Dreams come true!!

“The Dragon Balls were intended to be a thing of extraordinary magic and power, something to be revered, not for the ease of their method, but for the dream of never having to use them.“

Dragon Balls are the namesake artifact of the Dragon Ball series. They are orange, crystalline spheres with the ability to call forth the Eternal Dragon Shenron which has the ability to grant wishes to anyone who gathers all seven of them.

The most well known Dragon Ball is the Four-Star Dragon Ball, being the one Grandpa Gohan had and which Goku kept after he passed away, also being the one which Goku put on his first son Gohan’s hat. The Namekian Dragon Ball Vegeta stole, and that was later stolen from him by Gohan, was also the Four-Star Dragon Ball. In Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Second Coming, the Four-Star Dragon Ball is the last Dragon Ball to be collected before Trunks, Goten and Videl summon Shenron, and was also the last ball to be found by Bulma before summoning Shenron to wish back those who were killed by Majin Vegeta at the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. In Dragon Ball GT, the only good Shadow Dragon, Nuova Shenron, was the Four-Star Dragon Ball Dragon.

Dragon Balls come in sets of seven with each ball containing the number of stars that signifies its respective number in the set. Dragon Balls are difficult to find because they are scattered all over their respective planet (Earth and a few other planets which have their own set, although the Black-Star Dragon Balls scatter all across the galaxy), and are deactivated for a year after every wish, disguising themselves as stones. To have the opportunity to summon a Dragon, one must travel all over the globe to retrieve them. As technology eventually progressed, this became somewhat easier, and became relatively simple with Bulma’s invention of the Dragon Radar. In addition, the balls are also virtually indestructable short of their creator dying or a planet’s explosion.

Dragon Radar designed by Bulma

 

Restrictions on the Dragon’s powers are set by the relative capabilities of the Dragon Ball set’s creator. A big problem throughout the series is that with any set of Dragon Balls is that their creator must be alive for them to function, otherwise they will be stones for eternity. This often results in the Z Fighters protecting their creator with their lives.

Since all seven Dragon Balls must be brought together (though it is unknown exactly what the maximum distance between the balls for them to be considered together is), it is often a sound strategy employed by the villains of the series to find one Dragon Ball and hold on to it, while the Z Fighters go through the trouble of finding the other six, after which the villain will step in and steal them. Since this strategy technically works, but is considered cheap, the Z Fighters do not usually employ it, as they prefer to fight fair.

The Earth Dragon Balls are about 7.5 cm (approximately 3 in) in diameter, and they summon a dragon named Shenron. They were created by Kami, and later re-created by Dende. Shenron can grant a wish within its powers as long as it does not kill, create love, repeat a wish he previously granted, and a few more restrictions. Legitimate wishes include eternal youth, immortality, bringing back a scorched forest or even an annihilated planet. Also, it is possible to return a person to life, although only if they meet certain criteria, like dying of unnatural causes or within a year before, and each individual can only be brought back once. The Eternal Dragon will grant the first wish uttered after it was called, by whomever is present.

 

The Dragon Balls were rendered inert three times: the first time was after King Piccolo murdered Shenron shortly after the latter granted him his wish, and was subsequently revived by Kami after Goku proved to him that there were still some good people in the world (originally, Kami had no intention of reviving them due to the purpose for creating them being corrupted by man’s greed). The second time was after Kami ended up indirectly killed by Nappa when the latter ended up killing Piccolo who took Nappa’s attack meant for Gohan, although they were restored upon Kami’s revival. They were then rendered inert for a final time when Piccolo and Kami decided to reunite due to Cell’s grave threat to the world. Goku and the other Z Fighters initially did not consider restoring the Dragon Balls, but after Cell wiped out the entirety of the Royal Armed Forces when they attempted to attack Cell during the ten day wait before the Cell Game, Goku decided to find a mean to restore the Dragon Balls, even if Kami could not defuse with Piccolo.

 

When Dende became the Earth’s guardian, he modified the burnt out Dragon Balls created by Kami, giving Shenron the power to grant three wishes (two wishes if one wish is used to revive a large amount of people). He chose simply modifying Kami’s Dragon Balls over creating a new set because the time it would take to create a new set from scratch was far too long, especially given the imminent threat of Cell. In addition to this, Dende’s dragon can grant one wish and then have the other wishes saved for a later time. This was shown in the Buu Saga, when one wish was made to revive all those killed by Majin Vegeta, and then Goku asked Shenron to save the following wishes. Therefore, only four or so months after Kid Buu’s defeat, another wish was made to erase the Earthling’s memories of Buu. One obstacle that Dende could not overcome for the new set of balls is that, a person cannot be revived more than once. Like the Namekian Dragon Balls, the summoner must utter a set of words. In Dragon Ball Z, these words are “Eternal Dragon, by your name, I summon you forth: Shenron!” In Dragon Ball GT, right before the Shadow Dragon Saga, the words have changed to “Arise, Shenron!”

 

It is debated whether Dragon Balls can revive artificial life or not. The revival of Android 17 during the Cell Games Saga does not apply to this because he started out as a human and was made into an android by Dr. Gero. Android 16, who was killed by Cell, was not seen anymore in the series even after the wish was made to revive all of Cell’s victims. Furthermore, when Kid Buu annihilated the planet Earth, and everyone (except the evil ones) were wished back, Android 8, who is a purely mechanical Android like 16, was seen giving Goku energy for his Spirit Bomb, but it is possible that he was brought back due to the fact that they wished for the planet Earth to be recreated like it was before Majin Buu’s resurrection.

In the Dragon Ball episode “The Legend of a Dragon”, Master Roshi told a popular legend about the “origin” of the Dragon Balls. This legend is only present in the anime and is contradictory with the explanation given later in the series about Kami being their creator as Roshi’s tale is only something he had heard and was probably a legend with no real basis.

“The Legend, as I was told, goes something like this. In the beginning there was only one Dragon Ball. It was huge. I mean REALLY huge, it had to be. It held all of the mystical energies of the universe. An ancient tribe discovered it, and was inspired by it’s magnificent power. They built a shrine around it, and protected the orb by placing it in the mouth of a giant Dragon statue, said to be it’s eternal guardian. You should have seen the detail on this thing, it was INCREDIBLE, scales made of Ruby, teeth of pearl -speaking of pearl, they say there was this one native girl (“GET ON WITH IT!”)- yes, well, the tribe enjoyed years of prosperity until one day, evil paid a visit to the village in the form of a band of thieves. These agents of Darkness stormed the temple in an attempt to steal the Dragon Ball for their own selfish gain. They were shocked to discover the true power of the Ball. To ensure such an attack never happened again, the Dragon Ball was divided into seven smaller orbs, and scattered across the globe. Separately, the Dragon Balls were useless, but when all seven were united, then a single voice could summon the Eternal Dragon for one wish, and one wish only. Some wishes were pure. but others were tainted by blind ambition. This led to pain and suffering as an unjust few wished for power and dominion over mankind. But as the story goes there will one day come a hero who will use the Dragon Balls for goodness, and bring peace and unity to the world once more.”

Main character – Son Goku

 Son Goku is the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball series. He is perhaps the most refined example of the shōnen manga hero. Goku is immensely strong, pure of heart, and extremely competitive, but dedicated wholeheartedly to the cause of defending the Earth from evil. His wife is Chi-Chi, and he has two sons, Gohan and Goten.

Though he grew up on Earth and appears more or less human, Goku is descended from an alien warrior race known as the Saiyans, who originally sent him to the planet to prepare it for conquest. He was originally evil and violent; however, a coincidental knock on the head cleared his mind of his natural inclination towards global domination, though — instead, he ended up becoming the planet’s greatest champion.

His alien heritage gives him many advantages, including great physical strength, speed, resilience, and a leg up in focusing his chi energy to develop many unusual martial arts techniques. Those include his famous Kamehameha energy blast, which has become his signature technique over the years, and the ability to transform into progressively more impressive levels of “Super Saiyan” power.

Goku was originally conceived by creator Akira Toriyama as a riff on the main character from the Chinese novel “Journey to the West” (just as the novel itself inspired the original Dragon Ball comics to some degree). In particular, the tail he sported in his younger days is a nod to the Chinese classic.

Main characters – Vegeta

Vegeta is a Saiyan, and one of the Z Fighters. His name is a pun on “vegetable“. He is named after his home, the Saiyan planet Vegeta. Vegeta is known to have worked for the space tyrant Frieza, and is first shown on Planet Arlia when Raditz sends the battle feed to his scouter. The two of the them travel to Earth in search of the Dragon Balls. It takes them less than a year, but when he and Nappa finally arrive in the populated city of Metro East, Vegeta kills everyone in the city with his ki blast. Using his scouter, Vegeta tracks down the Z Fighters, and soon finds a revived Goku, who beats up Nappa. Vegeta, seeing that Nappa has been paralyzed, mercilessly kills him. He then fights Goku, but he runs away when Yajirobe cuts off his tail and he is struck by Gohan’s Spirit Bomb. He returns to planet Frieza 79, and then heads of to Planet Namek for revenge on Frieza.

On Namek, Vegeta sees his old workmates and kills them all, those including Cui, Dodoria and Zarbon. He also has several encounters with the Z Fighters, and successfully steals Frieza’s Dragon Balls, but when the Ginyu Force is called over, he and Goku are forced to team up in order to defeat them, and they do. Vegeta becomes a Z Fighter, but Frieza kills him. When he is revived, he helps defeat Cell and the Androids. However, Vegeta is absorbed by Majin Buu, and is soon killed again. This time, he is not revived.

Main characters – Piccolo

Piccolo, otherwise known as Piccolo Junior, is a Z Fighter and an old enemy of Goku. He is born following his father King Piccolo’s murder by Goku, and intends to take over his late father’s mission of conquering the world. In the finals of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Piccolo is defeated by Goku, who wins the tournament. Five years later, in Dragon Ball Z, Piccolo is ambushed by Raditz, who proves to be a challenge to him. He forms a temporary alliance with Goku to defeat Raditz, and in doing so, kills Goku along with Raditz. After Goku’s death, Piccolo vows to train Gohan so he can become stronger and fight the two other Saiyans who attempt to destroy the Earth. First, he has Gohan survive in the wilderness for six months, then he trains him in fight. During the ensuing fight with the Saiyans, Piccolo risks his life in order to save Gohan from Nappa’s ki blast. He is soon revived by the Dragon Balls, and is brought to Namek for the first time. He fuses with the Namekian Nail, killing Nail, but making Piccolo stronger. He fights Frieza, but loses. He is healed by Dende, who is soon killed.

Main characters – Tien Shinhan

Tien Shinhan (天津飯, Tenshinhan, nicknamed Ten), known as Tenshinhan in the manga and Shinto in the Harmony Gold dub, is first introduced in chapter 113 of the manga series. Initially an enemy of Goku who was trained by Roshi’s rival the Crane Hermit to kill Goku and the other Turtle Hermit studiers, during his finals battle with Goku, Tien realizes that the Crane Hermit’s doings are wrong, and makes peace with Goku and becomes a Z Fighter. Accompanied by his friend Chiaotzu, Tien enters the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, makes it to the finals, and faces Goku, who proves to be a more than worthy opponent. Eventually, after Goku survives every attack thrown at him, Tien destroys the arena with his Kikoho, but Goku jumps into the air and uses his Kamehameha to slam himself into Tien. Both fighters fall down to the ground, but Goku is hit by a passing truck, causing him to land on the ground first, which makes Tien the winner. Afterwards, Tien and Chiaotzu become allies of Goku. He participated in the battle against the Saiyans in Dragon Ball Z, in which he is killed by Nappa, along with Chiaotzu, Yamcha and Piccolo. The four of them are trained by King Kai and later revived by Porunga. Tien also participated in the battles against Cell and Majin Buu.

Tien is bald and has three eyes, the third placed on his forehead. He has a Third Eye because he is from an Alien Race of three eyed beings called the Triclops. When Toriyama began creating the Dragon Ball series, he used Wu Cheng’en’s Journey to the West as a prototype for his own work. Tien’s three eyed physical characteristic resembles the story character Erlang Shen, and both are warriors who were originally adversaries of the main character. His outfits change consistently as the series goes on, and he usually doesn’t wear a shirt when fighting. In the Japanese version of the series, he was voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki until his death in 2006; Kōichi Yamadera acted as a substitute for Suzuoki for episodes 82 and 84 of the series. He is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit and by Hikaru Midorikawa in Dragon Ball Kai. In the Ocean dub, he was voiced by Matt Smith. In the Funimation dub of the series, he was voiced by Chris Cason in the third season and by John Burgmeier from the fourth season onwards and in the redub of the third season.

Main characters – Krillin

Krillin, known as “Kuririn” in the Viz Manga, is a bald “Z Fighter”, and one of Goku’s best friends. He met Goku on Master Roshi’s island after running away from Orin Temple. The two start out as rivals, but during the “21st World Martial Arts Tournament”, they become friends when Goku gives Krillin good fighting advice. He is soon killed by King Piccolo’s mercenary Tambourine, but is revived with the Dragon Balls.

In Dragon Ball Z, Krillin and Gohan disobey Goku’s orders and fight Vegeta, but they are both knocked out. He goes to Namek with Bulma and Gohan, where Frieza nearly kills him by impaling his horn through his chest; however, Dende heals him. He is killed again by Frieza, who explodes his body. Krillin’s murder gives Goku the anger he needs to turn Super Saiyan. He is revived again, but is turned into candy by Majin-Buu, killing him. Krillin dies a fourth time in Dragon Ball GT, where evil Android 17 kills him. In the anime-only Garlic Junior Saga, Krillin proposes to a girl named Maron, but she refuses. Instead, he marries Android 18, and grows hair. He has a daughter named Marron.

Main characters – Yamcha

Yamcha (ヤムチャ, Yamucha^?), known as Zedaki in the Harmony Gold dub, is introduced as an outlaw and a bandit. He starts out as an antagonist of Goku’s in order to steal his Dragon Ball and wish not to feel nervous when being near to women. He eventually reforms, becoming an ally and Z Fighter, and starts a relationship with Bulma. After participating in Baba’s tournament, Yamcha requests to become the pupil of Master Roshi, to which Master Roshi obliges. He qualifies for the 21st Tenkai’chi Budo’kai fighting tournament, but loses to a mysterious old man, Jackie Chun, who is actually Master Roshi in disguise. He continually questions Master Roshi on his true ability, but is unable to find the truth. As a result from such training, Yamcha becomes able to develop various energy techniques such as the Kamehameha and the Soukidan, an energy sphere which he can control after throwing it. He soon becomes able to fly and is able to train with various gods from the Dragon Ball universe. He was killed in battle by Vegeta’s saibamen. After the attack from the Red Ribbon Army’s androids, he quits fighting, noting that he is very weak in comparison to his friends. His constant companion is Puar. During the series, he holds a romantic relationship with Bulma, but they break up some time after Future Trunks’ first appearance, and Bulma ends up marrying Vegeta. He is voiced by Tōru Furuya in the Japanese version of the series. In the Ocean dub, he is voiced by Ted Cole, and in the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Christopher Sabat. In the 2009 Dragon Ball live-action film, he was portrayed by Joon Park, whose voice was dubbed over by Hisao Egawa in the Japanese dub of the film.

Main Characters – Master Roshi

Master Roshi, known in the English manga and the Japanese versions as Kame Sen’nin (亀仙人, Kame Sennin^?) and Muten Rōshi (武天老師), is an ancient and wise martial arts master and the first Earthling to wield the Kamehameha. Though he seems frail, he is a mighty warrior, having trained Grandpa Gohan, Ox King, Son Goku, Krillin and others. He is a stock character, as he is both the archetypal wise old man and perverted dirty old man, the latter being typical of shōnen manga. His perverted actions normally would get built up during filler, but there are some instances, such as his adult magazines, that are famed throughout Dragon Ball. Still, he is depicted to be a very wise and gentle person, who loves life and its simple pleasures, but is willing to die if necessary, such as when performing the Mafu-ba technique (Evil Containment Wave in the English dub) against Piccolo Daimao. He sometimes gets cranky, which further provides comic relief. He is bald, with a thick van dyke beard and wears sunglasses. Roshi wears beach clothes or martial arts suits and, during the earlier stages of the series, a turtle shell on his back. He usually wields a walking stick. When wishing to act anonymously in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Roshi uses the name Jackie Chun. As mentioned before, Master Roshi died after performing the Mafu-Ba, and is revived by the Dragon Balls.

Roshi’s character design was inspired by the character of Kami-sama from Toriyama’s previous manga Dr. Slump (who is unrelated to the Kami-sama from Dragon Ball). Roshi was originally voiced by Kōhei Miyauchi, who also voiced Kami-sama in the original anime version of Dr. Slump. Miyauchi’s final acting session before he died was for episode 260 of Dragon Ball Z, which he recorded only 3 months before his death. The episode aired on March 15, 1995. In his final line, he yells out “Kuririn!”, and is turned into a bar of chocolate by Majin Buu shortly afterwards. Since episode 288 of Dragon Ball Z, Roshi is voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka, who voices him throughout Dragon Ball GT and in the recent video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi. He is voiced by Kinya Aikawa in the 10th anniversary special and by Masaharu Satō in movie 13 and Dragon Ball Kai. In the Ocean dub, he was voiced by Ian James Corlett, Peter Kelamis, Dave Ward, Don Brown, and Terry Klassen at various points. In the Funimation dub, Roshi has been voiced consistently by Mike McFarland. He is portrayed by Chow Yun-fat in the live-action film Dragonball Evolution; his voice was dubbed over by Tsutomu Isobe in the Japanese dub of the film.

Main characters – Bulma

Bulma (ブルマ, Buruma) is a character appearing early in the series in the first chapter Bulma and Son Goku (ブルマと孫悟空, Buruma to Son Gokū) first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 3, 1984. She was originally portrayed as a secondary main character, next to Goku. Her role is quickly downplayed as the series continues, though she does continue her role as a supporting character for the remainder of the series. Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Briefs; the founder of Capsule Corp., a fictional corporation that creates special capsules that are often used to store objects of various sizes. Being the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Bulma is also an intelligent scientist, as well as an inventor and engineer. She is most credited for inventing the Dragon Radar, a fictional device that is specifically designed to detect the energy signal emitted by a Dragon Ball, being able to find the Dragon Balls faster than anyone else. Bulma’s role as an inventor becomes important at several points in the series. Several of her creations were major contributions to various plotlines, including a microband that could make her shrink, the time machine that brought her son Trunks to the past during Dragon Ball Z and the generator that allowed her husband Vegeta to achieve Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT.

Bulma is a direct parody of the character Xuanzang from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Even though Bulma’s character parodies a monk, her Japanese name “Buruma” is a direct take on the word bloomers, which was a popular type of women’s underwear in the early 20th century. As with most characters in the Dragon Ball series, Bulma’s name is consistent with those of the rest of her family. All of Bulma’s family members are named after underclothing of some sort. Her father’s name is “Dr. Briefs”, while her son and daughter are named “Trunks” and “Bra” (“Bulla” in the anime adaptation, which is “bra” in Japanese) respectively. She married the Saiyan Prince Vegeta, who is the only family member (other than King Vegeta) to not be named after clothes.

Bulma is voiced by Hiromi Tsuru in all of the Japanese media. In Funimation’s dub, she would be voiced by Maggie Blue O’Hara in the first Dragon Ball film; Lalainia Lindbjerg in the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball and the 64 episodes and first three movies of Dragon Ball Z; Leslie Alexander in the film Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle; Tiffany Vollmer in all other Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT dubs including re-dubs of previously dubbed works; and Monica Rial in Dragon Ball Z Kai. In Westwood Media’s dub, Maggie Blue O’Hara returned to voice Bulma in Dragon Ball Z; Leda Davies was cast for Dragon Ball; and Kristin Nowosad in Dragon Ball GT. In the Japanese dub of the live-action Dragonball Evolution, she is voiced by Aya Hirano.

Bulma has a cameo in the Dragon Ball/One Piece crossover Cross Epoch. In this segment, she is partnered up with the character Nami. The two act as a pair of space pirates. Bulma has been portrayed by Jeannie Tse in the unofficial live-action Dragon Ball movie The Magic Begins. She was also featured in the 1990 unofficial Korean adaptation where she was played by Lee Ju Hee. Bulma appeared in the live-action film Dragonball Evolution, portrayed by Emmy Rossum. Rossum describes her portrayal of Bulma as “She’s pretty bad-ass, but still quirky and fun, and kind of ridiculous in the way she is in the anime.”

Storyline of Dragon Ball

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The series begins with a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku befriending a teenage girl named Bulma. Together, they go on a quest to find the seven Dragon Balls. Goku later undergoes rigorous training regimes and educational programs under the martial artist Master Roshi in order to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament, a competition involving the most powerful fighters in the world. During his training time with Roshi, he meets a bald Shaolin monk named Krillin, who starts out as Goku’s rival classmate; however, they soon become best friends. Outside the tournaments, Goku faces diverse villains such as Emperor Pilaf, the Red Ribbon Army, and the Namekian Piccolo Daimao. Several of the enemies and rivals Goku encounters eventually become his allies and close friends, including the desert bandit Yamcha, the assassin Tien Shinhan, the samurai Yajirobe, and Piccolo Daimao’s offspring/reincarnation Piccolo Jr.

As a young adult, Goku meets his older brother Raditz, who reveals to him that they are members of a nearly extinct extraterrestrial race called the Saiyans. The Saiyans had sent Goku to Earth as an infant to conquer the planet for them, but he suffered a severe head injury soon after his arrival and lost all memory of his mission, as well as his blood-thirsty Saiyan nature. Goku refuses to help Raditz continue the mission, and is soon killed. He later begins to encounter other enemies from space, most notably the Saiyan prince Vegeta, who becomes his rival and eventually another ally. Goku also encounters Frieza, the galactic emperor responsible for the destruction of almost the entire Saiyan race, whose actions cause Goku to transform into a fabled Super Saiyan. After an epic battle on the planet Namek, Goku defeats Frieza, avenging the lives of billions across the galaxy.

Some time later, a group of androids from the former Red Ribbon Army appear, seeking revenge against Goku. During this time, an evil life form called Cell emerges and, after absorbing two of the androids to increase his power, holds his own fighting tournament to decide the fate of the Earth called the Cell Games. However, Cell is eventually defeated by Goku’s son Gohan. Seven years later, Goku is drawn into another battle for the universe against a magical monster named Majin Buu. After many battles, Goku destroys Buu. Ten years later, at another World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku meets Buu’s human reincarnation, Uub. Leaving the match between the two of them unfinished, Goku takes Uub away on a journey to train him as the Earth’s next defender.