These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
Americans Don't Adore Mr. Satan: In Japanese polls Mr. Satan typically scores really high; in Dragon Ball Forever's poll he even beat Roshi, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Bulma, and Yajirobe in that order. In American polls, he ranks considerably lower. He doesn't rank well in Europe either. Possibly because of his name.
Or maybe for taking all credits in defeating Cell. He makes up for that in the Buu arc though.
Angst? What Angst?: It's impressive how quickly all of the characters get used to the fact that Goku had come back from the dead after seven years in the Buu saga, especially for Goten who until that point had never even met him.
Arc Fatigue: Z's sagas in general, though Freeza and Buu were the longest. Buu moreso in the anime, since in the manga, it went by quicker since at that point it was more like Series Fatigue for Toriyama.
The first Z movie, Return My Gohan! / Dead Zone: when Goku and Piccolo attack Garlic Jr. together, you get this - a mix of Goku's and Piccolo's themes.
Perfect Cell's Themealso deserves a mention. It sounds like an evil techno/metal fusion. How perfect.... If only they actually played this version in the show. That said, the version they do have in the show that loops over and over IS an Ear Worm.
Hironobu Kageyama's "Unmei no Hi: Tamashii tai Tamashii" (Translated as "Day of Destiny ~Spirit vs Spirit") was played during Gohan SSJ2 Transformation, and even amongst those who are more familiar and/or prefer the dub appreciate its value.
Really just another example Broken Base, the various DBZ composers are considered this by their respective fanbases, the original composer Shunsuke Kikuchi, the Funimation Falconer Productions composer team, and even Kenji Yamamoto who composed Kai, most of the video games, and several insert songs for the original Z.
Say what you want about GT, it had some awesome music. Understandably Funimation's attempts to replace the original music with more rock-oriented themes wasn't met with much approval.
Badass Decay: Vegeta, arguably. Even he gets sick of being relegated to a second-string hero, and eventually attempts a short-lived Face Heel Turn to reclaim his badass status.
Gohan also suffers from this early in the Buu Saga due to the fact that he more or less gave up fighting and focused on academics after defeating Cell (seven years prior). After watching Gohan struggle against Dabura, Vegeta points out that he had actually gotten WEAKER than he was seven years ago. Though he gets a powerup later on in the saga.
Master Roshi was probably the earliest example of this. At the start of the series, he is stronger than Goku. He even beats Goku during the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. By the Piccolo Jr. Saga, he is Demoted to Extra, and he stays that way through Z.
Base Breaker: The Saiyans can be this. Some say the Saiyans were good and the original cast was boring. Others say Saiyans stole screen time from other characters, and generally were unskilled and one-dimensional fighters compared to the rest of the Z-Fighters. There's also a middle ground where Saiyans are good characters but the series should not have shafted the original Earthling cast.
Although fans don't like Chi-Chi for her temperament and over protectiveness, there are some fans who think otherwise and believe that although she is too pushy, she does try to do what's right.
Character Rerailment: In the Buu saga, Chi-chi has mellowed out and has no problem with her sons fighting, contrasted to her behavior in earlier seasons.
Crazy Awesome: Gotenks. All the dumb ideas that Goten and Trunks can come up with, without the other one discouraging them.
Crack Pairing: You can see loads of fanart of this type of shipping on deviantART...bring some Brain Bleach handy if you value your childhood.
Damn You, Muscle Memory: When Angela catches Gohan and Videl having a stare down and thinks the two are dating, she decides to throw a fit and blow Gohan's secret. Gohan's reaction to all this is to periodically yell at the top of his lungs, something that usually fixes things pretty well in the DBZ universe.
King Vegeta is a better example then Bardock and his son, as unlike the latter two, he is always listed as evil in all materials such as the Video games and he never express any regret for his actions. According to King Kai, in Plan To Eradicate the Saiyans, King Vegeta wiped out the Tuffles without any provocation. He's even seen trying to kill a baby(Broly)! Yet fans many think King Vegeta was just a benevolent ruler whose evil was entirely forced on him by Frieza. Once again, Dub Text plays a heavy part.
Broly.
Frieza and Cell also count.
Frieza's brother, Cooler. Possibly because he was powerful, handsome looking, and one of the few villains in the franchise to actually show care for his henchmen (though that might've contributed from how respectful they are towards him).
Tao Pai Pai from the original series gets this treatment from fans.
Some cruel jokes that some fans crack about Krillin's deaths are this to the fans.
Ensemble Darkhorse: There's Janemba, Cooler, and Tapion, but oh dear god Broly.
The Saiyans, there's a reason they became the Spotlight-Stealing Squad, so much that Dragon Ball cannot be imagined without them, by fans. Go to any fandom site, it's so easy to ignore all human/other characters.
Don't forget Bardock. He only had one panel in the manga and a TV special, but he is still a popular character in the fan base. he just finished his own What If? manga spinoff.
Piccolo, for his complex character, and his fatherly love towards Gohan. Toriyama stated that the good Demon King is his favorite Character.
Future Gohan.
The Ginyu Force, Recoome especially.
Don't forget Jeice! He has the most fanart by a long shot.
a Japanese poll asking manga fans which characters they'd like to see spinoff stories about, Krillin was the only Dragon Ball/Z character to make the list. Despite being relatively weak compared to the saiyans, Krillin's bravery and heart in the bleakest of situations have earned him his fair share of fans, and believe it or not, he isn't as worthless as DBZ abridged might lead one to believe. (Up until the end of the Frieza arc, at least.)
Mr.Satan's name is not Hercule. Hercule is his censored name for the North American version. Satan is not his last name either, but his ring name. His name is MARK
Never ask a group of DBZ fans which English language dub they prefer: FUNimation or The Ocean Group.
Ask if the Orange Boxsets are worth buying.
Just mention dubs in general, really. Subs vs. Dubs will never, ever end.
Entire flame wars can erupt just on how a name should be spelled! It doesn't help that there are fans who insist on spelling every name with their literal Romanized Japanese transliterations (Bejiita, Pikkoro, Buruma, Bebi, etc.), despite the fact that most of the Japanese products already have official romanized spellings (i.e. Saiyan, Vegeta, Piccolo).
Z vs Kai is another issue with base-breaking potential.
Never say you like the anime more than the manga because of the Adaptation Expansion elements it created. Nine times out of ten, you'll get somebody calling you out for having bad tastes.
Fan Dumb: Some people who had started going on the 'net when Dragon Ball Z aired were inexperienced IRC users, similar to how Naruto is that, now.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: As the American Audience who was the best villain in the series in Cell would most likely get the most votes. In Japan, he actually ranks behind both Frieza and Buu. Though this could partly be due to Frieza's initial dub voice.
Dragon Ball (especially Z) in general is even more popular internationally than it was in Japan. For example, in the week of September 16-22 2002, Dragon Ball Z was once the highest rated show on cable and one of the top three shows in all television (cable or broadcast) for preteen/younger teenaged boys (9-14) in America.
It was still the most popular series in Japan when it was new, and Kai consistently made the top ten in ratings during broadcast.
Growing the Beard: With regards to the manga, this could be placed around the time Goku goes to train with Roshi - at this point, Toriyama dropped a lot of the Journey to the West stuff, stopped breaking the fourth wall, cut down on the truly lame gags, and refined the action sequences. Even though the earlier parts were entertaining, this is where the series really came into its own, and began its move towards that as which Dragon Ball is really known - a lengthy, fighting-based shounen saga.
For the Funimation dub of DBZ, many would say that it was during the Cell Saga that is when most of the cast were able to settle in to their performances, Chris Sabat stopped trying to impersonate Brian Drummond's Vegeta and several stand-out perforances that were step-up from the season 3 dub (Eric Vale as Trunks, Chuck Huber as #17, Dameon Clarke as Cell, and Chris Rager as Hercule) were introduced.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Before FUNimation started dubbing and editing the series in-house, the first two seasons of DBZ were handled by Ocean Group and Saban, who edited the living crap out of the show for syndication by merging episodes, speeding up the fight sequences, and cutting out most of the expositional dialogue. Gee, doesn't that sound familiar...?
Funimation got a lot of flack for their Orange Brick releases, especially for the cropping to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Then Kai's TV broadcast and Japanese DVD release did the same thing. Dragon Ball Kai is basically the dub in Japanese.
Commander Red is voiced by Kenji Utsumi in the Japanese version, and desires to become taller. Kenji Utsumi later voices a Stalinist rogue GRU Colonel, yet later ends up defeated by someone who looks a heck of a lot like a tall version of Commander Red in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The scene where Pilaf blows a kiss to Bulma in the Pilaf Saga becomes hilarious when his Japanese voice actor, Shigeru Chiba, ends up voicing another silly villain who has a huge amount of Foe Yay/somewhat Yandere-esque traits towards his nemesis. Bonus points for the fact that the villain's nemesis, Terra Branford, has an alternate costume that gives her a slightly similar appearance to Bulma.*
In case anyone's curious, the alternate costume was based on her field sprite in her original game.
Adolf Hitler (of all people) once said that "Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized." Guess what the skies and grasses of Namek are colored?
Holy Shit Quotient: DBZ starts like this: Goku has a son. Goku has a brother. Goku is an alien. Goku dies. Though, it's only a HSQ if you've seen Dragon Ball first.
Goku going Super Saiyan the first time, and Gohan going Super Saiyan 2. Also, admit you were shocked when Trunks appears, turns Super Saiyan kills Frieza and King Cold.
Is Goku a good father? Is Piccolo a better father?
Informed Wrongness/Strawman Has a Point: Chi-Chi's over-protectiveness of Gohan. Sure she may be have seriously Skewed Priorities and she may pushy, nagging, abrasive, and temperamental with her views on how important Gohan's studies are to her, but really, she just wants the best for her son and she just doesn't want him to grow up without an education like Goku did. This is presented as evil since it also clashes with Goku's idea on taking Gohan to fight dangerous monsters, and she is even hated by the majority of the fandom because of this. Some fans even forget (or ignore the fact, pick one) that she mellowed out in the Buu arc and actually started letting Gohan and Goten fight.
Iron Woobie: Future Trunks and Tapion from the 13th movie.
It should be noted that most of hate for the series which was at it's height in the early to mid 2000s has passed and that Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Abridged have managed to rehabilitate Dragon Ball's image in the eyes of quite a few anime fans.
Vegeta also counts. He's the Big Bad in the Saiyan Saga, but when you find out about what happened to him, it's pretty hard not to pity him.
Arguably, Majin Buu is also this. Unlike Frieza and Cell before him who were intelligent and self-aware, killing is all Buu was ever taught to do, and is often too insane to help himself. Even Goku takes pity on him and requests he be given a second chance.
Magnificent Bastard: Cell. In his imperfect form, Cell runs rings around the Z fighters as he masterfully evades their attempts to ambush him while draining countless cities of their population's bio extract. Upon finding himself sorely outclassed by Vegeta later in the series, Cell tricks the Saiyan prince into allowing him to absorb Android 18 by promising to provide him with an opportunity to test the full extent of his newfound power. In the ensuing rematch, he succeeds in reaping vengeance upon Vegeta by breaking him down physically and psychologically. When facing Trunks, he shows how savvy he is about how raising his strength and muscles only slow him down. And then, rather than kill Trunks and everyone else, Cell instead opts to hold a martial arts tournament where all of Earth's greatest fighters can challenge him and be defeated....and he announces this to the entire planeton TVjust so he can see them panicking and living in fear. During the Cell Games, however, Cell becomes increasingly reckless and overconfident in his actions until he ultimately loses control when Gohan became a Super Saiyan 2. And said state was precisely what he was seeking; the problem was that he never really calculated that Gohan's power increase would be far greater than his.
Also, Demon King Piccolo in the original Dragon Ball qualifies, and Vegeta shows some flashes of this in the Namek Saga where he does several meticulously villainous and underhanded things, but we enjoy seeing him do them anyway.
Marty Stu: In his early appearances, Trunks showed several signs of being this. He's the result of essentially a Crack Pairing of two established characters(one of whom had been with another since the beginning of the series), looks completely different than anyone else of his species even allowing for the fact that he's a Half-Human Hybrid, is a pretty big "generic Badass" stereotype, has a tragic past, and makes his entrance via Worfing an established villain and said villain's even stronger father. However as the arcs progressed, his Fatal Flaw came to light: father issues, and trust us, this ends up costing him big, to the point where he's not even the one to finish off his own Arch-Nemesis, in fact things happen the other way around.
Mr. Popo, due to a fight scene he has in the anime where he takes on Super Saiyan Goten and Trunks at the same time. Dragonball Abridged plays this up, making him an absolutely terrifying force that nobody fucks around with.
Memetic Molester: Cell. If his habit of sticking his tail in people and sucking them dry wasn't creepy enough, the way he advances on 18 before absorbing her...
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Despite the series' few black characters being rather caricatured, Dragonball has a surprisingly large black fanbase.
Misaimed Fan Dom: Many people tend to sympathise with Bardock and his fellow Saiyans too much. While it is true that they were quite badass and that Bardock in the end faces off against a far greater evil, it is often forgotten that the Saiyans weren't exactly a bunch of nice, cool people, but a horde of heartless Star Conquerors.
Misblamed: No, Akira Toriyamadidn't write the anime - He wrote the manga it was adapted from. (The pacing of the anime was actually out of his hands; they intentionally made filler arcs with his mild supervision, and padded the episodes so they wouldn't overtake the manga.
However, he did contribute to the designs and some general plot points to some filler. He also contributed the designs for many of the movie villains.
He also did not have much involvement with Dragon Ball GT outside of the basic designs for Goku, Trunks, Pan and various mechanical designs.
While Toriyama originally planned to end the manga as early as the first volume-or-so, he kept going due to the popularity it achieved. He also has admitted in interviews that he did not plan anything out ahead of time. Thus, there is no concrete proof that the story was supposed to end at the Saiyan, Freeza or Cell arcs, contrary to internet rumors.
Funimation is usually blamed for having a female voice actor for Freeza, but the Ocean dub had already done so before the recast (Though whether or not it was Funimation's choice is still unconfirmed).
Moe: Kid Goten and Pan are seen as this by the fans.
Moral Event Horizon: An often-forgotten fact (possibly because it was anime-only filler) is that early on in DBZ, Vegeta and Nappa stop on the planet Arlia, home to a race of insectoid aliens. After overthrowing an evil tyrant and freeing his grateful subjects from his oppressive reign, Vegeta destroys the entire planet on a whim out of sheer sadism! Yes, he was still an unrepentant villain at that point and this was basically a Kick the Dog moment to show the power and cruelty of the Saiyans before they arrived on Earth, but it's still quite a lot to swallow in light of his future characterization.
Dr Gero kidnapping 17 and 18 to turn them into cyborgs (probably against their will) definitely qualifies. And while it's clear they don't like him, they're decidedly... subtle about it. Just what did he put them through?
Cell crushing Android 16's head. Up until that point he could have justified his actions as a mix of programming and harmless fun (since the Dragonballs could easily fix the damage he'd caused).
Babidi has several moments that could qualify, with the murder of Spoppovich and Yamu (who had exceeded his expectations) being the first. He then writes off Dabura, the loyal servant he appeared to actually like, once Majin Buu is on the scene.
Narm: Bojack telling Gohan that he will kill him despite the fact he is heavily outmatched by him in his Super Saiyan 2 state, even after he punches him through the stomach and makes him cough up blood.
Though it's not immune in the original Japanese version, the English dubs of the show in general are full of this.
For a lot of English viewers, Goku's japanese voice comes off as this.
Nausea Fuel: Perfect Cell literally vomiting out 18 after how much of a beating SSJ2 Gohan gave him, made worse in the uncut where she's actually seen sliding out his mouth.
This was lampshaded in the Dragon Ball Abridged Bardock special when Granpa Gohan considers naming Kakarot as Clark.
You will think Tapion is based on Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but, according The Other Wiki, Wrath of the Dragon was released in 1995, while Ocarina of Time was released in 1998. The Choronos reference is still obvious, though.
The Problem with Licensed Games: Both subverted and played horribly straight. Some of the video game adaptations such as Budokai 3, the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Legends, Legendary Super Warriors, Origins & Origins 2, Attack of the Saiyans, Legacy of Goku II, and others are considered both great adaptations of the series and solid games. Others, such as Sagas, the first Budokai, Taiketsu, Ultimate Battle 22, Final Bout and the NES game released in the US as "Dragon Power", range from mediocre to almost unplayable. About the only redeeming quality in some of the latter games is their music.
Recycled Script: The Dragon Ball movies are all very loose adaptations of story arcs from the original manga and TV series. While the DBZ movies are more unique, they can be matched up to certain fights from the TV series as well.
"Curse of the Blood Rubies" adapts the first Dragon Ball hunt, with the original character King Gurume substituting Emperor Pilaf as the ultimate antagonist.
"Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle" starts off with a sub-plot involving Goku and Krillen being sent to find the titular Princess (eventually revealed to be a precious diamond) for Master Roshi, just like when they were sent to find a cute girl for Roshi in the manga.
"Mystical Adventure" combines the Red Ribbon Army and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arcs and puts them in an entirely different context.
"Dead Zone" mirrors the battle with Raditz. Common elements are the introduction of Gohan, Piccolo and Goku teaming up to rescue the kidnapped Gohan. Garlic Jr. even has Raditz' voice in the Japanese version.
The general weirdness in "The World's Strongest" brings to mind the various fillers in the Saiyan saga.
"The Tree of Might" matches up to the battle with Nappa and Vegeta. The lesser characters fight the minions and lose, while Goku stops them easy, a parallel to the Nappa fight. Tullece is an evil Saiyan who has come to Earth to take advantage of a precious resource (mirroring Vegeta's quest for the Dragon Balls). Goku has the upperhand over Turles, until he eats the fruit of might and becomes incredibly strong (Vegeta transformed in the main timeline) and is defeated only by a group effort (Spirit Bomb in the movie, and over the course of the fight with Vegeta everyone takes a bite out of him). Also, Gohan turns into a Great Ape.
The "Lord Slug" movie matches the plot of the King Piccolo arc. An evil Namekian wishes for his youth and power. This one is painfully obvious.
"Cooler's Revenge" is a very obvious duplicate of the Frieza arc, both ending with Goku turning Super Saiyan. Cooler is even Freeza's older brother.
"The Return of Cooler" plays off of Frieza's transformation into a cyborg by having Cooler return as a rebuilt robot.
"Super Android 13" is based off the Android Saga. Featuring the three main Super Saiyans battling three androids who attack a city. Also plays with a bit of Cell, as Android 13 absorbs his allies, 14 and 15.
"Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan" is based off the battle with Cell's second form and Goku's fight at the Cell games. Broly is somewhat weak (kind-of, his actual power was hinted to be much stronger than initially led to believe, but a large bulk of it was forcibly suppressed by his father via a SlaveCrown) until he transforms into his ultimate form, leaving the characters powerless against him. In the anime, Cell was easily defeated by a powered up Vegeta, but when he got an upgrade he was unstoppable. He fought Goku in the Cell games and it ended with Goku quitting. The movie ends with Goku getting thrashed, but at the last second wins. One of the more original movies.
"Bojack Unbound" is a very obvious spin on Gohan's fight with Cell. Goku is already dead and Gohan becomes Super Saiyan and fights Bojack, loses, then comes back as Super Saiyan 2 and wins with the help of his father. Mr Satan ends up taking the credit. Also, Bojack's minions represent the Cell Jr's, who fight the other characters.
Then in the very next movie, "Broly: Second Coming", Gohan and Goku's father/son Kamehameha is used, except this time, it's Gohan and Goten who are assisted by their fathers spirit. Also, Broly, is frozen in ice for an extended period of time, just like how Buu was sealed in a magical ball for millenia.
The main characters of "Bio Broly" are Goten, Trunks, Android 18, and Mr. Satan...the very same characters who fought in the final round of the Budokai tournament toward the start of the Buu saga. Also, there is a Quirky Miniboss Squad fighting for a very weak Big Bad, and the main villain is discovered in a chamber a la Cell, or even Buu if you accept the fact he is technically sealed and about to be released.
"Fusion Reborn" is based off the Buu Saga. A large, fat and jovial enemy is beaten on by Super Saiyan 3 Goku, only to transform into a smaller and sleeker form, who is ruthless. It takes a Fusion to beat him. Parallels the Buu Saga, where the main villain is a fat clown who takes a slimmer and more diabolical form and it takes a fusion of Goku and Vegeta to stop him (Vegito in the manga, Gogeta in the movie).
"Wrath of the Dragon" is based on Super Buu and Kid Buu. Hirudegarn is a monster (Super Buu with a few absorptions) that can beat even Gohan, and when it looks to be defeated it grows into an even deadlier form. It takes Goku and his ultimate move to destroy the villain. Very obvious.
And the tenth anniversary movie "Path to Power" retells the first arc of the original Dragon Ball, but with the Red Ribbon Army as the main antagonists.
Subverted with "A Hero's Legacy", the GT movie. That's just a telling of the story of Goku Jr. set just before the final scene of the series.
"battle of The gods" A super-powered evil awakens and wants to fight Goku. Effortlessly defeats everyone and Goku gets a new Super Saiyan form. subverted As Beers wasn't evil at all, knew Vegeta and used to mess around with King Vegeta. Goku's new Saiyan form is still weaker then Beers, as Beers was only using 70% of his power and wasn't trying to kill Goku and Goku is defeated.
Krillin gets this treatment sometimes. Although he is the Butt Monkey and is known for always dying, he is still a good guy who at least tries to be brave and still does anything he can to help and protect his loved ones, even though he knows he won’t stand a chance, yet fans demonize him by calling him self-centered, annoying, and a joke simply because he’s not as strong as the Saiyans.
Yamcha gets this too. Although he is known for always losing battles and not being as strong as the other fighters, he is still a kind-hearted guy, yet fans refuse (or forget) to see that and still demonize him for his flaws.
Goku also gets this. Although he does make stupid decisions when it comes to fair fights and his family, he is still a nice guy who sometimes tries to do what's best for his friends and family, but some fans hate hate him for this.
Chi-Chi also qualifies. Although she does have a hugeHair-Trigger Temper, has seriouslySkewed Priorities, and can be stubborn, selfish, and nagging, she at least tries to be a good mother and gets a lot better in the Buu Saga when she stops obsessing over Gohan’s studies and lets him and Goten do whatever they want, yet fans still ignore (or forget) her Character Development and still demonize her for those.
Also Goku. Goku was meant to stay dead after the Cell Saga, with Gohan becoming the new protagonist. There was even specific buildup for the Take Up My Sword moment. Turned out in the end, Goku was just too liked by the masses.
Seinfeld Is Unfunny: Not as severe as most that suffer from this effect, but seeing the massive influence it had, has, and will probably continue to have on Shonen manga - its somewhat unavoidable. The degree of the effect has generally ranged from "it's kinda boring compared to stuff now" to "it flat out sucks."
Too Cool to Stay Fused: Vegito is widely regarded as the strongest fighter in the entire Dragon Ball continuity, so strong that he toys with Super Buu (+ Gohan) and easily has the capability to destroy him. He only lasts for four episodes before getting swallowed by Buu and reverting back to Goku and Vegeta. Goku and Vegeta crush their Potara earrings, and Vegito is never shown again.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Gohan's development as a hero and as his father Goku's eventual replacement as protector of the Earth certainly counts as this. During the Buu Saga a lot of focus is placed on Gohan's hidden powers and despite becoming the strongest (non-fused) character in the series he is not the one to defeat Buu. Goku defeats Buu and reclaims his role as the main protagonist. There were mixed reactions in the fanbase about this.
The Frieza saga set up Vegeta as such an interesting character and subsequent Sagas never really built on that. If Toriyama felt that Gohan couldn't be the hero, why didn't he try to do more with Vegeta, he's arguably more interesting than Goku for the simple reason that while he's cleverer he's flawed in so many ways.
Arguably, Piccolo. He merges with Kami, and becomes one of the series' strongest characters. Then during the Buu arc, he never gets involved in a single fight, save for Babidi, and becomes a Mentor/babysitter for Goten and Trunks. Unlike with Vegeta, there wasn't even a single hint he retired from fighting, much less saving the Earth. That's a pretty big shaft for someone who's supposedly the author's favorite character.
Uncanny Valley: The Androids were an attempt at this for having facial features radically different from the series' norm. It didn't quite work, as both 17 and 18 are often considered adorable (even in-universe by Krillin about 18), and Chiaotzu predated the bleach-white 19 by several years.
Semi -Perfect Cell and 4th form Frieza play this straight though
It doesn't help, though, that when Bulma first meets Mr. Popo she blurts out "Doesn't he look a little dangerous?" Of course, it might just have been culture shock from the fact that he arrived on a magic carpet, but still...Officer Black, despite the design, fares better, as he's portrayed as actually far more competant than his boss, Commander Red.
Officer Black was "corrected" in The Path to Power, giving him a lighter complexion without differentiated lips. In fact, he looks more Hispanic than Black.
Also in the Red Ribbon Army is General Blue, a Camp Gay villain with pedophilic implications and a deep fear of even seeing a woman.
What about how the Super Saiyan form, which is superior in every way, has pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes? Are the Super Saiyans supposed to be Aryan Übermensch Warriors? (Yes, I know they're aliens, but still). A lampshade was hung in Dragon Ball Movie 12 when Goten and Trunks turned Super Saiyan against the resurrected Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army.
And then there's Killa, a minor character who looks and acts like a walking stereotype of black people. Even in the dub Funimation has him talking like a Jive Turkey, which leads one to wonder what the hell were they thinking?
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: This is a series for ten year old boys that can bring cheesy grins and Manly Tears to high schoolers, college students, and young adults around the world.
Krillin. The guy has diedthree times (four if you count GT) in the show. Plus, he always has to make the painful decision between kindness and saving the world through cruelty.
Gohan for all of the hardships he went through during his childhood. Unlike his father, he never really wanted to be a fighter. He had to witness his father die two times and see his friends get tortured by Cell.
Future Trunks. He comes from a hellhole of a future where two Ax Crazy androids can kill him at any time. He then loses his friend/mentor Gohan. You just wanna give the poor guy a hug.
You can say what you want about Chi-Chi, but she also qualifies as a woobie. Although she may be hostile, she has to constantly live alone and worry about the life and health of her son and husband while they’re fighting Omnicidal Maniacs, which is why she may be driven crazy sometimes.
Woolseyism: Quite a few, but the most obvious is Mr. Satan being renamed Hercule.
Changing Oolong's wish from "The panties off a hot babe" to "The world's most comfortable underwear" just makes the first wish in the series even funnier.*
In the dub, at least, Pilaf had already said, "I wish for the world," so Oolong quickly came up with something that would keep that sentence going.
What The Hell, Casting Agency? Having Masako Nozawa voice Bardock and Scholar Gohan. Although all of her other voices from the family are spot on, hearing an old woman's raspy man-voice as a ruthless warrior and a bespectacled adult man can be rather jarring. Raditz also got away with having different voice, so why not those two?
Pauline Newstone from the Ocean Dub and Linda Young from Funimation as Frieza. Not only sound they nothing like the original, but the sheer fact that Frieza is voiced by a woman is just plain wrong.
