Tuffle

Tuffle Tsufuru-jin Tsufurusian
Homeworld	Planet Plant
Average Height	Smaller than the average Saiyan
Diet	Unknown, presumably Omnivorous
Sapience Level	Sapient

The Tuffles were a highly advanced technological race of beings native to Planet Vegeta (originally called 'Planet Plant' or 'Planet Tuffle'). Despite their incredible technologies, the Tuffles were largely a docile race and held no aggression towards each other or other races, nor did they suffer from overpopulation. However, the Tuffles lived side by side with another race; the Saiyans. Some sources state that the Saiyans simply evolved alongside the Tuffles at a similar rate (though the Saiyans and their society were still quite primitive, they were fully sentient) while others indicate that the Saiyans were not native to Planet Plant at all, arriving on a strange starship one day. Relationships between the two races is also mixed; the first account (told by King Kai to Goku) explains that the Tuffles lived in their advanced cities in the more fertile areas of Planet Plant, while the Saiyans lived in large tribes out in the badlands and the two very rarely - if ever - interacted with each other. Dr. Raichi's account (which is also the origin of the 'spaceship' story) states that the Tuffles welcomed the Saiyans with open arms and treated them as equals. Vegeta, however, retorts that Raichi and the entire Tuffle race treated the Saiyans as slaves.

[edit] War

Main article: Saiyan-Tuffle war Eventually, regardless of their origins, one Saiyan became dominant amongst the collective tribes; a Saiyan that Dr. Raichi described as having "the cunning of a Tuffle". This Saiyan was none other than Vegeta's father, and he incited a swift and brutal war against the Tuffles with the intent of eradicating them entirely. The outcome of many battles was mostly even, since though the Saiyans had greater strength they possessed far fewer numbers, allowing the technological Tuffles to tip the balance with their advanced weaponry. Unfortunately, the war was brought to a sudden end by the arrival of an event that only occurred on Planet Plant once a century; the moon was full. The entire Saiyan race transformed into their feral Great Ape forms and in the space of a single night the Tuffles were annihilated. Taking what little of the technology interested them (most notably the Scouters and armour) the Saiyans established their own society amidst the ruins of the Tuffle civilization, crowning King Vegeta and naming the planet after him.

[edit] Survivors

Though the Tuffles were rendered extinct, traces of their race managed to survive, most notably the Tuffle experiment Baby. Though Baby himself is not an actual Tuffle he possesses their genetic information (notably that of the last Tuffle king), making him a DNA archive for the race. The only other survivor was Dr. Raichi, who died on the same fateful night as the rest of the race, but was resurrected as a 'Ghost Warrior' by his own creation; Hatchhyack, a machine designed to amplify 'the power of hate' in order to help the Tuffles fight back and defeat the Saiyan menace. Both of these creatures are successfully destroyed by the collective might of the remaining Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta, and their descendants. Strangely, though he and the other Tuffles resemble humans in flashbacks, Dr. Raichi somewhat resembles Baby in his Ghost Warrior form.

[edit] Name

Main article: Origins of character names in Dragon Ball The Japanese name 'Tsufuru-jin' is a pun relating to the Saiyans (who are all named after vegetables). It is a Japanese pronunciation of the English word 'Fruit' (or "Furutusu" as it would be said). The dub name of 'Tuffles' could be linked to 'Truffles', another food found in the ground akin to a vegetable.

[edit] Trivia

• The Tuffle planet was renamed Vegeta when King Vegeta took over and renamed it after himself. The planet was later destroyed by Frieza. (Dragon Ball GT episode 27-Attack on Vegeta)