King Yemma

King Yemma (閻えん魔ま大だい王おう, Enma Daiō, lit. "Great King Enma") is the ruler of all ogres responsible for judging the souls of the deceased. Souls line up at his office, where he determines whether they go to Heaven or Hell.

Names	King Yemma (閻えん魔ま大だい王おう, Enma Daiō, lit. "Great King Enma"), Emma-Daioh King Enma, Yama, Enma-chan (by Goku)
Gender	Male
Race	Ogre
Occupation	Judge
Origin	Dragon Ball Chapter 205 (DBZ 11): "A Warrior in Hell"|あの世よでファイト！！|Ano Yo de Faito!!|lit. "A Fight in the Afterlife!!" November 21, 1988 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1989 #03/04)
Alignment	Good
Age	Millions of years
Created By	Akira Toriyama

Appearance

King Yemma stands out among ogres with his unique coloring, beard, and horned helmet. His colossal size dwarfs others, and his desk towers at least three times above Goku's height, with Goku able to fit inside a single drawer.

Personality

King Yemma exudes authority and strength, easily overpowering Raditz during his passage through the afterlife. However, as villains grow stronger later in the series, this feat becomes less notable. He is impatient and quick to anger, as seen when he yelled at Piccolo for disrupting Heaven or chastised Kami for holding up the line while lost in thought. Despite his stern demeanor, King Yemma listens when necessary and even uses his position humorously to scare others, such as when he jokingly threatened to send Kami to Hell.

He demonstrates high intelligence, notably recovering Vegeta's body and strategically sending Dabura to Heaven to ensure his misery. Beneath his gruff exterior, he shows kindness, evident in his tolerant treatment of Goku and granting his wish for Kid Buu's reincarnation into the good-hearted Uub.

Biography

Background

Before Goku's arrival, King Yemma was the only one to complete various challenging tasks in the Other World, including defeating Goz, catching Mez in a footrace, traversing Snake Way, and escaping Princess Snake's palace.

Dragon Ball Z

Saiyan Saga

When Goku dies and is brought to the Other World by Kami, King Yemma grants him permission to train with King Kai. He mentions easily defeating Raditz using his "Yemma Lock" and maintains control over the afterlife. However, Kami notes that King Kai is stronger, a comment overheard by Yemma, who humorously threatens Kami. When Goku departs for training, Yemma expresses hope for Earth's survival against the Saiyans.

Majin Buu Saga

King Yemma sends Cell to Hell after Gohan defeats him. When Dabura dies, Yemma sends him to Heaven to ensure he doesn’t enjoy himself. After Vegeta’s sacrifice, Yemma allows him to retain his body and sends him to Earth to fight Super Buu. He also installs satellite TV to watch pivotal battles.

Peaceful World Saga

After the battle with Kid Buu, Yemma fulfills Goku’s wish to reincarnate Kid Buu as Uub for a future rematch.

Dragon Ball Super

Universe 6 Saga

King Yemma hears Goku’s wish and reincarnates Kid Buu as Uub.

"Future" Trunks Saga

Yemma briefly encounters Goku when he dies against Hit and revives himself with a ki blast.

Universe Survival Saga

Yemma permits Goku to visit Frieza in Hell and arranges for his temporary return to the living world with Baba's help, granting Goku responsibility for Frieza’s behavior.

Dragon Ball GT

Super 17 Saga

Yemma sends Piccolo to Hell to assist Goku.

Dr. Slump

The mythological figure King Yemma, known as Enma in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball, is directly inspired by the deity Enma from Japanese folklore. This figure also appears in Akira Toriyama's earlier manga, Dr. Slump. In that story, Enma hires Trampire and her servant as grim reapers to retrieve Senbei Norimaki after he dies from being hit by a coconut. However, Arale Norimaki intervenes, tagging along and throwing a pile of poop at Enma, enraging him. Furious, Enma sends them all to Hell, unaware that Arale's friend, Chivil, is already working to return them to the living world. As a result of the chaos, Enma fires Trampire and her servant.

The Brief Return of Dr. Slump

The Dragon Ball version of Enma makes a cameo in the sequel manga The Brief Return of Dr. Slump, appearing in the chapter "Hoyoyo Sentai Araranger," which parodies the Super Sentai genre. After Dr. Mashirito's mech is destroyed by Arale, he finds himself in the Other World. Enma judges him and sentences him to Hell. Mashirito, undeterred, angrily demands that someone use the Dragon Balls to bring him back to life.

Film Appearances

Fusion Reborn

In this film, Yemma becomes trapped in his office by a barrier created by Janemba. While Pikkon attempts to destroy the barrier with insults, Yemma grows impatient but ultimately helps restore order as Goku and Vegeta defeat Janemba.

Powers and Statistics

Tier: 5-B

Powers and abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Ki Manipulation (Master Level), Immortality (Type 1), Large Size (Type 1), Enhanced Senses (Heard Kami whispering to Goku about how King Kai is stronger than him), Telepathy, Memory Manipulation (Yemma can erase the memories of souls. This is confirmed by himself, when he left Vegeta's entire spirit without any traces of change in him), Self-Sustenance (Type 3), Clairvoyance, BFR (Has control of sending the souls of the dead to Heaven or Hell), Purification and Resurrection (Purified all evil from Kid Buu's soul and because of that he was reincarnated into another body more quickly), Non-Physical Interaction and Soul Manipulation (Restored Vegeta's body and saved his soul intact, so he wouldn't turn into another being after he died. Can judge also control all soul so that they can be purified), Sealing (King Yemma seals Frieza in a cocoon so he can no longer use his powers)

Attack Potency: Planet level (Overpowered Raditz, is stronger than Goz who was able to damage Post-Raditz Goku)

Speed: Relativistic+ (Via power-scaling from Raditz, is the only ogre to have beaten Mez in a footrace, who was overtaking Post-Raditz Goku in their own race)

Lifting Strength: Unknown

Striking Strength: Planet level (Superior to Raditz)

Durability: Planet level

Stamina: Superhuman (He is the only person prior to Goku to have ever completed the trip across Snake Way, which is a million kilometers long. Able to keep judging souls nonstop, judging the entire Earth's population during the Majin Buu Saga)

Range: Extended Melee Range

Standard Equipment: Wooden mallet

Intelligence: Gifted. Deals with organization and judgement of souls from the universe efficiently.

Weaknesses: None notable

Trivia

• King Yemma is named after and inspired by the East Asian and Buddhist deity Yama, known as Enma (閻えん魔ま) in Japan. His aversion to lying references a Buddhist fable where Yama, the king of hell, punishes children by tearing out their tongues if they lie.
• King Yemma shares similarities in both appearance and occupation with King Enma from Yu Yu Hakusho.
• In both the Japanese version and Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z, King Yemma is voiced by the same actors who voice Mr. Satan.
• King Yemma may be millions of years old, as Old Kai mentions knowing about him long before the events of the series.