Directory: Characters → Deities → Dragons Shenron (神龍; lit. "Divine Dragon" or "God Dragon") is a magical dragon from the manga Dragon Ball, as well as the animes Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball GT. In the English dub of Dragon Ball Z, he is mostly called the "Eternal Dragon" and, in the early Harmony Gold Dragon Ball English dub from the 1980s, he is known as the "Dragon God."
Name
Shenron/Shenlong is named after the spiritual dragon of the same name in Chinese mythology, who is known as the master of storms and a bringer of rain (to the point of being a weather entity). Shenlong is often shown with azure/green-colored scales and is said to be five-clawed (marking its stats as an imperial dragon).
It is a common tale that those in old days of China would appease a Shenlong to pray for plentiful rainfalls. However, akin to both the symbolism of rulers and dragons alike it is easy to enrage one with a poor gift or in a more common way (ruffling their scales via the "nilin/gekirin" concept). In the Shenlong's case, how they vent their said rage is often through creating destructive rainstorms and hurricanes.
In Dragon Ball, the Shenlong here is often referred to in its pinyin/Mandarin reading (pronounced as "Sheh-n-loh-ng" or "Sheh-n-roh-n", but pronounced as "Sheh-n-rah-n" in the Funimation dub as a mispronunciation). In the Japanese on'yomi reading used for names like Goku's and his family, as well the Ox King, Shenron and Shenlong's names alike are to be said as "Shinryū" (this on'yomi pronunciation is not used in the series).
Overview
Shenron is shown with brown antlers, sharp teeth, green scaly skin, red eyes, four toes on each foot, a long serpentine body (his tail takes up three-fourths of his length), long flowing whiskers, a long snout, crescent-shaped nostrils, and flowing green hair on his cheeks. He is an Eastern dragon, whose kind are benevolent and sacred in Oriental mythologies. Unlike the Western dragons, which have large dorsal foldable wings on their backs, he has none. His kind are good at heart, but as a strong dragon, he has an aggressive temper, and is impatient sometimes (for some reason more so than Porunga, the Namekian dragon).
Shenron as he appears in Dragon Ball
Shenron can be summoned by gathering all seven of the Dragon Balls of Earth. According to the back of the "Saga of Goku" boxed set, Shenron dwells in a raging fire deep inside the Earth's core when the Dragon Balls are currently not being used. Shenron can bestow any wish as long as it does not exceed the power of his creator, who must be still alive (i.e. Kami/Piccolo or Dende). Shenron is shown to have a temper, and he once threatened to kill a summoner if they do not make their wish soon (although he has only actually attempted to attack someone in Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, where Gohan's friendly dragon Icarus tries to attack Shenron). According to Shenron, Shenron cannot (or will not) grant the same wish more than once. The Dragon Balls cannot be used for one year after a wish is made, as they turn to stone. The Earth Dragon Balls are relatively small, each about the size of a large orange. The Shenron of the Black Star Dragon Balls is red, opposed to the Shenron of Earth who is green.
Biography
Background
Shenron is said to live in the fiery center of the Earth, whenever he is called he will arrive to grant one wish before returning to his fiery home to sleep until he is called again.[1] Before the events of Dragon Ball, the last time Shenron was summoned was to grant someone's wish to become king, as Bulma explains to Goku in their first meeting.[2][3]
Dragon Ball
Emperor Pilaf Saga
Main article: Emperor Pilaf Saga
Shenron summoned by Pilaf in the manga
Shenron is first summoned on-screen by Emperor Pilaf and his assistants outside of Pilaf's Castle. Pilaf collects the remaining Dragon Balls from Goku and his friends to ask Shenron for the wish to gain complete control over the entire planet, and become its ruler with an iron fist. However, before Pilaf can make the wish, Oolong interrupts the wish and wishes for panties, which Shenron grants. Shenron then departs, and the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet.
Fortuneteller Baba Saga
Main article: Fortuneteller Baba Saga Shenron is summoned to resurrect Upa's father Bora, who was killed by Mercenary Tao during the Red Ribbon Army Saga.
King Piccolo Saga
Main article: King Piccolo Saga After King Piccolo uses the Dragon Balls to regain his youth, he murders Shenron before he can disperse to prevent anyone else from using the Dragon Balls against him. However, after his defeat, Kami revives Shenron to reward Goku for his valiant efforts against King Piccolo. He had originally decided not to recreate them, as he originally designed the balls to encourage acts of bravery and give people a sense of hope, but the selfishness and greed of mankind caused the Dragon Balls to be used in the exact opposite manner than that intended. It was only upon Goku displaying his undying love for his friends that he decided that there were, indeed, good people left in this world.
Dragon Ball Z
Saiyan Saga
Main article: Vegeta Saga Shenron is summoned to revive Goku in order to defend the planet from the Saiyans. Shortly thereafter, Shenron is indirectly deactivated when Nappa kills Piccolo taking an attack meant for Gohan; due to Kami's connection to Piccolo, Kami ends up dying as well and the Dragon Balls are turned into stone as a result.
Frieza Saga
Main article: Frieza Saga The Eternal Shenron is indirectly revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls when Gohan and Krillin wish for Piccolo to be revived and transported to Namek. Shenron is later used to wish everyone who was killed by Frieza and his men on Namek.
Cell Saga
Main articles: Imperfect Cell Saga and Cell Games Saga A few years later, Shenron is temporarily deactivated when Kami decides to rejoin with Piccolo, due to extreme circumstances.
After Dende's remodeling, Shenron is able to grant three wishes. However, since Dende is not powerful enough, Shenron can only fulfil two of the three wishes if a large number of people are revived using one of the wishes.
Majin Buu Saga
Main articles: Majin Buu Saga and Kid Buu Saga Wishes can also be saved until the next summoning; in this case, the Dragon Balls would scatter around the world in the same way as if someone had spoken all the wishes but will remain as stones for only four months, after which Shenron can be summoned again to grant the remaining wishes. Afterward, the balls scatter and turn into stones for a whole year. This is shown when Shenron is summoned to revive everyone who were killed by Majin Vegeta.
Shenron is summoned after Kid Buu's defeat.
The wish saved is used four months after Kid Buu's defeat, in order to erase the memories that the people of Earth had of Majin Buu except for Goku's friends and family.
Dragon Ball Super
Battle of Gods Saga
Main article: Battle of Gods Saga Shenron is summoned by Goku in the to learn more about the Super Saiyan God. Shenron seems to be afraid of Beerus the Destroyer.
Resurrection ‘F’ Saga
Main article: Resurrection ‘F’ Saga Shenron is later summoned after the Pilaf Gang collects the Dragon Balls. However, Sorbet and Tagoma threaten them into letting them wish Frieza back to life. Using the other two wishes, Shu wishes for a million Zeni and Mai wishes for ice cream.
Universe 6 Saga
Main article: Universe 6 Saga Shenron is summoned by Bulma, along with Goku, Vegeta, Beerus, and Whis, to help find the last Super Dragon Ball and once again is frightened by Beerus' appearance. He tries to find what they are looking for, but he can't because the universe is so vast even for him and searching for it in another universe is beyond his power, leaving Bulma to make the Super Dragon Radar. Beerus then shoos off Shenron when he asks for the other wishes and the Dragon Balls are scattered once more.
Dragon Ball GT
Shadow Dragon Saga
Main article: Shadow Dragon Saga
Shenron in Dragon Ball GT
In Dragon Ball GT, an evil Shenron, known as Black Smoke Shenron in the English dub, is invocated from the cracked Dragon Balls (which were cracked because of Negative Energy), which emits seven individual dragons. Goku, along with his family and friends, are significantly inconvenienced and must battle them. After Shenron and the other Z Warriors defeat the Shadow Dragons, Shenron appears without being summoned. He heals Goku's wounds and grants one last wish before he leaves the Earth with Goku and the Dragon Balls in order to recuperate and teach the Earth's inhabitants to stop relying on the Dragon Balls to solve their own problems.
One hundred years later, Shenron presumably returns, as the Four-Star Dragon Ball is seen again.
Film appearances
Dead Zone
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Garlic Jr. summons Shenron and wishes to become immortal.
The Tree of Might
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might After a forest burned down, Gohan and Krillin use the Dragon Balls to restore the forest so that the animals could go back to their homes. On an interesting note, Gohan's dragon friend Icarus mistakenly tries to attack Shenron out of fear, only for Shenron to defend himself by attacking the young dragon with one of his whiskers in a whip-like manner. Fortunately Gohan, manages to stop Icarus from being hit and explains that Shenron is there to restore the forest. Oolong states he is not surprised Icarus was scared as Shenron does have a scary face, causing Shenron to let out a roar. Shenron calms down, he asks for them to make their wish and Gohan wish that the burned up forest to be restored. Shenron calls the wish a simple matter and immediately grants the wish, restoring the forest to its original state within seconds.
Fusion Reborn
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn Gohan summons Shenron to send all the dead people who showed up on Earth back to Other World. However, Shenron is unable to do so, as there is nothing to keep those people there. Humorously Shenron is seen at the end of the film, apparently still waiting for someone to make a wish, and losing patience.
Wrath of the Dragon
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon Goku and the Z Fighters summon Shenron to ask him to open Hoi's music box. After Hirudegarn is defeated, they mention reviving the people killed using the Dragon Balls.
Battle of Gods
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods
"Beerus... Nice to see you - I've heard things." |
Shenron is summoned by Goku for the knowledge of a Super Saiyan God. Shenron seems to know the legend of the Super Saiyan God and tells them the process to make it. Shenron also seems to fear the God of Destruction, Beerus. The Pilaf Gang is also revealed to have successfully summoned Shenron at some point before the events of the film and Pilaf wished for himself, Shu, & Mai to be young again, but due to Pilaf's bumbling the trio was turned into children.
Resurrection ‘F’
Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
"It's unwise to be rude to a dragon." |
Shenron granting Sorbet's wish.
Tagoma and Sorbet used the Dragon Balls to revive the Emperor Frieza. At first Shenron didn't make the request because Frieza's body was cut into pieces by Trunks over 14 years ago, but they told him to just revive him anyway. For the second wish, Shu told Shenron to give him 1,000,000 zeni making the Pilaf Gang rich. Four months later, after Frieza has been defeated, Bulma says she'll gather the Dragon Balls to revive North City, the city Frieza destroyed upon arriving on Earth.
Video game stories
Dragon Ball Online
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A Shenron in Dragon Ball Online
At some point after Kid Buu's defeat, Dende de-activates the Dragon Balls. However, around Age 1000, due to the threat of the Time Breakers, Dende re-activates the Dragon Balls in hopes of encouraging Earthlings to become stronger, bringing Shenron back. Dende also creates many more sets of Dragon Balls (and thus many more Shenrons) and spreads them across the planet, dividing the original Dragon Balls power between them.
In Dragon Ball Online, he grants the wish for humans to transform into Super Saiyans, Majins to transform into their Pure Majin form, and Namekians to become Great Nameks.
Other appearances
Shenron's brief appearance in Dragonball Evolution
In 1990, Shenron is summoned by Goku on the TV show "Yamada Katsute Nai Wink" (やまだかつてないWink, "Yamada Katsute Nai Wink"). The Shenron grants the J-Pop star and hostess Kuniko Yamada's wish to gain the ability to execute the Kamehameha, which she playfully uses on Shenron. Shenron also appears in Dr. Slump, Cross Epoch, and Dragonball Evolution (called Shen Long). Shenron appears briefly at the end of Dragonball Evolution, where he is voiced by Christopher Sabat, who also voiced him in the FUNimation dub of the anime. After Master Roshi was killed by Oozaru, Goku, Yamcha and Bulma use all seven of the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron and ask him to resurrect Roshi, which Shenron does. After granting Goku's wish, Shenron vanishes, and so do the Dragon Balls.
Granting wishes
Main article: List of wishes granted by Shenron Shenron can only grant one wish per summoning, until Dende upgrades him to grant three wishes (two if multiple people are revived with one of the wishes). Shenron's power is directly linked to capacities of whoever created it (i.e. Kami or Dende). As such, Shenron cannot defeat or kill someone whose own power exceeds the creator and cannot exist without said creator still being alive. He is unable to restore life to those that have died because of old age (but he can restore a person's youth), sickness or any other natural deaths. He also cannot revive someone who died more than a year ago, although this was later removed by Dende. In Dragon Ball Z, it is revealed that Shenron cannot grant the same wish more than once (e.g. bringing back those from the dead that he revived once already). In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming, it is suggested that Shenron is capable of granting wishes without actually being summoned, demonstrated by him letting Goku join the battle against Broly. Reviving a group of lives count as two wishes oppose to one. In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, it is shown that Shenron is able to leave without being requested to (though this could be because of plot purposes). It is revealed that while Shenron has vast awareness and knowledge of the universe and its history, such as the existence and ritual to produce the ancient Super Saiyan God, his insight is not omniscience as he could not tell where the final Super Dragon Ball was as its current location was too far away for Shenron's power to detect.
Video game appearances
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Shenron in Dragon Ball: Origins 2
Shenron appears in nearly all the Dragon Ball video games. Notably, he is a support-type character who automatically revives fallen characters in Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.
Shenron in Dragon Ball Heroes
In Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, after Goku's resurrection and Kami's death, Mr. Popo creates his own set of Dragon Balls. Shenron, who has now more limited powers, can basically grant six different wishes. The first three, which can be asked for as many times as wanted, are a ton of EXP, a lot of AP and lots of Zeni. The other three give access to a new area (East City Ruins), to a unique item (Heavy Karate Outfit, which increases EXP by walking), and the access to the secret strongest boss in the game (Broly, found at Dragon Rock).
In many fighting games, such as the Budokai series, the Budokai Tenkaichi series, the Raging Blast games, and Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle Royale, when all the Dragon Balls are gathered, Shenron can be summoned to ask for various items, techniques, pictures, etc. In the Budokai series, he can grant a Breakthrough Capsule to one of three listed characters. The wishes he can grant in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 are: Future Gohan as a playable character, 10,000 zeni, Mount Paozu as a Battle Stage, and Desert (noon) as a Battle Stage. In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, it is shown that Shenron cannot grant wishes to someone he cannot understand, and that he may leave after a certain amount of time if the person in question does not give the wish under a time limit. It is also shown that when someone is wished to a certain place for a certain purpose, they cannot leave until it is finished, and forms of translocation like Instant Transmission do not work.
Future Trunks summons Shenron at the Dragon Ball Altar in Toki Toki City in Xenoverse
In Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, Shenron is summoned by Future Trunks in Toki Toki City in Age 850. Future Trunks makes a wish to summon a warrior strong enough to defend history, resulting in Shenron summoning of the Future Warrior to fulfill Trunks' wish. Later during the Demon God Demigra Saga, the Supreme Kai of Time summons Shenron to inform Goku in Age 778 of the situation allow him to come to the Future Warrior's and the Time Patrols aid during the struggle against the Demon God. Shenron can also be summoned at the Dragon Ball alter in Toki Toki City's Plaza of Time by the Future Warrior after collecting the 7 Dragon Balls allowing them to wish for new characters such as Gogeta, Super 17, and Omega Shenron, new Super and Ultimate Skills, accessories like the Power Pole, clothing like the Saiyuki Outfit, and even Zeni.
Shenron also appears in the mobile game, Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, when the player summons him using the Dragon Balls.
Voice actors
- Japanese: Kenji Utsumi, Masaharu Satō (on occasion in DBZ), Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (at the end of the Cell Games in DBZ Kai)
- Harmony Gold dub: Steve Kramer
- Ocean Group dub: Doug Parker (DB), Don Brown (DBZ)
- FUNimation dub: Christopher Sabat
- Blue Water dub: Dave Pettitt
- AB Groupe dub: Ed Marcus
- Latin American dub: Abel Rocha
- Portuguese dubs:
- Portugal: Ricardo Spínola
- Brazil: João Batista (DB), Jonas Mello (DBZ), Renato Master (DBGT)
- Croatian dub: Costa Ipsa
- Italian dub: Giovanni Battezzato, Neri Marcorè (movies)
- Catalan dub: Manel Català (DB, DBZ, DBGT), Francesc Belda (DBZ Kai)
- Polish dub: Marek Obertyn (Dragon Ball Z Movies 11-12)
- Valencian dub: Vincent Quintana
Trivia
- In the original Dragon Ball logo, it is shown that a green "Chinese" dragon very similar to Shenron is tied around the letters eating the "o".
- Although he is known as the "Eternal" Dragon, King Piccolo kills him after he wishes for eternal youth, although "Eternal" could simply mean he does not die from old age, but can still be killed.
- During the Namek Saga, when Frieza tells the Namekians about the story of the Dragon Balls which he had heard, the dragon shown is Shenron, although Frieza had never seen him before.
- In one of Akira Toriyama's artworks, the Dr. Slump character Arale is seen holding Shenron and tying him up.
- Shenron's original design changed over the course of the Dragon Ball timeline, as his underside changed from green to a more yellow or manila color.
- After the Cell Games Saga, Shenron is able to grant three wishes (two if one is resurrecting a massive amount of people). Yet, he can grant three wishes in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and he can grant only one in Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon. It should be noted that the Japanese dub of Fusion Reborn mentioned two wishes (which may be due to the Shenron granting the one wish in the Majin Buu Saga to revive Vegeta's victims, but the other wish not being used so they could make another wish in 4 months), so the three wishes line was a dub error. Also, the second wish was omitted from the English version (they intended to use the second wish to revive all those who were killed by Hirudegarn).
- After the time of the Majin Buu Saga, Porunga became stronger than Shenron, as he can resurrect several people at the same time, including people who had already been resurrected before.
- In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, it is shown that his power cannot cross dimensions or timelines (which contradicts what is said in regards to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber during the Fusion Saga). Fusion Reborn also hints at this when he states that he cannot grant the Z Fighters' wish to prevent the dead from escaping Hell as it was a problem that originated within Other World, and although he is capable of moving the dead souls back to their dimension, they would simply just return.
Gallery
 Shenron in the first Dragon Ball episode  Shenron rises when Pilaf summons him  Shenron in the manga  Shenron in the manga  Shenron flies down to Pilaf's Castle  Shenron before wishing Bora back to life  Shenron is summoned by King Piccolo  Shenron summoned by King Piccolo  Shenron  Shenron is killed by King Piccolo  Shenron doll in pieces  Mr. Popo gluing Shenron doll back together  Shenron doll complete  Shenron in The Path to Power .png "Shenron(PtP).png (6.25 MB)") Shenron in The Path to Power  Shenron in Dead Zone  Shenon in the anime   Shenron summoned by Mr. Popo  Shenron in The World's Strongest Shenron in The Tree of Might  Shenron is summoned in Lord Slug  Shenron listening to Lord Slug's wish  Shenron summoned after the Cell Games  Shenron granting a wish  Shenron in the 2nd anime opening .png "ShenronAppearition(BoG).png (817 KB)") Shenron in Battle of Gods .jpg "ShenronAppearitionArt(BoG).jpg (217 KB)") Shenron in front of the Z Fighters  Shenron faces the Z Fighters Shenron in the final episode of Dragon Ball GT  Shenron in Dragonball Evolution  Bulma and Goku on Shenron  Goku on Shenron  Goku and Shenron  Shenron art for Battle of Gods  Shenron on the Battle of Gods catalog back cover Shenron in Dragon Daihikyou .png "Shenron(DF).png (3 KB)") Shenron in Daimaō Fukkatsu .png "Shenron(DB3).png (109 KB)") Shenron in Dragon Ball 3 .gif "Shenron(PESG).gif (5 KB)") Shenron in Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku .png "Opening13(ISGD).png (189 KB)") Shenron in the opening of Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu  Shenron in Dragon Ball (WonderSwan Color)  Shenron in Advanced Adventure  Shenron in the opening of DBZ: Sagas  Shenron in the opening of Budokai Tenkaichi .png "Shenron(SDBZ).png (455 KB)") Shenron in Super Dragon Ball Z .png "ShenronAppears(SDBZ).png (346 KB)") Shenron in Super Dragon Ball Z  Shenron in Dragon Ball: Origins  Shenron in Dragon Battlers  Shenron in Attack of the Saiyans  Shenron in Zenkai Battle Royale  Shenron art for Dragon Ball Heroes .png "ShenronGrantsWish(DBH).png (148 KB)") Shenron grants a wish in Dragon Ball Heroes .png "Shenron(UM).png (227 KB)") Shenron in Ultimate Mission Shenron appears in God Mission trailer of "Dragon Ball Heroes"  Shenron in the Yo!! Son Goku and His Friends Returned! ending Shenron in Dragon Ball: Xenoverse  Shenron's artwork for Dragon Ball Online |
See also
References
- ↑ The World of Dragon Ball Z, 2000
- ↑ Dragon Ball chapter 1, "Bloomers and the Monkey King"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 1, "The Secret of the Dragon Balls"
| Dragons | |
|---|---|
| Eternal Dragons | Black Smoke Shenron • Conton City Dragon • Dark Shenron • Mr. Poko Poko • Porunga • Shenron • Super Shenron • Toronbo • Ultimate Shenron |
| 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 |