Yamcha
Creation
Creation
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When Toriyama decided to create *Dragon Ball*, he used [Chinese](/wiki/Chinese_people "Chinese people") author [Wu Cheng'en](/wiki/Wu_Cheng%27en "Wu Cheng'en")'s *[Journey to the West](/wiki/Journey_to_the_West "Journey to the West")* as a prototype for his own series. Yamcha took the role of [Sha Wujing](/wiki/Sha_Wujing "Sha Wujing"). His name is a pun on a form of Cantonese brunch called *[yum cha](/wiki/Yum_cha "Yum cha")*. A prototype for Yamcha was Gojō, the river monster, from Toriyama's one\-shot series *Dragon Boy*.Interview with Toriyama, *Shōnen Jump* (Japanese volume 23, issue \#59\); 11\-1986

### Voice actors

In the Japanese version, Yamcha is voiced by [Tōru Furuya](/wiki/T%C5%8Dru_Furuya "Tōru Furuya") in all media until he was replaced by [Ryōta Suzuki](/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dta_Suzuki_%28voice_actor%29 "Ryōta Suzuki (voice actor)") for *[Dragon Ball Daima](/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Daima "Dragon Ball Daima")* in 2024\. In the [Funimation](/wiki/Funimation_Entertainment "Funimation Entertainment") English dub, Yamcha is voiced by [Christopher Sabat](/wiki/Christopher_Sabat "Christopher Sabat"). Sabat currently voices him in all *Dragon Ball* related media.


How did Toriyama use Journey to the West as a prototype for his own series?