An evil being named Lord Slug has come to Earth, seeking the Dragon Balls so he can restore his lost youth, and with it, the majority of his lost power. Only Goku and his friends can stop the evil king before his demonic looking henchmen can overrun the planet- Wait, haven't we done this before...?
TROPES!
- Accidental Misnaming: Two of Lord Slug's minions are quickly executed after misnaming him "King Piccolo". The third had to add in "Lord Slug" repeatedly to save himself from the same fate.Kakuja: Well, Lord Slug, it is my humble opinion, Lord Slug, that it will take three days, Lord Slug. Go Team Slug!
Lord Slug: (mumbling)
Kakuja: Thank you, Lord Slug. - Big "WHAT?!": After tearing off his ears so he can't hear Gohan's whistling, Piccolo responds like this whenever someone talks to him, or even if he thinks they might be talking to him but they aren't.
- Chekhov's Gun: Gohan's whistling is torturous to Namekians' sensitive ears. Piccolo later gets him to use this on Lord Slug as a distraction while he lends his power to Goku. After he tears off his ears.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Doradabo gets provoked by Piccolo, who proceeds to play with his food by breaking the guy's arm and comically knocking him off a building over and over before executing him.
- Once Goku arrives, the remaining two minions' attacks don't phase him and he kills them both in one hit each. Krillin thinks he might have been unnecessarily brutal.
- Krillin, for reasons not even he himself knows, decides he wants to take on Slug. Slug then pimp-slaps him over the horizon.
- To paraphrase Slug, the fight with Goku basically begins as Slug playing "competitive bitch-toss" with Goku as said bitch. Goku briefly returns the favor when he becomes the Champion of Christmas, but once that fizzles out he goes back to losing (though it isn't as brutally one-sided).
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: After Gohan goes to attack Lord Slug's men, he initially scoffs at their blasters, saying one of those will do nothing to him. When an offscreen mook responds with "What about a hundred" Gohan suddenly seems much more worried. He's right to be worried, when a large group of mooks fire at him, it only takes them a few seconds to bring Gohan down.
- Ear Ache: Piccolo tears off his own ears so he wouldn't be affected by Gohan's whistling as Slug would. Unfortunately, it rendered him deaf, or at least impaired, to everything else for the remainder of the movie.
- Eye Scream: Just after Lord Slug arrives on Earth, Gohan clashes with some of the minions and kicks one of them right in the visor of his suit. The poor guy stumbles around in horrific pain and says this memorable line:Oh God, all I can see is glass and blood!
- Facial Dialogue: Three in a row when Bulma lets it slip right in front of Slug that she has a radar that locates Dragon Balls:(cut to Gohan with a "Bulma?! What the hell!?" expression)
(cut to Bulma with an "Oops..." expression)
(cut to a widely grinning Slug with a "I can't believe you just said that out loud!" expression) - Forgot About His Powers: With great difficulty, Piccolo pulls himself in Slug's giant hand towards Goku so he can grab him and transfer his energy. He's most of the way there before it occurs to him it would have been easier to use his stretchy arms.
- Heroic Second Wind: After being beaten to a pulp by Slug, Goku powers up and turns the tables after being told by King Kai that he was "The Champion of Christmas".
- High-Five Left Hanging: After Piccolo dishes out a Curb-Stomp Battle on Doradabo (Lord Slug's Brute), Doradabo tries to befriend Piccolo and offers a high five. Piccolo briefly acts like he's going for it and then turns it into a finishing blow that kills Doradabo.Doradabo: Look, all right. I know we both said some things, but I bet if we just talk to each other a little, we can become friends. Whattaya say, high five? [extends arm slightly]
Piccolo: [also extends hand slightly, but high up and beyond Doradabo's reach] Down low.
Doradabo: [confused] Uh...
Piccolo: Too slow. [Fires an energy blast at Doradabo's face] - Inconsistent Dub: The subtitles refer to Doradobo by his dub name, Wings.
- Loud of War: While not loud, per se, Gohan's whistling is torture to Namekians. Piccolo remembered this later and tears off his own ears before getting Gohan to use this on Lord Slug.
- Motivational Lie: Goku convinces himself based on the state of Earth that it's currently the Christmas season, and that Slug's invasion is targeting Christmas itself just like Turles's crew. King Kai is about to correct him, but suddenly stops himself and plays along when he realizes Goku will fight better with that motivation.
- Mythology Gag:
- Because Lord Slug's wish for youth is the same as King Piccolo's in the original Dragon Ball, Shenron finds this situation oddly familiar. The only difference is that King Piccolo killed him off afterwards so the Dragon Balls wouldn't be used against him.
- The credits song is a cover of "Stupify" by Disturbed, sung by Nappa and Piccolo. The Funimation dub used "Stupify" as an insert song for when Goku becomes a False Super Saiyan.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Slug's elite minions are a another bundle of cliche villain archetypes, as Piccolo notices immediately after his experience with the "Misfit Minions" from The Christmas Tree of Might. He then proceeds to label who is the pretty one, the weird one with the freaky power, and the big, tough, stupid one.Dorodabo: You take that back or I'll kill you!
Piccolo: All right, all right. You're not tough.
Dorodabo: That's better!
Gohan: Wait. Didn't you...
Piccolo: Give him a minute.
Dorodabo: ...Hey! - Recycled Plot: Lampshaded. Lord Slug is constantly mistakenly called King Piccolo by his minions, and even Shenron and Goku start to see the similarities.
- Running Gag: Slug as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for King Piccolo.
- Saving Christmas: Parodied; Goku thinks he's doing this trope when he sees the snow caused by Slug's freezing of the planet, and is very disappointed when it turns out to not be the case.
- Saying Too Much: Bulma ends up jumping into this trope with both feet when she discovers that Slug is interested in the Dragon Balls.Bulma: Well, though luck, Jolly Green Jackass! 'Cause I'm the only one here with a radar to find them!
(cut to Gohan with his mouth agape in shock)
(cut to Bulma immediately realizing what she just did)
(cut to Slug grinning widely)
Gohan: (pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration) Oooooh, my god... - Shout-Out:
- When Piccolo slams one of Slug's minions into a lamp, the breaking glass and accompanying music are lifted straight from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
- Upon killing Lord Slug, Goku in a very monotone voice declares "Now I must go. My planet needs me." Followed by an animation frame sliding off the screen into the air.
- Skewed Priorities: One of Slug's attacks lands Goku in Iguana Street, implied to be a ghetto of some kind. Goku cares more about potentially getting mugged and being Mistaken for Racist than about the superpowered green alien presently trying to murder him.
- The Stinger: It is revealed that Slug is the other half of Lord Guru. Guru is the evil half, and he suggested Slug should come to Earth to use their Dragon Balls and take over.
- Super Mode: The movie's infamous 'false Super Saiyan' confuses King Kai, who can only describe it as being "like some kind of... Super... Saiya-man". It doesn't get any more explanation than that besides an implied association with Christmas.
- Three... Two... One...: Vegeta makes a brief cameo and sets a recording for Krillin's expected failure against Lord Slug.Vegeta: Oh, my God. This is going to be amazing. Aaaand, record. (after seeing Krillin's expected failure) And the Emmy goes to...
- Unstoppable Rage: Subverted. Goku's losing to Slug, and a battered Piccolo suggests that Gohan do his usual thing of getting really mad and beating up the bad guy, but Gohan was drained unconscious and doesn't wake up until later.
- Voice of the Legion: 'Christmas Savior' Goku speaks with this. It's as sudden and jarring as his powerup itself.
