The Dragon Ball franchise is many things to many people. For some, it’s the show that got them into anime. For others, it’s simply a series filled with some of their favorite characters. But even the diehard fans who have watched all the hundreds of episodes, and the hoursof movies, and the various dubs of each series, can miss some things in this gigantic franchise.With Dragon Ball Super bringing many fans back to their nostalgic youth, as well as introducing some first-timers to whatthey’ve been missing all these years, what better time to address some of the most talked about aspects of the show’s history? Whether you’re anewcomer looking for more insight behind the series, or a longtime fan searching for answers about old rumors, here are the 12 Things You Need to Know About Dragon Ball Z.
12. DRAGON BALL WAS INSPIRED BY JOURNEY TO THE WEST
This point is far from a secret, but to those who don’t know the inspiration for the Dragon Ball franchise, it might be really surprising how much the show borrowed from the classic Chinese storyJourney to the West. Whilein the beginning of the Dragon Ball franchise Goku just appears as a random monkey with no explanation (until Raditz appears, at least), this is actually because he is based off the character of the Monkey King. InJourney to the West, The Monkey King is a playful character, but also a fierce warrior who favors fighting with a staff thatcan shrink or extend as he needs it to (much like Goku’s Power Pole). The Monkey King becomes partof an unusual group consisting of companions like a monk (kind of like Krillin), and an anthropomorphic pig (much like Oolong) as they go on a pilgrimage together — or in the case of Dragon Ball, a journey to collect the seven dragon balls.Obviously, the Dragon Ball franchise eventually branched out into its own entity, unlessJourney to the West has some lost chapters featuring battles against space aliens and robots. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to learn the inspiration behind the popular franchise .The one thing to remember that the story or character of Goku was inspired by The world famous cgaracter Superman.To prove this I have given 10 points below:
1. Superman was born on another planet and came to Earth as a baby on a small spaceship (in the ’78 movie)… Goku was born on another planet and came to Earth as a baby on a small spaceship.
2. Superman’s home planet was destroyed… Goku’s home planet wasdestroyed.
3. Superman was raised by two old senior citizens (in the original story)… Goku was raised by an old man, Son Gohan.
4. Superman has a “real” name,”Kal-El”… Goku has a “real” name:”Kakarot” (notice that both names begin with the letter “K”).
5. Superman has a “unique” hairstyle: his trademark “S” in front of his forehead… Goku has a”unique” hairstyle: spiky hair.
6. Superman married an Earth woman, Lois Lane… Goku married an Earth woman, Chi-Chi.
7. Superman has made a profession of saving the Earth repeatedly… Goku has made a profession of saving the Earth repeatedly.
8. Superman has a positive personality… Goku has a positive personality.9. Superman can fly up in the air… Goku can fly up in the air.
10. In the Superman II movie, Three criminals who were born on the planet Krypton visited the Earth and caused terror and destruction… In Dragon Ball Z, three (yes, three!) Saiyan warriors visited the Earth and caused terror and destruction.So there you have it. Apparently, Toriyama was strongly influenced by the Superman legend when he started developing the Goku character. Another influence for the same character was the ancient Asian myth of the Monkey King, who flew around on a cloud and had a magic staff.
11. GOKU ONLY KILLS TWO CHARACTERS IN ALL OF DRAGON BALL Z
Considering how reliant Z fighters are on him throughout the series, you’d expect Goku to havea pretty high kill count. Hegoes up against every major villain in the show, and plays a pivotal role in defeating all of them. Andyet, the only characters that Goku can truly lay claim to killing are Babidi’s minion Yakon, and Kid Buu. Even Buu is kind of an iffy one, since he’s technically reincarnated as Uub.Obviously, no one would expect Goku to be as ruthless as Vegeta, who took delight in torturing and killing his opponents early on, but why so few kills for Goku? We see theanswer in his first major fight in the series againstRaditz: Goku is just too damn merciful for his owngood. Kidnap and assault Goku’s son? No biggie, youcan still be his buddy. Kill one of his friends? He’ll let you live, but you’re getting a stern warning, mister! Kill every single person in the world and blow up the planet? Fine, he’ll kill you, but he still hopes you come back againsome day so he can be friends with you. Suddenly it makes sense why Chi-Chi is so strict with Gohan. Goku really isn’t good at setting boundaries for bad behavior.But Counting Dragon ball super Goku Kills Three peoples,and the third one is Golden Frieza at the time of ‘Ressurection F’.
10. BATTLE OF GODS WAS THE FIRST CANON DRAGON BALL MOVIE
Many fans know that Battle of Gods served as an official lead in to
Dragon Ball Super, but some might be surprised to learn that it’s the first movie in the entire series that actually counts as part of the timeline. That means Bojack, Janemba, and yes, even the beloved Broly, are not part of the main continuity of the show. They’re all as much a what-if scenario as the entirety of Dragon Ball GT. Most of the films wouldn’t even work with the timeline of the show anyway. TheBrolymovie? It would have had to have taken place during the tenday rest before the Cell Games happened, because that’s the only time periodin which Goku is still alive, Gohan is a super saiyan, and Future Trunks is still around.But maybe some parts of the Dragon Ball franchise being non-canon is a good thing. If all the movies and GTwere a part of the main continuity, just imagine how many times poor Frieza has been easily defeated before his return in Resurrection ‘F.’That might just make him a bigger punching bag than Krillin.
9. THERE WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE TWO ANDROIDS IN THE ANDROID SAGA
Future Trunks certainly had egg on his face when he warned the Z fighters of two androids in the future, but there wound up being six, counting 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and Cell — plus three more if Super Android 13were considered canon). But it actually wasn’t Trunks’ fault, as the original plan was for there to be only two.In a retrospective interview, creator Akira Toriyama revealed that 19and 20 were in fact supposed to the main antagonists for the saga, but his former editor didn’t find them intimidating due to 19 being pudgy, and 20 being an old man. So then Toriyama brought out 17 and 18, but was again critiqued, this time havinghis characters called bratty kids. So finally he brought out Cell, whose first form was called ugly,thus leading to his first transformation. Then Cell’s second form was called stupid as well, so he transformed again into Perfect Cell. That’s one harsh editor, and it’s crazy to think how much his comments repeatedly changed the course of theseries. Thankfully though, for the better, as the Cell Saga may not have even happened without him.
8. MANY OF THE CHARACTERS ARE NAMED AFTER PUNS (Vegetables)
This is probably common knowledge to devout fans of the series, but casual viewers might not realize that many of the characters in the series have pretty silly inspirations behind their names. For instance, all the pure-blooded Saiyan characters in the series share the theme of being named after vegetables. Vegeta is an obvious one, since his name even looks like the word vegetable, but then we have Raditz whose name is derived from radish, and Kakarot which is made to sound likecarrot.It’s unclear why the characters were named like this, other than as a fun insider’s joke. Though as the years went on the joke really became more overt. Frieza’s somewhat cold-related name is a theme shared by his brother Cooler, and his father King Cold. Real subtle. Then Bulma’s family all have underwear related puns, so her and Vegeta’s daughter is actually named Bra in some dubs. The most blatant example comes from Master Roshi inThe Legendary Super Saiyanmovie, where the Saiyans being named after vegetables is openly remarked upon by Roshi when he mistakenly refersto Broly as Broccoli.
7. VEGETA WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE A HERO
As hard as it might be to pictureDragon Ball Zwithout Vegeta, he was originally only supposed tobe a one-off villain. It’s unclear when Vegeta’s endwas supposed to come since he gets defeated in battle numerous times, but there’s no doubt that if he was meant to die, his loss to Frieza would have been the latest he was going to stick around.Fan popularity saved the saiyan prince, allowing himto finally ascend to the level of Super Saiyan and develop a kinder side once Bulma and Trunks became a part of his life. We wouldhave missed out on so many great moments if Vegeta had been cut downearlier, including the culmination of his rivalry with Goku when he becameMajin Vegeta. It’s crazy tothink that one of the strongest characters in the series, and one of the most popular, was ever thought to be so disposable.
6. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG APPEARS TO HAVE STRONG INSPIRATIONS FROM DRAGON BALL Z
Fans of both series have been making the comparisons for decades now, but it really is shocking how much the Sonic franchise has increasingly come to resembleDragon Ball Z. The most obvious parallels are the transformations. Goku is capable of turninginto a super saiyan, where his hair turns gold and spikier, and his eyes change color. Sonic is capable of turning into Super Sonic, where his quills become gold and spikier, and his eyes change color. At first, thistransformation was limited to each series’ respective protagonist. Then we learned every male saiyan can transform as well. And every male hedgehog now has a super transformation in the Sonic games.It gets even more eerily similar. The Z fighters areregularly in search of the seven dragon balls that can grant a variety of powers, but scatter after each use. Sonic and crew are regularly in search of the seven chaos emeralds which also grant powers and then scatter across the world. Each series alsohas the character more comfortable as a nerd than a fighter: Gohan and Tails. Piccolo and Knuckles? Both start out as antagonists, but wind up becoming secluded but valued allies. Vegeta and Shadow? Both angsty antagonists from outer space who wind up becoming the protagonist’s friend and main counterpart. Future Trunks and Silver? Both time travel from apocalyptic futures to tryand avert disaster. Chi-Chi and Amy? Both start out single-mindedly wanting the protagonist tomarry them.With so many similarities, there’s no way Sonic Teamwasn’t at least a little inspired by Dragon Ball Z. And now thatDragon Ball Superis on the air, hopefully it can give Sega some good inspiration to avoid making any more games likeSonic Boom.
5. GOHAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAIN CHARACTER AFTER THE CELL SAGA
With the way the series was built up, this point certainly makes sense. Right from the first fightwith Raditz, Gohan was shown as having an incredible underlying power waiting to be unleashed. This only came to the forefront more as the series went on, until we reached the Cell saga, where Goku finally deferred to his son, and was even killed off, leaving Gohan as the only one capable of saving the day. So going into the Buu saga, it made sense that itwould be Gohan taking thereins.And then the Great Saiyaman saga happened. It was vexing why Gohan was immediately turned into comic relief, and a lotof fans didn’t like this version of Goku’s son. But Akira Toriyama didn’t take the spotlight off Gohan due to fan reaction, but simply becausehe didn’t feel Gohan made for a good protagonist. This was made no clearer than all the time spent building to Mystic Gohan, only for him to be absorbed and later killed so Goku had to save the day once again.
4. THE ANDROID SAGA APPEARS TO DRAW HEAVY INSPIRATION FROM THE TERMINATOR FILMS
Fighting robots are nothing new to anime or fictional stories in general. So if the android saga ofDragon Ball Z had simply had the Z fighters going against a few androids, theTerminatorcomparisons would be slight, but nothing more than dozens of other shows have already done with the topic. But the saga kicks off with a time traveler from an apocalyptic future warning that machines aregoing to kill off humanity unless that future is averted. That’s pretty much a synopsis of the earlier Terminator films right there.The comparisons only increase as we get a look into the timeline of Future Trunks, where Future Gohan is leading a John Connor-style resistance against the androids as they pick off the last remnants of humanity. And if you needfurther proof that the story was a deliberate homage, in the firstTerminator, a T-800 is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor on May 12. When Future Trunks goes back in time to warn the Z fighters of the androids, he gives them the date they can expect the attack to begin: May 12.
3. THE VOICE ACTORS HAVE PASSED OUT FROM DOING SCREAMS FOR THE SHOW
The Dragon Ball franchiseis infamous for its long and loud screams that lastupwards of five minutes just to fill time for when the anime was trying not to catch up with the manga. We can only imagine how strained and sore the throats of the voice actors are after oneof those scenes, but we know for sure it can have health effects. Sean Schemmel, the voice actorbehind Goku, has said onmultiple Q&A panelsthat he has actually lost consciousness from screaming during a power up transformation sequence.Contrary to what you might think, it wasn’t the super saiyan 3 transformation that caused Schemmel to pass out. He has clarified in Q&A videos that it was actually the super saiyan 4 transformation inGTthat had him waking up on the floor. And by the sound of it, losing consciousness during intense scenes wasn’t some freak occurrence. Supposedly other voice actors on the show have had similar experiences. Talk about going all in on arole.
2. THE FIRST FIGHT BETWEEN GOKU AND FRIEZA WAS THE LONGEST FIGHT IN AN ANIME
Looking at the nearly twenty episodes it took for this fight to resolve, it’s probably not hard to believe this one. Frieza’s infamous five minute warning proved to be a miscalculation of several hours. From the time that Goku and Frieza first squared off on Namek until Goku finally left his opponent for dead, close to four hours of screen time had been devoted to the battle. And the truly sad part is Goku didn’t even get the job done. Future Trunks wound up officially getting the credit for that kill after abrief encounter with the space tyrant.When people think of the originalDragon Ball Zbeing dragged out and overloaded with filler, thisfight is the moment that comes to mind. While it’s cool thatDragon Ball Zbroke a record with one ofits fights, some of the best battles in the series are the ones that are quick and hard hitting. When Goku and Frieza clash again inResurrection‘F,’ it’s not the new transformations alone that make the fight special. It’s seeing two rivals finally have the fast-paced, satisfying struggle that so many of us were probably hoping for when they clashed back in the ‘90s.
1. THERE ARE NO FEMALE SUPER SAIYANS BECAUSE AKIRA TORIYAMA COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO DRAW THEM
One of the most glaring aspects of the entire Dragon Ball franchise is the dearth of powerful female characters in the series. It’s understandablein the case of Bulma and Chi-Chi, but what about the female Saiyans? We’ve seen with Goten andTrunks that each generation of Saiyans taps into their strength more easily than their parents. So how come Vegeta and Bulma’s daughter Bra (or Bulla, for us English speakers) doesn’t go Super Saiyan when she’s angry? Or especially Pan, who is shown being extremely strong at the end ofZ, and continues to be a warrior inGT?Apparently the reason why the female saiyans never ascend is simply because Dragon Ball’s creator Akira Toriyama couldn’t decide how they should look. Maybe it’s because the women usually have long hair and he worried it would just look like a Super Saiyan 3?It’s honestly a silly excuse for the women to not havea more powerful role, especially when the transformations are in the video games and provide a pretty decent template for how female Super Saiyans could look. Hopefully it’s something we see at some point in Super.But if you look in the art of Dragon ball-Multiverse,A Comic Book Made by Fans, there looks are Much Perfect.
Bulla ssg2. taken from Dragon ball multiverse.
13. The director of the infamousDragon Ball Evolutionnever watched a single Dragon Ball episode or read the manga before filming!
You would think that 20th Century Fox would pick a director who, at least, has a passing interest in the franchise for the film adaptation. The studio picked director James Wong, who had no idea what the Dragon Ball franchise was all about till he was already knee deep into the production of the movie.
14. The reason Cell transformed to his final form so fast is because Akira Toriyama’s editor hated the character design.
Yuu Kondo, the editor of theDragon Ball manga, really didn’t like the Imperfect and Semi-Perfect forms of the Cell character, remarking that Semi-Perfect Cell looked like “a moron”. He told Akira Toriyama to hurry up and get Cell to his Perfect form. This is a huge reason why Vegeta stopped fighting Semi-Perfect Cell and allowed him to reach his Perfect form so easily. It was an expedited plot excuse, for Toriyama to quickly get Cell to his Perfect form.
15. Vegeta mostly calls Goju “Kakarot!”
Vegeta almost always calls Goku by his Saiyan name, Kakarot. As a matter of fact,you can even count the number of times Vegeta has called Goku by his preferred earth name with just two hands – 8 times, to be exact.
See sample images:
Draw it eazy 