History Recap / DragonBallZMajinBuuArc

Seven years have passed since Cell was defeated and Son family has gone on with their lives since Goku's death. Gohan is now a teenager, going to high school and now has a little brother named Goten. A couple of misadventures lead Gohan to adapting a superhero persona called the Great Saiyaman, which attracts the attention of Videl, the daughter of Mr. Hercule Satan, who has achieved fame after stealing the credit for killing Cell. One thing leads to another until Gohan is blackmailed into participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament, which gives the other Z-Warriors an excuse to have a reunion. But danger soon comes when two agents working for an alien named Babidi steal energy so he may revive a creature known as Majin Buu, a being that's even more dangerous than Frieza and Cell combined.

One problem, though. Only four contestants for the Tournament remain! With no choice, the setup is changed to a five-way battle Royale. The kids, er, "Mighty Mask" make short work of their opponents, as does 18. But when the two start fighting and "Mask" goes Super Saiyan, 18 easily tells who they are, slices their costume in half, and disqualifies the kids. All that's left is Hercule, but 18 works out a deal with him instead. 18 will throw the fight to allow Hercule to keep his reputation, and in exchange Hercule will offer some of the prize money to 18. He agrees, and 18 feigns defeat. Tournament over, Hercule wins again!

* BigBad: Majin Buu, although ''which form'' changes, going from Fat Buu to Super Buu, to finally Kid Buu as the FinalBoss.

* AnyoneCanDie: Yes, this arc is not shy about offing the main cast. Though of course they come back to life later. Only Mr. Satan, the Supreme Kai, and Dende manage to get through the arc alive.

* BigBad: Majin Buu.

The fight with Super Buu ends with Fat Buu being extracted, reverting Buu into his original form, Kid Buu. This does not mean that the heroes are off the hook, however. On the contrary, while Kid Buu may not be Buu's ''strongest'' form, he is the ''most dangerous'' form. The other Buus had flaws that could be exploited; Fat Buu (the result of absorbing the Grand Supreme Kai) was generally good-natured and could be befriended, while Super Buu was an arrogant warrior who desired to fight strong opponents. Kid Buu has none of that; he is a pure force of destruction and cannot be reasoned with or tricked. The resulting battle endangers not only the entire universe, but also the Otherworld.

Goku, Vegeta and Gohan infiltrate Babidi's hideout. Vegeta willingly allows Babidi to control him for the power boost, and uses it to fight Goku. The ensuing fight revives Majin Buu, a silly but ''very'' powerful character. Babidi's [[TheDragon Dragon]] Dabura fights Buu because he doesn't think that Buu will remain loyal to Babidi, but fails, and Buu turns him into a cookie and eats him. Goku beats a final HeelFaceTurn into Vegeta, who sacrifices himself to kill Majin Buu... which doesn't even work, since Buu can regenerate FromASingleCell. Babidi and Buu rampage around the world, until Buu kills Babidi for being such a BadBoss and strikes out on his own, until he meets Mr. Satan.

* AscendedExtra: Mr. Satan/Hercule, initially a joke character in the Cell Games. He gains more prominence in this arc and is even pivotal in the final battle against Kid Buu.

Goku, Vegeta and Gohan infiltrate Babidi's hideout. Vegeta willingly falls under Babidi's mind control for the power boost it comes with, and the ensuing fight revives Buu. Babidi and Buu go on a rampage for the most part till Buu kills Babidi and sets off on his own until meeting Mr. Satan.

Due to a ''lot'' of unexpected and unfortunate circumstances, Evil Buu is unleashed from the regular Buu, eats the regular Majin Buu and turns into Super Buu before setting off to have Goku make good on his promise to give him a good fight. Goten and Trunks learn the fusion dance from Goku and use it to fight against Buu. When this fails, Goku, Gohan and Vegeta ultimately have to step in and face him when Buu absorbs their powers.

The ensuing fight reverts Buu to his original state but this is ''bad'' as he proves monstrously psychotic and powerful, giving Goku and Vegeta the fight of their lives for the fate of the universe.

''This'' is TheDreaded Majin Buu? But Buu quickly proves that you should BewareTheSillyOnes; He overpowers Gohan and Supreme Kai, blasting them away without effort, and defeats Dabura by turning him into chocolate and eating him. This cures Piccolo and Krillin, just in time for the kids to show up.

In the first level, Pui Pui reveals that Babidi's ship is designed to absorb energy from the pain of intruders, which will be siphoned towards Buu's revival. However, Vegeta easily crushes him, even when Babidi tries to stack the odds by transporting the fight to Pui Pui's home planet, which has increased gravity, but Vegeta is all too used to heavy planets. After Pui Pui, the next level features a vicious light-eating monster called Yakon, but he's easily bested by Goku. Dabura decides to be the next opponent for Gohan, but Gohan's lack of practice shows. Vegeta begins to lose his patience, and Dabura picks up on the Saiyan Prince's darker thoughts. Retreating, Dabura advises Babidi to use his magic on Vegeta, who has a great deal of pent-up evil within him...

The Supreme Kai's squad arrives at Bobidi's ship, to find the wizard has enslaved the king of demons, Dabura. Spopovich and Yam deliver the energy, and in exchange [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness are killed horribly-]] Spopovich being inflated and blown up by Babidi and Yam being blasted by another of Babidi’s minions, the alien Pui Pui. Babidi meanwhile finds out that the Supreme Kai has an army nearby, and has Dabura kill Kibito, then spits on Krillin and Piccolo, turning them into stone. The only way out is to enter Babidi's ship, going through each stage to reach the center.

Seven years have passed since Cell was defeated and Son family has gone on with their lives since Goku's death. Gohan is now a teenager and going to high school and now has a little brother named Goten. A couple of misadventures lead Gohan to adapting a super hero persona called the Great Saiyaman, which attracts the attention of Videl, the daughter of Mr. Hercule Satan, who has achieved fame after stealing the credit for killing Cell. One thing leads to another until Gohan is blackmailed into participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament, which gives the other Z-Warriors an excuse to have a reunion. But danger soon comes when two agents working for an alien named Babidi steal energy so he may revive a creature known as Majin Buu, a being that's even more dangerous than Frieza and Cell put together.

Evil Buu is unleashed from the regular Buu, eats the regular Majin Buu and turns into Super Buu before setting off to have Goku make good on his promise to give him a good fight. Goten and Trunks learn the fusion dance from Goku and use it to fight against Buu. When this fails, Goku, Gohan and Vegeta ultimately have to step in and face him when Buu absorbs their powers.

Seven years have passed since Cell was defeated and Son family has gone on with their lives since Goku's death. Gohan is now a teenager and going to high school and now has a little brother named Goten. A couple of misadventures lead Gohan to adapting a super hero persona called Saiyaman which attracts the attention of Videl, the daughter of Mr. Satan (Hercule in the dub) who has achieved fame after stealing the credit for killing Cell. One thing leads to another until Gohan is blackmailed into participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament, which gives the other Z-Warriors an excuse to have a reunion. But danger soon comes when two agents working for an alien named Babidi steal energy so he may revive a creature known as Buu, a being that's even more dangerous than Frieza and Cell put together.

The ensuing fight reverts Buu to his original state but this is ''bad'' as he proves monstrously psychotic and powerful. Giving Goku and Vegeta the fight of their lives for the fate of the universe.

At last, the tournament comes around, and after a tearful reunion with Goku, the fighters, Goku, Gohan (in disguise as Great Saiyaman), Videl, Kuririn, Cyborg 18 (the two of whom have gotten married and had a kid of their own), Goten, Trunks (who now have to register for the new Junior Division), and Piccolo (returning under his alias of [=MaJunior=], amazing how people forgot who he was!) sign up for the tournament, which has been completely redesigned since Piccolo destroyed it two tournaments earlier.

The Junior Division goes well, with Goten and Trunks overpowering their opponents and facing off against each other in the finals, with Trunks emerging as the victor. The Adult Division begins shortly thereafter, with the contenders also including, among others, Mr. Satan himself, Mighty Mask (who has his costume stolen [[TotemPoleTrench by Goten and Trunks]] so they can fight for real), Spopovich, Yam... and a mysterious purple man with a large reddish attendant who announces his name as "Shin" and gives Piccolo pause ([[ContinuityNod presumably because Piccolo knows that trick, having done it himself]]).

Kibito gets his round against Gohan, where Gohan is immediately recognized by his classmates. Kibito demands Gohan transform into a Super Saiyan, but Gohan goes one step further and goes Super 2. At that point, however, Spopovich and Yam use a device to steal Gohan's energy, gaining a lot for whatever their goal was. Shin, revealed to be the Kaioshin or "Divine Kaio", restores Gohan, and, accompanied by Kibito, takes Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin with him to a far-off area. Videl tries to join, [[RealityEnsues but she's not used to the gusts of wind in her eyes from flying at high speeds]], and she is forced to stay behind.

Along the way, the Kaioshin explains what his goal is. Spopovich and Yam are in league of a plot that started many years ago. The wizard Bibidi created a powerful destructive entity that wiped out the gods of the cosmos known as the Majin Buu. While Buu was sealed away, Bibidi had a son named Babidi who set out to restore him, needing a lot of energy for it. Vegeta in particular thinks Buu would make a good Saiyan, but the Kaioshin tells him he would be so much worse. What could be going on in Vegeta's head right now?

One problem, though. Only four contestants for the Tournament remain! With no choice, the setup is changed to a five-way battle Royale. The kids, er, "Mighty Mask" make short work of their opponents, as does 18. But when the two start fighting and "Mask" goes Super Saiyan, 18 easily tells who they are, slices their costume in half, and disqualifies the kids. All that's left is Mr. Satan, but 18 works out a deal with him instead. 18 will throw the fight to allow Mr. Satan to keep his reputation, and in exchange Satan will offer some of the prize money to 18. He agrees, and 18 feigns defeat. Tournament over, Mr. Satan wins again!

The Kaioshin's squad arrives at Bobbidi's ship, to find the wizard has enslaved the king of demons, Dabura. Spopovich and Yam deliver the energy, and in exchange [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness are killed horribly-]] Spopovich being inflated and blown up by Babidi and Yam being blasted by another of Babidi’s minions, the alien Pui Pui. Babidi meanwhile finds out that the Kaioshin has an army nearby, and has Dabura kill Kibito, then spits on Krillin and Piccolo, turning them into stone. The only way out is to enter Babidi's ship, going through each stage to reach the center.

[[TimeSkip Seven years have passed since Goku's death and Gohan's battle against Cell.]] Gohan, now a teenager with a cute little brother named Goten [[GenerationXerox who's the spitting image of his father]], is entering Orange Star High School, ready to become the scholar he always wanted to be. But the city Gohan lives in, Satan City (named after the [[FakeUltimateHero (false) Savior of the World who Defeated Cell, Mr. Satan]]), has a bit of a crime problem, though Satan's daughter Videl has taken to fighting it.

The Kaioshin's squad arrives at Bobbidi's ship, to find the wizard has enslaved the king of demons, Dabura. Spopovich and Yam deliver the energy, and in exchange [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness are killed horribly.]] Babidi meanwhile finds out that the Kaioshin has an army nearby, and has Dabura kill Kibito, then spits on Krillin and Piccolo, turning them into stone. The only way out is to enter Babidi's ship, going through each stage to reach the center.

Word of another Tournament quickly catches the attention of the others, like Piccolo, Kuririn, Vegeta, and... Goku? That's right, for one day only, Goku will be coming back to the world of the living to spend time with his family! And it's gotten Vegeta very excited...

At last, the tournament comes around, and after a tearful reunion with Goku, the fighters, Goku, Gohan (in disguise as Great Saiyaman), Videl, Kuririn, Cyborg 18 (the two of whom have gotten married and had a kid of their own), Goten, Trunks (who now have to register for the new Junior Division), and Piccolo (returning under his alias of MaJunior, amazing how people forgot who he was!) sign up for the tournament, which has been completely redesigned since Piccolo destroyed it two tournaments earlier.

Kuririn defeats his opponent easily, but Piccolo is forced to quit after a massive sense of fear (and some telepathy on Shin's part) causes him to surrender without fighting. Along the way, however, Shin notices Spopovich as he prepares to fight Videl and becomes very concerned. His concern was well-placed: Spopovich [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown savagely brutalizes Videl]], who only keeps fighting [[HeroicWillpower because her father would not back down from this fight]] ([[DramaticIrony not aware that he was not the one who beat Cell and would give up easily]]). The resultant... well, "massacre" might be the best word pushes Videl to tears and Gohan to fury, but Yam steps in and tells Spopovich to just quit, ending the beatdown with a ring-out.

Videl is placed in the hospital, but Gohan flies off to Karin Tower to get some Senzu, one of which used to heal up Videl. Videl is surprised at how quickly she heals, and recognizes this is because of the magic bean.

Along the way, the Kaioshin explains what his goal is. Spopovich and Yam are in league of a plot that started many years ago. The wizard Bibbidi created a powerful destructive entity that wiped out the gods of the cosmos known as the Majin Boo. While Boo was sealed away, Bibbidi had a son named Bobbidi who set out to restore him, needing a lot of energy for it. Vegeta in particular thinks Buu would make a good Saiyan, but the Kaioshin tells him he would be so much worse. What could be going on in Vegeta's head right now?

The Kaioshin's squad arrives at Bobbidi's ship, to find the wizard has enslaved the king of demons, Dabra. Spopovich and Yam deliver the energy, and in exchange [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness are killed horribly.]] Bobbidi meanwhile finds out that the Kaioshin has an army nearby, and has Dabra kill Kibito, then spits on Kuririn and Piccolo, turning them into stone. The only way out is to enter Bobbidi's ship, going through each stage to reach the center.

* AscendedExtra: Mr Satan, initially a joke character in the Cell Games. He gains more prominence in this arc and is even pivotal in the final battle against Kid Buu.

* BackForTheFinale: Several characters from past arcs (Such as Mechanical Man No. 8, Upa and Bora from the Red Ribbon saga, and No. 17 from the previous arc) are seen again to give energy to the ''Genki Dama''. The anime goes one step further and shows others, like Baba's fighters, and ''Lunch'', who was basically forgotten about by Toriyama.

* EarthShatteringKaboom: The first thing Kid Buu does is blow up the Earth just for kicks and giggles. Goku, Vegeta and Mr. Satan manage to survive by warping to to the after world but Buu even follows them there.

** Vegeta does it again when Buu is revived as a result of his battle with Goku, and he catches the latter off-guard and knocks him out to fight Buu alone, to pay Goku back with the Cell situation, that led to Goku's death. The thing is, Goku didn't just have a new technique that could've stopped Buu - like Fusion for example, but he had another transformation that had Goku got serious may have killed Buu. Vegeta is not happy that he threw his life away for nothing, and blames Goku for it.

* KillThemAll: Buu unleashes the "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Human Extinction Attack]]" on the Earth, finally completing his eradication of the human race. Only those on the Lookout, Tenshihan and Chaozu who were skilled enough to avoid the attack, and Mr. Satan, out of Buu's ingrained sense of mercy and the friendship they had, survive. ''Then'' Buu blows up the Earth. And only Dende, Goku, Vegeta and Mr. Satan, with Kibitoshin's help, escape with their lives.[[note]]Well, in Vegeta's case, he's already dead, so it's more Dende, Goku and Mr. Satan.[[/note]]

* LastOfHisKind: Mr. Satan of all people is the only human left alive after Buu's rampage, and before the Dragon Balls fix things.

** When Kid Buu blows up the Earth, Vegeta chews out Goku for making a split second decision to save Mr. Satan and Dende instead of Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo. For a more comedic version, Vegeta yells at Goku when he finds out Goku bribed Old Kai by saying he could kiss Bulma.

* InformedAbility: Goku describes Gotenks as being their best chance at defeating Majin Buu. However, Gotenks only faces the fat Buu offpanel (manga) and in a filler scene (anime), and is easily defeated. By the time Gotenks takes a genuine shot at Buu with super saiyan, he's facing Super Buu, who was decidedly ''not'' a factor in Goku's original prediction. [[FlameWar Trying to estimate how strong Super Saiyan Gotenks is can lead to some colorful discussions.]]

* BabiesEverAfter: Gohan and Videl have a daughter named Pan and Bulma and Vegeta have a daughter named Bra.

** Take further in the final battle against Kid Buu. Kid Buu, thanks to his full relentless evil and crazy stamina and regeneration ability, outlasts and defeats Super Saiyan 3 Goku, and wallops Vegeta and Fat Buu. Kid Buu had basically ''won'' at that point. The good guys use the Super Spirit Bomb as a last desperate effort, but even that isn't enough to stop Kid Buu, as he is strong enough to catch and actually ''push'' the Spirit Bomb back at Goku, who was too weak and exhausted at that point. If it weren't for Dende's wish to Porunga to restore Goku's strength, the fight is over. Of all the near villain victories in the series, Buu came ''dangerously'' close.

Seven years have passed since Cell was defeated and Son family has gone on with their lives since Goku's death. Gohan is now a teenager and going to high school and now has a little brother named Goten. A couple of misadventures lead Gohan to adapting a super hero persona called Saiyaman which attracts the attention of Videl, the daughter of Mr. Satan (Hercule in the dub) who has achieved fame after stealing the credit for killing Cell. One thing leads to another until Gohan is blackmailed into participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament, which gives the other Z-Warriors an excuse to have a reunion. But danger soon comes when two agents working for an alien named Babidi steal energy so he may revive a creature known as Buu, a being that's even more dangerous then Frieza and Cell put together.

* AnyoneCanDie: Yes, this arc not shy about offing the main cast. Though of course they come back to life later. Only Mr. Satan, the Supreme Kai, and Dende manage to get through the arc alive.

** Super Buu is trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, along with Piccolo and Gotenks, until a moment of UnstoppableRage, was him inexplicably punch a hole through the dimensions by yelling hard enough. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in that it's discovered that if Buu could break out of the Time Chamber like that, then someone of of similar power could also achieve it. And Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks does just that.

* HeroicSacrifice: Vegeta does this in trying to stop Buu. As if often the case in this series, it doesn't work and ends up being a SenselessSacrifice instead.

** Goku calls Vegeta out on this mindset when the latter seems to be going out on a LastStand against Buu over fusion, saying that this attitude isn't helping him avenge his family who was absorbed/eaten by the monster.. If he really wants todefeat Buu, then merging with Goku is the best chance to do it.

** Probably the closest example in the whole series save for King Piccolo. After enacting Plan B and taking Gohan off guard to absorb him, Buu has basically won. Every member of the cast is either dead or absorbed, except Goku, who is completely incapable of opposing Buu in any way, and is so desperate that he considers fusing with Mr. Satan, even though he knows it would be pointless and Buu would still be capable of killing him in one punch. On top of that, he goes straight for the kill, which Goku can only slightly delay by teleporting to the other side of the planet. Luckily for the universe, King Yamma brought back Vegeta giving Goku some fusion fodder, triggering the series of events that lead to Super Buu's reversion into Kid Buu, but if Vegeta hadn't been sent back or, hell, had even been five seconds late, the series would have ended on a very depressing note.

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Upon witnessing Goku transforming into Super Saiyan against Yakon, Babidi has one of his servants bring him a device which measures PowerLevels and realizes that Goku's new form has a power level almost 4 times that of his minion. Babidi knew then his lackey was dead

* TournamentArc: An early part of the arc focus on this.
* WhamEpisode: The wham changes keep going in this arc, and some of them completely owns the Dragon Ball Universe forever.

** Bulma calls the remaining Z-fighters out after it seems that Goten and Trunks have been defeated by Buu and Piccolo had destroyed the door to the Time Chamber to stop him escaping, trapping them in there forever. When Krillin cheerily states that Piccolo can just [[ItMakesSenseInContext kill them and himself]], then bring them back to life with the [[ResetButton Dragon Balls]], Bulma goes '''ballistic''', and tears the rest of the Z-Fighters a new one, saying: "Are you even listening to yourself?! Relax, because they're trapped with a monster that could kill them!? They were ''children!'' They should have '''never''' been made to fight! You grown men left the fate of the Earth in their hands! I hope you're ashamed!" The original version of that speech is even more brutal. Bulma pulls no punches and flat out calls the rest of the Z-Fighters ''cowards!''

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Babidi does this constantly through the arc. Ironically he had it happen to him by Buu himself.

** Kibito, who felt confident enough to goad Gohan into transforming into a Super Saiyan, is easily killed by Dabura. Piccolo asnd Krillin are also dispatched easily once [[TakenForGranite he turns them into stone]].