Shigeru Chiba

Shigeru Chiba voiced Raditz in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai, the cold and menacing older brother of Goku who arrived on Earth to recruit him for an alien conquest. Chiba's performance captured Raditz's callous brutality and alien arrogance, making him the franchise's first true antagonist from beyond. He also voiced Emperor Pilaf across multiple Dragon Ball series, bringing pompous scheming to the diminutive tyrant who started Goku's entire journey. In Dragon Ball Z, Chiba voiced Garlic Jr., a secondary film villain, adding to his role as a conveyor of villainy across the franchise's scope.

Born in Kumamoto, Japan, Chiba became one of anime's most recognizable voices, working for 81 Produce as an actor, narrator, and sound director. Beyond Dragon Ball, he has lent his voice to hundreds of anime productions, from Bleach's Don Kanonji to Demon Slayer's Jigoro Kuwajima. His range spans comedic to sinister roles, though he remains iconic for breathing menace into the early Dragon Ball antagonists that defined the series' opening chapters.