The Dragon Ball franchise has been around for decades. It tells the stories of the most powerful and famous heroes in the galaxy, who tirelessly fight the worst villains in the universe, with the sole aim of saving their planet and their loved ones. But the saga nevertheless contains a multitude of dark secrets long hidden by Toriyama himself and by Toei Animation.
Of course, Akira Toriyama created incredible characters , made dinosaurs appear in the original saga, developed the ki technique and also ended the existence of many heroes, which influenced countless other series in the years following his debut (like Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, One Punch Man etc...). 📺
Although the characters in the animated series are some of the most identifiable heroes and villains in people's eyes, and the story of good versus evil is fairly easy to understand, at least on the surface, the Dragon Ball saga houses also dark secrets. Many of them have seemingly gone unnoticed or unspoken for an inordinate amount of time, but not anymore, because we're finally going to reveal them to you! 💡
It is therefore time to tackle head-on these shocking mysteries surrounding Dragon Ball, DBZ, DBGT and Dragon Ball Super, discover the best Secrets about the flagship saga! ㊙
15. THE SECRET OF FREEZER
The planet-trading galactic tyrant known as Frieza is undoubtedly the most identifiable and well-known villain in the Dragon Ball franchise. His popularity is so massive that he has been resurrected several times throughout the franchise's history, sometimes cleverly, and sometimes to make money, simply because he is so beloved by fans. 🤩
With his pasty white skin and jewel-like purple shells, he's certainly a nightmare for every hero, and there's a very good reason for that. According to Akira Toriyama, creator of the series, Frieza and his multitude of forms was based on real nightmares he had as a child, as well as the way he imagined monsters. 👺
We don't know what caused Toriyama to have such terrifying nightmares, but it was an excellent and ingenious choice to incorporate all the visions that haunted him in his youth into a truly narcissistic, mysterious character, thus making history. from the animated series forever. 📺
14. GOKU IS NOT INVINCIBLE
One of the biggest debates of our time in entertainment, the question of "who would win" in a battle between the powers of Son Goku and the Last Son of Krypton, Superman . We also produced an article on the subject, so if you're interested, don't hesitate to read it: Goku vs Superman: who wins? 🐱🏍
Although both camps have well-considered views and strongly held positions, there is one position in which we can safely say that Superman easily and irrefutably has the better of Goku: being bulletproof - or laser. 🔫
As shown in the film Dragon Ball Z: The Resurrection of 'F' , Goku, literally god, can ultimately be struck down by a laser launched by Frieza . The reason ? Because he wasn't paying attention. The very oblivious Goku possesses an impressive power, but even so if he can't concentrate on something as simple as not getting shot, a simple armed lackey could bring down this legendary lifesaver. universe. 🌍
Well then, we don't forget the fact that a simple rock can also kill Superman, you'll understand the logic... 😅
13. GOKU’S HEART DISEASE
While Goku's battle (and future death) against the heart virus is far from a secret, it is more of a plot point that is never really addressed and is mostly glossed over. 🤫
Goku, a man who fought divine beings (Beerus, Whis) and some of the most powerful life forms to ever exist in the universe. It's still crazy that he could be killed by a microscopic entity, don't you think? 🤔
This opens a terrifying door to what if Goku, arguably the mightiest warrior in all of Dragonball, is susceptible to being killed by disease, then what about Vegeta? Or Gohan? Or even Piccolo? Something that cannot be controlled, prevented, or cured (at least not yet) could, with enough bad luck, take hold of one of our beloved Earth Defenders and either render him useless or kill him on the field. 🦠
12. TORIYAMA HATES ADAPTATIONS (EVEN IN ANIME)
For thousands of fans of the Japanese Dragon Ball saga, the anime adaptation of the universe serves as the definitive portal to stories of Goku overcoming many impossible obstacles. These same fans elsewhere might find it shocking that Akira Toriyama himself does not feel as cheerful about the adaptations , nor about the many spinoffs. ⭐
According to an interview in his 30th Anniversary Super History Book , Toriyama states that he was "overwhelmed by the live-action film, that he helped correct the scripts for the animated films" and that he "complained about the quality of the TV series". It's hard to blame him though, since he's the father of some hugely popular fiction, with the only part of that world that really comes directly from him being the Dragon Ball manga itself. 📙
11. DRAGON BALL RAISES RACIAL CONTROVERSIES
For anyone who grew up with Dragon Ball Kai, the remastered and re-released version of DBZ, Mr.Popo was a strangely neon blue, but that wasn't always the case. For those who lived in the 90s and before, Mr. Popo, the kind but powerful guardian and servant of Kami Sama was all black and his appearance recalled strong racial images from the past. Worse still, his speech in Japanese caused him to use short sentences, as if he was very poorly educated. 👩🏿🦲
Much like the Pokemon Lippoutou , M.Popo's appearance was considered offensive by some fans and activists, forcing his (and Lippoutou's) color to be changed in order to appease people who were outraged. But fortunately, his unconvincing speech was never included in any remastered version. 📺
10. THE EARTH WAS DONE AND RESURRECTED MANY TIMES
Although planet Earth is usually saved during the various series of Dragon Ball, the price for the inhabitants is often very high, with countless innocent civilians being wiped out by the many villains threatening the world. Fortunately, Goku and his friends usually use the Dragon Balls (aka crystal balls) to revive everyone who was killed in the merciless genocides. 🔮
Alas, this cycle repeats itself quite often, meaning that huge swaths of the population are killed, then reborn, then re-killed by the next bad guy, and reborn again. Even Future Trunks' timeline is not spared from this agony, despite the loss of the crystal balls, because even after barely experiencing the initial wave of terror from the Androids (C-16, C-17, C- 18 and Dr.Gero) the slowly rebuilt society is once again on the verge of extinction because of Black Goku in Dragon Ball Super. Humanity can't seem to get out of this. 😶
9. THE PRIDE OF SANGOKU
Goku, the main character of the saga, is many things: he is an extremely powerful hero , a goofy and kind friend and a virtuous fighter. He is also a terrible father, too stupid to take care of his children Gohan and Goten responsibly. Above all, Goku has shown himself to be so irresponsible in his reliance on training and combat that he is willing to risk not only the destruction of his loved ones and entire planets, but also the multiverse itself. 💥
This is a serious character flaw, one that makes the idea of Goku being the ultimate, trustworthy hero harder to accept. Sure, he'll probably save the day, but is that promise reason enough to risk the lives of his loved ones? In any case for the moment, Chi Chi will have to continue to protect her children alone... 👩👧👦
8. HITLER IN DRAGON BALL
The land of Dragon Ball is clearly not ours. Sure, there are similarities, but we don't have legendary wish-granting dragons, living dinosaurs, flying cars (hopefully soon!) , all kinds of devices that can be shrunk into small capsules. For some reason, however, our two worlds seem to share one thing: a certain World War II dictator. 💣
Although entirely different from the original version of Fusion Reborn , the Japanese and uncut versions do indeed show Hitler and his army returning to life thanks to Janemba 's intervention in the afterlife, wreaking havoc in the city. Luckily, he and his sidekicks are quickly sent back to Hell by Trunks and Goten , but the fact that he even exists in Dragon Ball Z remains terribly crazy, even for that franchise.
7. THE VEGETA MASSACRES
Dragon Ball Z highlights Vegeta as an extremely powerful opponent. As Prince of the Saiyans, he came very close to conquering Earth, but long before that, he was a loyal servant of Frieza, just like his father.
For decades, Vegeta did as Frieza asked, wiping out countless civilizations and planets, and taking full advantage of it like a true sociopath. When he arrives on Earth, he is happy to continue the routine, and he maintains it on Namek . 🌍
Finally, after being supposedly "reformed", he lets the evil in his heart flourish during the Buu Saga thanks to his transformation into Majin Vegeta carried out by the mage Babidi , where he directly murders an entire stadium of spectators - and no one cares. No one really talks about it, or even reprimands him. He may have been through hell, but the Z Fighters seemed to accept him pretty quickly, despite the fact that the blood of billions of people ended up on his hands, including that of some Earthlings. 👨👨👦👦👨👨👦👦
6. EMPEROR PILAF AND HIS BAND
Emperor Pilaf, Mai, and Shu, one of the oldest gangs of villains in the entire franchise, have long been a thorn in Goku's side. They first appeared as a child in the original Dragon Ball series. Although they never really represented a real threat compared to the last villains present in the saga, such as the Red Ribbon Army or King Piccolo , their endearing persistence has more or less made them the pillars of franchise. 💕
It is therefore unfortunate that their lives were nothing but a tortured existence of failures, miscalculations, poverty and, worst of all, being turned into children and then forced to relive their lives with a young body and an adult mind in Dragon Ball GT, which is certainly a very exasperating experience.
5. MR. SATAN TAKEN HOSTAGE
Hercules, also known as Mr. Satan, was first introduced as a clumsy half-martial artist, half-Hulk Hogan hybrid, who believed his skills to be far greater than they were, particularly when he was trying to defeat the incalculable and powerful bio-android, Cell . But his charisma paid off and he convinced the whole world that he was the one who had to defeat Cell, not the Z Fighters . 💫
In the Buu saga, Mister Satan unwittingly finds himself friends with the destructive Boo, whom he teaches not to be evil. Better yet, Hercules ends up joining Earth so that Goku can destroy once and for all for your Kid Buu. 🍬
The downside is that Hercules is now eternally bound to the whims of the villain, who is now his host. Bending to his every whim, and acting more or less as a barrier to prevent Buu from losing his temper, Hercules' life will remain quite tense.
If you're a fan of Hercules' style in DBZ, then quickly find the Mr. Satan Cap exclusively at Goku Shop!
4. SELFISH ABUSE OF CRYSTAL BALLS
The Dragon Ball GT series is generally considered to be non-essential garbage to the main storyline, and the consensus isn't entirely wrong. However, despite quality gaps in some episodes, the GT saga found some captivating concepts, such as the appearance of the SSJ4 form. Find our article: 10 Facts about the Super Saiyan 4 Form if you want to know more about it!
Thanks to Bulma's Radar Dragon, the mystical and incredible power of obtaining wishes from dragon balls has become less of an adventure and more of a constant in life, with those wishes easily obtainable through the device . 🗺️
In DBGT , this abuse did not go unnoticed, and a natural save of the crystal balls failed due to constant use, creating the 7 Shadow Dragons , who became the ultimate adversaries of the DBGT series. 🐲
3. TORIYAMA HATES VEGETA
If there's a character even more beloved than Goku, it's Vegeta . The prince of the Saiyans, eternal rival of Son Goku and fundamentally evil (with a BADMAN shirt to prove it) , but Vegeta has one of the best character traits in the entire series. He can go from being a cold and malicious enemy to a slightly gentler and much more heroic defender of life. ⭐
What makes all this attention and development around this character really strange, however, is that Akira Toriyama himself apparently doesn't care too much for the pointy-haired Saiyan. In Daizenshuu 2 , Toriyama states that Vegeta is one of his least favorite characters, but "he was extremely helpful having him by his side".
While Toriyama may be teasing because Japanese translations can be botched or misused, the fact that Vegeta has almost no real moments of victory should be enough to prove that this is indeed the case. 😥
2. GOKU IS A KILLER
Goku is such a funny and lovable guy that it can be hard to remember that he's also a murderer. Sure, he's known for being lenient with people, sometimes sparing big bad guys altogether, but he never hesitates to kill at any time. It might not even seem so strange until you really think about it. 🔪
In Dragon Ball Z: The Hunt for Garlic , Goku skillfully defeats Garlic Jr's forces and then intentionally finishes them off instead of giving them a speech about pity. If he could change Vegeta's heart , couldn't he show the same courtesy to others? This murderous attitude could be a repressed vestige of his Saiyan heritage , which was blurred after a blow to the head. 🥴
If the idiotic Son Goku we know and love still murders his enemies on occasion without remorse, decades after his death, imagine if he hadn't hit his head ? 💫
1. DRAGON BALL RUINED TORIYAMA’S CREATIVITY
Dragon Ball, and all the creative aspect that fuels it, made Akira Toriyama a hugely popular man in Asia, and then across the rest of the world with Dragon Ball Z. For many artists, it's a dream of long time to create something that stands the test of time and will be remembered for generations, like Star Wars for example. 🏛
Dragon Ball is that franchise, with its enormous popularity and influence, years later. But this victory is a double-edged sword. Just as George Lucas felt burned by Star Wars, Toriyama felt chained by Dragon Ball because of its popularity.
Whether it's the general desire to move forward after the Z series, or even being forced by his editor to continually add or change elements to the manga, Toriyama is under crippling pressure from his superiors , and the seemingly endless requests from fans. Dragon Ball, like an inescapable addiction, continues to haunt Toriyama year after year. 👻
And you, have you thought of any other dark secrets about Dragon Ball that we haven't mentioned? Let us know quickly in the comments young Saiyan! 👊🏻
