Namek

Namek (ナメック星, Namekku-sei) is a planet in a ternary star system located at coordinates 9045XY. It is the home planet of Kami, King Piccolo, and Dende, along with other Namekians.

The planet was destroyed by the wrath of Frieza on December 24th, Age 762. The Namekian people were relocated to New Namek after being refugees on Earth II for roughly a year.

Characteristics
The planet had a population of about 100 Namekians at the time of the Vegeta Saga in November of Age 762. It is also home to a host of ambient life, such as fish, frogs, and dinosaurs.

Namek has three suns, so it is never night time. Despite this, depictions of the planet show there to be a dark side. It is possible that the planet is tidally locked to the star group, resulting in the lack of a day/night cycle, with the Nameks living on the daylight side of the planet. A Namekian year is much shorter than an earth year, at 130 days long, as shown when the Namekians are reviving Z Fighters who died fighting Nappa. As measured by Bulma on arrival, the Namekian atmosphere does partly consist of oxygen. The Namekians could use this for their respirational process.

Climate shift
Planet Namek once was a beautiful meadow covered by Ajisa. In Age 261, a horrible climate shift wiped out all the Namekians except Guru and a few Powered-Up Namekians who were exiled before. One unnamed Namekian, the child of Katas, a gifted child of the Dragon Clan, was sent off to Earth as a child to ensure his survival. Guru believed himself to be the last Namek alive until he heard that the son of Katas had made it to Earth safely. Fortunately, he was able to re-populate the planet, since Nameks reproduce asexually, giving birth to 109 Namekians. Guru's children began re-building the planet, especially the lush vegetation that had been destroyed in the storms.

Invasion of Frieza
During the Namek Saga, Planet Namek was terrorized by Frieza and his henchmen, Dodoria and Zarbon. The planet was ultimately destroyed by Frieza as a last-ditch effort to kill Goku in their battle during the Frieza Saga, as he was able to survive without oxygen in space.

All Namekians killed by Frieza and his henchmen, which did not include the deaths caused by Vegeta, were brought back to life and transported to Earth II. The Namekians lived on Earth for roughly 260 days before being resettled on New Namek. Namek's destruction was later referenced by Dore of Cooler's Armored Squadron, when wondering why Piccolo was not on his home planet where he belongs before Neiz reminds him of his home planet's fate.

Landmarks

 * Maima Region: The place where Frieza's spaceship touched down on Planet Namek. Vegeta and Goku were healed here by medical machines aboard the ship. In the Viz translation, this place is called the Shell Region.
 * Moori's village: The village governed by Moori, and Dende's home town. With a total population of 11, it is a village with a comparatively small number of people. All of the villagers were wiped out by for resisting Frieza, except Dende, who was saved by Gohan and Krillin.
 * Grand Elder's house: A house is built upon a high rock on Planet Namek. It is where the Namekian Elder lives. Frieza's scouter indicated it as being in Point 8829401 of Planet Namek. Krillin visited here in order to obtain a Namekian Dragon Ball, and he later brought Gohan here in order to have Grand Elder Guru draw out his dormant power. Frieza visited here to get information on the method of summoning Porunga.
 * Tsuno's village: The village governed by Tsuno. Its total population was 20 people. The village was destroyed by Vegeta.

Known residents

 * Katas
 * Nameless Namekian
 * Dende
 * Cargo
 * Nail
 * Moori
 * Elder Tsuno
 * Grand Elder Guru
 * Porunga – Only when summoned using the Dragon Balls, Namekian equivalent to Shenron.
 * Lord Slug – Only appears in the movie of the same name.

Video games

 * Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza
 * Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu
 * Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzōningen
 * Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budōkai
 * Dragon Ball Z Arcade
 * Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu
 * Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen
 * Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitōden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butōden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden
 * Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension
 * Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Legend
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
 * Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
 * Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
 * Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
 * Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
 * Super Dragon Ball Z
 * Battle Stadium D.O.N
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
 * Jump Ultimate Stars
 * Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
 * Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road
 * Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
 * Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World
 * Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers
 * Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
 * Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team
 * Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
 * Dragon Ball Heroes
 * Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden
 * Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle Royale
 * Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
 * Dragon Ball Z For Kinect
 * Dragon Ball: Tap Battle
 * J-Stars Victory Vs
 * Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z
 * Dragon Ball: Ultimate Swipe
 * Dragon Ball: Xenoverse

Trivia

 * Akira Toriyama was infamous for never wanting to draw scenes in big cities, as natural, rural settings were easier to draw, and for not wanting to draw scenes set in the night. Creating the planet Namek got rid of both of these problems for him, he was able to set scenes in a rural world where there was no night.
 * A large number of Dragon Ball Z episodes are set on Namek (44-107). This drew criticism, giving rise to the popular internet meme, "Are They Still on Namek?"
 * In the 2013 feature film Man of Steel, an original character created for the movie is a villainous Kryptonian named Nam-Ek, a possible reference to Planet Namek and the Namekians.