History Manga / DragonBall

** The [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Ginyu Force]] was an elite team of Frieza's most powerful fighters... Who also play Jan-ken-pon to decide who gets to fight, bet on candy bars and hot fudge sundaes, and make ridiculous poses for fun.

* AscendedFanfic: Dragon Ball GT is essentially this.

** Kuririn. Growing up with someone as goofy as Son Goku really rubs off on you...

* LivingProp: Bulma and Vegeta's daughter, Bra, and Kuririn and 18's daughter, Marron. Given their overall plot relevance, they mainly exist as a way for Toriyama to establish that their parents were/are still romantically involved, without having to actually write romance, as he was both shy about it and afraid he'd be terrible at it. Goten and Trunks served the same function while also being legitimately relevant characters in their own right.

* The Noseless: Kuririn. Parodied early in the manga when he's fighting someone who defeats enemies through his body odor, which he struggles with until Goku points out he's drawn without a nose.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Kuririn is THE poster boy for this, but it applies to just about anyone who isn't a Saiyan.

* StealthBasedMission: Thoroughly outnumbered by aliens individually stronger than they are, quite a large part of the Freeza arc ends up being this for Kuririn and Gohan.

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Vegeta, Piccolo and Krillin who CantCatchUp to Goku. Ever. Possibly subverted, as Gohan, Goten, and Trunks have even more potential than Goku, but little of his drive to train. But as Gohan explicitly surpasses Goku twice, the second time without even trying, it seems that Goku's HardWorkHardlyWorks either.
** It's hard to make this claim stick in a series where [[TrainingFromHell Training From HFIL]] is what enables the defeat of practically every villain in the series (its also explicitly stated that Gohan received extreme off-screen training that allowed him to remain a Super-Saiyan full time, something that's supposed to be hard to do.)
** Mostly, hard work only works for Goku.
** Hard work certainly worked like a charm for Vegeta during the three years before the androids appeared. He started that period significantly weaker than Goku (not even being a super saiyan), and after defeating Android 19 it's implied he's actually ''surpassed'' him (think about that for a moment; Vegeta ''surpassing'' Goku through nothing but training, try finding another time that's happened).
*** For what it's worth, during their dispute in the Boo Saga, Goku states Vegeta actually trained ''harder'' than him.
* HeelFaceTurn: Many, many characters. Vegeta is but one example.

** For those who have severe problems with the writing and plotting of the show and the comic, there's several decent video games, including an excellent series from Spike, ''Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi'' or ''Dragon Ball Z: Sparking[[ExcitedShowTitle !]]'' in Japan. The ''Dragon Ball'' fighting games focus on Toriyama's strong points (i.e., his character and attack designs, which are world-class and translate to 3D fighting games perfectly), and add CompetitiveBalance to a massive cast of CantCatchUp {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s, which effectively turns the show into a battle royale with dozens of viable characters. Also, your favorite transformations and super-moves are accessible without all of the original series' plot baggage that went with them.

** Freeza doesn't count? The guy destroys planets for a living, some exclusively ForTheEvulz.

* ArthurDent: Bulma.

* IfYouKnowWhatIMean: On their first date, Chi-Chi told Goku that the boy is supposed to "Think of the most pleasurable thing to do, then try to con the girl into it." Of course, Goku's favorite thing is fighting. ''And she enjoyed it.'' Conclusion: Literal OrgasmicCombat?

* NakedShotaroBoy: Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Gotenks all do this.

* VillainsWantMercy: Raditz pulls this out on Goku after being grabbed by his weak point. After Goku lets him go, however, [[ISurrenderSuckers he hits him in the stomach]] and Goku has to sacrifice his life to defeat him. Later, Freezer begs SSJ Goku for some energy after being sliced in two by his own attack, Goku complies once again but not before calling out Freezer on how many people had probably begged him some mercy and he hadn't given them any. Freezer, of course, then uses the energy for one last ditch attack but Goku just blasts him off.

After that, the anime (and the American version of the manga from that point) experienced a name change to '''''Dragon Ball Z,''''' while it continued uninterrupted as ''Dragon Ball'' in the Japanese manga. The reason was the ''Dragon Ball Z'' period had a change in focus from martial arts comedy to more serious epic battles, which generally involve characters standing still and grunting at each other for several minutes (or, in one case, ''several episodes'') before attacking each other with fireballs. At the start it revealed that Goku was not simply a boy with a tail but one of the last of the alien race, the Saiyans. He was sent into space shortly before the Saiyan planet was destroyed (shades of ''{{Superman}}''). Goku and his friends, reinforced by former enemies (a recurring theme) had to fight [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil progressively more powerful]] villains. Although Goku and his martial arts skills (which let him and his friends fly, throw energy blasts and read minds) dominated the battles, the story was mostly about Goku's son Gohan and how he faces the challenges. Running seven years and nearly 300 episodes, the series can be broken down into the four primary {{Big Bad}}s of the series: Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. Both ''Dragon Ball'' the manga and ''Dragon Ball Z'' the anime came to a triumphant conclusion after Gohan is married and his own daughter Pan enters the "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DragonBall2_4038.png
[[caption-width:264: The early days.]]

In '''''Dragon Ball''''', Goku and a huge cast of friends and enemies search for the magical Dragon Balls that they could use to make a wish come true. Of course, no sooner had someone gathered and used the Dragon Balls than they would have to be sought out again. On top of all this Goku was training up to fight in the periodic "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament. The series is generally broken down into the following sagas: Emperor Pilaf, the first World Martial Arts Tournament, the Red Ribbon Army, Tenshinhan, King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr, with minor filler plots. After defeating these major threats to the world, Goku finally won the tournament on his third attempt and went off to get married.