Nail is a Namekian who looks exactly like Piccolo, apart from the clothes. He is described as the lone "fighter class" Namekian left. He is the personal bodyguard to Guru, and is very strong for a Namekian.

During the Captain Ginyu Saga, Nail has to fight Frieza in order to stop him from killing Guru and getting the Dragon Balls for himself. Even though Frieza was in his lowest power level of 530,000, Nail was no match for the tyrant, and even lost an arm (which he regenerated using Regeneration) during the battle. Before Frieza could finish Nail off, Nail revealed that this fight was to delay Frieza so Dende could get the Namekian Dragon Balls' password to the Earthlings, Gohan and Krillin. Enraged, Frieza immediately departs, leaving Nail to die on the ground.

Shortly afterwards, a newly resurrected Piccolo arrives and finds the disabled Namekian. Nail is still able to speak, and asks Piccolo to fuse with him in order to increase his chances against Frieza, and at the same time save his life. Piccolo agrees after some questioning of Nail's motives, and indeed his power level increases dramatically to the point of being more than a match for Frieza's second form.