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Akira Toriyama has filled the world ofDragon Ballwith so many unique and interesting characters, that you’re able to’t blame a guy for forgetting a few, even if that guy made the series. Yes, Toriyama himself is famous for forgetting concepts, transformations, and even entire characters from his own creation.
In an interview, Toriyama attributes his forgetfulnesswhen it came toDragon Ballto the fact that he doesn’t take notes about the series. However, heintentionallyavoids taking notes, reasoning that allowing himself to forget the old stuff will make it easier for new ideas to come. And there is some truth to that concept.
Forgotten Characters
Broly
Yes,Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyanhimself, almost didn’t get a shot at becoming canon in the story for the simple reason that Toriyama forgot he even existed.
Toriyama posted a message on the officialDragon Ball Super: Brolymovie website, which is now shut down, saying that although he did draw the designs for the old Broly, he had little involvement with theDragon Ball Zmovies starring him. Because he was uninvolved with the movie’s plot, he had forgotten about Broly’s existence until shortly before the conception of theDragon Ball Super: Brolyfilm. He rewatched the earlier Broly movies and decided to finally incorporate the Legendary Super Saiyan into theDragon Ballcanon. That message mentioned above was alsoposted by the official Toei Animation Facebook pageif you want to take a gander.
Launch (Kinda)
If you heard Toriyama forgot about a peaceful dark-haired character who can turn into a violent blonde berserker at the flip of a switch, you’d probably assume that’s referring to Broly. Surprisingly, there’sanother character who fits the bill, and that’s Launch from the originalDragon Ballseries.
The story about Toriyama ignoring Launchis actually more complicated than just saying he forgot she existed because Toriyama actually intentionally wrote Launch’s character out of the story whenDragon Ball Zstarted. However, shortly after, Toriyama forgot that he had written her off and felt compelled to come up with an excuse as to why she was gone. Hence, Krillin mentioning that Launch had chased after Tien and was never seen again at the beginning ofZ. So technically, Toriyama forgot that he hadn’t forgotten about Launch.
Tao Pai Pai
Even one of the biggest and most iconic villains from the original series isn’t safe from Toriyama’s memory loss. Tao Pai Pai, otherwise known as Mercenary Tao, is another character Toriyama forgot about, admitting to it inan interview with Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece. Thankfully, Tao got one last hurrah during the Cell Saga, where he encountered the son of his greatest foe.
Goten
Okay, forgetting side characters and villains, even if they’re iconic to fans, is sort of understandable. However, forgettingthe main character’s sonis on another level. In a deleted Twitter post, Daiki Miki, a designer for Dragon Ball Online, recalls the story of him asking Toriyama for a drawing of Goten. Unfortunately, Toriyama had apparently forgotten who Goten was and asked if he could just draw a young Goku since that’s how Goten’s appearance was described to him. To be fair though, there are about five other characters throughout the series that also look exactly like Goku.
Anthropomorphic characters
Anthropomorphic characters were just about everywhere during the original Dragon Ball series and were still around during the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, but almost all disappeared soon after.In another interview, Toriyama admitsthat it was simply because he forgot to include them. However, he also implied that their disappearance could have also been due to the shift in tone ofDragon Ball Z, moving from the original series' playful vibes to a more serious one. So even if he hadn’t forgotten about anthropomorphic characters, he might have slowly phased them out intentionally anyway.
Luckily, already-established anthropomorphic characters like Puar and Oolong get to stay. On some rare occasions, some characters did still make appearances, like how King Furry briefly showed up during the Cell Saga. However, now thatDragon Ball Daimahas establisheditself as a show that’s more similar to the original series in terms of tone, maybe anthropomorphic characters can start appearing again.
Forgotten Details
Super Saiyan 2
In the interview mentioned earlier where he explains why he doesn’t take notes, Toriyama also mentions that he forgot about the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. He even got confused when people started sayingGoku has a Super Saiyan 3 transformation. In his mind, Toriyama thought that the transformation where Goku’s hair grows to body length, and he loses his eyebrows was Super Saiyan 2, completely forgetting that Gohan had already achieved that form one whole saga ago.
Android 18’s Hair Color
This one isn’t as egregious but still makes for a funny story. While making theBattle of Godsfilm, Toriyama colored Android 18’s hair purple instead of yellow. His co-workers noticed the mistake though, and it was quickly corrected. It would have been nice tosee everyone’s favorite androidget a new look, even if just for a little while though.
The Pilaf Robot
In the same interview with Oda, where he admitted he forgot who Mercenary Tao was, Toriyama also reveals that he doesn’t remember the mechs Pilaf, Shu, and Mai piloted inDragon Ball. This one is a little understandable though, as the Pilaf Machines wereone of the earliest villains in the series, debuting in the anime in 1986.
