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Summary
- Because of the increasingly powerful villains
DBZ
introduced, the human characters who were so important to OG Dragon Ball slowly became irrelevant. -
Dragon Ball Super
reintegrates the human characters into its plot by focusing on other aspects of their personalities besides combat strength. - Even though
Dragon Ball Super
makes the saiyans more powerful than ever, this helps separate the humans from the fighting more, allowing them to shine in a way they haven’t since the original
Dragon Ball
.
Dragon Ball Z is known for its epic fights between Super Saiyan warriors and intergalactic aliens capable of destroying entire planets with ease. That formula is whtat made DBZ so immensely popular, but unfortunately for fans of some of the more grounded, human characters, it didn’t leave much room for their parts in the story.
Even though Dragon Ball Super takes the series’ bombastic fights to even greater, more God-like proportions, it ironically manages to reincorporate the human characters into the story in ways that DBZ never could. While Krillin and Master Roshi will never become Super Saiyans or gain new transformations like Orange Piccolo, they’ve found a way to remain relevant and fill in their own niche in Dragon Ball Super. Whether it’s Bulma’s humorously complicated friendship with Beerus, or Mai’s actual love story with Trunks, Dragon Ball Super is doing more for its human characters than DBZ ever did.
Every Dragon Ball Main Character’s Greatest Weakness
Dragon Ball is filled with anime’s toughest fighters, but even they have weaknesses they struggle to overcome.
How Humans Became Irrelevant in DBZ
Humans were always an important part of the series ever since Goku met Bulma in the very first episode of Dragon Ball. Even up into OG Dragon Ball‘s last arc, some of the best fights contained human characters like Tien, Yamcha and Krillin. As the series transitioned into DBZ though, things slowly took a change. In particular, Raditz’s arrival on earth was a pivotal point for the human characters. Humans like Krillin, Roshi and Yamcha were forced to sit the fight against Raditz out, because they knew they stood no chance against the extraterrestrial powerhouse. From that moment on, the human characters would only become even more alienated.
The Frieza Saga still found space for Bulma and Krillin to have some sort of role early in the arc, but in the Cell Saga, the humans were treated like fodder for Cell and his Cell Jrs to beat up on. The only character other than the saiyans who made any substantial impact on the fight was Piccolo, but even he was slowly becoming obsolete. By the time Majin Buu came along, the humans had essentially all retired from mortal combat, and Bulma was hardly seen at all. The clearest indication of what became of the humans in the transition from DB to DBZ is the complete disappearance of one of the main human characters, Launch. Launch was infamously forgotten by Akira Toriyama early in the part of the manga that would later become labeled “Z“, and that’s as telling a sign as any that the humans had already become irrelevant.
How Super Reintegrated the Humans Into the Plot
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Among the many English dubs of Dragon Ball, the “Big Green” dub has one of the weirdest histories.
As extraterrestrials with god-like powers began to become the norm in DBZ, there was no room for human fighters in the life-threatening conflicts that ensued. However, after those initial conflicts settled down and more sense was made of humanity’s place in the greater world of Dragon Ball Super, the humans began to find their niche once again in this new paradigm. Characters like Krillin, Roshi and even Bulma became more relevant as their true roles became more apparent.
Whereas DBZ struggled to fit the humans into the box of the saiyans, Namekians and other outer-worldly beings, Super accepted their place as humans and reassessed how their strengths fit into an even greater cosmology than even DBZ ever suggested. Instead of forcing themselves to become champions of the earth as Goku and Vegeta were, the humans embraced life as earthlings, albeit with far greater abilities than any average human being. Krillin became a police officer, Tien became a martial arts master and instructor, and Yamcha became a star baseball player. Even Bulma, who only appeared on and off in DBZ without any real relevance other than to provide the Dragon Radar, became more important in Super during critical moments like the Future Trunks Saga and in dealing with Whis and Beerus. Goku and Vegeta’s training to protect the universe is still of the utmost importance in Super, but their extended absence leaves the fate of the earth largely in the hands of the humans, giving them a chance to shine again like they used to in early Dragon Ball.
Super Gives Classic Dragon Ball Characters More Time To Shine
How Dragon Ball, DBZ, & GT Turned the Passage of Time Into Its Greatest Quality
Dragon Ball has chronicled Goku’s growth for nearly forty years, making him more like an old friend than a fictional character for fans.
Things were rough for the humans in DBZ, but they’ve finally come into their own in Super. Bulma has accepted her role as a genius inventor much more readily, taking on a more active role at Capsule Corp. Krillin has seen unfathomable power increases (sometimes a bit too unfathomable to justify), and even Roshi has rejoined the fight more than once. In fact, Roshi’s mastery of martial arts is at its most prescient in Super, as he demonstrates his incredible knowledge of combat against beings far more powerful than even a Super Saiyan was in DBZ. Roshi shows that he still has more to teach Goku, even as the latter is being trained by Gods and Angels of the universe.
Krillin was always an important character in DBZ, but he took on a much different position in that series. By the time Raditz came to Earth, Krillin was almost entirely irrelevant, and that only got worse after the Frieza saga. Krillin’s last true moment to shine was during the Namek Saga alongside Gohan and Vegeta, but as the latter two continued to ascend to new heights of power with Super Saiyan transformations in the Cell Saga, Krillin was relegated to the background. By the time the Buu Saga came around, Krillin was wise enough to know that his prime was far behind him, and so he settled down and started a family and all-but-retired from fighting. As a police officer, Krillin has once again taken up the mantle as a warrior for justice in Super. He resumed his training, got stronger than ever before, and — most important of all for Krillin — he hasn’t died once.
Even beyond the main cast of human characters fan have grown to know and love, Super has found space for other humans to carve out their own role in a way that makes sense in the story. One of particular note is Mai, who became of major importance during Super‘s Future Trunks Saga, and then reemerged during the Super Hero arc as a main character and love interest for present-day Trunks. Mai’s relationship with Trunks parallels in many ways Videl’s situation with Gohan during the Great Saiyaman arc. The difference is that, whereas Videl was a brand-new character, Mai is one of Dragon Ball’s longest-recurring characters, having made her debut only one episode after Goku and Bulma did. That being the case, Mai’s reintroduction represents a sort of full circle moment for the human characters in Dragon Ball.
Dragon Ball Super is a Reflection on OG Dragon Ball
Why More Anime Series Should Have Their Own Version of Dragon Ball Z Kai
Dragon Ball Z Kai delivered a streamlined way to watch the classic series, and there are plenty of long anime that would benefit from such a remake.
Early Dragon Ball was far more grounded than DBZ, and therefore gave the humans much greater relevance in the story. The main villains like the Red Ribbon Army, General Blue and Mercenary Tao were all humans, demonstrating how human beings could have a real impact on Dragon Ball‘s world. By the time DBZ came around, for a human being to even come anywhere close to being relevant as a villain, they would have to be a former human who became a super-powered Android, like Dr Gero. In contrast, Dragon Ball Super‘s Super Hero even brought back the Red Ribbon Army as actual human beings, and introduced Dr Hedo as a character who may become a major player going forward.
Dragon Ball‘s move away from human matters with DBZ was an interesting one. It pulled the story further away from high-fantasy and more into the realm of science fiction. It dealt less with grounded humor and one-on-one duels with fists, and got more into intergalactic conflicts fought with ki blasts and superpowers. In a way, Dragon Ball Z was the least human the franchise has ever been. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it ends up having an unforeseen effect on some of the legacy characters of the series. While Super delves more into even greater levels of Godly power for Goku and Vegeta, in allowing the Saiyans to ascend beyond the realm of mortals, Super ends up telling a more human story for those people the Saiyans have left behind on earth.
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.
- Created by
- Akira Toriyama
- First Film
- Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
- Latest Film
- Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
- First TV Show
- Dragon Ball
- Upcoming TV Shows
- Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First Episode Air Date
- April 26, 1989
- Cast
- Sean Schemmel , Laura Bailey , Brian Drummond , Christopher Sabat , Scott McNeil
