Son Gokū and Bulma. (artist Aashan アニメアート)
Dragon Ball - Heart of Adventurers is an ongoing fanfiction of Dragon Ball, co-authored by LastationLover5000 and Mangetsu20 (Demod20), and edited by Firegod00. This story is set in an alternate timeline where, rather than agreeing to marry Chi-Chi, Son Gokū reneges on his proposal, returning to his life in the wilds of Mt. Paozu after winning the Tenkaichi Budōkai and defeating Piccolo. A year after Chi-Chi's rejection, Bulma seeks out Gokū, and as the two bond over their reunion, a romance is kindled. But peace does not last, as it never does for Earth, and the arrival of the Saiyans throws the couple's peaceful life into chaos.The Heart of Adventurers retells the story of the second half of the Dragon Ball manga, with Gokū and Bulma in the lead, including twists and turns that set it apart from the original series.
As of now, the story has been going on for just over four years, and is divided into three story arcs:
- "Bulma and Son Gokū" Arc — Chapters 1-6
- "Attack of the Saiyans" Arc — Chapters 7-19
- "Namek" Arc — Chapters 20-onwards
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Tullece, to his daughter Aspara. He is openly a harsh parent to Aspara, manhandling her and forcing her into his machinations, and even in their brief interaction as of the moment, it is clear that Aspara fears her father. Considering this is a woman who is otherwise unafraid to speak her mind, this speaks volumes about Tullece alone.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Chi-Chi, much like Videl in the Erased Chronicles, has had the negative aspects of her personality enhanced.
- Adapted Out: Son Gohan does not exist in this story (ironic, as one of the co-author's other works focuses almost entirely on Gohan). Gokū and Bulma have a daughter instead, a young girl named Son Pan.
- Alternate Timeline: Much like one of the co-author's other projects, The Erased Chronicles, the Heart of Adventurers is an alternate timeline to the original Dragon Ball series.
- Behemoth Battle: How do you top one Giant Monkey? Five of them. The final battle of the Saiyan arc comes down to Raditz, Vegeta, Gokū, Nappa, and even Pan all transforming into their Giant Monkey forms (not all at once, mind you) and duking it out. It is insane.
- Betty and Veronica: Bulma is the Betty to Chi-Chi's Veronica.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Gokū's extended Saiyan family is this, good lord. His older brother, the only living member of his immediate family, shows up, kidnaps his daughter, and tries to kill him. Then he meets his cousin, Aspara, an insane Saiyan lady who lives to kill him and Raditz. And then there's Tullece, the father of Aspara, and Gokū and Raditz's uncle, making him the brother of Bardock. In fact, the only members of Gokū's family who weren't antagonistic at some point are his parents, both of whom are dead.
- Cain and Abel: Raditz and Gokū serve as the earliest example of this in the series. At their introduction, Raditz is the first introduction to Gokū's Big, Screwed-Up Family. When he arrives, he is more than willing to try and kill his younger brother, but mercifully, he grows out of it during the events of the Saiyan Arc.
- Clashing Cousins: Aspara to Raditz and Kakarrot. She sees Raditz as a weakling and Kakarrot as a traitor, and would love nothing more than to kill both of them. Raditz returns her loathing in equal measure, while Gokū merely remarked on their relation with bemused interest, though he has his own grudges against Aspara for what she did to his friends.
- Cool Uncle: Post Character Development, Pan comes to consider Raditz this.
- Dark Action Girl: Dark hair, dark clothes, evil as hell, and also being the only female villain, Aspara qualifies.
- Evil Uncle: Raditz to Pan, at first. Tullece is this to Gokū and Raditz. The man is a right piece of work who makes Raditz pre Character Development look like your best friend.
- Expy: Chi-Chi, of all characters, is this to Videl from one of the author's works, the Erased Chronicles. She fulfills a borderline identical role; the scorned 'other' love interest who acts antagonistically towards the main duo, develops her martial arts skills due to her growing bitterness and has a much larger role as a combatant than she did in the source material.
- For Want Of A Nail: What if Gokū didn't marry Chi-Chi is the premise of this work. With the existence of characters like Tullece, however, it is implied the changes in this timeline go back much further than Gokū simply choosing a different dating option.
- Happily Married: Gokū and Bulma.
- Little Bit Beastly: As with any Dragon Ball story, the Saiyans have furry, monkey-like tails, which they wear loosely around their waists. What makes this fic notable is not a single Saiyan has lost their tail, and even Gokū regains his.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Raditz defeats Ginyū after the latter swapped bodies with Gokū, without killing his younger brother and the two managed to get Gokū back to his original body. Whether this played out with a frog like in canon, we have no clue.
- Original Character: The Heart of Adventurers is full of them. It introduced Kashiko, a girlfriend for Kuririn. Later, it would introduce Bocho, Gula, Kuka, Coll, and Aspara. Only Aspara survives and becomes a prominent character.
- Spell My Name With An S: Common with one of the co-author's other works, the story tries to adhere closer to Japanese naming sense than other fanfics one might find online. So, "Goku" is instead "Son Gokū", "Krillin" is instead "Kuririn" (though it should technically be Kulilin, both authors agreed to keep to Kuririn), "Frieza" is instead "Freeza", "Turles" is instead "Tullece", among others. The biggest one, however, may be spelling "Namekian" as "Nameccian", an official English spelling only used in the Daizenshū.
- Smurfette Principle: Aspara exists to fulfill this rule, it would seem, as she is the only female Saiyan in a group of all male Saiyans — and, it would seem, the only pure-blooded female Saiyan left alive.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Raditz of all people, as early as chapter 10. Surprisingly, Nappa becomes this, surviving the battle on Earth and continuing to serve Vegeta.
- Depending on exactly when his movie takes place, Tullece fits this bill. His original film is strongly implied to have happened after the Saiyan arc but before the Namek arc. Tullece in the Heart of Adventurers has survived well into the Namek arc, being a heavy player in the arc.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: This happens to both Tullece and Chi-Chi, who are immediately killed off by Freeza in the beginning of chapter 31.
- The Family That Slays Together: Tullece and Aspara are this, whether Aspara cares for it or not.
- There Are No Therapists: Chi-Chi, post-rejection, is holding such a grudge against the happy couple that it's hard to believe a therapist couldn't have been useful.
