Turtle

Turtle's meeting with Goku marks the true beginning of the Dragon Ball adventure. Lost far from the sea, the elderly turtle was stranded in the wilderness until Goku agreed to carry him back to the ocean. This simple act of kindness set the entire story in motion; Turtle returned with Master Roshi, who gave Goku the Flying Nimbus cloud as thanks, and Bulma received a Dragon Ball from the old master. Without Turtle's predicament, Goku would never have met Roshi, never trained at the Turtle School, and never developed the Kamehameha that became his signature technique.

A Lifetime at Kame House

Since that fateful introduction, Turtle has remained at Kame House, Master Roshi's island home, serving as a companion, conscience, and occasional voice of reason for the old hermit. Born over a thousand years ago, Turtle has the patience and wisdom that comes with extreme age, though he rarely gets to share it because the more dynamic characters around him tend to dominate the conversation. He has witnessed every major event to affect Kame House, from Raditz's arrival to the Android crisis to the Buu saga's devastation. Despite having no combat abilities whatsoever, he has never been permanently harmed, always returning alongside his friends when the Dragon Balls restore the world. Turtle's enduring presence in the series speaks to Toriyama's affection for his earliest characters. He is a living link to the very first chapter of Dragon Ball, a reminder of the simpler, smaller-scale adventure that eventually grew into a saga of gods, aliens, and multiversal warfare.