20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

20+ Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Dragon Ball is filled with plotholes and things through the franchise that make absolutely no sense at all. These are the most important mistakes.



You Are Reading :20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

It’s truly amazing just how popular anime has become in today’s day-and-age. After all, one would’ve never expected a localized form of entertainment from the East to attain such widespread appeal, but Japan has somehow managed to achieve such an unassailable goal with their intellectual properties. However, the fact of the matter is that anime would never have been as popular as it is now had it not been for the roaring success of one particular series, which paved the way for the increasing relevance of shonen anime and manga. This series is none other than Dragon Ball Z, which broke all the barriers to become what is undoubtedly one of the most popular Japanese exports of all time. The sheer prominence of this series in the West is nothing to scoff at, and it must be said that numerous childhoods from all over the world were affected by this amazing series.

However, simply because the series was insanely popular and beloved doesn’t mean that it’s completely devoid of any mistakes or oversights that Toriyama simply overlooked, or chose to ignore. However, once any fan — no matter how loyal they might be to the series — decides to take a look at the series again in a more critical light, they’ll realize the sheer volume of things that make little to no sense in the grand scheme of things. Here are 40 such things and instances in the Dragon Ball series that beg for some much-needed clarity.

40 Why Didn’t The Z Fighters Use The Dragon Balls To Deal With Any Threats?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

The Dragon Balls are one of the most powerful things on Planet Earth. By summoning the great dragon Shenron, individuals are able to ask for any wish to be fulfilled. Such is the relevance of these Dragon Balls that the entire series is named after them, which speaks volumes when it comes to their prominence. However, it must be said that while these Dragon Balls are promoted as one of the most powerful things in the universe, the heroes don’t exactly utilize it in the best manner possible. Take the example of the multiple threats that have plagued Earth — some of which have even destroyed the planet altogether.

Why didn’t the heroes wish for these threats to be eradicated?

After all, aside from the latest enemies in Dragon Ball Super that have surpassed Shenron’s power, it’s not like anyone was stronger than the dragon himself. Even if that happened to be the case — which we highly doubt — it’s not like that was the end of the world for the Z Fighters. They could’ve used some technicality or the other to make sure that these threats were nothing more than a thing of the past. The best way to illustrate this point would be to talk about Vegeta and Nappa — the Z Fighters could’ve simply wished for the space capsules to malfunction, which would’ve sent both Saiyans to an early grave.

39 Vegeta Never Used The Dragon Balls To Bring His Planet And Father Back

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

The Dragon Balls are woefully underutilized in the series, that’s for sure. While there are times when the wishes of the Dragon Balls have proven to be incredibly useful, the fact of the matter is that there are multiple instances when the main cast have chosen to ignore their own wants and desires, which could’ve been fulfilled by Shenron. After all, it’s not like they didn’t have any opportunities — in fact, one might argue that they actually had several, but for some reason, these characters didn’t fulfill their deepest desires.



Vegeta is perhaps the biggest offender in this regard.

His entire planet was blown up by Frieza, effectively putting an end to the Saiyan legacy and destroying his claim to the throne in spectacular fashion. By all accounts, he should’ve wished for Shenron to bring back Planet Vegeta and all its inhabitants, so that the Saiyan race could start anew. Instead, what ended up occurring is that Vegeta ended up making his home on Earth, which is the last course of action anyone could’ve predicted for The Prince Of All Saiyans.

The worst part is that Vegeta’s title isn’t even accurate in the slightest.

38 Vegeta Is Technically The King Of All Saiyans

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Vegeta was born into royalty from the get-go, which meant that people around his were stroking his pride from the day he was born. This bubble that Vegeta lived in meant that he lived a life that was free from any strife — that is, until Frieza decided to lay waste to the entire planet simply because he could. This, accompanied by the fact that Vegeta ended up losing at the hands of what was essentially a lower-class Saiyan, permanently damaged his ego and made him realize just how empty the title of The Prince Of All Saiyans actually was. A title that’s conceptually wrong in itself.

After all, in the aftermath of Frieza’s attack on Planet Vegeta, the entire royal line of Saiyans was wiped out. This included King Vegeta, who was — and this is the biggest surprise of them all — the father of the self-titled Prince Of All Saiyans. This meant that Vegeta was no longer just a prince, but a king. And while the kingdom he was supposed to rule had been destroyed, it still doesn’t change the fact that Vegeta’s actual title is The King Of All Saiyans.


But according to recent events, he’s apparently not the only survivor of the royal Saiyan bloodline.

37 The Existence Of His Brother Is Still Somewhat Of A Stretch

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Can anyone even pretend to think of Vegeta as a doting brother? Because I sure can’t, and I’m pretty sure there are many other people who share the same sentiment. After all, before his marriage, Vegeta never really showed any compassion or anything of the sort for others, which is a red flag in itself. However, according to Toriyama, Vegeta actually had a younger brother, who managed to survive the decimation of Planet Vegeta. This person’s name is Tarble (because Vegeta and Tarble combined forms Vegetable… freakin’ Toriyama), and he made his first canon appearance in the 2008 OVA, Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

See also  Dragon Ball Super 25 Powerful Secrets About Jiren Fans Completely Missed

It’s amazing to think that Toriyama ended up placing such a prominent character is what is essentially an OVA so irrelevant that Funimation didn’t even bother to give it an English dub. One must wonder exactly how Toriyama’s mind must work, if he thought that introducing the brother of the deuteragonist of the series in such a bizarre fashion was actually a good idea.

And this is not the only time that family members of the main cast have come out of nowhere.

36 Bulma’s Sister Also Came Out Of Nowhere

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Akira Toriyama has a rather bad habit of adding major characters to the show who come straight out of nowhere. The previous entry should give a pretty broad idea of exactly what we’re talking about — there’s no way that any show would’ve even thought about giving one of the main characters in the series a brother that literally came out of nowhere, but the Dragon Ball series is not just any show. If that wasn’t bad enough as is, there’s another character whose sibling was revealed in Dragon Ball Super. This character is Bulma, whose sibling is revealed to be a person named Tights.

Aside from the rather half-baked name, there are just so many things that seem rushed about this character, Tights.

To the point where we must question Toriyama’s initiative to even introduce such a seemingly useless character in the first place. Just who is Tights, and why was the entire gang unaware of their close friend’s sister? Her existence is a surprise even to Vegeta, who is freakin’ married to Bulma! You’d think that the Prince Of All Saiyans would want to know everything about the person whom he’s willing to spend the rest of his life with… right?

And since we’ve brought up Vegeta, there’s one thing that we absolutely must discuss.

35 The Z Fighters Are Surprisingly Accepting Of Vegeta, Considering What He Did

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

To help us get this point across, we should probably talk about the manner in which Vegeta was introduced to the Z Fighters.

After learning of a new Saiyan threat that might lay waste to Earth as they know it, the Z Fighters choose to train as much as possible so that they’re able to pose a significant threat to these invaders. However, once Vegeta and Nappa land on Earth, their perception of power is completely turned upside-down. Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo, and Chiaotzu’s demise at the hands of these Saiyans and their Saibamen is nothing short of horrifying, and it was honestly sad to see the Earth’s mightiest heroes fall at the hands of these alien threats. Thankfully, after Goku comes back, he is able to take down Nappa and Vegeta to finally put these threats to rest.

So, by the start of the Android Saga, when Vegeta ends up teaming with the Z Fighters to deal with the threat of the Androids, one must ask — how did all the Earthlings simply forgive Vegeta so easily? After all, he was the reason why the close friends of the main cast passed away, which is obviously a red flag! And yet, for some reason, everyone’s fine with having this unstable presence around them — an act that actually ends up biting them in the rear during the Buu Saga, albeit for a short while.

34 How Did Vegeta Transform Into A Super Saiyan Blue Without Becoming A Super Saiyan God?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Speaking of Vegeta, there’s one more thing that we need to discuss regarding this character.

During the events of Dragon Ball Super, we bare witness to one more Super Saiyan transformation that everyone was unaware about — mainly, the power to attain the power of a deity by transforming into a Super Saiyan God. By achieving this transformation, Goku was able to go toe-to-toe with Beerus. Even though the God of Destruction was holding back from utilizing his full strength, it still must be said that the fight was still entertaining to watch for everyone — aside from Vegeta, who was slightly miffed that his arch-rival again became more powerful than him.

So, in order to take care of this massive power gap, Vegeta decided to train on Beerus’ planet by requesting Whis for personal training sessions. This went on for six months, until Goku figured out what Vegeta was up to and went to the planet as well. Apparently, this gap of six months meant that Vegeta was able to reach Goku’s power level, which is a pretty empty explanation. Are we seriously supposed to believe that Vegeta was able to become a Super Saiyan God Ascended Super Saiyan (or Super Saiyan Blue, for short) if he didn’t even reach the prerequisite form of a Super Saiyan God?

33 Why Was The Super Saiyan God Transformation Used Only Once?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

But hey, anyone who’s seen the series once won’t even look twice at the fact that the Super Saiyan God wasn’t a necessary transformation.

Goku only used this amazing transformation once in the entire series!

Just think about it for a second — the form that Beerus saw in his dreams and allowed Saiyans to reach the power of a god was deemed so unimportant by Toriyama that he only used this transformation once. Just why did this even happen, to begin with? After all, the new look of the Super Saiyan God could’ve certainly been iconic in more ways than one, which mandated the need for more scenes that would explore the power of this form in more ways than one.

Instead, what we ended up with was a relatively short battle between a God of Destruction and a Super Saiyan God — a battle that was pretty poorly animated in the series as well. This just makes it feel like Toriyama was forced to cook up a new Super Saiyan transformation because Toei forced him to. It just seems like there was so much potential when it came to the Super Saiyan God transformation, but all of it ultimately ended up being nothing more than a colossal waste of our time.

32 Why Does Super Saiyan God Make The User Lean, While Super Saiyan Blue Keeps The Muscle Mass?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Since we’re already on the topic of the new Super Saiyan transformations that were introduced in Dragon Ball Super, here’s another sticking point that we need to get off our chest.

Witnessing the new Super Saiyan transformation truly was a breathtaking sight to witness. We were used to Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and the rest of the Saiyans go all-out by screaming at the top of their lungs as they achieved humongous levels of power that one could’ve seldom dreamt of. However, in the new series, this is definitely not the case. Instead, in the case of the Super Saiyan God transformation, Goku actually ended up losing a considerable amount of muscle mass, becoming more agile and effective as a result.

However, the ascended form of the Super Saiyan God (which we all know as the Super Saiyan Blue) is a whole another story. Instead of sporting the new lithe look that we were somewhat used to at this point, the new Super Saiyan Blue transformation retained the muscle mass of Goku and Vegeta, while giving them new blue hairdos as well. This begs the question — exactly why did the Super Saiyan God transformation even lose all the muscle mass if there was no point to this radical change in appearance? This just goes to show how last-minute these transformations must’ve been.

31 Why Is Super Saiyan 2 More Powerful That Super Saiyan 3?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

It seems like there are a ton of problems in Dragon Ball Super that have arisen out of no one’s fault but the ones who create the show. One of the major dissonances in the narrative that has stemmed as a result of these transformations deserves a dishonorable mention of its own.

See also  Dragon Ball How Gokus Kaioken Technique Really Works

Any devout Dragon Ball fan would fondly remember the first time when Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan 3. The lengths at which Sean Schemmel went to convince the audience that Goku was truly breaking the limits is nothing to scoff at, and to this day there are fans who re-watch this amazing transformation every single time they want to witness something epic.

However, in Dragon Ball Super, it seems that the Super Saiyan 3 transformation is nothing more than a thing of the past.

After all, both Trunks and Vegeta have shown that the Super Saiyan 2 transformation can ascend above the power level of the Super Saiyan 3 transformation after a certain trigger is pulled. Not only does this not make any sense (as far as we can remember, 3 is definitely a higher number than 2), but it also undermines the importance of the Super Saiyan 3 transformation, which played a major role during the Buu Saga in Dragon Ball Z.

30 Why Hasn’t Goku Taught Instant Transmission To Someone Else?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

This is one of the biggest sticking points in the series, and we won’t really be stretching it when we state that this particular fact has annoyed the crap out of people who’ve watched the series. In a world where speed is key and fighters need to traverse the ends of the Earth so that they can tackle any threat with relative ease, it seems that Goku’s Instant Transmission technique ended up being the perfect technique that could satisfy all these needs with relative ease. However, given the usefulness of this technique, you’d expect Goku to perform the selfless act of teaching this valuable technique to others — but you’d be wrong.

For some reason, Goku decided to keep this technique as his own.

There’s virtually no reason as to why this would be the case — after all, as mentioned, moving around at the speed of light would be incredibly useful for the Z Fighters in more ways than one. It’s not even like Goku developed the technique on his own — he actually had the help of an entire race to help learn this technique, which meant that there weren’t any limitations to learn this technique either. And yet, to this day, there’s not a single person aside from Goku who has the power to travel at the speed of light.

If that wasn’t bad enough as is…

29 He’s Not Taught Anyone The Kaio-Ken Either

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Anyone who’s been a longtime fan of the Dragon Ball series can attest to the fact that the Kaio-Ken is one of the most epic techniques in the entirety of Dragon Ball. One need only look back to the starting of the series, when Goku put in all his effort to get accustomed to the heightened gravity on King Kai’s planet, following which he was tasked with learning a complex move in the form of the Kaio-Ken. The strength multiplier provided by this technique meant that Goku was able to attain a whole new level of power, unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. While the cost at which he attained this power might be a tad too much, it still doesn’t reduce the impact of the Kaio-Ken technique as an undeniably useful technique one could have up their sleeve. However, just like the Instant Transmission technique, Goku has never even bothered to teach the Kaio-Ken to anyone else.

One must wonder exactly what was going through Goku’s mind when he chose to make such selfish and bone-headed decisions, to begin with.

What exactly would Goku even gain by keeping these techniques for himself? After all, the Kaio-Ken ended up being so useful that it even played a definitive role in Dragon Ball Super, and yet the technique still remained in the hands of Goku, which is just unexplainable.

28 It’s Impossible For Goku To Be Older Than Bulma

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Speaking of unexplainable outcomes, here’s another thing that we absolutely must discuss, no matter what.

While Dragon Ball Z can be credited as the series which truly brought Akira Toriyama’s series in the limelight, it would be remiss to not talk about the series that started it all. In fact, it’s obvious that the Dragon Ball Z series would never have even existed was it not for its amazing prequel, which set the tone of the series and fleshed out characters that would become a staple of the series for years to come (although their importance might dwindle heavily). In fact, Goku’s journey started mainly because he met another character by chance — a character by the name of Bulma, who was a teenager when she met Goku.

Fast forward a few years — and a lot of life-threatening battles — and we end up at the very beginning of Dragon Ball Super with Bulma’s birthday. It’s here that we witness a major oversight by the show’s creators that should’ve been witnessed way beforehand — Bulma’s apparently younger than Goku! It doesn’t take an expert to state that this shouldn’t even be remotely possible. Bulma states that she’s just 38 years old, which makes her way younger than Goku, and also forms a pretty sizeable plot hole that deserves a more comprehensive explanation.

27 He Was Incapacitated By A Freakin’ Ray Gun

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

If you didn’t think that the previous entry was complete BS, then this surely will make you think otherwise.

Let us talk about Goku’s achievements before we get into the meat of this topic. He’s a gifted warrior who was able to learn new techniques at the drop of the hat (as we’ve already mentioned before), achieved the legendary Super Saiyan transformation, defeated countless threats that posed a massive threat to entire planets and universes, helped numerous people along the way with his sheer strength, and achieved a power level so immense that he could basically be considered as a god in his own right. This is just a gross simplification of Goku’s achievements, which is a testament to just how powerful he actually is. And yet, during the Golden Frieza Saga in Dragon Ball Super, he was somehow incapacitated by a freakin’ ray gun!

It’s easy to see why this would anger the majority of the fanbase

After all, the fact of the matter is that an enduring warrior like Goku should never have even suffered a scratch through something so puny like a ray gun. And yet, for some reason, his wound was so serious that he might’ve even perished, had it not been for a Senzu Bean. It’s a massive misunderstanding of how powerful Goku actually is, and the excuse of his guard being down isn’t a remotely satisfying explanation.

And speaking of unsatisfying explanations…

26 He’s Never Kissed Chi-Chi, Which Should Not Even Be Remotely Possible

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

It’s hard to think of Goku as anything more than a battle-thirsty jock who hungers for physical challenges at every opportunity. Yet, most people tend to forget — or overlook — that Goku is actually a father by the time Dragon Ball Z comes out. This adds a whole new weight of responsibility on his shoulders, and places Goku in a whole new light that we’re not really used to seeing him in. Don’t get us wrong — it’s definitely an interesting dynamic, but at the same time it’s kinda hard to picture Goku in a situation where he’s… conceiving a kid, to put it mildly. However, if Goku’s dialogue in Dragon Ball Super is to be taken seriously, then there’s a pretty major possibility that he was actually never put in such a “compromising” situation, to begin with.

According to a pretty candid conversation that Goku had with Vegeta, the former had never kissed Chi-Chi once in his life. This fact was obviously met with an utter sense of disbelief by Vegeta, and it’s obvious why he had such an exasperated look on his face. After all, how is it even remotely possible for someone to not have any experience with kissing, especially if they have two freakin’ kids! The implications of this statement are truly bizarre, if not downright disturbing.

See also  Dragon Ball 15 Strongest Opponents Faced By Goku Ranked

But it seems that Goku’s kids will always have a question mark attached to them. After all…

25 The Z Fighters Had No Clue That Goku Had A Kid… Really?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Anybody who’s seen the original Dragon Ball series can attest to the fact that by the end of the series, Goku had ended up forming strong, unbreakable bonds with a number of people. These soon-to-be Z Fighters would obviously stay in touch forever, even after the events of the original Dragon Ball series had ended. And why wouldn’t that be the case? After all, going by everything we’d seen until now, there was no reason to believe otherwise. After all, any close-knit group of people who form such everlasting bonds would always keep a note of the important events happening in one’s life… right?

Well, it seems that Goku didn’t really get the memo on how to treat best friends.

When he finally met the gang after years during the initial moments of Dragon Ball Z, the last thing that the Z Fighters expected was for a person like Goku to sire a kid. Obviously, since this is Goku we’re talking about, after all, this is exactly what ended up happening. One must wonder — why did Goku not inform these people beforehand about such an important development? Should this have been the first piece of good news that he would’ve conveyed to the gang? Even Chi-Chi didn’t bother to send so much as a letter detailing the pregnancy, let alone the birth of their first child!

24 Why Is Gohan The Only Half-Saiyan Who Was Born With A Tail?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

And since we’re already talking about Gohan and the questionable circumstances surrounding his birth, here’s another fact that we need to get off of our chest.

Now, while this might be a mistake that can be excused since Dragon Ball Z was still in its relative infancy, this still deserves a mention nevertheless. You see, in the entire series, Gohan is the only half-Saiyan who was born with a tail. This meant that he could transform into a Great Ape (or Oozaru, if these things matter to you), making him the only half-Saiyan capable of such a feat. However, later on in the series, when Goten and Trunks and born, there’s a distinct lack of tail on both these half-Saiyans.

This begs the question — exactly what are the circumstances that lead to the growth of a tail on half-Saiyans? Is there a particular gene required that was present in Gohan but absent in both Goten and Trunks? Or is there some other convoluted reason as to why this situation arose, to begin with? Of course, the most obvious explanation is that the writers simply forgot about the Oozaru transformation since it’d become pretty irrelevant by that point, but that doesn’t mean that the writers can simply ignore this grievous misstep.

23 Piccolo Removed Gohan’s Tail Before, But It Grew Back — Something That Shouldn’t Even Be Possible

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

If you thought that this is the only time the writers screwed up when it came to Gohan’s tail, think again — there’s another such instance of an oversight that would cost these people dearly.

As is the case with any anime series, steps need to be taken so that it doesn’t catch up to its source material, which is the manga upon which the series is based. While Dragon Ball Super didn’t exactly face this problem (since this time, the manga was following the footsteps of the anime), Dragon Ball Z was still at the mercy of Toriyama and the pace at which he would draw and write the stories. So, the writers of Dragon Ball Z took the laziest option possible to avoid this dilemma — they used loads of filler as a way for the manga to run ahead.

This is obviously a pretty crappy thing to do for more reasons than one. The viewers would obviously also have their time wasted because of this inconsequential filler, and there’s a chance that the showrunners might also write themselves into a corner. A good example of the latter would be to illustrate Piccolo’s training with Gohan, during which the full moon caused the half-Saiyan to transform into a Great Ape. This caused a lot of problems for Piccolo, who was finally able to mitigate the threat and plucked Gohan’s tail out. However, since the Oozaru transformation would play a major role during the Saiyan Saga, Gohan’s tail magically grew back during the onset of this arc.

Talk about lazy writing.

22 Piccolo Also Blew Up The Moon, Which Should’ve Had Dire Consequences

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

Speaking of lazy writing, we need to talk about the extreme steps that Piccolo took so that Gohan would transform back into a human during this rather infamous filler episode.

After witnessing just how dangerous Gohan was in his Great Ape form, Piccolo decided to take drastic measures in a bid to mitigate this threat. After realizing that the full moon was the reason for Gohan’s transformation, Piccolo decided to straight up destroy the moon with an energy blast! Not only is this a wildly extreme step to take, but the fact of the matter is that the moon simply should not be blasted just for the sake of it!

After all, any person with even the vaguest of ideas when it comes to the realm of science knows just how important the moon actually is for the survival of the Earth.

After all, without the tides, the entire system on Earth would go completely haywire! But instead of looking at the long-term consequences of his actions, Piccolo — out of sheer desperation — takes the easy way out by blowing up the freakin’ moon.

These instances of Gohan being so unbearable that fully-fledged adults were unable to deal with him begs the answer to one major question, which is addressed in the following entry.

21 Is It Really Possible For Saiyan Hybrids To Be More Powerful Than Saiyans?

20 Things About Dragon Ball That Make No Sense

As we’ve already discussed before, Gohan was nothing short of a prodigy when it came to fighting. He was able to unlock the Super Saiyan powerup at a relatively early age, and was the very first Saiyan to go beyond this power level to become a Super Saiyan 2. The shocking part about all this is that Gohan is not even a pure-blooded Saiyan, but also has Earthling genes in him as well. Couple this with the fact that both Goten and Trunks were able to transform into a Super Saiyan with ease from an early age, and you’ve got one major question that absolutely needs to be asked.

Are half-Saiyans really more powerful that pure-blooded ones? After all, it would be foolhardy to state this, but the fact of the matter is that all the events in Dragon Ball have pointed towards this truth only, which makes it even harder to pretend that this isn’t the reality of the situation right now. However, Vegeta is of the mentality that only pure-blooded Saiyans would be able to break the glass ceiling when it comes to power. While this might sound arrogant, that fact is that Vegeta is the only person’s who’s spent a substantial amount of time at Planet Vegeta, so he should have a better idea about how Saiyan genes work.

Games, music, TV shows, movies, and a little bit of everything else.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/dragon-ball-things-make-no-sense/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *