In His Defence: Yamcha's Integrity in Question

I couldn't help myself. My defence of Goku seemed to turn out pretty well (or so said the comments) so I decided to try to salvage at least a speck of the decency Yamcha rightfully deserves. Please, people, enter only after you've shed all your previous oppinions of Yamcha; you will need an open mind. Don't worry, you can keep your old feelings without bothering me a bit, but after you read this you may want to change your colors a tad. I make no presumptions, I just want to defend poor Yamcha-san's character.

But, I say, I hereby also leave my own personal oppinions at the door. I state only the facts, so try to sink in only the facts.

Oh, kami. I'm going to starting out at the heart of the whole Yamcha-hate problem. Bulma. In nearly all fics (especially the romances) it's always protrayed that Yamcha is the heartless bastard who is always running out on Bulma, cheating on her, digging other chicks when their on a date and occationally ending up drunk or coming home smelling of perfume. He starts the fights, storms off when Bulma is right (the authors make sure she always is) with out a good bye......of coarse, around this time the fic evolves into Bulma crying her eyes out and seeking comfort with dear old Vegita who just happens to be training next door.

I exagerate not when I say I've read more than ten different fics that are set like that. It's disheartening to see so many Yamcha haters out there, when Yamcha is such a good person (despite Funi's attempts to make him a coward.)

I'm not saying Yamcha's the best person in the world. When he was a desert bandit, he was not squeemish when it came to killing innocent people (he had every intention of killing young Goku who, though he was 12, looked like he was 8.) But ya know what? Bulma was just as evil, if not more so. One of the first things she tried to do when she met lil' Goku was shoot him. Shoot him in the head. Right between the eyes. Had it been any other kid, his head would have been clear blown off and Bulma would have probably driven off in search of the dragonballs without a speck of remorse

Kinda makes ya think, don't it?

True, as time went by, Bulma stopped being so violent/premiscuious/mean/egotistical/uncompassionate/bitchy. Infact, by the time the Buu saga came around, she was a good person, through and through (best represented by her kindness to Tapion in movie 13. So patient, you wouldn't recognize her!)

But we're getting off track. The thing is, Yamcha and Bulma's relationship has been so misconstruted that it's not even funny anymore. It's not clear if Yamcha cheated on Bulma or not (it could very well be possible that Bulma cheated with Vegita first.) In my sub, Trunks says 'Yamcha was too fickle', where-as the dub says 'he found someone else.' But it's not the first time Funi took an idea and ran. Fickle. Unable to decide, or make up his mind. I bet Bulma wanted more of a comitment from him and he was just too damn shy to agree (I doubt he totally lost his fear of women.)

But why do I say there's a good chance Bulma was also cheating on Yamcha? Well, she wasn't exactly the best of girl friends. In many noted occations, Bulma hits on, oogles over, dreams about, and flashes other guys. In one of the Tenkaichi Bodokais, she made a comment like "I wonder if that Jackie Kun guy is hot....." Oolong asked her "but aren't you going with Yamcha now?" She didn't seem even slightly ashamed as she said, "A girl can look...."

I think the main reason you people portray Yamcha as the bad-guy is that you like an antagonist--a force--trying to keep Bulma and Vegita from getting together. It's common. In the Trunks/Pan relationships, Gohan is the opposing force. In Goten/Bra relationships, Vegita is often the opposing force. In Juuhachi/Kuririn relationships, Juunana is often the opposing force. In Gohan/Videl relationships, Mr. Satan is the opposing force (or sometimes Chichi.) Perhaps that's why there aren't many Goku/Chichi romances. There's nothing to stand in their way of being together.

Once again, I'm getting off topic. Do you guys see my point even in the slightest? Yamcha isn't the bad guy, here. He's just some poor bum that happened to get caught between the most favored couple in DBZ. It's not his fault.