The Dragon Ball series follows Goku’s journey, from childhood to having grandchildren. His adventures and fight scenes might be the most thrilling part of the franchise, but heritage and family are a huge part of his character too. The revelation that Son Goku is a Saiyan was a major turning point.
However, as it turns out, Akira Toriyama had not planned for the protagonist to be a Saiyan since his inception. Dragon Ball is so intricately written that it fooled us all. The mangaka always kept the audience on their toes with his numerous plot twists and surprising storylines.
Goku being a Saiyan wasn’t the only plotline Akira Toriyama randomly inserted into Dragon Ball. He wanted his franchise to be unpredictable and fresh. Even his editors, who revealed these facts about his writing style, were shocked by some of his decisions.
Goku being a Saiyan was a surprise to everyone, including Toriyama
The protagonist was initially only inspired by Sun Wukong from the 16th-century classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West. That was Akira Toriyama’s main focus for Goku’s persona until the Saiyan Arc.
He reveals Goku was born under the name Kakarot and that’s when his heritage comes up. Since we follow his story from childhood, it’s clear the protagonist himself didn’t know he was a Saiyan until his villainous older brother showed up.
Goku’s heritage wasn’t a plotline Akira Toriyama had planned from the beginning, as mentioned earlier. Three of his former editors, Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda, discussed the mangaka’s penchant for adding these surprises on the KosoKoso podcast.
✏️| Toriyama’s approach.
🧵10/n pic.twitter.com/smIfxfyL4o
— Enomis (@Venixys) February 23, 2025
According to X user, @Venixys, who translated the interview, Toriyama wanted to keep Dragon Ball free from predictability. However, it seems the mangaka himself had trouble sticking to one plot, getting bored easily.
😂|Toriyama didn’t stop showing Gohan in high school for the audience, but because he got bored and tired of it.
🧵12/n pic.twitter.com/zROvQ9dpBy
— Enomis (@Venixys) February 23, 2025
Toriyama seems to be rather indulgent in his whims. Since Dragon Ball is his story, it will be written the way he wants unless external pressures demand otherwise. Goku being a Saiyan might not have been planned from the start, but it did change the series for the better.
What else did Toriyama change on a whim?
Since Toriyama can change such a significant part of Goku’s character, he naturally added more surprises to the mix. One such surprise was Vegeta’s marriage to Bulma.
According to his editors, even the editorial team was shocked by the sudden addition of their very serious romance without showing any progression of their relationship.
👰”Ok, Bulma marries Vegeta.”
“What?”
🧵13/n pic.twitter.com/d3h0CT5gsK
— Enomis (@Venixys) February 23, 2025
Toriyama brushed off his editors’ concerns and simply went ahead with the marriage. He apparently did this a lot, leaving very little room for changes, and didn’t even know what the plot of the next chapter would be.
Dragon Ball seems built on the mercy of Akira Toriyama’s whims. It’s quite funny to think this is how one of the greatest anime series was created by spontaneous plots and changes, whereas some authors will employ intricate foreshadowing.
The Dragon Ball series is available on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
