Summary
Quick Links
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima, Episode 8, “Tamagami”, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
Dragon Ball Daimaset out to shake up theDragon Ballformula, and one way to do that is to give Majin Buu a revamped origin story. Thepink blob of pure ragefromDragon Ball Zis easily one of the most monstrous foes the Z Fighters have ever faced, but also one of the most mysterious. There’s still a lot of intrigue surrounding the Buu, such as, what is he? Why was he created, or what purpose does he serve? Even his old origin story is the murkiest out of all the otherDragon Ballantagonists.
Piccolo, Vegeta, and Cell all have crystal-clear backstories. There’s still a lot thatfans want to know about Frieza’s race and where the rest of them are, but at the very least it’s known that Frieza belongs to a race of aliens with incredible potential. With Buu, there are no other creatures like him (so far) in the show. Majin Buu-like creatures appear in someDragon Ballgames, but they’re not canon to the show, and they mostly originated from Majin Buu himself anyway.
Majin Buu’s Previous Origin Story
He Was Either Bibidi’s Creation or a Primordial Entity
The previous origin story for Buu was told inDragon Ball Zepisode 219, “Energy Drain”, where the Supreme Kai Shin and Kibito tellthe story of how an evil wizardnamed Bibidi created Majin Buu. Bibidi is either the father or clone of Babidi, who later revived Buu in the show. Yes, Buu isn’t the only one with a murky past, as even Bibidi and Babidi are in the same boat. As revealed in the same episode, Shin and Kibito claim that Bibidi is Babidi’s father. However, inDragon Ball Full Color: Majin Buu Arc Q&As, Akira Toriyama said that Babidi is actually Bibidi’sclone, who he’d assign tasks to if he needed an extra pair of hands.
But going back to Majin Buu’s origins, this isn’t actually the first time it was altered, as later on, Akira Toriyama stated inSaikyō Jump #6 (2014), that Buu is an ancient being who has existed since time immemorial. He’s more like a force of nature that occasionally went onviolent rampagesacross the universe, destroying everything in his path and then going into hibernation. Weirdly enough, this makes Majin Buu similar to Beerus, the God of Destruction, who goes on long naps after destroying worlds. However, all of that is about to change becauseDragon Ball Daimachanged Majin Buu’s origin once again, and this time, viewers finally get to seewhocreated Buu.
Majin Buu’s New Origin Story
He Was Created by a Demon Realm Witch
AsDragon Ball Daimarevealedin episode 8, “Tamagami”, Majin Buu was, in fact, created by a witch from the Demon Realm named Marba at the request of Bibidi. However, Marba considers Majin Buu a failed creation as he wasn’t supposed to be as evil and uncontrollable as how he turned out to be. After Majin Buu’s creation, he apparently went on a rampageacross the Demon Realm, which led to the Glinds (the race where the Supreme Kais come from) leaving.
“I know the truth. All he (Bibidi) did was come to you and ask you to make Buu. Bibidi never had that sort of ability.” - Dr. Arinsu to Marba
The new origin does bring up some questions though: why did Bibidi want a destructive force like Majin Buu, and how did he know to ask Marba for it? The first one is somewhat answerable. The reason is that Bibidi wanted the Supreme Kais dead, but that’s as far as it goes. It was never really revealed why Bibidi harbored such hatred for the Supreme Kais of his universe, but maybe future episodes ofDaimawill give viewers a proper answer. As for the second question, who knows how Bibidi evenknew about the Demon Realmto begin with? Perhaps Babidi and Bibidi’s race, like the Glinds, originated from the Demon Realm, and that’s how he knew about Marba the witch.
Where Is Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Daima?
It’s kind of weird that they reworked the origin of such a big character, and yet said character is almost nowhere to be seen in the show. The only appearance Majin Buu has made inDragon Ball Daimaisin episode 2, “Glorio”, where a kid Buu (nottheKid Buu) runs past the screen in front of Mr. Satan, Goku, and Vegeta. He also makes an appearance in the opening theme, but that’s about it. Since he’s a shapeshifter, he might have the ability to just revert to his normal self, but whether the viewers will even get to see that is questionable, as Buu is not part of the party that sets off to the Demon Realm. Maybe somewhere down the line, a thirdgroup of Z Fightersmakes it to the Demon Realm with Buu in tow, but right now, there’s unfortunately, no sign of that happening.
It would be interesting to see how Marba would react to seeing the friendly fat Buu that joined the Z Fighters. Would she be upset that her weaponbecame such a peace-lover, or would she consider this Buu to be what she wanted all along, a powerful being that doesn’t randomly fly off the rails?
Dragon Ball Daima is now available to stream onCrunchyrollandNetflix. The release date for Dragon Ball Daima, episode 10, is set to be May 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM PT.
