History FranchiseOriginalSin / DragonBall

* A particular case of the above is Goku's tendency to show an unusual amount of mercy to villains. However, Goku had a habit of sparing his foes since even before the Saiyan Saga, starting with sparing Piccolo Jr. However, there were a number of other factors that made this decision seem pretty reasonable, some of which Goku points out: Goku had proven he was stronger than Piccolo and could beat him again if need be, Piccolo's life is linked to Kami and killing him would deactivate the Dragon Balls, and Piccolo hadn't actually done anything ''that'' evil aside from seek revenge. From there, Goku would sometimes give mercy to his foes still, but in most cases the series would usually show this as either a flaw and have consequences for doing so, or acknowledge that Goku doing so was questionable, such as with Vegeta and Frieza. Goku giving the senzu bean to Cell was where it began to become controversial, as Goku was actively aiding an opponent that was BeyondRedemption, he knew he couldn't beat, had no reason to still be alive, and was currently a threat to not just the people of Earth, but his ''son'', all for the sake of a plan that ended up being one tossed head away from failure. [[WhatTheHellHero This was outright called out by characters as a bad move]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Goku reacts with horror at what he's done]], making it controversial for fans, but making it clear his actions weren't right. In the ''Super'' era though, when Goku tried to give mercy to Moro, who lacked any of the previously mentioned justifications, viewers were confused and baffled by the choice to have Goku do so. And unlike with Cell, nobody calls Goku out on this bad choice even when it backfires, making it too hard for viewers to believe that it made sense for Goku to do so.

* A particular case of the above is Goku's tendency to show an unusual amount of mercy to villains, which became criticized when Goku did so to Moro in the ''Super'' manga. However, Goku had a habit of sparing his foes since the original manga, such as sparing Piccolo Jr. However, there were a number of other factors that made this decision seem pretty reasonable, some of which Goku points out: Goku had proven he was stronger than Piccolo and could beat him again if need be, Piccolo's life is linked to Kami and killing him would deactivate the Dragon Balls, and Piccolo hadn't actually done anything ''that'' evil aside from seek revenge. From there, Goku would sometimes give mercy to his foes still, but in most cases the series would usually show this as either a flaw and have consequences for doing so, or acknowledge that Goku doing so was questionable, such as with Vegeta and Frieza. Goku giving the senzu bean to Cell was where it began to become controversial, as Goku was actively aiding an opponent that was BeyondRedemption, he knew he couldn't beat, had no reason to still be alive, and was currently a threat to not just the people of Earth, but his ''son'', all for the sake of a plan that ended up being one tossed head away from failure. [[WhatTheHellHero This was outright called out by characters as a bad move]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Goku reacts with horror at what he's done]], making it controversial for fans, but making it clear his actions weren't right. In the ''Super'' era though, when Goku tried to give mercy to Moro, who lacked any of the previously mentioned justifications, viewers were confused and baffled by the choice to have Goku do so. And unlike with Cell, nobody calls Goku out on this bad choice even when it backfires, making it too hard for viewers to believe that it made sense for Goku to do so.

* A particular case of the above is Goku's tendency to show an unusual amount of mercy to villains. The first real instance of this, though, is a rarely criticized one: at the end of the Piccolo Jr. arc, Goku not only spares Piccolo's life, but gives him a senzu bean for good measure and lets him go. Goku states that he did this because he wanted to have someone who could rival his strength. However, there were a number of other factors that made this decision seem pretty reasonable, some of which Goku points out: Goku had proven he was stronger than Piccolo and could beat him again if need be, Piccolo's life is linked to Kami and killing him would deactivate the Dragon Balls, and Piccolo hadn't actually done anything ''that'' evil aside from seek revenge. Later on, at the end of the Saiyan Saga, Goku demanded Vegeta be spared, which lacked most of the above: Vegeta was a known killer, he was stronger than Goku, and there was really no good reason that Goku knew of to keep him alive. This time, the only reason Goku gives is his Saiyan heritage demanding that he be able to fight Vegeta again. However, Goku didn't turn Vegeta into an immediate threat because of this: by this point, Vegeta was on death's door and retreating the battlefield, and not wanting to execute a disabled opponent is a fairly understandable moral position. Plus, [[MoralLuck though Goku couldn't know this]], both cases [[EnemyMine would pay off in the long term]]. Jump ahead to the Cell Saga and you have Goku giving the senzu bean to Cell--this time, Goku was actively aiding an opponent that was BeyondRedemption, he knew he couldn't beat, had no reason to still be alive, and was currently a threat to not just the people of Earth, but his ''son'', all for the sake of a plan that ended up being one tossed head away from failure. [[WhatTheHellHero This was outright called out by characters as a bad move]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Goku reacts with horror at what he's done]], making it controversial for fans, but making it clear his actions weren't right. In the ''Super'' era though, when Goku tried to give mercy to Moro, who lacked any of the previously mentioned justifications, viewers were confused and baffled by the choice to have Goku do so. And unlike with Cell, nobody calls Goku out on this bad choice even when it backfires, making it too much of a stretch for viewers to ignore.

** A particular case of the above is Goku's tendency to show an unusual amount of mercy to villains. The first real instance of this, though, is a rarely criticized one: at the end of the Piccolo Jr. arc, Goku not only spares Piccolo's life, but gives him a senzu bean for good measure and lets him go. Goku states that he did this because he wanted to have someone who could rival his strength. However, there were a number of other factors that made this decision seem pretty reasonable, some of which Goku points out: Goku had proven he was stronger than Piccolo and could beat him again if need be, Piccolo's life is linked to Kami and killing him would deactivate the Dragon Balls, and Piccolo hadn't actually done anything ''that'' evil aside from seek revenge. Later on, at the end of the Saiyan Saga, Goku demanded Vegeta be spared, which lacked most of the above: Vegeta was a known killer, he was stronger than Goku, and there was really no good reason that Goku knew of to keep him alive. This time, the only reason Goku gives is his Saiyan heritage demanding that he be able to fight Vegeta again. However, Goku didn't turn Vegeta into an immediate threat because of this: by this point, Vegeta was on death's door and retreating the battlefield, and not wanting to execute a disabled opponent is a fairly understandable moral position. Plus, [[MoralLuck though Goku couldn't know this]], both cases [[EnemyMine would pay off in the long term]]. Jump ahead to the Cell Saga and you have Goku giving the senzu bean to Cell--this time, Goku was actively aiding an opponent that was BeyondRedemption, he knew he couldn't beat, had no reason to still be alive, and was currently a threat to not just the people of Earth, but his ''son'', all for the sake of a plan that ended up being one tossed head away from failure. At that point, there was no justification for Goku's actions beyond selfish battle-hunger, and the fandom wouldn't forget.

* Goku's obsession with challenging every strong fighter he meets grates on some people in ''Super'', but in fact, he's always been like that. Due to the series being themed around fighting, and Goku's HotBlooded IdiotHero tendencies, he has been like this since as far back as both the original series and ''Z''. An example was when King Kai was explicitly telling him that Frieza was mondo bad news and to stay away, and Goku kept complaining that he wanted to "see what he's like". What made it less obvious then was that Goku was effectively out of the story for the most part; sure, Goku challenging Frieza seconds after landing on Namek would have been a ''terrible'' idea, and that's exactly why it never happened. But from then on, Goku continually made bad decisions for the sake of a good fight, such as allowing Gero to build the Androids, giving Cell a Senzu before fighting Gohan, half-assing the fight against Babidi and Majin Vegeta, and not killing Buu when he claims he could have done so just so that the kids would have something to do. This leads into the time of ''Super'', where [[{{Flanderization}} his desire to challenge strong fighters]] leads to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiotic decisions which endanger MULTIPLE worlds]].

* A common gripe about the Buu Saga and ''Super'' was the [[UniquenessDecay complete]] [[SoLastSeason devaluing]] of the Super Saiyan transformation, turning it from a destined unique affair only obtained after the peak of the race goes through emotional hell that even Goku feared would push him beyond rationality into a generic powerup that seemingly ''every'' Saiyan has at least one form of. In point of fact, this started all the way back at the very second Super Saiyan in the series - Trunks, who, in the manga, learned the transformation entirely offscreen. Similarly, Vegeta and Gohan just attain the form completely offscreen or with relative ease. Indeed, ''every'' Super Saiyan bar Goku learned it without any real struggle in the manga. And the idea that being a Super Saiyan makes the user [[SuperpoweredEvilSide more bloodthirsty]] didn't even last the length of the fight it was first used, with Goku sparing Frieza ''twice'' in that same fight (though that idea had a brief revival for Gohan and Cell). It wasn't as recognized then because of two factors: first, the anime added {{Filler}} or flashback episodes that showed those first transformations and generally at least tried to give them some emotional weight (Trunks in particular), and second, all three characters were already great warriors (and Gohan and Vegeta were well-established characters, while Trunks knowing it was basically a plot twist), which made them learning the form a comparatively easy pill to swallow. When the Buu Saga introduced Goten and Kid Trunks, ''literal children'' who had never fought seriously but still turned Super Saiyan [[note]]Though the series later provided an explanation for this: their fathers turned Super Saiyan, and both grew up in a time of peace, and as such provided them with more ease of the transformation [[/note]], and ''Super'' introduced the Universe 6 crew (who, though noted to be skilled, had nowhere near as much material establishing them as such), who basically figure it out minutes after showing up and seconds after realizing it ''exists'' (though, oddly, not at any point in their supposedly extensive fighting careers), then it became impossible to ignore that, in fact, the Super Saiyan transformation actually is that easy.

[[WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Plague of Gripes]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPwVuC3YOrc traces]] the problems with PowerLevels all the way back to the Mercenary Tao arc of the original ''Manga/DragonBall''. Prior to that time, Goku generally defeated people who could match him in a fight by learning new techniques, finding weaknesses in their fighting style, or getting help - but in the Tao arc, when Goku faces Tao again after going through TrainingFromHell, he doesn't demonstrate any new techniques or noticeably change up his fighting style; he just does everything he did before, looking exactly the same as before, but now it's arbitrarily enough to win because it's "stronger" now. It was a formula that worked out alright in that arc, partly because it was fresh and satisfying, but also because the power scale was low enough that physical improvements actually mattered and hadn't become [[LensmanArmsRace pushed into the ridiculous heights that would be seen later]]. But over the course of the franchise, the problem of PowerLevels being used to arbitrarily raise the stakes or resolve the conflict became overused to the point of comedy, and unlike the Tao arc, they would often be obtained through plot devices such as the zenkai boost or Super Saiyan [[HardWorkHardlyWorks rather than actual effort.]] In addition, the scale and feats of these PowerLevels became indistinguishable from each other aside from getting slightly different results, leading to the situation where fighters are intended to be ''trillions'' of times stronger, but seem to be on the same scale as King Piccolo most of the time and are still affected by things like weighted clothing or having rocks and boulders thrown at them.

* A common gripe about the Buu Saga and ''Super'' was the [[UniquenessDecay complete]] [[SoLastSeason devaluing]] of the Super Saiyan transformation, turning it from a destined unique affair only obtained after the peak of the race goes through emotional hell that even Goku feared would push him beyond rationality into a the pale, into a generic powerup that seemingly ''every'' Saiyan has at least one form of. In point of fact, this started all the way back at the very second Super Saiyan in the series - Trunks, who, in the manga, learned the transformation entirely offscreen. Similarly, Vegeta and Gohan just attain the form completely offscreen or with relative ease. Indeed, ''every'' Super Saiyan bar Goku learned it without any real struggle in the manga. And the idea that being a Super Saiyan makes the user [[SuperpoweredEvilSide more bloodthirsty]] didn't even last the length of the fight it was first used, with Goku sparing Frieza ''twice'' in that same fight (though that idea had a brief revival for Gohan and Cell). It wasn't as recognized then because of two factors: first, the anime added {{Filler}} or flashback episodes that showed those first transformations and generally at least tried to give them some emotional weight (Trunks in particular), and second, all three characters were already great warriors (and Gohan and Vegeta were well-established characters, while Trunks knowing it was basically a plot twist), which made them learning the form a comparatively easy pill to swallow. When the Buu Saga introduced Goten and Kid Trunks, ''literal children'' who had never fought seriously but still turned Super Saiyan [[note]]Though the series later provided an explanation for this: their fathers turned Super Saiyan, and both grew up in a time of peace, and as such provided them with more ease of the transformation [[/note]], and ''Super'' introduced the Universe 6 crew (who, though noted to be skilled, had nowhere near as much material establishing them as such), who basically figure it out minutes after showing up and seconds after realizing it ''exists'' (though, oddly, not at any point in their supposedly extensive fighting careers), then it became impossible to ignore that, in fact, the Super Saiyan transformation actually is that easy.

* A common gripe about the Buu Saga and ''Super'' was the [[UniquenessDecay complete]] [[SoLastSeason devaluing]] of the Super Saiyan transformation, turning it from a destined unique affair only obtained after the peak of the race goes through emotional hell, that even Goku feared would push him beyond the pale, into a generic powerup that seemingly ''every'' Saiyan has at least one form of. In point of fact, this started all the way back at the very second Super Saiyan in the series - Trunks, who, in the manga, learned the transformation entirely offscreen. Similarly, Vegeta and Gohan just come back from offscreen TrainingFromHell having already mastered the form. Indeed, ''every'' Super Saiyan bar Goku learned it offscreen in the manga. And the idea that being a Super Saiyan makes the user [[SuperpoweredEvilSide more bloodthirsty]] didn't even last the length of the fight it was first used, with Goku sparing Frieza ''twice'' in that same fight (with a brief revival for Gohan and Cell). It wasn't as recognized then because of two factors: first, the anime added {{Filler}} or flashback episodes that showed those first transformations, and generally at least tried to give them some emotional weight (Trunks in particular), and second, all three characters were already great warriors (and Gohan and Vegeta were well-established characters, while Trunks knowing it was basically a plot twist), which made them learning the form a comparatively easy pill to swallow. When the Buu Saga introduced Goten and Kid Trunks, ''literal children'' who had never fought seriously but still turned Super Saiyan [[note]]Though the series later provided an explanation for this: their fathers turned Super Saiyan, and both grew up in a time of peace, and as such provided them with more ease of the transformation [[/note]], and ''Super'' introduced the Universe 6 crew (who, though noted to be skilled, had nowhere near as much material establishing them as such), who basically figure it out minutes after showing up and seconds after realizing it ''exists'' (though, oddly, not at any point in their supposedly extensive fighting careers), then it became impossible to ignore that, in fact, the Super Saiyan transformation actually is that easy.

* The Saiyan Saga, despite setting the tone for the remainder of the series, also introduced many staples the franchise would be criticized for: PowerLevels inflating to illogical extremes (this is the first arc where the BigBad can outright destroy the planet, and even his [[TheDragon dragon]] starts the arc nearly ''four times'' stronger than the strongest heroes), BeamOWars as a symbol of extremely over-the-top and drawn-out fights, and everybody [[DroppedABridgeOnHim getting killed]] while waiting for Goku and his new power-up to save the day. This was all excusable in that it was ''new'', but it got old as each new saga came out.

* One criticism fans of the original series level at ''Z''/the ''Z'' era manga is that the series abandoned its original premise of being an adventure through a fantasy world where anything could seemingly happen. Instead ''Z'' became a sci-fi fighting series focused on long protracted fights with villains and largely linear engagements fighting their way up the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. However you could argue that ''Dragon Ball'' "abandoned its premise" (and started focusing more on fights), as soon as ''its second arc.'' The tournament saga didn't have the heroes explore new locations and all of the antagonists are now linked together by the tournament, unlike the previous random enemies. And a lot more emphasis was placed on the fights. While the follow up arc kind of attempts to return to the "find the dragon balls, explore the world idea," all of the villains in the arc work for the Red Ribbon army, somewhat limiting the scope of what can happen throughout the arc. The next two sagas are almost straight up ''Z'' material focused on tournaments and bringing down a single super powered antagonist and their henchman. However not only was it fresh at the time, but for viewers of the anime who were treated to plenty of one shot filler episodes and mini arcs the series did explore a world where anything could seemingly happen.

* As pointed out by Creator/TeamFourStar, the Saiyan Saga of ''Dragon Ball Z'', despite [[GrowingTheBeard setting the tone for the remainder of the series]], also introduced many staples the franchise would be criticized for: PowerLevels inflating to illogical extremes (this is the first arc where the BigBad can outright destroy the planet, and even his [[TheDragon dragon]] starts the arc nearly ''four times'' stronger than the strongest heroes), [[BeamOWar Beam-O-Wars]] as a symbol of extremely over-the-top and drawn-out fights, and everybody [[DroppedABridgeOnHim getting killed]] while waiting for Goku and his new power-up to save the day. This was all excusable in that it was ''new'', but it got old as each new saga came out.
** Related to this, Dragon Ball became far more about fighting threats through direct combat, resulting in characters whose abilities ''aren't'' related to martial arts or KiManipulation getting increasingly sidelined. While the Saiyan Saga essentially set this tone, some argue it went back to the original ''Dragon Ball'' wherein Bulma, Oolong, and Puar became increasingly less able to contribute to any problems the cast would face, and unfortunately also less relevant. (Also mocked by Creator/TeamFourStar when Bulma asks "Remember when we used to ''do'' stuff?" to a room filled with such characters) Later on, the sidelining expanded to other characters whose skillsets ''did'' include martial expertise such as Yajirobe, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, and 18, as every problem the cast would face would essentially become "Sit back and let the Saiyans handle it."

* As noted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTHi7I-bt9M&t=982s MistareFusion]] in WebVideo/DragonBallDissection, the actions of the main characters, at moments where every action determines the fate of the universe, is oft idiotic. This was a problem that hit its absolute low point during the Android and Buu Sagas, where the characters are ''warned'' about apocalyptic-level threats, but actively decide to allow said villains to arrive for the sake of testing their abilities. These decisions result in the deaths of ''thousands'' of people and entire planets getting blown up.[[note]]Cell failed to blow up Earth, but did destroy King Kai's planet.[[/note]] While the selfish whims and poor decisions of the characters were charming in early ''Dragon Ball'' where the stakes were mostly personal, by the time we're into the Android Saga, the fate of the world hinges on ''every'' battle. Whether or not this leads to a more interesting story [[BrokenBase has been hotly debated]] for ''decades'' at this point, but the real problem is the lack of InternalConsistency. While again, characters could change from moment to moment in ''Dragon Ball'', at that point, it had been largely a gag manga. In ''DBZ'', readers had been spoiled by the actions of the protagonists during the Saiyan & Frieza Sagas, where (a few blunders aside) everyone (including Vegeta) respected the immense stakes of the arc and acted with extreme cunning and foresight. The king of this inconsistency was Goku himself: in the fight with Frieza, Goku refuses to let Frieza power up to 100% and later tries to defeat Frieza by cutting him with his own Death Saucers... and then suddenly reverses his opinion on both points one chapter later. Furthermore, he sometimes spared opponents intent on ''conquest and genocide'' because they were NotWorthKilling or because they were a WorthyOpponent, but he would also kill opponents regardless because [[ThisIsUnforgivable they were so evil that they didn't deserve to live]].

* Complaints about the Ultimate Gohan powerup (aside from its ineffectual nature) tend to center on the fact that Gohan... didn't really work for it. There was no [[TrainingFromHell long training arc]], no history of battle, no genius breakthrough in technique, no grand sacrifice; instead, the Elder Kai appeared with almost no foreshadowing and proceeded to do a silly dance that turned Gohan from a rusty washout to arguably the strongest fighter in existence. But this was, in many respects, a repeat of a plot point from the Namek Saga, where Gohan had his power unlocked by Guru and got a zenkai boost, and saw a similarly excessive spike: he went from weaker than an EliteMook like Nappa to being able to give the third form of the WorldsStrongestMan a bloody nose. The difference was more or less the way it was treated by the plot; the first potential-unlock served only to keep Gohan out of CantCatchUp territory, and for most of the arc, he was treated as similar in power to Krillin, his brief battle with Frieza looking more like a freak outlier brought on by UnstoppableRage. On the other hand, the Elder Kai's powerup was treated as a clinching moment for the whole saga, and pushed Gohan up above Vegeta and Goku, which meant that it felt like it deserved ''some'' kind of weight, as opposed to being basically an accident. [[note]]Though considering that everything about the Elder Kai's technique revolves around gags (including that fact that Gohan has to stand/sit still the entire time), this complaint can feel more like MisaimedFandom for those who appreciated the gags.[[/note]]

* A common complaint in regards to later appearances of Bardock tend to lament [[AdaptationalBadass the ludicrous increases of power and importance he's received]], such as attaining Super Saiyan and killing Frieza's ancestor in ''Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock'' and being abducted by Towa and achieving Super Saiyan 3 in ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'', seeing it as diminishing Bardock's original character as a nobody whose efforts were DoomedByCanon. But really, the process started in [[Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku the original special]], where Bardock is given a rather high power level of 10,000 (making him stronger than elites like Nappa and on par with King Vegeta) and, in one scene, fights a large number of grunts solo and comes out on top long enough to confront Frieza personally. Later on, the manga added on the idea that Frieza does, in fact, remember Bardock, albeit only as a Saiyan who confronted him in space. What made it much more acceptable there is that Bardock was still shown as a mere EliteMook (being easily curbstomped by Dodoria and pathetically outclassed by Frieza), his efforts are ultimately pointless, and his NominalHero characterization remained intact. Later versions tended to combine much bigger power boosts with much bigger victories, along with sanding off Bardock's more unsavory characteristics, making him much more generic and undoing a lot of the original tragedy.

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has been criticized a fair bit in the fandom for its tendency to introduce inexplicably overpowered characters, give characters inexplicably giant power boosts, or make rather dubious judgments in terms of PowerLevels. This was more or less true of the original, too; it's just that by the time ''Super'' came out, the fandom had managed to FanWank out ways for the the bizarre treatment of power levels to make sense, and ''Super'' just made it even more obvious that, no, power levels in the franchise really were completely arbitrary nonsense. [[note]]This is because ''Z'' introduced power levels to illustrate that you ''can't'' use arbitrary numerical values to accurately gauge someone's strength; making fans' obsession with them is a case of MisaimedFandom. Then again, the original series itself was [[BrokenAesop far too fond of indulging in exactly that same thinking]]...[[/note]]

** Related to this, Dragon Ball became far more about fighting threats through direct combat, resulting in characters whose abilities ''aren't'' related to martial arts or KiAttacks getting increasingly sidelined. While the Saiyan Saga essentially set this tone, some argue it went back to the original ''Dragon Ball'' wherein Bulma, Oolong, and Puar became increasingly less able to contribute to any problems the cast would face, and unfortunately also less relevant. (Also mocked by Creator/TeamFourStar when Bulma asks "Remember when we used to ''do'' stuff?" to a room filled with such characters) Later on, the sidelining expanded to other characters whose skillsets ''did'' include martial expertise such as Yajirobe, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, and 18, as every problem the cast would face would essentially become "Sit back and let the Saiyans handle it."

** Related to this, Dragon Ball became far more about fighting threats through direct combat, resulting in characters whose abilities ''aren't'' related to martial arts or a KiBlast getting increasingly sidelined. While the Saiyan Saga essentially set this tone, some argue it went back to the original ''Dragon Ball'' wherein Bulma, Oolong, and Puar became increasingly less able to contribute to any problems the cast would face, and unfortunately also less relevant. (Also mocked by Creator/TeamFourStar when Bulma asks "Remember when we used to ''do'' stuff?" to a room filled with such characters) Later on, the sidelining expanded to other characters whose skillsets ''did'' include martial expertise such as Yajirobe, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, and 18, as every problem the cast would face would essentially become "Sit back and let the Saiyans handle it."

* As pointed out by Creator/TeamFourStar, the Saiyan Saga of ''Dragon Ball Z'', despite [[GrowingTheBeard setting the tone for the remainder of the series]], also introduced many staples the franchise would be criticized for: PowerLevels inflating to illogical extremes (this is the first arc where the BigBad can outright destroy the planet, and even his EliteMook starts the arc nearly ''four times'' stronger than the strongest heroes), [[BeamOWar Beam-O-Wars]] as a symbol of extremely over-the-top and drawn-out fights, and everybody [[DroppedABridgeOnHim getting killed]] while waiting for Goku and his new power-up to save the day. This was all excusable in that it was ''new'', but it got old as each new saga came out.

* As noted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTHi7I-bt9M&t=982s MistareFusion]] in WebVideo/DragonBallDissection, the actions of the main characters, at moments where every action determines the fate of the universe, reaches far beyond IdiotPlot territory. This was a problem that hit its absolute low point during the Android and Buu Sagas, where the characters are ''warned'' about apocalyptic-level threats, but actively decide to allow said villains to arrive for the sake of testing their abilities. These decisions result in the deaths of ''thousands'' of people and entire planets getting blown up.[[note]]Cell failed to blow up Earth, but did destroy King Kai's planet.[[/note]] While the selfish whims and poor decisions of the characters were charming in early ''Dragon Ball'' where the stakes were mostly personal, by the time we're into the Android Saga, the fate of the world hinges on ''every'' battle. Whether or not this leads to a more interesting story [[BrokenBase has been hotly debated]] for ''decades'' at this point, but the real problem is the lack of InternalConsistency. While again, characters could change from moment to moment in ''Dragon Ball'', at that point, it had been largely a gag manga. In ''DBZ'', readers had been spoiled by the actions of the protagonists during the Saiyan & Frieza Sagas, where (a few blunders aside) everyone (including Vegeta) respected the immense stakes of the arc and acted with extreme cunning and foresight. The king of this inconsistency was Goku himself: in the fight with Frieza, Goku refuses to let Frieza power up to 100% and later tries to defeat Frieza by cutting him with his own Death Saucers... and then suddenly reverses his opinion on both points one chapter later. Furthermore, he sometimes spared opponents intent on ''conquest and genocide'' because they were NotWorthKilling or because they were a WorthyOpponent, but he would also kill opponents regardless because [[ThisIsUnforgivable they were so evil that they didn't deserve to live]].

* Goku's obsession with challenging every strong fighter he meets grates on some people in ''Super'', but in fact, he's always been like that. Due to the series being themed around fighting, and Goku's HotBlooded IdiotHero tendencies, he has been like this since as far back as both the original series and ''Z''. An example was when King Kai was explicitly telling him that Frieza was mondo bad news and to stay away, and Goku kept complaining that he wanted to "see what he's like". What made it less obvious then was that Goku was effectively out of the story for the most part; sure, Goku challenging Frieza seconds after landing on Namek would have been a ''terrible'' idea, and that's exactly why it never happened. But from then on, Goku continually made bad decisions for the sake of a good fight, such as allowing Gero to build the Androids, giving Cell a Senzu before fighting Gohan, half-assing the fight against Babidi and Majin Vegeta, and not killing Buu when he claims he could have done so just so that the kids would have something to do. This leads into the time of ''Super'', where [[{{Flanderization}} his desire to challenge strong fighters]] leads to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiotic decisions which endanger MULTIPLE worlds]].
* Likewise for Goku, people often complain about his character is ''Super'' saying that he has undergone {{Flanderization}} and become a complete idiot. While Goku does act like dumb in ''Super'', he was always kind of an uneducated idiot. He has always acted impulsively and has been known to be over enthusiastic and disrespectful. One of the first things he did when meeting Old Kai in ''Z'' was shoot the Supreme Kai in the face with an energy blast "to test him". Goku, himself, is barely educated and, despite being a genius fighter, has been known to over estimate and under estimate opponents before. He also always had issues thinking things through. For example, he didn't plan how he was going to get off of Namek after he beat Frieza. He also didn't consider that, while Gohan was capable of Cell, that he might not be '''willing to beat him.''' He just assumed that Gohan shared his love for a good fight despite having raised the boy.

* Goku's obsession with challenging every strong fighter he meets grates on some people in ''Super'', but in fact, he's always been like that. Due to the series being themed around fighting, and Goku's HotBlooded IdiotHero tendencies, he has been like this since as far back as both the original series and ''Z''. An example was when King Kai was explicitly telling him that Frieza was mondo bad news and to stay away, and Goku kept complaining that he wanted to "see what he's like". What made it less obvious then was that Goku was effectively out of the story for the most part; sure, Goku challenging Frieza seconds after landing on Namek would have been a ''terrible'' idea, and that's exactly why it never happened. But from then on, Goku continually made bad decisions for the sake of a good fight, such as allowing Gero to build the Androids, giving Cell a Senzu before fighting Gohan, half-assing the fight against Babidi and Majin Vegeta, and not killing Buu when he claims he could have done so just so that the kids would have something to do. This leads into the time of ''Super'', where [[{{Flanderization}} his desire to challenge strong fighters]] leads to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiotic decisions which endanger MULTIPLE worlds]].

** The power-scaling has been thoroughly inconsistent, with things such as a Berserker Kale being able to trump Golden Frieza and Aniraza, two beings who were extremely more powerful than Kale in the anime, but only being equal to Gohan as Kefla, who is the Potara fusion of Kale and Caulifla. Chapter 38 made this worse for fans, as Toyotaro used Berserker Kale to knock out nearly '''everyone''' left that wasn't from Universe 7 or 11, and chapter 39 has Master Roshi use a variant of Ultra Instinct to battle Jiren, with Goku getting the form from watching it instead of how he got it in the anime. The ''Super'' manga's power scaling has ''always'' been questionable though. In the previous arc Goku was measuring the returning Future Trunks against Cell Games Gohan, which would be like Goku measuring Saiyan saga Piccolo against Red Ribbon saga Krillin! Also, right from the start of the ''Super'' manga it was interpreting things in vastly different ways from the ''Super'' anime or even the ''Battle of Gods'' movie, where Goku notably doesn't get to gain the power of his god ritual in his "plain" super saiyan form and then stack a ritual independent god transformation on top of it, despite said sequence making up the entire climax of his climactic rematch with Beerus. It's just that prior, whatever deviations the manga made at least preserved the same plot points. The manga's tournament of power made it impossible to reconcile several characters and concepts across the two versions of ''Dragon Ball Super''. Especially since it seemed like the anime was gradually trying to give nods to the manga.

* The ''Manga/DragonBallSuper'' manga's take on the Tournament of Power arc has been criticized for the pacing and way the characters have been handled, due to it coming across as Toyotaro rushing the arc as fast as possible to get to the big Goku versus Jiren fight.

** The power-scaling has been thoroughly inconsistent, with things such as a Berserker Kale being able to trump Golden Frieza and Aniraza, two beings who were extremely more powerful than Kale in the anime, but only being equal to Gohan as Kefla, who is the Potara fusion of Kale and Caulifla. Chapter 38 made this worse for fans, as Toyotaro used Berserker Kale to knock out nearly '''everyone''' left that wasn't from Universe 7 or 11, and chapter 39 has Master Roshi use a variant of Ultra Instinct to battle Jiren, with Goku getting the form from watching it instead of how he got it in the anime. The Super manga's power scaling has ''always'' been questionable though. In the previous arc Goku was measuring the returning Future Trunks against Cell Games Gohan, which would be like Goku measuring Saiyan saga Piccolo against Red Ribbon saga Krillin! Also, right from the start of the Super Manga it was interpreting things in vastly different ways from the Super Anime or even the ''Battle Of Gods'' movie, where Goku notably doesn't get to gain the power of his god ritual in his "plain" super saiyan form and then stack a ritual independent god transformation on top of it, despite said sequence making up the entire climax of his climactic rematch with Beerus. It's just that prior, whatever deviations the manga made at least preserved the same plot points. The manga's tournament of power made it impossible to reconcile several characters and concepts across the two versions of ''Dragon Ball Super''. Especially since it seemed like the anime was gradually trying to give nods to the manga.

* As noted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTHi7I-bt9M&t=982s MistareFusion]], the actions of the main characters, at moments where every action determines the fate of the universe, reaches far beyond IdiotPlot territory. This was a problem that hit its absolute low point during the Android and Buu Sagas, where the characters are ''warned'' about apocalyptic-level threats, but actively decide to allow said villains to arrive for the sake of testing their abilities. These decisions result in the deaths of ''thousands'' of people and entire planets getting blown up.[[note]]Cell failed to blow up Earth, but did destroy King Kai's planet.[[/note]] While the selfish whims and poor decisions of the characters were charming in early ''Dragon Ball'' where the stakes were mostly personal, by the time we're into the Android Saga, the fate of the world hinges on ''every'' battle. Whether or not this leads to a more interesting story [[BrokenBase has been hotly debated]] for ''decades'' at this point, but the real problem is the lack of InternalConsistency. While again, characters could change from moment to moment in ''Dragon Ball'', at that point, it had been largely a gag manga. In ''DBZ'', readers had been spoiled by the actions of the protagonists during the Saiyan & Frieza Sagas, where (a few blunders aside) everyone (including Vegeta) respected the immense stakes of the arc and acted with extreme cunning and foresight. The king of this inconsistency was Goku himself: in the fight with Frieza, Goku refuses to let Frieza power up to 100% and later tries to defeat Frieza by cutting him with his own Death Saucers... and then suddenly reverses his opinion on both points one chapter later. Furthermore, he sometimes spared opponents intent on ''conquest and genocide'' because they were NotWorthKilling or because they were a WorthyOpponent, but he would also kill opponents regardless because [[ThisIsUnforgivable they were so evil that they didn't deserve to live]].

* Goku's obsession with challenging every strong fighter he meets grates on some people in ''Super'', but in fact, he's always been like that. Due to the series being themed around fighting, and Goku's HotBlooded IdiotHero tendencies, he has been like this since as far back as both the original series and ''Z''. An example was when King Kai was explicitly telling him that Frieza was mondo bad news and to stay away, and Goku kept complaining that he wanted to "see what he's like". What made it less obvious then was that Goku was effectively out of the story for the most part; sure, Goku challenging Frieza seconds after landing on Namek would have been a ''terrible'' idea, and that's exactly why it never happened. But from then on, Goku continually made bad decisions for the sake of a good fight, such as allowing Gero to build the Androids, giving Cell a Senzu before fighting Gohan, half-assing the fight against Babidi and Majin Vegeta, and not killing Buu when he claims he could have done so just so that the kids would have something to do. This leads into the time of Super, where [[{{Flanderization}} his desire to challenge strong fighters]] leads to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiotic decisions which endanger MULTIPLE worlds]].

* A common complaint in regards to later appearances of Bardock tend to lament [[AdaptationalBadass the ludicrous increases of power and importance he's received]], such as attaining Super Saiyan and killing Frieza's ancestor in ''Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock'' and being abducted by Towa and achieving Super Saiyan 3 in ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'', seeing it as diminishing Bardock's original character as a nobody whose efforts were DoomedByCanon. But really, the process started in [[Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku the original special]], where Bardock is given a rather high power level of 10,000 (making him stronger than elites like Nappa and on par with King Vegeta) and, in one scene, fights a large number of grunts solo and comes out on top long enough to confront Frieza personally. Later on, the manga added on the idea that Frieza does, in fact, remember Bardock, albeit only as a Saiyan who confronted him in space. What made it much more acceptable there is that Bardock was still shown as small potatoes (being easily curbstomped by Dodoria and pathetically outclassed by Frieza), his efforts are ultimately pointless, and his NominalHero characterization remained intact. Later versions tended to combine much bigger power boosts with much bigger victories, along with sanding off Bardock's more unsavory characteristics, making him much more generic and undoing a lot of the original tragedy.

* As pointed out by Creator/TeamFourStar, the Saiyan Saga of ''Dragon Ball Z'', despite [[GrowingTheBeard setting the tone for the remainder of the series]], also introduced many staples the franchise would be criticized for: PowerLevels being a major focus, [[BeamOWar Beam-O-Wars]] as a symbol of extremely over-the-top and drawn-out fights, and everybody [[DroppedABridgeOnHim getting killed]] while waiting for Goku and his new power-up to save the day. This was all excusable in that it was ''new'', but it got old as each new saga came out.

* As noted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTHi7I-bt9M&t=982s MistareFusion]], the [[WhatAnIdiot/DragonBall actions]] of the main characters, at moments where every action determines the fate of the universe, reaches far beyond IdiotPlot territory. This was a problem that hit its absolute low point during the Android and Buu Sagas, where the characters are ''warned'' about apocalyptic-level threats, but actively decide to allow said villains to arrive for the sake of testing their abilities. These decisions result in the deaths of ''thousands'' of people and entire planets getting blown up.[[note]]Cell failed to blow up Earth, but did destroy King Kai's planet.[[/note]] While the selfish whims and poor decisions of the characters were charming in early ''Dragon Ball'' where the stakes were mostly personal, by the time we're into the Android Saga, the fate of the world hinges on ''every'' battle. Whether or not this leads to a more interesting story [[BrokenBase has been hotly debated]] for ''decades'' at this point, but the real problem is the lack of InternalConsistency. While again, characters could change from moment to moment in ''Dragon Ball'', at that point, it had been largely a gag manga. In ''DBZ'', readers had been spoiled by the actions of the protagonists during the Saiyan & Frieza Sagas, where (a few blunders aside) everyone (including Vegeta) respected the immense stakes of the arc and acted with extreme cunning and foresight. The king of this inconsistency was Goku himself: in the fight with Frieza, Goku refuses to let Frieza power up to 100% and later tries to defeat Frieza by cutting him with his own Death Saucers... and then suddenly reverses his opinion on both points one chapter later. Furthermore, he sometimes spared opponents intent on ''conquest and genocide'' because they were NotWorthKilling or because they were a WorthyOpponent, but he would also kill opponents regardless because [[ThisIsUnforgivable they were so evil that they didn't deserve to live]].

** Related to this, Dragon Ball became far more about fighting threats through direct combat, resulting in characters whose abilities ''aren't'' related to martial arts or a KiBlast getting increasingly sidelined. While the Saiyan Saga essentially set this tone, some argue it went back to the original ''Dragon Ball'' wherein Bulma, Oolong, and Puar became increasingly less able to contribute to any problems the cast would face, and unfortunately also less relevant. (Also mocked by Creator/TeamFourStar when Bulma asks "Remember when we used to ''do'' stuff?" to a room filled with such characters) Later on, the sidelining expanded to other characters whose skillsets ''did'' include martial expertise such as Yajirobe, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, and 18, as every problem the cast would face would essentially become "Sit back and let the Saiyans handle it." Given [[FollowTheLeader the influence]] that Dragon Ball had, some even view this as a ''Genre'' Original Sin in which only TheHero and maybe TheLancer were able to defeat any powerful opponents, even when an ensemble cast that was shown to be capable was ''also'' present.