Dragon Ball (universe)

Dragon Ball (universe)
Publisher(s)	Shueisha
Designer(s)	Akira Toriyama
Genre(s)	Action, Adventure, Martial Arts, Fantasy, Science Fantasy
Console/platform of origin	Manga
First installment	Dragon Boy prototype (1983) Dragon Ball (1984)
Latest installment	Dragon Ball FighterZ (2018)
Article on Wikipedia	Dragon Ball (universe)

The Dragon Ball universe (ドラゴンボール, Dragon Ball) refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the world-renowned manga and anime series created by Akira Toriyama.

Franchise description

Wanting to break from the Western influences common in his other series, Dr. Slump, when Akira Toriyama began work on Dragon Ball he decided to loosely model it on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He also redeveloped one of his earlier one shot manga series, Dragon Boy, which was initially serialized in Fresh Jump and released in a single tankōbon volume in 1983. This short work combined the comedic style of Toriyama's successful six-year series Dr. Slump with a more action-oriented plot and paid homage to famous martial arts actor, Jackie Chan. Toriyama notes that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story.

The fighting techniques were initially unnamed, but the series editor felt it would be better to name them all. Toriyama proceeded to create names for all of the techniques, except for the Kamehameha, which his wife named when Toriyama was indecisive about what it should be called. When creating the fictional world of the series, Toriyama decided to create basing it from his own imagination to avoid referencing popular culture. However the island where the World Martial Arts Tournament is held is modeled after Bali. When having fights in the manga, Toriyama had the characters go to a place where nobody lived to avoid difficulties in drawing destroyed buildings. In order to advance the story quickly, he also gave most fighters the ability to fly so they could travel to other parts of the world without inconvenience. This was also the reasoning behind Goku learning to teletransport (thus allowing characters to move to any planet in a second).

The story follows a monkey-tailed boy named Goku who is found by an old martial arts expert who raises him as his grandson. One day Goku meets a girl named Bulma and together they go on a quest to retrieve the seven Dragon Balls, mythical objects that can summon a dragon who will grant any wish. Along the way, they meet and befriend a plethora of martial artists. They also undergo rigorous training regimes and educational programs in order to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament, a tournament in which the most powerful fighters in the world compete. Outside the tournaments, Goku faces diverse villains such as Emperor Pilaf, the Red Ribbon Army, as well as a demon known as King Piccolo and his offspring.

As a young adult, Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, who tells him that they come from a race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans. The Saiyans had sent Goku to Earth to destroy it, but his ship crashes upon arrival. Goku fell into a deep ravine and lost all memory of his mission. Goku refuses to help Raditz continue the mission, after which he begins to encounter others who want to battle him, such as the Saiyan prince Vegeta. He also encounters Frieza, who is considered to be one of the strongest beings in the universe, after which Goku begins training his first child, Son Gohan, to be his successor. Years later, a group of soldiers from the Red Ribbon army known as androids appear to kill Goku. Another android, Cell, absorbs Androids #17 and #18 from the Red Ribbon army to increase his power, then fights Goku and Gohan, resulting in the former's death. Goku decides to stay dead for seven years to train in the Other World. When he returns, he is drawn into a battle for the universe against an extraterrestrial named Majin Buu. Joined by Vegeta and Gohan, the evil half of Buu is destroyed and the Good Buu (Mr. Buu) settles down with them. Ten years later at a martial arts tournament, Goku meets evil Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. At the end of the series, Goku takes Uub away on a journey to train him as another successor.

After the first chapters were released, readers commented that Goku seemed rather plain, so his appearance was changed. New characters were added and martial arts tournaments were included to give the manga a greater emphasis on fighting. Anticipating that readers would expect Goku to win the tournaments, Toriyama had him lose the first two while continuing his initial goal of having Goku be the champion and hero. At the end of the Cell arc, he intended for Gohan to replace Goku as the series protagonist, but then felt the character was not suited for the role and changed his mind.

Toriyama based the Red Ribbon Army from a video game he had played in which enemies tended to appear very fast. After the second tournament concluded, Toriyama wanted to have a villain who would be a true "bad guy." After creating Piccolo as the new villain, he noted that it was one of the most interesting parts of the stories and that he, and his son, became one of the favorite characters of the series. With Goku established as the strongest fighter on Earth, Toriyama decided to increase the number of villains that came from outer space. Finding the escalating enemies to be a pain to work with feeling it was too simple, he created the Ginyu squad to add more balance to the series. During this period of the series, Toriyama placed less emphasis on the series art work, simplifying the lines and sometimes making things "too square." He found himself having problems determining the colors for characters and sometimes ended up changing them unintentionally mid-story. In later accounts, Toriyama noted that he did not plan out the details of the story, resulting in strange occurrences and discrepancies later in the series.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Characters

• 
  Goku: Goku, the powerful Saiyan from Earth, makes his debut in Super Smash Bros. 4 as the final DLC character, to the surprise of many. His appearance is based upon how he appears as a grown adult, using many key techniques from the Dragon Ball series.

Stage hazard

• Frieza: The recurring villain from the Dragon Ball series appears as a stage boss on Planet Namek, using his iconic Death Beam and Death Wave to attack the players. If the player does not defeat him in time, he unleashes his Death Ball.

Stages

• 
  Planet Namek: Planet Namek appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Music

Main article: List of SSB4 Music (Dragon Ball series)

• CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
• Makafushigi Adventure!
• Mystical Adventure!
• Chōzetsu ☆ Dynamic!
• Challengers
• Metal Cooler
• Power of a Super Saiyan God

Trophies

Main article: List of SSB4 trophies (Dragon Ball series)

• Goku
• Goku (Alt.)
• Spirit Bomb
• Frieza
• Krillin
• Vegeta

Media with elements from or in the Dragon Ball series

Dragon Ball

Goku appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, based on how he appears as an adult. Planet Namek appears as a stage, with Frieza cameoing as the stage boss. Trophies of Goku and Frieza exist as well, alongside Vegeta and Krillin.

The U.S. and Japanese versions of the anime opening to Dragon Ball, as well as the Japanese opening to Dragon Ball Z, appear as songs on Planet Namek.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai

The Planet Namek theme from the game, appropriately, appears on the Planet Namek stage in Smash 4.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse

The theme for Kami's Lookout appears as one of the songs on the Planet Namek stage.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

The Planet Namek theme from the game, appropriately, appears on the Planet Namek stage in Smash 4.

Dragon Ball Super

The first opening theme from the recent Dragon Ball Super anime appears as a song on Planet Namek.