Mr. Popo was initially envisioned by series creator Akira Toriyama as a reptilian humanoid with a chicken-like beak that had several variant designs, including one sketch with curly hair, though all of which were ultimately discarded.

[1] Toriyama ultimately settled on the current design, a portly humanoid with bright facial expressions whose clothing resembles Jinns, supernatural beings from Arabian mythology and Islamic theology.

Mr. Popo has demonstrated the ability to magically create objects from seemingly out of thin air, for example a flying carpet which he uses as transportation in the anime story arc Garlic Junior Saga, though the character is also depicted as capable of flight or levitation using ki.

In the Dragon Ball Z anime, Mr. Popo has a brief match with Son Goten and Trunks who have transformed into Super Saiyan form where he holds his own, blocking or dodging several hits and even appearing unfazed after being struck by a kick.

These similarities include: Notably, however, Toriyama grew up at the height of the Dakkochan craze, and, at the time of the character's debut in 1988, Japanese popular culture was still inundated with portrayals of blackface,[16] a controversial form of makeup historically associated with stage and film caricatures of African Americans, or a representation of the antiquated racial term sambo.

In her article written for The Christian Science Monitor in May 2000, Weatherford alleged that Mr. Popo represents a depiction of individuals with African heritage from a white supremacist perspective, and that characters like him are known to a far-reaching audience of children through cartoons and product tie-ins.

[18] The Jim Crow Museum later published on their official website a letter written in response to their article from a reader who disagreed with their assertion that characters like Mr. Popo are deliberately anti-black in design.

[4] Jack Gardner from Screen Rant assessed Mr. Popo as a relic of blackface portrayal which persisted in the manga and animation industries of Japan and the wider Asian world, long after it became a taboo subject in North America following the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement.

Regarding the alteration of Mr. Popo's skin colour in some media depictions, Jemima Sebastian from IGN noted that the change was made for reasons that could never be fully explained, but that many fans would connect it to perceptions of racism.

[6] Cecilia D'Anastasio from Kotaku observed that while there is awareness that the character was not intended to be African-American or inspired by any people with African descents or origins, Mr. Popo's appearance still evokes the image of a "dark-skinned slave with puffy red lips" and the decision to recolour him for American television is indicative of his potentially offensive reception.