Namu first appears in the 21st Tenka-ichi Budōkai, fighting Ran Fuan. He has problems fighting her, because he is a Buddhist monk and she strips to her underwear, socks & shoes, but he overcomes and defeats her. His next fight is against Son Goku, and while it is an intense fight, he loses in the end. He competed because he needed the money to buy lots of water; where he was from, there was a terrible drought, and he had been sent to find a solution. Being defeated, however, he is unable to get the money to buy water and decides to leave. Muten Roshi reads his mind and gets acquainted with his intentions. He then gives him a capsule so that he can store water from a well, and in return, asks Namu to impersonate Muten Roshi in the crowd, as to protect Roshi's secret identity from his students, who were suspicious of Chun being Muten Roshi. In the 22nd Tenka'chi Bud�kai, he also makes an appearance in one of its anime filler, claiming to Goku and Roshi that this time he came to enjoy it, but he ends up losing to Tenshinhan on the preliminary rounds, as he was left unconscious and nearly killed as Tenshinhan wanted to leave a message to Goku and his friends. Later, he is killed by Piccolo Daimaō's minion, Tambourine. He is then revived by Shenlong. He is seen later in the DBZ series contributing to Goku's spirited bomb, and has a brief appearance in GT in the episode titled Piccolo's Decision. There are some rumors indicating that he might be related to Uub, but there is no confirmation. His name comes from the Nenbutsu: "Namu Amida Butsu".