History Recap / DragonBallZMajinBuuArc

** Vegeta completes it with his HeroicSacrifice to protect his family and is solidified later by getting wished back to life along with everyone on Earth except those who are evil.

* HeelFaceTurn: Mr. Satan manages to befriend Buu and get him to turn over a new leaf midway through the arc.
** Vegeta completes it with his HeroicSacrifice to protect his family and is solidified later by getting wished back to life along with everyone on Earth except the evil people.

Finally, Eath has been saved, everyone has been resurrected, Goku has been reunited with his family, and Gohan can date Videl without worrying about keeping secrets from her. All is well that ends well...

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Goten in the manga was not very close to his father during his 24 hour visit to Earth. He was painfully shy and didn’t utter a word to him until Majin Buu arrived. The first time Goku and Goten interacted was when he [[WhatTheHellHero called Goku out]] for failing to protect Gohan and letting Vegeta die on his watch, [[BrokenPedestal perceiving him as a weakling, unlike how he heard stories about his power]]. This changed after he witnessed [[SuperMode Goku go Super Saiyan 3]] [[RebuiltPedestal and he realised Goku does live up to the legends]]. His final interaction with his dad (before Goku came BackFromTheDead for good) has him trying (and failing) to ask for a FinalFirstHug, before Goku has to go back to the other world. The anime, on the other hand, changes Goten into an extroverted kid, who is a little shy when he sees Goku for the first time, but quickly gets over it and the two end up bonding very quickly. Their FinalFirstHug is changed into a Final hug instead.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Vegeta is turned against Goku, Gohan and the Supreme Kai, and insists on fighting the former, Goku agrees to settle the score between them, and even insists to the Supreme Kai not to interfere. The Supreme Kai concedes and adjusts his plan to partner with Gohan to attack Babidi and Dabura and prevent Majin Buu's revival that way. Unfortunately, by the time the confrontation happens, the intensity of Goku's battle with Vegeta meant that the energy Goku used up ended up reviving Majin Buu anyway. Of course, Vegeta was insistent to the point of ''killing bystanders'' to fight Goku, but the latter seemed to acknowledge his screw-up, as did Vegeta eventually.

* DubInducedPlotHole: Vegeta specifically asked Dende to revive everyone who was killed since Majin Buu was awakened, except the really bad ones, so that people killed by Vegeta himself (as a Majin) will be revived and bad guys like Babidi and Dabura won’t come BackFromTheDead. In the English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallKai'', despite Vegeta’s explanation, Dende still asks Porunga to revive everyone who was '''killed by Majin Buu and Babidi''', except for the evil guys, instead. The result: Old Kai and Vegeta are also resurrected, despite the fact that they were never killed by either of the two.

* HopeSpot: Mr. Satan manages to convince Buu to stop his reign of terror. But then two hunters kill the dog Buu and Satan befriended, and ''then'' Mr. Satan himself gets shot and this unleashes the evil side of Buu who takes over as the main antagonist for the arc.

* HonorBeforeReason: This is the reason why Goku and Vegeta fought each other again, once Vegeta became a Majin. Supreme Kai calls them out on it. Goku seemed to run with it, when it became clear that this is the only thing Vegeta cares about anymore and will stop at nothing for it to happen again. It just so happens that Majin Buu was eventually revived thanks to their decision to prioritize their fight over stopping Babidi, and the world was all the more worse off for it.

...[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBattleOfGods ...or so they thought...]]

''Full Summary Coming Soon...''

** Old Kai sacrifices his life to allow Goku to live. Given how the afterlife works in this series, it basically amounts to him having a halo over his head and not much else.

-->'''Kibito Kai''': You mean I'm stuck this way?! [[note]] Luckily for them, ''Super'' retcon this and it's reversible, with Old Kai just having a faulty memory on how the earring worked.[[/note]]

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 Supreme Kai, 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.

* {{Denouement}}: This arc has one for Vegeta's CharacterDevelopment, where the Saiyan Prince finally gets over his series-long [[TheResenter resentment]] for Goku.

** 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. The good guys use the Super Spirit Bomb (provided by the ''entirety of Planet Earth'' no less) 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 from the fight before. 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.

** Zigzagged. Super Buu is no match for Ultimate Gohan, until he absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo, then he promptly reverses the trend by destroying Gohan, both mentally and physically.

** 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 similar power could also achieve it. And Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks does just that.

* InformedFlaw: In the final battle, Buu has been stripped of all of his absorbed victims, significantly cutting his power, and transforming him into the small Kid Buu, Goku and Vegeta decide to forget fusion and fight Buu one-on-one and it seems to be a much simpler fight, except in this state, Buu is free from all restraint and sanity and is a pure, feral, relentless and unpredictable killing machine. Actually making him ''more'' dangerous than ever before. Goku learns this the hard way, as ''Super Saiyan 3'' is unable to beat Kid Buu, when earlier in the arc, he mopped the floor with Fat Buu as a Super Saiyan 3.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Vegeta is turned against the Goku, Gohan and the Supreme Kai, and insists on fighting the former, Goku agrees to settle the score between them, and even insists to the Supreme Kai not to interfere. The Supreme Kai concedes and adjusts his plan to partner with Gohan to attack Babidi and Dabura and prevent Majin Buu's revival that way. Unfortunately, by the time the confrontation happens, the intensity of Goku's battle with Vegeta meant that the energy Goku used up ended up reviving Majin Buu anyway. Of course, Vegeta was insistent to the point of ''killing bystanders'' to fight Goku, but the latter seemed to acknowledge his screw-up, as did Vegeta eventually.

Deals with Gohan's high school life and his becoming Saiyaman as well as meeting Videl.

Gohan and the rest of the Z-Fighters participate in the world tournament. But what was meant to be a friendly get together end up turning serious when two of Babidi's agents beat up Videl then later take Gohan's energy for their own.

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, Hercule 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]]).

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 Mr. Satan will offer some of the prize money to 18. He agrees, and 18 feigns defeat. Tournament over, Mr. Satan wins again!

** In the manga Gohan only has a few scenes as the Great Saiyaman before Videl figures it out, but in the anime there are several episodes of him and Videl fighting crime in Satan City while she tries to unmask him.
** Most fights are expanded upon, as the fights in the manga were becoming shorter and less detailed. Most notably, Goku and Vegeta's fight is greatly extended. In the manga most of it happens off-screen, while in the anime it's a central subplot for several episodes.

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

* AscendedExtra: Mr. Satan/Hercule, initially a joke character in the Cell Games. In this arc, he manages to legitimately save the world by befriending Fat Buu (shame that Van Zant and Smitty happened before it really stuck), and is pivotal in the battle against Kid Buu.
* AwesomeButImpractical: This Arc introduces Super Saiyan 3 and the Fusion Dance, both of which have their success, but have significant drawbacks to prevent them from being useful in the end.

* BabiesEverAfter: Gohan and Videl have a daughter named Pan and Bulma and Vegeta have a daughter named Bra/Bulla.
* BackForTheFinale: Several characters from past arcs (Such as Mechanical Man No. 8 (Eighter), 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 ''Launch'', who was basically forgotten about by Toriyama.
* BackFromTheDead: Goku and later Vegeta. Heck even the whole Earth near the end of the saga.

** Goku's transformation as a Super Saiyan 3. Not only did he reach then unheard-of new level of Super Saiyan, he gave off so much ki that Gohan (read:not a Kai) who was training in the Planet of the Supreme Kais could sense it. Repeat: a ''mortal'' was so strong that his power could be felt in a world that was virtually unreachable in the cosmos, and was practically part of the Other World.

** Vegetto is so powerful that Super Buu turning him into a jawbreaker does nothing to stop him. If anything, this is where Super Buu receives his worst beating.
** The seemingly inexhaustible Majin Buu with his endless regeneration abilities has a moment during his fight with Vegetto where his regeneration starts to fail him. This speaks to how utterly one-sided the fight was, and the extent of the damage he's been dealt.

* CallBack: When faced with an ornery, DirtyOldMan like the Elder ''Kaioshin'', Goku falls back on the persuasion methods he used on Muten-Roshi...offering dirty mags and then actual women. And it ''works.''
* ChronicVillainy: Vegeta resented his HeelFaceTurn, believing it resulted in a BadassDecay, and allowed Babidi to restore him to his evil ways. Subverted, in that despite his best efforts he can't shake his love for his family, and when he realizes the magnitude of his selfishness he resolves to [[HeroicSacrifice set things right by any means necessary.]]

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

* FaceHeelTurn: Vegeta freely lets Babidi give him the power of the Majin so that he may be on part to fight Goku and finally prove which one is stronger. Not even caring that the energy from their fight will revive Buu.

* GrandFinale: Manga-wise, it's this to the Dragon Ball series as a whole. Anime-wise it was followed by ''GT'' and later (canonically) ''Super''.

* HopeSpot: Mr. Satan manages to convince Buu to stop his reign of terror. But then two hunters kill the dog Buu and Satan befriended, and ''then'' Mr. Satan himself get shot and this unleashes the evil side of Buu who takes over as the main antagonist for the arc.

* HopeSpot: Mr. Satan manages to convince Buu to stop his reign of terror. But then two hunters kill the dog Buu and Satan befriended and this unleashes the evil side of Buu who takes over as the main antagonist for the arc.

* InformedAbility: Super Saiyan Gotenks. Goku predicts that the fused boys would defeat (fat) Majin Buu, but this is never actually put to the test, as Gotenks only faces him in his base form (out of sheer arrogance) and is thoroughly defeated. By the time Gotenks actually uses super saiyan in battle, Buu has evolved into Super Buu, who was definitely ''not'' a factor in Goku's original prediction. Trying to determine how strong the untested Super Saiyan Gotenks is can often lead to some [[FlameWar colorful discussions.]]

* KnightOfCerebus: While still a major threat, Fat Buu's innocence and childlike demeanor kind of offset his malice a bit. He was even close to pulling a HeelFaceTurn before things went south. When Super Buu shows up however, things get dark really fast and a lot more people start dying, up to and including the main cast. In fact, by the time Kid Buu shows up, the entire human race barring Mr. Satan has been wiped out!

** 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 led 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.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Because of Vegeta anger and pride, he allows Babidi to control him and uses the power boost to goad Goku into a fight. Their battle ultimately waking up Buu and leading to everything that happened in the saga when the goal was to destory Buu ''before'' he woke up.

* RedemptionEarnsLife: After his HeroicSacrifice, Vegeta earns a second chance at life thanks to Nameks' wishing dragon Porunga.

* ThrowingTheFight: A part in the tournament section had 18 doing this against Mr. Satan to let him win. Though of course in exchange for his cash prize winnings.

* TimeSkip: The most notable of the series. Gohan is now a teenager, Chi Chi has another son; Goten, Krillin has regrown his hair and has a daughter, Marron, with 18 and present Trunks is now eight years old. Additionally, Dende appears to look much more like a teenager/young adult.

** Notably, after being repeatedly threatened since Vegeta's attempted RageQuit back in the Saiyan Saga, this is the first and so far only time the earth has been destroyed.

** When Trunks is flying to Capsule Corp to retrieve the dragon radar, he stops to watch Goku's forthcoming battle with Majin Buu (via a spell Babidi was using that allowed every human on Earth to see them). Goku ''looks Trunks in the eye'' and yells at him to stop wasting time.

** When Kid Buu blows up the Earth, Vegeta chews out Goku for making a split second decision to save Mr. Satan, Dende and the dog Bee 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.

-->'''Kibito Kai''': You mean I'm stuck this way?!