, generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is the final antagonist in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the release of Dragon Ball Super. He is introduced in chapter #460 "Majin Buu Appears?!", first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on March 1, 1994. Majin Buu is a genie-like magical life form awoken by the evil warlock Bibidi that terrorized galaxies by destroying entire planets, millions of years before the events of Dragon Ball take place. He was temporarily sealed away and brought to Earth; however, Bibidi was killed and Buu remained hidden. During the events of Dragon Ball Z, he is revived by Bibidi's son Babidi in order to carry on his father's plan to conquer the entire universe.
Creation and design
Manga author Akira Toriyama stated that when creating a villain in Dragon Ball, he would try to make them different from any that had come before. Although it was difficult and he was usually not entirely pleased with the results, he thinks he did achieve this with Majin Buu. The Shenlong Times issue #2, a bonus pamphlet given to some buyers of the Daizenshuu 2: Story Guide guidebook, says that Majin Buu was modeled after Toriyama's editor at the time, Fuyuto Takeda. Buu, Bibidi and Babidi take their names from the song "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" in the Walt Disney movie Cinderella. Toriyama stated that the fight between Buu and Gotenks was fun to draw because he was able to come up with odd techniques in "the spirit of gag manga".
Majin Buu has several different forms, each with a different appearance and personality; however, all are pink creatures (with the exception of Pure Evil Majin Buu, which is dark grey) with an antenna on their head and several pores on both sides of their heads, arms, chest and vertebrae. They have a rubbery body (again, with the exception of Pure Evil Majin Buu) that can regenerate instantly from any wound, separate parts of it from themselves and control them independently, and can even completely restore themselves from vapor. Buu can also heal damaged beings, and can absorb other organisms by enveloping them with his body or eating them, the latter done by using his signature attack that turns people into food such as candy.
When first introduced he is overweight and wears gloves, boots, a vest, and a cape. His appearance, magical powers, how he appeared from his ball, longevity, and how he is summoned to Earth by an evil warlock using the life-force of his victims are all somewhat genie-esque, an aspect further implied in the Japanese word "Majin" in his name, which can read as "Djinn", which led to Viz Media rendering his name as Djinn-Boo for the English manga release. His trousers, in all forms he takes, bear the same "M" symbol like many other characters associated with Babidi in this part of the manga; whether this is short for Buu's title of "Majin", Babidi's title of "Madoshi" in the original Japanese or something else is unclear. In a 2007 interview printed in Shonen Jump, Akira Toriyama stated that Buu's design was inspired by adaptations of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) that he watched as a child.
Majin Buu's manner is very naive and childlike, taking joy in fighting and scaring people. Throughout the series, he is always referred to by either Majin Buu or simply Buu, no matter what form he is in. However, each form has been given their own names in guidebooks, video games, or by fans, to distinguish between them. The first fat form seen is referred to as . When Buu expels the evil inside him, it takes on a taller and much skinnier, frail form referred to as . When this Buu absorbs the fat one, he transforms into a muscular version of himself, referred to as , with English media referring to him as "Super Buu". Personality-wise, Super Buu is more intelligent than Innocent Buu and is described as "pure rage".