What to do with Yamcha would pose a difficult challenge to any attempt at a live-action adaptation of Dragon Ball Z. Formerly known as the Desert Bandit, the long-time member of the Z-Warriors has been brought to life on the big screen before, but there would have to be something different about his role in a Dragon Ball Z movie. After all, there's a huge distinction between the Yamcha seen in the original anime and how he was utilized in the Dragon Ball shows that followed.
After serving as one of Goku's steadfast allies in Dragon Ball, Yamcha took a hard fall in Dragon Ball Z, and it didn't take long for his descent to begin. Though tragic, the circumstances of his death in the Saiyan Saga unfortunately left a permanent stain on the character's legacy, making him the butt of jokes among Dragon Ball fans and a subject of various, insulting memes. This aspect of the character would only compound the challenge of making Dragon Ball Z's Yamcha work in live-action.
A Live-Action Dragon Ball Movie Would Need Audiences To Take Yamcha Seriously (& That's Not Easy)
Despite being thought of as a joke by the fanbase, whether that's a fair assessment of him or not, a Dragon Ball Z movie wouldn't be able to treat him the same way. It stands to reason that if there was a Dragon Ball Z movie, it would be an adaptation of the Saiyan Saga, which was not a story where Yamcha served the purpose of comedy relief. Instead, Yamcha was a serious character and someone who was actually percieved as formidable. During the Z-Warriors' training with Kami, Yamcha was regarded as a fighter on par with Tien and more of a threat than Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe.
It was through Yamcha's death at the hands of a Saibamen that Dragon Ball Z set the stakes for the fight with Nappa and Vegeta.
For a live-action retelling of the Saiyan Saga, the film would need to turn back the clock on Yamcha and get him back to where he was. But washing away all the ridicule would be a massive undertaking. The reality is that his image would need a full reset if Yamcha is to be taken seriously. Making that harder is the fact that the very scene that ruined his reputation in the first place is an incredibly important part of the Saiyan Saga the movie would presumably be adapting. It was through Yamcha's death at the hands of a Saibamen that Dragon Ball Z set the stakes for the fight with Nappa and Vegeta.
Even Dragon Ball Super Gave Up Trying To Redeem Yamcha
Exemplifying the difficulty of making Yamcha a respectable member of the Z-Warriors is Dragon Ball Super. Acting as a sequel to Dragon Ball Z, the series technically could have redeemed Yamcha. If it could make Master Roshi relevant again, there's no reason why it couldn't have done the same for Yamcha. Similar to how the anime revealed that Master Roshi had been training in secret, Dragon Ball Super could have elevated Yamcha's power level so that he could take part in the fight against Frieza in the Golden Frieza Saga and join Goku's Universe 7 team for the Tournament of Power.
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Dragon Ball Super opting to do neither of these things with Yamcha is an indication that the franchise has given up on him as a hero. Rather than try to fix him, Dragon Ball Super leaned into the jokes and yielded humorous moments at Yamcha's expense. In fact, the only episode of the series that spotlighted Yamcha, "A Challenge from Champa! A Baseball Game!", offered insults to the character and even made a mockery of his death in the Saiyan Saga.
Yamcha's Portrayal In Dragonball Evolution Makes Doing Him Justice In Live-Action Even Harder
In a sense, Dragonball Evolution had a much easier challenge with its Yamcha interpretation, considering that at that point in the timeline, the character was one of Dragon Ball's protagonists and not yet the meme he became later. Even so, the film didn't do right by Yamcha, making multiple changes to both his design and backstory. Its attempt to portray him accurately resulted in Dragonball Evolution playing him up as a "cool" and confident character. But as someone with mercenary-like motivations, it was hard to see this Yamcha as one that was faithful to the anime.
Dragonball Evolution's take on Yamcha stands as another example of a Dragon Ball installment struggling to figure out what to do with the Desert Bandit. It's important for a Dragon Ball Z live-action movie to adequately depict the "cool" side of Yamcha, but in a way that doesn't come across as him being pompous but unable to back it up.
Dragon Ball Z is the sequel series to Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball and continues the adventures of Goku. Along with his companions, Goku defends the Earth against various villains ranging from intergalactic space fighters and conquerors to powerful androids and nearly indestructible creatures.
Cast Masako Nozawa , Ryou Horikawa , Hiromi Tsuru , Hiroko Emori , Shigeru Chiba , Naoko Watanabe , Mayumi Tanaka , Naoki Tatsuta , Yukimasa Kishino
Release Date April 26, 1989
Seasons 9
Writers Akira Toriyama , Takao Koyama
Directors Daisuke Nishio
English (US) ·