work at a aviation hall and there was relics on display used by them.

[@Gabi-eb6cc]

Geekdom never disappoints with his Dragon Ball in depth videos.

[@bramderacourt9499]

For real General Blue and Mercenary Tao were such a wake- up call back then. I don't think I seriously had the impression Goku could be killed before then, let alone by most of the Red Ribbon stooges.

[@BBBHuey]

Officer Black is also somewhat inspired by the now controversial children's tale "Little Black Sambo", a story about a young boy escaping four tigers from devouring him by giving each of them a piece of his clothing with a specific color. He gets them back after the tigers fight about which color is better and chase eachother around so fast that they become butter. I never really saw Black himself as controversial. As far as how the Red Ribbon Army was mostly portrayed, he was the most serious and intelligent of the lot. I always wish he was more featured in fighting games.

[@LittleAl016]

I imagine some of the controversy comes from the blackface caricature. Which is considered as a racially offensive way to depict black people.

[@BBBHuey]

@@LittleAl016 Personally, I'd argue that it would've been far more offensive if Black acted like a submissive clown rather than having a racially offensive face.

[@oneeyedgrayfox5887]

Its a trash and lazy depiction on toriyamas behalf. He's done this depiction with Mr. Popo too. He's trash, no other ethnic group in dbz is depicted in a offensive way. Safe to say He's a bigot in my opinion. Like Dbz but it's creator is trash. Zero excuse. He doesn't do this to Caucasians, native Americans, etc. Don't make excuses cause you like the content. Toriyama is trash.

[@Railhog2102]

@LittleAl016 It's just an artstyle and I don't find it offensive at all and I think he's a good character actually

[@LoopyLemon775]

The donut lip thing is what people specifically black people have an issue with, It’s like drawing all of my asian characters with buck teeth or extremely slant eyes to the point it looks closed. People love his as a character but his appearance (and majority of black characters we see in dragon ball) is problematic. Nowadays they don’t do the donut lip thing and actually make them look less ridiculous

[@mechajay3358]

I always had an appreciation of the Red Ribbon Army Arc for expanding the world of Dragon Ball. It's was near seeing Goku and the gang going up against a group for the dragon balls that actually prove to be a threat.

[@nia1waifu107]

I Love The Red Ribbon Army Arc & The Red Ribbon Army as villains super underrated & wish we get more of them definitely would love to see a story where The Brown Squadron or General Copper are villains

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

Fun fact: Cell is technically apart of the Red Ribbon Army.

[@hoarsewhisperer8789]

I would argue that Cell is technically a free agent created and unleashed by the Red Ribbon Army. It's hard to know what his relationship with Androids 19 and 20 would have been had they survived until his arrival.

[@mechajay3358]

@@hoarsewhisperer8789 I mean he told Trunks once he gain his Perfect Form that he wasn't really all that interested in going along with Dr Gero's plans and wanted to do his own thing.

[@jiaminalbrecht4154]

I have a question for you if commander red was the leader of the army why in z did they say doctor jaro was the leader even though we never saw him in Dragonball

[@Monatio79]

@@jiaminalbrecht4154 No, they didn't. It has always been stated that Dr. Gero was the Red Ribbon Army's lead scientist.

[@Victory-in-YAHUSHA]

@@jiaminalbrecht4154 Perhaps you were misinformed by the english dub.

[@waylonsmythers7714]

This is probably one of your most interesting videos you've done on your channel, in my opinion. Keep up the great work man.

[@Monatio79]

Great video on the RR Army. Fun fact, there is an Easter egg in one of Dragon Ball Z's Great Saiyaman filler episodes where Gohan meets a movie director and his producer. They bear an uncanny resemblance to Commander Red and Staff Officer Black.

[@user-nm1lx8qb3u]

Red ribbon propaganda?

[@NateBullock-ow6on]

Yes sir I remember that

[@kojoydesu4107]

And the Greatest Creation of Red Ribbon army, the Hommunculus that can destroy Galaxy. PERFECT CELL

[@winterburden]

Cool history Big D. Fun running into you in Pam's livestream the other day, cheers to having excellent taste in gaming creators

[@Winterwolf249]

1. I'm fairly sure you get the color magenta by combining the colors red and violet so I'm going to assume Magenta's parents are Red and Violet. She probably dumped him because he was too short or maybe she got with him in order to figure out the secret location of the treasure or just to get a chance to be close to it. 2. Even though you only talk about Dragonball on this channel, this is the second time you taught me something about One Piece. I didn't know the word "okama" was a slur. I honestly never really bothered to look it up but I assumed through context. I just never thought it was a slur. I feel a little disgusted and guilty now, although I've never used that word other than to reference Ivankov's group. 3. As always, great job on the content, man.

[@lrkcm373]

In the Super Hero movie, there’s a little Easter egg during the beginning RR scene. On Magenta’s desk there’s a small framed picture of Violet, implying that she’s his mom.

[@Winterwolf249]

@@lrkcm373 Yeah, that's the part I was referring to. He actually showed that scene in the video.

[@lrkcm373]

@@Winterwolf249 I should really watch the video before going through the comments lol

[@radiantnakashima]

Really cool as a massive DB and 007 fan to find out how inspired Toriyama was by the Bond films

[@C_long]

You always do an amazing job on all of your videos super informative and gives amazing insight into things even longtime dragon ball fans haven't heard or realized thank you geekdom for providing such amazing dragon ball content

[@derrickbentonphotography]

It’s amazing how the red ribbon army kept up with the power of demigods lol

[@charliekelly1435]

Great video man! This was an interesting topic too, I’m super excited for the android video. As someone who’s been a fan since DBZ started on toonami in the late 90s I’ve always been fascinated by the androids, so can’t wait to hear what you have to say! Keep up the great work!👍

[@LiquidusSnakeX]

I am surprised you did not point out that the major metalatron "ALIEN" is an easter egg from the movie ALIENS. Every word is taken from that movie. So it really has nothing to do with Goku being a saiyan.

[@javlopez1889]

You forgot the real controversy: Red’s Irish accent haha I remember seeing the English dub of Dragon Ball on the blue bricks, and Red was speaking Irish, but part way through he lost it. Can’t wait for more DB in Depth! Hope you do in Depth on DBZ Kai The Final Chapters!!

[@KingKidGoku32794]

I didn't too much like this arc when I first saw it but when I watched it for a second time I enjoyed it especially when Mercenary Tao showed up

[@jeremysmith5579]

Commander Black was modeled after the actor Bill Duke from Predator, seeing characters who look like Commander Black does make ppl who ARENT black think it’s racist when it’s not cause truthfully speaking you have BILLIONS of black men who look like commander Black like my grandfather for example

[@LoopyLemon775]

So your grandfather has massive donut like lips like the old 1950s Jim Crow caricature of a black person? Come on bruv, This made a lot of black people upset for obvious reasons

[@peachydls341]

By far your best in depth video. Thanks geek

[@AndreSoto-q5v]

Arcs like these make me wish fictional things like these actually existed, even something as grounded like this

[@edjerle]

My favorite concept in all of Dragonball! Especially the Trunks/Android saga!

[@Farza2005]

Happy that dbs super hero showed more of the red ribbon army

[@chanceneck8072]

Damn, this was a remarkably well researched and put together video. 😳👍

[@redly836]

What a great video. I sure cant wait for the androids explained.

[@drswag0076]

Japan views the color purple as a indication of evil which fits Murasaki's role as a villain quite well. purple was originally viewed as a sign of royalty and political power in a time of kings and emperors which would make the color synonymous with political corruption and tyranny as most monarchs in history such as Caligula of Rome, John Lackland of England and Ivan the Terrible of Russia were depraved and bloodthirsty rulers. later on, purple would also be a indication in media as a representation of corruption, one key example is of course the malice in Legend of Zelda specifically, Breath of The Wild. and on a related side note, purple is a the color of video game enemies with a poison theme.

[@jarrodreaves243]

Love it back when we wasn't scared to offend people back when the country had a pair

[@LoopyLemon775]

When has the country ever had a pair? People got offended at the dumbest things back then as well? Mfs were getting mad people looked and acted different from them 🤣

[@nopenaw9835]

What country? Japan or America?

[@KCruzer]

3 questions 1. Do you think the Red Ribbon Army could return in some way shape or form again? 2. Do you think Universe 6 has their own type of Red Ribbon Army? 3. And if so, do you think they are still evil or reformed?

[@bigd1348]

I haven't seen the movie but didn't the Red ribbon army already come back in the new movie

[@save_zawarudo]

earth from universe 6 was destroyed by the humans of their universe so im pretty sure a version of the red ribbon army did that somehow

[@save_zawarudo]

@@bigd1348 yeah they are in the new movie but just the son of general red,some soldiers and hedo,i wish they added more special soldiers or something

[@NukeA6]

I'm willing to bet that Mr. Satan was the hero of U6 Earth (not just in the Xenoverse) and his forces waged war against the Red Ribbon Army which ended in the destruction all of Earth. Or at least, that's my head-canon. That's actually one of the things I'd like to see in future Dragon Ball productions even if it's one-shot manga or told in a flashback.

[@themachine1679]

@@save_zawarudo well beerus wished for universe 6 to have their own earth back

[@jankjason]

Something about Commander Red reminds me of Jerry Stiller

[@HightopRob]

I think that Commander Black was modeled after actor and director Bill Duke he is dark skinned tall and imposing

[@WYKJ773]

Cool ass concept by Akria T. It be cool to see the last generals as androids brought back in super, but having an arc where 17 & 18 fight them bc they turned good, to give more side characters story arcs instead of the main ones....

[@TheRabbitRonin]

22:20 made me think of Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies.

[@That_Son_Ofa_Itch]

I don’t remember when it was said. But I remember it being through an official interview. That the R.R army used to be a humanitarian organization before the one world Govt of Db. Back when Roshi was young there was war between the different factions of humanity which then all came together. The R.R supposedly being a parody of the Red Cross. Commander reds father was a head chief of the organization who started laundering and selling the medical supplies/Funding for the organizations relief efforts. Does anyone else remember reading this somewhere also? Or am I like stroking out lol

[@marvelboi3416]

Specter Blofeld also inspired Mike Myers legendary Austin Power movie villain Dr Evil as well.

[@tyrannotherium7873]

22:28 This guy reminds me of doctor evil From Austin powers

[@save_zawarudo]

i personally think the red ribbon army is going to be re done in the future anime version because in the super hero movie they where wasted and basically destroyed in the same arc,they have more potential like cell max actually being a real cell and not just bio broly 2.0

[@aaronrowell6943]

Considering they have an awesome theme song, a great gimmick, and seem incredibly powerful on their own they almost come out of a different show with how serious they seem to be at first actually killing civilians and being cutthroat. It's funny though like you said that really they're comedic in the sense of early dragon Ball where they are certainly a joke to Goku who just plows through them like it's nothing, which shows how dangerous Goku is he's not even taking them seriously but also how again if it was a different story they would be a huge threat. However, because Goku is basically invincible to them the Red ribbon army is dismantled single-handedly by Goku. But man that iconic double r red ribbon it's so awesome I'm so glad that toriyama decided to use it again for the Android saga

[@madisonhall6140]

Loved the video! It was very informative and the structure was perfect in my opinion. Looking forward to part 2!

[@Shoup1155]

cant wait 4 part3...................................................................................................

[@227060]

Whilst Wakanda was for sure an influence, the RPC's volcano base in Super Hero was probably also a reference to SPECTRE's base in You Only Live Twice

[@daytonchris8351]

i always wondered about why general black and major metalitron got new designs in the path to power. i thought general black did because of the controversy, but now i doubt it because metalitron has the same skin tone and features that general black did in the anime. i also didn't know about that blob dude being based on the blob. lol before i knew what canon and noncanon was, as a kid i thought mystical adventure kind of explained why chioatzu always looked like a kid and why he had powers. i thought it was because he was a prince and his family had powers and that explained it. lol

[@kevinliu2898]

Even after Goku turned Super Saiyan and defeated Frieza for the first time, I know Goku got really sick but that was horrifying when Goku had nightmares about the androids when he was sleeping.

[@Rikoyasha15]

Violet was one of the few surviors, perhaps they were in a relationship or they had a thing right before the fall and didn't start showing signs of pregnancy till after the collapse

[@kelvinhow1965]

They also made come back in new dragon ball movie call Dragon ball super super heroes

[@TokenDrew]

As a black man I don't find Black offensive.

[@Voodoo6592]

Me either plus that man took out red and became the leader of the red ribbon army...shot red right between his eyes

[@Railhog2102]

Same I don't care about how Officer Black is depicted it looks awesome

[@LoopyLemon775]

Good for you.

[@sayheyguy]

I loved in the filler ep in the leadup to the Cell Games when Gen Tao ran into Goku, freaked out and used a tree to fly away

[@chaseduke5322]

Awesome work Geekdom! I really appreciate these DB History videos.

[@ponynerd6278]

im so happy u included the master thief

[@MrWrightWay]

BANGER!! Great job and I have to get that book.

[@Virgil200]

At a bar with a beer in my hand, watching a Geekdom video. We chillin

[@TheGreatDevlin]

Thank you for this. Not enough discussion of classic DB.

[@mistersmith910]

18:53 - look into the the actual statistics & fist hand accounts on this subject matter. It might be hard to find on mainstream websites...for reasons, but the data is out there for sure.

[@David-lq6de]

Kid goku shows no mercy

[@angriinomad3527]

Danny, purple and red make magenta. Not sure if this was something you didn’t think about but it answers why Red and Violet ate on Magenta’s desk

[@redwoodninja]

I think it wouldve been better if you included Mercenary Tao in this video though.

[@fwright76]

The Mega Man theory I don’t think holds up, because Mega Man didn’t come out until 1987 I believe, and Dragon Ball was released (in Japan) in 1986.

[@ravenfighter9157]

This is gonna be good!

[@mellydmoney]

I been waiting on this bro ✊🏾 let’s gooooooo dragon ball in depth 🤟🏾

[@black.sasuke.uchiha]

15:17 uh oh, I know where this is going. As soon as I saw a panoramic view of that getup, it only took me 9 milliseconds😅.

[@reelthought3867]

Something great to watch while riding out Hurricane Ian.

[@marcellowheeler88]

That Ninja Kurosaki fight might be the funniest one in all of DB.

[@damightybenstein]

17:08 Isn't that the company that released the GameSphere back in 2001?

[@TheoneStanband]

Wish the best of luck with what's going on over in Florida right now

[@AtomicPrimate]

magenta is a colour that is usually obtained by the combination of red & violet, so yeah, those 2 are probably magenta parents just because of that joke name.

[@johannschwarz5293]

Colonel Silver and Colonel Violet survived and escaped. Hasky was arrested by the cops of the Western Capital City. The rest were killed or defeated by Goku.

[@BBBHuey]

In the anime, Silver was assumed to be shot by Red's men off-screen after his failure.

[@specialnewb9821]

I admit, I was really disappinted the new movie didn't have a giant fight between mechs and the Dragon team.

[@BBBHuey]

I had high hopes that Magenta would partake in the final fight using a Battle Jacket.

[@PeterConnor-gh1qy]

They need to add Staff Officer Black to Sparking Zero.

[@KGBeast.]

Bro discusses Dragon Ball like its the bible 😂 😂

[@cosmickeyboard9811]

I would love a galactic or android army of the red ribbon army back in the next series

[@Aavarius]

That was really well done. Thanks, D!

[@DRACOFURY]

18:10 Everyone Gets Worked Up Over The Everything *But Hey I Get It* Jus Look How They Drew Us And Indian Folks

[@Typicalmarksman8958]

Cell: Did I seriously just get replaced

[@Mob78]

let's never see the red ribbon army again

[@Jaymariota27]

Could Seal Team Six take on the Red Ribbon Army?

[@hardcorehunter7162]

"maybe toriyama borrowed elements" No I can guarantee you he didn't remember. He didn't remember super saiyan 2 and was going to call 3 that. Oda from one piece said and described tao pai pai, and Toriyama had no idea that was one of his own characters. He became very forgetful after hitting his head which ultimately led to the hematoma at the end of his life.

[@JTLDrago94]

My curiosity What if the Red Ribbon Army join the Frieza Forces they same end gold to destroy Goku.

[@nok4799]

General blue is the best rr soldier imo, he's goofy but strong

[@KaoticReach1999]

As much as it's mentioned in the video that GB was "controversial" Has anyone ever been offended by General Blue? The video seems to be trying to rewrite history for the "modern" professionally offended Noone was offended about General black etc that I could find either

[@notsomoody5338]

That FF7 reference ❤️

[@TheMVPThanatos]

Such a great video keep it up.

[@QuinnClips247]

This was a cool, fun video.

[@angelchayne]

Love these vids

[@mostcreativename1]

I'm surprised there was no mention of King Gurumes after mentioning Bouyan

[@NateBullock-ow6on]

General black was my favorite villain he looks like Samuel l Jackson

[@R3C0RDBREAK3R]

22:11 How did you miss the Austin Powers reference when it come to Dr. EVIL?

[@reidlindsey4838]

Ah yes a banger as always.

[@birdfanboi]

I believe Toriyama borrowing from Rock Man's (Mega Man) color scheme is not an accurate assessment cause the game didn't come out yet (late 1987) as Toriyama was writing the Red Ribbon Arc 1985/86

[@Sweet.Willey]

I could be wrong, but I think Rockman debuted a year or two after the red ribbon army did in the manga

[@billydblaze777]

hey Geekdom101 love the video on The Red Ribbon Army. this group villain doesn't get much love from fan beside the in android saga. and in the new dbsh movie

[@Solongsocialmedia]

The red ribbon army was the eggman empire of dragon ball. However after goku destroyed the red Ribbon army, His past would come back to haunt him. **looks 19 and 20**

[@Muffinpurplegurk]

I absolutely adore the RRA

[@ortiz11039]

This video made me remember of nappa slaughtering the army 🪖

[@AnonymousEnigma19]

Dude you're only half right that character from fusion reborn is half Adolf Hitler but given his size he's also part Napoleon Bonaparte.

[@BBBHuey]

Still amazes me they never went with Commander Red in that movie.

[@Railhog2102]

The Red Ribbon Army actually has more history and historical influence than that one spoof

[@Voodoo6592]

Red Ribbon Blood Gang .....Suwoo 👌🏿