"The Dragon Balls were intended to be a thing of extraordinary magic and power, something to be revered, not for the ease of their method, but for the dream of never having to use them." |
The Dragon Balls (ドラゴンボール, Doragon Bōru) are the namesake artifact of the Dragon Ball series. They are orange, crystalline spheres with the ability to call forth the Eternal Dragon who can grant wishes to anyone who gathers all seven of them.
Concept
In the Dragon Ball: Bouken Special, the Dragon Ball manga author, Akira Toriyama, explains that there are seven Dragon Balls because there are eight balls in Hakken-Den, a famous Edo-era Japanese novel, and that he would have hated for them to be exactly the same number, so he had the Dragon Balls be seven.
Unlike other forms of fiction that involve wishes being granted, the Dragon Balls seem to grant a wish exactly as the wisher imagined it, rather than warping the wish so that it is technically granted, but ends up making the wisher's life even more difficult. For example, when King Piccolo wished for youth, he was not reduced to an infant, but rather, appeared in his prime. Also, when a victim is revived from the dead, they are not undead, but rather, are truly alive. This is likely so that there is a legitimate reason to pursue the Dragon Balls by the protagonists, as they would not have a justification to rely on them if they knew they would never grant a proper wish. Also, unlike wishes in other literary works, Shenron is actually a sentient being; he may be capable of interpreting a wish however he sees fit, but chooses to interpret them how he knows the wisher actually wants, as a courtesy rather than as a rule. Credence is lent to this theory in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, where Shenron was asked to move all the dead people back to the Other World. He claimed that he was perfectly capable of granting the wish precisely as it was uttered, but he knew what consequences the Z Fighters were expecting (that the onslaught of undead would be resolved and peace would be restored), and warned them of the futility of the wish.
The only time a wish was not granted exactly as the wisher imagined it was during the Frieza Saga, when Piccolo was wished to Planet Namek, but not to the Z-Fighter's specific location. However, this is still consistent with the theory that the eternal dragon can interpret wishes; Porunga is much more cynical than Shenron, and so it makes sense that he would twist a wisher's words out of sheer spite.
Overview
The Four-Star Dragon Ball
Dragon Balls come in sets of seven with each ball displaying the number of stars that signifies its respective number in the set. It was said by Colonel Silver that the Dragon Balls are unbreakable when he dropped a fake Dragon Ball.[6] Vegeta likely did not know this when he ordered Krillin to destroy one before the Ginyu Force took them on Namek. In the Fusion Saga, while Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is fighting Super Buu, Piccolo says "If you break even one of the balls they can never be used again", which may mean that the Dragon Balls are not completely indestructible or that they are destructible when turned to stone (as they were turned to stone at the time). While the Dragon balls take a year to return to normal, their guardian can speed up the process. One example of this was when Kami revived Shenron and told Goku it would normally take a year since King Piccolo made a wish to restore his youth just days earlier but he decided to make an exception for Goku and his friends this once.
Dragon Balls are difficult to find because they are scattered all over their respective planet, or all across the universe or galaxy according to the FUNimation dub in the case of the Black-Star Dragon Balls, and are deactivated for a year after every wish, disguising themselves as stones. To have the opportunity to summon an Eternal Dragon, one must travel all over the globe to retrieve them. As technology eventually progressed, this became somewhat easier, and became relatively simple with Bulma's invention of the Dragon Radar. Though the Dragon Balls usually scatter across the Earth after having been used, Goku stops this from happening once by jumping into the air and catching the Four-Star ball before it can fly away at the end of the Fortuneteller Baba Saga.
Dragon Radar designed by Bulma
Restrictions on the Dragon's powers are set by the relative capabilities of the Dragon Ball set's creator. A big problem throughout the series is that with any set of Dragon Balls is that their creator must be alive for them to function, otherwise they will be stones for eternity, such as in Future Trunks' alternate timeline, due to Future Piccolo's death; this often results in the Z Fighters protecting their creator with their lives. The Dragon Balls are inactive if the model of the dragon breaks; if the dragon is destroyed, the model breaks.
Without a model of the dragon and a set of Dragon Balls (in its plain rock form), it would take about 100 days to create the Dragon Balls (as mentioned by Dende before he modified them). If the creator allows it, the Dragon Balls can be used even if a year has not passed; this happens only once in the series, when Kami allowed Goku and his friends to revive all people killed by King Piccolo, even though it had only been a few days since King Piccolo wished to restore his youth.
Since all seven Dragon Balls must be brought together (though it is unknown exactly what the maximum distance between the balls for them to be considered together is), it is often a sound strategy employed by the villains of the series to find one Dragon Ball and hold on to it, while the Z Fighters go through the trouble of finding the other six, after which the villain will step in and steal them. Since this strategy technically works, but is considered cheap, the Z Fighters do not usually employ it, as they prefer to fight fair. However, the Z-Fighters did use this tactic during the Namek Saga, when Gohan took Vegeta's Four Star Namekian dragonball, because Krillin and Gohan knew they could not beat Vegeta or Frieza's forces without Goku's help, so they resorted to this tactic just that once.
Old Kai once warned the Z Fighters not to overuse the Dragon Balls. This is elaborated upon in the Shadow Dragon Saga of Dragon Ball GT, since the Dragon Balls are only supposed to be used once every 100 years.
The most well known Dragon Ball is the Four-Star Dragon Ball, being the one Grandpa Gohan had and which Goku kept after he passed away, also being the one which Goku put on his first son Gohan's hat. The Namekian Dragon Ball Vegeta stole, and that was later stolen from him by Gohan, was also the Four-Star Dragon Ball. In Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Second Coming, the Four-Star Dragon Ball is the last Dragon Ball to be collected before Trunks, Goten and Videl summon Shenron, and was also the last ball to be found by Bulma before summoning Shenron to wish back those who were killed by Majin Vegeta at the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament.[7] In the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga of Dragon Ball GT, the first Black Star Dragon Ball collected is the Four-Star Dragon Ball. Later, in the Shadow Dragon Saga, the only good Shadow Dragon, Nuova Shenron, is the Four-Star Dragon.
History
Earth Dragon Balls
Bulma explaining the Dragon Balls to Goku
The Earth Dragon Balls are about 7.5 cm (approximately 3 in) in diameter, and they summon a dragon named Shenron. They were created by Kami, and later re-created by Dende. Shenron can grant a wish within its powers as long as it does not create love, repeat a wish he previously granted, surpasses its creator's power, and meets a few more restrictions. Legitimate wishes include eternal youth, immortality, bringing back a scorched forest or even an annihilated planet. Also, it is possible to return a person to life, although only if they meet certain criteria, like dying of unnatural causes or within the time-frame of a year (half a century according to the Ocean Dub), and each individual can only be brought back once.
Another restriction is that it cannot kill enemies that exceed the creator's power. This is often understood by fans to be a ban on killing villains generally, but that is not explicitly stated. All Shenron states is that he cannot kill someone who exceeds the power of his creator (who, at the time, was Kami); as such, this dialogue opens the possibility for weaker villains such as Emperor Pilaf or Mercenary Tao to be killed off with a wish to the Dragon Balls; however, by the time someone had the idea to make such a wish, the villains were already more than 80 times stronger than Kami, who had a power level of only around 220, and villains would get even stronger after that.
The Eternal Dragon will grant the first wish uttered after it was called, by whomever is present. However, during the episode Eternal Dragon Resurrected, a notable exception to this rule was displayed: The Dragon has discretion to change a wish at the last minute, provided the original wisher consents to the change. First, Bulma asked the Dragon to revive "all of [their] friends who were killed by Piccolo." Oolong then clarified that the friends they wanted revived were "Krillin, Master Roshi, and Chaotzu." Shenron was about to grant this wish, but at the last minute, Yamcha interjected and requested that all of Piccolo's victims, not just their friends, be revived as well. Shenron read the faces of Bulma and Oolong, realized that they liked this change, and agreed to make the change.
Pilaf summons Shenron
The Dragon Balls were rendered inert three times: the first time was after King Piccolo murdered Shenron shortly after the latter granted him his wish, and was subsequently revived by Kami after Goku proved to him that there were still some good people in the world (originally, Kami had no intention of reviving them due to the purpose for creating them being corrupted by man's greed). The second time was after Kami ended up indirectly killed by Nappa when Piccolo took Nappa's attack meant for Gohan, although they were restored upon Kami's revival. They were then rendered inert for a final time when Piccolo and Kami decided to reunite due to Cell's grave threat to the world. Goku and the other Z Fighters initially did not consider restoring the Dragon Balls, but after Cell wiped out the entirety of the Royal Armed Forces when they attempted to attack Cell during the ten day wait before the Cell Games, Goku decided to find a means to restore the Dragon Balls, even if Kami could not defuse from Piccolo.
Shenron
When Dende became the Earth's guardian, he modified the burnt out Dragon Balls created by Kami, giving Shenron the power to grant three wishes (two wishes if one wish is used to revive a large amount of people). He chose simply modifying Kami's Dragon Balls over creating a new set because the time it would take to create a new set from scratch was far too long, especially given the imminent threat of Cell. In addition to this, Dende's dragon can grant one wish and then have the other wishes saved for a later time. This was shown in the Buu Saga, when one wish was made to revive all those killed by Majin Vegeta, and then Goku asked Shenron to save the following wishes. Therefore, only four or so months after Kid Buu's defeat, another wish was made to erase the Earthlings' memories of Buu. One obstacle that Dende could not overcome for the new set of balls is that, a person cannot be revived more than once. Like the Namekian Dragon Balls, the summoner must utter a set of words. In Dragon Ball Z, these words are "Eternal Dragon, by your name, I summon you forth: Shenron!" In Dragon Ball GT, right before the Shadow Dragon Saga, the words have changed to "Arise, Shenron!"
The Two-Star ball full of negative energy
It is unclear whether Dragon Balls can revive artificial life or not. While Android 17 was revived during the Cell Games Saga, he started out as a human and was made into an android by Dr. Gero. Android 16, who was killed by Cell, was not seen again in the series even after the wish was made to revive all of Cell's victims.
The Legend of the Dragon Balls
In the Dragon Ball episode "The Legend of a Dragon", Master Roshi told a popular legend about the origin of the Dragon Balls. This legend is only present in the anime and contradicts the explanation given later in the series about Kami being their creator. Since Roshi's tale is only a rumor he had heard, it was likely a myth.
The "Original Dragon Ball" as shown in Roshi's story
"The Legend, as I was told, goes something like this. In the beginning there was only one Dragon Ball. It was huge. I mean REALLY huge, it had to be. It held all of the mystical energies of the Universe. An ancient tribe discovered it, and was inspired by its magnificent power. They built a shrine around it, and protected the orb by placing it in the mouth of a giant Dragon statue, said to be its eternal guardian. You should have seen the detail on this thing, it was INCREDIBLE, scales made of Ruby, teeth of pearl—speaking of pearl, they say there was this one native girl ("GET ON WITH IT!")—yes, well, the tribe enjoyed years of prosperity until one day, evil paid a visit to the village in the form of a band of thieves. These agents of Darkness stormed the temple in an attempt to steal the Dragon Ball for their own selfish gain. They were shocked to discover the true power of the Ball. To ensure such an attack never happened again, the Dragon Ball was divided into seven smaller orbs, and scattered across the globe. Separately, the Dragon Balls were useless, but when all seven were united, then a single voice could summon the Eternal Dragon for one wish, and one wish only. Some wishes were pure, but others were tainted by blind ambition. This led to pain and suffering as an unjust few wished for power and dominion over mankind. But as the story goes there will one day come a hero who will use the Dragon Balls for goodness, and bring peace and unity to the world once more."
Namekian Dragon Balls
Main article: Namekian Dragon Ball
The Namekian Dragon Balls
Unlike the Dragon Balls of Earth, the approximately basketball-sized Dragon Balls of planet Namek summon a different dragon, Porunga, and can grant three wishes, due to their creation by Grand Elder Guru. They can be used once per Namekian year, approximately 130 Earth days.[8] However, Porunga is initially only capable of one individual's revival per wish, whereas the Eternal Dragon of Earth can wish many back to life, even the entire population of a planet, with a single wish. Additionally, the Namekian Dragon Balls require the summoner to say a password before the dragon can be summoned, and the wish must be spoken in the Namekian language; the Z Fighters usually use Dende to translate their wishes to Porunga. One notable advantage that the Namekian Dragon Balls have over those of Earth is that they can revive a person as many times as wished, something even Dende's upgraded Shenron could not do until Dragon Ball GT.
Furthermore, the Namekian dragon balls do not scatter across the planet after a wish is made. This allows the dragon balls to be used immediately after they are revived from stone, without having to gather them up.
Porunga
When Guru is about to die, he is able to name Moori as the new Elder right before he passes at the end of the Frieza Saga, after which the Dragon Balls' existence rests on the new Elder's fate. It is unknown if the Earth's Dragon Balls can be passed on in such a manner. Sometime after settling on New Namek, the Namekians decided to modify their existing Dragon Balls, giving Porunga the ability to grant the wish of resurrecting many living beings at once rather than just one at a time. This was done as a reaction to their experiences dealing with Frieza. Also, in the Kid Buu Saga, Porunga is able to grant a wish that is not spoken in Namekian language, as Dende wishes for all those killed by Buu to be brought back in the common language.
Black Star Dragon Balls
Main article: Black Star Dragon Ball
The Three-Star Black Star Dragon Ball
In Dragon Ball GT, the concept of "Black Star Dragon Balls" was introduced. This set of Dragon Balls was created by the Nameless Namekian, before he had split into Kami and King Piccolo. Presumably because this Namek was not pure good and was much more powerful (since he had not dispelled his evil half) the Black Star Dragon Balls can summon the much more powerful Ultimate Shenron, a mighty dragon that is not restricted as much as the normal Shenron (e.g. he can grant a wish to kill a person). To counter this powerful improvement, the Black Star Dragon Balls have two big downsides. First, when Ultimate Shenron grants a wish, the Black Star Dragon Balls scatter across the galaxy, rather than on Earth. Secondly, the planet upon which Ultimate Shenron grants a wish will be destroyed in one year unless the Black Star Dragon Balls are returned to the aforementioned planet. Apart from this, unlike the Earth or Namekian Dragon Balls, the Black Star Dragon Balls never transform into stones and can be used as soon as they are retrieved after being scattered.
Ultimate Shenron
In Dragon Ball GT, Emperor Pilaf uses them and unintentionally turns Goku back into a kid. Pan, Goku and Trunks are eventually able to recover them. At the end of the Baby Saga, the Z Fighters decide that the Black Star Dragon Balls are far too dangerous to allow to exist, and Piccolo stays on Earth as it explodes, killing himself to ensure that they would never hurt anyone again.
Negative energy and the Shadow Dragons
Main article: Shadow Dragons
The cracked Dragon Balls
First mentioned by Old Kai in Dragon Ball Z, whenever a wish is made using the Dragon Balls, an equal amount of negative energy is created alongside the beneficial wish-granting energy. To prevent this energy from causing problems, the Dragon Balls absorb this dark energy. The dark energy stored in the Dragon Balls disperses only after 100 years, and the Dragon Balls can only store a limited amount of it. After used to make a wish, the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet, giving them time to dispel the dark energy harmlessly (since it is expected that it would take years for someone to find all the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron again, especially since most people do not know about their power). Unfortunately, this countermeasure was proved near useless when Bulma invented the Dragon Radar, allowing the Z Fighters to easily find the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron many times. Eventually, during Dragon Ball GT, all seven Dragon Balls were filled to full capacity, causing them to crack. When these damaged Dragon Balls were used to summon Shenron to restore the Earth after Goku's battle with Super 17, the Dragon Balls released years worth of dark energy instead, which manifested into an evil Black Smoke Shenron, who in turn swallowed the Dragon Balls and split into seven Shadow Dragons.
Black Smoke Shenron
Despite the fact that the seven Shadow Dragons were all created by individual wishes, not every wish made spawned a Shadow Dragon. For example, none of the wishes made after the Cell Games to revive Cell's victims and remove the bombs from the Androids spawned a Shadow Dragon. It is unknown what became of the negative energy of those wishes.
Super Dragon Balls
The Original Dragon Balls The Super Dragon Balls
Main article: Super Dragon Ball The Super Dragon Balls are the original set of Dragon Balls formed by the Dragon God, Zalama. The Namekians found the Super Dragon Balls and they shaved pieces off to make their own. These Dragon Balls have no limits and can grant any wish the user desires. The size of these balls are the size of planet, Champa even calls them "wish planets". Champa has collected six of the Super Dragon Balls and
The Dragon of the Gods Super Shenron
Bulma is on the search for the remaining one which revealed to be the Nameless Planet. To summon the Dragon of the Gods Super Shenron the summoner needs to say in the Language of the Gods "Come forth Dragon of the Gods and grant my wish pretty peas!" After the wish is made they scatter across Universe 6 and 7.
Location of the Dragon Balls
This chart documents the locations of the Earth's Dragon Balls in the different sagas of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT, as well as the wishes granted in those sagas and the name of the Shadow Dragons each wish spawned.
| # | Emperor Pilaf Saga | Red Ribbon Army Saga | King Piccolo Saga | Vegeta Saga[9] | Frieza Saga | Cell Games Saga | Majin Buu Saga | God of Destruction Beerus Saga | Golden Frieza Saga | Universe 6 Saga | "Future" Trunks Saga | Shadow Dragon Saga |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-Star Ball (一星球) |
Brought to Pilaf's Castle from a dungeon[10] | City Street | Yajirobe's Prairie | Yunzabit Heights | Unknown | Wasteland[11] | Thieves Den[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Syn Shenron |
| Two-Star Ball (二星球) |
Capsule Corporation (Warehouse) | Muscle Tower | Ice Cave | Devil's Toilet | Unknown | Savanna[11] | Diablo Desert Express[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Haze Shenron |
| Three-Star Ball (三星球) |
Kame House | Pirate Cave | Prairie | Muscle Tower (at Goku's House in DBZ) | Unknown | Beach[11] | Pilaf's Castle[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Eis Shenron |
| Four-Star Ball (四星球) |
Grandpa Gohan's House | Sacred Land of Korin | Stolen by Tambourine after the 22nd World Tournament | On Gohan's hat | Unknown | Vodka's Fortress[13] | Small Island (swallowed by a dinosaur)[14] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Nuova Shenron |
| Five-Star Ball (五星球) |
North Valley | Area covered by the Brown Squad | Village of the Unnamed Fighter injured by Tien | Pirate Cave | Unknown | Mountain[11] | Mega-Fortress XJ-5[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Rage Shenron |
| Six-Star Ball (六星球) |
Aru Village | Colonel Silver's Camp | Crow Cavern | Desert (at Goku's house in DBZ) | Unknown | Rocky area[13] | Fukurou Forest[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Oceanus Shenron |
| Seven-Star Ball (七星球) |
Fire Mountain | Lake near the Peck Peck Tribe Jungle | Mercenary Clan's ship | Pilaf's Castle | Unknown | Vodka's fortress[13] (found on the Tropical Islands)[15] | Kyodai Pyramid[12] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | On Naturon Shenron |
| Wisher: | Oolong | Upa | King Piccolo, Bulma |
Master Roshi | Mr. Popo | Yamcha & Krillin | Yamcha & Goku[12] | Pilaf Gang, Goku | Sorbet, Shu, & Mai | Beerus | Gohan | Goku |
| Wish made: | Panties | Bora revived | Eternal youth for King Piccolo + Used again the same year to revive those killed by King Piccolo and his sons | Goku revived | Those killed by Frieza and his henchmen revived | Those killed by Cell revived + Android Bombs removed | Those killed since the 25th World Tournament revived + Erased all the memories of Majin Buu except for the Z Fighters and friends | Youth for the Pilaf Gang + Knowledge of the Super Saiyan God | Frieza's resurrection + one million zeni + Ice cream | Shenron to "scram" | Cure Pan's fever | Undo all the damage on Earth since the arrival of Super 17 |
| Dragon spawned: | Oceanus Shenron | Haze Shenron | Nuova Shenron | Rage Shenron | Syn Shenron | Naturon Shenron & Eis Shenron |
Wishes granted
Pre-Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
The One-Star Dragon Ball
- Oolong wishes for a pair of panties. (Spawned Oceanus Shenron)
- Upa wishes for Bora to be revived. (Spawned Haze Shenron)
- King Piccolo wishes for his youth to be restored. (Spawned Nuova Shenron)
- Reviving everyone killed by King Piccolo and his children.
Dragon Ball Z
Vegeta Saga
- Master Roshi wishes for Goku to be revived. (Spawned Rage Shenron)
Frieza Saga
- Dende, Gohan and Krillin wish for Piccolo's life to be restored. Then they wish for Piccolo to be transported to planet Namek. (Granted by Porunga, two wishes)
- Mr. Popo wishes for all those killed by Frieza and his henchmen in Namek brought back to life, but the tribe killed by Vegeta were not brought back as Vegeta did not count as one of Frieza's henchmen at that time. This is the only wish that Shenron was unsure of his ability to grant. (Granted by Shenron; Spawned Syn Shenron)
- Dende wishes everyone on Namek to be transported to Earth except for Goku and Frieza. (Granted by Porunga)
- Wish for Krillin's soul to be moved to Earth, and then to be brought back to life. (Granted by Porunga, two wishes)
- Wish for the Z Fighters Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Tien Shinhan's lives to be restored. (Granted by Porunga, three wishes)
- Wish for all Namekians on Earth, except Piccolo and Kami, to be transported to New Namek. (Granted by Porunga)
Cell Games Saga
- A wish to revive all people killed by Cell and the other androids and second wish for the self-destruct bombs in Android 17 and Android 18 to be removed. (Granted by Shenron)
Majin Buu Saga
The seven Dragon Balls
- Bulma wished that everyone who died since the morning of the World Martial Arts Tournament be brought back to life. (Granted by Shenron; Spawned Naturon Shenron)
- The remaining wish was saved up, giving them four months until they were able to make their second wish.
- A wish to restore the recently destroyed planet Earth, another wish to revive all those killed since the morning of the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament back to life except for those that are evil, and the last wish to restore Goku's strength so he could completely fire the Spirit Bomb. (Granted by Porunga)
- A wish for all memories of Majin Buu's havoc on Earth to be erased, except from the Z Fighters, and the other supporting characters. (Granted by Shenron, made using the remaining wish saved up from the last summoning; spawned Eis Shenron).
Dragon Ball Super
Battle of Gods Saga
- Goku wishes for the knowledge of the Super Saiyan God.
Resurrection ‘F’ Saga
- Sorbet wishes Frieza back from Hell.
- Shu wishes for a million Zeni.
- Mai wishes for the best ice cream in the world.
Universe 6 Saga
- Beerus wishes for Shenron to go away. (Granted by Shenron)
- Whis wishes for Universe 6's Earth and it's Humans to be revived. (Granted by Super Shenron)
Future Trunks Saga
- Gohan wishes for Pan's fever to be cured. (Granted by Shenron)
Dragon Ball GT
Earth Dragon Balls on Omega Shenron's chest
- Emperor Pilaf wishes for Goku to be turned into a child. (Granted by Ultimate Shenron)
- Baby-Vegeta's wish for a new Planet Plant to be created and located near Earth, complete with buildings and plants. (Granted by the Ultimate Shenron)
- A wish to restore the Earth after being destroyed by the side effects of using the Black Star Dragon Balls. (Granted by Porunga)
- A wish to revive all the people who were killed during the Super 17 and Shadow Dragon Sagas. (Granted by Shenron)
- Shenron was able to revive people who had been wished back to life using the Earth Dragon Balls before because the wish was a special wish granted to Goku and the Z Fighters by Shenron without being summoned by the Dragon Balls, before he parted from the Earth.
Dragon Ball movies
Dragon Ball Movie 1: Curse of the Blood Rubies
- Penny's wish for the end of the rubies.
Dragon Ball Movie 3: Mystical Adventure
- Goku wishes for Bora to be revived.
Dragon Ball Tenth Anniversary Special:
- Goku wishes for Shenron to rebuild Android 8 and remove the bomb inside him.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 1: Dead Zone
- Garlic Jr.'s wish for immortality.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 2: The World's Strongest
- Dr. Kochin wishes for Dr. Wheelo to be released from his icy prison.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 3: The Tree of Might
- Bulma, Gohan and Krillin wish to restore the forest.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 4: Lord Slug
- Lord Slug wishes for his youth to be restored.
The Four-Star Dragon Ball, found by Goten
Dragon Ball Z Movie 10: Broly - Second Coming
- Goten wishes that his father were there, and an image of Goku appears; though this creates an interesting plot hole. First, Shenron does not appear when Goten tries to summon him; second the sky is not even dark when the wish is made. Also at this point, Dende had powered up Shenron to grant three wishes, though when the Dragon Balls read Goten thoughts about wishing Goku was there to help them, the Dragon Balls still scatter at the end of the movie.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn
- Shenron appears, but no wish is made, leading to a somewhat comedic ending, with Shenron saying "Is somebody going to make a wish or what?"
Dragon Ball Z Movie 13: Wrath of the Dragon
- Hoi wishes to unlock a box he found. (Tapion was in it).
- As they say their goodbyes to Tapion, Goku and friends mention that they will summon the dragon again to wish all the people back to life who died during the battle against Hirudegarn (this part of the conversation is mentioned in the Japanese version).
Dragon Ball Z Movie 14: Battle of Gods
- The Pilaf Gang wished for their youth prior to the events of the movie.
- Beerus demands Shenron to tell the Saiyans how to make a Super Saiyan God, allowing the Saiyans to learn how the form is attained, ultimately leading to Goku achieving the form.
Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Resurrection ‘F’
- Frieza Force's Sorbet and his body guard, Tagoma, wish to revive the galactic tyrant Frieza so he can restore the Frieza Force's evil empire, the single most evil wish ever made with the Earth's Dragon Balls. Frieza is revived as he was just before his death via the finishing blast of Future Trunks' Shining Sword Attack, as Mecha Frieza and in pieces. Sorbet and Tagoma collect all of the pieces of Frieza and put the organic parts in a healing chamber; Frieza's body is regenerated and he reverts himself back into his first form, thus setting in motion the events of the film.
- Shu wishes for one million zeni.
- Bulma says she'll gather the Dragon Balls to revive North City since Frieza destroyed it.
Video game appearances
The Dragon Balls appear in nearly all the franchise's video games.
The seven Dragon Balls in Dragon Ball Heroes
In the RPG Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, Mr. Popo creates his own set of Dragon Balls after Goku's resurrection and Kami's death. This version of Shenron isn't as powerful and cannot be used to wish back deceased characters, but has the advantage of being able to be reused constantly after being regathered and they are also capable of summoning someone as powerful as Legendary Super Saiyan Broly to Earth.
In the fighting game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, which takes place in Future Trunks' Alternate Timeline, Future Janemba takes the Dragon Balls and after he is defeated, Future Babidi steals them. While Vegito fights against Future Super Buu, Future Babidi invokes Shenron. While he was doing his wish, he is cut off by Future Mr. Satan who wishes to become the most popular person in the universe.
In Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, Future Trunks asks Shenron for a strong ally with enough power to defeat time itself. By this wish, Shenron summons the Future Warrior. In center of Toki Toki City's Plaza of Time there is a Dragon Ball Altar where the Dragon Balls collected by Time Patrollers are kept and where Shenron is summoned when all seven are collected. A female Time Patroller named Amura stands next to the Altar and makes various comments about making wishes Shenron such as wondering if Shenron would get mad if she wished for 100 wishes or wishing for Shenron to be her friend. Dragon Balls can be obtained during Parallel quests, if obtained the player will receive a message saying "Key Item obtained" and must complete the quest to collect the Dragon Ball.
In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Turles attempts to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to wish for Immortality, but is stopped by his cohort Lord Slug who also desires immortality so he can rule the universe. Before they can fight over who will get to make a wish, the Future Warrior appears and they form a temporary truce to deal with the Patroller but are ultimately defeated by the Warrior and Future Trunks. Interestingly in Parallel Quest 44: "Dragon Balls of the Future", the Dragon Balls mysteriously reactivate in a parallel version Future Trunks' timeline despite Future Kami's death, forcing Future Trunks to keep them from Future 17, Future 18, and reactivated Future 16. Exactly how they were able to reactivate in Trunks' timeline without Kami is never explained, though presumably it may have something to do with the time fragment that particular parallel timeline is found in.
In Xenoverse 2, Dragon Balls are collected in much the same way as they were in Xenoverse by defeating Time Patroller NPCs in battle, though this is made slightly more easier as Time Patrollers often appear in teams of three when encountered in Parallel Quests. Also in Conton City one can see a giant Shenron-like dragon that floats in the sky north of Conton City. It is later revealed that this dragon was the dragon statue found on the Dragon Ball Pedestal in Xenoverse which Chronoa had animated after hearing rumors doubting the power of gods like herself and Elder Kai, however it grew so large it turn Toki Toki City into ruins, forcing them to build Conton City over the ruins and the seemingly alive dragon statue was relocated north of the city. The Dragon Ball Pedestal was eventually restored with a new dragon statue. During their investigation of the Guru's House time rift anomaly, if Future Warrior meets Grand Elder Guru after having their potential unlocked (Attribute Level Cap unlocked), who will teach the Warrior how to increase the power of the Dragon Balls in Conton City, unlocking extra wish options the next time they use the Dragon Balls and each subsequent after that.
Other media
Dragon Pearl from Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins
- In Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins they are referred to as Dragon Pearls and show an image of a different color Shenron moving around in one instead of the glow they do in the original story. Jade uses them to wish for her land to be back to normal.
- In Dragonball Evolution, Goku wishes for Shenron to bring Master Roshi back to life. The Stars in the Dragon Ball's move around the ball they are in.
- In the manga Dragon Boy, Dragon Balls are small balls that appear very similar to the balls in the Dragon Ball series. However, instead of granting wishes, they can be opened using ki energy to release a small baby dragon that does not grant wishes.
- In the video game series Worms, there is an attack called "Dragon Ball", being very similar to the Kamehameha. However, said attack is likely based on the Hadouken/Fireball from the Street Fighter series, as there is another attack called 'Fire punch' which resembles the Shoryuken/Dragon Punch from the same series. Worms will occasionally shout 'Shoryuken' when performing the fire punch, as well as donning a red head band in the style of the main character Ryu when doing both attacks. Additionally, the attacks are called Fireball and Dragon Punch in the Street Fighter series, and Fire Punch and Dragon Ball in Worms.
A Dragon Ball in the live-action film adaptation Dragonball Evolution
- In the anime, Puni Puni Poemi, the main character makes an appearance with a collection of three Dragon Balls.
- The Dragon Balls are mentioned in the first chapter of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.
- In a non-anime show Duck Dodgers (Looney Tunes franchise series), Space Cadet told The Masked Xorro (a parody of Zorro) that the villagers returned to see reruns of Dragon Ball.
Kohina and friends use the "seven balls of wish-granting"
- In the episode 12 of the anime Gugure! Kokkuri-san, Shenron and the Dragon Balls are referenced when Kohina's house is destroyed. They used the "Ichimatsu family's seven balls of wish-granting" to repair it.
Trivia
- In the first volume of the Dragon Ball manga, several characters who are unaware of the Dragon Balls often mistake them for gonads of the Eternal Dragon itself, when first enlightened of them. For example, when Bulma reveals the legend for the first time in the series, Goku follows her remark that "They're called Dragon Balls" with "Y'mean... Some poor dragon...?" Later, Goku tells Oolong about the tale, to which Oolong comically replies "I didn't even know dragons had" before being stopped when Goku shows him one of the artifacts. Giving the nature of the original Dragon Ball is likely meant to be a joke.
- In the original, cut, censored English version of Dragon Ball Z, there are a few contradictions with Earth and Namek's Dragon Balls in "The Return of Goku". Piccolo asks Gohan to wish him back after his death, despite he could not be revived if the Dragon Balls were scattered (and he should not know about Namek's Dragon Balls yet). Later in the episode, Gohan states that "they have to wish Piccolo back with the Dragon Balls", another plot hole. Finally, when Bulma knows that the Dragon Balls are gone, she states that they are going to need the Dragon Balls "from somewhere else" to wish their friends back (in the uncut version, she realizes that they are not going to be able to bring them back to life) which also contradicts the fact that they did not know anything about other Dragon Balls.
Gallery
The Four-Star ball shining  Roshi's Dragon Ball  Goku with Roshi's Dragon Ball  Goku checks the Three-Star ball  Goku with a Dragon Ball  Dragon Balls getting scattered  The Dragon Balls are scattered  The seven Dragon Balls in Curse of the Blood Rubies  A Dragon Ball in Bulma's bag in Curse of the Blood Rubies  A Dragon Ball on the ground in Curse of the Blood Rubies  Grandpa Gohan's Dragon Ball in Curse of the Blood Rubies  Five Dragon Balls on Gurumes' tongue  Roshi's Dragon Ball in Curse of the Blood Rubies  Bulma with two Dragon Balls in Curse of the Blood Rubies  The seven Dragon Balls in Curse of the Blood Rubies  The Dragon Balls in Mystical Adventure  Upa with the Four-Star Dragon Ball  The Four-Star Dragon Ball near Korin  Dragon Ball keeping statue activated  False Dragon Balls in a merchant's shop  Six-Star Dragon Ball being carried by a bird  Pilaf with the Six-Star Dragon Ball in hands The Five-Star Dragon Ball on the tree  A monkey finds the Five-Star Dragon Ball  Goku with the Five-Star Dragon Ball  Three Dragon Balls in Goku's bag  Goku gets the Four-Star Dragon Ball from Bora  Goku with the Four-Star Dragon Ball  Two Dragon Balls in the Red Ribbon HQ  Goku with the two Red Ribbon Dragon Balls  Goku finds the One-Star Dragon Ball  Goku catching the Four-Star Dragon Ball before it scatters  The Four-Star Dragon Ball in Tambourine's hand  King Piccolo marvels at the Four-Star Dragon Ball  Chiaotzu hides the Dragon Balls .jpg "055 (1).jpg (63 KB)") The Dragon Balls are gathered in the King Piccolo Saga  The seven Dragon Balls shining  Bulma seeing that the Dragon Balls are active again  Yamcha with a Dragon Ball in its original form The Dragon Balls in Dead Zone  Bulma finds a false Dragon Ball on fake Namek  The Dragon Balls in The World's Strongest The Dragon Balls in The Tree of Might  The Four-Star Dragon Ball on Gohan's hat in Lord Slug  Lord Slug sees the Dragon Balls in Bulma's mind  Medamatcha about to get a Dragon Ball  Slug's soldiers bring Dragon Balls  Lord Slug summons Shenron  The Two-Star Ball lands in a savanna  The Three-Star Ball lands on a beach  The Five-Star Ball lands on a mountain  Goku finds the One-Star Ball in the desert  The Two-Star Ball in the savanna .png "6StarDB(CellSaga).png (519 KB)") Goku finds the Six-Star Ball  Vodka's Four- and Seven-Star Balls .png "TaoOneStarBall(Z174).png (311 KB)") The One-Star Ball in Tao's hand  Vodka and Goku's six Dragon Balls  Goku finds the Three-Star Ball  The Dragon Balls on Kami's Lookout  The Two-Star Ball in a nest in Broly -Second Coming  Dragon Balls and Dragon Radar in Trunks' bag  The Four-Star Ball in Broly -Second Coming  Goten tries to summon Shenron  Dragon Balls rolling out of Trunks' bag  Dragon Balls in Broly -Second Coming  The Dragon Balls glow in Broly -Second Coming _20120303-15112555.jpg "DBZ - 224 -(by dbzf.ten.lt) 20120303-15112555.jpg (19 KB)") The Dragon Balls collected by Bulma and her friends _20120303-15121155.jpg "DBZ - 224 -(by dbzf.ten.lt) 20120303-15121155.jpg (16 KB)") Videl's reflect on a Dragon Ball _20120303-15153374.jpg "DBZ - 224 -(by dbzf.ten.lt) 20120303-15153374.jpg (17 KB)") The Four-Star Ball in a nest _20120303-15191384.jpg "DBZ - 224 -(by dbzf.ten.lt) 20120303-15191384.jpg (19 KB)") Dinosaur coughed out the Four-Star Dragon Ball _20120303-15191993.jpg "DBZ - 224 -(by dbzf.ten.lt) 20120303-15191993.jpg (17 KB)") Five Dragon Balls  Bulma uses the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron  Dragon Balls powering up at Capsule Corp.  Trunks with a Dragon Ball in Fusion Reborn  The Dragon Balls power up in Fusion Reborn  Videl finds a Dragon Ball in Wrath of the Dragon  A Dragon Ball on a Snowman in Wrath of the Dragon  A Dragon Ball in a lion's mouth  A Dragon Ball shown to Hoi  The Dragon Balls in Wrath of the Dragon  The Dragon Balls scatter in Wrath of the Dragon .png "6DBs(BoG).png (433 KB)") The Dragon Balls in Battle of Gods .jpg "Download (9).jpg (11 KB)") Pan with the One-Star Dragon Ball in Dragon Ball GT    The One-Star Dragon Ball in Dragon Ball GT  The One-Star Dragon Ball cracks  Pan finds the Three-Star Dragon Ball  The Three-Star Dragon Ball is cracked  Goku with the Two-Star Dragon Ball back to normal     The Two-Star Dragon Ball in Pan's hand  Pan gets the Five-Star Dragon Ball  The Five-Star Dragon Ball gets back to normal  Pan with the Six-Star Dragon Ball  The Seven-Star Dragon Ball in Pan's hands  The Seven-Star Dragon Ball in Goku's hand  The Three-Star Ball in Dragon Ball GT  Nuova Shenron takes the Three-Star Ball  The Four-Star Ball near SS4 Goku's hand  Syn Shenron with a Dragon Ball  Goku catches the Four-Star Dragon Ball  Super Saiyan 4 Goku eats the Four-Star Dragon Ball  The Four-Star Ball on Goku's forehead  The Dragon Balls around Goku  Two Dragon Balls in Bulma's hands in The Path to Power  Goku's Four-Star Dragon Ball in The Path to Power  The One-Star Dragon Ball in The Path to Power  The Seven-Star Dragon Ball in The Path to Power  Roshi's Three-Star Dragon Ball in The Path to Power The Four-Star ball, as seen in Dragonball Evolution The Dragon Balls in Dragon Daihikyou  The Dragon Balls in Buu's Fury  The Dragon Balls gathered at the Main Menu of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 .jpg "GokuKicksSilver(O2).jpg (15 KB)") The Six-Star Dragon Ball in Origins 2 .jpg "SilverDBFound(O2).jpg (16 KB)") Goku finds the Six-Star Ball in Origins 2  The Four-Star Dragon Ball in Origins 2 .jpg "RRDB(O2).jpg (25 KB)") Goku finds two Dragon Balls in Origins 2  The Four-Star ball in the 2nd DBH promo  The Four-Star ball in the Heroes' hand .png "DBs(DBHArt).png (243 KB)") Dragon Balls art for Dragon Ball Heroes  |
References
- ↑ Dragon Ball: Xenoverse
- ↑ Dragon Ball Super
- ↑ Dragonball: Evolution
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road
- ↑ Dragon Ball: Xenoverse
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 30, "Pilaf and the Mystery Force"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 239, "Find the Dragon Balls"
- ↑ "Dragon Ball Z" episode 107, Goku's Alive!!
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, 2009
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 1, "The Secret of the Dragon Balls"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Dragon Ball Z episode 173, "Dende's Dragon"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, 2004
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Dragon Ball Z episode 174, "The Puzzle of General Tao"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 239, "Find the Dragon Balls"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II, 2003
- ↑ Mentioned by Bulma in Dragon Ball chapter 1, "Bloomers and the Monkey King"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 1, "The Secret of the Dragon Balls"
| Dragons | |
|---|---|
| Eternal Dragons | |
| Shadow Dragons | Syn Shenron (Xeno) • Haze Shenron (Xeno) • Eis Shenron (Xeno) • Nuova Shenron (Xeno • Nuova Goku) • Rage Shenron (Xeno) • Oceanus Shenron (Xeno) • Naturon Shenron (Xeno) |
| Dragon Ball sets | |
| Other Dragons | |
| Related articles | Dark Dragon Ball Enhancement • Dragomin • Dragon Ball Pedestal • Dragon Clan • Dragon Egg • Dragon Radar (Giru • Global Dragon Radar • Super Dragon Radar) • Four-Star Dragon Ball Hat • Gibachi • Minus Energy • Offworlder • Shadow Goku • Shenron Mode • Super Shadow Dragon (Power Abduction) • Supervillain (Ultra) • Transcended • Villainous Mode • Zalama • Ziku |