Dragon Ball has only been able to survive for as long as it has because of its extremely loyal and passionate fandom. They’ve have openly embraced supplemental video games, side stories, and even indulged in their own fan fiction during the years when there was no official anime or manga material in production. Fans’ relationship with an anime franchise can result in beautiful synergy when it’s done right. However, that doesn’t mean that audiences always know what’s best for a series and it’s not uncommon for popular opinion to overpower common sense and logical storytelling.

Shipping is a common activity that’s done in every form of media where audiences speculate upon entertaining romances and relationships that they’d like to see happen. Sometimes these unofficial ships come to pass, but it’s rather uncommon in a series like Dragon Ball that doesn’t indulge in many romantic relationships. That being said, some fan ships would genuinely change Dragon Ball for the better, yet the inverse of this involves deeply misguided romances that are difficult to understand how they were even conceived in the first place.

10 Roshi & Maron Is Steeped In Disrespect & Dismissal

Maron is a fairly innocuous Dragon Ball Z filler character who’s primarily present in the Garlic Jr. Saga as Krillin’s girlfriend. Maron spends the bulk of her time at Roshi’s Kame House and Korin Tower, but later makes a brief return appearance during the Android invasion when she hopes to find Krillin and once again profess her love for him following their break-up. Maron is a fairly one-note joke in that she’s a Bulma look-alike who’s repeatedly treated like an unintelligent airhead. Roshi, Korin, and Turtle all crack jokes at Maron’s expense, yet Roshi is still eager to make time with her due to how taken he is with her attractive appearance.

There’s a small sect of the Dragon Ball fandom who have actually shipped a Roshi and Maron relationship in lieu of the former being unable to get together with Bulma. However, a relationship between Maron and Roshi is equally inappropriate. Not only is there a serious age factor to take into consideration, but it’d also be a major betrayal to Krillin on both of their parts. Furthermore, Roshi’s repeated insults about Maron’s dense nature would only prove that he’s only interested in her based on her looks, which is never the proper foundation for a relationship.

9 Goku & Bulma Is A Relationship That Grows More Fraught The More That It’s Considered

Bulma is the first person that Goku meets in Dragon Ball and she’s responsible for putting him on the path to the Eternal Dragon and everything that he experiences over the course of the franchise. Bulma seems much older than Goku when the series begins, but this largely has to do with Goku’s sheltered lifestyle. Bulma is 16 and Goku is 12 when they first meet, which is hardly an inappropriate age when it comes to relationships. However, these two have just been friends for so long that any romantic aspect between the two of them would just feel awkward and potentially ruin the life-long friendship that they’ve built together.

Goku has never previously shown any romantic interest in Bulma, and vice versa, so this sudden shift wouldn’t ring true. There’s just too much baggage between the two of them, even if a relationship would technically be possible. On top of everything else, a hook-up between Goku and Bulma would permanently ruin any relationship between Bulma and Chi-Chi, but also properly make Goku and Vegeta enemies once again. It’s simply not worth it and it’d hurt too many innocent people.

8 Future Zamasu & Goku Black Would Be A True Lesson in Narcissism

Dragon Ball Super cultivates a genuine mystery when it introduces an evil Goku doppelgänger who operates under the name Goku Black. The series slowly reveals that Goku Black is actually Zamasu, the Supreme Kai apprentice of Universe 10, who’s teamed up with his future self in a radical plan to eliminate all mortals from existence. Goku Black and Future Zamasu fight together and eventually even use the Potara Earrings to fuse into Merged Zamasu.

On some level, shipping Goku Black and Future Zamasu makes sense since they’re both technically the same person and there’s no one that they value more than themselves. Zamasu’s ego is so immense that it’s believable that the only person he could ever love is another version of himself. That being said, it doesn’t make this ship any less strange. Fusion is one bridge to cross, but love is a whole other matter and the universe may not be able to handle this extreme experiment in narcissism.

7 Beerus & Bulma Have A Love-Hate Friendship That Should Stay That Way

Beerus is a force to be reckoned with right from the first moment that he appears in Dragon Ball Super. It’s a refreshing change of pace to see how terrified Vegeta is over the possibility of Beerus losing his cool and the elaborate efforts that he takes to ensure that he doesn’t get angry with anyone. However, Bulma has no patience for Beerus’ attitude and she’s more than willing to tell him off, which results in the God of Destruction slapping Bulma across the face. This establishes a fiery love-hate friendship between the two that’s often defused by dessert and delicious cuisine.

Beerus tends to stay on the sidelines and watch others engage in combat, which usually has him in Bulma’s vicinity. These two may spend time together in a casual context, yet there’s never been a shred of romantic interest between the two. Admittedly, aggression sometimes turns into love and even Bulma’s relationship with Vegeta initially took everyone by surprise. However, there’s never been anything that indicates that there are romantic feelings between these two. Bulma getting together with a Saiyan is surprising, but understandable, yet a full-fledged romance with a feline-like God of Destruction is a completely different story.

6 Goku & Caulifla Have A Saiyan Heritage & Zest For Combat In Common, But Not Much Else

Dragon Ball Super’s multiverse concept establishes that Universe 6 still has a thriving Saiyan population. The series doesn’t make a proper trip to Planet Sadala, but Cabba, Kale, and Caulfila make several appearances as the universe’s strongest Saiyans. It makes sense that these characters would inspire fan shipping with several of Universe 7’s Saiyans. A relationship between Caulifla and Cabba or Caulifla and Kale are easy to picture, but the choice to shoehorn Goku into a romantic pairing with any of these Saiyans just feels forced. Caulifla has a passion for battle that’s comparable to Goku’s combat enthusiasm. However, this means that the two would be excellent sparring partners, rather than a couple.

There’s also an age factor to take into consideration. Caulifla’s official age is never confirmed, but she appears to be several decades younger than Goku. That doesn’t mean that a romance between them is impossible, but it’s just another factor that’s going against these two. On top of everything else, Goku already has a fitting partner with Chi-Chi and doesn’t seem to have room in his life for Caulifla. This might be a different story if the two shared any time together outside the battlefield, but their relationship has purely consisted of combat.

5 Frieza & Yamcha Is An Illogical Pairing That’s Been Fueled Through A Meme

Yamcha doesn’t join Earth’s heroes to Planet Namek because he’s currently deceased at the time, which means that he really doesn’t get much exposure to Frieza, one of Dragon Ball’s most prevalent villains. Dragon Ball FighterZ, one of the franchise’s most recent and successful video games, leans into this idea with a particularly unusual character interaction if these two figures face each other in combat.

Frieza makes a snide, sarcastic remark that Yamcha is “handsome,” which the fandom has run rampant with and turned into an ongoing meme that’s become one of Dragon Ball’s strangest shipping situations. There’s a wealth of fan art that exists that explores a potential relationship between Frieza and Yamcha. However, there’s absolutely no connection between these two and it’s just a bad joke that’s gone too far.

4 Korin & Yajirobe Shouldn’t Take Their Partnership To The Next Level

Korin Tower is one of Earth’s most sacred locations that shares a connection with Kami’s Lookout. Korin Tower, unsurprisingly, is occupied by Korin, but he’s also kept company by Yajirobe. Yajirobe and Korin routinely dispense Senzu Beans and wise words, while they typically remain in the background of Dragon Ball’s more cataclysmic events. Fans have started to ship these two simply because they spend a lot of time together and are seemingly isolated in their location.

There’s clearly a friendship and a lot of respect between Korin and Yajirobe. However, it’s a relationship that makes sense as it is without the need to inject romance into these proceedings. Yajirobe is a fairly grounded human character and Korin is a cat-like creature who originates from Other World. They’re both smaller in size, but a romance would only confuse matters between these two and create potential tension in what are relatively tight quarters.

3 Yamcha & Puar Are Life-Long Friends, But It Should Remain At That

Yamcha is one of the first supporting characters that the original Dragon Ball series introduces and alongside him is Puar, a shape-shifting creature who resembles a tanooki. Yamcha and Puar are often inseparable and there’s clearly a long history and friendship between these two. That being said, the idea of adding a romantic quality between the two of them doesn’t make any sense, especially since Puar isn’t even human. A romantic relationship between Puar and Oolong might work, since they’re both anthropomorphic shape-shifters, but pushing Puar and Yamcha to this place just feels desperate.

As a shape-shifter, Puar could turn into a human-like companion – such as Bulma, for instance – but this would still be a relationship that’s steeped in dishonesty and forces Puar to be something that she’s not. There’s a period in Dragon Ball Super where it’s implied that Puar repeatedly takes on the form of different women to help Master Roshi get over his lewd compulsions so that he’s prepared to fight in the Tournament of Power. This approach to romance would feel reminiscent of this unconventional training exercise and it’s not what either party would want.

2 Vados & Goku Is A Truly Odd Shipping That The Fandom Has Latched Onto

Dragon Ball Super’s introduction of Gods of Destruction and Angels has greatly expanded upon the series’ scope with new tiers of celestial deities. Beerus and Whis receive the most attention as Universe 7’s representatives, but Champa and Vados from Universe 2 are close runner-ups. Vados is Whis’ older sister and one would think that if she’s to engage in any sort of relationship, that it would be with another Angel or God of Destruction. However, fans have really gone all in on the idea of a relationship between Goku and Vados.

This is particularly strange since these two characters barely share any screen time together in Dragon Ball Super. It feels like the byproduct of a joke that’s gotten consistently out of control. Some of these shippings even keep Chi-Chi in the picture and turns the three of them into an unbalanced throuple. Nearly any other Dragon Ball ship makes more sense than this one and any future scenes between Goku and Vados are guaranteed to fan the flames of this odd pairing.

1 Dragon Ball GT Goku & Pan Is A Sick Ship That Seems Like A Cruel Joke

Dragon Ball Super is seen as the proper, canonical sequel series to Dragon Ball Z, but long before its inception was Dragon Ball GT. Dragon Ball GT has become a rather polarizing installment in the franchise due to its light-hearted tone during its introductory saga and the jarring decision to transform Goku into a child for the entirety of the series. Goku’s juvenile transformation facilitates silly adventures that are reminiscent of the original Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball GT eventually embraces action and combat, but it begins with galactic journeys that focus on Goku, Pan, and Trunks. There’s a lot of fun to be had between Goku and Pan, since they’re both presented as children.

However, it’s important to remember that, despite their appearance, Goku remains Pan’s grandfather. Fun vibes are not enough to build a relationship off of, especially with everything else that GT Goku and Pan represent. Goku and Pan are certainly fun travel companions and Goku’s transformation makes it easier for these two to be viewed as equals, rather than presenting a paternal relationship from Goku. Shipping these two is simply impossible and requires so many other story details to willfully be ignored.