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 is 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.

Before Super Saiyan
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 interpreted 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's not very 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 also nearly gotten himself killed more times than he can count 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, a claim that nearly all who know him unanimously agree on. 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 Kobi's own genius made him feel comparitively stupid. In combat, his intelligence makes him incredibly difficult to fight against, especially for anyone without preexisting intelligence on him. The dossiers left by the early Planet Trade Organization describe Kobi's talent for combat 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."

Super Saiyan
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.

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 around him 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. Also, 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.

Alpha's 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 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 β 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 β 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
Inspired by the North King Kai's Kaio-ken technique, Gamma's Cloak seeks to amplify a user's physical capabilities over a short period of time.

Delta's Δ Gauntlets
Allows the user to summon and manipulate ki-enhanced elemental forces such as water, earth, air, fire, and lightning.

Epsilon's ε Bow
Much more of a figurative "bow" than a literal one. The techniques that draw from Epsilon's Bow 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 with a bow, a user often requires two hands two perform most of these techniques.

Pi's π Blessing
Allows the user to synthesize Ki by drawing on the dormant energy present in nature 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.

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."