(AfroGamers.com) Dragon Ball is one of my all-time favorite media franchises and it has amassed over 30 years of lore since 1989. In that 30-plus years of lore that I believe we’ll find new stories in the franchise.
There Are New Stories Left to Tell and Old Stories Never Told
Akira Toriyama tends to move forward when telling the Dragon Ball story. Yes, the Son Goku will always be the focus but it’s always the same progression of years following the last big battle. Everyone will be a little older while not looking that much older.
You had some characters like Gohan who is pretty much the main indication any time has passed. Master Roshi looks the same as he did in Dragon Ball, Goku and Piccolo haven’t actually aged and neither has Vegeta.
However, there will always be a more powerful big bad in the universe for Goku and company to spank. It’s odd that these power beings with nefarious intent always manages to slip through the cracks. It’s almost as if Toriyama World needs its own space police or a Justice League of sorts.
The Z Fighters, Dragon Team, or Earth’s Special Forces—whichever name you like—are kind of like the Avengers overstepping into Fantastic 4 territory. They’re meant to handle issues that come to Earth, they’re supposed to be defensive—but sometimes they dabble out in space.
Actually, there’s a bunch of stories right there! These are world’s strongest martial artists with the most destructive powers on Earth—who is their main threats on Earth? The battles in DB have made it so that all of Goku’s crew always train to become more powerful.
The native enemies to Earth seem to all be either leftovers from the Red Ribbon’s time of terror or supernatural threats that Earth’s grandmasters forgot about.
The Saiyans and Namekians Have Stories to Tell
I mean, after Vegeta and Nappa showed up and laid a shellacking on the Z Fighters, training became mandatory. The Saiyans were the biggest threat since Piccolo Daimaou and while they didn’t get lazy, they didn’t have the proper grasp of just how much more severe of a threat the Saiyans were.
Vegeta and Nappa were not only blowing up planets as their job, they were two of many who did the same—and not even the most powerful members.
In the spirit of going back in time and exploring stories, Vegeta and Nappa’s time as pirates under Frieza would be a nice six-parter or 12-episode season I’d dig. We saw a part of it when the two were imprisoned on the insect planet. Mind you, that planet probably wasn’t scheduled for annihilation but we saw their work.
Going further back, we could see the early days of the Saiyans taking over Planet Vegeta or even find out that they were an exiled tribe that came to settle Planet Vegeta. There’s also Vegeta’s rise to power and the role Bardock played if any.
Raditz just popped up on Earth at the start of Dragon Ball Z. What were his conquests and close calls. What enemies did he encounter before his death at Goku and Piccolo’s hands?
The same could be applied for the Namekians. On one side, the Namekians have probably fought off extraterrestrial threats to Namek and supernatural threats. Dragon Ball is a franchise that mixes sci-fi, fantasy, and martial arts, so technically there’s another series based on Namek alone.
Dragon Ball’s Lore Holds the Answer to New Stories
One part of the Dragon Ball lore that I’d love to see explored is the classic era of martial arts. I’d love to see Kami’s origins on Earth revisited as well but seeing the early days of Master Roshi and Master Shen. Those two must have had adventures before and during their training under Master Mutaito.
While the death of Master Mutaito was detailed during Goku’s time training, Roshi and Shen building their respective schools isn’t detailed. Also, there’s the training of Grandpa Gohan, Ox King, and Mercenary Tao to include in future seasons!
This isn’t even including new characters that could be introduced to the franchise who probably wouldn’t have made it to Dragon Ball. Also, I’d love to see the development of the Kamehameha in the Turtle School’s early years.
Another reason I’d like to see DB from this far back in the timeline is that the fight scenes would have to be more restrained. By going forward in the lore, fighters become stronger and the fights become more big-blast-and-rush-fighting-oriented.
I’d love to see the speed of the fighting taken back to the Goku vs. King Piccolo and Goku & Piccolo vs. Raditz speed. Something just interested me in the fights during the Saiyan Saga before the speed picked up as our heroes gained power.
It wasn’t the most frustrating thing but by the time that the Ginyu Force arrived, I noticed it. Even in the out of place Tree of Might movie Goku and company weren’t fighting at the speeds they were on Namek.
Then again, where in the official timeline would that movie arrive? Sure, Dead Zone and World’s Strongest could fit somewhere in the timeline—more so Dead Zone—but Tree of Might sticks out. Speaking of Dead Zone and more stories: Garlic Jr was apparently a threat back in the day—a story arc going into his run of terror would work!
Hell, explaining who Garlic Sr was is something that Toriyama could put to page and screen.
What would you like to see explored in future Dragon Ball stories? What would make a good series? Let us know in the comments!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.