Staff Officer Black

is an assistant of Commander Red and carries out his orders and informs Red of the current situations with the remaining Red Ribbon Army officers until late in the story where he becomes Commander Black upon killing Red and usurping his position.
He is the secondary, later final antagonist of the Commander Red Saga.
==Appearance==
Staff Officer Black is a tall, dark-skinned man. He is bald, has black eyebrows, and large red lips giving him an appearance similar to blackface, as well as a thin, barely visible moustache. He is seen wearing pinstriped grey slacks, a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with black armbands and the Red Ribbon Army insignia on the sleeves, black dress shoes and a black tie. He also wears a black blazer over his shirt, which has a red ribbon pinned to it.
He was redesigned in The Path to Power, where he is given a slightly lighter skin tone than before (though still dark compared to most of the characters), his prominent lips are absent, he has a full set of hair, and his moustache is made slightly more apparent.
==Personality==
Staff Officer Black is an extremely soft-spoken and quick-witted adjutant, loyal both to Commander Red and the Red Ribbon Army itself. He always obeys Red's orders, from handing him cigars to (in the anime) putting himself into extreme danger to protect Red. Aside from this, he also supplies some advice to Red, as he had deduced and informed Red that Goku most likely had accomplices regarding his ease of finding the Dragon Balls.
Black, however, is not a drone of Red and does have limits on how far he will obey someone, as he refused to serve the commander any longer after knowing of Red's selfish wish to make himself taller and then takes the army into his own hands, with the anime also implying he killed Red partly out of revenge for nearly being killed by Red's trap ceiling in addition to the above discovery of Red's true wish.
If faced in great danger from a different force, Black will attempt to trick his opponent with a civil discussion into forming an alliance, before carrying on with his original plans once their backs are turned.
Black's loyalty to the army also can only go so far as he showed that he, like Red, couldn't care less about his army as he was willing to endanger them as a last resort to eradicate a threat when he fired a high-powered missile at both Goku and the army's base. Similarly, he also made no attempt to petition for General Blue's pardoning and voiced support for his execution in The Path to Power after the latter failed to retrieve one of the seven Dragon Balls. The dub for The Path to Power also implied that even before Red admitted to using the Red Ribbon Army to wish himself to become taller, Black had some treacherous aims against his boss due to him claiming that he had developed the Battle Jacket without even Red's knowledge.
==Biography==
===Dragon Ball===
====Red Ribbon Army Saga====
Throughout Commander Red's mission to acquire all seven Dragon Balls, Black assists him with small things, such as handing Red his cigars or complimenting his intelligence, while getting insulted by Red constantly, mainly when Black stands too close to Red, as Red does not wish to feel like a child due to his height. When Commander Red hires Mercenary Tao to eliminate Goku for interfering with the Red Ribbon Army's plans, Black has doubts about Tao when he first sees him. When Tao kills General Blue, an officer who Black said had not done well for the Red Ribbon Army before, with just his tongue, Black is in shock. When Tao has supposedly killed Goku, he informs Red and Black that he will return with the Dragon Balls in three days. In the meantime, Black continues to assist Red, and they also have a golf match together. After Goku defeats Tao, the assassin hired by Black's Boss, Commander Red, and promises Upa that he will get the Dragon Balls to resurrect his dead father, Goku storms the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters to get the Dragon Balls that Tao had previously stolen from him. Black repeatedly attempts to persuade Commander Red to evacuate the fortress to a much safer and secure location, but Commander Red refuses. Black ends up having to fight Goku by himself but loses outright. Goku actually ends up unwittingly saving Black's life, as the final punch Goku delivered made Staff Officer Black crash through a window. When a trapdoor ceiling fell down on Goku, Staff Officer Black survived, because he was hanging onto the windowsill. Overhearing Commander Red's joyful speech about becoming a taller person, Black was appalled, saying that his mad ambition has cost the Army dearly as shown in Goku's invasion, and may eventually lead to its defeat (in the manga, Red accidentally blurts out his true wish in a state of panic over Goku's impending arrival, and while Black was initially somewhat sympathetic over the revelation, he lost any respect after Red admitted that he'd kill his own army just to get the wish and shot him).
Commander Red replies that it doesn't matter how many soldiers he risks as long as he reaches his goal and makes it clear that he is just an expendable lackey, as is the rest of the Red Ribbon Army. Angered, Black shoots Commander Red between his eyes with his pistol, killing him instantly. Goku survives the falling ceiling and finds Black, who offers him a position in Black's new army - the Black Ribbon Army, which Goku refuses. The two battle again, and Goku is predictably too powerful for him to fight.
Black then enters a super-powered robotic suit called "Battle Jacket", and the tables suddenly turn against Goku. The fight continues outside, and Black in the suit throws Goku onto the ground. He attempts to finish him off with a Full Power Energy Wave, but Goku quickly recovers and proves too nimble and has him attack himself. Black then snaps and fires a rocket to destroy Goku, threatening even his soldiers and staff, but Goku kicks the rocket away. After realizing the boy is too powerful, Black tries to escape from Goku, but the young warrior sufficed and double punched straight through the Battle Jacket, which exploded, with Black trapped in it as the one thing not installed in the Battle Jacket was a parachute.
====Fortuneteller Baba Saga====
Staff Officer Black appears in a flashback when Bulma tells Grandpa Gohan about Goku's feats since they knew about the Dragon Balls.
====Piccolo Jr. Saga====
Staff Officer Black appears in Kami's relate about the wars and conflicts caused by the Dragon Balls.
===Dragon Ball Z===
====Androids Saga====
Staff Officer Black appears in a flashback when Master Roshi told Maron the history of the Red Ribbon Army war and his connection to the actual Android conflict. There are shown scenes of Black along Commander Red during the previous moment when Goku arrives to the headquarters and of his two fights against him, including his death in the explosion of the Battle Jacket.
===Dragon Ball Super===
====Super Hero Saga====
During Krillin & Sergeant Nutz's debriefing on the history of the Red Ribbon Army to the Sunset City Police Department, an image of Staff Officer Black & Commander Red in front of what appears to be the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters can be seen.
===Dragon Ball GT===
====Super 17 Saga====
Red Ribbon Army members, including Black, who appears in Dragon Ball GT are drawn in a style based on their appearance in the original Dragon Ball, not in the "redesigned" forms that appear in the 10th-anniversary special. After Black and several other Red Ribbon Army members are sent back to Hell by Pan, he is seen speaking to General Blue in the Check-In Station. As King Yemma is busy stamping villains back into the dimension, the workload is heavily packed as all the villains are on a long line extending out of Yemma's domain, and General Blue and Staff Officer Black are chatting while in line. Staff Officer Black declares that it did not take long for all of them to be defeated and sent straight back to Hell, referring to everyone in line as "losers". General Blue responds by reminding him that he is also in line with all those losers; all waiting to meet their fate together. Later, Black is seen in Hell approaching Piccolo alongside Blue, Major Metallitron and Nappa.
==Film appearances==
===The Path to Power===
In the film, Black has a similar role as Commander Red's right-hand man. Similar to the series, Black kills his boss by shooting him after discovering the latter's true intentions with the Dragon Balls. He also renamed the organization the Black Ribbon Army and got ready for a battle with Goku in his Battle Jacket. He was ultimately defeated by Goku's Kamehameha after Black destroyed Android 8. It is implied that the revelation that the Red Ribbon Army's motives were false drove Black partially insane, as he ended up immediately attempting to destroy Goku and endangering the base in his attempt to do so.
===Super Hero===
Staff Officer Black makes a cameo appearance in the Red Ribbon Army recap when he battles Goku and is defeated when Goku breaks through his Battle Jacket, killing Black in the explosion.
==Power==
;Manga and anime
Staff Officer Black is proficient with firearms, as seen with his gun usage. Black is also a capable hand-to-hand combatant and possibly the strongest member of the Red Ribbon Army as he tells Goku he will not go down as easily as the others. However, he proves to be no match for Goku. Goku also implies that Black was weaker than Mercenary Tao since he mentioned after the first fight that he wasn't much of a challenge compared to him, although that could also be due to a combination of both his increase in strength from nearly being killed and his training under Korin.
Black fights mainly with the use of a Battle Jacket.
;Statements according to authors and guidebooks
The movie pamphlet for Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might states that Black has a power level of 150.
==Techniques and Special Abilities==
*Double Axe Handle - Used via the Giant Robot in The Path to Power.
==Equipment==
*Gun - Black carries an ordinary handgun.
*Battle Jacket - Black's ultimate weapon, a powerful mech suit.
**Hikou – The Battle Jacket is able to fly with rockets.
**Blaster – Energy beams can be fired from the Battle Jacket's right arm.
**Full Power Energy Wave – An energy wave can be fired from the Battle Jacket's left arm's palm.
**Rocket Launcher – There is a huge and powerful rocket launcher inside the back cavity of the Battle Jacket.
*Jetpack - In Dokkan Battle, Staff Officer Black uses a jetpack to fly.
*Giant Robot - A more powerful variant of the Battle Jacket used in The Path to Power.
**Hikou - The ability to fly by using wings or special mechanisms.
**Rocket Storm – Hundreds of small rockets fired from the chest in a machine gun-esque fashion (slightly similar to Super 17's Hell's Storm). Used by the Giant Robot variant in The Path to Power.
**Laser Blast – The Battle Jacket's ultimate beam weapon fired from the chest. It is used by the Giant Robot variant in The Path to Power, as well as the original version in Dragon Ball: Origins 2.
**Crushing in Hands – A physical technique which consists of crushing the opponent's bones. Used by the Giant Robot variant to destroy Android 8 in The Path to Power.
==Manga Appearances==
==Video Game Appearances==
Staff Officer Black is a boss in Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen. He is a boss in his Battle Jacket in Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden and Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen. Staff Officer Black is both a boss and playable character using the Battle Jacket in Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure. Using the Battle Jacket, he is also the last boss of the Red Ribbon Army Saga in Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo and in Dragon Ball: Origins 2.
Staff Officer Black appears in cutscenes in Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu, in the opening cinematic of Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, and he is seen with other members of the Red Ribbon Army in the background of the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters battle stage in Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle.
In Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, Staff Officer Black appears as a playable character and fights without his Battle Jacket. Like Red Ribbon Soldier and Murasaki, he uses a Jetpack to fly.
==Voice Actors==
*Japanese: Masaharu Satō
*English:
**Funimation dub: Christopher R. Sabat (DB, The Path to Power, DBGT), Phillip Wilburn (DBZ Episode 128 [113 Edited] flashback)
**Blue Water dub: Jonathan Love (DB), Chris Gerritsen (DBGT)
**Ocean Group dubs: Brian Dobson (DBZ Episode 128 [113 Edited] flashback)
*Spanish:
**Castilian Spanish dub: Mauro Rivera (DB), Jorge García Tomé (The Path to Power), Javier Merchante (DBGT ep. 42), Alberto Hidalgo (DBGT ep. 45)
**Latin American Spanish dub: Ricardo Brust (DB first dub), José Luis Castañeda (DB redub 1st voice, The Path to Power), Salvador Delgado (DB redub 2nd voice), Héctor Moreno (DBGT)
*Portuguese:
**European Portuguese dub: Ricardo Spínola
**Brazilian Portuguese dub: Nestor Chiesse (DB; DPN dub, DBGT), Sérgio Moreno (DB; Álamo redub), Wellington Lima (The Path to Power)
*Greek dub: Manos Venieris (DB), Dimitris Antoniou (The Path to Power), Panagiotis Tsitsas (DBGT)
==Battles==
;Dragon Ball
*Staff Officer Black vs. Goku
*Staff Officer Black (Battle Jacket) vs. Goku
;Dragon Ball GT
*Staff Officer Black (Battle Jacket), Major Metallitron, General Blue and Captain Yellow vs. Pan
;Films
*Staff Officer Black (Battle Jacket) vs. Goku
*Staff Officer Black (Battle Jacket) vs. Android 8
*Staff Officer Black (Battle Jacket) vs. Goku
==List of Characters Killed by Staff Officer Black==
;Dragon Ball
*Commander Red - Killed by being shot.
;Films
*Commander Red - Killed by being shot.
*Android 8 - Destroyed by Black's Battle Jacket.
==Trivia==
*In Dragon Ball Z, the baseball player Pepper Johnson resembles Staff Officer Black, except he has more hair﻿. In the Imperfect Cell Saga, a member of the Battle Ball Team is seen, who looks like Staff Officer Black as well. During the Great Saiyaman Saga, a man who closely resembles Black is seen working as a producer of some sort for a Great Saiyaman Film in "I'll Fight Too!", along with a director who closely resembles Commander Red without the eyepatch.
*In the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball GT, Black claims he was not killed by a girl saying, "at least I didn't get beaten by a girl." However, he was in fact seen in his robot suit when it is destroyed by Pan. In the original, he says that he would be good (in the Polish dub he says that he would grow a cactus, keep in mind that the translation was based on the Japanese version, albeit rather badly; in the Japanese version, Blue states that he thinks he'll get into Heaven. In response, Black sarcastically claims that if Blue gets into Heaven, then Black will become God)
**Similarly, in the dub for The End of Commander Red, Commander Red when complaining to Black about how badly the soldiers were doing against Goku despite their training alludes to the latter having a sister.
==Gallery==
==References==
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