DRAGON BALL
DRAGON BALL was originally based on the 16th century work Hsi Yu Chi (in English, "The Record of A Journey to the West"), a novel written by the Chinese satirist Wu Cheng'en. The mythological tale was a fictional account of the real-life journey of Hsuan Tsang, a Buddhist monk who in 628, left his home town of Chang'an and travelled westward, intent on finding Buddhist scriptures that might help China learn about the religion. He was successful in his endeavors, and upon his return, was given the name "Tripitaka" by the Emperor. Tripitaka quickly became the most reknowned religious figure in Asia, and countless stories and legends were told about his journey. These stories soon became increasingly unbelievable, as tales of demons, spirits, monsters, and magic were introduced into them. At one point a monkey was added into the story, and this became so popular that all future tales of Tripitaka included the monkey. In Hsi Yu Chi, the monkey was called Sun Wukong.
DRAGON BALL, in its beginnings, was more or less a modern retelling of Hsu Yi Chi. In both, there was the journey for mystical artifacts -- in Hsu Yu Chi, it was for Buddhist sutras; in DRAGON BALL, it was for the Dragon Balls, seven magical spheres that when brought together, called forth a Dragon that would grant the discover a single wish. The popular monkey Sun Wukong was a parallel to DRAGON BALL's Son Gokuh. Both had the ability to ride clouds, both carried similar weapons, both could transform, both were "monkeys", and both had the same name -- "Son Gokuh" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Sun Wukong". Various other associations can be made connecting the two stories together, such as the naive girl Bulma with Tripitaka, etc.
DRAGON BALL deviated far from the Hsu Yu Chi formula once the character Pilaf was introduced. From that point on, the story focused on the misadventures of the young Son Gokuh, who was learning how to live in a world far different from his secluded home on Paozu Yama. Through the course of 16 collected manga volumes, Son Gokuh would participate in three martial arts tournaments, encounter and defeat an army bent on taking over the world, and build lasting friendships with the people around him, many of which surprisingly were former enemies. The focus on this portion of DRAGON BALL was on humor and wild adventures.
All that changed with the arrival of the Saiyajin, a warring tribe that Son Gokuh was one of the last descendants of.
The coming of the Saiyajin set off a 26 book run which pushed the focus off of comedy and into high drama and fighting. Son Gokuh and his friends were forced time and time again to battle incredibly powerful opponents in order to ensure the safety and peace of their planet. This simple plot would successfully drive the story of DRAGON BALL until its end.
Dragon Ball's main basis as a story is being about seven magical balls. If all of these balls are brought together,
the dragon Sheng Long will appear and grant the person responsible a wish.
However, along with this, comes the original characters and stories that they bring. Through all of the adventures, hardships, and peaceful times, the characters seem to come out on top. Goku, who was supposed to wipe out any life of Earth, became one to protect our planet. Vegeta, who was the prince
of Saiya-jins', had his evil thinking nearly killing him. Presently he lives as a part of the force to protect Earth. Piccolo, who from the beginning wanted to kill Goku as well. He found out what a peaceful life was all about
through his son, Gohan. Gohan himself, who despised violence, suddenly realized that he was among the strongest in the world.
Years and years pass, and our heroes fight through an array of evil. Freeza, Cell, the Androids, and Buu. More and more good guys appear as well. Trunks, Goten, Kaioshin, Pan.
Yes, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT have a sequal, and it's getting mixed reviews. Personally, I've never seen it, but I like what I see. The heroes are Goku (who was returned to being a kid by his childhood villan Emperor Pilof), Trunks (now president of Capsual corp), and Pan. Guru, a little robot who swallowed the Dragon Ball Radar is also along with them. Basicly, the Black Star Dragon Balls have been used by Pilof to turn Goku back into a kid, except now the balls have been spread around the galaxy, and unless they are reunited within a year, the earth will be destroyed. Will GT be as good as the original series, considering that Toriyama is not actually involved in making this story? Only time will tell.
To make this easier for you, here are the character catagories.
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The Saiyans are a race of aliens from the planet Vegeta. They are born with a monkey tail, and have the property that they become giant apes upon viewing the full moon. The tail is prehensile, but is sensitive, and when it is grasped, they become weak. The tail can be removed, which prevents the ape transformation. With a lot of training, they can become Super Saiyan, where their hair becomes golden and more spiky, and their attacks are more powerful. There is a third level, known as SS3, where their eyebrows disappear, and their hair becomes incredibly long and even more spiky.
SON GOKU (Kakarot): The hero of the Dragon Ball series. He was sent to earth from his home planet, and was raised by a man named Gohan. During the early series, he carries Nyoi Bo (a staff which can extend to incredible lengths) and flys on Kintoun (a cloud given to him by Mutenroshi). Throughout the series, he dies several times to save the earth, and then is reincarnated by the dragon balls. From Mutenroshi, the turtle hermit, Goku learns the "Kamehameha!" fireball, which is used by many characters later on. Goku learns from Kaiou-samma the Genki-Dama that destroys Buu at the end. Kakarot is his saiyan name.
PRINCE VEGETA: One of the first major villans, Vegeta came to earth with Nappa to hunt down Goku. He is very arrogant, and wants to prove once and for all that he is better than Goku. His trademark techniques include "Big Bang" attack and "Final Blast".
NAPPA: PRINCE Vegeta's traveling companion to earth. He did not last long. Vegeta killed him after he lost to Goku.
BARDOCK: Gokou's and Radditz's father. He died on the planet Vegeta fighting off Freeza.
RADDITZ (Radish): Goku's older brother. He appears on earth before Vegeta. After a fierce battle, he is killed by Piccolo, and Goku also is killed by the drilling fireball.
BRIORI (Brawley): The ultimate Saiyan. He is not in the comics or the TV series, but appears several times in the movies. He was born around the same time as Goku, but was a lot more powerful. He wants revenge against Vegeta, and can get quite violent.
These are the children of Saiyan fathers and Human mothers. Apparently, they will be more powerful than their fathers someday. They are also apparently born with tails.
SON GOHAN: Goku's first child with ChiChi. He was raised by Piccolo, and for a while, wears an identical costume. His mother wants him to be scholar insted of a fighter, and at one point in the TV series, she makes Goku and Piccolo go out to get drivers' licenses to show him some non-fighting activity (of course they fail).
GREAT SAIYA MAN (Son Gohan): After Gohan defeated Cell, he grew up into a teen ager going to school in Satan City (named after Mr. Satan). He uses his skills to fight crime, but wants to protect his secret identity. The silly costume just doesn't cut it.
TRUNKS (Future): Vegeta's son from the future. He was taught by Gohan, since Goku was dead in that future, but used a time machine to go back and prevent Goku's heart attack after Androids 17 & 18 killed Gohan. He fights with a sword, and was the second saiyan to become Super Saiyan (before Vegeta!). After Cell is defeated, he returns to the future where he kills 17 & 18, and stops Cell. My favorite character.
TRUNKS (Present): Trunks as an 8 year old child in the present. His best friend is Goten, who he is a year older than. He has some of Vegeta's spirit, and once relieved himself of Brawley's head.
SON GOTEN: Goku's second child. He attained Super Saiyan at about 7 years old, and mastered the techniques much faster than even Trunks. When he grows up, he has shaggy hair, and wears a shirt with his name on it. He was supposed to travel with Goku, Pan, and Trunks in GT, but Pan started the spaceship without him.
BRA: Trunk's younger sister, she has not shown any battle potential, and appears only in the very end of the sister.
PAN: The daughter of Gohan and Videl. She plays a greater role in Dragon Ball GT. Appears only in the end of the series.
The result of a fussion technique where two people do a silly dance, then touch fingers. Unless it is done perfectly, the result may come out wrong (too fat or too skinny). The two people seperate after a half hour. Later, there are magical earings which can cause fussion without the silly dance.
GOTENKS: The result of Fussion between Goten and Trunks. Gotenks looks looks like a little version of Vegeta (minus the mean look) wearing a persian vest and pants. He is not as powerful as he thought (the first time they got it right, Buu kicked the crap out of him). Some of his trademark attacks include "Gotenks Dounut" which can trap opponents, and "Kamakazi Ghost" where Gotenks spits out smoke that turns into comical ghost replicas of him, which explode on contact with each other or an opponent.
VEGITO (Vegit): The fussion between Goku and Vegeta from the comics. He looks kind of like SS2 Goku wearing Vegeta's costume. He was very powerful, but after he broke apart, Vegita broke his earing at the prospect of being eternally fused with Goku.
GOEGITA: The fussion between Goku and Vegeta from movie number 12. He looks like a wicked version of Vegeta wearing a persian vest and pants. Looks alot like Gotenks.
A race of green skinned aliens. Their limbs can stretch out, and they have the ability to regenerate damage. They also have antenas, and can absorb each other's life energy, and thus become Super Nemek-ja. Their home world was destroyed by Freeza.
PICCOLO DAIMAO (Ma): Piccolo's father. He was a demon imprisoned in a rice cooker by Mutenroshi's teacher. He created offspring by spitting out eggs. He was killed by Goku (who was a kid at the time), but he spit out Piccolo's egg. He looks wrinkly and old.
PICCOLO (Ma Jr.): He was the final offspring of Ma. He normally wears a white turban and cape over his sleaveless purple body suit. He may seem surly, but he apparently is not that bad at heart. His trade mark attacks include a Drilling "MoGanZoZanPo" attack, and a powerful Ghost Fireball. He is techniquely the Devil.
KAME-SAMA: Piccolo's "soul mate", he is (essentially) God. When Piccolo dies, he also disappears, and vice versa. Plus, when he dies, the Dragon Balls don't work any more. He entered a tournament in order to trap Piccolo back into the Rice Cooker where Ma came from. He eventually is absorbed by Piccolo to save the world.
DENDE: A little kid Nemek who the heroes meet during the Freeza encounter. He becomes the next Kame-Sama.
NAIL: Another Nemek met during the Freeza encounter, he was wounded, and Piccolo absorbed him.
Here are a few of the cosmic characters outside the human, saiyan, and Nemek sphere.
KAIOU-SAMA: A guy who looks kind of like either a catfish or a really big roach. Goku met Kaiou-Sama after he died the first time. He taught Goku the Genki-Dama (Prayer Fireball), which he eventually used to destroy Buu. Lives on a planet at the end of the snake road, and can contact people telepathicly. His planet is small, but apparently is the center of a gravity well.
SENPYOU: A cat who lives on top of Karin tower. He trained Yajirobee, and first introduced the Senzou beans. He carries a large staff, considering his small size.
BUBBLES & GREGORY: Companions of Kaio-Sama. Bubbles is a monkey, and Gregory is a cricket. Apparently, Gregory wasn't in the comic, only the TV series.
MR. PO PO: Kame-Sama's assistant. He wears a turban, and has pointy ears. He also has a flying carpet.
KAIOSHIN: One of the Four Cosmic Kaioshin gods (he's the east). He appears as an androgenous punk teenager. He wants to defeat Buu, but is afraid since Buu absorbed two of the other Kaioshin gods.
KIBIT: Kaioshin's assistant. He is a healer, and much larger than Kaioshin.
KAIOBIT: The result when Kaioshin and Kibit switched earings- a perminently fused being.
THE OLD KAIOSHIN: A perverted old man Kaiou god, he was trapped in the Zet Sword. He used his cosmic vision powers to see Ettchi magazines far away. He taught Gohan some new powerful techniques. (known as Dai Kaioshin sama).
Here are the mottley crew of mercenaries under Freeza's orders.
FREEZA: The leader of a group of Space Pirates who once had an alliance with the Saiyans, before they destroyed the planet Vegeta. He started as a little kid floating in a carriage, but grew into several different forms, ending as an androgeneous, white skinned lizard creature of incredible power. He was critically wounded by Goku, but escaped the planet Nemek before it blew up. He was killed by Trunks when he attacked Earth.
KING COLD: Freeza's father. He was defeated in a duel by Trunks, then killed.
COOLER: Freeza's older brother. He only appeared in the Movies. After he was defeated once, he returned as part of a bio-mechanical planet, and produced several metallic "Freeza" robots.
ZARBON: An androgeneous fighter of terrible power who worked as Freeza's right hand until he was killed by Vegeta. He could turn into a giant monster version, but that couldn't stop Vegeta.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE GINEW SENTAI TEAM
GINEW: The leader of the team. He is a purple skinned, horned alien who has mastered a technique of switching bodies with an opponent. In the end, he switched bodies with an alien frog by accident.
RECOOM: A big galoot who has orange hair and looks human. He is very durable, and can breathe fire.
BATA: He is very fast. Very, very fast.
BEEF: Another humanoid character, he is small, and has orange skin and long white hair.
GISEU: A little green guy with four eyes. This little malicious nut can paralyze opponents with his powers. His head was ripped off, and then stepped on.
Many of these Androids are built by the reminence of the Red Ribbon army's Dr. Gero.
ANDROID 20 (Dr. Gero): Gero's mechanical body. He created the other cyborgs, but was killed by 17. He could drain ki energy from opponents via red dots on his hands, including absorbing energy attacks without damage.
ANDROID 19: A fat chinese android with powers like 20. Vegeta ripped his arms off to prevent him to drain ki, and then killed him.
ANDROID 18: A pretty blonde girl android who worked with Android 17. She was powerful enough to beat up Vegeta. She was absorbed by Cell, but he coughed her out after taking a beating from Gohan. Kururin eventually fell in lover with her, and wished her able to be human. Although she had a daughter, she was still incredibly powerful. She threw a fight against Mr. Satan to save his reputation.
ANDROID 17: An androgeonous boy android who is 18's "brother". He has black hair, and looks alot like 18. 17 killed his maker, Dr. Gero. He was absorbed by Cell.
ANDROID 16: A super powerful android who didn't exsist in F.Trunk's timeline. He is more powerful than 17 or 18, but he had a peaceful soul. He could fire his arms off. Cell beat him up, and knocked his head off.
HATCHETMAN: An earlier attempt by Dr. Gero, he is number 8 (i think). He looks like Frankenstein. He was supposed to stop Goku (when he was a kid), but befriended him.
CELL: Dr. Gero's ultimate creation, Cell started as a cross between lizard and insect.He had a tail with a pointed siphon on the end which allowed him to not only absorb the life energy, but knowledge and skills of them, too. He came from the future where he had killed and absorbed several of the heroes including Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo to absorb 17 and 18, who had been killed by Trunks in the future before he could absorb them.
PERFECT CELL: Cell's ultimate form after absorbing 17 and 18. Perfect Cell was almost unbeatable, since he could regenerate like Piccolo. At one point, P.Cell bloated himself with energy so Gohan couldn't attack him, so Goku teleported him away to Kaio-Sama's planet, where Cell blew up killing Goku and Kaio. Unfortunately, Cell regerated from the ashes, and returned to earth. Finally, Gohan blew Cell off the face of the earth, but luckily, Cell had coughed up 18 earlier, so she was spared.
CELL JR.: The menacing offspring of Cell. They look like diminutive versions of him. They were killed by Gohan.
These are the creatures of earth, although not all of them are human.
KURURIN: A little bald guy who trained with Son Goku under Kamesennin. Originally, he and Goku were rivals, but then they became best friends. He was never as good as Goku, but he's rather powerful for a human. He mastered energy saw and blinding techniques. He can be recognized by six dots on his head. Later, he lets his hair grow, and marries 18.
KAMESENNIN MUTENROSHI: Goku's first teacher. He is a turtle hermit, who lives on a seculded island with his pet turtle and the occasional boarder. He is a pervert, and can no longer ride the cloud Kame-sama gave to him because it requires purity. He introduces the Kamehameha fireball into the series. He can buff up at will, and throw a huge fireball. He normally appears as a feeble old man with sunglasses and a long beard wearing a hawaiian shirt.
JACKIE CHUN: Mutenroshi's alter ego for entering tournaments. He puts on a wig and removes his sunglasses.
TENSHINHAN: Another of Goku's early rivals. He is a student of Tsurusennin, and has mastered the crane art. He is a bald triclops. He introduced the blinding technique to the series, and also had a bunch of other bizzare tricks including making four clones of himself, and growing an extra set of arms. His Ki Ko Ho attack involves him making a square with his hands, then firing an invisible blast that sheers away anything in the square. Eventually became an ally of Goku, ditching his old master.
CHAOZU: Tenshinhan's sidekick, a little dwarf who can paralyze opponents. His lack of self confidence is always his downfall, so he never plays that big of a role in the series.
YAMCHA: One of the first Z fighters. He was a highwayman looking for a girlfriend, and he fell in love with Buruma. He uses wolf style. At one point, he throws a tiny fireball that be can direct around. Has a scar on his face. All but non-existant in the later parts of the story. Apparently, he never succeeded with Buruma.
PUUARU (Poal): Yamcha's sidekick. He is a little cat who can shapechange. Not too bright, and he doesn't do much later on in the series.
OOLONG: A perverted pig who can shapechange like Puuaru. A joke on the Pig of Eight Abstinances from the Journey to the west story. Goku posses as a little girl to fool him. His weakness is his like of panties. At one point, he turns into Buruma to pay off Kamesennin for extinguishing the burning mountain. Doesn't do much except hang out at Mutenroshi's house during the later parts of the series.
CHICHI: Goku's wife, and Gohan and Goten's mother. She is Gyuu Maou's daughter. Goku met her when they were kids and promised to marry her (second volume of manga). Later, she fought him at a Tournament, and was offended he didn't recognize her. She wanted Gohan to be a scholar insted of a fighter, but gave up with Goten. At one point, she harrased Buu, who then turned her into a bun and stomped on her. She was brought back to life, though.
URANAI BABA: An old witch who floats on a crystal ball. She appears occasionally to help out the heroes. Kamesennin's older sister (yikes!)
GYUU MAOU (Ox King): ChiChi's father. He is a huge man with an ax.
YAJIROBEE: A little samurai who Goku meets. He cannot fly, but is handy with a sword. He was trained by Senpyou. By the end, he has grown a cool mustache.
TSURUSENNIN: Tenshinhan's mentor, and Kamesennin's rival. He is also Tao-pie Pie's brother. Master of the crane style. Eventually splits with Tenshinhan.
TAO-PIE PIE: A reoccuring villan, who appeared a lot during the early part of the series. He dresses in chinese clothing, and was really powerful. Later, he got cybernetic goggles grafted to his head, and removable hands revealing a gun and a knife. Apparently used to travel by throwing a log, then jumping on it (I guess).
PILOF: A little blue bad guy who vauegly resembles a nemek, or one of the grunt enemies from Chrono Trigger. He is dressed in chinese dress with a cap and a ruffled colar. He is one of the first real bad guys. Only a threat early on in the series, he does appear in Dragon Ball GT briefly. The first time he assembled the dragon balls, Oolong snuck in and wished for panties, ruining his efforts.
SHU: Pilof's henchman. He is a dog in a ninja costume. Not too competent.
MAI: Pilof's (*ahem*) henchwoman. She wears a large coat, and works with Shu. Not too bright either.
TONIN JINKA (Rabbit Carrot Changer): An early villan who turned Buluma into a carrot. Goku beat him until he turned her back. In that city, Buluma gained her "Bunny" suit to impress Yamcha.
KUSHAMI / LUNCH (Ranchi): A somewhat minor character who hangs out Kame house. As Kushami, she is a violent and rude indivudual, but if she sneezes, she becomes the gentle and cute Lunch. Lunch can turn into Kushami in the same way.
MR. SATAN: A pro-wrestler who was hailed as the world' savior after the Cell battle. Since Gohan and the other Z fighters fled the battlefield after Cell's death, only Mr. Satan was left when the media arrived. So, they built Satan City, where Gohan lives, and goes to Orange Star Highschool. Satan has a big afro, and is probably pretty good at what he does, but not nearly as good as even Kururin. He was also sent to get rid of Buu, but his exploding gameboy, poisoned chocolates, and timebomb didn't do it, so he befriended him. He was shot to death by joyriders, but was brought back by Buu.
SATAN'S DOG / BUU'S DOG: A little dog who Buu healed, and then wouldn't leave. He was shot again by joyriders, and it angered Buu to the point where he made Evil Buu appear. He turned out alright in the end.
VIDEL (Beederu): Mr. Satan's daughter who went to school with Gohan. She didn't respect her father as much when she learned that Gohan really killed Cell, not her father. She is a pretty good fighter, and was taught to fly by Gohan. After being thrashed by Babidi's henchmen, she was healed by Senzou. In the movies, she gets her own Great Saiyawoman costume to fight crime. Her daughter was Pan, and I see the resembelance. Her name is a pun on Devil (rearrange the front and back), because of her relation to Mr. Satan.
SHARPENER & IREZA: Videl and Gohan's classmates. There may be a third guy, but I forgot his name. Pretty minor characters, though.
UUBU: The reincarnation of the True Buu, but without the evil. He is a black kid with a shaggy mohawk. He fought Goku at the final tournament in vol. 42, then Goku took him on as a student.
Here are the minions of Babidi. Most of them were created with his magical powers. All his minions are branded with an M on their forehead. Their names come from the song lyric from Cinderella "Bibidi, Babidi, Buu".
BABIDI: The evil wizard who wanted to unleash Buu. He has strange magic powers. Babidid looks like a little wrinkled thing. He was killed by Buu, who was tired of hearing him talk.
BIBIDI: Babidi's father who created Buu 300 years ago. He was in the series in name only, having been dead for while.
DABURA: Babidi's assistant, he looks like the classic western Devil. With his spit, he can turn people to stone (which he did to Kururin, Piccolo, and I think, Kibbit). He can also breath fire, and has a sword and lance as weapons. Buu killed him, and then all the stoned people turned back to normal.
BUU: The "ultimate" evil. He appears like a huge pink baby in arabian garb. He has one Antenna coming off his head, and numerous vents all over his body. He is far more powerful than Cell, but without a purpose. By firing a blast from his antenna, he can turn someone into any food item he desires (usually cookies, but once, he turned someone into milk for a blind boy). He befriended Mr. Satan, and promised not to kill anymore. Then, Buu's dog got shot, and he vented Evil Buu out. Evil Buu absorbed him, but by the end of the series, he came back to help the heroes. In the end, he's a good guy. This was Buu after absorbing 2 Kaioshins. He hatched from a big walnut.
EVIL BUU: A tall grey version of Buu created when fat Buu vented steam. He reflected Buu's cookie blast, and ate him, becoming Super Buu.
SUPER BUU (Skinny Buu): The result of Evil Buu eating fat Buu. He appears as a fully grown man, but very freaky. He always cocks his head to one side, and laughs a lot. He can turn into goo and slide down someone's throat, then expand and kill them from the inside. Very, very powerful. He can regenerate his body from as little as mist. By breaking pieces of himself off, then enveloping people in the pieces, he can absorb their powers.
GO-BUU: After Buu absorbed Gohan, he looks like Buu wearing Gohan's costume. Very powerful, but didn't last too long. He grew a nose for this transformation.
TRUE BUU (Kid Buu): After Goku and Vegeta freed all the people Buu had absorbed (including fat Buu), Buu reverted to his true form, a little Kid (a hear about 12 years old). A little sullen kid, he destroyed Earth with a house sized fireball. He was finally destroyed by a giant Genki-Dama from Goku, who borrowed ki energy from all the people of recreated earth, and the Z heroes.
Dragon Ball Attacks
Here is are some of the common attacks in the Dragon Ball series. I sincerely appologize for any mispellings (since the best I can do is spell the way it sounds). If you do see a mistake, drop me a friendly e-mail. Enjoy!
KAMEHAMEHA ("Turtle Fireball"): The standard fireball used by Goku, Gohan, Goten, Mutenroshi, Kryllin, Cell, and others. Mutenroshi introduced the technique, but Goku quickly mastered it. Basicly envolves cupping the hands, charging up, and thrusting foreword. No relation to the hawaiian legend, King Kamehameha.
GENKI DAMA (that big prayer fireball): Goku's super fireball learned from Kaiou-sama. Goku can apparently only use it when in standard form. He holds his hands up, and a large fireball appears. Apparently, other people can lend their ki to the effect, as seen in the last issue of the comic.
BUKO-JITSU: The art of flying. Almost all of the characters have mastered it, except for Mutenroshi and Yajirobee.
BIG BANG (Vegeta's one handed fireball): A very powerful technique from the saiyan prince.
KI-KO-HO (invisible square blast): Tenshinhan's awesome attack. He makes a square with his hands, then focuses his power, and the area he can see through his hands is sheared away. It weakens him, though.
Created on 26/05/1999