The story of Kami really starts centuries ago, when he and Piccolo were one being. We were never told of this being's name, but we do know that he was sent to Earth from Namek, a planet whose inhabitants were in danger of extinction. He lived in relative seclusion, and manifested incredible power. Eventually, he sought the Godship of Earth, and approached the presiding Kami to ask to be his successor. But that Kami refused, stating that the Namek before him posessed too much evil in his heart to serve. So, the Namek managed to focus on all the negative feelings within himself, and purged them from his body... in effect splitting his soul into two halves. One half took the name Piccolo, and was pure evil, forged completely out of anger, hatred, and all other "evil" feelings. The other half was cleansed of these, and was able to ascend to the throne of Kami.

While Kami never got very much screen time in either Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z, his contributions were crucial to the heroes who served his planet. First and foremost, he created the Dragon Balls, summoning Shenlon from his pocket dimension to grant wishes. As the creator, the Dragon Balls were forever linked to his soul... if he died, the Balls would turn into stones.

Kami took many of the Z-Senshi under his wing, giving them training in the Room of Spirit and Time within his palace. Also, when Piccolo had been freed from his imprisonment to terrorize Earth, Kami was prepared to sacrifice his own existence to stop his nemesis' reign of terror. For, as they once were one being, their souls were interminably linked... if one died, the other did as well.

Kami witnesses Piccolo's transformation from the Demon King into one of Earth's mightiest defenders. This is crucial, for when Cell first appeared on Earth, Kami recognized the incredible danger Earth as in. He also recognized that none of the Z-Senshi could face him... and so he fused with Piccolo. In this fusion, two halves became whole again, and the Super Namek- the Namek who landed on Earth centuries ago- was reborn. However, since Piccolo was the stronger of the two, he became dominant in the new being... meaning the Earth was deprived of its Guardian.