Guru (最長老, Saichouro; commonly called "Grand Elder") is the oldest, nicest and wisest remaining Namekian in existence at the time of his appearance, and is one of three of the only survivors of a cataclysmic climate shift several hundred years prior to the events in the series, (the other two being Kami and King Piccolo, who were one being prior to Kami's separation with his inner evil, which resulted in the self-proclaimed Demon King, and Lord Slug). Guru is renowned for saving the Namekian race after the climate shift, by laying eggs and continuing his species. As the creator of the Namekian Dragon Balls, Guru's death would cause them to become inert. This happened once during the Frieza Saga, but he was later resurrected using the Earth's Dragon Balls. Soon thereafter, (when his death due to old age was imminent), Guru passed on the Dragon Balls, as well as his position as the Namekian elder, to Moori. In his lifetime, he birthed 109 children, including Nail and Dende. His name is then changed to SuperKamiGuru in the abridged series.
Morbidly obese in his old age, Guru is always seen sitting stationary on his throne-like chair. He dies before Frieza is defeated, of a combination of a broken heart and stress (both brought on from repeatedly sensing his children's deaths at the hands of Frieza's minions), but not before unlocking Krillin, Gohan and Dende's hidden powers (the latter of whom seemed to gain healing abilities as opposed to increased battle strength). He is briefly brought back to life on Namek and brought to Earth for the two minutes of time that was taken from his lifetime by Frieza's actions, but dies again of old age before the population can be moved again to New Namek. He goes with a smile on his face, saying it was a good day to die.
In the manga, it is revealed that he knew about the Super Saiyan legend, and regarded Kami and Piccolo's original potential to be so great that only a Super Saiyan could have a chance at defeating him (ironically, it's later stated that Kami and Piccolo's potential was even greater than a Super Saiyan by Krillin in the Imperfect Cell Saga).
Also, Guru's chair (throne) design actually first appeared several years prior in the King Piccolo Saga, though
The Grand Elder, stationary at his throne in the anime
The Grand Elder talking to Krillin, Dende and Nail
King Piccolo's was slightly modified with skull detailing, while Kami's was nearly identical to Guru's, as was the chair originally within the ship the Nameless Namek came to Earth in. Nameless Namek and/or his father Katas may have known Guru due to this, though it is also possible other Namekian leaders used these chairs as well, in the time prior to the climate shift on Namek which nearly extinguished their species.
Powers and Abilities
Though Guru was not shown fighting, he has shown of telephathetic number of abilities. As a member of the Drag
Gohan after his powers has been awakened by Guru
on Clan, his most famous ability is the power to create Dragon Balls, to which he gave powerful abilities. He has the ability to unlock someone's hidden potential by placing his hand on their head; he did this for Krillin, Gohan and Dende. Krillin asked Guru if he wasn't weakened after unlocking his potential, but Guru replied that it didn't matter the slightest as he only acted as a catalyst, and that his life force is not effected in the slightest. Guru can also view someone's memories by placing his hand on their head, and can perform telepathy and sense ki.
Voice Actors
Japanese Dub: Junpei Takiguchi (Originally) and Masaharu Sato (Onwards)
Ocean Group Dub: Robert O. Smith
FUNimation Dub: Christopher R. Sabat (Dragon Ball Z) Bill Jenkins (Dragon Ball Z Kai)
Latin American Dub: Armando Réndiz
Brazilian Dub: César Leitão
Trivia
Though many characters in Dragon Ball Z die twice within the course of the storyline (like Goku, Vegeta,
In the manga canon, Guru is the only named character to die of natural causes, with the exception of Future Goku, and the only named character to die simply of old age.
Guru is the largest non-transformed Namekian, King Piccolo is the second largest, though he eventually increases his size to Guru's before he attacks Goku with his Destructive Wave.
Guru apparently knows of the Super Saiyan legend, as he refers to it in the manga and in the anime, asks Krillin if the Saiyan that attacked Earth was a "Super Saiyan".
Although referred to as "Guru" in the English dub of the Dragon Ball Z anime, that name has been dropped in favor of a more literal translation j of his name, "The Grand Elder," for the English dub of Dragon Ball Z Kai.
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