Dragon Ball Live-action Universe/Tropes

The Dragon Ball Live-action Universe would be a shared universe and film franchise produced by Universal Pictures and Toei Company, and based on Akira Toriyama's manga Dragon Ball and its related series.

Tropes

 * Adaptational Badass:
 * Bulma, while not to the level of the Dragonball Evolution version, would know more about fighting than the manga version.
 * Puar would be more of a fighter than in the manga.
 * While unable to fight himself llike in the manga, Pilaf would have a lot more weapons at his disposal than in the manga.
 * Unlike the anime, where he was afraid at the mere mention of Goku, Tao Pai Pai would actually become more and more powerful and ruthless with each appearance.
 * Adaptation Expansion: The Launch fimms delve deeper into the relationship between both of her alters, whereas in the manga her Split Personality was played for comedy.
 * Adaptational Nice Guy: Launch's blonde alter is depicted here as more of a pragmatic cynical thrill-lover, contrasting with the more violent version from the manga. She even explicitly states she never killed anybody.
 * Adaptational Sapience: In the anime, Watagashi had no actual personality or characteristics other tgan feeding of negative feelings and giving power. The DBLU version in turn potrays Watagashi as a Faux Affably Evil power hungry con-artist.
 * Adapted Out: All of Bulma's family would be killed off as part of her new backstory, leaving them out of storylines where they appear. Also, Bulma wouldn't have a sister at all.
 * Ascended Extra: A few promenient characters are loosely inspired by extras from the mangas and anime, most notably Teeths and Yūjō.
 * Author's Saving Throw:
 * Many fans who criticized Dragonball Evolution for being the epitome of In Name Only manga adaptations were beyond overjoyed to hear this version would stay closer to the source material and that Akira Toriyama would be involved in it.
 * Fans also were unhappy to see that Krillin was Adapted Out of Evolution. The first film had Krillin appear in a post-credits scene, and his absence from most of the movie in this case is justifued due to being based primarly on the Emperor Pilaf Saga, which was released before his debut. The second film further fixes this by making him the lead character.
 * The changes made to Goku's backstory and Bardock in Dragon Ball Minus were criticized for essentially turning Goku into a Superman copy. Dragon Ball Z: Bardock reincorporates many elements from The Father of Goku special, which were better received by fans.
 * For those who disliked Launch's dissappearance after Dragon Ball wouod be pleased to hear this version would lead a movie all on her own.
 * Awesome Music:
 * The franchise's entire score would consist of this, mainly due to being created by composers like Hans Zimmer, Henry Jackman, Mark Manicna, Pinar Toprak, and Danny Elfman.
 * The songs written for the films would also be part of this, especially in the films that feature most of them, such as Dragon Ball (with an entire soundtrack written and performed by Phil Collins), Dr. Slump: Arale's First Live-action Adventure (with songs written by modern musicians Pharrell Williams and "Weird Al" Yankovic), and Dr. Slump 2: OH NO! WE GOT TO THE SEQUEL! (predictable given that the songwriters are Disney Legend composer Alan Menken and Academy Award-nominated lyricist Stephen Schwartz).
 * The end credits for Dragon Ball feature a cover of Baltimore's "Tarzan Boy". And boy, does it rock!!!!!
 * Darker and Edgier:
 * Downplayed with Krillin's Adventure. It may not be precisely dark, but it does feature a more tense plot by having the characters try to find a Dragon Ball in what's essentially a Nazi-occupied territory. It also features a profound and rralistic depiction of the pschylogical effects of bullying (to the point that Krillin at one point tries to commit suicide) and features the franchise's first main antagonist to be killed.
 * From The Story of Tien onwards, the franchise's Dragon Ball films became increasingly darker in nature, simioar to the manga.
 * The Launch films, which potray he dissociative identity disorder more realisticly than in the manga.
 * Denser and Wackier: Akin to the original manga's tone, the Dr. Slump films would be the most comedic entries on the franchise, althrougth still providing worldbuilding for the overrall franchise.
 * Descended Creator:
 * Througth the franchise, Akira Toriyama would make vocal cameos as a Dalmatian actor.
 * In the first film, producer Steven Spielberg would appear in a minor voice role.
 * The first film's voice director, Laura Bailey, would make a vocal cameo as a woman. watching the Dragon Team's battle against Boss Rabbit.
 * Stella Maghie, who would direct the Dr. Slump films, would make cameos througth the franchise as a dog newswoman.
 * Dirty Coward:
 * Most of the examples from the source material are retained here, incluiding Frieza and Cell.
 * In The Legend of Yamoshi, Chilled reveals himself to be as much of a coward as Frieza. Once Super Saiyan Yamoshi overcomes every single one of his forces, Chilled begins to pathetically beg for his life. Yamoshi even describes him as "a cowardly scumbag without a spine".
 * Disney Villain Death:
 * Dragon Ball:
 * Subverted with Teeths, who falls off a cliff while fighting Goku, but survives.
 * Played straight when a dinasour-transformed Puar throws Pilaf's majordomo, Sabanto, from the top of the castle to his death during the climax.
 * Subverted in Dr. Slump: Arale's First Live-action Movie, where it first seems that Dr. Mashrito fell to his death, only for a mid-credits scene to reveal he survived.
 * In Dragon Ball: Krillin's Adventure, Blue is thrown to his demise by Android 8.
 * Dragon Ball: Tao:
 * Played straight with Commander Red, who would be forced by General Tao to jump off the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters to his death, so Tao could take over the Red Ribbon Army.
 * Subverted with Tao, as it would appear that Tao falls to his death in a canyon after Goku throws him a granade that ends up exploding. However, in a mid-credits scene, it would be revealed that Tao barely survived his fall.
 * Parodied in Dr. Slump 2: OH NO! WE GOT TO THE SEQUEL!, where it would appear that Dr. Mashirito is falling to his death. However, he uses a potion to turn himself into a dragon and survive. Lampshaded when Obotchawoman would say that she believed Mashirito died due to the fall.
 * In Dragon Ball: The Story of Tien, a gravely injured Master Shen ends up falling of his temple (which would be in a very tall mountain), as the place would be crumbling due to the film's final battle taking place there. Notably, instead of screaming while falling, he would be LAUGHING, assuming his enemies will suffer the same fate, while his dorpse would also be seen smiling shortly after hitting the ground.
 * King Piccolo's first defeat at the end of Roshi would serve as this in a way, as he would "fall" to his prision.
 * His death at the end of Dragon Ball: Revenge of the King would be a straighter example, as he would fall into the sewers and dissapear after being mortally wounded by Goku.
 * In Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan, Frieza would accidentally cut himself in a half while trying to kill Super Saiyan Goku with his Destructo Disc. Goku offers his hand to save Frieza, but he in turn would use whatever power he has left to attack his enemy. Just after that, the part of the soon-to-explode Planet Namek in which Frieza would have fallen would explode, almost as if the universe would be sentencing him to die for his crimes somewhat in the same way he killed thousands of people... By causing a planet to explode. Frieza would then scream in horror, and what would follow would be a shot of Frieza falling to the planet's unstable core.
 * In Gohan: The Great Saiyaman, Mr. Masuka would end up falling from a tower to his circus in flames. However, he would use a parachute to save himself from the fall, only to find the animals he tortured and abused in his circus waiting for him. After some taunting and hints from one of the animals, they would proceed to maul him and eat him alive. The audience would even see things from his point of view.
 * In Chi-Chi, after Watagash and Otōsan are split up in the sky by Gohan, the two would fall off Furui's spaceship's window to their deaths, in spite of their futile attempt to re-bond and survive.
 * Dr. Gero would have a slightly curious story with this trope throught the franchise. First it would seem that he died after the rebelling Android 17 cutted off his head (which would still function due to Gero having been turned into an Android himself) and later dropped him to a river feets below Gero's lab. However, in 17 2, it would be revealed that Gero's head actually survived and managed to use an AI computer in a secret lab to recreate his body. However, he would be undoubtly killed in the latter film, as he would end up falling from the hightest point of his (very tall) burning secret lab in an attempt to kill Android 17. The following scene would show Dr. Gero barely alive, througth with his new body (including his head, which would hold his brain) heavily damaged from the fall. Then, the part of his head holding his brain would break, releasing his brain, which would be strongly implied to have been burned by the fire. And even if it didn't, the lack of any sustance that could keep Gero's brain alive would cause his brain to malfunction and die neverthless.
 * In Goku and Gohan, Tao would finally die when one of his few hyena minions left finally rebells against him and atacks Tao, causing both of them to fall off his base's command center, which is in the very same canyon he nearly died at years ago. While Gohan manages to catch the hyena in time, Tao falls to his death in the canyon.
 * In The Legend of Yamoshi, a heavily injured Chilled ends up climbing to the top of a mountain in Planet Namek, which crumbles, causing Chilled to fall to his death, but not before telling his soldiers to warn his family about the threat of Super Saiyans.
 * Faux Affably Evil: Watagashi has a vibe of affability to trick his victims into becoming pawns of his universe-conquering plans.
 * Foreshadowing: At the start of Dr. Slump 3, Arale is shown playing a piccolo. In the film's post-credits scene, it is reveaked that the MacGuffin in the film was the electric rice cooker containing King Piccolo.
 * Fridge Brilliance: In Dragon Ball, the filmmakers managed to sneak a littke indication of Goku's Saiyan nature in the form of a Shout-Out. In Goku's house, a series of plates can be seen stacked up in a similar manner to the books in the library scene from Ghostbusters. Now, what did Oeter said about those books? That no human being would stack books up that way.
 * Hilarious In Hindsight: When Dragonball Evolution came out, many compared Piccolo with a Lord Sith due to his attires. And then comes in this franchise, where Piccolo is both physically potrayed and voiced by Ray Park and Sam Whither, respectively, both of whom are know for playing the same duties for former Sith Lord Darth Maul in the Star Wars franchise.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * In Dragon Ball:
 * Upon meeting Bulma, Goku mispronounces her name as "Bloomers", like Krillin did in the Dragon Ball anime.
 * At one point, Goku asks if Bulma is some sort of princess. Her prototype from the one-shot manga Dragon Boy was a princess.
 * Bulma refers to the Power Pole as a "magic stick", which was how it was named in the Harmony Gold dub.
 * The electromagnetic pulse emitted by the Four-Star Ball is shown to be of 9000 levels, a nod to the famous "It's over 9000" meme.
 * Goku at first refers to Turtle as a Tortoise. In the Harmony Gold dub, the character was renamed Tortoise.
 * In Master Roshi's house, Goku initially mistakes Pilaf's plane for a bird, as he did with a plane in Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubbies.
 * At one point, Goku muses if he can ride Shenron, which he did in the final episode of Dragon Ball GT.
 * Bulma is shown to have hair dye with purple colors. Her son, Trunks, is shown with purple hair. Additionally, in The Path to Power, she was depicted with purple hair.
 * Pilaf at one point calls Shu "Soba", the name Akira Toriyama gave him before accidentally changing it to Shu.
 * During the climax, Bulma quips that Pilaf should yse the Dragon Balls to make himself younger, which he did before the events of Dragon Ball Super, and backfired by turning him and his gang to children.
 * One of the toys Bulma gives to Goku resembles Dr. Willow from Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest.
 * At their first dinner together, Bulma gives Goku some ramen, as a nod to its appearances througth Dragon Ball Super.
 * Goku fails at catching Roshi's Dragon Ball during the attack on the latter's house, similar to how Gohan failed to catch the Potara earimg his father throw him during the Majin Buu arc.
 * One of the objects in Yamacha's hideput is a baseball bat, alluding to him playing baseball in filler moments in the anime.
 * At one point, Goku and his friends would play as firefighters. This is a reference to the public service video Goku's Fire Brigade.
 * Near the end of the film, Goku asks what meditating is, as he did in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
 * One of the signs in the city says "Grand Turism", which vaguely resembles the logo for Dragon Ball GT. Another sign promotes "Dream Land", an amusement park featured in a three-part filler episode.
 * In the restaurant scene, a shot of the plates with the food Goku ordered is a nod to one of the loading screen for Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tekaichi 3.
 * During his transformation as a Great Ape, Goku begins beating the ground, similar to his transformation in Dragonball Evolution.
 * The film's climax recreares the scene from the anime's original opening where Goku emerges from Pilaf's castle as a Great Ape while Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong run.
 * At one point while fighting the Pilaf Gang's mecha suit, Great Ape Goku recreates his "meteor attack" from Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22.
 * In Dr. Slump: Arale's First Live-action Adventure:
 * At one point, Mashirito distracts Arale by claiming he saw a spaceship, like Vegeta did in Dragon Ball Super.
 * One of Arale's clothes is her outfit from the 1990s anime.
 * Characters are often seen reading Suppaman comics. In the manga, Suppaman was an actual character.
 * Among the characters in a movie Arale watcges is the monster whoworked with Tien and Chao as con-artists in the anime version of Dragon Ball.
 * In Dragon Ball: Krillin's Adventure:
 * Bulma mentions she tried to use gel on Goku's hair, but "that didn't worked", a nod to an scene from Dragonball Evolution.
 * Krillin and Goku deflect Red Ribbon missiles by kicking them, similar to the videogame Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure.
 * Krillin is still a bad singer.
 * Bulma wears a red jacket with the words "Bad girl", calling back to Vegeta's "Badman" shirt,
 * A part of Goku and Krillin's training have them destroyimg rocks and boulders in a limited time, a nod to the "Rock Crusher" mini-game from Advanced Adventure.
 * Goku and Krillin decide who will attack the Red Ribbon's camp first via a game if rock-paper-scissors, which brings to mind when Vegeta, Goku, and Gohan did in the Majin Buu Saga to decide who will fight Babidi's first soldier.
 * After walking while carrying rocks on their backs, a shocked Krillin groans over the fact that he and Goku did it only for 5 minutes by excaliming "5 minutes?! That felt like nearly 3 hours". This references Frieza's infamous claim that his duel on Namek with Goku would last 5 minutes, only to consume 3.5 hours of screentime in the anime.
 * Two of the Red Ribbon's squads are named "Gamma 1" and "Gamma 2", the name of two Red Ribbon androids in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
 * As a diversion, Goku disguises himself as a girl near the climax, a nod to how he disguised himself as a girl to attract Oolong in the original Dragon Ball.
 * During the climax, Goku, Bulma, and Oolong recreate a shot from the anime's credits,
 * Android 8 kills Generak Blue ny punching him off Muscle Tpwer, bringing to mind how he killed General White in the manga.
 * After almost dying, Yamcha would claim that he saw the afterlife, revealing he always thougth that he would reincarnate as an excelent high school boy after he dies. This is a reference to the non-canon manga Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha!, where the opposite happens.
 * Dragon Ball: Tao
 * Tao is once again depicted as a General.
 * Roshi's training session at the beginning has Goku and Krillin racing to see who can take lettuce faster. This is how Goku and Piccolo were training near the beginning of the Future Trunks Saga in Dragon Ball Super.
 * Goku at one points eats a cabbage, a subtle nod to Dragon Ball Super character Cabba, who is naned after the aforementioned vegetable.
 * Tao's Dodon Ray cancelling Goku's Kamehame causes him to be damaged by both attacks, which was how energy clashes affects the loser in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tekaichi 3 and Tekaichi Tag Team.
 * At one point, Dr. Gero suggests giving Tao cybernetic implants, which he declines, a reference to his Cyborg appearance from later in the manga.
 * Goku and Tao's energy beam clash in the climax is reminiscent of his fight with Jackie Chan in the manga.
 * As Dr. Gero escapes the Red Ribbon Heardquarters, plans saying "Androids 13, 14, & 15" can be seen.
 * The film shows the Red Ribbon's public front, Red Pharmaceutics, from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
 * Dragon Ball: The History of Tien: Chiaotzu's doll from Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure can be seen among his childhood toys.
 * Jaco;
 * At one point, Jaco is mocked for his supposed lack of skills by being told that "you are so talented you could be sent to... Earth". Jaco's debut manga actually had him being sent to Earth as his primary mission.
 * Jaco at the start of the film plans to travel to Planet Kanassa for another heist. That was the same planet Bardock and his friends attack and conquered in Bardock: The Father of Goku.
 * Space Lemurs from Dragon Ball GT can be seen during several crowd shots during the movie.
 * The initial observation Jaco and Furui make of the Vampa Beatles before the Beast shows up is lifted straight from Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
 * Jaco almost touches the King's genitalia, mistaking it for a hand. This is what Goku did after fighting Hit in Dragon Ball Super.
 * The swords used by the King's guard resemble the one Xeno Trunks used as the Great Saiyaman 3 in Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission.
 * Jaco and Furui distract the enemy by using decoys to pretend being on a ship that suddenly explodes to make them assume they were dead; in Jaco's debut manga, a celebrity singer was presumed to be going to an space trip, with Bulma's sister, Tights, secretly taking her place in case of an accident.
 * Anong the prisioners in the Galactic Patrol's prision is one strikingly similar to Garlic Jr.
 * Dragon Ball: Revenge of the King:
 * The title is very similar to the videogame Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo.
 * King Piccolo, during his first attack, utters the line "human power has failed before and it will again!". This was Piccolo's final line in Dragonball Evolution.
 * At one point, Tambourine sabotages the fight between Roshi and Piccolo, only for the latter to threaten to kill him if he dies it again. This is exactly what happened during the fight between Ginyu and Goku during the Namek Saga.
 * During his battle against Tien, King Piccolo says "Is that the extent of your power? Enough of your nonsense!", a line from Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tekaichi 3.
 * Goku's reaction to Roshi's dead is, ironically enough, similar to the one Gohan had when Piccolo died during the Saiyan saga.
 * Dragon Ball Z: Rise of the Saiyans: Goku angrily tells Raditz to "stop call him carrot or whatever", a nod to the origin of Goku's Saiyan name.
 * Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans:
 * The film shares the same title with a Dragon Ball videogame.
 * The film sees Vegeta and Nappa in the middle of a worldwide rampage, similar to the one Nappa caused in a filler moment from the anime.
 * Vegeta and Nappa attack Tien and Chaoz in a mountain full of snow, which is where they were located when Super Buu attacked humanity.
 * Near the climax, Piccolo shows up to save Gohan, a recurring moment from the Non-Serial Movies.
 * At one point, Vegeta threatens to kill Nappa if he fails to kill Piccolo, which is what he did in the original version after Nappa was defeated by Goku.
 * Dragon Ball Z: Namek:
 * Bulma and Jaco meet in Part I due to both being stranded on Namek, with Jaco going to the planet for a mission. This is nearexactky how they met on the manga, albeit only Jaco was stranded due to the manga beimg set on Earth. Then things go full-circle in Part III, where Jaco does end up stranded on Earth alongside the Nameks.
 * Launch:
 * The opening is a near exact recreation of Launch's first scene in the anime. Both start with Blue Launch entering a bar, only for Blonde Launch to emerge and start a fight that ends with the police chasing her.
 * Blue Launch, througth a video, accuses Blonde Launch that she would enjoy a world where crime is legal. Which she did when King Piccolo legalized crime in the anime.
 * Dragon Ball: Bardock:
 * Frieza briefly coments "If only Saiyans could see the future, they would be scared of me rounding them up". In The Father of Goku, Bardock learned of Frieza's genocidal plans after gaining the ability to see the future from a survivor of a planet his squad attacked.
 * The baby capsules shown in the film are modeled after their appearance in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
 * Goku is introduced crying in hus capsule. Hopefully Broly didn't heard him.
 * During his attack to Frieza's ship, Bardock uses his "Rebellion Trigger" attack.
 * Narm Charm: Blue being killed by a dingle punch causing him to fall off Muscle Tower can come off as lame after all the build-up, but considering the entire climax showed how he is as weak and pathetic as he accused Krillin of being, this is quite a fitting end.
 * Nightmare Fuel:
 * Goku's transformation into a Great Ape in Dragon Ball firstvripped straight out of a horror film. First, his eyes go red and he grows fangs as he begins to go feral. Later, we see his shadow changing in an obviously painfull way into something more monstrous as the entire room begins to fall apart thanks to his mindless punches and ever-groeimg size. And then, it dawns you that our leads are in a small room with what is turning imto a giant. Had they not fou d a way to escape, they would have been smashed to death. And the music playing durimg the sequence does not help.
 * In Jaco, the titular character and Furui are trapped inside the belly of a Vampa Beast by Cui and Magatta. What they find there is a bunch of skeletons inside ships, making clear the fate that awaits for them and the the villanous duo has been sneding many others to. Hell, the first time they find an skeleton makes for one food Jump Scare.
 * In Dr. Slump 3, Pilaf picks up the object Mashirito had been looking for, which is revealed to be King Piccolo's prision.
 * The Galactic Patrol series would show just what would happen were a group of Gatchans be released unrestrained into a poblated area, such as a city: Wide destruction and massive chaos not too out of place in a disaster movie.
 * Reimagining the Artifact:
 * In the anime, Watagashi feeded off negative feelings while giving his hosts more power. The film version reinterprets this as him mwking deals with his hosts to let him use their bodues for his plans in exchange for domething they want by manipulating their more negative aspects and feelings.
 * Launch's dissociative identity disorder is played with more realism than in the manga. As such, Blonde Launch's violent outbursts are recontextualized as her acting out of defense against threats, real or perceived. She is also less "evil" and more pragmatic and cynical, albeit thrill-seeking and still somewhat violent (througth less so than in the manga). The change of hair color is also changed to both Launches wearing a wig depending on who is in control.
 * Remake Cameo:
 * In the first film, Bulma's curent Funimation dub's voice actress, Monica Rial, would make a cameo as the voice of a caterpillar waitress, while Kid Goku and Chi-Chi's voice actors, Laura Bailey and Stephanie Nadolny, would voice two minor characters in the film.
 * Randall Duk Kim, who previously played Grandpa Gohan in Dragonball Evolution, would provide the voice of Korin in this franchise.
 * In addition to reprising his role from the anime as Shenron, Christopher Sabat would voice Watagash througth the franchise.
 * Role Reprisal:
 * Christopher Sabat would reprise his role from the Funimation dub of the anime as Shenron.
 * Chris Cason would also reprise his role from the Funimation dub of the anime as Shu.
 * In the Japanese dub, most of the voice cast from the anime would reprise their roles in the film.
 * Shout-Out:
 * In Dragon Ball:
 * A brief shot of the plates whose food Goku eat near the start if the film resembles the book stacking from the library scene in Ghostbusters (1984).
 * One of the signs in the city is for a restaurant called Bob's Burgers.
 * Goku's transformation was inspired by Hulk's transformations in the 1977 Incredible Hulk series and The Avengers (2012).
 * In Dr. Slump: Arale's First Live-action Adventure, Dr. Norimaki's car resembkes the DeLorean.
 * Dragon Ball: Krilin's Adventure
 * Bulma's "badgirl" jacket resembles Harley Quinn's outfit from The Suicide Squad (2021).
 * The scene where Blue tries to kill Krillin at the climax in his plane is a reversal of when the Joker shoot down the Batwing in Batman (1989).
 * Bulma's car is revealed to have a gunner seat that slides out of it, similar to the Ecto-1 in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
 * In Jaco, the scene where Jaco and Furui are trapped in the belly of a Vampa Beast was inspired by both the animated and-live action versions of Disney's Pinocchio, and the asteroid field sequence in The Empire Strikes Back.
 * In Dragon Bwll Z: The History of Trunks:
 * The film opens witb Android 17 stomping over a human skull, recreating the opening shot of Terminator II: Rise of the Machines.
 * Yajirobe refers to the Blue No. 15 Electro-Fluid as the "Flux Fluid", a reference to the Flux Capacitor from Back to the Future.
 * In Dragon Ball Z: Cell, during his first scene, Hercule shouts "ARE YOU MOT ENTERTAINED?!".
 * The Stinger: In Dr. Slump 3, Emperor Pilaf finds the mysterious box Mashirito tried to find, which is revealed to be holding an electric rice cooker. Any Dragon Ball fan will realize what this means...
 * Visual Effects of Awesome: All the CGI characters in the franchise would truly feel real.