In Dragon Ball's “Red Ribbon Army Saga,” Kid Goku faced off against a ruthless villainous organization bent on global domination and tyranny. On September 3, 2024, the official Akira Toriyama Archive chose to highlight one of the Army's often overlooked members: the beautiful but cunning Colonel Violet.
Hosted on the official Dragon Ball website, the Akira Toriyama Archive showcases a “rare, hard-to-find” image from Dragon Ball’s past several times a week. Recently, the team uploaded a full-color manuscript page from the Dragon Ball manga, the final version of which appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue No. 43 (1986). In it, Colonel Violet is shown reporting to Commander Black and Army founder Commander Red. Since the original manga was printed in black and white, this image offers a rare chance to see Violet as she would later appear in the Dragon Ball anime series. Like every post from the Toriyama Archive, this illustration will only be available on the Dragon Ball website for 24 hours.
Colonel Violet plays a brief but memorable role in Dragon Ball's Red Ribbon Army Saga.
While Colonel Violet is only a minor antagonist in the “Red Ribbon Army Saga,” she has the distinction of being the only known female member of the organization. The group’s original mission was to use the Dragon Balls to seek world domination. Under Commander Red’s orders, Violet uses Bulma’s stolen dragon radar to track down one of the missing balls. However, Goku appears shortly after and begins to single-handedly defeat the Army’s forces. Astonished by the Saiyans’ power, Violet immediately realizes that they are no match for her and leaves—but not before blowing up Commander Red’s safe and stealing all the money inside.
While Goku quickly subdued Commander Red's forces during the “Red Ribbon Army Saga,” the group eventually rose again, with Dr. Gero as the main architect of its destruction. He played a major role in Dragon Ball Z, creating many of the robotic lifeforms that became the primary antagonists for some of the manga's most famous story arcs. The Red Ribbon Army reappeared in the series' 2022 film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, in which two new robots—in addition to a new Cell variant—returned to wreak havoc on Earth. While the Red Ribbon Army is a force of endless rebirth in the Dragon Ball universe, Colonel Violet has rarely appeared since her first appearance in the Dragon Ball anime and manga, and then mostly only in flashbacks, making her one of the series' most elusive female enemies.
The original Dragon Ball manga and its sequels are available in English on VIZ Media. The series' respective anime adaptations, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super, are available on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Additionally, Dragon Ball Daima—Toei Animation's upcoming anime—is scheduled to premiere on October 11, 2024.
Dragon Ball
Son Goku, a monkey-tailed warrior, along with a group of other strange characters, set out on a quest to find the Dragon Balls, a set of crystals that can grant the owner anything they desire.
Author Akira Toriyama
Artist Akira Toriyama
Release date November 20, 1984 Category Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Martial Arts
Chap 519
Book 42
Adaptation Dragon Ball
Publishing house Shueisha, Madman Entertainment, Viz Media
Extend
Source: Dragon Ball Official Website
