Kobi

Kobi  ( コビ, Kōbi)   was a Saiyan born on Planet Sadla shortly before its destruction. Due to his transformation into a Super Saiyan, he has since become a significant figure in Saiyan folklore, and is considered one of the most powerful warriors in the history of Universe 7's North Quadrant by the  North King Kai.

Overview
Just as the widespread legend of the Super Saiyan implies, Kobi was born roughly one thousand years before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and, by extension, around one thousand years before the emergence of the first Super Saiyan to succeed him. Conflicting reports about his identity, the circumstances of his ascension, and the history of Planet Sadla have all contributed to Kobi's virtual historic anonymity, something that eventually brought both his existence and the existence of the Super Saiyan transformation itself into question until Son Gokū rediscovered the form in 762 Age.

By this point, however, Kobi himself had become a distant memory to most of Universe 7's inhabitants, something exacerbated by how scarce information about his identity was to begin with. The only people left who know of his existence and his importance are those tasked with watching over the North Quadrant of Universe 7, namely people like Zuno, King Yemma, and the North King Kai. Despite his lack of presence in recorded history, Kobi's actions prior to his death had a significant impact on the events that followed it, with his greatest historic contribution being introducing a number of species and cultures to the concept of a Super Saiyan, both directly and indirectly. Those most heavily shaken by his transformation were the rest of his Saiyan kin and the members of the early Planet Trade Organization, though Kobi's influence did reach a handful of other groups beyond them. The Namekians, for example, despite having little to no recorded interactions with the Saiyans, know of the lengendary "Super Saiyan" and his supposed power.

Most who knew Kobi directly were killed in the events leading to Planet Sadla's destruction, which further contributed to Kobi's lack of any historic presence. The only living people to have interacted with him are a select few residents of the Demon Realm, and by the time he ended up there, even the North Kai was under the assumption that Kobi was already dead.

Appearance
Though Kobi is a Saiyan, he has quite a thin figure when compared to most of his kin, due in large part to the muscular dystrophy he developed shortly after his birth. The stunted muscle growth has made him far more slim and physically fragile than many other members of his species, though he is still incredibly well-built compared to a typical non Saiyan warrior. Though this condition was eventually cured some time after Kobi's arrival in the Demon Realm, his muscle mass did not increase by much.

In his base form, Kobi has the same black hair and pupils as the rest of his species, and thanks to his Saiyan genes, shows little to no signs of age even when nearing his thirties. Initially after transforming into a Super Saiyan, Kobi's hair and tail become a bright blonde while his eyes become teal, though his eventual mastery of the transformation caused its appearance to shift subtly over time. His hair and tail now shine a bright white and his eyes become crimson instead of teal. Additionally, Kobi's total control over Super Saiyan has made maintaining it effectively second-nature, meaning that this white-haired state is what most people will encounter him in.

Kobi's attire consists of a thin-layered martial arts robe laid over a fishnet armor mesh, tied together by a belt of white cloth at the waist. Additionally, he wears short black boots with white soles and two black Potara Earrings, one on each ear, clearly displaying his ties with the Makaioshin to those who recognize the earrings' color scheme.

Personality
Kobi is often very quiet and stoic, and rarely finds an opportunity to speak that he deems worth taking. When he does speak, he is typically deliberate and straightforward, and only says as much as he feels he needs to in any given situation. This also holds true when he is in the company of friends, family, and allies — even his fianceé has noted that she struggles to get him to say more than a few words at a time. Despite his silent nature, Kobi is very expressive, and typically vividly communicates his feelings to whoever he is interacting with through his facial expressions alone. On the surface, he is incredibly easy to read, though this is something he is self-aware of and that he has never made any effort to change. As he has little interest in talking, many people have noted that, on occasion, Kobi has a tendency to speak with a thin layer of irony and sarcasm, though before his transformation into a Super Saiyan, he always did so in a friendly manner, and never at the expense of anyone else.

On that note, it is worth keeping in mind that Kobi has two similar yet clearly distinct personalities as a result of his ability to transform into a Super Saiyan. Before his transformation, Kobi was incredibly humble and displayed few signs of confidence, and this is where his silent tendencies initially stemmed from. Even during his early childhood, he had numerous, very apparent insecurities rooted in various aspects of his life, such as the weakness caused by his muscular dystrophy and his lack of a father, (this in particular worried Kobi, as his mother never mentioned his father unless she was asked about him. Her responses were usually cryptic, but seemed to imply that his father had cut ties with her shortly after Kobi's birth, something he felt responsible for and that he was afraid his mother held against him) and he made a habit of keeping things of this nature to himself at his own expense. As a matter of fact, these insecurities, combined with the titanic amount of respect Kobi had for his mother kept him from openly speaking to her altogether, simply out of fear that he may annoy her. His hesitance to speak persisted throughout his childhood, even despite his mother's eventual, frequent insistence that she loved her son with all of her heart. Though these particular worries of his eventually faded, Kobi retained his humbility as he grew into adolescence, due in large part to the lack of any social interaction in his early life. Though he discovered that he was well-liked by many of his peers, he rarely spoke unless spoken to and quickly established this when interacting with anyone. The frequent and bold body language he'd developed also remained a core aspect of how he communicated with others. Although by this point in his life he was more than capable of concealing his thoughts and emotions, he frequently chose not to in order to avoid the need to speak. His silent nature had been effectively solidified by the time he'd aged into his late teens, and was even made more prominent by the cynicism he'd developed by this point in his life. The naiveté and optimism he had as a child were quickly eroded by the harsh circumstances of the war Planet Sadla had been absorbed into, and Kobi eventually developed the sarcastic tendencies he displayed and dry sense of humor in an effort to cope with the bleak scenarios he often found himself dealing with.

Despite all of this, Kobi never allowed the negativity he faced to detract from his personality. He rarely, if ever, took out his frustration on others, and typically remained calm in any and all situations he found himself in. Although a handful of Kobi's peers interpreted his silence as cold, distant, and even hostile at worst, he never intended his introverted nature to be seen this way. If anything, Kobi's silence was a gesture of his respect for those around him, as he didn't want to waste anyone's time with pointless small talk since he never thought he was particularly good at it anyway. Even his occasional sarcastic quips were always intended to be harmless, no matter the circumstances or the target of the sarcasm. Kobi never needlessly disrespected or insulted anyone out of spite, arrogance, or frustration, regardless of whether they were a friend, an ally, or an enemy, and usually only verbally retaliated to callousness or contempt if it was directed at his  fianceé and his mother. Though he was by no means selfless or saint-like, Kobi was, at his core, compassionate and empathetic, and typically took any opportunities to help someone in need when they were presented to him. He rarely, if at all, did anything to compromise his morals and beliefs, though this is due in large part to the immense, innate pride he is inevitably afflcted with as a Saiyan. He refused to use any tactics he viewed as cheap or unfair in battle or conflict, and consistently made a concentrated effort to spare the lives of any of his enemies during the Planet Sadla war. And while the culture of Planet Sadla was nowhere near as barbaric or brutish as that of Planet Vegeta, many of Kobi's peers criticized his merciful, soft approach to combat, though this is criticism he tended to disregard completely. Though Kobi's stubborn, uncompromising desire to uphold his own beliefs is a good thing in many ways, it has obviously shown itself to be a double-edged sword on numerous occasions. Kobi has disobeyed a handful of crucial orders simply on principle, and while this has ended well on a couple of occasions, many of these instances led to numerous setbacks for Planet Sadla and one nearly cost the planet the war. Kobi has nearly gotten himself killed many times due to his constant refusal to even briefly set his own beliefs aside, though he has never consciously placed any of his comrades in danger for the sake of keeping his morals intact.

Kobi is extraordinarily intelligent, something that nearly all who know him have claimed unanimously. Even as a child, he was sharper, more keen, and more perceptive than his mother and most of his seniors, and while his quiet nature kept him from displaying this very often, in any rare occasions where he did have the courage to speak up, most who saw the extent of his insight and anayltical skills were left dumbfounded. By the time he was nearing adulthood, any of his close friends considered him a once-in-a-lifetime genius, and even the North King Kai claims that listening to Kobi speak made him feel comparitively stupid. In combat, his intelligence makes him incredibly difficult to fight against, especially for anyone without readily available intelligence on him. The dossiers left by the early Planet Trade Organization describe Kobi's talent for tactics as "enough to outsmart a platoon of troops trained specifically to defeat him," and further explain "Kobi can and will find any weaknesses in the way any opponent fights, and will go to any lengths necessary to find at least one. From there he will search for more, which he will find without a doubt, until he has compiled a laundry list of ways to defeat his enemy that he will thereafter employ rapidfire until the target has been so utterly overwhelmed that they have no conceivable way of producing a counterattack. This can take him anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, and no matter how long it takes, rest assured he has the patience and the smarts to pinpoint his enemies' most critical flaws. And if he can't find any weaknesses, he will create one. If he can't create one, he will overwhelm you with brute force. And if he can't overwhelm you with brute force, rest assured he will find another way to outsmart you. If you encounter him alone, you are forbidden from engaging him until you have been provided with backup. Even then, caution is strongly advised when approaching this target."

As a Super Saiyan, Kobi retains all of the traits listed above, but each aspect of his personality now has a completely different context. As a whole, he is far more bold and aggressive after transforming, but the frame of his personality remains the same. His silence now comes off as hostile, as though his refusal to speak is out of anger or spite. He begins to openly direct his sarcasm at his enemies, but only makes quips on occasion as he would before his transformation. Kobi's blunt responses seem colder and more sharp, and his stubborn unwillingness to compromise his morality evolves into a sense of duty to punish those he feels are evil, as made evident by his tireless pursuit of any major figures involved in starting the war Sadla was involved in, all of whom he eventually either killed or left unable to fight. This personality is strikingly similar to the one displayed by Goku after he first became a Super Saiyan during the battle on Namek, something even noted by the North King Kai when he recounts the tale of the Super Saiyan to Goku. Like Goku, Kobi also becomes far more shrewd in combat after first transforming  — he is even more capable of spotting his enemies' weaknesses than before, and capitalizes on these opportunities  much more frequently  after seeing them. As his inhibitions and lack of confidence nearly vanish after his initial transformation, Kobi becomes much less reserved in combat than he was prior to it, leading him to overwhelm his opponents even more quickly than before.

Background
Kobi was the child of Lima and his unnamed father, born on Planet Sadla in 293 Before Age shortly before its widespread economic collapse. Though he and his mother spent the first few years of his life living in poverty and solitude, the two eventually became a part of a war effort soon after Lima learned of the war between Planet Sadla and the newly formed Planet Trade Organization.

Birth
Kobi was born to an upper class family in a suburban subsect of Slavia, one of the largest and most densely populated cities on Planet Sadla. Though both of his parents were incredibly young, (he never learned his father's age, but Lima implies Kobi's father was the same age as she was, which would have made both of them 19 at the time of Kobi's birth) they were surprisingly wealthy thanks to their talent for combat. Kobi's father worked as a mercenary for many of the planets the Saiyans had allied themselves with, and his mother worked as a bodyguard for important political figures during interplanetary travel. However, despite both of his parents' seemingly good genes, they were devastated to hear that their son had been born with a severe case of muscular dystrophy, something that doctors insisted would make it next to impossible for Kobi to pursue a life of combat. Lima was baffled by this, as neither she nor Kobi's father had seen any cases of muscular dystrophy in their respective familes, and after mentioning this to her doctor she was quickly informed that it was linked to a recessive X chromosome she was a carrier of.

Though she knew she had no control over it, Lima felt a heavy sense of responsibility for this, and after talking things over with Kobi's father, decided that she would at least temporarily retire from work to focus on raising their son and attempt to help him overcome these problems. About six months after his birth, however, rumors began to circulate that a powerful group known as the Planet Trade Organization had been invading and conquering planets in nearby sections of the galaxy, and shortly thereafter, news surfaced that the same group had taken over one of Planet Sadla's most prominent trade partners, Planet Bobbla.

The Planet Trade immediately placed an embargo on goods being exported from the planet, meaning that Sadla and all of the other planets that had been a part of Planet Bobbla's trade network were no longer able to exchange goods with one of their most important trade partners. Though many people were baffled by the Planet Trade's decision, certain that it would surely end up hurting them, some hypothesized that this was the first step in an intentional effort to cripple the nearby trade market, and cause the economies of affected planets to tank as a result. This theory was effectively solidified when the Planet Trade Organization gained control of another of Planet Sadla's important trade allies, Planet Libb, just one month later and without a declaration of war. It had become apparent to all following interplanetary politics that the Planet Trade was attempting to gradually lead targeted civilizations into an economic crisis, and use the shattered economies of these planets as leverage to coerce them into pledging allegiance to the Planet Trade.

By the time the group had taken over a handful of nearby planets, Sadla's economy had already started to plummet. Kobi's parents were immediately affected, and spiralled into poverty due to a lack of clients and a spike in the prices of food and other goods. Though both of them could see exactly what the Planet Trade was trying to do, when they received news that the same group was offering work to the inhabitants of Planet Sadla — including mercenary work and positions for experienced bodyguards — Kobi's father jumped at the opportunity. Lima objected, and explained that she wasn't really onboard with the idea of working for the people who had tried to ruin their lives to begin with, and further pointed out that he was probably going to be away from home too much to interact with his family if he was consistently offered jobs by a distant, looming group of people like the Planet Trade Organization. Kobi's father bluntly responded by saying that he didn't care, and additionally urged Lima to take the opportunity presented to her to work as a bodyguard. She continued to refuse for the sake of her child's well-being, and the two began to argue until the issue caused Kobi's father to cut ties with both of them, leaving Lima to raise Kobi, alone and unemployed.

Early Life
Though Lima was allowed to keep the house she first shared with Kobi's father, it was eventually foreclosed, leaving she and her son homeless. Her lack of money eventually drove them out of the city in search of food, which further led her to the decision to live in the wilderness until she could find an alternative. By the time Kobi had grown old enough to speak, this primitive lifestyle was all he knew, but as far as he was aware, this wasn't particularly bad since he had no other way of life to compare it to. Still, he was occasionally driven to ask his mother about the big, numerous buildings he often saw looming over the horizon, wondering when they would be able to go live over there in the city instead of out in the wastes of Planet Sadla. His mother's responses were typically brief, but they always gave him an idea of what he was missing out on. Though he knew nothing of the life he could have had, Kobi was enticed by the beauty of the cities he saw, and was a little saddened that he hadn't gotten to know what life within them had been like.

Unlike his mother, though, Kobi was able to look past his desire to return to a life in the city, and for the most part was able to appreciate his current life for what it was. He was frequently a source of positivity for his mother, and his optimistic attitude and cheery personality strengthened Lima's attachment to her son more than she could describe. Though she had always been committed to raising her child, the fact that he consistently and unwittingly managed to be a source of happiness for her convinced her that she couldn't live without him, and drove away any second thoughts she may have still had about keeping him safe. She eventually began to feel as though she owed her son something in return, and decided to adopt an optimistic attitude of her own to keep her son from growing discouraged. Additionally, between sessions of hunting for food and traveling between shelters, Lima committed herself to teaching Kobi basic survival skills, in hopes that should anything happen to her, he would not be ill-equipped to deal with Planet Sadla's brutal wilderness.

Obviously, Kobi's optimism was not enough to completely distract him from the problems he and his mother faced on a regular basis. The areas the two were consistently forced to venture into just to acquire food and other basic needs were often brutal, and Kobi's life was frequently placed in severe danger as a result. There were many times he found himself just moments from being murdered at the hands of another creature, and his mother wasn't any luckier. Saiyans did not have a substantial genetic advantage over their planet's indigenous feral creatures,  — at least, not a physical one  — as years of being hunted by the Saiyans had driven many of them to evolve and adapt. Most of the animals that could actually be eaten were supernaturally ferocious, and could without a doubt wipe out all wildlife on a planet like Earth without a challenge. Some of them even had a primitive understanding of how to use ki, and so it stands to reason that large groups of these creatures could pose a challenge to a seasoned Saiyan warrior.

This in and of itself was not a major problem. As a Saiyan, Kobi enjoyed combat and was biologically driven to pursue it, so a life of fighting against insanely strong wild animals should have been fulfilling. The issues that Kobi had with his way of life were indirect consequences of it, not with the danger or risk associated with the lifestyle itself. Many of the creatures he saw his mother kill in cold blood were, despite how fearsome they themselves were, terrified by the sight of Lima's approach. He figured most of these animals must have developed an inherent fear of the Saiyans due to their sapience, intellect, and finesse with ki, and it was heartbreaking for him to see them killed out of necessity when they hadn't done anything to deserve it. The two were rarely attacked by any creatures seeking to feed on them, as those who still walked the planet knew that no Saiyan was worth killing due to the risk associated with challenging them. None of the animals ever actually wanted to fight, so Kobi never felt a sense of fulfillment after an encounter with any. As a matter of fact, some of them responded purely in self defense, and would exclusively target Lima if Kobi did not assist her in attacking them. One group of animals even allowed Kobi to escape with his mother solely thanks to his pleas to do so and his hesitation to attack them, something that bolstered his subconscious unwillingness to kill any of Planet Sadla's wildlife.

This was further compounded by the fact that he never actually did any of the work himself, as his muscular dystrophy initially left him far too weak to challenge any of the predators he and his mother came across. He quickly began to feel like a burden, especially in light of her occasionally harsh, stress-induced responses to some of the questions he asked her. This did not negatively affect their relationship by any means, as Kobi felt a titanic amount of respect, love, and gratitude for Lima, but it did slowly eat away at his self-confidence. By the time he was five years old, he had become a full-blown introvert, whether he was aware of it or not.

Though his stunted muscle growth prevented him from assisting and protecting his mother during this stage of his life, Lima eventually picked up on what seemed to be her son's natural affinity for the manipulation of ki. The first sign was something she initially took for granted, a sort of lucky sixth sense of Kobi's that seemed to let him know whenever the two were in danger. He was also able to place a whole lot more strain on his muscles than he should have been able to during training, and Lima would later attribute both of these to her son's natural skill for ki manipulation. It was not until a six year old Kobi saved his mother's life by miraculously dispatching a juggernaut of a predator with a powerful, unintentional burst of energy, however, that she discovered her son was truly talented. Immediately after seeing this, Lima began to press Kobi to hone his skills with his ki to offset his low physical strength, which gradually turned him into what would become a very potent fighter.

Encounter With the Planet Trade
Not long after learning of Kobi's innate talent for ki control, he and his mother began to hear alarming sounds coming from above at various times throughout the day. These sounds were practically identical to those made by standard issue Saiyan space pods upon re-entering the atmosphere, so Lima initially paid no attention to them. As they became more frequent, though, she took note of the concern the sounds were causing her boy. Kobi was obviously worried about something, and his mother had a hard time deciding whether or not to ask why.

At first, Lima's gut told her to dismiss her son's fears. She was sure he must have been overreacting  —  he was just a child, after all. Her subconscious told her that he was probably just worked up over nothing -- at first, anyway. She soon remembered Kobi had grown accustomed to the occasional sounds made by overhead Saiyan spacecraft, however, meaning that he had no reason to be concerned by something like this. When she asked her son what was bothering him, Kobi replied with "the people inside feel... different." He also pointed out that it sounded like the pods were crashing into the wasteland, which was further supported by the thick pillars of smoke scattered across the horizon. Kobi asked his mother why these pods weren't landing in the cities like they normally would, something Lima wasn't prepared to respond to.

Though Kobi was completely clueless about the situation, his mother had plenty of context to draw from. She vividly remembered hearing news about a mysterious 'Planet Trade Organization' surrounded by theories that they planned on acquiring Planet Sadla by taking advantage of its crippled economy. She scolded herself for missing such an obvious detail, but she noticed Kobi was right  — these spacecraft were landing outside of city borders. If they were occupied by aliens like he seemed to be implying, there existed a strong possibility that this was the start of an invasion by the Planet Trade Organization. Kobi had also mentioned that there were a lot more spacecraft coming in than he was used to seeing, which Lima had already picked up on herself. The sheer number of people landing outside of any designated landing areas indicated that this was some kind of mobilized assault, though Lima was puzzled that it took the Planet Trade six whole years to attack a planet they'd long since crippled the civilization of.

Regardless, she decided their best course of action was to lay low and remain out of sight for the time being. Luckily, the two had been exploring the inside of a densely packed jungle on the day of the pods' arrival, but even so their attempts to hide did neither of them any good. To Lima's surprise, nearby ground soldiers immediately vaporized the entire forest in an effort to prevent any guerilla tactics from the opposition, which seemed to imply that the rest of their Saiyan kin already knew about this invasion and had been planning a counterattack. If this were the case, the footsoldiers who had just lit up the jungle would immediately begin searching for survivors, a realization that sent Lima into a panic.

As soon as the light caused by the recent explosion had faded, she frantically searched for her son, praying he hadn't been swept away by the force of the blast.. It was only when she saw Kobi again that the gravity of something she hadn't even thought about began to settle in  —  she and her son were alive. They had survived an explosion powerful enough to destroy a rainforest in seconds, and as far as Lima could tell, they had done so without receiving a scratch. From within the smoke that surrounded them, Lima saw Kobi fiercely glaring back at her, his eyes glimmering with what felt like tangible willpower and determination. He was panting heavily, as if he'd just run a thousand miles, and his mother knew exactly what this meant. Her son had just saved both of their lives.

Taking advantage of the fact that they were surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke, Lima pulled her son towards her, more determined than ever to keep him safe at all costs. Now aware of the danger they would be faced with if they continued to live outside the protection of city walls, Lima bolted out of the smoke she was hiding in, into the air, and back towards the city of Slavia, hugging Kobi tightly against her chest. Just as she had predicted, the Planet Trade soldiers still on the ground assumed anyone caught in the explosion had been killed, giving she and Kobi the brief window of time they needed to escape undetected and without the threat of being pursued. As his mother carried him away, Kobi's attention was glued to the surface of the planet below, where hundreds of Saiyan soldiers had already arrived to combat the forces of the Planet Trade. By the time he was too far away to make out the details of the battle, he had already seen dozens of soldiers on both sides killed in cold blood, a sight that made his stomach churn and one he tried desperately to forget.

Lima's established reputation as an exceptional bodyguard immediately secured her a position in Planet Sadla's rapidly growing military. As soon as she touched back down on the streets of her hometown, she took Kobi straight to the city's enlistment center, where she informed anyone worth telling of her and her son's encounter with the Planet Trade Organization just moments prior. The two were immediately given a key to their new room in the barracks, though they learned they would only be rooming together temporarily. Since Lima would be placed on active duty immediately while Kobi would be sent into basic training along with many other Saiyans his age. As Lima had hypothesized earlier, Planet Sadla had been anticipating war with the Planet Trade for a while, thanks to their continued resistance against the group's attempts to seize control of the planet. Recently established trade relationships (including the trade of both goods and services) had stabilized the planet's economy once again, and, as prideful as they were, the Saiyans refused to simply give their planet away.

Still, they were well aware of the threat their new enemy posed, and had been beefing up their military for quite a while by now. Both Lima and Kobi would have been allowed to join the fight against the Planet Trade regardless of their qualifications or experience, but Lima's reputation at least allowed her to skip basic training and receive a decent rank from the start. Kobi obviously did not receive similar treatment, but his mother's claims about his potential led his superiors to watch him closely.

Lima was initially hesitant to leave her child in the care of others due to his muscular dystrophy, but she quickly dismissed her doubts by reminding herself that he'd already saved her life on two separate occasions. After spending a few days settling in and sharing a bunker with her son, Lima was immediately deployed and her interactions with Kobi were reduced to minimal at best. The fighting had begun just minutes after they'd set foot in the barracks, anyway, so both of them considered it a treat that they would be allowed to spend a little time together before starting their new lives as warriors.

Military Training
It was incredibly common for Saiyan children to begin military training at a young age, so Kobi was not a special case. If anything, he was a little old to have just begun learning to fight, but this wasn't a significant problem by any stretch of the imagination. The survival skills he'd learned from the constant threat of death outside city walls had given him a significant advantage over his peers, even despite the problems caused by his muscular dystrophy. Although his quiet nature and abnormally frail figure initially made him an outcast among his classmates, Kobi's intelligence and experience soon became apparent to those around him as he began to excel in many of the classes he took. He was by no means the undisputed best among his peers, but he was clearly one of the more talented members of his age group. Eventually, many of his classmates began to admire him, and any bullying he had experienced during the first few days of his training came to an end as most who knew him developed a pretty strong sense of respect for him.

Many of Kobi's peers soon began to reach out to him, and while he never responded with hostility, he chose to remain distant from most of the people he met. He rarely approached others, opting to observe others from a distance over directly interacting with them. This reluctance to socialize stemmed from many things, but one of the factors that contributed the most heavily was the difficulty Kobi had developing a personal moral compass. In his blood was an inherent lust for battle, but in his heart was a vitriolic hatred of conflict. Months  — and eventually, even years  — of training did nothing to erase what he'd seen from his memory. The sight of such excessive brutality in such a short period of time, all for what amounted to practically nothing, was something that haunted him. Furthermore, the relative luxury of life within the barracks of Slavia put into perspective just how terrible his childhood had been, and while the poor quality of his early life was something that  no longer personally bothered him, it made Kobi sick to think that there were probably other children suffering through the same thing as he had, and that there were parents suffering through the same things as his mother had.

Perhaps it was due to a difference in perspective, but no one Kobi came across seemed even the least bit hesitant to jump into the middle of a war after they finished their training. Some children boasted about the accomplishments of their parents, others spoke of how excited they were to wipe the floor with the soldiers of the Planet Trade, and a few even boasted about having already killed at some point in their lives. But not a single person seemed to have any second thoughts about what they were doing. This didn't cause him to look down on his peers  — he just respectfully disagreed with most of them  — but his dedication to upholding his own personal beliefs drove him away from them. He feared that interacting with these people would erode his morals over time, and decided that it wasn't worth the risk. He didn't like talking all that much anyway.

This was one of the best decisions Kobi could have made as a soldier. He wasn't cognisant of it, but his lack of a social life kept him focused solely on the goal presented to him by his superiors  — get stronger. Unlike many of his classmates, Kobi spent little time forming bonds with others, choosing instead to dedicate his time towards becoming more powerful and becoming a more skilled fighter. For a while, he had no idea what he planned on using his talents for combat for, and only spent his time training because it was the only thing that made him feel any sense of fulfillment or progress. Eventually he decided that he would use his power in the pursuit of peace, something that strengthened his determination and sped up his progress by an astonishing amount.

Eventually, even Kobi's instructors took note of his fierce determination to better himself. Though he was typically reserved and laid back in a social setting, the boy was the exact opposite on the battlefield. He seldom held back in sparring sessions  — whether he was fighting other students or his own teachers  — and always exuded an aura of authority and commitment when training and fighting with others. Though he was an incredibly patient child, he quickly grew frustrated and annoyed with himself when he discovered a goal of his was beyond his present capabilities, and worked tirelessly to accomplish whatever it was he was trying to do. He was one of three members in the entire academy to boast an undefeated sparring record, and even pressed some of his teachers to go all out against him just to keep from losing.

Kobi's natural talent and constant desire to improve allowed him to excel through basic training at an alarming speed. During his time at boot camp, he developed his skills with ki to an unprecedented degree, to such a wild extent that he even managed to overcome his muscular dystrophy altogether by using ki to enhance his muscles during physical workouts  — though he was still rather thin compared to most of his classmates. By the time he graduated, he had become more proficient with energy manipulation than many adult Saiyan soldiers, and was thusly deployed as part of the  Planet Sadla Epsilon ε Corps, a subsect of the military that specialized in the manipulation of ki and other energy sources.

Life as a Soldier
Kobi was deployed on his ninth birthday and given the rank of Corporal immediately. He was not the only person of his age to enter the military, and as a matter of fact, found himself outranked by many others who were younger than him. This did not bother him nor did it surprise him  — all it did was further motivate him to better himself. As a corporal, Kobi was placed in charge of a four man fireteam consiting of he and three graduates from academies based in other Sadla cities, all of whom were nearly as talented as he was. The children were all considered part of an elite fireteam, and despite their age, were expected to handle difficult and demanding missions thanks to their exceptional talent.

The first of these missions involved the retrieval of a Saiyan thought to have been captured and taken as a prisoner of war by the Planet Trade Organization, before she was intercepted and stolen by a group of interplanetary bandits believed to be slave traders. As she was an important, high priority target, any hostile activity involving her had been monitored by one of Sadla's intelligence units, which meant that Kobi and his fireteam were given access to the location of the base their target was being transported to along with dossiers of any significant enemies they may encounter there. Thanks to the intelligence they received beforehand, the team of Saiyans were able to execute their mission with little difficulty, though it spawned the first of many disagreements Kobi would take part in during his time as a soldier. As the leader of his fireteam, he enforced a strict 'no-kill' policy on the mission, something all three of the privates under his command objected to. This was a policy he would continue to abide by throughout the entirety of the war, and one that he was frequently forced to face the consequences of. Still, this first mission of his went relatively well, and, despite the many arguments he had with his teammates, was a complete success. The four managed to retrieve the girl they were after and return her to Planet Sadla without being followed, which left a good first impression on those closely watching Kobi from afar.

As the leader of the fireteam that carried out the mission, Kobi was tasked with learning everything that had happened to their target during her time as a prisoner. He was warned that the task may prove to be a decent bit more difficult than expected, as the girl in question was incredibly shy and often had a hard time putting her thoughts into words. To circumvent this, Kobi made an effort to befriend this girl before he began gathering information from her, and discovered that they had quite a lot in common with one another. Her name was Kale, and she was the same age as he was  — as a matter of fact, their birthdays were only one week apart. Like Kobi, Kale had lived her life as the child of a single parent, though he discovered she had been much less fortunate than him as the last of her parents was killed just before she was captured.

The most interesting thing Kobi learned about Kale was that she had the unique ability to predict the future, though she was unaware how she ended up with it. This was new information to him, and something he was surprised he hadn't learned from his superiors when he was tasked with capturing her in the first place. Kobi knew without a doubt that this was why Planet Sadla considered Kale such a valuable asset, especially when considering many of the other things he would come to learn about her. Kale was born with a disability of her own  — Type-1 Acephala Syndrome. As a result, Kale was not very combat-inclined, and accomplished little whenever sent into battle, meaning all of her importance lied in her power to predict future events, which Kobi eventually learned was due to a childhood encounter she had with a Kanassan. Since the ability was a gift and not something she was born with, Kale had little control over what events she could foresee and when her visions would occur, something he decided he would work to help her overcome whenever possible. Though Kobi grew fond of her, their interactions became limited when Kale returned to active duty as a member of the Planet Sadla Mu μ Corps. He was given special permission to train with her in between missions in hopes of making her into a proper warrior, but spent most of his time carrying out his duties as a soldier.

The rest of the missions he received during his time as a member of the Epsilon ε Corps were of a similar nature, though as he grew older and his powers developed the tasks he received gradually became more demanding. As the missions he received became more difficult, Kobi gained more recognition from his superiors and continued to rank up due to his excellent performance. As he aged into adolescence, he found himself with a handful of medals and accolades, and was eventually made into the captain of the Epsilon ε Corps Eleventh Company, placing him in command of 2100 of his own troops. During the time between his initial deployment and his promotion to captain, Kobi carried out dozens of missions, both on his own and as part of a team. Though he made a name for himself by consistently disobeying key orders and frequently starting arguments with comrades in the midst of important missions, Kobi was far more well-known for his exceptional performance on duty and even caught the attention of his enemies in the Planet Trade Organization. His exploits eventually became so great that he was transferred from the Epsilon ε Corps to the Planet Sadla Omega Ω Corps, a subsect of the planet's military composed of its most elite warriors, and the same branch of the military his mother was serving as a part of. Eventually, his training with Kale paid off for her as well, as she was transferred along with him and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel thanks to her talent for large-scale tactics and her refined abilities with divining future events.

Shortly after his transfer, Kobi learned that his mother had been battling a severe case of tuberculosis during her time as a soldier, leading him to request temporary military leave in order to spend time with her and attempt to have her condition treated. Unfortunately, she passed away in a fatal fit of coughing just days after he learned of her sickness, something that left Kobi hollow and temporarily broken. His closeness with his mother had made her harsh and sudden death one of the hardest slaps in the face he'd ever received throughout his life, especially given the circumstances. While he had been doing his best to ignore it, the war he was a part of had been taking a toll on him, and having his mother taken away from him so quickly and so soon after his reunion with her was incredibly difficult to cope with because of that. In an effort to cope with his emerging depression. he took solace in the company of Kale, causing his relationship with her to blossom into a romance as they began to work side by side as members of the Omega Ω Corps.

Civil War
Kobi returned to deployment on his fifteenth birthday, one week after the death of his mother. He was shocked to learn that during his absence, Sadla had suffered a critical loss, one that nearly crippled its military and left them struggling to survive against the ever-growing empire of the Planet Trade Organization. The loss had been so bad, in fact, that it crushed the spirit of many of those who had survived through the war for this long, causing a large portion of the military to splinter off and pledge allegiance to the Planet Trade. In simpler terms, Kobi had returned to a full blown civil war between the dwindling but still larger forces of Planet Sadla, and the smaller but ever-growing confederate resistance backed by the power, technology, and resources of the Planet Trade Organization. Those who still hoped to avoid Planet Sadla's annexation slowly began fighting a losing battle, as the combined forces of their Saiyan brethren and the soldiers of the Planet Trade began to overwhelm them over time.

The following years were by far the bleakest time of Kobi's life. As a key member of the war effort, he was consistently faced with horrific situations and impossible decisions, causing the optimism he'd retained throughout his life to fade away over time. In need of someone to comfort him, Kobi rapidly grew closer to Kale and vice-versa - the two frequently spent their sparse free time by themselves, isolated in the company of one another. Their developing relationship did nothing to hinder their respective abilities to contribute throughout the war, however  — Kobi was tasked with a large number of important duties, frequently finding himself commanding enormous groups of soldiers, fighting on the front lines, or both. His contributions as a soldier continued to pile up at the same rate they had been up to this point, until he climbed the military ladder all the way up to the rank of lieutenant general and became the leader of the Planet Sadla Omega  Ω  Corps.

Even in his late teens, Kobi proved to be a fierce, effective leader, and one that tightly held Planet Sadla's crumbling military together. Shortly after his promotion to lieutenant general, Kobi  — taking complete advantage of Kale's foresight  —  won a series of battles against the Planet Trade and proved his capabilities as a military leader, though many were skeptical about whether this was due to real tactical prowess or Kale's ability to see the future. Regardless, he consistently found success on the battlefield, due to a blend of charisma, talent for battle, and raw brain power. Kobi's talent for leadership was great enough that it led many Saiyans who had defected earlier in the war to swear allegiance to Planet Sadla once more, giving he and his comrades a much needed edge.

Overview
Typically in the context of Dragon Ball, a 'technique' refers to a specific application of a person's Ki or body. Though Kobi has more than twenty-four specific applications for his Ki, he has categorized most of these abilities into twenty-four broad, named powers based on what aspect of reality he aims to manipulate, each with their own list of specific derivatives and individual applications. Of course, some have more derived techniques than others and vice versa. All twenty-four abilities are inspired by one or more Ki abilities already present in the universe, such as the widely used Multi-Form, the Kaio-ken, et cetera. There is a twenty-fifth group composed of basic Ki utilities, though Kobi does not consider any of these techniques important enough to be worth naming.

Each of his twenty-four named abilities can be employed at one of two levels of use, each with a distinct level of effectiveness. Level One is denoted by a lowercase symbol (Alpha's Will would be α at Level One) and Level Two is denoted by a capital letter (Alpha's Will would be A at Level Two).

Alpha's α Will
The techniques that draw from Alpha’s Will all involve telekinetics and the manipulation of invisible forces. Through Alpha’s Will, Kobi can telekinetically push, pull, grip, bind, maneuver, and deflect objects, projectiles, and other people. Kobi can also telekinetically control his own body for a number of purposes, and frequently does so to briefly augment his strength and speed, as well as to quickly hurl himself out of the way of any oncoming threats.

Beta's β Shadow
Allows the user to create a clone of themselves, which they can use for various purposes. This ability is distinctly different from Multi-Form for a number of reasons, none less important than another.

Beta's Shadow is more like an extension of the user’s body than a full-blown replica of them - this is made no more apparent by any one of its traits than the fact that it rests within the user’s body when dormant, and can be called upon without actually being expelled from the body. In other words, this gives the user access to an extra, retractable set of limbs and appendages that they can extend from anywhere on their body at any time they feel appropriate. A user of the technique essentially has access to four arms, four legs, two heads, and even an extra torso when needed, and they can extend these extra body parts from any part of their body they choose to. Furthermore, Beta's Shadow can split from the user’s body at their will, where it will thereafter become autonomous and require no further input from the person who spawned it. The doppelganger is tied to its creator in nearly every other aspect, however; while it can and will act on its own, it and its creator are a hivemind - they share thoughts, goals, and vision with one another. Additionally, their ki pool and life essence are linked together; if one exhausts all of their ki, the other will be unable to draw from their own Ki pool. If one dies, so does the other, etc.

Gamma's γ Cloak
Like the Kaioken, Gamma's Cloak seeks to amplify its user's physical capabilities over a short period of time. It incrementally multiplies the user’s Ki depending on the level being used, and for a duration of no more than thirty seconds. Signs of Gamma's Cloak use are obvious and easily spotted; the user’s skin becomes white, their ireses and pupils vanish, and they are cloaked in a veil of explosive black light. When the effects of Gamma's Cloak come to an end, the user is inflicted with recoil damage determined both by the amount time spent using the technique and by how much damage was dealt to an enemy (or enemies) while under the effects of the power boost.

The primary purpose of this ability is to increase the user's speed and destructive power  — this skill will not do much to bolster its user's defenses directly. That said, it can still be used for defensive purposes  — for example, the user can amplify the force of their basic ki attacks and use that to nullify or deflect an oncoming energy attack  — and it can also be selectively cast on specific parts of a person's body to reduce recoil damage.

Delta's Δ Staff
Allows the user to summon and manipulate basic elemental forces such as water, earth, air, fire, and lightning. Each element is typically imbued with the caster's ki to increase its effectiveness, causing them to adopt a distinct color scheme based on the color of the user's Ki. In Kobi's case, the elements he bends are colored white and are coated with a thin, black aura.

Epsilon's ε Gauntlets
The techniques that draw from Epsilon's Gauntlets involve the most basic applications of Ki found in all twenty-four categories, such as basic waves of Ki, (like the Kamehameha) omnidirectional Ki bursts, (like the Super Explosive Wave) and things of that nature. As the name implies, these techniques are typically reliant on their user's hands.

Zeta's ζ Greaves
This ability, like Gamma's Cloak, allows a person to augment their physical capabilities for short periods of time, though in the case of Zeta's Greaves, this can only be done for the purpose of travel or transport.

Eta's η Shackles
This ability gives its user limited control over the concepts of merging and unification.

Theta's θ Eyes
Obviously, the abilities granted by Theta's Eyes are all ocular. This includes passive effects like enhanced visual perception and an increased field of vision, but comes with many active sub-powers of its own as well. While active, this technique caises its user's irises to become white.

Iota's ι Athanor
The powers accessible through Iota's Athanor are all alchemical in nature, and typically deal with directly altering the world or area around their user. These include things like transmutation, the ability to enchant items, the ability to brew potions, and various abilities that involve altering reality in bizzare ways.

Kappa's κ Chains
This ability's various uses all involve applying the concept of suppression in some capacity.

Lambda's λ Brigandine
Heavily augments the user's defenses in a limited variety of ways.

Mu's μ Hourglass
Allows the user a very limited control over the flow of time.

Nu's ν Amulet
Grants the user a limited amount of control over space, and allows them to do many of the things they otherwise could not with Zeta's Greaves.

Xi's ξ Ordnance
With Xi's Ordnance, a person can conjure a number of ethereal weapons and objects for use in combat.

The Silence of Omicron ο
Allows the user to bend the concept of nothingness in various capacities.

Pi's π Blessing
Allows the user to synthesize Ki by drawing on the dormant energy present in nature and the things around them. The primary purpose this serves is allowing its user to restore their dormant ki supply, though it does have a small number of other applications. Typical uses of Pi’s Blessing require a decent amount of concentration, however, forcing a user of the technique to stand completely still during use.

Rho's ρ Elixir
Allows a person to heal injured body parts, whether they belong to the user or an ally, and restore worn or broken objects to their original condition.

Sigma's Σ Wings
Allows the user to transform their body in a variety of ways, causing them to adapt the traits of whatever it is they seek to transform into.

Tau's τ Sabre
Gives a person a limited amount of control over the concepts of severance and partition.

Upsilon's υ Helm
Grants a person limited access to various mental powers, like telepathy, astral projection, mind-reading, though the degree of control given to the user depends on the kind of application they have in mind.

Phi's Φ Mirage
The applications for this ability all involve the creation and manipulation of illusions in various capacities. The powers of Phi's Mirage were originally tied to Upsilon's Helm, but Kobi decided he could create far more potent illusions by dedicating an entire technique to the art of manipulating them.

Chi's Χ Voice
This technique has both figurative and literal applications, and though both are distinctly different from one another, they each still draw from the concept of enhancing a person's voice. Not only does this give a person the ability to literally weaponize their voice, but it also allows them to place certain objects, creatures, and people under their control.

The Spirit of Psi ψ
Allows a person to manipulate their own soul to augment the power of and extend the range of their attacks. Use of this ability employs the help of a person's spirit, as in their dead body, and consequently, any person who uses this technique sacrifices their right to enter the afterlife.

Omega's Ω Judgement
Omega's Judgement draws from the traits of all twenty-three previous abilities and is typically employed with the intent of immediately ending a battle.

Basic Ki Utilities

 * Flight: The ability to fly with the use of Ki.
 * Ki Sense: The ability to sense the presence of others with the use of Ki. Kobi's use of this ability is particularly adept, as he is easily capable of distinguishing his surroundings by using his Ki to do so, meaning he can use this ability to sense the presence and movement of people and objects regardless of whether they exude a Ki signature or not. If necessary, Kobi's skill with this ability potentially allows him to fight while blind.
 * Afterimage Technique: This technique is a short burst of extremely high speed, moving faster than the opponent can sense. This has the side effect of leaving a momentary "after image", until the opponent's senses adapt and realize their target has moved.
 * Ki Blast: The most basic form of energy wave.

Trivia

 * Kobi's name follows the Saiyan custom of being derived from a vegetable, and is composed of the bookends of kohlrabi, (Kōrurabi, コールラビ) a vegetable typically only eaten as part of a salad or slaw. His name is also a bilingual pun on the Greek word κωβι, (read: kobi in Classic Greek  or kovi in Modern Greek) a rough shorthand of κωβιός (read: kobiós in Classic Greek or koviós in Modern Greek) meaning gudgeon. Though the word 'gudgeon' is typically only used in a literal context, often referring to a metal pin used in the construction of buildings and sailboats, it is occasionally applied figuratively in place of the word 'pivot' to mean "a person, thing, or factor having a major or central role, function, or effect." 'Gudgeon' can also ironically mean "idiot" or "gullible".
 * Kobi is not the original Super Saiyan, just one from a previous generation. Though the anime seems to imply that the very first Super Saiyan appeared a thousand years before Goku's transformation, the manga simply claims that a Super Saiyan appears every one thousand years, implying that there were a handful of Saiyans who used the transformation before Kobi. Zuno confirms this and further elaborates that historically, Super Saiyans have appeared one at a time and only once every thousand years.
 * The colors of Kobi's Super Saiyan transformation were inspired by a color scheme temporarily used for Super Saiyan Goku in a limited color chapter of the Dragon Ball manga. This is the only instance where a Super Saiyan is seen with white hair, a white aura, and red pupils, and only happened due to Toriyama's decision to limit his color choices to shades of red, brown, and grey when coloring certain manga chapters. Since this chapter was a part of Goku's battle with Frieza, Kobi's application of the color scheme is also intended to note a subtle parallel to the extreme shift in character Goku experienced during his first use of the Super Saiyan transformation. King Kai notes that Kobi shared many aspects of the personality Goku displayed after first transforming, and even remarks that while the Super Saiyans who preceded Kobi all experienced similar personality shifts, watching Goku fight Frieza was "like seeing Kobi raised from the dead."