History DragonBallZ / TropesQToZ

* TakingTheFightOuttaTown:

** Many of the fights take place in deserts. It's even a meme for Goku to ask to fight "somewhere empty"[[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lets-fight-somewhere-empty]].

** Goku has a very long temper. He's hard to truly anger and tends to go into TranquilFury when mad. ''However'', [[BewareTheNiceOnes when he snaps]], [[UnstoppableRage he snaps big time]]. His rage is noticeably different from Gohan's in that Gohan tends to go off like an explosion, while Goku is more like an out of control wildfire that someone dumped gasoline on.

** The World Army's futile attack on Cell. They had no idea just how powerful he is and assumed they could crush him with their military might. They even thought Cell was retreating from them when all he did was move to not let their attack wreck the arena he made. When they realized their salvo did absolutely nothing to Cell, they tried to retreat, only for Cell to mercilessly kill them all in one shot. He even comments that "stupidity must not go unpunished".

** Vegeta, took one of the most ''brutal'' and merciless beatings in the series by Frieza. Despite the vicious beating, it took a shot to the heart to kill him and even then it took him several minutes to die while talking.

** Master Karin of ''Dragon Ball'' looks like an ordinary house cat (albeit a [[FunnyAnimal walking, talking]] house cat) but is really over 800 years old.

* ReestablishingCharacterMoment: During the [[Recap/DragonBallZAndroidArc Android Arc]], there is a roughly three year TimeSkip from when Trunks first comes to the past (killing Frieza, giving medicine to Goku, and warning of the coming androids) to when Androids 19 and 20 show up. After the Z Fighters initially struggle with the androids, Vegeta arrives for the first time following the time skip. He has learned to go [[SuperMode Super Saiyan]] and effortlessly takes down 19 in a CurbStompBattle to show off his new strength.

While Goku did what he could, he stressed again and again that as he was dead, it was never meant to be his fight, and the next generation needed to save the Earth in his place. Him being resurrected was something akin to a GodzillaThreshold since a Kai giving his life to a mortal was unthinkable.\\

** Goku is well-known known throughout the universe as the person who defeated Frieza. It is brought up a few times by his friends and even the Kais. Him killing King Piccolo is also mentioned now and then, mostly by Piccolo and the King of the World when he sees Goku on television. In the Android/Cell Saga, him defeating the Red Ribbon Army single-handily is brought up a lot since that is the reason why Gero wants revenge on him.
** Frieza often brags about how he can destroy planets effortlessly and how easy it was to wipe out the Saiyans without going past his first transformation. Which makes his humiliation and defeat at the hands of Goku sting all the more. Super Saiyan Goku even delivers this stinger immediately after standing still and taking one of Frieza's [[BeamSpam death beams]] [[NoSell to the face]].

** Trunks slicing Frieza into pieces is mentioned often to show what a badass he is, and to show how powerful the androids are since Trunks can't defeat them.
** Before Pikkon curb stomps the combined force of him, Frieza, King Cold, and most of the Ginyu Force, Cell reminded Frieza that he was the one who killed Goku.

** Being the Guardian of the Earth, aka god, Kami rarely takes students and when he does it's under abnormal circumstances. He trains Goku because he is the only person able to beat Piccolo outside of himself and Mr. Popo. He can't kill Piccolo without killing himself and Mr. Popo won't do anything that will bring harm to Kami. He then trains the other Z-Fighters because the Saiyans were coming to wipe out all life on Earth.

** Fridge Logic dictates this is why Great Ape form increases a Saiyan's strength and ki ten-fold. Growing to giant proportions allows them to access additional strength and ki, which would be needed to prevent their body collapsing under its own weight.

** During the Buu Saga, Gohan teaches Videl ''ki'' control and flight. However, when the Z-Fighters fly off in search of Babidi's spaceship, Videl eventually has to bow out because she can't keep up, and can be seen shielding her eyes from the wind with her arms. This seems to imply that the energy aura put out by ''DBZ'' characters during high-speed flight takes care of all the minor concerns like wind, friction, etc.

** When Funimation restored Shunsuke Kikuichi's background music for the English 5.1 track in their ''Dragon Ball Z'' season box sets, this did not include any vocal [=OSTs=] in the background soundtrack. Those simply played silently. Similarly, their dub of the original ''Dragon Ball'' (whose US soundtrack ''always'' featured Kikuichi's music) also couldn't feature the vocal songs, and the narrator was usually given more dialogue to fill up the silence.

** Vegeta is a little smarter about this than Frieza as he is more of a schemer, but it's still there. He almost obsessively remembers those who have slighted him (this is one of his major goals for being on Namek) and in Goku's case dedicated his life to vengefully defeating him, an animosity that lasted far past his HeelFaceTurn. His ego-driven desire to utterly finish if not humiliate those who have defeated him has led to a lot of pain and failure on his part, which of course leads to more bitterness. It is a major part of his CharacterDevelopment that he learns to let go of most of his bitterness towards Goku by the end of Z.

* RetroactiveIdiotBall: After his training with King Kai is complete, Goku is forced to run all the way back down Snake Way in order to reach the Otherworld check-in station, and thus return to Earth. Later, during the Cell saga, Goku asks for King Kai's help in locating the Namekian's new home, stating that he will use his Instant transmission technique (which he learned from the Yardrat race in the interim) to go there and recruit a new Guardian of Earth. King Kai then reveals that he knows the same technique. This of course raises the question of why King Kai couldn't have used that technique to bring Goku straight to the check-in station himself.
* RevisitingTheRoots: The Buu Saga goes back to the more humor tone from the beginning of the series, after a long time being a fighting series. It gives the Buu Saga an uneven tone where it has some of the funniest moments in the series mixed in with some of the most tragic and [[DarkestHour darkest moments]].

** Vegeta when he was young. Even as an adult, he still have spades of this, especially when he meets someone stronger than him.
** Despite possibly being 70 years old or more Frieza acts like a brat most of the time when he does not get his way. His brattiness get worse after Goku beats him and he become obsessed with revenge and reclaiming his title as the Strongest in the Universe.

** In the Saiyan Saga Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha filled this role. These three characters specifically have been around since the original ''Dragon Ball''. They all come back, but that didn't make their deaths any less sad at the time.

** The Earth itself becomes this near the end of the Buu Saga. Kid Buu showed that he wasn't like any other villain in the series by destroying Earth without even bothering dealing with Goku or Vegeta.
* SacrificialRevivalSpell: An amusing but but still touching instance of this occurs late in the Buu saga of ''Dragon Ball Z''. The beyond ancient Old Supreme Kai gives up his life energy so Goku, as a dead man stuck in other world, can fight elsewhere/live normally again. His halo vanishes and the Old Kai, without pain or distress, gains one.
* SadBattleMusic: In ''Dragon Ball Z'' episode 25 (and in one ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' episode, which is now a rerun post-2011), Krillin and Gohan fight Nappa to a sad fighting theme. Averted in the Western dub, where it is replaced with a more action-y theme.

** When Goku went Super Saiyan the first time, he is notably not completely sane. He is nearly consumed by hatred and anger and switches between his normal TranquilFury and [[UnstoppableRage screaming in rage]].

* SexySurfacingShot: Goku nonchalantly surfaces from Princess Snake hot spring right in front of her, [[InnocentFanserviceGuy without realizing she would find seeing him naked to be embarrassing]] and she gets stuck in a state between PleasePutSomeClothesOn and EatingTheEyeCandy.

** Dr. Gero is so brilliant that he creates multiple cyborgs and Android more powerful than the second strongest being in the universe, Freeza and the strongest Super Saiyans ''without ever leaving the Earth'', a very remote and weak planet. He then converts himself into a cyborg.
** Dr. Wheelo from the movie ''Anime/DragonBallZTheWorldsStrongest'' is much like Dr.Gero, a brilliant scientist. He transplanted his brain into a mecha. His goal is to take over Goku's body by transplanting his brain in it.
* SenselessSacrifice: Very few sacrifices have the tendency to work. ''Dragon Ball'' {{deconstruct|ion}}s this trope thoroughly. In some cases, the sacrifice makes things worse like Vegeta killing himself to stop Buu ruined Goku's plan to use the FusionDance with Vegeta.

** [[GalacticConqueror Frieza]] is a villain with a number of OneWingedAngel forms, and as he successfully transforms into the next form, the previous form's damage is healed, as shown when he loses part of his tail in his second form, but as soon as he transforms into the third, the tail has regrown.

* SharedFamilyQuirks: Both of Goku's sons share his love for food, nature, helping others, and pure heart. Gohan is more mature and serious, while Goten is like Goku as a child except with some social skills. [[BewareTheNiceOnes They all also have powerful tempers]] that flare up [[RageBreakingPoint when their love ones are in danger]].

** Gotenks puts being showy above defeating Majin Buu. This cost him the fight and got everyone on Kami's Lookout killed. It also gave Buu time to think of countermeasures against Gohan.

** Goku himself is a NiceGuy and SpiritedCompetitor who dislikes wanton killing and he would never harm innocent people. His brother Raditz is a cruel DirtyCoward who enjoys killing and routinely liquidates entire planets for money. They are both like and unlike most other Saiyans in completely opposite ways.

** Vegeta is constantly tense and angry, extremely proud, brutish, has a hard time expressing affection even for his own family, and (like all Saiyans) is a major BloodKnight. His brother Tarble (introduced in a 2009 TV special) is gentle, polite, self-effacing, and was actually [[TheUnfavorite sent to a remote planet by King Vegeta because of his utter lack of battle instincts]]. Their taste in wives is also completely different: Vegeta gets with Bulma, who's headstrong, brassy, and cunning (and was the only person who not only put up with Vegeta's crap, but could occasionally bring him in line), while Tarble marries Gure, an alien who's the definition of YamatoNadeshiko.

** Goku's Kamehameha and Spirit Bomb.

* SimpleSolutionWontWork: When everyone has gathered the Dragon Ball's before the Saiyan's arrival, Oolong jumps in before anyone can stop and asks Shenron to simply get rid of the Vegeta and Nappa, instead of reviving Goku as planned. Bulma snaps at him, but Oolong pragmaticaly points out [[JerkassHasAPoint the Saiyans are the immediate threat and they can simply use the next wish to bring Goku back]]. It becomes moot, as Shenron explains, he can only grant wishes that are within Kami's power, so they go with the original plan of bringing Goko back.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Very idealistic, helped by the Dragon Balls that can reset many of the bad things that happens during the course of the series. There are some exceptions like ''History of Trunks'' that is extremely cynical and deconstructs many aspects of the series. ''Bardock, Father of Goku'' is also very cynical.
* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: ''Dragon Ball'' is all over the scale. It started out as a comic manga that became much more serious as the story went on. Still, it never completely left its lighthearted roots, managing to insert comical elements even in serious situations and even the villains. The Buu Saga really slides the scale back to silliness by bring back much of the old humor and Buu himself who is more comical than all the previous ''Z'' villains, while at the same time he's by far the most dangerous, especially in his Super Buu and Kid Buu forms.
* SlidingScaleOfVillainEffectiveness: ''Extremely'' high. Even if the villain fails in their primary objective, they cause a lot of damage before going down like Vegeta and Frieza. Some outright succeed like Cell's quest to become perfect and Buu killing off the human race and blowing up the Earth. Good thing the heroes have the Dragon Balls.

** Believe it or not, Raditz is essentially the catalyst for the entire second half of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga. Had Raditz not remembered his little brother and come to Earth, the entire series would have been turned on its head: Piccolo and Goku would never have teamed up and thus Piccolo wouldn't have joined the Z-Fighters. He may have even remained evil, and continued on with a plan to terrorize planet Earth, had he and Goku not joined forces. Goku wouldn't have trained with King Kai, but merely at his own pace, and would have been far too weak to combat the androids by the time they arrived, assuming he hadn't already died from the heart virus he was to contract. Gohan would never been trained by Piccolo, and thus would never have become a fighter at all. Vegeta and Nappa would never have received the transmission involving the Dragon Balls, and thus would never have visited the Earth, thus remaining under Freeza's thumb — Freeza himself would also never have been killed, allowing the Cold family to continue terrorizing the universe. Despite being the weakest villain at the start of the series, Raditz coming to Earth is what allowed the Z series to be what it became.

** Raditz. Thought it was a good idea to kidnap Goku's son to force him to join him. He never expected Goku to come and fight him or that his tail would be vulnerable. When he was at Goku's mercy he [[DirtyCoward begged for his life]] and when he was spared he kicked Goku in the chest, stomp on his ribs, and laughed about how gullible Goku was. He then tried to kill Gohan right in front of his father and had the nerve to turn his back on Goku. When he was once again at Goku's mercy, he begged for his life. This time no one listened.
** Despite having several savvy moments and being very smart and cunning, Frieza firmly falls into this [[SmugSuper thanks to his arrogance]]. He relies on his raw power so much that he has nothing to fall back on once that proves to be ineffective outside of destroying the planet he's standing on since he can survive in space. He is also lazy, [[OrcusOnHisThrone using his men to do all the work for him and literally did nothing until they were all dead]]. On top of all of that, his genocide of the Saiyans largely backfired because he didn't kill the few survivors and toyed with Goku instead of killing him outright. In ''Resurrection 'F'', he's reduced even further into this territory once Goku and Vegeta beats him. He throws a tantrum and whines about how he couldn't lose again.

** Babidi falls into this because he is a physically weak wizard in a world fill with badasses. He needs others to do his dirty works and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness gets rid of them as soon as they're not needed]]. His smugness comes back to bite him with Buu.

** To start with the Saiyans. All of them, except Goku, are extremely arrogant and boost about being the strongest race in the universe. They think lowly of anyone that is not themselves, and even think low of each other depending on if a Saiyan is born a low class. Vegeta was the worst calling himself a super elite because he is the Saiyan prince.
** Frieza, he continuously called himself the strongest in the universe and wanted to become an immortal so he would basically be [[AGodAmI a god]]. He is so self-assured about his strength that he literally did nothing as his men were killed by Vegeta. He also torments his foes when fighting since he knows they can't do anything against him.

** Buu, more specifically Super Buu. Calls himself the strongest in the universe and would absorb anyone who threatens that title. After absorbing Piccolo and gaining a major boost to his intelligence he starts messing with people's heads about how feeble they are to him.
** Not even the heroes are safe from this trope. Case in point, Gohan after becoming a Super Saiyan 2. He could had easily ended the fight with Cell in seconds, but instead took delight in slowly picking the android apart, making sure Cell knew he didn't stand a chance.
** Goku himself fell into this when he reached Super Saiyan for the first time. Like Gohan above he could had ended the fight with Frieza in minutes, but he wanted Frieza to know that even at his best he never stood a chance at winning. To that end, he allowed Frieza to reach his max strength and gave him several free hits.

** No mention of Princess Snake?

** Flight (bukujutsu, or "air dancing") and the ability to [[SupernaturalSensitivity sense ki]] and suppress one's own ki were borderline {{story breaker power}}s when first introduced in ''Dragon Ball'', however by the end of the Saiyan Saga they're considered basic techniques that. practically everyone can do. This is especially the case with flight, as Goten's inability to fly despite his power is considered highly unusual.
** During the Frieza Saga, the Super Saiyan was built up as being the ultimate warrior, with there only supposedly being only one in the universe. Come the Cell Saga, [[UniquenessDecay not only do four of the main cast have the ability to become Super Saiyan]], but it's no longer enough to beat the main villain, but new, more powerful forms of Super Saiyan have to be introduced. Beyond that, in the Buu Saga, even the kids are turning Super Saiyan, and the new forms of Super Saiyan (bar Super Saiyan 3, which had its own problems) aren't enough to beat Buu so the concept of fusion takes its place. It's not until ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' that the original Super Saiyan gets a new lease on life thanks to the discovery of god energy.
** This is also noticeable in terms of the mentors that have trained Goku and his friends. Goku was trained by Korin just before taking apart Tao and the entire Red Ribbon Army singlehanded. Later, Goku is trained by Kami before the 23rd Budokai while Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu receive Korin's training. Out of all of them, Tien does the best in making it to the semi-finals but is beaten by Goku. During the Saiyan arc, they all get trained by Kami and still prove ineffectual against the Saiyans, with Goku, now with King Kai's training, the only one who stands a chance. Finally, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha receive training from King Kai, with all of them save for Piccolo still left in the dust and unable to do anything of worth after the Freeza arc (and in Piccolo's case, it seems to be more because he fused with Nail than Kai's training).

** The post-Buu Saga was intended to be another soft reboot, which saw a 10-year TimeSkip. Much of the cast is now older, and Goku now has a granddaughter from Gohan and Videl named Pan. He's scouting out the World Martial Arts tournament to find the reincarnation of Kid Buu in order to train him. Toriyama ultimately opted to abruptly end the series here rather than continue it, however.

** Gohan and Krillin become this to both Vegeta and Frieza on Namek. First, Gohan steals the Dragon Ball that Vegeta took and hidden. Second, Gohan and Krillin teaming up with Vegeta against the Ginyu Force kept themselves alive long enough for Goku to arrive and save them, taking out the last major force on Frieza's side. Then, their friendship with the Namekians gave them access to the Dragon Balls, allowing them to wish Piccolo back to life, bring him to Namek, and deny Frieza and Vegeta their chance at immortality.
** Vegeta did this twice to Super Buu. Him being semi-revived completely screwed Super Buu, who was only seconds away from complete victory since Goku had no one to fused with except Mr. Satan. And when Buu was about to kill Goku, he pulled down the pod that held Fat Buu. [[DeaderThanDead This action completely erased Super Buu from existence]].

** Cell acts like one after he becomes perfect, until Super Saiyan 2 Gohan beats the mess out of him.
** All forms of Majin Buu are incredibly spirited competitor. They're like Goku in many ways. However, Super Buu is less so than the others since he will pitch a fit if he's losing.

* SpoilerOpening: Not the original Japanese opening, but the Ocean dub version with ''Rock the Dragon''. It spoils Goku and Vegeta becoming Super Saiyans, and Trunks is in the character line-up, despite not even appearing until the next story arc after the dub was cancelled. It reveals that Vegeta will join the main cast, he was a villain up to that point, and it also has a blink-and-miss shot of Cyborg Frieza who is being attacked by Trunks, who is in his Super Saiyan form.

** In the original series, Piccolo was a crackling villain who was prone to {{Slasher Smile}}s. After mellowing out, he rarely show emotions beside frustration or annoyance. He does shows a softer side around Gohan and loses much of his stoic demeanor after merging with Kami.

** Not main timeline Gohan, but his future counterpart. [[BreakTheCutie After over a decade of tragic and pain]], Gohan rarely cracks a smile and has a scowl almost permanently embedded on his face.
** Future Trunks rarely smiles and is almost always frowning. [[BreakTheCutie Giving his backstory]], this is completely understandable. He does, however, give tender smiles when he's around his mother, Gohan, and when he first meets Vegeta.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Exactly how strong and fast the characters are compared to a human isn't always vary consistent. To give one example of many, in one episode Gohan is able to stop a barrage of bullets with a single finger. Many episodes later, when he's literally hundreds of times stronger, he fails to catch an earring that was tossed to him. If he was fast he should be this wouldn't have been an issue. Flying speed, especially when a character needs to fly a great distance, just always seems to be "as fast as they need to be to make the plot work." Even in ''Battle of the Gods'', the speed that Beerus and Goku fly around at doesn't seem remarkably faster than the Flying Nimbus back in the Dragonball, and from the relative speed of everyone watching them, it's not a case of them being slowed down for the viewers benefit either.

** Goku, given all the times he arrives late, is dead, or [[DeusExitMachina just not in the picture for whatever reason]], Toriyama seems to think he's a story-breaking character. He's one of the strongest, most dependable characters in the series who can teleport, an extremely rare skill on its own, and is the only one besides Gotenks (a fusion of two characters) to reach Super Saiyan 3, which has the power to kill Majin Buu. Many of the sagas would end early if Goku was around from the start, and the time he wasn't around ''once'' was enough to plunge Earth into a BadFuture. Also, going by the Movie 7 and the games, Goku can actually absorb the Spirit Bomb into himself, making him ''many'' times stronger.

* SuicidalOverconfidence: Plenty of the series' curb stomp fights have this in spades, as characters have no idea what they're up against. Notable examples include Nappa against Goku, Vegeta against Frieza, Frieza against Super Saiyan Goku, Super Vegeta against Perfect Cell, and base-form Gotenks against Majin Buu.

** Frieza was ''born'' extremely powerful. The monster we saw on Namek was a mutant who never had to train to obtain his power unlike the main characters up to that point. When he does finally trains in ''Anime/Resurrection 'F'' he's able to match ''Goku'', whose powers are almost on par with [[PhysicalGod Beerus]] in just four months in-universe. He also have extreme survivability. He can live in space without the need to breathe and live even if he's sliced into pieces.

** Goku has a version of this trope when he realizes that the only way to match Vegeta who greatly outclasses him is to use a Kaioken X3. He was explicitly told by King Kai to never go past a double since his body couldn't handle it and he could explode. Having no choice, Goku embraces himself for the pain.

** 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.

** What Mr. Satan was reduced to when Majin Buu ''[[KillEmAll killed off the human race]]''.

** Gohan is an easygoing person like most in his family, but hurting people he cares for or using your power to abuse others is a ''major'' BerserkButton for him. With that said, he only truly reached his breaking point after Cell stepped on Android 16's head, killing him. That trauma on top of all Gohan had been through is what caused him to go Super Saiyan 2 and maintain his power outside his standard explosion of rage.

** Besides frustration, Tien rarely shows any emotion even when badly matched. It helps to make him the ComicallySerious. [[BerserkButton He only shows real anger if Chiaotzu is in danger]].

** Buu at his weakest was better than Cell at his strongest in terms of raw power (Cell was a near match for a Super Saiyan 2, Buu laughably outclassed them). Like Cell, Buu could regenerate, and took it UpToEleven (his individual atoms were sufficient to resurrect him in seconds). He also had [[CannibalismSuperpower the ability to absorb other beings]], gaining their abilities, strength, and skills... which he abused the hell out of. On top of that, he was also magical - pretty much a low-level RealityWarper, with the ability to turn just about anyone into just about anything ([[BigEater usually food]]). Once he'd gotten the ball rolling, the only being in the entire universe able to stand against him was Vegito, a fusion of the two strongest warriors on the planet.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: See [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/DragonBall here]].

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair:
** Bulma, Bra and Trunks (light purple, in his case).
** For the bad guys, Zarbon has green hair and Bojack's group has orange hair.