Whether we are fans of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Super, the first memories that come to mind are the powers screamed by our heroes during their endless battles. “ Kamehameha ”, “ Genkidama ” or even “ Final Flash 💥💣 ” . So many Saiyan cries that resonated in the playgrounds and continue to fuel our heated discussions about our favorite manga.
But we must recognize that it was the sometimes absurd names of the different characters in the anime that made us laugh while we enjoyed our cocoa in front of the television after school. We're not just talking about the Red Ribbon Army and its soldiers with a well-defined color code. We will also not return to the unimaginative jokes of certain fighters like Draculaman 🧛♂️.
No, what Kame Sennin wants to share with you today are the inspirations based on vegetables 🍆 and underwear that were used to designate the many characters in the Dragon Ball franchise. You don't dare believe it? You're going to have to get used to it, because as the saying goes: “The truth always hurts when you decide to live in denial.” The Origin of DBZ Names , here we go for a Top 5 of the most ridiculous names!
No. 5: VEGETA: A name with good soup smells
Have you ever heard of fallacies? These completely false reasonings despite apparently rigorous development? We'll give you an example applied to Dragon Ball. Vegeta owes its name to “vegetables” (English), which simply means “ vegetables ” in French. If we all agree on the fact that Vegeta 🥗 is the prince of the Saiyans, we can conclude that the Saiyans are therefore... all vegetables! Completely stupid logic 🤪but food for thought. As if the super warriors of Dragon Ball were in fact the ingredients of a grandmother's recipe for making good soup... Oh Wait!
When we look closer, it turns out that Akira Toriyama and his gang were indeed passionate about gardening. If we distort the term " Saiyan " and it becomes "saïen" (in Japan this means... " vegetable garden ")! As if it were obvious. Naughty or nice, many characters find themselves adorned with the names of organic products. Take Goku for example. His real Saiyan surname is actually Kakarot 🥕 Or we should rather say “ Cacarrot ”, since his pseudonym is taken directly from Bugs Bunny's favorite food.
And what about Broly , which the next Toei Animation film will soon feature (psst, Tortue Géniale has prepared a wholeReview of the DBS Broly Film for you if you're interested). Could someone please tell him that his Japanese name, “Burori”, actually means “ Broccoli ”? Far from us intending to break the myth but admit that his image as a big badass (aka the Legendary Super Saiyan 💪 ) has just taken a serious blow...
No. 4: BIBIDI, BABIDI and BUU: When Walt Disney gets involved
Who would have believed it ? Dragon Ball was inspired by Cinderella and her godmother the good fairy 🧚🏽 But yes, you know her, the lit one who transforms a pumpkin into a carriage just by singing the incantation “ Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo ”. It would therefore be with the help of the same magic wand that Bibidi , Babidi and Buu would have come out of the hat of the Japanese screenwriter. Imagine how the hairs of the adversaries of these three characters must stand on end just at the mention of their names...
Therefore, it is not surprising that the writers of DB and DBZ made incantations of power commonplace during the numerous fights. But if they are so fond of this type of process, it is not only thanks to Walt Disney. The character Yakon is taken from the magic formula “ Tekumaku Mayakon ” which we can hear in the Japanese animated series Himitsu no Akko-chan . It is in fact a series in which a ten-year-old girl brings objects to life by pronouncing the formula “Little powder compact, little powder compact, transform me”... Devastating, this incantation can also prove to be life-saving when parrying a Genkidama.
N°3: FROM PICCOLO to CARGO: Let’s head towards Namek
The planet Namek returns regularly in the universe of Dragon Ball Z. And its nationals just as much since their best representative, Piccolo, is an integral part of Goku's gang. First naughty then nice, it is above all the surnames given to him and his ilk that interest us today.
Piccolo , in addition to being Akira Toriyama's favorite character, is also a little Italian flute 🎶which has nothing to envy of the pipeau in the category of instruments which definitely do not impress. But the irony goes even further when we know that the character of Piccolo cannot stand high-pitched or whistling sounds. From there to saying that it is true love between the creator of Dragon Ball and Ma Junior, there is only one step.
A step happily taken when naming the inhabitants of the planet Namek. If Piccolo is surrounded by “ Tambourin ”, “ Piano ” and “ Cymbal ”, he also finds himself forced to deal with a whole bunch of molluscs. This is not an expression to say that Katas , Moori , Cargo or even Nail are softened bulbs, it is just a fact: they all have names taken from English or Japanese words designating species of snails. Meanwhile, Lord Slug can boast of being the “ Lord of Slugs🐌 ”, quite a program!
No. 2: BEERUS: The guy who saves the evening
Everyone remembers the Gods of Destruction 💣 , divine entities the exact opposite of the Kaio-Shins 💡 , identified as the Gods of Creation. But the expression is well known: opposites attract, and these two entities are well and truly linked since in Dragon Ball Super , if one dies, its opposite dies too. Another very important detail to fully understand the story, all the Gods of Destruction are named by alcoholic beverages.
The first of them that we were able to see appear on the screen is Beerus , also known for having saved all his peers by massacring Zamasu. But Beerus is also a name taken from the English word “Beer”, which means nothing other than Beer 🍺 An anti-hero who saves everyone and who is named after an alcoholic beverage? We don't need more to clearly see the desire to symbolize the ill-intentioned friend that we all have, the one who arrives at a party to fill up reserves (which were clearly starting to run out) and drown us in liters of alcohol!
No. 1: BULMA: It’s underwear party!
The last but not least. The best for the end ! Bulma 's family , that of the little boxers. Given the last name of this line of eccentric scientists, they are not trying to only keep their white coats if you ask us. After all, Bulma's parents are none other than the Briefs, which in perfectly noble English means... underpants . The vice is pushed to the end since the mother's first name is Panchy , a very finely placed play on words in connection with “Panties”, which also describes a thong . As for Bulma , the logic is maintained since the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Underpants has a first name derived from mini gym shorts used by girls in Japan.
You will agree after that that limits only exist when we allow them. Therefore, to stay in the “butt and underwear” category, we can wonder what went through Akira Toriyama 's head when creating the character of Mister Popo . The person concerned seems to have a very rational explanation for this: “I named it that simply because it sounded comfortable”.
That concludes this top of the most absurd names in the Dragon Ball universe. Many other characters are also worth the detour (take a look at the image below 👀) and we guarantee you other laughs just by reading their names.
And if the last paragraph about those who have underpants names has whetted your appetite, Tortue Géniale invites you to read more articles from our wiki page ! You will find many surprises regarding the many topics discussed!
