Red Ribbon Army

A vast paramilitary empire undone by one man's vanity: the quest for all seven Dragon Balls to grant a wish of mere height.

The Red Ribbon Army is a fictional antagonistic faction in Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series, serving as Goku's primary opposition during his second quest for the Dragon Balls. Led by Commander Red and supported by an organized hierarchy of officers like General Blue and Staff Officer Black, the group utilizes advanced technology, monsters, and hired assassins to raid settlements globally. While ostensibly seeking world domination, their true motivation was revealed to be a personal vanity project. Following their defeat, surviving scientist Dr. Gero continued their legacy through the creation of powerful Androids.

Quick Facts

Publisher

Shueisha

Debut

Dragon Ball chapter 55: "The Red Ribbon (A Red Ribbon)", December 1985 (Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985)

Creators

Akira Toriyama

Owners

Commander Red (Dragon Ball); Magenta (Dragon Ball Super)

Members

Staff Officer Black
General Blue
General White
Colonel Silver
Doctor Gero
Doctor Hedo
Carmine
Red Ribbon Androids

Lore & Background

The Red Ribbon Army operates as a military dictatorship with a strict pyramid hierarchy, where orders from superiors are absolute. Commander Red sits at the top, followed by his second-in-command, Staff Officer Black, and then commanding officers such as General Blue, Colonel Silver, and General White. The organization employs a diverse range of operatives including humans, anthropomorphic animals like Colonel Yellow (an anthropomorphic tiger), monsters like Buyon, and advanced androids. Their base of operations includes the towering Muscle Tower, which was inspired by the video game Spartan X. Notably, the group's aesthetic drew inspiration from the Hitler Youth, though without swastika armbands. General Blue is coded as a stereotypically homosexual character similar to Ernst Röhm, while Adjutant Black was noted in North American releases as a caricature of a black man.

Reader's Guide

Key figures include General Blue, who has telekinetic abilities that allow him to paralyze others and control objects; he is allowed to fight the hitman Mercenary Tao to redeem himself, though Tao easily kills him using only his tongue. Tao himself wore a pink gi with "KILL YOU!" on the back, slew Bora, the guardian of Korin Tower, and seemingly killed Goku before being caught in the explosion of his own grenade and assumed dead. The Army also utilized Android 8, a kindhearted operative who defected after befriending Goku, adopting the alias "Eighter." A General Copper and the Brown Corps are mentioned in passing, but are never seen. New characters drove the organization's revival as main antagonists in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Did You Know?

Commander Red's entire quest for the Dragon Balls was a ruse; he secretly wanted to wish himself taller.
The Muscle Tower base was inspired by the video game Spartan X, which was itself based on Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals and Bruce Lee's Game of Death.
Android 8 (Eighter) defected from the army after befriending Goku and later donated energy to destroy Majin Buu.