This page covers tropes found in ''Manga/DragonBall''.

DragonBall/TropesAToD | '''Tropes E to N''' | DragonBall/TropesOToZ | [[YMMV/DragonBall YMMV]]

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[[folder:E]]
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference:
** In the first chapter of the manga, Goku's gi and Bulma's hair are blue, while starting in chapter 3, Goku wears his iconic orange gi and Bulma has purple hair. In the anime, Goku wears a blue gi until the 21st Tenkaichi Budōkai arc, which was also featured in the anime's opening until the start of the Demon King Piccolo arc, ''long'' past the point where he got the iconic orange outfit... and in the English dub, which never got the second variation of the opening, the blue gi stays in the opening for the ''entirety'' of the first series. Bulma's hair remains blue in every AnimatedAdaptation of the series except the tenth anniversary movie ''Anime/DragonBallThePathToPower''.
** In Piccolo Jr.'s first appearance, his turban has tendrils trailing off behind it. These are never seen again for the rest of the 23rd Budōkai arc, or the franchise in general.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** For its first story arc, the story was a retelling of ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' as a mythical action comedy, with a few vague science-fiction elements included on the side. The [[TournamentArc Tenkaichi Budōkai story arc]] immediately after jumped feet-first into martial arts action, and the Red Ribbon Army after that cemented how the world became openly, and proudly, a FantasyKitchenSink for the rest of the series's run.
** One element early on in the series that really sees some head-scratching is the conclusion of the Boss Rabbit storyline. Considering it ends with Goku actually going into outer space with no space suit and dropping the villains of it off onto the moon, it always feels weird seeing the climax of the Frieza Saga where Goku has to escape the dying Namek in time, since if the explosion doesn't kill him then the vacuum of outer space will. And Master Roshi blows up the moon later on, presumably with the Boss Rabbit still on it.
** While not every story centered around gathering the Dragonballs when it was a part of the story it centered around preventing a villain from using their power to TakeOverTheWorld. As the series progressed and SortingAlgorithmOfEvil kicked in, gathering the Dragonballs was more of a side event to keep the already terrifyingly powerful villain from becoming entirely unstoppable.
* EasilyConqueredWorld: King Piccolo takes over the world in just a few hours by attacking the [[OneWorldOrder unified world government's]] capital and defeating the forces stationed there, and the king surrenders to him. [[OutsideContextProblem The world wasn't prepared for someone that powerful]], and admittedly his rule didn't last very long.
* EasilyDistractedReferee: It's a minor RunningGag in the {{Tournament Arc}}s that the referee will always be so astonished by whatever insane martial arts moves have just ensued that he has to be reminded to start the count for whichever fighter is down. Since they almost always [[AlwaysClose get up at nine]], a lot of the matches would be much shorter if he was more on-the-ball.
* EasilyForgiven:
** Goku and Bulma hold no ill-will towards Yamcha despite his attempts to rob them and kill the former. Oolong is the only one who remains distrustful of him and even that doesn't last long.
** After Tien and Chiaotzu make their HeelFaceTurn, no one within Goku's group of friends thinks badly of them, welcoming them within the group despite Chiaotzu trying to kill Krillin on the Crane Hermit's orders and Tien breaking Yamcha's leg while he was unconscious on top of trying to kill Goku during their match.
* EdibleThemeNaming: See [[EdibleThemeNaming/DragonBall here]].
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: General Blue has flamboyantly effeminate mannerisms. When Bulma attempts to seduce him, she discovers the hard way that he hates women as he screams obscenities at her.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: After King Piccolo has conquered the world, Goku is offered a chance to drink the Ultra Divine Water at the top of Korin's Tower. This magic water gives him the tremendous power he needs to level the playing field against the demon king.
* EmpathicWeapon: Goku's cloud and pole both respond to his spoken commands, but they obey the context of his word rather than the literal meaning, suggesting they anticipate his intention. In particular, the cloud sometimes moves of its own accord without his direct prompting.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: In ''Dragon Ball'', most of the strongest fighters are trained martial artists with [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower super human strength, speed, and endurance]]. Goku, for example, could tank bullets, bend steel, and jump to absurd heights without using ki to enhance his abilities. Once ki attacks and defenses are introduced, any character can become an empowered badass [[OneManArmy capable of destroying armies]].
* EnemyMine: When Goku meets Yamcha, the latter is a desert bandit who tries to kill him and take his capsules. After Yamcha learns of the Dragon Balls, however, he changes tactics and helps Goku, Bulma, and Oolong with the intention of letting them gather the Dragon Balls and then stealing them for his own use.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
** When we first see Krillin, he tries to impress Master Roshi by making a grand entrance by jumping off his boat and doing several flips, only to land head first into the sand. [[ButtMonkey That pretty much tells you all you need to know about Krillin]].
** Chi Chi is being chased by a T-Rex when we first see her. While crying and running, she removes a boomerang from her helmet, throws it, and decapitates the T-Rex. When she realizes what she's done, she vaporizes the body with a laser built into her helmet. While screaming for help the whole time.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: After learning who King Piccolo is, Chiaotzu fears that Master Shen released him to get back at Tien and him for betraying him. Master Roshi quickly says that not even Shen would free Piccolo since he knows firsthand how horrible the Demon King is. He did watch Piccolo murder his fellow students and humiliate his master.
* EverybodyLives: When Bulma wishes to revive Krillin, Master Roshi, and Chiaotzu after Piccolo Daimaō's defeat, Yamcha amends it to revive ''everyone'' killed by Piccolo Daimaō. Shenron agrees.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: In the original Japanese, several characters are known by titles and are never given actual names. The English version partially-converts these titles into names.
** Muten Roshi or Kame-sennin, meaning Invincible Old Master and Turtle Hermit, respectively. In English, he's Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit.
** Tsuru-sennin translates to Crane Hermit. The English version added the name Master Shen, the Crane Hermit.
** Uranai Baba translates to The All-Seeing Crone. In English, her title was partly translated to Fortuneteller Baba.
** Kami, the Japanese name for God, is exactly what his title indicates. In English, his title was changed to Guardian of Earth while he kept Kami as a name.
* EvilCounterpart:
** Piccolo to Kami. Piccolo is all the evil Kami expelled out of him centuries ago.
** Although neither of them know it, King Piccolo to Goku. Both are aliens from worlds that were in distress (one being outright destroyed), they both were raised in isolation away from the civilized world, lost their memories of their old worlds, and had come to see the blue planet as their one true home. Their arrival on Earth also greatly impacted the planet, changing it forever. The difference between them is that whereas living on Earth gave Goku the best qualities of humanity, it gave the Nameless Namekian that later split into Kami and Piccolo the worst qualities.
** Master Shen to Master Roshi. They are both the founders of their respected fighting schools and have two students each. However, while Master Roshi uses Martial Arts to enrich one's life and to protect the weak, Master Shen uses Martial Arts to terrorize and even kill.
* EvilLaugh: King Piccolo and his sons often share a hearty laugh at the impotence and helplessness of their intended victims.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Pilaf releases Demon King Piccolo in the hopes that Piccolo will conquer the world for him. All he gets for his trouble is being forced to jump out of a plane midflight, while Piccolo goes on to achieve world domination for himself.
* EvilOverlord: King Piccolo takes over the world and proclaims several times that he wants to turn the Earth into a planet of darkness.
* ExplosionPropulsion:
** Goku launches himself sky-high at Piccolo using an explosive kamehameha right at the ground below him. Goku is moving so fast after the propulsion that he literally flies through Piccolo, like a human bullet.
** In a later episode he does the same thing again by firing the kamehameha using his feet.
* {{Expy}}: See [[Expy/DragonBall here]].
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Tien Shinhan's "Volleyball Technique." He hits his opponent into the air like a volleyball. Lampshaded by the announcer.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller:
** King Piccolo's reaction when he learns that his children were killed by a mere child.
** When Snow's mother sees the Dragon Balls that the Red Ribbon army was so desperately looking for, she comments that she expected them to be bigger.
* ExtremeOmnivore:
** Buyon, the mutant blob from Muscle Tower ate everything from rocks, bones, to attempting to eat Android 8.
** Yajirobe, who ''eats'' Cymbal after defeating him. This made even Goku recoil.
* EyelidPullTaunt: Goku pulls his eyelid and sticks out his tongue to taunt enemies several times as a kid, such as during his match with Jackie Chun in the 21st World Tournament.
* EyeScream: Goku in the first story arc uses his Jan Ken Fist (otherwise known as "Rock, Paper, Scissors Attack") against Yamcha. Goku delivers a "Rock" (a punch), which Yamcha blocks, delivers the "Scissors" (eye poke) to his eyes, then finishes it off with "Paper" (a slap) that knocks him away.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F]]
* FaithInTheFoe: When Goku is confronted by a foe that consumes light, turning off his Super-Saiyan powers, Goku powers up again. Vegeta tells the others to have faith, that Goku isn't going to get himself eaten.
* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: Piccolo sees his sons as one big family who absolutely enjoys killing and tormenting humans.
* FantasyAllAlong: When society all but breaks down after King Piccolo takes over, abolishes all laws and frees all the prisoners. It gets even worse after Piccolo announces that he will destroy one city by lottery every year for the next 36 years. But then the evil demon king is defeated by a super-powered monkey boy and order is promptly restored across the world with no lasting consequences.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The ''Dragon Ball'' version of Earth is largely based on China, although the Papaya Islands were based on Indonesia according to WordOfGod.
* FanDisservice: At one point, Master Roshi convinces Launch to wear black lingerie, which is Fanservice, and calls it "battle armor". However, to keep up the facade, him, Goku, and Krillin – an old man and two preteen boys – have to wear the same kind of lingerie.
* {{Fanservice}}: Bulma is the main source of this. For example, to defeat an invisible man, Krillin removes Bulma's shirt in front of [[DirtyOldMan Master Roshi]] (and the audience), giving him a colossal {{nosebleed}} that reveals the invisible man.
* FateWorseThanDeath: King Piccolo spent over three-hundred years trapped in a rice cooker. He's deathly afraid of that happening again.
* FatherToHisMen: King Piccolo's only redeeming trait. Compared to ''every'' villain in the entire ''Franchise/DragonBall'' series, he actually cares for his underlings and goes out of his way to avenge them, which Goku learned the hard way. Helps that they are actually his kids.
* FauxAffablyEvil: King Piccolo may talk in a polite tone, but his voice is filled with disdain towards humanity.
* FearlessFool: Subverted in the Red Ribbon Army arc. Goku's friends learn that he's attacking the Red Ribbon Army's base alone and rush to help him, terrified that his inability to grasp the danger will get him killed. However, by the time they arrive, Goku has already taken care of things.
* FedToTheBeast: During the Red Ribbon Army Saga, Goku and Android 8 have General White cornered at the top of Muscle Tower, only to fall through a trap door he set. They end up plummeting into a pit where he houses Buyon, a giant beast that they use to dispose of prisoners. The monster's rubbery body prevents Goku doing any damage and it nearly eats them. Luckily, Goku gets the idea of breaking a nearby wall to allow [[KillItWithIce the extremely cold air of outside to flow in and freeze the monster]]. Once the monster's frozen solid, he [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatters it with a kick.]]
* {{Fiction 500}}: Bulma's family lives in a luxurious estate and can afford to fund their numerous scientific advances because they own Capsule Corp, an international company that manufactures Capsules[[note]]Small devices that, with the push of a button, expand into a variety of useful gadgets such as refrigerators, cars, or even houses[[/note]]. Their products are a constant presence throughout the series.
* FictionalEarth: The story takes place on Earth but it is very different from ours. Most of the action takes place on a huge China-like continent (not surprising considering it was inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'') and FunnyAnimals live alongside humans. The continent is divided into 43 sectors governed by a King of the Earth. Also the Moon seems to have at least a thin atmosphere.
* FinalBattle: At the end of the 23rd World Tournament, Goku squares off against Piccolo Jr., revealed to be the offspring/reincarnation of his [[KnightOfCerebus mortal foe]]. Piccolo has already imprisoned Kami and intends to kill Goku, the only person who was able to prevent his conquest of the world the last time he tried it. All eyes are on the stage as a simple contest for martial artists to test their skills turns into the ultimate battle to decide the fate of the Earth.
* FingerPokeOfDoom: Tao Pai Pai offers to fight General Blue using only his tongue after being ordered to prove his skills. [[FlawlessVictory He succeeds.]]
* FireForgedFriends: An overarching theme of the series. People who were once hated enemies or fierce rivals can eventually become friends through trials, hardships, and working towards a common goal.
** Bulma tricks Goku into acting as the muscle for her search for the Dragon Balls. However, the experiences they share on their journey steadily grows their relationship into one of the closest friendships either character will ever have.
** Yamcha meets Goku as a desert bandit, planning to rob him and take his Capsules. He follows Goku and Bulma on their journey, intending to steal the Dragon Balls for himself, but ends up helping them gather the Dragon Balls and survive Pilaf's Castle. After taking the charge in overcoming Goku's uncontrollable Great Ape form, Yamcha's forgotten all about robbing them. He starts dating Bulma shortly after.
** Krillin is initially hostile to Goku, but warms up to him in the course of training for and competing in the 21st World Tournament. By the time the 22nd rolls around, Krillin is one of Goku's best friends, up there with Bulma.
** Tenshinhan is introduced as an ArrogantKungFuGuy who antagonizes the team mainly on the grounds that his master is an old rival of Master Roshi. Once he realizes his master is a {{Jerkass}} willing to resort to underhanded tricks to win and to kill his opponents (as well as how much of a WorthyOpponent Goku is), he comes around. The same goes for Chiaotzu, who was more passive in his hostilities because of his loyalty is to Tien.
* FlashStep: As Goku trains harder, he gets fast enough to pull this after learning from Jackie Chun. Of course, by the time this starts coming into play, he is facing off against people who can also pull it off.
* FlawExploitation: Krillin is the master of these. He nearly beats Jackie Chun by exploiting his perverted nature; he throws ladies' underwear on the floor and kicks Jackie when he makes a dive for it. He defeats Chao-Zu by exploiting his lack of education, tricking him into trying to solve math problems and distracting him from fighting. And he also grabs Goku's tail during their fight, although Goku grew out of that weakness, and sucker punches him when he tricks him into looking the other way.
* FlipPersonality: Taken to extremes with Launch, whose body undergoes a physical change when she switches personalities.
* FlyingOnACloud:
** The Flying Nimbus/''Kintōun'' is a fast, yellow, possibly sentient cloud that Goku got from Roshi who in turn got it from Karin. It only allows people who are [[OnlyThePureOfHeart pure of heart]] to ride it; anyone else just falls through it like a cloud.
** There's also a dark purple version that anyone can ride, even if they are impure of heart (like Krillin) or just plain evil (like Mercenary Tao). Unfortunately for Tao, Korin can make the cloud drop its rider at any time.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Although it's only in the anime, it's established early on by Colonel Silver that the Dragon Balls are unbreakable after he drops a fake Dragon Ball on the floor. Several dozen episodes later, Goku is saved from Mercenary Tao's Dodon Ray because he has the 4-star Dragon Ball in his shirt, blocking the shot.
** There are several elements throughout the series that suggest Goku isn't human. He has a tail and is abnormally strong. He turns into a Great Ape when he looks at a full moon. He's capable of mastering advanced martial arts techniques by seeing them and imitating them. Major Metallitron's scanner can't even identify his species. Piccolo Daimaō referring that no human should be able to stand up to him, while Goku responds that he's maybe not human after all. All of this builds up to the reveal at the beginning of ''Z'' that [[spoiler:Goku is an alien {{Child Soldier|s}} sent to exterminate all life on Earth, who suffered brain damage and forgot his mission.]]
*** The reveal that Goku transforms into a Great Ape when he sees the full moon is itself foreshadowed by the opening sequence to the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime: close to the end of it, we see the partly-obscured Great Ape smashing its way out of Pilaf's palace and the protagonists running away from it in terror. Goku is conspicuously absent from the group.
** Bulma's wish with the Dragon Balls is to end up with a prince. In ''Dragon Ball Z'', she ends up with Vegeta, a prince of an alien race.
** There are a few hints early on that Piccolo Jr. isn't as evil as everybody (including him) thinks. The first thing he does is save a young boy and his mom, even if he does follow this up immediately by smashing one of the boy’s toys. He then goes out of his way to prevent an energy blast from going into the stands during his fight with Krillin.
** When Dende tells Gohan how Namekian Dragon Balls work, he specifically mentions that their Dragon Balls can resurrect someone from the dead multiple times. But the one thing it can't do is resurrect someone due to natural causes. In the following saga, Goku was told by Trunks that he died due to a heart virus, making him incapable of resurrection literally in the future. This detail explains why he's trying to raise Gohan as a successor as well in the event he is incapable of resurrection.
* FormulaWithATwist: ''Dragon Ball'' codified the modern shounen's usage of SerialEscalation; previous shounen series were usually episodic and rarely required that a protagonist become much stronger to beat a new opponent. Starting with the first TournamentArc, however, Goku frequently found himself losing to a new opponent and then undergoing training to overcome his weaknesses. This has become such a staple in shounen now that it's hard to imagine the genre ''without'' the fight > training > fight loop that ''Dragon Ball'' started.
* ForTheEvulz:
** Despite being quite wealthy, Tao refuses to pay the tailor who made his outfit in three days, doing a week's worth of work. He offers a free assassination to the man instead, but when the tailor refuses, Tao simply kills him instead.
** Tien, who was trained by the aforementioned Tao Pai Pai and is (at the time) aspiring to become an equally ruthless ProfessionalKiller, breaks Yamcha's leg despite the latter being unconscious just because he can.
** Justified by King Piccolo; as [[LiteralSplitPersonality the physical embodiment of Kami's evil half]], he wants to make others suffer and delights in chaos.
* FranchiseCodifier: The King Piccolo saga acted as this for the series, turning it into an action-{{dramedy}} rife with SerialEscalation and PowerCreep where AnyoneCanDie, with the focus on hunting the titular {{MacGuffin}}s declining in favor of fight sequences. Additionally, the formula established by the King Piccolo arc— major villains emerge, Goku's friends try to fight them off but are badly incapacitated or outright killed trying, Goku gets a new power-up and defeats the villain— would become standard for ''Dragon Ball''.
* FreeSamplePlotCoupon: The first attempted quest for the seven Dragon Balls is made easier thanks to the fact that Goku already had one of them before the series began, while Bulma already has ''two'', so their first adventure focuses on finding only four more.
* FriendshipHatingAntagonist: [[TheNapoleon Commanders Red]] and [[HypercompetentSidekick Black]]. First is a GeneralFailure who is a BadBoss to his subordinates, second is more [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] but both of them despise friendship. Red was so ruthless and incompetent ([[spoiler:he wanted DragonBalls to make himself taller]]) so Black, his TheDragon, killed him on the spot. Black himself despised friendship (In ''Anime/DragonBallMysticalAdventure'' he decided [[KickTheDog to mock Goku's friendship with Android 7 after destroying him]] (and still mock it in original) which was fatal for him (after this BullyingADragon moment, Goku gets one of his first power-up and quickly killed Black (he only manages to make OhCrap look)).
* FrivolousSummoning: Commander Red wants the Dragon Balls for what is, to him, of vital importance: [[spoiler:[[TheNapoleon to make himself taller]]]]. His men are furious when word of this gets out.
* FromBadToWorse: The King Piccolo Saga is when the series introduce a villain who is truly playing for keeps. Upon his release, Piccolo has Tambourine murder dozens if not hundreds of martial artists, one of them being Krillin, and he beats Goku nearly to death and takes the Dragon Ball he was protecting. Roshi dies in a SenselessSacrifice and Chiaotzu is killed trying to stop Piccolo from wishing for his youth. Piccolo then kills the Eternal Dragon, making all death permanent, before flying to the world capital and [[TakeOverTheWorld taking it over]]. It gets even ''worse'' after he abolishes all laws and frees all the prisoners, throwing the world into complete chaos. And to top it all off, he plans to destroy a section of the world every year by lottery for the next 36 years. [[DarkestHour This was the darkest moment in the original series]].
* FromZeroToHero: Goku's character arc tells the story of how a carefree young boy living in the wilderness, ends up getting pulled into many adventures of stopping villains from taking over or destroying the world, which eventually leads him to become the most powerful hero in the universe.
* FunWithFlushing: Early in the series, Master Roshi gets accidentally flushed down the toilet while using a shrinking gadget to peep on Bulma.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G]]
* GeniusBruiser: King Piccolo, one of the strongest villains in the original series and also one of the smartest. He outsmarted and out-gambled all the heroes despite some setbacks from Goku and Master Roshi. There's a reason why he won even if it was for a short time. First, he saw through Master Roshi and the others' plan to steal his Dragon Balls while he searched for them, so he swallows them, forcing Roshi to play his final card, the Evil Containment Wave. He then kills Shenron, knowing that someone in the future may use the Dragon Balls against him. When he became scared of Goku after he survives a city buster, he grabs Tien and uses Goku's compassion for others to cripple him.
* GenreShift: The franchise started as a comedic ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' meets ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' treasure hunt, and ended as a serious and often grim ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' meets Comicbook/{{Superman}}.
* GodIsFlawed: It is to be expected since Kami is a mortal being who ascended to godhood rather than a naturally omnipotent deity. He divided most of his flaws to purify himself and ascend to the role, creating Piccolo, but he's still fallible in his decision making. After Piccolo kills Shenron, Kami considers leaving the Dragon Balls destroyed because he believes it was a mistake to create them, and it's only through Goku's sincere desire to help his friends that he becomes convinced to give the Dragon Balls another chance.
* GoodIsNotSoft:
** Goku as a kid/teen. Unlike his adult self he rarely if ever extends mercy to those he sees as his enemy. At his most ruthless, he kills hundreds if not thousands of Red Ribbon Army soldiers including most of the commanders, and hunts down Tambourine and King Piccolo for Krillin and Master Roshi's murders. He also kicks Drum, one of King Piccolo's children, so hard in the face that he not only instantly kills him but causes his eye to pop out.
** Master Roshi. He may be a kindly, perverted old man, but he's ruthless when it comes to [[TrainingFromHell training his students]], making them be chased by dinosaurs and sharks, stunned by wasps, and work to complete exhaustion.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal:
** After Goku tricks Piccolo into getting hit by his own energy seeker attack, his right arm is badly damaged. Goku tries to get Piccolo to surrender, saying that he can't fight in this condition. Piccolo's response? He rips his arm off and grows a new one.
** On a more general note, characters suffering serious injuries becomes a lot more common once the Senzu Beans (which can heal any wound in a matter of seconds) are introduced, with Goku getting most of his bones broken in the majory of his more climactic fights.
* GoshDangItToHeck: All English Dubs of the Dragon Ball anime omit any sort of swearing for neologisms.
* GottaCatchThemAll: The seven [[PlotCoupon magic Dragon Balls]] are fancy stones with stars inside them that don't do anything individually. However, when all seven are brought together, they can be used to summon the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, who will grant one wish before scattering the balls to the far corners of the Earth.
* GracefulLoser: Most major characters in the Tournament Arcs tend to accept their defeats with grace and dignity:
** Despite being disappointed, Goku accepts his defeats at the 21st and 22nd Martial Arts Tournaments. He's even dismissive when Tien says that he won because he was lucky.
** At the 23rd Tournament, Tien accepts that Goku is the better fighter after their rematch.
** Despite how badly the WorfEffect hits him, Yamcha never takes his losses personally. He even asks for advice from the people who beat him.
** Krillin graciously admits defeat towards Piccolo after putting up a brilliant fight that shocks the reborn demon king.
** After being assured that the future generation was in good hands, Master Roshi forfeits his fight against Tien.
* GratuitousEnglish: As with other Toriyama works, various people and buildings feature labels or signs bearing their name or description, [[{{Engrish}} often misspelled]]. In some cases, this informs official translation spellings: Bulma's name should be Bloomer, based on the pronunciation, but she appears in the first issue wearing a shirt with "BULMA" on it, so that stuck.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: The heroes' exploits often go unnoticed by the population of the world.
** Goku single-handedly takes down the Red Ribbon Army, a dangerous organization that has terrorized the world for years, but nobody ever finds out who did it.
** When Goku kills Demon King Piccolo, there are reports of a boy fighting the Demon King, but the image is so bad and it's so dangerous to get closer that nobody can tell who it was specifically.
* GroinAttack: During the 23rd World Tournament, Yamcha attempts to kick Hero in the head, but Hero ducks and Yamcha lands crotch-first on his thick skull.
* GrowingMusclesSequence: When Master Roshi powers up to use his Kamehameha, his muscles expand tremendously. The withered old master briefly resembles a bodybuilder for the duration of the attack.
* GunsAreWorthless: A major part of the universe in so far as martial artists go. Starting with Bulma shooting Goku on their first meeting and later Launch spraying gunfire like confetti at other characters to no effect in ''Dragon Ball'', and continuing on to Raditz catching a shotgun blast with his bare hands, guns are fundamentally useless.
* GutPunch: The series starts out as a light-hearted comedy story about Goku and his misadventures with his friends. Then Krillin is murdered at the end of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, changing the tone of the series forever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:H-J]]
* HammyVillainSeriousHero: While [[TheHero Goku]] averts this being the BigFun StockShonenHero, secondary protagonists like Vegeta and Piccolo are both very stern and serious, and end up going up against the many AxCrazy SmugSuper villains like [[EvilOverlord Frieza]], [[UltimateLifeform Cell]], [[OmnicidalManiac Majin Buu]], or [[TheSociopath Goku Black]].
* HandshakeOfDoom: Subverted with the introduction of Monster Carrot. When Goku meets him, the rabbit hops over holds out his hand to shake claiming it as a sign of friendship. Before Goku can though, Bulma swats it away to tell Monster Carrot off. Unfortunately for Bulma, it doesn't matter whether the hand is shook or not. The fact that Bulma touched Monster Carrot is enough to trigger his power to turn her into a carrot.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Sometimes played straight, sometimes subverted. On the one hand, human martial artists are never able to catch up to alien races like the Saiyans. However, if it were not for Goku's relentless training throughout the entire series he never would have achieved the level of power he did. Furthermore, it is often implied that Goku stays one step ahead of his rivals (particurly Vegeta) by not only training hard but training smart. At the beginning of the Buu saga it is revealed that Gohan has not been training, and as a result he is weaker than he was at the end of the Cell saga.
* HealingFactor: During the 23rd World Tournament, Goku manages to cripple Piccolo's arm. For a moment, the battle seems to have been won, but Piccolo tears off his arm and grows a new one.
* HealingPotion: Senzu beans instantly restore physical energy to 100% as well as instantly healing injuries ''and'' providing 2 weeks worth of nutrition. There are limits to their abilities, however; certain injuries and illnesses are too extensive for a Senzu bean to suffice.
* HeavenAbove: Kami's Lookout ("Kami" meaning god) is located in the upper levels of Earth's atmosphere. The Guardian of the Earth can look down and monitor the state of the Earth below checking for trouble. In times of peril it can also be used as a refuge for the major characters.
* HeavierThanItLooks:
** Many characters, such as Goku and Piccolo, wear clothes that appear to be normal at first glance but are in fact heavily weighted. For instance, Goku wears a weighted undershirt, boots, and wristbands that total up to 250 pounds of resistance despite walking around as though he were wearing a normal martial artist's gi.
** [[BabyPlanet King Kai's planet]] ten times more gravity than Earth. Goku first sees this when an apple falls from the tree: it fell so quickly and with so much force that it looked more like a cannonball than an apple.
* HeelFaceTurn: Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu.
** Yamcha starts out as a desert thief who has no problem attacking a kid. He joins the adventure to find the Dragon Balls planning to steal them for himself and have his own wish granted, but slowly becomes a friend to Goku and Bulma.
** Tien and Chiaotzu are both {{Arrogant Kung Fu Guy}}s who use their abilities to torment other fighters and cheat at the World Tournament. Tien aspires to be a great assassin and seeks revenge against Goku for defeating Tao, but with some advice from Master Roshi, he learns to enjoy the pure art of fighting during his match with Goku and forsakes his darker ambitions. Chiaotzu follows in his footsteps shortly after.
* TheHeroDoesntKillTheVillainess: Goku [[StormingTheCastle storms the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters]], killing most of their remaining leaders and {{Mooks}}. Alongside the soldiers who managed to escape with their lives, the sole female officer Colonel Violet decides to steal as much cash as she could from the vault and flee, making her the only higher-up member to escape Goku's wrath.
* HeroicRematch:
** Goku vs. Tao Pai Pai. He nearly kills Goku, takes his Dragon Balls, and murders Bora in cold blood. After promising Upa to revive his father using the Dragon Balls, he climbs Korin's Tower to drink the Sacred Water to become stronger to challenge Tao again.
** The same happens with King Piccolo, who easily curbstomped Goku in their first fight to the point that his heart stops for several minutes. Goku returns to Korin's Tower to train under Korin to become stronger, only to find out that he has already surpassed Korin. So, Korin has Goku retrieve the Ultra Divine Water, the true Sacred Water that is suppose to unlock [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential one's hidden powers if they have any]]. Once Goku drinks the water and survives the pain, he becomes many times stronger and is ready to challenge Piccolo to one final match.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Roshi's master imprisons King Piccolo in the demon king's backstory, ending his reign of terror by using the Evil Containment Wave. This comes at the cost of his own life.
** Subverted when Tien attempts this after he learns how to use the Evil Containment Wave. Depending if you read the manga or watch the anime, he fails because he breaks the rice cooker before he confronts Piccolo, or he fails because Drum interferes and indirectly saves his life.
* HoaxHogan: A Hulk Hogan-like fighter appeared briefly as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XmKcr3T2oI one of the participants]] of the Tenkaichi Tournament along with Son Goku and Yamcha.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Tao Pai Pai is killed by his own grenade.
** Kami ends up being captured by his own sealing technique after Piccolo reveals he's learned to reverse it.
* HolyHalo: During Baba's Tournament, Grandpa Gohan has a halo over his head to signify his nature as a virtuous, deceased soul returning to Earth for just this one day.
* {{Homage}}:
** ''Dragon Ball'' is a homage to the classic ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', particularly the first arc, with Bulma in a gender-flipped Xuanzang role, Son Goku is Sun Wukong (in turn an homage to Hanuman from ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}''), Oolong is Zhu Bajie, and Yamcha is Sha Wujing.
** The Dragon Balls themselves are a homage to the eight magic orbs from ''Literature/NansouSatomiHakkenden''.
* HonorBeforeReason: Goku is pissed when Kami dares to interfere with his fight with Piccolo to the point that he allows Piccolo to have a free hit. He also refuses his friends' help when Piccolo is ready to blast him into atoms because he would lose the match if they helped.
* HopeBringer: Throughout the series, Goku's friends come more and more to rely on the idea that Goku can solve anything, punch out anyone, and turn any dark situation brighter. After he defeats the Red Ribbon Army singlehandedly, his friends stop believing he even has limits. When he shows up at the capitol to fight King Piccolo, his friends don't even need to hear his name to know exactly who is standing between Piccolo and world domination and who is going to win.
* HorrifyingTheHorror:
** No matter how ugly or monstrous one might be, everyone who stands against him quickly learns why they should be afraid of Son Goku.
*** Although a human, Mercenary Tao is a famed assassin who has mercilessly killed hundreds without his stoic demeanor breaking. After being pounded by Goku during their rematch, he loses his composure and is [[ISurrenderSuckers reduced to pulling a dirty ploy]].
*** After nearly beating the demon spawn Tambourine to death and easily evading his energy attack, Tambourine becomes so frightened of Goku that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he attempts to fly away]].
*** Goku scares the Demon King himself after surviving an attack that levels a city. Piccolo is barely holding himself together, calling Goku inhuman and a monster.
*** Piccolo Jr freezes in terror and is left speechless after Goku tanks an explosion that covers an entire island.
** Despite being much weaker than King Piccolo, Master Roshi manages to scare him shitless by revealing he knows the Evil Containment Wave. Although Roshi fails to trap Piccolo and dies, Piccolo is left shaking on the ground for several seconds.
* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: The last part of the Jackie Chun versus Goku fight. They have been fighting for four hours, both of them are on their last legs and are reduced to just beating each other into submission, and both refuse to go down.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Chichi is a child when we meet her. Her father, the aptly named "Ox King", towers over even the adults in the cast.
* HungerCausesLethargy: In early arcs of the manga, Goku's HyperactiveMetabolism is also his KryptoniteFactor: after fighting for a little while, he will start to get hungry, becoming slower and weaker and sometimes even falling asleep. This results in several defeats on his part before his training regimen eventually [[CharacterDevelopment improves his stamina]].
* HumanAlienDiscovery: Son Goku was a boy with a big strength and a strange monkey tail, but apart of that he always thought he was a human as all the people he knew. That, until he was an adult (and a [[FamilyMan father]]), when he got the discovery that he was an alien all the time, an almost extinguished race called the "Saiyans", who were powerful savage warriors who conquered planets and he's one of the last survivors in the universe when his native planet exploded.
* HumansAreBastards: Kami feels this way, which is why he didn't revive the Eternal Dragon after it was killed by King Piccolo. As he puts it, humans turned the Dragon Balls, which were a symbol of hope, into objects of greed and murder. He changes his mind after he sees Goku's noble intentions, despite the fact that Goku isn't a human. Although, Kami could have seen Goku as a representation of humanity since he was raised among them despite being an alien.
* IAmNotAGun: Android #8 is created as a KillerRobot by the Red Ribbon Army, but refuses to kill.
--> "I'm not Android 8! My name is '''Eighter'''!"
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: During Goku and Tenshinhan's battle at the finals of the [=22nd=] Tournament, Goku tricks Tenshinhan with his afterimage technique after Tenshinhan attempted to trick Goku with ''his'' afterimage technique, while Goku was using ''his own'' afterimage technique on Tenshinhan. Goku even lampshades it when his technique trumps his:
--> "I went behind you going behind me going behind your back!"
* ILetGwenStacyDie:
** Goku feels responsible for Bora's death since he was killed while defending him from Tao. He makes it his mission to collect the remaining Dragon Balls and wish him back to life.
** After finding Krillin murdered, Goku is mad at himself since Krillin only went back to the stadium because he forgot his Power Pole and Dragon Ball.
** Poor Tien is consumed by guilt after Chiaotzu is killed because he asked him to interfere with King Piccolo's wish instead of staying down like Master Roshi ordered.
* ILied: When General Blue threatens to shoot a paralyzed Goku unless they tell him where the Dragon Ball is, Bulma gives in and tells him. He then decides to shoot Goku anyway, quoting the trope.
* IdiotHero: Goku has NoSocialSkills, is extremely naive about the world, and is too trusting for his own good. He's also brave, loyal, and frequently goes out of his way to help his friends or even people he just met. He gets a little less naive as he grows up, but he never completely leaves his idiot tendencies behind.
* IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance: Mark "Hercule" Satan initially considers himself the strongest in the world, not realizing that the main characters (and villains like Cell) are on a completely different level.
* ImmuneToBullets: Goku and his friends (the ones who can fight at least), along with most of the villains. Bullets are shown to hurt, but that's about it.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In the final great battle of his childhood, Goku punches a hole clean through Demon King Piccolo.
* ImpendingClashShot: At least once per fighting antagonist arc, an episode of the anime will have a PastelChalkedFreezeFrame (usually based on a panel from the manga) of either the characters charging into the fray or one if not both at ready fighting stances. Like before Goku fights Demon King Piccolo in the episode before their fight proper.
* ImpossibleTaskInstantlyAccomplished:
** Master Roshi took 50 years to develop the Kamehameha, and is first seen using it to extinguish a burning mountain. He levels the mountain, but that's not the point. The point is, Goku performs a weaker version of it almost immediately after seeing this feat.
** Tenshinhan, who studied with Master Roshi's arch rival, slams Roshi (in his Jackie Chun disguise) with a Kamehameha after having witnessed his very first one just one fight earlier.
%% zce * InconsistentSpelling: The romanizations of many characters' names tend to vary between Japanese media. Even the English adaptations of the manga and anime can't seem to agree on which spelling to use.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Early in the series, Goku is judged to be pure of heart by the Nimbus, a magic cloud that only allows pure-hearted people to ride it. This never changes; no matter what happens and what he goes through, Goku's innocence and good heart never falters. During Baba's Tournament, Goku's innocence even saves his life by allowing him to withstand the Devilmite Beam, which expands the evil inside a person's heart and uses it to kill them.
* IndyEscape: Very early in the original series, Emperor Pilaf menaces Goku and friends with a gigantic pinball that chases them down a hallway.
* InformedAbility: Due to the fact that the series starts on a rather high power scale, the audience more or less has to take how strong a given character is [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours at the words of other characters.]] Even to the end of the series, you'll still see a character being able to blow up mountains, create giant ki blasts, or move faster than the eye can follow as an OhCrap moment, when such feats were shown as early as ''Manga/DragonBall''. More or less, the series loves to say that a character is thousands of times stronger than another, when their actual feats appear to be on about the same level (if not lower).
* InexplicablyAwesome: Goku at the start of the series. Nothing was known about his past other than he was found in the mountains by his grandfather and was raised in isolation for a number of years. Other than that, everything about Goku was up in the air like why he was so powerful, had a tail, and why did he turned into a big ape during a full moon. His friends and enemies openly debated if he was even human. By ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', we learned he's a HumanAlien from a warrior race and he's actually a weakling by their standards. Even then, his ungodly strength and seemingly endless potential still isn't fully explained given he outpaces the Saiyan Prince, who is said to be ''the'' strongest their race have to offer. Part of it is a lot of hard work, but, as the series has shown, hard work alone can't catch natural talent unless it isn't maintained.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Goku has no social skills when Bulma finds him in the mountains. He often tells Bulma how useless she is and even looks under her skirt trying to find, depending on the version, either her tail or her balls. During his adventure to find the Dragon Balls, he gets into the habit of patting a person's crotch when he meets them to find out their gender. He grows out of it, but he never stops being bluntly honest in his evaluation of other people's ability to fight or even just contribute.
* InnocentMeansNaive: This trope is largely responsible for Goku's characterization. He starts the series as a boy who due to his grandfather's death has been isolated up in the mountains for who knows how long before Bulma finds him while searching for the Four Star Dragon Ball. As a result, Goku was extremely ignorant of the ways of the world for a long time, to the point he didn't even know what a woman was, thought marriage was food, and otherwise ignorant of a number of other basic facts. Even as the series progresses and Goku grows older and experiences more, he had little in the way of a formal education, and thus remains largely ignorant of a great deal for the entirety of the franchise.
* InstantExpert:
** While there are a few techniques Goku had to study and practice, most of Goku's abilities were learned through instant mastery of something he'd already seen someone else perform:
*** Master Roshi spent fifty years perfecting the Kamehameha. After watching him use it to destroy Frypan Mountain, Goku immediately reproduces a weaker version.
*** During the 21st World Tournament, Jackie Chun performs the Afterimage in his fight with Goku and Goku quickly learns to replicate the ability. Jackie tries to outsmart him with a Double Afterimage, but Goku effortlessly masters that as well and even advances it to a Triple Afterimage.
*** Goku is never shown learning how to perform Tien's Solar Flare or Flight technique from the 22nd World Tournament. In the 23rd, however, he uses Tien's Solar Flare against him and masters Flight on-the-spot to turn an imminent defeat into a desperate victory at the end of his match with Piccolo.
** Tien brags that he can learn any technique just from seeing it and demonstrates this by using the Kamehameha on Master Roshi. It's also made clear that this is how he learned the Mafuba after having witnessed it only once.
* InstantFlightJustAddSpinning: A young Goku uses his tail to fly and avoid touching the ground outside the ring in the first TournamentArc. He also used his Staff as a rotor repeatedly.
* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn:
** Goku has several allies join him in the course of the Red Ribbon Army conflict. Bulma, Krillin, Android #8, and Bora all have roles that help Goku advance in his battle against the ferocious military. The final assault on the Red Ribbon headquarters, however, is performed by Goku alone; his allies come to help, but they only arrive after he's finished destroying the Red Ribbon Army.
** {{Invoked}} by Goku during the 23rd World Martial Tournament. He refuses any help while fighting Piccolo despite his friends trying to help him, including the Guardian of the Earth. It is a tournament and Goku wants to win fairly.
* IntimateLotionApplication: During the "Piccolo Junior Saga", Bulma decides to sunbathe at Kami's house and gets Puar to rub sun lotion on her back, as she trusts Puar not to try anything weird. Unfortunately, Oolong knocks out Puar and takes the lotion for himself, intending to rub it on Bulma in a perverted fashion... only to be foiled by Kami who takes the lotion from Oolong, but clearly has the same perverted intentions. They both end up being caught by Lan, who proceeds to [[PervertRevengeMode open fire on them for their perversion]].
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: If Goku looks at the full moon, he transforms into a giant ape-like creature and goes on a berserk rampage. This can be stopped by cutting his tail off, but it grows back after a while. A more permanent solution is to [[DetonationMoon blow up the moon.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** Commander Red hires Mercenary Tao to kill Goku which ends up destroying the Red Ribbon Army. Tao kills Bora, which makes Goku go after all of the Dragon Balls to resurrect him. Before then, Goku was only interested in the 4-star ball.
** One has to be familiar with Anime/DragonBallZ to fully appreciate the irony of the Goku versus King Piccolo fight. Both are aliens who have long forgotten their real names and were sent to Earth to save their lives. The big twist? Goku came from a race of ruthless warriors who were also planet destroyers. Piccolo, or more correctly the Nameless Namek, came from a peaceful, benevolent race. After becoming [[HumanityIsInfectious infected by humanity]] Goku became a good person while Piccolo became corrupted. In another world and time, Goku would have been the conqueror and Piccolo would have been the savior.
* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat:
** As a kid, Goku had a hard time understanding that not everyone is super. One of the best examples is when the group needs to get across a deadly booby-trapped hallway without touching the floor. Goku and Krillin easily jump across the traps. Goku tells Bulma it's her turn, and she angrily yells that there's no way she can jump that far. Goku is surprised.
** He also thought that every boy has a tail. Amusingly, when he tells Bulma, she gets upset that she still doesn't know about the male anatomy at her age.
* ItsAlwaysSpring: The majority of episodes/chapters are set in May, mainly due to the Tenkaichi Budōkai always being on May 7th and two major storylines directly following the tournament: Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo Daimaō.
* ItsPersonal:
** This is what dooms the Red Ribbon Army. After Mercenary Tao kills Bora, Goku's goals shift from recovering the Four-Star Ball to collecting all of the Dragon Balls so that Shenron can resurrect him. He also relishes the idea that he can kill two birds with one stone by recovering the Dragon Balls and tearing down the RRA's base, where previously he'd been content to fight the RRA simply because they were between him and a Ball.
** At the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, the Crane Hermit enters his students to show-off against the Turtle School. Then he learns that Goku killed his younger brother, Tao. After that, things become very personal.
** King Piccolo and his children make things personal for Goku when Tambourine kills Krillin. By the final fight, Goku isn't interested in the state of the world so much as making Piccolo pay for taking those dear to him.
** After his reincarnation, Piccolo shows up to the 23rd World Tournament seeking revenge against Goku for killing him. Unbeknownst to the world, he's been alive these past three years but has put his plans for world domination on hold for the sake of preparing to take revenge.
* ISurrenderSuckers: After losing his rematch against Goku, Tao Pai Pai (Mercenary Tao) follows up his "surrender" by throwing a grenade. Unfortunately for Tao, Goku deflects it right back at him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Too many to name. Let's just say that all the villains in this series are either minor to major jackasses.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: On a small scale, Yajirobe. A belligerent glutton who loudly declares he wants nothing to do with the other Z-Warriors, yet ''still'' always ends up coming to their aid when they really need it. He drives Goku to Korin's Tower after he was badly injured from his first fight with Piccolo and climbed to the top with Goku on his back. When Goku was falling to his death after beating Piccolo, Yajirobe comes from nowhere and catches him.
* JourneyToTheSky:
** During the Red Ribbon StoryArc, after Goku loses a fight to Tao Pai Pai, he's told about a sacred tower where a wise, 800-year-old anthropomorphic cat known as Karin (Korin in the English dub) lives and holds the secret to enhance one's strength. Goku, wishing to defeat Tao Pai Pai to avenge the murder of Upa's father, proceeds to climb the tower and eventually meets Karin at the very top.
** After defeating Piccolo Sr. but being unable to revive his fallen friends due to the murder of Shenron (by Piccolo Sr. himself), Goku is told by Karin that his Power Pole was originally designed to be placed at the very tip of the tower's ceiling and then enlarged to its fullest extent so one could climb even higher and reach The Lookout, the homeland of Earth guardian Kamisama. Goku then uses the Pole to do the extra climb, as meeting Kamisama will be the only way to revive Shenron (and, subsequently, his friends) and train with him and Mr. Popo to fight and defeat Piccolo's son one day.
* JustAKid: Goku is constantly disparaged or dismissed by opponents who assume he's harmless simply because he's a kid. Those opponents quickly regret it when they find out how powerful and dangerous Goku really is.
* JustToyingWithThem: Just like its sequel series, this happens a lot:
** As a kid, Goku enjoyed toying with his opponents, but unlike most examples there is no real malice behind it. To him, fighting is one big game and it is no fun if he just curb stomps everyone. He even refers to fighting as playing. He also tends to toy around because his full strength can easily kill most people. This behavior can be seen most in his fight with Ninja Murasaki. Goku could easily beat the guy in minutes, but plays with him, actually playing hide-and-seek and racing. Murasaki is so weak compared to Goku that it doesn't matter anyway, and he's one-shotted once Goku gets serious.
** Tien toys with his opponents, but it's mostly to show off how superior he is. Chiaotzu was much the same way.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K]]
* KidHero: Goku is only 12 years old during his first adventure and his conflict with the Red Ribbon Army. He's older when he fights King Piccolo, but he's still only 15. Krillin also briefly gets in on the heroics during the Red Ribbon conflict.
* KidHeroAllGrownUp: After a three-year time skip following the King Piccolo arc, Goku meets his friends again for the 23rd World Tournament. At 18 years of age, he's finally on the cusp of adulthood and he looks the part, and very closely resembles his ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' incarnation (complete with his ''Z'' voice actor in dubs that cast different actors for adult and child Goku).
* KilledOffForReal: Near the end of the Red Ribbon Army arc, Goku comes up with the idea of using Shenron to resurrect the murdered Bora. This one choice changes the nature of the series from AllDeathsFinal, making it possible that [[DeathIsCheap anyone could be revived]] so long as there's someone to make a wish for them. But nobody's gathering the Dragon Balls for the commanders of the Red Ribbon Army.
** Grandpa Gohan notably declined being revived when Upa made the offer over his own father. Helping that Gohan stated he was happy in heaven.
* KnightOfCerebus: King Piccolo. The humor and lightheartedness of Dragon Ball ended with him.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Two examples during the 21st Tenkaichi Budōkai:
** During the preliminary rounds, a fighter Krillin faces hits him multiple times in their respective match, but Krillin quickly gets up, no worse for the wear and ready to fight back. This frightens Krillin's opponent so much that he forfeits at once, running behind the referee as he does so.
** During Goku's match against Giran, Giran gives Goku a hard time in their fight and even would've won via a ring out if it hadn't been for Nimbus saving Goku (though he had it contested and Goku was prohibited from using it further). However once Goku got his tail back and destroyed a part of the ring's wall as a test of strength, he's scared witless and quickly forfeits.
* KungFuWizard: Karin, the guardian who lives at the top of Karin Tower. His home is full of magical items and he seems to have some magical abilities himself, including the ability to read minds. He is also responsible for growing the magical senzu beans which Goku and company use as curatives in their journeys. At the same time he is quite a skilled martial artist and is able to out-maneuver Goku with ease the first time they meet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:L]]
* LackOfEmpathy:
** Commander Red of the Red Ribbon Army sends countless men to their deaths against Goku in order to gather the Dragon Balls, all for the sake of making a shallow wish to Shenron to become taller. When his best subordinate, General Blue succeeds in retrieving the Dragon Radar from Goku, Red forces him to fight a hopeless battle against Mercenary Tao to test the assassin's skills. At no point does he display the slightest consideration for the lives and wellbeing of the men under him, ultimately resulting in his own death at the hands of a disgusted Staff Officer Black.
** This is needed for Tao to be the world's greatest assassin. He has no problem murdering children and kills Bora in cold blood in front of his son. He also tells Upa that he should feel lucky that he doesn't kill him too.
* LancerVsDragon:
** Yamcha was the first Lancer and faced Tien who Crane Hermit's original Dragon.
** After Tien's HeelFaceTurn, he became the new Lancer and faced the Demon King Piccolo's Dragon Tambourine.
* LaserGuidedKarma: A humorous example. Krillin cheats during training and as a result gets dinner while Goku goes hungry. However, LethalChef Lunch cooks dinner that night with toxic pufferfish, meaning Goku avoids getting sick.
* LaxativePrank: Bulma does this to Oolong when he refuses to cooperate with her in helping find the Ox-king. She gives him a candy that he thinks is delicious, but really it's a laxative, and every time she whistles, he will have an emergency. Goku tries this on Oolong, too.
* ALessonInDefeat: At the 21st World Tournament, Master Roshi enters his students Goku and Krillin, but also enters the tournament himself under the guise of "Jackie Chun". He wants his students to do well, but he's afraid that they'll win the tournament, and become complacent with their strength. By defeating them in the tournament, he intends to prove to them that there will always be someone stronger and they should never quit striving to improve. This is a lesson Goku ultimately takes to heart, becoming a defining aspect of his character.
* LetsGetDangerous: At the end of the Pilaf arc, all the protagonists are trapped with only a tiny hole to look out as Pilaf summons Shenron and prepares to make his wish for world domination. Suddenly, Oolong springs into action. This shapeshifting pig who can only hold a form for five minutes and has largely caused more harm than good on the adventure manages to save the world by turning into a bat and casting his wish to Shenron before Pilaf has a chance to. Pilaf's plans are thwarted and Oolong gets a magically-conjured pair of Bulma's panties.
* LimitedWardrobe: Bulma is one of the only characters seen with more than two outfits throughout the entire series.
* LiteralSplitPersonality: Kami explains that the Demon King Piccolo is his evil half that he willingly expelled centuries ago to become Earth's guardian.
* LittleBitBeastly: Goku has a tail, which freaks out Bulma when she realizes it was real and not an attachment. Krillin and many others are confused and weirded out by this trait of Goku's at first. By the time of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku permanently loses his tail thanks to Kami.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Goku's transformation into a Great Ape is known by most of his friends. They never tell him to save his feelings since he accidentally killed his grandfather when he transformed.
* LogicalWeakness: Recoome demonstrates why using a BreathWeapon at point-blank range might be a bad idea. In a fight with Krillin, his Eraser Gun is interrupted by [[ActionSurvivor Krillin]] suddenly slamming his jaw shut as he is about to fire it off. The energy has nowhere to go and it leads to Recoome [[TheToothHurts losing most of his teeth]]. Also Recoome, [[CallingYourAttack announcing your ultimate attack before it's ready to fire]] and [[TooDumbToLive charging it up while your opponent is only a few yards away]].
* LongLived:
** Master Roshi is well over three-hundred years old, and Baba is even older since she is Roshi's big sister.
** Master Korin is a house cat who is over eight-hundred years old.
** Kami is over 300 years before the events of the series.
* LongRunner: The manga started in late 1984 and ended in 1995. The anime started in 1986 and ended in 1996. ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' may or may not count as additional seasons. Has 2 movies, ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZRevivalOfF'' that are considered canon. Starting in June 2015, an anime called ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is going to air. There are also a number of TV specials and [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVAs]]. Official spin-offs like ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' may also be included.
* LookBehindYou: When Goku and General Blue are fighting in Pirate Cave, Bulma attempts a distraction by pointing to the side and yelling. It backfires spectacularly, since while General Blue doesn't even twitch, Goku himself stops, turns, and looks, which gets him thrashed.
* LookWhatICanDoNow: Early in the King Piccolo arc, Goku is nearly killed by Piccolo. When Goku's heart restarts itself, he and Yajirobe embark to Korin Tower and get Goku more training. Meanwhile, Master Roshi sacrifices himself in [[SenselessSacrifice a failed attempt]] to reimprison Piccolo, who goes on to kill Chiaotzu, abduct the President of the World, and declare himself ruler. All hope for the world now rests on the shoulders of Tien, who proved himself Goku's equal in the preceding Tournament. Tien squares off with Piccolo's spawn Drum and comes up short, only for Goku to return newly empowered by the Ultra Divine Water, effortlessly slaughter Drum, and settle in to battle Piccolo for the fate of the world.
* LosingIsWorseThanDeath: Goku refuses anyone's help when fighting Piccolo during the 23rd Tournament, even after Piccolo has proven that he doesn't really care about the tournament or its rules and is here to kill him. Even when the smoke finally clears with Piccolo unconscious and Goku barely able to move, the most important thing to him is verifying that he won the match fairly and is now the World Champion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M]]
* MadeOfIron: General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army gets slammed into a wall and knocked unconscious by Goku, buried under a ton of rock when the Pirate Cave collapses, somehow escapes that only to crash his plane into a mountain trying to evade Goku's flying nimbus, then gets headbutted into the horizon by Arale, and none of this manages to stop him. [[spoiler: He finally dies as a victim of TheWorfEffect, courtesy of Mercenary Tao.]]
* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: After outperforming any other character in the Red Ribbon Army and nearly defeating Goku twice, General Blue receives his unceremonious sendoff with the arrival of Mercenary Tao. Tao is instructed to fight Blue in order to demonstrate his skill and proceeds to kill Blue using only his tongue.
* MaleGaze: Bulma and virtually every beautiful girl is subjected to the camera lovingly exploring their figure from time to time. An example is when Muten Roshi, in a filler scene, tries to grope Lunch while she's cooking; the scene holds the visual on Lunch's butt.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Ultra Divine Water. Korin says that it's magical and can unleash a fighter's latent power. Yajirobe claims that the water is just poison after tasting it. In the anime, the Darkness, the entity who guards the Ultra Divine Water, states that the water is poisonous, but it does bring out a fighter's latent abilities if they can withstand the pain and have latent power to bring out. In ''Z'', it appears that the Ultra Divine Water was just really powerful poison since as a Saiyan, Goku gets stronger from near death and no one before Goku has ever survived drinking the Ultra Divine Water, so we don't know if it can make a human stronger.
* MedievalStasis: The setting suggests Modern Stasis: in the Red Ribbon arc, the characters stumble upon a pirate base that is several hundred years old; it's equipped with electric cranes and a video surveillance system and protected by a robot. Flashbacks from Piccolo Daimaō's original rampage, also a few centuries ago, show him destroying modern-looking cities.
* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty: Early chapters and episodes largely stuck to this trope. The majority of the male characters introduced were fighters or soldiers of some kind, such as Goku, Krillin, Roshi, and the members of the Red Ribbon Army. With the possible exception of Mai (who isn't a martial artist but still rather skilled at combat), female characters such as Bulma and Launch were largely fanservice with no real combat ability. The most perfect example being Ranfan, the first female martial artist in the series, whose fighting "style" consists of flirting, stripping off her clothes, and [[WoundedGazelleGambit feigning weakness]]. This largely continues until ''Super'', with the only significant female warrior in the interim being Android 18, and she quickly semi-retires to become a wife and mother, only fighting occasionally for prize money.
%%* MickeyMousing: "The Funimation dub did this at times." Before you uncomment this example, please explain the dub's usage of this trope.
* MisleadingPackageSize: Anything from the Capsule Corporation (vehicles, appliances, houses, ect.) collapses down for storage in a capsule no bigger than a person's finger.
* MistakenDeathConfirmation: King Piccolo handily beats Goku to death during their first confrontation, and even takes the time to check to make sure Goku's heart has actually stopped beating. [[DidntSeeThatComing He couldn't possibly have guessed that Goku's heart could]] ''[[BackFromTheDead restart]]'' itself after he left...
* ModestyTowel:
** Episode 2 has an anime-only scene where kid Goku takes a towel. When Bulma is telling Goku that the towel is supposed to go on his front, he puts it in front of his head.
** Another episode has Bulma come out of the shower in a towel and yell at Oolong for giving her his pajamas that do not fit her.
* MoodWhiplash: The ''Manga/DrSlump'' crossover is very lighthearted, with all the action treated for comedy; then the show suddenly goes into the Mercenary Tao arc, where Goku faces the most powerful and ruthless foe he's yet encountered.
* MookHorrorShow: When Goku confronts the Red Ribbon Army for the last time. He tears though Red Ribbon Headquarters to get the Dragonballs. He dodges a shell fired from a rocket launcher literally meters across, then slams the soldiers into a wall. He shrugs off a sniper shot as if it was a pellet from a BB gun, terrifying the sniper. Then he starts punching through the ceiling to reach the leader's floor.
* [[invoked]]MoralEventHorizon: Android 8 is willing to take physical and emotional abuse from Murasaki and General White since he is a true pacifist who hates fighting. He won't even save himself when Murasaki is ready to blow him up and pleads with Goku not to kill General White. However, when General White seemingly kills Goku by shooting him in the back of the head with a high-powered pistol, Android 8 loses it and punches General White right out of Muscle Tower and over the horizon.
* MonsterProtectionRacket: In the anime, a filler episode meant to introduce the characters features Tien and Chiaotzu driving away the monster Inoshikacho from a village and collecting a reward. In truth, however, they were working with Inoshikacho, pretending to fight him so they could extort the money from the townsfolk.
* {{Mooning}}: Done unintentionally by Goku when proving that his tail is real.
* MoralityKitchenSink: Many of the protagonists are former villains [[HeelFaceTurn who change sides]] after meeting Goku.
* MotivationalLie: When Goku is reluctant to kill Piccolo Jr. because it would kill Kami as well, Krillin has the idea that Kami can be wished back with the Dragon Balls. Kami goes along with this, although he knows that as the Dragon Balls are his creation, they'll become inert if he dies. Goku sees through the lie, however.
* MsFanservice: In the Pilaf arc, Bulma's main contribution to the plot is titillation. She appears naked several times throughout the arc and is even forced to wear a PlayboyBunny outfit for the latter half. She tries to get Goku's Dragon Ball by flashing him, and later she manages to pull this tactic off successfully with Master Roshi. She grows out of this in later arcs, however, where her contributions tend to be more scientific in nature and her fanservice scenes, while still present, become less frequent.
* MuggingTheMonster:
** Subverted by Yamcha, who is introduced as a desert bandit attempting to rob Goku and Bulma of their capsules. Goku tries to fight him off, but he's too hungry to last the fight. Despite the kid's immense physical power, Yamcha nearly succeeds in taking Goku for all he's worth, and is only forced to flee due to his gynophobia when Bulma wakes up.
** When Goku first visits West City, he gets lost trying to find Bulma's house. A pair of thieves attempt to rob him in an alley, but after Goku headbutts one into a wall, the other realizes they've made a terrible mistake and gives Goku some helpful advice.
** During the {{Crossover}} with ''Manga/DoctorSlump'', General Blue tries to prevent Goku from attacking him by holding [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids Arale]] at knifepoint. It does work at first, as Goku doesn't know about Arale's strength either, but then he tries to kill Goku, and Arale sends him flying to Egypt.
** In an episode, some random crook shoots Tao Paipai. Without warning. From behind. Tao Paipai deflects the bullet straight at the attacker with his hand.
* MummyWrap: Anime-only example with Bandages the Mummy, a living dead who works as one of Fortuneteller Baba's fighters. He can throw bandages and uses them either to swing back aboard the Devil's Toilet platform or to bound and attack his opponent. He uses this against Goku in the anime where the fight is longer than in the manga.
* MundaneSolution:
** In the 22nd World Tournament, basic arithmetic defeats insurmountable psychic prowess. Krillin is rendered powerless by Chiaotzu's telekinesis, but observes that he has to keep his hands outstretched to use it. Krillin begins asking Chiaotzu basic math questions such as 9-1. Chiaotzu takes the bait but has to count on his fingers, dropping his telekinesis and allowing Krillin to hit him and knock him out of the ring.
** Several such solutions are brought up throughout the series as ''possible'', but usually wind up rejected in order for various reasons. For example, Bulma creates a remote control that can deactivate every Android (except Cell), but Krillin destroys it because he's in love with Android 18.
* MundaneUtility:
** Master Roshi seems to possess several fantastical items, many of which he doesn't even realize. One was the Bashousen, a magical fan that could summon wind and rain, which Chi Chi needs to put out the flames of Frypan Mountain. It turns out he unwittingly used the magical artifact as a coaster only to throw it out when it became dirty.
** As training exercises, Master Roshi has Goku and Krillin put their great strength and speed to use by doing construction work and delivering milk.
** In the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku and Gohan use Ki attacks to cook food.
* MundaneWish:
** Bulma embarks on a search for the Dragon Balls to grant a wish for a boyfriend. When Yamcha catches wind of their power, he joins the adventure for similar reasons: he wants to steal the Dragon Balls for himself and use Shenron's power to overcome his gynophobia.
** When Emperor Pilaf has finally gathered the seven Dragon Balls, he's so overcome as he begins to make his wish to the dragon for world domination that he stammers a bit. Oolong takes the opportunity to leap between Pilaf and the dragon, wishing for women's panties.
** Commander Red sends his men to scour the world searching for the Dragon Balls in the hopes of achieving his greatest wish: he wants to be tall.
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: Goku and Krillin seek out Master Roshi to learn martial arts from him, and he sets about giving them training exercises to improve their strength while not teaching them any specific forms or techniques. This sets the stage for the emphasis on escalating strength and increasing one's power in the series.
* MysteriousPast:
** We have no clue what Yamcha or Puar did before they were desert bandits.
** Chiaotzu, what exactly is he? Is he a type of human or an alien hybrid like Tien? How did he come to meet Tien and the Crane Hermit? It doesn't help that Chiaotzu gets the least amount of screen time of the original cast. Speaking of Tien, he also gets almost no background information outside of being the Crane Hermit's student and training to be an assassin. How he met the Crane Hermit or Chiaotzu is never explained.
* MythArc: There are plenty of arcs over the course of the series that are long-reaching, including:
** The Dragon Balls, themselves, and what exactly they are.
** The origin of Goku's tail and bizarre strength and powers.
** The shared history of Piccolo and Kami.
** The legend of the Super Saiyan, Goku's ascension, and pushing the limits of a Super Saiyan's power.
** Gohan's hidden reservoirs of power.
** Vegeta's relationship with Goku and his metamorphosis from a vicious villain to a fierce anti-hero.
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[[folder:N]]
* TheNapoleon: Commander Red is a short, belligerent red-head who leads the Red Ribbon Army. He plans to ask Shenron to make him taller.
* NemeanSkinning: On his way to his second tournament, Goku is harassed by a trio of tigers. When he shows up for the registration, he's wearing a tiger skin pelt.
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: After hearing that Master Roshi died fighting King Piccolo while he was gone, Goku becomes depressed that he didn't get to say goodbye.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: King Piccolo spits out a final egg upon his death containing his own reincarnation. It's later learned that if Piccolo dies, so does Kami. Because Kami does't die with King Piccolo, he's able to restore Shenron, who revives everyone killed by King Piccolo and his men.
* NoblewomansLaugh: As part of his flamboyance, General Blue has a tendency to let out the classic Japanese noblewoman laugh, bringing his hand up to conceal his mouth while he cackles.
* NoHarmRequirement: In the final tournament arc, Goku is seeded off against Chi-chi, who is angry at him for not recognizing her, though in his defense in the years since they last saw each other [[SheIsAllGrownUp she had grown up quite a bit]], and entered anonymously. She only agrees to reveal her identity if he beats her, but [[WouldntHitAGirl he refuses to hurt her]]. Thankfully, following his intense training from Kami, he doesn't have to; he blows her [[RingOut out of the ring]] with the force of a punch.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Having taken a job to kill Goku, Mercenary Tao makes short work of the kid and finishes him off with his Dodon Ray, a ki beam fired from his finger. Confident that no one can survive the attack, he promptly takes the three Dragon Balls he was hired to collect and leaves. What he doesn't realize is that there are supposed to be four Dragon Balls; the fourth was in Goku's pocket the whole time and blocked Tao's beam. Goku wakes up a short time later.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown
** After finishing his training with Korin, Goku pays Mercenary Tao back for almost killing him with a brutal, one-sided beating.
** Tambourine brutally beats Goku up when they first met, because Goku is exhausted and hungry from his battle with Tien.
** Once Goku is rested and fed he has a rematch with Tambourine. It is one of the most brutal beatdowns in the original series with Goku seemingly beating someone to death with pure brute force.
** Drum, one of Piccolo's minions, effortlessly beats Tien to a pulp before [[BigDamnHeroes Goku arrives to save him]].
* NonDamagingStatusInflictionAttack: "Taiyoken" (lit. "Solar Fist"), a technique first shown in the classic series by Tien Shinhan, which creates a strong light that can blind the opponent and makes them harmless for a seconds and open to an attack or to escape. This move was taught by Tsuru-Sen'nin (Master Roshi's {{rival}}), but later when Tien has a HeelFaceTurn, he teaches this technique to his friends Krilin, Son Goku and Roshi.
* NoNonsenseNemesis
** Mercenary Tao, the first real serious villain of the series. Being a professional assassin, he more often than not goes for quick kills. When Goku proves to be durable against physical blows, he attempts to pierce his heart with a finger beam. His only real mistake was not checking Goku's body.
** The Demon King Piccolo. His first order of business upon his return is to kill all the world's martial artists so no one can ever seal him again and collect the Dragon Balls to wish for youth. Upon finding out that two of his children are killed, he goes and deal with the threat directly and nearly kills Goku, even checks his heart to make sure he's dead. He allows the other heroes to collect the remaining Dragon Balls and swallows his so they couldn't steal them. When he is about to make his wish and Chiaotzu attempts to interrupt, he's quickly killed. Once he regains his youth, he kills the Eternal Dragon so no one can ever use the Dragon Balls against him. There's a reason he remains the only villain in the series to win.
** His son, Piccolo Jr, is no slouch. Realizing that he can't take over the world without first defeating Goku, he trains for three years and enters the Martial Arts Tournament since he knows Goku will be there. He carefully hides his power and identity until his match against Goku and holds nothing back, coming close to killing Goku.
** Before him, Piccolo's second son Tambourine. He takes out his targets quickly and effectively, often aiming for pressure points. Until his second fight with Goku, all of his 'fights' ended in a few hits.
* NonSequiturThud: When General Blue's car gets thrown across a field by Arale, he's left sprawled on the ground mumbling, "But I don't want to go to school today, mommy."
* NoOntologicalInertia: The Dragon Balls fade into useless stones if Kami, the creator of the Dragon Balls, dies.
* NoSell:
** General White gives Goku a punch directly to the gut. Goku remarks that it felt like a fly landing on him and returns the blow with an uppercut that sends White bouncing off the ceiling.
** Taopaipai cannot be harmed by the Kamehameha no matter how powerful it is. It just glances around his body like water. [[ClothingDamage His clothes can't say the same]], much to Tao's annoyance.
** Goku tanks a flying kick to the chest by Grandpa Gohan during Baba's tournament. Gohan is shocked by this.
** King Piccolo takes a direct hit from Goku's Kamehameha. It doesn't even do ClothingDamage to him.
** Mr. Popo provides probably one of the strangest examples, when Goku fires a Kamehameha at him and he ''eats it''.
** Goku himself gets in on this during his match with Krillin at the 22nd World Tournament. This time it's Krillin firing off the Kamehameha (Despite Goku warning him "That wont work on me.") Goku stops the beam with the palm of his hand. However....
** Knowing Goku's incredible strength, Krillin decided to play a little dirty. The Kamehameha was just a distraction for him to get behind Goku and grab his tail, Goku's longtime WeaksauceWeakness. However, Goku had already trained said weakness out of his tail, and thus No sells Krillin Squeezing it.
* TheNoseless: Krillin doesn't have a nose. Discussed during the 21st World Tournament when he's fighting Bacterion, a combatant who defeats enemies through his body odor. Krillin has trouble getting past the foul stench until Goku points out he's drawn without a nose.
* NoSocialSkills:
** Goku in a nutshell. He lived most of his life in the mountains and never saw another human until he meets Bulma at the age of 12. He can't even tell the difference between a boy or a girl without touching them and has no concept of tact. He never truly assimilates into society.
** Yajirobe, much like Goku, grew up in the wilderness. He's rude and picks his nose without any thought or care.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: In the dub, King Piccolo says that Goku and him are very much alike since they both enjoy inflicting pain.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
** Pilaf may be a bumbling idiot, but he does successfully capture Goku and his friends when they first enter his castle and steal the Dragon Balls from them. He also captures them again and places them into a cell that will cooked them alive at noon. He later gives Goku a good challenge using mechas that he created and comes up with a semi-competent plan to grab Goku's tail, which only fails because Goku lost his tail fighting Gohan Sr.
** Goku makes quick work of the Red Ribbon officers until he encounters General Blue. It became a tremendous surprise when Blue turned out to have the edge over ''him'', especially given that Blue's own superiors were dismissive of him as a bungling idiot who they'd probably dispose of after his next failure.
* NotTheIllnessThatKilledThem: In the beginning of the "Androids Saga", Goku is infected with a fatal heart disease that killed him in Future Trunk's timeline. Luckily he is given a cure thanks to Future Trunk. However, Goku still dies at the end of the "Cell Saga" when he teleports a self-destructing Cell to King Kai's planet.
* NotQuiteDead:
** Taopaipai gets blown up by his own grenade, but survives and becomes a cyborg in time for the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament.
** Piccolo is an interesting variation of this trope. On one hand, King Piccolo is killed, but his mind and essence lives on through Piccolo Jr. So he is both KilledOffForReal since King Piccolo is dead and NotQuiteDead because his essence still exists.
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