Colonel Silver

Directory: Characters → Villains → DB villains → Red Ribbon Army Template:Character

"Pity. It looks like you lost your ride. There won't be any getting away this time."
— "Cruel General Red"

Colonel Silver (シルバー大佐) is the first of the high-ranking Red Ribbon Army officers Goku fights and defeats in Dragon Ball.

Overview

ColonelSilverS4 — Colonel Silver patiently riding in the jet

Colonel Silver had a fairly small role in the Dragon Ball manga, but he had a considerably larger role in the anime. This is because the Red Ribbon Army was introduced a little earlier in the anime and Toei Animation created several filler episodes involving Colonel Silver and Emperor Pilaf before the next chapter of the Dragon Ball manga was released so the animators could continue on with the story without going past the manga.

The anime, much like they did with Colonel Violet, gave Colonel Silver a lot more characterization and a larger role in the story. As evident in both the anime and the manga on multiple occasions, unlike most officers, he does not immediately turn to violence and threats in order to get information, but rather simply asks a couple questions and only resorts to physical means if he is not getting the requested answers.

BoxingColonel — Silver while defeating professional boxers

One strange fact to note about his character is that his personality warps with each dub, despite no one making any alterations to the animation whatsoever. In the Japanese dub, Colonel Silver is portrayed as being quiet and serious. In the FUNimation dub, he changes to being cold, aggressive, courteous to superiors and occasionally complimentary towards random citizens. In the French dub he is assertive, in the Castilian dub he is foul-tempered, whereas, in a contradiction to all, the Portuguese dub portrays him as rarely raising his voice, and he seems understanding and patient.

Biography

Silverpreparestofightgoku — Colonel Silver prepares to fight Goku

Like Captain Yellow and Colonel Violet, Colonel Silver is under the command of General Copper. Silver is first seen in the anime storming homes and looking for Dragon Balls, and eventually his search brings him and his men to an Antique Shop Owner who tried to con him with a fake Dragon Ball. Silver easily sees through the lie due to the fake Dragon Ball being breakable (as opposed to real Dragon Balls, which are supposedly indestructible). After killing the shopkeeper without mercy, he steals a Dragon Ball from Emperor Pilaf.

ColonelSilverRedBlackSoldiers — Colonel Silver's last appearance in *Dragon Ball*

Silver is later shown exercising by lifting weights, hitting a punching bag full of sand until it pours out, and later fighting off four professional boxers, easily defeating them. Afterwards, he demonstrates his enhanced speed upon being summoned by Commander Red by evading the attack of Commander Red's cat, leaving nothing but a scratch to his cheek. After Commander Red applauds Silver for his skills, Silver is ordered by Red to find a Dragon Ball located in a jungle, where he runs into Goku. Colonel Silver used a Rocket Launcher to temporarily destroy Goku's Flying Nimbus while Goku did not notice him. This action angers Goku, who tries to walk away with the Dragon Balls. Silver however, uses his quick speed to grab the bag with the Dragon Balls Goku was holding, however, shortly after, Goku manages to knab the bag back, and easily overpowers Silver when Silver attempts to fight against Goku. Silver is knocked out cold, and Goku takes a Red Ribbon Army private jet and a pilot robot to drive this jet for him. Silver then informs Staff Officer Black about the current situation.

ColonelSilverLastMoments — Colonel Silver begs for a second chance

In the manga, Commander Red says he was going to be executed for his failure, but that scene is never shown. In the anime, Colonel Silver is called back to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters for questioning. Colonel Silver begs for a second chance, but Commander Red replies that there are no second chances in the Red Ribbon Army. He orders the armed guards to take him out of his sight, but Colonel Silver brushes them off. He then calmly walks out the door. It is unknown if he escaped alive and still lived up until the end of Dragon Ball GT, as he was not seen at all in the Super 17 Saga when villains escaped from Hell.

Power level

The movie pamphlet for Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might states that Silver has a power level of 200.

Powers and abilities

Colonel Silver is shown to be a talented, powerful fighter with a love of weapons, and excellent in marksmanship as well. Colonel Silver's strength is shown to be above that of a regular human (he easily defeated four professional boxers in an anime-only segment). He is also capable of moving at superhuman speed, shocking even Goku when he runs past and swipes the bundle of cloth containing the Dragon Balls and Dragon Radar from Goku's hands.

Arsenal

Silver.Ep — Silver after shooting down Goku

Gun – Silver used a gun to kill a man in an early anime-only segment in the Red Ribbon Army Saga.
Rocket Launcher – Colonel Silver takes out his Rocket Launcher and launches a powerful rocket at his opponent. Used to shoot down Goku after the later defeated his two henchmen. In the video game Dragon Ball: Origins 2, Silver carries his Rocket Launcher on his back and, aside from using it regularly, he sometimes strikes his opponent with it. Colonel Silver's weapon is used by General Blue in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, during the Blast 2 attack called "I'll Shoot You!".

Video game appearances

ColonelSilverROKP — Colonel Silver in *Revenge of King Piccolo*

Colonel Silver makes minor appearances in the Wii Game Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo. Silver's two henchmen are fought in Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen, before the boss fight against Colonel Silver himself. In Revenge of King Piccolo, one of Silver's soldiers, the Silver Workman, is fought twice and instead of battling Silver at the end of the Chapter, Goku must fight with the Bear Thief.

Silver(O2) — Colonel Silver in *Dragon Ball: Origins 2*

Silver is a boss fought twice in the Dragon Ball: Origins 2 story mode, and a dual boss with General Blue in the Muscle Tower survival mode. Additionally, Oolong takes the appearance of Colonel Silver in the bonus story mode level 1-4 after he fleed from Bulma, who had found that he was spying her in her room. When Bulma finds the false "Colonel Silver" in the woods, she is instantly attracted to him. But when the real Colonel Silver appears, she figures out that one of them is Oolong and attacks the two Silvers (the real Colonel Silver and the transformed Oolong).

Voice actors

Japanese Dub: Banjō Ginga
Blue Water Dub: Ben Jeffery
FUNimation dub: Christopher R. Sabat
Latin American Dub: Mario Castañeda
Brazilian Dub: Tatá Guarnieri
Portuguese Dub: António Semedo

Trivia

Colonel Silver is the only main Red Ribbon Army officer (the other two being General White and General Blue) who does not have any named soldiers under his command (White has Ninja Murasaki, Buyon, Major Metallitron and Android 8, and Blue has Captain Dark). In the manga, only two of his soldiers are seen.

Colonel Silver Alive — A character similar to Colonel Silver in West City

In addition, Brown (whose rank is never stated, and who never appeared in either the anime or manga, but is mentioned in the army's theme song) seems to have a take-and-give relationship with Silver. In the manga, Brown found a Dragon Ball before him, which made Commander Red press Silver into finding another Dragon Ball faster. In the anime, Brown rallied his troops to Silver's aid when he was ambushed by Emperor Pilaf.
After shooting the Antique Shop Owner who gave him a fake Dragon Ball, Silver says "boring conversation anyway", a reference to one of Han Solo's quotes in Star Wars.
A character that has a similar appearance to Colonel Silver appears when Hasky is chasing Goku through West City. This may be an evidence that Colonel Silver is still alive after his final encounter with Commander Red.

Colonel Silver

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