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tobiasdrake · 1 month

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Which DBZ antagonist do you like the most?

Boring opinion, I know, but I gotta give it up for the Obvious Choice.

And I'm not just saying that because I haven't had a chance to talk about him yet.

Frieza runs a real estate empire that carries out genocidal acts of gentrification, purging tracts of land of their native inhabitants so he can sell their land for profit. Commenting on this choice for his ultimate villain, Akira Toriyama stated that he made this decision because real estate speculators are the worst people there are.

Fucking based.

From the moment we meet Frieza, he is a monster. Toriyama likes this Big Guy Little Guy dynamic where the Little Guy is the one you really need to watch out for. Frieza is the Littlest Guy ever.

He's so tiny. And yet you know exactly who the most dangerous person in this group is. Zero question.

By the end of this altercation, Frieza reveals one of his signature attacks, giving us our first glimpse of the kind of person and the kind of fighter he is. This is such an important moment for his character and I'm kinda mad that the anime had Dodoria do it instead.

Muri destroys the Scouters and blinds Frieza. I've talked before at length about the devastating impact that this move and the Namekian warriors' attack has on Frieza's campaign.

But once it's done, he has to face the music. He's not getting out of this alive.

In one last desperation play, Muri tells Cargo and Dende to run while blocking them with his body. And that's when it happens.

This is Frieza.

Specifically, this is Frieza's Death Beam. It's never actually given a name, but is generally referred to as Death Beam. We've seen a move like this only once before.

The Dodonpa, signature technique of Tsuru-senryu, first introduced by the assassin Taopaipai, was built for extreme lethality. This is not a technique for fighting; It's a technique for killing.

What makes Frieza's Death Beam stand out from the Dodonpa, however, is its accuracy and its speed. He threads the needle around Muri to hit Cargo before anyone even has a chance to react.

We see its accuracy and speed again six days later, when it finally catches up to the other child fleeing from him here.

The panelwork here calling attention to everyone's reactions as Frieza's ki bullet shoots past them, as his shot threads the needle between all obstacles in his path to strike his target far behind them. Dende is dead before anyone can even process that Frieza fired.

This is the difference between the two techniques. The Dodonpa is a gun. The Death Beam is a sniper rifle. Faced with the physical hurdle of bodies impeding his path, Frieza point-clicked Cargo and Dende to death.

He later executes Vegeta this same way.

Done with you.

All of this context for Frieza's sniping shot serves to set up the stunning subversion when Goku arrives to fight.

Frieza's never seen this before. Goku shouldn't even be able to see the shots coming until they've perforated his lungs. That's how Death Beam works. It's this moment that lays it out: Frieza's about to be tested like he's never been tested before.

Speaking of cool techniques, I've always been partial to this move from his Third Form.

The anime gives Frieza little ki bullets coming out of his fingers but I want to note that we never see a physical projectile when he's doing this. Frieza jams his fingers back and forth in the air while something pulverizes Piccolo.

I've always imagined he's poking the air so fast that it's hitting Piccolo with pressurized air currents. Similar to Goku's Mazoku air current punch from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

But that's just me.

In any case, Frieza's got some fun moves. He's something of a hobbyist martial artist. Which is to say, Frieza has an interest in martial arts. In addition to his Death Beam, Frieza's concocted a litany of other interesting techniques.

He even invented the Kienzan, independently of Krillin.

Though he can remote operate his Kienzan so it's strictly better than Krillin's. Frieza, in his spare time, has come up with a bunch of cool moves. Too bad he has no idea how to use them.

Frieza's greatest weakness is his inexperience. He practices martial arts the way a business CEO who bought a log splitter so he can cut some wood and feel woodsy practices agriculture. Frieza has never had a proper chance to truly experience martial arts, because he was born too powerful.

The only partner who's ever even dirtied his skin was his dad.

And even that isn't much. Frieza's too strong. He wants to pursue martial arts. He wants to hone his technique. But when you win every fight by blinking too hard in the opponent's direction, what even is there to practice?

Frieza created a transformation to seal away his immeasurable ki because he was born with so much ki flowing from him that he can't even contain it. At his peak, Frieza's ki bleeds out of him. He simply can't contain it.

Goku wonders aloud why Frieza took so long, even after the fight turned against him, to go to 100%. Frieza's been all "Oh I'm only using 10% power this is my 50% you made me go to 75%" and Goku's like, "Okay. My dude. What's this about, for real?

This, incidentally, is not a great translation. What Goku's saying here is supposed to be basically, "Perhaps when you use your full power, your body can't handle it."

He is correct.

Frieza's Full Power has a lot in common with Super Saiyan 3. His theoretical maximum ability is wildly different from the reality of what he's capable of, because he bleeds ki like it's going out of style.

So, while other characters wound up earning transformations that make them more powerful, Frieza created a transformation to seal away some of his incomprehensible ki.

Then he created a couple more because even though he could now control his strength and even manipulate the amount of ki he's releasing at a time, he was still too powerful for anyone to ever compete with and needed even more ki sealed away.

Again, not a fantastic translation from the people who brought us "bottom-tier boy", as Frieza's statement here could be interpreted as saying that he gets taken by a berserker rage or something.

What he's saying is more like, "My power is so great that I can't properly contain it."

Point is, Frieza transformed to lock down his ki and seal parts of it away, so he could control the rest better. Then he kept going, locking away more and more and more of his ki. And even at his most nerfed, he's still five times more powerful than the Second Strongest Guy in the Universe.

Frieza has never in his life had the opportunity to be pushed. That's what makes Goku so enthralling to him.

Frieza plays with Goku because he's genuinely having the time of his life. This guy can fight him in his Final Form. Nobody can fight him in his Final Form. He's so happy, he straight-up forgets that he's trying to complete a genocide against Goku's entire race.

He said that five minutes ago. Gohan's hidden power freaked Frieza the fuck out. Saiyans are too strong now. They've gotten too strong. Frieza cannot permit them to keep existing because they're getting strong. Every last Saiyan, every last one, must die. Every single one. Scorched earth, no survivors.

But then he meets a Saiyan martial artist who's a technical master and pushes him more than he ever thought possible and suddenly:

He goes from "Saiyans are TOO STRONG and they all must die because they might threaten me" to "OH MY GOD I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN CAN I KEEP YOU!?"

It's this desire for a true rival, this opportunity to satisfy his amateur's curiosity about martial arts, that ultimately unravels him. Frieza has one ruthless and pragmatic option for ending this fight once it starts to be too much for him. He can technically stop the fight any time he wants.

But he can't bring himself to do it. He wants to fight. He wants to compete. Frieza's been on the outside looking in at martial arts for his entire life and even when his greatest fears are fulfilled and the Super Saiyan is in front of him, he wants to try.

So when he does attempt to pull his Lethal Ragequit, he pulls back at the last second. He can't bring himself to do it. Goku initially assesses that Frieza held back out of fear of hurting himself.

But later, as Frieza begins unlocking the final chains on his ki, Goku changes his assessment. Noting that if Frieza really held back simply out of a mistake, he could have shot the planet again at any point to finish the job. He's been letting this play out because he can't bring himself to end the greatest fight of his life that way.

This fight is still happening because Frieza wants to compete. I mean, he wants to win, of course, but he wants to win as a martial artist. He's never truly gotten to be a martial artist before.

He is not the guy winning the gold medal at the Tenkaichi Budokai. He has never been that guy. He's the guy who buys up the land the Tenkaichi Budokai is held on and then bulldozes all the people off of it. But in his heart of hearts, he wants to be that guy. That guy is so cool. Frieza wants to play too.

In a sense, by hosting the Cell Games, Cell got to live Frieza's greatest fantasy.

This is who Frieza is. He's the cruel and wicked heir to Genocide Realtors Inc., who is in love with the idea of being Tenshinhan - A desire that exists at odds with - and undermines - his pragmatic business sense, so to speak.

He is the most vile character in the history of Dragon Ball. The worst kind of person. He is also an overeager child whose wealth and privilege prevents him from ever truly enjoying his hobbies, to an extent that he'd be almost pitiable but for all the genocides.

And he is Dragon Ball's greatest villain.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #frieza

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bardocks-tiddies · 5 months

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I feel like Vegeta missing his tail makes the most notable difference for some reason. Maybe because of his personality but when he has a tail it makes him so much more cutes

I think it's because we never saw Goku as an adult with his tail. It was removed for the final time during the 3 years he spent training on the lookout with Kami after killing Demon King Piccolo. When he returned for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, there were 2 massive changes. He had a major growth spurt, and he lost his tail. It's one of the ONLY things I agree with Toriyama's editors about. He didn't consult them about removing Goku's tail, and he absolutely should have. I don't mind for Gohan as much, but I think it's just because I don't like Gohan too much (I'm not saying I dislike him, I just don't feel too strongly about him).

It would mean a lot more for his character trying to come to terms with the fact that he killed Grandpa Gohan and had put his friends and family in danger multiple times. It was mentioned, but never really amounted to anything. And of course, it makes him and Vegeta almost indistinguishable from humans, and I don't really like that. They're not human, they're fucking aliens and that's so cool but it feels like it's just not a big deal anymore.

GIVE SAIYANS THEIR TAILS BACK

#dbz #dragon ball #dragon ball z #goku #vegeta

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poison-rouge · 1 year

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I need a Dragon Ball actors AU where the original series began filming in the mid-'80s and from there the franchise became a world-class phenomenon. In my mind it would be sonething like this:

- The og series were filmed very quickly (only a couple of years) which explains the little change in some actors despite the time-skips of the series (Goku at 10 and 15 looks almost the same lol).

- The actors of Goku, Krillin and Chi-Chi were around 10 years old when they started filming and with that iconic 3 year time jump for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai they were replaced by older actors.

- Bulma's actress was 16 when she started filming the series, but she was not replaced after the timeskip because they made her look older with makeup.

- DBZ filming lasted several years and the show won several Emmys and Golden Globes, including an Lifetime Achievement Award for Master Roshi actor.

- By the time DBZ ended and GT was being planned, a large part of the cast did not want to be part of the series for fear of being trap in their characters.

- As a consequence many changes were made (also a problem with Toriyama no longer being the director/writer of the series) and it ended in GT not being considered canon by half of the fandom, but also being loved by the other half.

- By the time it is decided to make DBS, the entire original cast of DBZ decides to return and the franchise renews its glory.

- Vegeta's actor is the funniest on set and he loves to put on his "Serious saiyan face" when fans ask him for a photo on the street.

- Goku and Chi-Chi actors got married in real life and the fandom went crazy when they found out.

- While filming DBZ, Gohan's actor was asked to bring his homework and school books to the set, so every time we see him on screen studying it's because he really was doing that.

- Piccolo actor has said that he loves being a green alien because he is the only one of the entire cast who can still go out without being recognized by everyone.

#dragonball #dbs #dbz #dbgt #son gohan #son goku #chi chi #krillin #bulma briefs #prince vegeta #master roshi #piccolo #actors au

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chickenoptyrx · 1 year

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Somethin I noticed a bit ago that i just think is neat.

So. This is goku fighting piccolo in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

And then. In the very next arc. Raditz does the same thing :D (except he's way more effective)

idk what bulma was on claiming they look a like, but they're is SOME family resemblance

(Also, if your not aware, in the japanese print there's no distinction for dragon ball and dbz. It's all dragonball- Z is an anime thing- so it literally goes from end of the 23rd tournament to raditz immediately)

#raditz #dragon ball #dbz #i just think its neat

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yamcha-thelonewolf · 7 months

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🩹The three wounds.

Although there are many things to say about Yamcha, today my attention goes to one of the most curious topics about him: the scars.

Dragon Ball, ch. 166, The Reunion.

This is the first image of our good ol' Yamcha with his new look and... I really have to admit it: while I loved so much his so many pre-23rd Tenkaichi Tournament styles, I cannot deny that the Yamcha we see at the end of OG Dragon Ball and throughout DBZ gains a stratospheric appeal. His more mature face and the triumphant return of his long hair, here tied back in a cool ponytail, make a big impression for sure, but it's certainly his two new facial markings that especially make the difference.

Let's say it together: Yamcha is the pretty boy of the gang. He's got flowing black hair, he has lots of charisma, a strong sense of humor, and on top of that, he's got grazy techniques that visually tear apart more famous ones. Sounds just like... A wasted character, doesn't it? As I said before, that is not the question I want to address today. So...

...How did Yamcha get his scars?

I'm not quite sure if there is an official explanation on this, and if there is I apologize for my lack of one. In any case, I'd like to lay out my personal theory. Actually it's not a big deal at all, it is not a fanciful story that I made up to enrich Yamcha's life. It is simply the result of a logical evaluation and a long, long observation in the field.

As we know, at the end of The Great Demon King Piccolo Arc, Yamcha and others start to train hard for three long years in preparation for the new budokai.

We don't know exactly how our heroes trained, whether they spent time together, and specifically whether Yamcha returned to the city occasionally to be with Bulma and Puar, but from his girlfriend's words we can assume that he only devoted himself to training.

This is not the first time he has done it. Fortunately! In fact, in the 21th Tournament Arc, we can see him away from the city, moving through the woods like a real wolf to enhance even more of his most famous technique, the Rōgafūfūken. Then, when the Red Ribbon adventure ends, Yamcha notices how Goku's strength has increased overwhelmingly, so he decides to move to the Kame House to become a full-fledged pupil of the Turtle School. In this case, Bulma visited him whenever she could (or wanted to), but this time is different. Yamcha now carries with him two major defeats in the quarterfinals, plus a strong sense of helplessness during the The Great Demon King Piccolo Arc because of his broken leg. He cannot and will not stay in the shadows again and again, although we could not help but appreciate his every effort. That is why this time it is necessary for him to make his mark in the martial arts world. And indeed Yamcha succeeds.

Although he loses again in the quarterfinals, the twist he gives us is one of the most beautiful of the whole tournament.

His new technique, the Sōkidan, leaves even God himself speechless. I will undoubtedly talk about this wonderful move on another occasion. Right now what I want to point out is simply the lethal effect this has on the opponent.

As we can see, the Sōkidan is an extremely elegant and elaborate technique that can destroy, stun and distract the opponent depending on the will of the user. Unfortunately, we don't see it often, but thanks to DBZ fillers, some movies and the videogames we can get an idea of how devastating it can be.

Requiring full ki control, consequently this maneuverable ball suggests how extremely difficult it is to handle.

Now let's go back again and let's try to imagine a Yamcha who is tired of losing and wants to amaze everyone in the next Budokai. So let's try to imagine a Yamcha who returns to the woods, sits down by a lake, under the moon, and somewhat like Tien does, whom he has come to know and esteem until then, he too begins to focus and finally explore his own soul until then only devoted to the teenage love with Bulma and those little big satisfactions in his various fights. After all, he has always been one of the strongest. We must not forget that before the tournaments there are the preliminaries.

Anyway, we are still in the woods. Yamcha has opened the palm of his hand and slowly the night seems less dark as a small and seemingly harmless orb begins to float by his concentration. Maybe he is on the right track. A small grin appears on his face... After all, he has always been a bit of a swagger and that is also why we like him. But then, I don't know whether that same night or in the following days, this still somewhat wild sphere goes out of his control. It literally gets out of his hands, and although it is sad to think about, it turns on him and crashes right into his face, cutting him twice: on his right eye and on his left cheek. Of course, not in an overly direct way. I imagine more of a smear wound, or something like that, just like what happens to the mysterious Shen.

In this scene, Yamcha certainly has much more mastery, but I have no doubt that during his solitary training he had a hard time precisely because of the dangerousness of this technique that requires significant spiritual control.

Finally, one last detail I would like to dwell on is the reaction Yamcha must have had at the sight of his new face. Throughout the story, he has never hidden the fact that he is quite vain and conscious of his own beauty. And how can you blame him?! Well, the first time we see him despairing over his poor ruined face is when Goku knocks his tooth out. We are at the beginning of our great Akira Toriyama-signed adventure.

Here Yamcha was a lonely 16-year-old boy who was afraid of beautiful girls. A terrible curse since his greatest desire was (is) to get married. I assume that seeing himself ugly after losing his tooth must have only heightened his frustration! Instead, when he gets the two scars, Yamcha's age ranges from twenty to twenty-three. He has grown, he has changed, he has a girlfriend and even a fanclub, but most importantly he has greater self-awareness. In my humble opinion, he has not despaired so much. Not like a drama queen, at least. After all, if it is true that it was the Sōkidan that ruined his manly face, his new consciousness must surely have suggested to him that it was worth it. In the bottom of my heart I hope he has also realized that he has increased not only his power but also his sex appeal... but hey! that is my very personal opinion. 😸

So, this is what I have always thought, or rather, what I like to think about the origin of his scars. Many assume that it was the clash with some wolves, and even this is interesting, but I don't think that with the power level he reached he could be bitten so easily by an animal he knows so well... For me, it was its own strength. It suits his will to persist even at the cost of losing his life.

You know, I'm sadly happy that it's him who has the scarred face. I really don't know but... Something tells me that if his face hadn't had those two marks, Yamcha would have been even further forgotten. I can't explain it but I feel like it's like this.

However, gettin those scars must have been painful, I realize, but after all... Yamcha is someone who lives with pain all the time. That's why the title of this topic refers to three wounds, not two. In the end... We all agree that Yamcha's biggest scar is in his heart, right?

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sweetescapeartist · 1 year

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DOES TENSHINHAN REALLY TRAIN ALL THE TIME?

The short answer... "NO." The long answer...

DRAGON BALL Z:

In the Cell Saga, Tenshinhan had expressed multiple times that he felt useless. In fact, the guy who many in the DB fandom inaccurately claim trains non-stop actually lost confidence in himself so much so that Tien even REJECTED training in the RoSaT.

Tien could've gotten 1 year's worth of training in 1 day, yet he straight up refused. That alone proves that Tien DOES NOT train all the time like a Saiyan as so many people suggest. They are misinformed or willfully ignorant.

After Goku died, Tien felt depressed & lost some motovation to train (others felt depressed as well). He told his friends that they would probably never see him again. Then, he disappeared for 7 years & only reappeared briefly during the Buu Saga.

Why was Tien absent during majority of the Buu Saga?

Why did Tien choose to stay out of the 3 day battle until the very last moment while being fully aware of the situation from day 1 due to Babidi's telepathy?

TENSHINHAN WAS DEPRESSED & many fans fail to realize this. Tien even calls himself "USELESS" again in the Buu Saga. Tien did not want to join the fight because he had lost his fighting spirit. So, what exactly was Tenshinhan doing during the 7 year time-skip? Well, Toriyama actually tells us what Tenshinhan was doing...

TORIYAMA INTERVIEW:

Toriyama explains in an interview that in addition to Tenshinhan's training, he mostly farms & Chaozu helps him. (Even Yamcha occasionally stops by to help out when he isn't being a freelance bodyguard.)

Read the full article for yourself here.

And when you examine Toriyama's words closely, he says that "[Lunch] wasn't cut out for farming, and Tenshinhan has no interest in romance, so she left after a few days." Lunch was last mentioned to be chasing after Tenshinhan at the begining of the Saiyan Saga. This implies that Tien had actually been farming at some point soon after the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai if not sooner.

Not to mention that "mostly farms" means that Tien does other things too.

Tenshinhan DOES NOT constantly train as many fans falsely claim. The only ones who Toriyama said train all the time are Goku, Vegeta, & Piccolo. And the series supports this statement.

DRAGON BALL SUPER:

The Resurrection F manga & the 7th ending for DBS reaffirm Toriyama's statements that Tenshinhan & Chaozu are indeed farmers.

Furthermore, we are shown in DBS EP 89 that Tenshinhan has also opened his own dojo & is teaching advanced martial arts to 12 students (+ Yurin later).

CONCLUSION

The notion that Tenshinhan trains all the time is purely fan conjecture that is taken as gospel.

Tien has been farming for at the least since the begining of DBZ.

Tien started a martial arts school at some point after the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 Tournament.

Many in the DB fandom don't fact check most statements made in the fandom. Then, they end up believing and regurgitating misinformation. So, HERE ARE THE FACTS! For those of us who know that Tien DOES NOT constantly train, this post/images/links can be used as evidence during disputes & discussions.

I'm tired of this fandom spewing inaccuracies as truth without getting checked. And many falsely claim that Tien trains all the time in order to make the argument that Tien deserved to be the strongest Earthling instead of Krillin & so that others believe the misinformation. They attempt to use Krillin as some sort of stepping stone with false information, but these fans do so at the expense of Tien's character development that they conveniently overlook.

If your feelings aren't validated by facts, then you are wrong. Once you are corrected, you are now right. If you want to be right, often times you have to be corrected.

[EXTRA]

It appears that Toriyama revealed that Tenshinhan was a farmer soon after the Freeza Saga when Freeza came to Earth. Tenshinhan & Chaozu were shown in a mountainous area while wearing clothing that resembles a Chinese winter farmer's attire along with some sort of carrying bag tied around their torso that they store their winter crops in. Not to mention that Trunks arrived in the past during a winter month, so them wearing winter farming attire makes sense given we know they are farmers. {I'm open to being corrected on this nugget of info if needed because I don't have extensive knowledge of historical Chinese attire.}

TENSHINHAN, CHAOZU, YAMCHA, & KRILLIN: They are still marital artists at heart, but there was 7 yrs of peace. If there was no enemy to fight, doesn't retiring from fighting make sense? Although, their retirement was only temporary as we saw in DBS. People hate on Krillin & Yamcha for retiring, yet forget that Tien and Chaozu retired too. All had good reasons to retire, but they all still did some form of martial arts during their retirement even if it wasn't anything too extreme; Krillin training with his wife & being a legal crime fighter without using weapons against armed criminals. Tien & Chaozu training & farming & later starting a martial arts school. Yamcha being a freelance bodyguard & occasionally helping Tien and Chaozu farm (possibly training with them occasionally too).

With Tien being depressed after the Cell Games, it makes sense why Launch still visited him from time to time even if he didn't want a romantic relationship with her. She was another friend to help him out.

#Tenshinhan #Tien #training #DB #DBZ #DBS #Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #DB fandom #the truth #evidence

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missmilkie · 27 days

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Dragonball Bf Scenarios

How You Meet

Feel free to request other guys. I’m just posting the ones I already had written.

2818 words

Son Goku

This year you were able to fight in the 26th Tenkaichi Budokai. After years of severe training, you entered with your master’s blessing. The preliminary round was pretty easy to get through as you just had to punch a machine that measured the strength of your punch.

You took one of the fifteen spots available to the fighters. Once the spots were filled, the contestants had to draw a number out of a box to get their first match up. You were going to fight some random guy who was giving you creepy looks as soon as you drew his number. You tried to pretend like you couldn’t feel his eyes undressing you.

Since your match wasn’t first, you watched fights from where the rest of the fighters waited. You focused on the fight between a super tall green guy and some poor guy scared out of his wits. You didn’t blame the latter, Ma Junior easily towered over most of the people in attendance. Sensing a disturbance nearby you whipped around to see your opponent.

“You’re pretty cute, but that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you.”

“I wasn’t counting on it.” You rolled your eyes, your guard up.

“No need to be so uptight, I’m just trying to be friendly.” The guy put his hands up in mock surrender.

“Well, then you should know that just because I’m pretty does not mean that I’ll go easy on you.” You gave a bright fake smile as your eyes burned into his soul.

“We’ll see about that, sweetheart.” He smirked. You almost vomited at the sight. “See you in the ring.”

The relief that washed over you pushed down the nausea you had felt during the encounter. Men could be so disgusting.

Once you stepped into the ring, you closed out everything but you and your opponent. You wanted to beat him so bad that it bruised his ego. He deserved it after speaking to you the way he did. He was so condescending and thought it would charm you. What the hell was wrong with that guy?!

“After the tournament, we should go out.” He suggested.

“No thank you.” You responded coolly while settling into your stance.

“How about you go out with me if I beat you.”

“And if I beat you, you leave me the fuck alone.”

He was a little taken aback by your annoyed tone.

“Let the battle begin!” The announcer exclaimed into his microphone. Time to finish this as quickly as possible. The sooner he was off your back, the better.

“Ladies first.”

“If you insist.”

You lunged toward him so fast his eyes widened in surprise. He tried to dodge the punch you feigned only to get caught by your other fist. He spit up a bit on your shirt. Disgusted, you kicked him with 70% of your strength. He flew out of the ring and hit the grass with a thump.

“And the winner is (Y/n) (L/n)!!”

The crowd cheered for you so loudly. It wasn’t often a female beat her male opponent. You did it so quickly too.

“Whew, you’re a strong one! Can’t wait to fight you in the next round.” A friendly male voice chirped. Winner of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, Son Goku, was grinning at you.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.” A small smile found its way onto your face.

After that, you stole glances at Goku. He talked with his friends, the tall green man, a short angry man, and an even shorter bald guy. They all seemed to be a strong group. They were definitely the ones to beat.

There was a brief intermission before the start of the next round. Your first opponent didn’t bother coming anywhere near you. Your anticipation skyrocketed with each match that passed before yours. Fighting a former champion would prove difficult. You probably would not win, but you would give it all you got and show the world what you’re made of.

“Now for Son Goku versus (Y/n) (L/n)!!”

The two of you exchanged a smile before walking out into the arena.

“Ready? Fight!!”

You couldn’t take your chances with him. He was too good for you to be careless. You went in to attack, testing your speed in relation to his. He dodged swiftly, not surprising you. You recoiled back to avoid any attacks he might try to land on you. You’d be lucky to land a hit on him, much less one that packs enough punch to do damage. You would have to outsmart him, get him to lose via ring out somehow.

Goku wasted no time advancing on your position. You were able to block his blows fast enough, but only barely. Your forearms stung from the abuse. You kept blocking, letting him push you closer and closer to the edge. When you were close enough, you dropped to dodge his punch and sweep his legs out from under him. He leaped over your kick, somersaulting to grab you and toss you out of the ring.

You were just barely able to catch yourself mid air, revealing your flight ability.

“Impressive! You can fly too.”

You landed back in the ring to launch another assault on Goku. This time, you didn’t let up. Goku seemed to be gauging your strength as he blocked your attacks. Finally, he decided to end it. There was no way you were going to win, so there was no use in dragging it out. Goku gave you a chop to the back of the neck before catching your unconscious form.

“(Y/n) (L/n) has been knocked out. Son Goku advances to the next round!!”

When you came to, Goku was by your side. You didn’t win, but you knew that your master would be proud. In truth, you were proud too.

“You did pretty well.” Goku smiled down at you.

“Thank you, but I still have much to work on before I can become a champion.” You smiled genuinely at him.

“Give me a call, and I can help you with that if you want.”

“Alright.” You stared up into his deep black eyes. “I might just take you up on that.”

“I’ll give you my number then.”

Vegeta

Being a private teacher for the heir of Capsule Corp was crazy to you. Trunks was such a smart kid, but he tended to act out a lot. You attributed some of it to his parents divorce a year ago and the lack of attention from his brooding father.

Tiptoeing around his explosive mood swings and exposed nerves was a full time job in itself. You were naturally blunt and a little rude, so reining yourself in like this was new.

Trunks was a teenager now, and that meant a lot of things. Each day was an uphill battle to get him to cooperate and learn what his mom was paying you to teach him. His test scores were bordering below average and you knew it was because he wasn’t trying. You had made an effort to try different techniques to help him learn better, but he didn’t care enough to actually test them out properly. It was getting beyond frustrating. If this continues, you might be out of a job.

Every other weekend Vegeta would take Trunks for some “training”. You only knew this because Trunks would argue with his mom about how he wanted to see his father every weekend to train. You never saw Vegeta much because you would leave Capsule Corp before he came to pick up his son. This time, you were running a bit late.

You had your hands full with the bags that held your teaching supplies. It didn’t help that the weight was unevenly distributed. You stumbled through the final hallway, just wanting to get to your taxi as soon as possible. Then your shoe caught on the carpet, sending one of your bags across the lobby.

Your face burned as you were thoroughly embarrassed. You cursed under your breath and adjusted the other bag on your shoulder before standing up again. Great, and there was a hole in your pantyhose now too. Maybe you need a career change.

“Watch where you’re walking, woman.” A gruff voice huffed in annoyance. Vegeta stood before you, holding the bag you had accidentally launched toward him.

“Don’t call me woman! I have a name you know.” You huffed in annoyance.

“Tch. Whatever.” Vegeta rolled his eyes at your behavior.

“It’s (Y/n) (L/n). I’m your son’s teacher.”

“He’s told me about you.” He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing over you.

“Then could you maybe ask that he be a bit more cooperative? Trunks is so smart, but he doesn’t listen to me.” You told him, exasperated.

“It’s not my problem that you can’t control him.” Vegeta shrugged before walking past you.

“Ugh! Now I see where he gets it from.” You growled.

In your taxi, you held your bag close thinking about how rude he was. He didn’t even care about Trunks’s education! You fumed for the entire ride home.

Gohan

Sleeping in class just wasn’t something you could help. You got so tired listening to teachers lecture you all day. You could just read the book and learn the same thing no biggie. Your grades were fine.

During your morning classes, you were almost always knocked out. You loathed having your sleep interrupted by school. Napping helped you catch up on that lost sleep.

You had finally fallen asleep in a comfortable upright position in class when there was a sudden commotion. Annoyed at the interruption to your nap, you fixed a dirty look at the source. A guy about your age stood at the front of the classroom.

“This is our new student. Go ahead and introduce yourself, son.” The teacher stepped aside.

“My name is Son Gohan.” He gave a bright smile.

“There’s an empty seat by (Y/n). Give him a wave, why don’t you?”

You gave the most half assed wave, looking completely uninterested. You were so over this new boy already. The other girls were going to be all over him because he was a pretty cute guy. You wouldn’t deny it, but you still were crabby about your nap.

Gohan made his way over to his new seat with long strides. He was really tall. He even towered over you once he took a seat next to you. You blushed, being dwarfed made you feel a type of way.

The teacher silenced the class before going on with his lesson. You settled back into your position to try to get some shut eye before the end of the period. The universe had different plans for you.

“Your name is (Y/n), right?” Gohan asked shyly. You tried not to let your irritation show. Yeah, he was pretty. Pretty annoying.

“Yeah.”

“I look forward to being in class together. If you ever miss a day, I’d be happy to lend you my notes.” His whisper was so genuine. You weighed the idea of having a nerdy guy lend you his notes. You supposed it wouldn’t be too bad to be friendly towards him. Plus, he is pretty cute. You had nothing to lose.

“Thanks.” You shot him a real smile. His dark eyes lit up as he returned your smile.

Future Trunks

Since the androids killed your entire family, you’ve been in hiding. You wouldn’t let them kill you too and have your family’s memory be forgotten like the empty dilapidated cities you now roamed. Every now and again, you came across other survivors. You never knew if you could trust them as some people were thieves just trying to get your supplies. You knew desperation, so you couldn’t hate them. Nobody was whole since the world ended.

You were a ghost in this world. The only proof of your existence were the screams from your nightmares. You had to sleep underground or somewhere that sound couldn’t travel. It wasn’t safe to be asleep and screaming, perfect prey for the androids.

That was part of the reason you didn’t stick around with others for too long. You didn’t want to put them in danger and watch them get killed just like with your family. Sure it got lonely with just yourself for company, but every time you met other survivors it gave you hope. The androids had not conquered everyone. If there were enough of you, maybe you could take the world back.

Maybe it was a stretch to think like that, but it was the only thing that kept you going. One of the only things that gave you a reason to live.

Today you were trekking through what was left of West City. You had heard from other survivors that there was a scientist that lived there. Maybe she could build a solution to the androids. Whatever her intentions, you had to meet her. You had to know there was a hope for the future.

According to your source, there was a guy who was really close with the scientist. If you could meet him at a specific convenience store, he could take you to her. You found it quite easily, all you had to do was wait. When the sun set, he still wasn’t there. You tried to wait up, not wanting to make the spot unsafe. Against your will, you drifted off.

“Wake up! It’s okay. It’s okay, I’ve got you.” An unfamiliar male voice roused you from your fitful slumber. You looked up to see the man that was described to you. The man you needed to meet.

One of the first things you noticed about him was how muscular he was. He must be a fighter of some sort. Though he looked somewhat dorkish with his lavender hair in a middle parted bowl cut.

“I must have fallen asleep…” you muttered before looking him in his kind blue eyes. “I’m sorry about that. I’ve come looking for you.”

“Looking for me?”

“Well, for the scientist you know. I want to know what she’s been up to. I wanna know if she’s making something to take down the androids.” You explained firmly.

The man examined you, unsure what to think of you and your story.

“I have to know if there’s any hope for humanity. Please, take me to her.” You had grabbed onto the sleeve of his dark denim Capsule Corp jacket. You did your best to plead with your eyes.

“I’ll take you to her then.”

Broly

When Goku mentioned his new Saiyan friend, you were immediately intrigued. How a Saiyan was able to survive all those years without getting hunted down by Freiza was incredible. From what you had heard, his power level was insane too. You had always been interested in the saiyans, so meeting a new one became a top priority.

You had packed your bags with a month’s worth of things you needed before meeting Goku at Capsule Corp. Broly had agreed to let you stay with him for that time to help him through some past trauma. While you helped him work through some things, you’d get to learn more about saiyans. It was a win-win.

“Alright, I’m ready to go.” You adjusted your bag on your shoulder as you approached Goku.

“Great! I’ve already locked onto his energy. Grab on and we’ll be there in a flash.” He offered his arm. You took it without hesitation.

You blinked and were in a different location than just one moment ago. Planet Vampa was going to take some getting used to, but it didn’t seem all bad. Sure, it reminded you of Venus with how hazy and dead looking it was, but you could tell that there was still life.

You smiled, thinking about how cool instant transmission was. Goku led you to the cave that Broly was residing in. A capsule house stood in there, taking up quite a bit of the space in there.

“Hey, Broly!! I’ve brought (Y/n) here.” Goku called out cheerfully.

“Oh. Hey, Kakarot.” Broly gave a soft smile before realizing your existence. “You must be (Y/n)”

“That’s me. Nice to meet you, Broly. I look forward to getting to know you.” You offered your hand for him to shake. He stared at it, confused by the gesture.

“I’ll come get you in a month. Don’t have too much fun out here.” Goku winked. You blushed at what he was insinuating between you and the mountain of a man you were staying with.

“Shut up, Goku! Quit teasing.” You blurted out of embarrassment. Broly looked at you like you had grown another head. He had a long way to go. Your work was certainly cut out for you.

“See ya!” Goku waved before disappearing. You turned to Broly.

“Wanna show me around the house?”

#dragon ball #boyfriend scenarios #x reader #fem reader #son goku #prince vegeta #son gohan #future trunks #dbs broly

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livefreeforfun · 3 months

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My Sparking Zero Roster Prediction

At the time of writing this, we are mere HOURS away from a new gameplay reveal for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero being released to the public. It’s going to be 13 minutes long, meaning we’ll most likely be seeing a plethora of new characters, so I wanted to share my personal predictions on who the roster will contain and some of my reasoning behind these choices. I started making this roster a while ago but only finished it a couple days ago, I got a little lazy… If they were in a previous game, I likely won’t talk about them, but there are some exceptions to this. That being said, I wanna tackle probably some of the biggest questions first:

That’s a lot of OG characters!

Yep! There’s a lot of space between Piccolo and the Saiyan Saga. and there are not that many characters in the Saiyan Saga, so it makes sense to add some OG rep in between. I’ll be heavily disappointed if they only give us Kid Goku to represent early DB, it’s literally where the franchise started and I hate how little it gets represented in newer games. They seem to be fixing that with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball: The Breakers though, so my hopes are high for lots of early DB rep.

No GT/Z Movies?

Yeah, I really don’t think we’ll be getting any of that at launch unfortunately. The roster we got at the end of the rivals trailer seems to be ordered vaguely based on Saga, starting with characters introduced in the kid Goku era like Krillin and Tien in the top left and ending with DBS Broly in the bottom right. With how the already revealed characters are placed, I just can’t see room for them on the base roster.

No Super Hero?

No again, and that’s mostly because the roster seemingly ends at Broly and Bergamo.

With that out of the way, let me give some justification for specific characters being on here, starting with:

Bulma

I know she’s a weird choice, but she’d be a great fit imo. She was making laser guns as a kid so her attacks could be themed around that, she could fly with a jetpack, maybe she could even have a barrier special move. She has a lot of outfits from that era that could be used as costumes as well. There’s just a lot of potential for her in this game and I think it’d be a shame if she wasn’t here, though I’d 100% understand if she wasn’t.

Chi-Chi

I don’t have to justify her much, she was in BT3 after all, but I specifically want the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai version of her character instead of the kid design. Her kid design is just… weird, and I think you could do more interesting things with an older version of the character. Super Dragon Ball Z proved she can fit right into a cast on a fighting game perfectly fine using the Bansho Fan, there’s no reason to not be following that formula in the modern era of DB games. This version of the character also appeared in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball: The Breakers so it’s not impossible. Her alternate costumes could even be her appearances from different eras of Dragon Ball, just put her in the game!!

DBS Bardock and Gine

I shouldn’t have to justify Bardock much, he appeared in DBS Broly so he could absolutely get in and this would be the perfect time to put his Super variation on a fighting game roster. The character I probably have to justify more is Gine and, if I’m being honest, she’s mostly just to fill space on the roster, BUT Fasha probably won’t be in this game and I think having Gine be her spiritual successor on the roster would be cute. Also, they have Great Ape forms because BT3 gave every tailed saiyan a Great Ape form.

Tarble

Ok he’s absolutely just a slot filler but Vegeta DOES mention having a brother in Super so it’s not impossible??? He also has a Great Ape form for the same reason as Bardock and Gine. You could realistically substitute him with more OG characters though, maybe Launch and Eighter or something.

Raspberry

Could be literally any Frieza Soldier, I just like him the most. It’s not a Budokai Tenkaichi game without a random Frieza grunt on the roster.

DBS 18 and DBZ 17

“C’mon man, they could totally just be costumes.” True, but this is the Budokai Tenkaichi series we’re talking about here. Not to mention they could absolutely have different movesets from their already existing counterparts on the roster. And it DOES fill out the roster quite nicely.

Anilaza

On top of being one of the more recognizable characters from the T.O.P, he was treated like an absolute menace in the show that, if I recall correctly, every remaining member of Team U7 had to gang up on to defeat. He’d also be another giant character which we know are returning, and those are fun to have on the roster.

Future Mai

She’s not just a slot filler, she actually did shit in the Future Trunks saga. She helped organize the resistance and even tried to snipe Black with an energy bullet, which would be an awesome ultimate attack. She should ABSOLUTELY be in this game.

Ribrianne/Kakunsa/Roasie and

Basil/Lavendar

I started making my list before Kakunsa was revealed, so go me, but my reasoning is that Ribrianne was absolutely going to make it in with how popular she is. She’s even in Xenoverse, so there’s a precedent for her being in games, and you can’t have her without having her teammates in a game like Sparking Zero. Bergamo is confirmed so Basil and Lavendar are here mostly so the whole Trio can be here.

Catopesra

He’s one of the goofiest characters in DBS and I think would make a great humor-focused character. I’ve seen people want Monaka in the game as a gag character, but gag characters still have to do something in fights and we’ve never seen him do anything in a fight. The point is that he doesn’t fight, so his inclusion wouldn’t make much sense.

Supreme Kai

He’s gonna have a role in Daima, and you could give him some interesting moves based on his power to create things, so he gets a spot.

Babidi and Dr. Gero

Babidi has a really unique playstyle in BT3 where landing his grab drains your energy and powers up his ultimate attack, and I think that’s cool enough for him to take a slot in the Buu Saga that really wasn’t being used. Dr. Gero is on here for the same reason, as there aren’t any other characters on the roster with android energy absorption bulbs on their hands, unless I’m forgetting something about a DBS character I included.

2 Piccolos?? 2 Bergamos??

Giant forms :) Piccolo’s isn’t totally necessary but Bergamo’s 100% is.

No Cabba?

Yeah I- I forgor. Just completely spaced on his existence. But I didn't wanna redo parts of the roster. Realistically DBS 18, Jaco, and Mai or Anilaza would get dropped for him and his forms. Just ignore it just don't think about it :)

2 Kelfas?

Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2. They don’t really look that visually distinct from each other on my roster though, so I just wanted to point that out.

No Whis?

I’m a strong advocate that Whis shouldn’t be a playable character in fighting games because part of being an angel is that you aren’t allowed to fight in battles. If he’s on the roster then whatever but I do not want to see him on there.

Vegito Blue in the Buu Saga?

I’m operating under the logic that when DBS Goku and Vegeta fuse into Vegito, they’d fuse into the same Vegito from the Buu Saga, and if you use the Buu Arc versions of Goku and Vegeta then Vegito Blue wouldn’t be usable. I was also struggling to fill slots in the Buu Saga and putting him there gave me an extra slot for a Super character.

And that’s really everything I can think to talk about. I’m scrambling to get this out at 2 am right now so I may have forgotten to mention something important, but oh well. It’s been a long time since I’ve been as excited for a game as I have been with Sparking Zero. Everything we’ve seen so far looks absolutely fantastic and is building up to make this the best Dragon Ball fighting game ever made in my opinion.

#this roster is a bit of a mess LOL #I definitely won't be 100% correct #but I think 90% correct is a fair estimate #dragon ball sparking zero #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dragon ball super #db #dbz #dbs #is a fair estimate

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dballzposting · 4 months

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HI i had a horrible dragon ball thought and thought i should send it to you because i haven't done that in a long time :(

love stumbling across screenshots that remind me that akira toriyama doesn't give a shit about canonical heights EVER and just says numbers when asked and doesn't follow said numbers.

Like i was taking a peep at the manga because i want to learn how to replicate the art style (my most serious art has already been damaged by the dragon balls i draw and i say it like... damaged. but i don't mean that i think thats a good thing because thats what i want) and i find these bits from the 23rd tenkaichi budokai where Yamcha (6'0") and Tien (6'2") are both like a head taller than Goku (5'9") which... no they aren't lol. but it's fun to think that they are so I'll incorporate that into my belief system regardless.

And i also found this one picture from the end of the anime (equally inaccurate about numbers which i find delightful. i am incredibly amused by this.) where Goten (??) is like also a head shorter than Trunks (5'7"? probably, that's how tall future him was at that age idk man who fucking knows. not me.) which would probably put Goten at like... Vegeta height in terms of dragon ball inaccuracies because 17 year old Future Trunks was depicted as being considerably taller than his father in canon.

And that's generally insane because as far as i'm aware Goten is usually depicted to be vaguely taller than Trunks when they grow up to what should be their full heights in fan works? which is fair because Trunks is REALLY doing his best with what he has (Vegeta dna)

Also about Trunk's height- future Trunks (malnourished by saiyan standards... and probably earthling standards too) is really only 5 cm shorter than Goku?? which is not even much actually, Future Trunks is about as tall as LIONEL MESSI which, sure I'm Argentinian and that's my like referent for short men sue me... but that's hilarious because Goku is only 5 cm taller than that like what. and adult Gohan is only 6 cm taller than that! because he's only a single fucking centimeter taller than Goku! why is he only a fucking centimeter taller than his father. who even cares about that. him? probably not.

Also to expand onto the Vegeta Height Goten thing, that'd be so funny personally because i feel like the second neurotic ass SON OF VEGETA Trunks notices this he would tear his own hair out, i think he would resent that fact with everything he had. i don't even quite know why he would hate it yet, but i do know that he wouldn't be a fan of it.

But of course none of this fucking matters. because akira toriyama is a bitchass motherfucker and if i had a wife he would piss on her.

-Yui7 after getting back from talking about Dragon ball and how much he misses Goku for like a half a day.

Hi I forgot about this ask and it has sat in my inbox for 9 slutty slutty days.

IT'S TRUE!!!!!! THE HEIGHTS ARE A MESS!!!!!!

To be fair it must be hard to give a shit when you're depicting multiple characters in complex scenes and poses and angles all of the time.

BUT THEN WHY TRY TO DISCLOSE NUMBERS AT ALL !??!?!??!

I get the impression that he just draws characters as they feel. Even though Goku went through a growth spurt before the 23rd tenkaichi budokai, he's still younger than the others and he's still always been an aspiring young shoot, so Tenshinhan and Yamucha still need to be taller (and therefore more mature) than him.

That's why Vegeta steadily got taller as he gained wisdom and muscle mass.... he had to look more important.

Goten is kept shorter than Trunks consistently, except in GT I feel like they're allowed to be on-par. But they're both definitely taller than Vegeta I mean come on.

If the real meaning comes from visual impressions then I'll be on record as saying that watching Future Trunks on-screen you definitely see one TALL STACK of fresh organic non-GMO free-range Super Saiyan BEEF. Perhaps he should be shorter like his father. But when have animes cared about genetics

Trunks is always a tall bitch and Goku is always so tall and Gohan is always so tall and Goten even is so tall. They're all so tall. And then they keep making Vegeta taller too.

Krillin just has no chance

#WHO GIVE A SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!#dballz posting #dballz asks #yu7i

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izzymcfeegles · 1 year

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Random Tenkaichi Budokai Headcanons:

-In addition to the prize money, every winner receives their own championship belt. Tien and Goku are the only champions to not receive belts due to the tumultuous events following the 22nd and 23rd Budokais, respectively.

-Promotional photos of the champion are usually taken a few hours after the final match when the prize money is awarded. Goku is the only champion to not have promotional photos taken. Photos were taken of Tien but were never released due to Krillin's murder at the hands of Tambourine.

-The announcer's name is Ken. While he is on friendly terms with members of the Dragon Team and knows the truth about the Cell Games, he is often not invited to Capsule Corp functions because nobody can remember his name.

-While the majority of the modern Budokais have been filmed, the 24th Budokai is the first to be widely televised. Prior to this, official broadcasts were aired on syndicated television or radio. Many fans have also recorded their own footage.

-Bootleg tape trading of fan recordings of previous Budokais is a pastime among super fans who often manage to find different perspectives and angles of their favorite matches.

-While most casual Budokai fans consider Mr. Satan to be the GOAT, many diehard fans still prefer previous fighters like Goku, Jackie Chun, and Tien. There is also a growing number of younger fans who love to revisit the fights from the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Budokais.

-There is growing skepticism among super fans as to Mr. Satan's role in the Cell Games.

-There is a Budokai Network which airs the previous Tenkaichi Budokais along with original content like interviews, documentaries, pre/post shows for the new Budokais, and of course, a reality series featuring Mr. Satan. Whenever the network requests an interview or to use the likeness of any member of the Dragon Team, it must be vetted and approved by Capsule Corp's legal team.

-Yamcha sometimes appears in documentaries as a talking head due to his experience in previous Budokais and his historical knowledge of the sport.

-There is a convention that occurs the day before every Tenkaichi Budokai called Budokon. Fans can buy merchandise, trade tapes, and do meet and greets with previous competitors. Frequent guests usually include Bacterian, Giran, Ranfan, Man Wolf, Panput, Jewel, Mighty Mask, Killa, and King Chappa.

-Panput is notorious for overcharging fans for photos and autographs. Also, do not mention Goku or Mr. Satan in his presence.

-There is a Tenkaichi Budokai Hall of Fame where former champions, competitors, and other notable figures are inducted. Notable inductees include Mr. Satan, Goku, Tien, Jackie Chun, King Chappa, Krillin, Yamcha, and Namu. Goku, Jackie Chun, and Tien, did not attend their own respective ceremonies due to their whereabouts being unknown. Yamcha and Krillin are the only members of the Dragon Team to attend their own HOF inductions.

-Ranfan is the first female fighter to be inducted into the HOF, followed by Chi Chi and 18.

#random dragon ball headcanons #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dbz #tenkaichi budokai #goku #krillin #yamcha #tenshinhan #jackie chun #mr. satan

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randomthefox · 2 months

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I really love how the original Dragon Ball escalates and seeds its world building. It starts out with this mythology about the titular objects that can grant any wish, and the first arc is this episodic adventure campaign of going to new locations and meeting new characters as a party of regulars slowly develops. The world is a wacky place with wacky people like a crazy strong monkey boy, turtle hermits with flying clouds, a village terrorized by a gang of bunnies who can turn people into carrots by touching them. It shows off this disparate variety to the world.

Then (after a tournament saga) there's the red ribbon army arc, which introduces this overarching malevolent organization. It's very grounded, it's an ARMY of evil soldiers who want the dragon balls for their powers but they essentially already have taken over most of the world. Goku is unaware of them because of his secluded upbringing, but everyone else recognizes who and what they are as a serious threat. It recontextualizes things to imagine that this organization was there in the background all along and just never was encountered until now by happenstance. Goku fights a massive militarized organization that besets him at every corner as he searches for the dragon balls again.

Then (after a tournament saga) we get introduced to a clan of DEMONS lead by THE DEVIL who ends up being revealed to be a cast off evil second half of GOD. The demons terrorize the world slaughtering martial artists because they're the only people who have the potential to seal THE DEVIL away as he had been before, and a good chunk of the cast straight up dies because of them which is a major upset of the standards the adventures have had until now. And in the end the main villain WINS. The BAD GUY who is THE DEVIL gets his wish from the dragon balls and then DESTROYS THEM so they can never be used against him, and then DOES take over the world by hijacking the World Kings palace. He makes a public televised announcement to the entire planet that HE is in charge and he has overthrown rule of law and encourages the citizens of the world to act on their evil impulses and cause chaos and carnage, and in the meantime he announces he'll be destroying every major populated center across the entire world until there's nobody and nothing left. Goku fights and kills THE DEVIL and then meets GOD (not a metaphor for him dying he literally physically ascends to the heavens and meets God at his house where he oversees the entire planet).

Then another tournament arc happens.

Things escalate even further from there and they start introducing world conquering space aliens who can destroy entire planets, but I think there's something special to the way things developed before then. I don't mind the delineation of Dragon Ball Classic and Dragon Ball Z because I do feel like there's a certain groundedness to original Dragon Ball that does start to go away after the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Not all at once, but eventually the series ship of theseuses itself into feeling like something altogether removed from what it was, whereas I feel it has a very strong sense of identity all the way up until Saiyans are introduced. There was a magic to it. To the scope of this wonderful wacky zany world of martial artists expanding over time and revealing new things that were supposed to have always been there but feel natural that they'd never come up until it was appropriate. And I understand why it started drifting away from that, I mean after the main character becomes stronger than God where do you go from there?

But I'll always cherish that original Dragon Ball. With its Master Carrot Bunny, with its Pilaf, with its Turtle Hermit Martial Arts Master, with its Red Ribbon Army, with its Fortune Teller Baba, with its Turtle School vs Crane School rivalry, with its Demon King Piccolo. I'd say I miss it but that's sort of inaccurate, because it'll always be there to revisit time and again. And somehow it always feels just as special as the first time.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z

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tobiasdrake · 3 days

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By the way, while we're talking about Gohan, Piccolo, and that moment, I want to take a moment to focus in on what he says here. Because it's fascinating to really stop and think about.

In his dying moments, Piccolo says this to Gohan.

"You were the only one who ever really talked to me."

Piccolo's existence is so complicated at this point that there's some ambiguity here. The first person ever to really talk to him. That's a bold statement. What does he mean by that?

What does Piccolo mean when he says "ever"? Let's stop to really think about that.

The first interpretation is that he's referring to this incarnation of himself. Going back to the day he was "born" anew.

I love how he was born wearing clothes apparently. Maybe he popped out of that egg and immediately used his signature Clothes Beam, an obscure technique but a valuable one.

For real, Piccolo's ability to create matter from ki is probably the most underutilized ability in Dragon Ball. This is, like, the one and only time we ever see it. It is never explained. Even Cell wound up having to create his arena from existing resources nearby.

But I digress.

Piccolo was reborn to finish the work he'd started: Kill Son Goku and take over the world. The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai was his opportunity to do just that.

So. When Piccolo says "ever", he's talking about this, right? He talks to attendees at the tournament but their interactions are strictly hostile. He's here to kill Goku; He's not interested in socializing.

This is the closest thing to a friendly chat that this incarnation of Piccolo ever had prior to Gohan's training. So it's easy to hear him say "You were the only one who ever really talked to me," and go, "Yeah, that checks out." Though that's not really their fault.

But. Hang on. Piccolo's sense of self goes back further than that.

"Majunior" is always referred to and always refers to himself as though he and Piccolo-Daimao were one and the same. He is not Piccolo's son. He's a copy, splintered off from the Daimao and given a new body.

Kami explains it like this.

Effectively, Daimao split himself in two. One piece of him created the egg and sent it across the horizon for the other piece to escape inside, and that piece hatched into "Majunior".

It's a popular fanon to treat Piccolo Jr. like he's a totally newborn baby saddled with the Sins of the Father, but this is never how the source material treats him. Piccolo is Piccolo is Piccolo; the two are one and the same. Except one's a Mazoku and the other is not.

A revelation that comes at the cost of Goku and Raditz's lives.

So when he says "You were the only one who ever really talked to me," he's probably not talking about this incarnation. He's probably reaching all the way back to the birth of Piccolo as an entity.

When the Nameless Namekian ascended to the throne of God, he had to purge himself of the evil that had accumulated in his soul. That evil took form and shape, and it became Piccolo.

Given the description of Piccolo having "escaped", it sounds like they tried to imprison him moments after he first came into being. Makes sense; He's literally evil incarnate. A half-person Mazoku formed of pure evil, incapable of moral agency. Why would you want to let that loose?

But they failed. Piccolo got free and descended from Heaven into the human realm to wreak untold havoc upon humanity.

So. Y'know. Nobody's out there having civil chats with that.

...

But. Hang on. Piccolo's sense of self goes back even further than that, doesn't it? After all. As much as "Majunior" is a fragment of Piccolo-Daimao, Piccolo-Daimao too is a fragment of the Nameless Namekian, and he retains that knowledge, memory, and experience as well.

When Piccolo and God begin to speak candidly with one another in the ring, they don't speak Japanese. Instead, they're speaking their own language. A language not of this Earth. With courtesy translation for the audience.

They are speaking the Namekian language. A language from a race neither Piccolo nor God even knows exists. This is confirmed by Bulma and Popo, when they discover the Nameless Namekian's spacecraft.

This was the first language Piccolo ever knew, in the very first incarnation of himself.

This isn't God's history he's sharing. It's theirs, his and Piccolo's together.

Because Piccolo is pure evil. But he isn't. Like. The concept of evil. He is Nameless's evil. The corruption, the bitterness and resentment and fear and anger and uncertainty and despair that's cultivated in his heart over a lifetime of loneliness and isolation.

A Ryuzoku Namekian, child of Katatsu, sent to Earth to escape a climate catastrophe that destroyed their planet and killed their entire race, but two. An orphaned child landing in a deserted wasteland with nothing but an empty promise from a parent who would never make the trip.

We don't know what happened between then and his ascension to Godhood. All we know is that these days were spent alone. And a worm of evil grew in his heart.

This, it should be noted, is not standard procedure for becoming God. When Dende took the throne, he did not have to do anything to purify himself.

That's basically the entire vetting procedure for Dende's ascension.

The way God describes the process, creating Piccolo was something unique to his experience, because his predecessor had noticed a growing darkness unworthy of God inside of him.

I legitimately wonder if God spit Piccolo out as an egg, the way he later spit out the egg of his copy.

In the Namekian language, the word "Piccolo" means "Another world".

It's a word that Nameless knew intimately. Not just because it's from the first spoken language he ever knew. But because that voice command opened and closed his home.

Every day of his lonely life, waiting for a parent that would never come, this is how he came and went. Piccolo as he goes out and Piccolo again once he steps outside. Piccolo on his return and Piccolo once he's safe inside the only home he knows. Piccolo, Piccolo. Piccolo, Piccolo. This word defined his childhood.

This word was the only parent he had.

When he fractured, breaking off the darkness in his soul and externalizing it into a new body, that body took Piccolo as his name.

This has been his existence, since before he could remember. The life of a Namekian whose name has been lost to time. The man who became the man who became Piccolo. God, in his temple in heaven, has Popo by his side to offer companionship and assistance. But for the life he lived before that and for the part of him that fractured off, not once in this long and winding 300-year journey has he ever had a friend.

So when you really stop and take a look at where not just the original Piccolo but the original came from, at the foundation of where Piccolo truly began, those words take on a bit of a different meaning, don't they?

When Piccolo says, "You were the only one who ever really talked to me," that cuts a little deeper when you stop to really think about it.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #piccolo

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