World Tournament Announcer

"What do we do about Moon festivals from now on?!! What about moon pies?! And what about those poor werewolves who want to transform?! This is terrible!!"
— World Tournament Announcer after Jackie Chun blew up the moon

The World Tournament Announcer^[1]^[2] is the man who hosts every World Martial Arts Tournament from the beginning of Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball GT. Along with commentating, he sometimes acts as a referee for tournament matches other than the preliminary matches, usually counting when a contestant is down.

Personality

For the most part, he is shown to have an eccentric personality, being very loud and demonstrative whenever describing the battle occurring in front of him, along with showing the amazement of the unique techniques every fighter he sees uses. But a major flaw he is shown to have is not starting the countdown at the correct time due to him being too distracted with the events occurring around him, and if he did not have this trait, many fights would have ended differently or earlier based on the time he started the countdown. He seems to have an understanding of ki techniques and is familiar with a select few of them.

Biography

Dragon Ball

Tournament Saga

Main article: Tournament Saga

Announcer.Ep — The announcer declaring Jackie Chun wins against Man-Wolf

The announcer is mostly known for forgetting to count when an opponent is down as he does this very often. In the 21st World Martial Art Tournament, during the first battle of Krillin vs. Bacterian, a helper is seen counting instead of the announcer.

Tien Shinhan Saga

Main article: Tien Shinhan Saga, and King Piccolo Saga

AnnouncerCapsule — The Announcer during 22nd world tournament

In the 22nd World Martial Art Tournament, when Krillin brings Goku down by grabbing his tail, the announcer gets distracted after he said '9' by an audience member who complemented him on his hair. In every tournament, aside from the 21st, an unfortunate event occurs that enhances his role, such as in the King Piccolo Saga when he witnessed Krillin slain by Tambourine.

Piccolo Jr. Saga

Main article: Piccolo Jr. Saga

Announcer — The announcer telling everyone to run away from Piccolo

Later, he becomes very important as he witnesses Goku's fight with Piccolo from the sidelines along with Goku's friends; the World Martial Arts Announcer is the only non-Z Fighter not to abandon the tournament when Piccolo states he will slaughter everyone. When Piccolo is later assumed knocked out when Goku uses his Meteor Combination attack, the announcer counts down, however, Piccolo makes a quick recovery when the announcer counts to 9 and use a mouth blast to impale Goku through the chest, continuing the brutal torture with Goku. He eventually declares Goku the winner of the tournament match when Piccolo is knocked out of the arena by Goku headbutt, making him one of the few civilians to know the truth (this event was later referenced in the Majin Buu Saga when Piccolo competes in the tournament, where he jokingly asks him not to destroy the ring again). Between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, he did also lose one tiny hair bang probably also due to the increase of age.

Dragon Ball Z

Majin Buu Saga

Main article: World Tournament Saga, Babidi Saga, Majin Buu Saga, Kid Buu Saga, and Peaceful World Saga

197 20120224-19205271 — The announcer in *Dragon Ball Z*

Over the years, he has become an acquaintance with the Z Fighters, and knows that they are responsible for saving the Earth, not Mr. Satan. He thought that it was Goku that killed Cell, as he was witness to Goku's feats of power in the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tournaments (although it was Gohan who actually destroyed the villain, even though Goku did somewhat helped him to bring out the energy that was hidden in Gohan). He somewhat doubts Mr. Satan's abilities, such as when Vegeta who was under the control of Babidi goes out of control. Although he believes Mr. Satan is not the hero claimed to be, he praises him in order to make fans cheer and hides the secret about Mr Satan not being the one who defeated Cell.

WMATAnnouncer — The Announcer at the 28th World Tournament

Ten years after Kid Buu's defeat, his age starts to show as he has lost hair and has very noticeable wrinkles. He rates Goku on par with Majin Buu in the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, saying they would be in the finals.

Dragon Ball GT

Super 17 Saga

Main article: Super 17 Saga

OldAnnouncer — The announcer in *Dragon Ball GT*

6 years later in Dragon Ball GT, he is seen hosting the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament, as Goku competes in the Junior Division, and Pan along with Mr. Satan and Majuub (as Papayaman) compete in the Adult Division.

Appearances in other media

Nippon Ijin Taishō

Announcer(NIT) — The announcer in *Nippon Ijin Taishō*

The World Tournament Announcer appears in anime segment in the 2007 Nippon Ijin Taishō · Saikyō no Ijin wa Dare? (日本偉人大賞・最強の偉人は誰？; lit. "Japan's Great Awards - Who is the Strongest Hero?"), along with Goku who is a commentator with the Fuji TV announcer Masaharu Miyake. The segment featured a special World Martial Arts Tournament that was to decide who was the greatest person in Japanese history. The fighters were Musashibo Benkei, Himiko, Prince Shotoku, and Amakusa Shiro. The winner was Prince Shotoku, who defeated Benkei in the final.

Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special

Worldtournamentannouncer crossover — The announcer along IGO Director Mansam

He appears as an announcer in the World's Best Eating Tournament (Tenkaichi Kuōkai) hosted by the International Gourmet Organization (IGO). He takes the commentary in the race and the battle between the lead characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko.

Video games

The announcer appears in the following games:

AnnouncerBattle22 — The announcer in *Ultimate Battle 22*

Announcer(DBO) — The announcer in *Dragon Ball Online*

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (Future self)
Dragon Ball: Origins
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
Dragon Ball Online^[3]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (talks but cannot be seen)
Dragon Ball Heroes
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen

Voice actors

Japanese: Kenji Utsumi (Dragon Ball), Hirotaka Suzuoki (Dragon Ball Z), Tamotsu Nishiwaki (Dragon Ball Kai)
Harmony Gold dub: Daniel Woren
Ocean Group dub: Michael Dobson
FUNimation dub: Eric Vale
Latin American dub: Salvador Delgado (DB, DBZ, DBGT) Pedro D'Aguillón Jr (DBZ Kai)
Brazilian Portuguese dub: Wellington Lima (21st Tournament), Tatá Guarnieri (22nd and 23rd Tournament), Cassius Romero (DBZ)

Trivia

The announcer seems to have a form of dyslexia; he has trouble reading Goku's and Chiaotzu's names the first time they enter the tournament. He also announces one entrant as Wolf-Man instead of Man-Wolf.^[4] This, however, is a dubism, as the Japanese versions have him mispronounce the Kanji used in their names. The change in setup is due to linguistic differences between written Japanese and written English.

In the (English version) manga, the announcer says that Chi-Chi was the first female ever to be in the finals in the 23rd World Tournament, but Ranfan was in the finals of the 21st tournament.
A joke in the game Shin Budokai - Another Road is that he understands "about half" of what Kid Buu says: according to him, Kid Buu will save half of the tournament's prize money and go shopping with the rest of it.
In the last episode of Dragon Ball GT, there is a new announcer with white hair who is most likely a descendant of the announcer. However, this is not confirmed. He does seem to know Mr. Satan and Goku well since he did introduce the Goku and Mr. Satan Statue at the beginning of the tournament. His enthusiasm is also identical to the previous one.
Despite not being playable (as is not a fighter), a running gag on kanzenshuu forum hints his opening line if he EVER will be playable in a fighting game : "If you want a job done right... you have to do it yourself." (which makes sense consirding Babidi was playable before) http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3009&hilit=Tenkaichi+budokai+announcer&start=20