At this point in the game, with Dragon Ball Sparking Zero awakening our teenage self, and Dragon Ball Daima doing the same with our inner child, it could be said that the fan base of Dragon Ball is higher than ever. Of all of them, there must be few who do not already know how the name Kamehameha was born for Goku’s and company’s most emblematic attack.
What many do not know, however, is that the Hawaiian king Kamehameha inspired more than just the mythical ki attack in Dragon Ball. His story, halfway between reality and myth, also left us a legend that would serve Goku to, just as happened to the monarch, become the hero he became.
The legend of King Kamehameha
Famous for unifying the islands of Hawaii thanks to his diplomatic skills and the alliance with other countries to supply firearms that could turn the battles in which the Hawaiians were involved, King Kamehameha, which could be translated as The Solitary, is a figure surrounded by great historical milestones and even greater legends.
Buried in a secret tomb that still has not been found to this day, hidden to protect his spiritual power from those who want to seize it, we owe to Kamehameha, for example, the Law of the Splintered Paddle that later became the model for shaping our human rights laws to govern the rules in times of war.
After sparing the life of an elderly man who had hit him with a paddle, Kamehameha decreed that the elderly, women, and children deserved the utmost respect and safeguard in battles, thus prohibiting them from being attacked even if they were on the opposing side, and making anyone who did not guarantee their integrity to be executed.
It was that mix of an iron hand and diplomatic skills that allowed him to conquer the islands that were challenging his leadership, pushing his rivals on the island of O’ahu to a cliff, just like in the moment in 300 one of the most remembered moments of the battles of the Spartans, and seeking agreements with the island of Kaua’i when diseases and political tensions predicted a massacre for the involved peoples.
From unifying Hawaii to Dragon Ball
When Akira Toriyama was writing what would later become Dragon Ball, he and his wife were planning a trip to Hawaii at her request, so looking for information about the place, he came across the story of Kamehameha and considered the name was striking and exotic enough not to use it. The legends surrounding his story were equally interesting.
Legend has it that, at the birth of Kamehameha, Halley’s Comet bathed the sky prophesying the arrival of a great leader, so the child had to be protected by the elderly to prevent the local chiefs, who saw a threat to their powers in the prophecy, from trying to end him. However, it was another event that, supposedly, ended up turning him into the hero he later became.
It is said that, even from a young age, Kamehameha possessed great strength, but to earn the favor of his people, he first had to complete a tough test. Just like Goku had to train with Master Roshi in the early stages of Dragon Ball, the Hawaiian monarch had to drag a large rock.
Currently located in the Hilo Public Library, it is called the Naha Stone and weighs approximately two and a half tons. At just 14 years old, Kamehameha not only moved the stone leaving everyone in awe but, as the legend goes, he managed to lift it, uniting all those who doubted his reputation to him.
Image | Jennifer Bourn, W Nowicki
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