Dragon Ball, an anime that everyone enjoyed before they even knew it was anime.
The iconic Shonen series, with its awesome fights, adventures, relatable characters, plot twists, and many things that don’t make sense but are legit, has everything that makes viewers love the show.
The series gave fans many memories to cherish and unarguably paved the way for many anime outside Japan.
In addition to that, The creator of the series, Akira Toriyama, inspired many great Mangakas like Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Takehiko Inoue, Kentaro Miura with his work.
So today, As a part of our work, We have decided to make a list of lesser-known facts about both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
From Why Super Saiyan is blonde to the net worth of the Dragon Ball franchise, Here are 50 lesser-known facts about both Dragon Ball ad Dragon Ball Z.
1-5 Dragon Ball Facts
1. Dragon Ball was written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama.
And the manga ran from November 20th of 1984 to May 23rd of 1995, consisting of 519 chapters in a total of 42 volumes.
2. With over 260 million copies in circulation, Dragon Ball is the third best-selling manga series of all time.
Only One Piece and Golgo 13 were able to outsell Dragon Ball.
Read More: 55 Notorious One Piece facts that every fan needs to know
3. Although both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z came from the Dragon Ball manga, they were split into two different anime series.
With Dragon Ball Z adapting the last 325 chapters of the manga.
4. Moreover, Dragon Ball Z was originally going to be called Dragon Ball 2.
And the Z in Dragon Ball Z was originally supposed to be a two, but they ended up mistaking it for Z.
As a result, they just went with Dragon Ball Z instead of Dragon Ball 2.
5. Dragon Ball originally began as a parody of Journey to the West.
Because of this, Bulma, Goku, Ghulam Yamcha, and Puar started as parodies of characters from Journey to the West.
6-10 Dragon Ball Facts
6. Torishima, the editor of Toriyama during the early days of Dragon Ball manga, thought that Goku’s personality was too bland.
Because of this, he wanted another character to make things more interesting. And someone who is also a bit smarter than Goku, This led to the creation of Krillin.
7. Every Saiyan name has something to do with vegetables.
For instance, Goku’s Saiyan name is Kakarot, which is named after a carrot. Broly is named after broccoli. Nappa is named after a type of Chinese cabbage called Napa cabbage.
Raditz is named after a radish, and Vegeta’s name is literally just half of the word vegetables.
And this is because the word Saiyan is derived from a common anagram of the word Yasai, which means vegetable in Japanese, except they added the word N to that.
8. In three separate interviews, Akira Toriyama mentioned his favorite character in the entire Dragon Ball series.
But each time, he has changed who his favorite character is.
The first time, he said that Tenshinhan (Tien Shinhan) was his favorite. The second time, he said that Piccolo was his favorite. But in a later interview with Shonen Jump in 1995, he claimed that Son Goku was his favorite.
So yeah, there isn’t a single answer to this question.
Additionally, as time passes, the answer may change again.
9. And in an interview featured in Daizenshuu 2, Akira Toyirama stated that Vegeta is one of his least favorite Dragon Ball characters, but “he was extremely helpful to have around.”
No wonder Vegeta gets nuked so much 😭
10. The Latin American dub of the animal had to change Chi-Chi’s name because Chi-chi is slang for boobs in Spanish. So instead, she was renamed Milk.
11-15 Dragon Ball Facts
11. Trunks having purple hair was actually a mistake. He was originally supposed to have blue hair-like Bulma.
12. Frieza is the leader of the World Trade Organization or the Galactic Frieza Army.
Basically what his army does is forcefully take over planets, and then sell them to the highest bidder.
Toriyama based this side of Freeza on real estate speculators, which Toriyama claims are the worst kind of people, and he thought it would be fitting because he wanted Frieza to appear as the worst kind of person.
13. When Frieza was at the top of his game, he owned roughly 79 planets.
Now that may seem like quite a lot, but Frieza’s older brother, Cooler, knocks that number out of the park because he owns around 259 points.
14. Namekians are genderless, and they reproduce asexually by spitting out eggs. And because of this, we have yet to see a feminine Namekians.
15. Throughout Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, There have been a total of 187 fights.
16-20 Dragon Ball Facts
16. When Broly was born, his power level was 10,000. This means that as an infant, He could have easily defeated everyone in the early sagas of Dragonball Z without a problem.
17. The famous Dragonball Z meme where Vegeta says Goku’s power level is over 9000 is actually a translation error.
In the original manga, Vegeta actually says his power level is over 8000.
18. Goku ended up using the Kamehameha 97 times throughout the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series.
19. Master Roshi’s hobbies are reading, playing video games, browsing Internet po*n sites, watching TV, and afternoon naps.
This man has his priority straight!
20. Bulma’s name roughly translates to “panties”.
21-25 Dragon Ball Facts
21. As of 2021, Dragon Ball franchise is worth over $24.031 billion.
22. Goku’s power pole is capable of extending up to 363,300 kilometers which is 225,744 miles.
23. And, Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest is the last time we have seen Goku using his power pole.
24. Officially stated in the Daizenshuu 7: Dragon Ball Encyclopedia, Vegeta’s height is 5’5″
25. Many of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z episodes differ quite a bit in the animation looks and qualities.
This is actually due to budget issues and time constraints where the animation would be handed off to different studios frequently.
26-30 Dragon Ball Facts
26. Initially, Toriyama intended Dragon Ball to be much shorter. But with its major success, he decided to keep on writing it.
The same incident happened with One Piece too.
27. And also, after its success, Dragon Ball Z was meant to go on much longer, or at least Toriyama editors wanted it to go on.
But writing the Manga took such a toll on Toriyama’s life that he convinced his editors to wrap it up.
28. While creating Dragon Ball, Toriyama used to sleep only 20 minutes over a span of six days.
No wonder he is inspiration for many Mangaka.
29. In the English dub of the Dragon Ball Z anime, Mr. Satan was renamed Hercule. This is due to the fact that Mr. Satan was considered offensive due to its ties to Hell.
30. And his daughter’s name, Videl is actually an anagram for the word devil.
Didn’t See That Coming Did You?
31-35 Dragon Ball Facts
31. Originally both Android 19 and 20 were supposed to be the main villains of the Android saga.
And they would also be the androids that took over and terrorized future trunk’s timeline.
However, Toriyama’s former editor Torishima claimed that the two androids were outdated and ridiculous, which led to the creation of Android 17 and 18.
32. In addition to the last fact.
Torishima wasn’t a fan of Android 17 and 18 either, which led Toriyama to create Cell.
So thanks to Toriyama’s former editor, Torishima, we got an iconic antagonist like Cell.
33. Android 16 was designed after Doctor Gero’s son, who was killed while he was in the Red Ribbon Army.
34. For quite a while, the Red Ribbon Army was actually an avid competitor for the Capsule Corps in the auto industry.
The Red Ribbon Army owned about 16% of the sales, While Capsule Corps owned about 40%.
However, the Capsule Corp soon took them out of the game and now controls the market.
35. Launch disappears towards the beginning of Dragon Ball Z and doesn’t make another appearance until the end of the series. Apparently, this is because Toriyama completely forgot she even existed.
36-40 Dragon Ball Facts
36. The reason we never got to see a female super saying was simply because Toyirama couldn’t figure out how they would look.
I mean, women with long hair in Super Saiyan form can easily be confused with Super Saiyan 3.
37. The reason why Toriyama choose the color blonde is that in the manga the blonde color is represented with blank space. And he was tired of spending all the extra time filling the character’s hair.
So he decided to save some time and ink along with it, by giving Super Saiyan blonde color.
38. Saiyan’s hairstyles remain the exact same as how they looked when they are born.
However, their hair can be cut and styled.
39. Vegeta always calls Goku “Kakarot” instead of Goku. However, he has called him Goku 8 times throughout the entire series.
40. The creator of Dragon Ball and Dr.Slump, Akira Toyirama, has an estimated net worth of $45 to $50 million.
He is the 2nd most richest Mangaka of all time.
41-45 Dragon Ball Facts
41. If you notice it, There have been quite a few different Star Wars references throughout the series.
Toriyama was heavily influenced by Western media and Star Wars movies were some of his favorites.
For instance, when Goku visits Bulma during the Red Ribbon Army saga, there are multiple Star Wars-themed gadgets in the background such as the Landspeeder, Imperial Shuttle, and something that looks like R2D2.
Read more: 44 Legendary Star Wars Facts That Every Fan Should Know
42. According to Director James Wang, he had never seen a single episode or read a book from the manga prior to his involvement in the 2009 live-action film.
Now wonder the film sucks so bad.
43. Despite the fact, Goku participated in six of the world Martial arts tournaments, He only won once.
44. Vegeta, the prince of all Saiyans, has a fear of worms.
45. Hitler makes an appearance in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. Hitler was ultimately defeated by Goten and Trunks.
46-50 Dragon Ball Facts
46. Throughout Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Bulma went through a total of 17 different hairstyles.
47. Chi-Chi’s dislike for the Super Saiyan forms is supposed to be a reference to a social taboo in Japan, where a Japanese teenager dyed blonde is considered to be a sign of rebellion in the household.
48. Goku’s mother is a Saiyan known as Gine.
49. Voice Actress Masako Nozawa voiced multiple characters including Goku, Gohan, and Goten. And she apparently did not find it difficult to switch or distinguish between them while she was working.
Such a legend!
50. In the manga, Guldo’s death is a lot different from the anime.
In the anime, he is simply hit with an energy beam.
But in the manga, Vegeta literally karate chops his head right on.
That’s it for this post Guys.
I Hope you enjoyed our post on 50 Lesser Known Dragon Ball Facts that Every Fan Should Know, and see you in the next post.
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And finally I hope you have a great day.
Bye Bye.
