YMMV / Masako X - Dragon Ball What-If

• Author's Saving Throw: Due to the Negative reaction to the Sudden Downer Ending of "What If Goku Married Bulma?" in the below mentioned Broken Base, Masako X relented and stated afterwards he'll release an alternate ending.
• Broken Base: The What If Goku Married Bulma series quickly veered into this when Masako opted to go for a Sudden Downer Ending out of the blue. He reasoned that he wanted to experiment more with his stories to explore the possibility that not every change would result in a happy ending. This did not go over quite well, with the ending being criticized as being rushed and Masako himself got accused of turning it into a mean-spirited Author Tract at people who ship Goku and Bulma. On the opposite end, there were people who praised it for breaking the trend of Happy Endings for the Long Runners and appreciated the change of pace. Still others thought that downer endings are fine, but thought this one was sudden and forced. Regardless, within hours, Masako responded with the above Author's Saving Throw after he conceded that the ending was unsatisfactory.
• Catharsis Factor: There's A LOT. Many of Masako's stories often show the other Z Fighters outside of Goku and Vegeta faring far better than they initially did in canon. A couple of popular such examples include the stories of "What If Krillin Became a Saiyan?", "What If Kid Goku Turned Super Saiyan?", and even "What if Hercule trained with Roshi?/What if Hercule was a Z-Fighter?" (which even turns Yamcha of all people into a cyborg, the same type as 17 and 18).
  • Vegeta being the one to kill Freeza (in "What If Vegeta Was The First Super Saiyan?") is something fans everywhere have wanted to see for years.
  • Seeing the characters using common sense for a change and actually avoiding a lot of foolish decisions they made in canon.
  • And for those who don't like Vegeta or genuinely still believe that he got off far too easy for his all his crimes in canon, you will find a great deal of stress relief here, as many many MANY of Masako's stories involve and show the prince getting beaten, humiliated, called out for his actions, pride and stupidity, and outright killed off in many brutal fashions (to far greater extents than he ever did in canon, by the way).
    • Special mention goes to the redemption stories of Raditz, who, unlike his brother, regularly stood up to Vegeta, surpassed and beat him, and called him out on his blind hubris and adherence to the now empty and defunct Saiyan class system. And Nappa, who even further surpassed and humiliated the prince (due to Vegeta being dead for most of the story until the Battle Of Gods arc), and even more thoroughly called Vegeta out, than Raditz did in his story, on his upbringing, his blind belief in the class system, his actions because of it, and thoroughly debunking his pride in being the prince of a race of heartless killers who slaughtered millions for their own enjoyment. The best part? Nappa was genuinely doing this to help Vegeta.
    • And another special one goes to Bulma in "What If Gohan Was The First Super Saiyan?". Vegeta and Bulma got to interact and form a relationship with each other much earlier here, and when Vegeta tried to sell out and abandon the team (Bulma included) to Freeza while he himself slipped away, Bulma (rightfully hurt) has nothing but brutal choice words for Vegeta and coldly tells him outright that she wants nothing more to do with him. This pleased many people out there who hated how seemingly quick Bulma was to dump Yamcha for Vegeta, in spite of everything Vegeta helped do to half of their friends in canon prior. Bonus points in that it seemed like even Goku himself, of all people, had finally had enough of Vegeta's antics by that point.
    • Bonus: She and Yamcha actually stay a couple this time and even get married.
    • Also, Super Saiyan Gohan killing Nappa earlier in the same story after Nappa infamously killed Piccolo is another delightful treat.
  • For everyone tired of seeing Vegeta get treated like crap in these stories, "What if Videl was a Z-Fighter?" turns out pretty well for him. His Jerkass traits from canon are toned down, he gets to be the one to kill Freeza (without the planet getting blown up), and even gets to turn Super Saiyan God first. Considering how he usually ends up dead before he can do much of anything, its nice to see him treated with respect.
    • Also from "What if Videl was a Z-Fighter?", Videl beating up Spopovich, which Masako even noted was cathartic to him. She gets a beam through the chest from Yamu, to spoil her victory, but still.
  • Considering how despicable they are in canon, seeing the future versions of Android 17 and 18 get swept and killed fairly easily in a pleasant sight to see.
  • People who hate Chi-Chi's usual portrayal will love seeing Gohan finally stand up to her, and Nappa (in "What If Nappa Turned Good?"), after finally getting fed up with both of the two's iron grip over his life. As not only does he call them both out on it, but he develops a rebellious attitude and runs away from home to move in with Videl (who's more than approving of Gohan's more assertive demeanor this time around) just to finally get away from them.
  • Young Caulifla more-or-less doing the same in her story where she is Goku's daughter. With the young Saiyan outright kicking Chi-Chi in the shin.
  • When Vegeta's usual antics lead to him making the situation worse (and ultimately ruining both Gohan and Videl's lives beyond repair) in the final part of "What If Mr. Satan Was Evil", Gohan finally has enough of it, beats Vegeta down while calling him out in his blind pride and rhetoric in a dead race of barbarians who enjoyed slaughtering millions. One of his last lines towards the prince is what really sells it.
    Gohan: "You are the Prince of a CEMETARY!!!!!!"
  • The real king here is ''What If Freeza Became A Destroyer." For everyone utterly fed up with the Zenis' utterly callous and uncaring attitude towards the multiverse, their childish obsession with In having fun instead of doing their jobs, many cheered when Dai and Freeza effectively tricked them and sneakily transferred their power to Freeza so he could become the new omni king, and effectively sealing them in a pocket dimension for all of eternity, so they play to their hearts' content for all of reality without Anyone ever bothering them again. Given how so many of the problems in canon can all be traced back to them, this made many fans cheer.
• Complete Monster: Trogen, Freeza (written fanfic), and Goku Black/Zamasu. See those pages for details.
  • What If Bardock Convinced The Saiyans? (link): Frieza is the ruler of the Frieza Force who despises the Saiyan race. Attempting to eradicate the Saiyan race, Frieza blows up their home planet, shooting down any escape pods that fly in his direction. Upon finding out that there are survivors of his attack, Frieza tasks Nappa with finding them so that he can finish what he started. When Nappa and Zarbon fail to defend one of Frieza's planets from a Saiyan attack, Frieza kills Zarbon for his failure. Frieza then begins to repeatedly mortally wound Nappa in order to trigger his Zenkai Boosts so that he will get stronger, as well as using him to vent his anger over his falling empire. After Nappa eventually breaks from this, he tasks the Saiyan to guard another planet where he slaughters half of the attacking force. When Nappa breaks free from Frieza's control thanks to Vegeta, Frieza coldly executes Nappa due to having no more use for him.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Inverted in What If Beerus Never Woke Up?. As some YouTube commenters have pointed out, since Buu is able to regenerate from anything short of complete annihilation and to breathe in space, he'll probably survive Freeza's Supernova, and since both Mr. Satan and Bee were killed by the destruction of the Earth, he's gonna be very pissed off. Freeza's only saving grace would be for Buu to not be able to figure out he was the one responsible, and even if he didn't, the Kais can, ironically enough, help him by pointing him in the right direction.
• Idiot Ball: In What If Vegeta Was The First Super Saiyan?, Whis fully believes everything Vegeta tells him about Goku, not bothering to use his staff to check if what he told him was actually true or not.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • The ending of What If Yamcha Destroyed The Universe? features Shenron reassuring Yamcha that while he may have an embarrassing legacy, he is still important and that he would never betray his friends.
  • Guldo and Krillin bonding in What If the Ginyu Force Turned Good?
  • What if Future Gohan Survived? in a nutshell. Gohan and Trunks manage to defeat the androids by working together, and with Goku revealing where New Namek is they're able to revive the other Z-Fighters, with Goku later being revived by Whis. By the end of the video, they're still recovering, but the future is in much better hands, and without Goku Black or Zamasu they're able to see some semblance of peace.
  • In What If Raditz Went To Earth Instead of Goku?, Granpda Gohan is just as kind and caring of a Parental Substitute towards Raditz as he was to Goku in canon proper, even after learning of his Saiyan heritage. When Raditz admits to being ashamed of his cowardly and self-preserving nature, Grandpa Gohan assures him that it's good he's not like the average Saiyan.
  • In What If Goku Had A Sister?, Jocha's sheer elation at finding out that her younger brother not only survived, but has a fiance (and a strong one, at that), and that she has finally broken free of Freeza and Vegeta. She also wants him to start training with her, not simply because of the Saiyan love of battle and strength, but because she wants to make sure he can defend himself if anyone from her past shows up. She's also proud of him in that despite him being weak (power-level wise), he's very clearly skilled, as she witnesses at the World Martial Arts tournament, which is an interesting variation on the normal Saiyan obsession with strength.
• He Really Can Act/Man of a Thousand Voices: Masako was already an impressive Goku and Gohan, but he really gets to show off his range as both of them and impersonating several other Dragon Ball characters' dub and abridged voices in a number of scenarios.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: His What If Broly Had Turned Good? scenario. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, that's exactly what happens, albeit under different circumstances. Also this for extra chuckles:
  "BUT MASAKO, BROLY'S A MOVIE CHARACTER! HOW DARE YOU MAKE HIM CANON!"
• Jerkass Woobie: Nappa from What if Bardock Convinced the Saiyans?. His homeworld is destroyed, and to his knowledge, only he and two children survived. Then, he had to serve under Freeza, and Raditz abandoned him and Vegeta. He later comes back and easily defeats Nappa while Bardock, Goku and Casava fight and basically kidnap Vegeta. He is then forced by Freeza to try to find the remnants of the Saiyan race or to be killed by the emperor. When Nappa finally finds New Vegeta, the Saiyans are already gone to attack the Freeza Force. Then, he, Zarbon and Dodoria try to confront them, but Dodoria dies in the fight and Zarbon is later killed by Freeza in frustration for their failure at bringing the rebels to him. In order to save his life, Nappa reminds Freeza of the Zenkai Boosts his species benefits from, only for the tyrant to shoot him mortally before getting him healed, and it's implied and later confirmed that he keeps on doing this, to the point of making him almost as powerful as his first form.
• Magnificent Bastard: Zamasu. See that page for details.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "But Masako *insert complaint*!"
  • "UNSUBSCRIBED!"
  • "There is no Fake Namek/Garlic Jr. saga, moving on."
  • "That is until *insert frequently occurring character* shows up!"
  • "WHY DO YOU HATE VEGETA?!"
• Tear Jerker:
  • The end of "What if Goku Married Bulma?" Up until the Buu Saga, the story had mostly been a lighthearted, fun adventure. But by the end, our heroes are dead and Buu is free to terrorize the universe, and even before that Goku and Bulma's marriage was on the rocks. While Masako has never shied away from Downer Endings, this one sticks out because of how sudden and undeserved it feels.
  • The finale of "What if Mr Satan became King of Earth?" has Mr Satan find Videl's corpse amidst flashbacks of his last days with Miguel and stumbling over having to tell Videl that she was dead. Mr. Satan ends up Killed Off for Real by Dabura and Gohan the most hated man on the planet who blames himself for everything that happened. Videl is brought back, but she can never have a normal life.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: What If Vegeta Was The First Super Saiyan? effectively wipes away all the Character Development Vegeta goes through in the series proper with Vegeta remaining an unrepentant Token Evil Teammate and Karma Houdini. MasakoX admitted that this was why he struggled to find a way to continue it in a satisfying manner, with a two-year-gap before he did part 4.
  • The Sudden Downer Ending to What If Goku Married Bulma got this reaction upon release from many people, due to how some felt it was a massive insult to the initial idea that was at that point relatively well recieved, to the point where Masako X himself essentially apologized by stating that he'll make a new ending for the scenario.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic:
  • Surprisingly enough, Present Zamasu is this in What-If Vegito Stayed Fused? Part 4. When he and Vegito fight (in place of the Goku Vs. Present Zamasu fight in Super), he had his reservations on mortals, but at that point he hadn't concocted, let alone planned any of the horrible crimes he or his Alternate Selves committed in canon. As such, Vegito blasting Present Zamasu to smithereens for Black killing Future Bulma seemed rather cruel and heartless.
  • Tien and Chiaotzu ending up brainwashed by Babidi, and then promptly killed off without ever getting wished back in What If Nappa Turned Good? They may have cut ties with the heroes out of anger and resentment for accepting Nappa into their group, but seeing as how they were once their friends, they didn't deserve that. The fact that the heroes themselves, especially Goku, Nappa, and Gohan, don't even seem to care afterward makes it seem all the more cruel.
  • Dabura in What If Mr. Satan Was Evil? can be seen as this. After his Majinization goes away due to Babidi's death, he begins to explain to Gohan that he's no longer under Babidi's control and offers to form a truce, only for Gohan to cut him off, say he doesn't care, and uses Dabura's own sword to cut off his head.
• The Woobie: Yes, even in fan theories, this is bound to happen:
  • Son Goku:
    • In What If Goku Turned Super Saiyan Early?, Goku goes into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Krillin's killers, and personally kills King Piccolo thanks to his power increase by the Super Saiyan transformation. Unfortunately, due to both Kami and King Piccolo being linked to each other, Goku destroys the one chance to bring back his best friend.
    • In What If Goku Married Bulma?, Bulma, rather than Krillin, is murdered by Freeza, to the point where he transforms into Super Saiyan Grade 2 due to blind rage and grief, and scaring Gohan because of this.
  • In What If Cell Turned Good?, Present Cell/Android 21 is simply a happy bug man, but his life is turned upside-down when 17 and 18 want nothing to do with him. As the plot with Majin Buu progresses, he had to resort into absorbing Dabura, who becomes a literal devil on his shoulder. After he transforms into his Perfect Form with the twins' consent, his body is taken over, giving him an existential crisis because of how he was created. Luckily, he does overcome this and come to good terms with the twins.

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