Quick Links
Warning: Contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima episode #13.Dragon Ball Daima, like manyDragon Ballarcs, has a multitude of villains fleshing out its story. There’s King Gomah and Degesu, who turned Goku and his friends into children, Arinsu and her Majin henchmen Kuu and Duu, acting in opposition to Gomah to overthrow him, and each episode has done a lot to continually show off how evil they are as they act against Goku and each other.
Every villain inDragon Ball Daimahas been fun to watch, but one villain, Degesu, might not be all he appears to be. Degesu has been loyal to Gomah since its introduction to the point of fanaticism, and while that hasn’t explicitly changed,a key scene inDragon Ball Daimaepisode #13implies that Degesu is nowhere near as evil as he originally appeared to be. That could lead to a very interesting character arc for Degesu, and overall, it will be great to see how things play out.

How Dragon Ball Daima Hints At Degesu’s True Colors
Dragon Ball Daimaepisode #13 continued where episode #12 left off, with Gomah being frustrated that Goku’s group now had two Dragon Balls and were heading to the First Demon Realm to acquire the third, albeit unaware that Arinsu just obtained it. Desperate to stop Goku and his friends at all costs, Gomah ordered Degesu to shut down Warp-sama and trap them in the Second Demon Realm, something that shocked Degesu because that wasn’t something they were ever supposed to do. Nevertheless,Gomah forced Degesu to shut down Warp-sama, even though Degesu was visibly disturbed by the idea.
Not only was this the first time Degesu disagreed with Gomah on something after spending so much time acting as his most loyal servant, but he was disturbed by how Gomah forced him to do something so sacrilegious, something the camera drew a lot of attention to, and when taken at face value,Degesu’s disagreement with Gomah’s actions inDragon Ball Daimaepisode #13 implies he’s not as evil as previous episodes made him out to be. There still isn’t a lot to go on, but just the implication of that adds a lot of depth to Degesu’s character, overall.

Dragon Ball Daima Set The Ground Work For Degesu’s True Colors Weeks Ago
Dragon Ball Daimaepisode #13 is the first episode to truly hint at Degesu’s true colors, but the series laid the groundwork for that. While Degesu has always had moments of being menacing and intimidating, at the same time, he’s also been characterized as a villain with plenty of goofiness to him, especially when playing off of Gomah, and both characters are often portrayed as the lesser of two evils compared to Arinsu.Degesu’s previous characterization inDragon Ball Daimaalready suggested that he wasn’t completely evil, and episode #13 is just the first time that’s being expanded on.
Even Degesu being a Supreme Kai of the Demon Realm doesn’t mean as much as one would think. While old material had it that evil Supreme Kais were aligned with the Demon Realm,Daima’s new Supreme Kai loreestablishes that as not being inherently a bad thing, sothe case could be made that nothing about Degesu’s character meant that he was inherently evil inDragon Ball Daima. There wasn’t much reason to pay attention to any of that before now, but with everything that happened in episode #13, it just became that much more relevant.

Is Degesu Going To Join The Heroes' Side In Dragon Ball Daima?
Does Dragon Ball Daima Have A New Hero In The Works?
With all the evidence of Degesu not being as evil as he seems, that, of course, begs the question of what he’s going to ultimately do. As Goku and Arinsu both get closer to fully undermining Gomah’s rule, Gomah will likely start taking more extreme actions that go against the sanctity of the Demon Realm, all while continuing to ignore Degesu’s complaints. Because of that,Dragon Ball Daimacould see Degesu turn against Gomah as he continues to abuse his position as Demon King, all of which could add a lot to whatever the final conflict ends up being.
What works especially well about that is that Degesu can turn against Gomah without becoming fully heroic. Even if Degesu thinks Gomah is going too far, that doesn’t make him a hero, especially after everything he’s gone along with, soDragon Ball Daimacould have Degesu turn against Gomah without ever fully redeeming him as a character. Keeping Degesu as a sort of morally gray character could add a lot of depth to him, more so than if he became a straightforward hero, but regardless, it will be interesting to see whatDragon Ball Daimadoes with him, going forward.
Dragon Ball DAIMA
Cast
Dragon Ball Daima sees Goku and his allies inexplicably shrunk into miniature forms, prompting a journey to the Demon Realm. This animated adventure, part of the Dragon Ball franchise, explores their mission to solve the mystery and restore their original statures. Released in October 2024.