Zamasu (ザマス), spelled Zamas in Viz Media's English localization of the Dragon Ball Super manga, is a fictional character and an antagonist in the Japanese manga series Dragon Ball created by Akira Toriyama. He is the first main antagonist of the sequel series Dragon Ball Super, who appears in various incarnations, first introduced as Goku Black (ゴクウブラック, Gokū Burakku) in the forty-seventh episode of the Dragon Ball Super anime series, which first aired on June 12, 2016, and in chapter #14 "An SOS from the Future!!" from the manga. Within the series, Zamasu is an apprentice Supreme Kai (界王神, Kaiōshin; lit. 'World King God') from Universe 10. In the series' original unaltered timeline, Zamasu hijacked Son Goku's body by using the Super Dragon Balls as part of "Project Zero Mortals" ("Zero Mortal Plan"/"Zero People Plan"). His plan is to attain supreme power and wipe out all mortal beings. He travels to an alternate future Earth and encounters the timeline's version of Trunks. Zamasu proceeds to bring humanity to the brink of extinction. To complete his plan, he joins forces with the future timeline's version of Zamasu, who is made indestructible. The character has been positively received and is regarded as one of the best villains/antagonists of the Dragon Ball franchise.
Concept design
Toriyama got the inspiration for Goku Black from characters who are presented as evil "copies" of the hero character in classic tokusatsu programs such as Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Kamen Rider Black. Toriyama originally devised Zamasu as a character who is on par in single combat with an individual who has attained the Super Saiyan Blue form, whereas other elements such as the retconned time limit of Potara fusions and Zamasu's effective immortality were added to make the fight more interesting. Goku and Vegeta were depicted as struggling against Zamasu in combat due to his tricky nature, as well as their own lack of teamwork. Toei Animation Producer Atsushi Kido said Fused Zamasu is a "cheat" character for his massive strength, and that his one weakness could be that he was originally a single person.
Character Zamasu is depicted as a green-skinned humanoid with grey eyes and a white mohawk. He gains Goku's appearance after switching bodies with him, with only slight physical differences. Aside from a single gold and green Potara earring on his left ear, he also wears a Time Ring on his right index finger, which allows him to travel between different timelines at will without the need of a time machine, and also protects him from being erased by temporal paradoxes. After attaining the Super Saiyan Rosé (超サイヤ人ロゼ, Sūpā Saiya-jin Roze) transformation, which was soon explained to be Goku Black's version of Super Saiyan for the anime, and this version of the Super Saiyan form was equal to Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form (Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan) in terms of power-level. In the manga, Goku Black's hair turns bright pink, due to Zamasu's status as a deity. After Goku Black merges with his alternate future self via the use of a pair of matching Potara earrings, the result is the even more powerful Fused Zamasu (合体ザマス, Gattai Zamasu), described as a mixture of incredible power with a deteriorating, yet immortal, body and unhinged mind. The resulting fusion is later revealed to be flawed as Fused Zamasu later degenerates into a grotesque appearance with the left half his body turning into purple sludge. In the anime, this is explained as a result of an unstable and uneven cellular regeneration as the fusion is composed of a mortal (Goku Black) and an immortal (Zamasu). In the manga, this form was explained to be a "temporary" form that Fused Zamasu assumed when he resisted being split apart after the time limit of the Potara fusion passed. Another reason that Fused Zamasu's mortal side (Goku Black) mutated, is that Potara fusion is permanent for Kais, Zamasu, being an apprentice Supreme Kai (界王神, Kaiōshin) himself. Thus, the Potara fusion should've been temporary, but since Goku Black was a mortal, it had caused a mutation in the fusion. Following the defeat of Fused Zamasu, he transcends into the even more powerful Infinite Zamasu form, though the character's depiction differs considerably between the anime and manga versions. In the anime, Infinite Zamasu is an incorporeal energy being while the manga version is an evolved form of Fused Zamasu, his regeneration ability becoming advanced enough to the point where he is capable of creating seemingly infinite fully grown clones of himself from each cell in his body within seconds, after both composite beings successfully and permanently merged at a cellular level.
Voice actors Zamasu is voiced by Shinichiro Miki in Japanese media. David Gray is credited as the English voice actor for the FUNimation. Some sources speculated that David Gray, along with Sam Majesters, who is credited as Zamasu's voice actor in Dragon Ball FighterZ, were in fact the aliases used by American actor James Marsters, who previously played King Piccolo in Dragonball Evolution. Sean Schemmel, who voices Goku and Goku Black, claimed in an interview that FUNimation wanted to keep Marsters' involvement as a surprise. Marsters did not provide confirmation as to whether he is the English voice actor for Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super until a Fan Expo Canada event in October 2021. Goku Black shares the same voice actors as Goku in all media. He is voiced by Masako Nozawa in Japanese, and Sean Schemmel in English. Kofi Outlaw from Comicbook.com noted that Schemmel's voice for Goku Black is very different in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ compared to his performance in the FUNimation dub, which was released after the video games. Schemmel indicated that he did not want to copy Nozawa's approach to portray Goku Black; instead, he wanted to emulate Marsters' performance, as he is supposed to embody the spirit of the same character, who happened to have taken possession of Goku's physical body. Outlaw described his voice in the anime dub to be very similar to his friendly, dulcet tones for Goku, but noted as more sinister and twisted.
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