50 Fun Facts About Dragon Ball Z

Goku of Dragon Ball Z shares his name with the monkey hero of which classic Chinese novel?

Journey to the West stars Sun Wukong, whose name is read 'Son Goku' in Japanese. The monkey tail, the staff and the flying cloud all came along with it.

Goku's Kamehameha wave in Dragon Ball Z is named after the first ruler of which island kingdom?

Hawaii's Kamehameha the Great lent the attack its name after the creator's wife suggested it as one that would be easy to remember. The author named every other technique himself.

Dragon Ball Z's Buu, Bibidi and Babidi take their names from a song in which Disney film?

Cinderella features the song 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo', which splits into the three names. Buu's genie-like look came from Arabian Nights adaptations the author watched as a child.

Which film star's glare was the model for Goku's Super Saiyan stare in Dragon Ball Z?

Bruce Lee was the reference: designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro said the first Super Saiyan's slanting pose and scowl were 'all Bruce Lee'. The manga's piercing eyes copied his glare too.

In Dragon Ball Z, what device does Vegeta crush after reading Goku's power level as 'over 9,000'?

Scouter readings became a meme thanks to this line, yet the original Japanese script says 'over 8,000'. The English dub's higher figure is the one that went viral.

In Dragon Ball Z, what birth name was Goku given before being sent to Earth as a baby?

Kakarot is a pun on 'carrot', in line with the series' habit of naming every Saiyan after a vegetable. Goku first hears the name from Raditz.

In which special room can Dragon Ball Z's heroes squeeze a year of training into a single day?

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is where Gohan first turned Super Saiyan beside Goku, and where Vegeta and Trunks pushed past that level before facing Cell.

Which showboating martial arts champion wrongly gets the credit for defeating Cell in Dragon Ball Z?

Mr. Satan claimed the win and the media believed him, turning a fraud into a world hero. Early English dubs renamed him Hercule.

In Dragon Ball Z, on which planet does Goku first turn Super Saiyan after Frieza kills Krillin?

Namek does not survive the fight: Goku escapes as the planet explodes around him. The transformation turns his hair blond and his eyes green.

Why did the author of Dragon Ball Z's manga give Super Saiyan Goku blond hair?

To save his assistant time: the helper had been spending a lot of it blacking in Goku's hair, and the blond form was easier to draw.

How is Raditz, the alien warrior who lands on Earth to open Dragon Ball Z, related to Goku?

His older brother arrives to recruit him into conquering planets, and Goku only wins by pinning Raditz in place while Piccolo blasts through them both.

Which healing item, grown by the cat Korin, instantly restores wounded fighters in Dragon Ball Z?

Senzu beans are so reliable that Goku handed one to Cell before Gohan's turn in the Cell Games, a decision fans consider infamous.

What must a Saiyan with a tail see to transform into a rampaging Great Ape in Dragon Ball Z?

A full moon triggers the change, so Vegeta creates an artificial one to force it during his first fight with Goku.

Which manga artist, already famous for Dr. Slump, created the series that Dragon Ball Z adapts?

Akira Toriyama also drew the character designs for the Dragon Quest games and Chrono Trigger. Dr. Slump had already made him a household name in Japan.

Which Cartoon Network block turned reruns of a cancelled Dragon Ball Z dub into an American hit?

Toonami began airing the shelved dub in August 1998, and the 1999 premiere of new episodes became the highest-rated program Cartoon Network had shown up to then.

Which artificial human, built to kill Goku, ends Dragon Ball Z married to Krillin with a daughter?

Android 18 was spared when Krillin smashed the remote that could shut her down, having fallen for her. Seven years on they are married with a daughter, Marron.

In Dragon Ball Z, which attack does Goku charge with energy from all of Earth to finish Kid Buu?

The Spirit Bomb finally got its kill here: an earlier one, thrown by Krillin, only wounded Vegeta, and another failed to finish Frieza.

In Dragon Ball Z, which technique does Goku bring home from his year on the planet Yardrat?

Instant Transmission is what Goku brings home from a year in space, and he later uses it to carry a self-destructing Cell away from Earth at the cost of his own life.

Whose afterlife planet is blown up when Goku teleports an exploding Cell there in Dragon Ball Z?

King Kai is killed along with everyone else there, on the planet where Goku once trained after running the million-kilometre Snake Way.

In Dragon Ball Z, which member of Frieza's five-man mercenary squad can swap bodies with a foe?

Ginyu steals Goku's body mid-fight, cannot control its power, and ends the saga trapped as a frog after Goku throws one into the path of his next swap.

In Dragon Ball Z, which son first meets Goku when his father returns from the afterlife for one day?

Goten grew up without him because Goku chose to stay in the afterlife after the Cell Games. Their first meeting comes at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

In Dragon Ball Z, what will kill Goku unless he takes the medicine Trunks brings from the future?

A heart virus is due to kill Goku six months before his friends are wiped out. Thanks to the medicine he survives when it strikes him in the middle of a fight.

In Dragon Ball Z, which attack does Piccolo fire through both Goku and Raditz to end their fight?

The Special Beam Cannon kills Goku along with his enemy, since he was holding Raditz still. In 2013 Japanese schoolgirls turned the attack into a photo meme.

Which Dragon Ball Z movie villain, the 'Legendary Super Saiyan', was born on the same day as Goku?

Broly was invented for the films by screenwriter Takao Koyama and proved so popular that the series' creator rebuilt him as an official character for a 2018 movie.

In Dragon Ball Z, which fused warrior do Goku and Vegeta become by wearing matching Potara earrings?

Vegito completely overwhelms Buu, though Vegeta agreed to the merger only reluctantly. The pair's dance-fused form in the films goes by a different name, Gogeta.

Which Dragon Ball Z classmate blackmails Gohan into teaching her to fly after learning his secret?

Videl was already fighting crime in the city on her own, and the flying lessons lead to marriage: by the end of the series she and Gohan have a daughter.

What superhero name does Gohan adopt, with help from Bulma, to fight crime in Dragon Ball Z?

The Great Saiyaman disguise does not last: a classmate soon works out who he is and uses the secret as blackmail to get what she wants.

In Dragon Ball Z, what does Chi-Chi make Goku and Piccolo earn even though both of them can fly?

A driver's license each: the detour is filler that appears only in the anime, and it pairs the hero with the rival who once killed him.

In Dragon Ball Z, which scientist designed Cell from the cells of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Frieza?

Dr. Gero left the job to a machine: his supercomputer grew Cell in an underground complex beneath his secret laboratory.

Which 2009 series re-edited DBZ in high definition and cut most filler to follow the manga closely?

Dragon Ball Z Kai was made for the show's 20th anniversary, and 'Kai' means updated or altered. In Japan it aired simply as Dragon Ball Kai, and it exists because the manga's author declined to write a brand-new story.

Which 2013 Dragon Ball Z film introduced Beerus and his attendant Whis to the series?

Battle of Gods was the first animated Dragon Ball film in cinemas for 17 years and the first its creator personally supervised. Its story later became the opening arc of Dragon Ball Super.

In the edited 1990s English dub of Dragon Ball Z, characters who died were said to be sent where?

'Sent to the next dimension' was one of the dodges that kept death off children's television. Cuts of the same kind squeezed the first 67 episodes into 53.

Bulma and her son Trunks belong to a Dragon Ball Z family whose names are all puns on what?

Undergarments run in the family: Bulma's daughter is called Bra, and the author suggested 'Panchy', a pun on panties, for her unnamed mother.

Which Saiyan mercenary, the father of Goku, stars in the first Dragon Ball Z television special?

Bardock is given the 'gift' of seeing the future by a dying alien whose world he has just conquered, and foresees Frieza destroying his own home planet.

Which Japanese studio, also behind Digimon and One Piece, produced the Dragon Ball Z anime?

Toei Animation launched Dragon Ball Z in 1989 as a reboot of its first Dragon Ball series, bringing in the director and writer of Saint Seiya to give it a more serious tone.

Which Japanese manga magazine serialized the chapters that Dragon Ball Z adapts, from 1988 to 1995?

Weekly Shōnen Jump ran the manga simply as Dragon Ball from start to finish. The 'Z' belonged to the anime, though the first English volumes of those chapters borrowed it.

Which Dragon Ball Z dragon, native to Piccolo's home planet, grants three wishes instead of one?

Porunga means 'God of Dreams' in his creators' tongue, and wishes must be spoken to him in that language. At first he can bring only one person back to life at a time.

Which composer scored Funimation's in-house English dub of Dragon Ball Z from 1999 to 2003?

Bruce Faulconer and his team of musicians replaced the soundtrack used for the first two dubbed seasons, and his score stayed until the dub ended in 2003.

Which voice actor plays both Vegeta and Piccolo in the Texas-recorded English dub of Dragon Ball Z?

Christopher Sabat took over Vegeta in 1999, and his other roles in the same dub include Yamcha and the wish-granting dragon Shenron.

Which ally of Goku cuts off Vegeta's tail, turning him back from a Great Ape, in Dragon Ball Z?

Yajirobe's cut comes at a key moment: without the tail Vegeta shrinks back to normal, and Krillin and Gohan can finally wear him down.

In Dragon Ball Z, which boy, the reincarnation of Kid Buu, does Goku leave to train at the end?

Uub exists because Goku wished for the defeated villain to come back as a good person. Ten years later they meet at a tournament and leave their match unfinished.

Which song by Hironobu Kageyama opened the first 199 episodes of Dragon Ball Z in Japan?

Cha-La Head-Cha-La sold 1.7 million copies as a single in Japan. Its singer said that landing the theme helped change the direction of his life for good.

In Dragon Ball Z, which legendary blade does Gohan pull free and then break, freeing an old deity?

The Z Sword snaps during a training session, and out comes an elderly god who repays Gohan with a long ceremony that unlocks his hidden power.

Which actress has voiced Goku and both of his sons in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z?

Masako Nozawa says she can switch between the three simply by looking at each character's picture. Her years as Goku in video games earned her two Guinness World Records.

Which actor became the English voice of the adult Goku in Dragon Ball Z in 1999?

Sean Schemmel auditioned for a minor character due to be killed off, and had been recording for two weeks before he was told he was the lead.

Which Dragon Ball Z demon, controlled by Babidi, turns Krillin and Piccolo to stone with his spit?

Dabura's statues return to normal only when he dies: the newly awakened Buu turns him into a large cookie and eats him.

Which villain of the first Dragon Ball Z film is the only movie foe to return in the TV series?

Garlic Jr. breaks out of the Dead Zone he was sealed in at the end of the film and gets an anime-only saga of his own straight after the Frieza story.

Which Japanese network premiered Dragon Ball Z in 1989 in the old time slot of Dragon Ball?

Fuji TV gave the same Wednesday evening slot to adaptations of one author's work for 18 years running: Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball and its two sequels, then a Dr. Slump remake.

Dragon Ball Z's creator based the galactic tyrant Frieza on which profession that he despised?

Real estate speculators were thriving in Japan's bubble economy when Frieza was created, and the author called them the 'worst kind of people'. Frieza's own trade is seizing planets to resell them.

Which elder sibling of Frieza comes to Earth for revenge on Goku in a 1991 Dragon Ball Z film?

Cooler once had the chance to shoot down the escape pod carrying the infant Goku and let it go, and he realises who he spared only as he is incinerated.