Dragon Ball Animal Characters Was Forgotten By Akira Toriyama

In the past, Dragon Ball showcased several Dragon Ball Animal Characters; however, their appearances dwindled over time due to an absurd justification.

The Dragon Ball universe is home to some peculiar entities, several of which belong to extraterrestrial species. Similarly, Earth is inhabited by a variety of peculiar creatures, such as demon-like beings and humanoid canines. Regrettably, such creatures are becoming less frequent in the franchise.

At the start of the series, there were many Dragon Ball Animal Characters, some even being prominent figures. However, as the plot progressed, their number became smaller, leading to doubts about their existence. This decline in the presence of furry creatures had a reason, which was related more to the writer of the series than anything else.

Animal People From Dragon Ball Used to Be the Main Characters

In the Dragon Ball series, the introduction of Dragon Ball Animal Characters such as Oolong the pig and Puar the flying cat, who are capable of shape-shifting and talking, doesn’t seem too unusual in the context of the world the series is set in. Surprisingly, Goku’s monkey-like tail is considered more shocking than these abilities, despite the fact that characters can also walk and talk. Furthermore, the Earth in the series doesn’t discriminate against these animal people, which is evident by the fact that a talking dog was the king of the planet. In addition to this, Goku was trained in martial arts by Korin, another talking cat who was immensely powerful and held a high rank.

As the Dragon Ball series progressed, the significance of Goku’s companions such as Oolong dwindled. This was mainly because of the show’s increasingly serious tone and epic nature, which left no room for comic relief animals given the Saiyan invasion and the looming threat of the Androids to Earth. While this was a logical progression, the absence of animal characters was evident. Even as background characters, animal people made fewer appearances, giving rise to various theories. However, in reality, the reason for the lack of furry characters in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super was due to practical reasons.

Dragon Ball Animal Characters Vanished for the Lamest of Reasons

The video game Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot provided a reason for the decreasing number of animal people present in the franchise’s universe. The game explained that the use of a drug called Animorphaline led to the existence of “beastmen,” which allowed humans to transform into animal-human hybrids. This trend was popular during Bulma’s youth, and even the dog-man King Furry had used the drug. However, the drug later became unpopular, and this explained the absence of Dragon Ball Animal Characters. Interestingly, the game also revealed that Oolong and Puar were always humanoid animals and not beastmen. However, since the canonicity of the game is uncertain, this explanation should not be taken as definitive.

Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, revealed in an interview that the reason why there were very few beastmen in the later parts of the franchise was due to the increasing seriousness of the world, which contradicted the presence of these creatures. However, the main reason for their disappearance was simply because Toriyama had forgotten to include them. He was still influenced by the more comical aspects of his previous work, Dr. Slump, which resulted in characters with animal heads or talking animals appearing in Dragon Ball.

Toriyama is well-known for his consistent lack of attention to visual details, even when it comes to important characters. An example of this is the Namekian Dende, who visibly aged throughout Dragon Ball Z’s “Buu Saga,” but was inexplicably drawn as a child once again in Dragon Ball Super due to the artist’s forgetfulness. While Dende was lucky enough to only lose a few inches in height, the franchise’s animal men are now at risk of being creatively neglected.

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