Polunga

        

Polunga
ポルンガ Porunga
Alternative Name(s)	FUNi Porunga VIZ Shenlong
Personal Data
Universe	7th Universe
Cardinal Area	North Galaxies
Galaxy	Milky Way
Race	Dragon
Birthplace	Namekku
Status	Alive
Gender	Male
Voice Actors
English	Christopher Sabat
Japanese	Daisuke Gōri(early) Ryūzaburō Ōtomo(onwards)
Professional Status
Counterpart(s)	Shenron Demon Realm Polunga
Headquarters	Namekku (Formerly) New Namekku
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Dragon Ball, Volume #25, Chapter #292
Anime Debut	DBZ075
Game Debut	Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu
Family
Mūri (Creator) Oldest Elder (Creator)
Image Gallery
Character Image Gallery

Polunga (ポルンガ; FUNimation "Porunga", Viz "Shenlong") is a magical, wish-granting Dragon that is summoned using the Nameccian Dragon Balls, and as such, is the Nameccian counterpart to Earth's Shenron. He was originally created by the Oldest Elder, and later passed onto the Nameccian Elder Mūri after the former's death, where he was improved. In Nameccian, the word 'Polunga' means "god of dreams".

Background

Sometime prior to the beginning of the series, Polunga was created by the Oldest Elder along with the Nameccian Dragon Balls.

Personality

Like Shenron, Polunga is good-hearted, but being that he is a dragon, he has a temper and sometimes comes off as impatient. He is shown to have a sense of humor, as when he was kept waiting by Krillin, Gohan, and Dende, who had summoned him on Namekku, he told them if they couldn't think of what to wish for, "just wish for nothing three times so I can go". However, he is more friendly and patient than Shenron, and has demonstrated a greater eagerness to grant wishes; he restores Krillin's clothes as good as new as a special service, and is even shown to be happy for everyone after Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu are brought back to life. In the anime, he saves Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu the trouble of having to traverse the Snake Way again and returns them directly to Earth when they are wished back to life. He also shows embarrassment, when Bulma tells him he is "kinda cute."

It would seem Polunga is morally opposed to killing anyone good. When he was asked to bring Goku's soul to the Check-In Station in Other World as Goku was thought to have died from the explosion of Namekku, Polunga refused to grant the wish as doing so would remove Goku's soul from his still-living body and thus kill him. Even more, he informed Goku's allies of his survival. This is another seeming contrast between Polunga and Shenron, the latter of whom has been more threatening (even threatening to kill a good person in one instance if a wish was not given). It has been shown that Polunga will not relocate someone against their will as Goku asked to not be brought back to Earth when a wish was made for it, to which Polunga honored Goku's request.

Appearance

Polunga's full appearance.

Polunga is much more brutal-looking than Shenron, with a heavily muscled upper body (large pectoral muscles, shoulders, arms, and well defined abdominal muscles). Instead of looking snake-like in appearance, like Shenron does, Polunga appears to be more alligator-like, bearing great resemblance to the Naga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. He has a long green slithery tail instead of legs. He also has a large fin down the center of his back, and large spikes on his shoulders and head, as well as two antennae on his forehead similar to the Nameccian people.

Abilities

Besides being able to be summoned sooner, Polunga is also more powerful than Shenron in that he can grant three wishes per summoning instead of one or two/three (while originally only able to grant a single wish, by the Cell Games Saga, Dende modified Shenron to perform up to three wishes but can only perform two if one is used for a mass-scale revival).

Like Shenron, Polunga's wish-granting powers are limited by the power of his creator; Guru originally, and Mūri later on. Any wish that is encompassed within his creator's power is able to be granted. Unlike Shenron, Polunga is able to perform the same wish asked of it multiple times. While able to revive people the same, so long as they didn't die of natural causes, Polunga could only bring one person back from the dead per wish as compared to Shenron who can revive an unspecified number per wish. His natural power is also very strong, as he was able to replenish Goku's energy with ease. However, Polunga is not limited to the number of times the said person can be revived, nor is there any known time-limit for how long a person can remain dead before they are unable to be revived. Later, Polunga's power is strengthened by Mūri to bring back as many lives as needed without any reduction in the remaining number of wishes. Also, while understanding other languages, wishes must be given in the Nameccian language. This limitation prevented Frieza's wish for immortality from being granted, possibly as safeguard against offworlders misusing the Dragon Balls. Polunga is still able to respond to inquiries about his wish-granting abilities not made in the Nameccian, such as when Dende asked Polunga in human language during the battle against Kid Buu to restore Goku's full strength.^[2] The one exception to the language rule is when Polunga fails to understand the wording of the wish, to which he will still grant the requested wish if translated in another language, as seen from Polunga initially not understanding Dende's wish to revive all but the evil inhabitants of Earth.

Wish Granting

Main article: List of Wishes

Interlude

Polunga summoned at Serpent Road.

Following Mūri coming to the end of the Serpent Road, Polunga was summoned with the intention to restore and improve North Kaiō's destroyed planet, during which Son Gokū abruptly asked the dragon to restore the planet to exactly how it was before, leading to Polunga granting the wish.

Part IV

God and God Arc

Polunga was summoned by Kibito Shin, who wished for their fusion to be undone, resulting in the dragon separating Kibito and Nahare.

Creation and Conception

According to Akira Toriyama in the 30th Anniversary Dragon Ball Chōshishū: Super History Book, Toriyama's goal when making Polunga was to make him look even more incredible than the Shenron of Earth, due to Polunga being the original.

In Other Media

Polunga would go on to be featured in an advertisement for the Ford Motor Company, advertising the 2016 Ford Focus. In the commercial, Kuririn and Gohan summoned Polunga to wish for three different cards with various features; the Shenron would eventually get fed up, and grant one wish instead: a wish for the Ford, which encompassed all the traits Kuririn asked for in three cars.

Trivia

• In addition to the name 'Polunga', titles of anime episodes and manga chapters have referred to him by other names before his name was revealed. Both Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Z, Polunga was referred to as Super Shenron (神龍で, Sūpā Shenron) in his début episodes. In his début manga chapter, he was referred to as the Genuine Shenron (本場の神龍, Honba no Shenron). In a similar vein, VIZ Media chapter covers have referred to him as the "True Shenlong".
• Piccolo Daimaō's children, Tambourine and Cymbal, bear notable resemblances to Polunga in their official manga coloration. Each have green skin with a pebbly texture, and a cream coloured chin and torso. 
• In the manga, Polunga is summoned a total of 5 times.