Whether you read the manga, watch the anime, or play the video games, Dragon Ball isn’t a particularly difficult narrative to follow. It has a few complicated story beats, and Toriyama does write some sophisticated character arcs, but just paying attention will be enough to get you through the series from start to finish with no worries. Since Dragon Ball has been around for so long, too, it’s likely that just about every topic possible has been talked to death.

Or has it? Like any good series, Dragon Ball has an allure of mystery to it in large part thanks to Akira Toriyama’s improvised style of writing and penchant for revealing seemingly random information in interviews. Because of this, the series has been continuously growing for years and what were once clear moments in the story have become suspect to debate.

That’s right, not even Dragon Ball is safe from conspiracy theories. Unlike most series, however, Dragon Ball’s theories are surprisingly grounded in the source material and can make a fair deal of sense. Some are absurd and unlikely to be true as they contradict basic information in the story, but others use that information to their advantage and create something truly bizarre to behold.

20 Yajirobe Is The Most Talented Human In The Series

Yajirobe is usually thought of as a joke within the series, and rightfully so. He’s a portly samurai who lives in the forest whose first appearance involves him killing and eating one of King Piccolo’s henchmen. But it's exactly that first appearance that showcases how absurdly powerful Yajirobe really is. Without having trained a day in his life, Yajirobe was strong enough to kill an enemy Goku was struggling to defeat. And he killed him with ease! If Yajirobe actually applied himself, he'd probably be able to keep up all the way through the Cell saga. The next time someone writes him off, remind them of the raw power surging through him.

19 Goku Could Have Gone Super Saiyan 2 Against Cell

Gohan transforming into Super Saiyan 2 is one of those unforgettable moments that no fan of Dragon Ball, manga, or anime will ever be able to ignore. It's an emotionally raw scene that stems from Goku putting all his faith in the son he knows can surpass him.

But maybe Goku was just bored and could have done it himself.

This theory actually makes a bit more sense in the anime than the manga. Immediately following the Cell Games, Pikkon effortlessly defeats Cell in the Otherworld and Goku manages to go toe-to-toe with Pikkon. How is this possible? Goku was SS2 all along! He simply wanted to see his son defeat Cell and was going to go SS2 if things went south, but Cell decided to kamikaze himself before he ever got the chance.

18 Vegeta Was The Prophesied Super Saiyan

Before Dragon Ball Z became a Super Saiyan bargain sale, the audience was led to believe there would be one legendary Super Saiyan; a being so powerful, no foe could stand a chance. We know this ended up being Goku because we saw his transformation, but there's a good chance that it was actually meant to be Vegeta.

Vegeta isn't just any Saiyan, he's the Saiyan. He's a living embodiment of their culture. He's in the Elite class, he's royalty, and he experienced his planet’s demise firsthand. It only makes sense he would be the prophesied hero to defeat Freeza. Of course, in typical Vegeta fashion, he completely botches the whole Chosen One thing and dies a sad death on a foreign planet forcing his least favorite person in the world to fulfill the prophecy for him. Oops.

17 Kami Endangered Earth Because He Was Afraid Of Piccolo

Kami’s a coward, plain and simple. Disregarding just how long it takes him to decide to fuse with Piccolo during the Cell saga, he's so afraid of fusing back with his better half that he lets the world suffer time and time again. Guru explicitly says that, if Kami and Piccolo fused during the Saiyan saga, the Saiyans wouldn't have stood a chance. Considering how strong Piccolo is after they fuse in the Cell saga, it should go without saying that Frieza could be easily defeated. Instead, Kami, the literal God of Earth, would rather keep his individuality and hang out on a floating lookout than protect the planet he's supposed to be protecting. He's arguably the most selfish character in the series if you think about it.

16 Cell Would Have Rescinded His Threat To Blow Up Earth If Goku Gave Him A Good Show

Cell’s an interesting villain compared to Frieza and Majin Buu. He's the only one who isn't a universal threat and he's the only one who seems to actually get along with the cast to an extent. At the very least, he has a casual relationship with them that the other two antagonists don't.

Since Cell’s primary motivation is attaining perfection, and he's made up of Goku’s cells, it's possible Cell would have back off on his world-ending threat if Goku actually put up a proper fight. Cell, like so many others before him, would have realized his true place as Goku’s next rival. The humiliation of being forced to fight Gohan most likely drove him to a point of rage that he couldn't let go of. He does have some of Vegeta’s cells, after all.

15 Tien And Chiaotzu Are A Couple

True love can bloom for anyone, even assassins. Also, remember when Tien and Chiaotzu were actual assassins? We’ve come so far since Dragon Ball. For as irrelevant as they become by the end of the series, these two are, by far, the most iconic pairing in the franchise. Most of Tien’s major moments can be linked to his relationship with Chiaotzu, and all of Chiaotzu’s can be linked to Tien. They clearly feel something deeply intimate for one another and, when you consider that they live together and Tien would rather die than live without Chiaotzu, it's pretty clear they're in love. Do you think they've talked about marriage? Chiaotzu Shinhan has a nice ring to it.

14 Goku Lied About Everything During the Buu Saga

As the series progressed, Goku’s actions started to get . . . interesting, to say the least. In the Cell saga, he decides his 11-year-old son should be the person to kill a super powerful bug-man and in the Buu saga, he wants literally anybody other than him to defeat Majin Buu. He keeps giving these strange excuses about how he wants to the next generation to protect themselves and how he couldn't kill Buu if he wanted to, but it's possible he's just lying to get a better fight.

The truth is, and he does admit this, Goku could have killed Buu the first time he fought but he wanted his kids to have a shot. That's also probably a lie, he just wanted them to have a better fight. He knew Buu would get decimated by Gotenks or a trained Gohan but he probably missed the glory days of super strong enemies. When you remember that Vegeta also called out Goku over lying about Super Saiyan 3, it's hard not to question everything Goku says at the end of the series.

I shouldn't even have to tell you he's not training Uub because he wants him to protect Earth, he just wants a new sparring partner.

13 King Cold Wasn't In His Final Form

Forms: They’re the hallmark of Frieza’s family. Frieza had four in the original series, Cooler presumably had five, and their dear old Papa was perpetually stuck in what was Frieza’s second form. We know Frieza has some control over what his forms look like so it's easy to assume he modeled his second form after King Cold, but isn't it just as likely His Grace just didn't have time to power up to his final form?

King Cold is arrogant. More so than Frieza. When Trunks kills Frieza, he shows no signs of anger, presumably believing he could just kill Trunks with ease. If Trunks didn't kill him so quickly, who’s to say he wouldn't have transformed? In his base form, he was as strong as Frieza. Imagine just how overwhelming a properly transformed King Cold could have been.

12 Trunks Was Intentionally Trying To Cause A Butterfly Effect

At the beginning of the Cell saga, Trunks gives Goku the wrong numbers for the Androids. This could be seen as a plot hole or Trunks just being stupid, but maybe he was trying to cause a butterfly effect. With time travel, it’s hard to get the results you want. Things might change when you go back but, in the case of Trunks, this is exactly what he was hoping would happen. His future is an apocalyptic wasteland thanks to the Androids and he wants to make sure no other timeline has to suffer that fate.

Trunks is already helping Goku by giving him the heart virus, but by changing one small detail and giving the wrong names, he’s also trying to create a butterfly effect on a smaller scale presumably hoping the Androids may not even show up now. They do, of course, and they’re far stronger than they were in his timeline. So Trunks did cause a butterfly effect. Just not a positive one.

11 Gohan And Goten Are Yamcha’s Sons

Ignoring the biological logic that contradicts Yamcha being the father of Goku’s children, there’s a weird amount of evidence pointing to their true Saiyanless heritage. Gohan and Yamcha share just about every single hairstyle in the series and Gohan falls into redundancy by the end of the series. Yamcha’s the one hanging around Chi-Chi while Goku’s in his coma in the Cell Saga, so who’s to say he didn’t “comfort” her? Of course, Goten is also something of a failure so he definitely takes after Yamcha in that regard. Perhaps the most damning evidence is Goku’s nonchalant attitude towards his children. All this time, we thought he was a terrible father but the truth was he simply had no time to humor such cuckoldry.

10 Bulma’s Mom Isn’t A Real Human

Why do you think Bulma’s mother doesn’t have a name and never physically ages? Simple, she’s a robot wife created by Dr. Brief. Now, I have to say, the Dragon Ball wiki does claim her name is Panchy with Dragon Ball Forever as their source, but there is absolutely no proof presented to back up that claim. She is a nameless robot created for Dr. Brief’s pleasure. Every time one ages, he simply creates a new one. What does this mean for Bulma? That she’s a test tube baby, of course. How else do you explain her absurd levels of intelligence? Studying, good genetics, and a commitment to science? I don’t think so.

9 Future Goten Could Exist

One of the most universally accepted, but not explicitly mentioned, facts about Dragon Ball is that Goten does not exist in Trunks’ timeline. Goku passed away before the Androids ever showed up and we never hear mention of Goten from Trunks, so it’s easy to assume Goku and Chi-Chi simply didn’t have time to conceive another child. If we really look at the timeline, however, Chi-Chi had to have been pregnant before the Androids showed up for Goten’s age to make sense.

Since the Androids show up shortly after Goku dies in his timeline, there’s no reason why Chi-Chi couldn’t have been pregnant with Goten. Trunks simply never mentions him because he never got to meet him. He was being trained by Gohan who we know was estranged from his mother to an extent. Gohan probably didn’t know either or, if he knew, he simply didn’t feel it was relevant to bring up. The question is, what’s Future Goten doing?

8 Future Goten Was Goku Black

Being Goku Black, of course. If you’ve watched Dragon Ball Super, you know Zamasu claims to have switched bodies with Goku in his timeline. The thing is, we only have Zamasu’s word to take here, we don’t have a first-hand account. Given how angry this makes Goku, it also doubles as a psychological assault, but what if it’s only a psychological assault?

Zamasu kidnapped the Goten from his own timeline and raised him into a bloodthirsty monster. Goten and Goku look eerily similar, but Goku and Goku Black aren’t exact copies. Goku Black is much slimmer which makes no sense if Zamasu switched bodies with Goku. Are we supposed to believe Zamasu went on a low-carb diet to trim Goku’s body? It’s just as likely that Goku Black was Goten all along and Zamasu was lying to get a ride out of Goku.

7 Goku Was Actually Willing To Kill Supreme Kai

Remember when Supreme Kai tried to stop Goku from fighting Majin Vegeta and Goku extended his hand to blast Supreme Kai away? Goku was actually going to kill him. It seems out of character, but you have to look at the context. Majin Vegeta just casually murdered half of the Budokai audience so that he could fight Goku. If Goku didn’t give in then even more innocent people would die. To Goku, what’s one Kai’s life to thousands of humans? On top of that, Goku wanted to fight Vegeta, he wasn’t just going to let this opportunity pass him by. It’s selfish, it’s cold, but it’s Goku through and through.

Or maybe it’s just another lie. This is the Buu saga, after all.

6 Mastering Super Saiyan Isn’t All That Special

The race to becoming the perfect Super Saiyan is what drives Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and Gohan in the last act of the Cell saga. Vegeta develops Super Saiyan Grade 2 which prioritizes strength without compromising speed while Trunks develops Grade 3 which gets rid of speed entirely in favour of Super Saiyan 2 levels of strength. The problem with these two forms it that they’re massive ki drains. By the time any fight’s making progress, they’ll both be out of progress. Goku realizes this and develops Mastered, or Full Power, Super Saiyan.

When we’re introduced to this form, we’re led to believe it’s the ultimate Super Saiyan state and, while it is in a sense, it’s actually weaker than both Grade 2 and Grade 3. All MSS does is get rid of the Super Saiyan stamina drain entirely. Goku didn’t actually get stronger from reaching this form. Instead, he got stronger by training with this form as his base. It’s the weakest of the Super Saiyan forms, but it’s the only one that you can actually train.

5 Roshi Could Have Fought Off The Saiyans Himself

There’s only one way to reconcile Roshi’s ridiculous strength in Resurrection F and Dragon Ball Super; he was training all along. In fact, Toriyama even confirmed this in an interview claiming that Roshi was strong enough to take on Nappa. It’s possible that Roshi was pulling a Goku and simply lying about his own strength so that the next generation would take care of themselves. If you think about it, that goes hand in hand with his character arc in the original series. He wants Goku and Krillin to surpass him. He even forgets his fight with Tien in the 22nd Budokai so that Goku or Krillin would get a chance to fight him. It certainly paints Roshi in a different light considering he left the Earth in danger, but at least he’s not as bad as Kami.

4 Whis Killed Future Trunks And Mai

Dragon Ball Super’s Future Trunks saga is notorious for its awful ending. After Trunks’ entire timeline gets erased by Zeno, he decides he doesn’t want to live in the main timeline and has Whis send him to a timeline where he and Mai already exist. It’s awkward and poorly thought out. What makes it even stranger, is that Whis and Beerus are constantly going on about not interfering with mortal happenings or time travel, but here Whis breaks his own rule. Why’s that?

Because he never actually broke it.

Instead of transporting Mai and Trunks to their timeline of choice, Whis simply fades them out of existence as punishment for their time crimes. We know that the angels aren’t entirely on our heroes’ side, so why should Whis break a divine rule to help a universal criminal? Trunks was better off suffering in his own timeline.

3 Vegeta Loves Goku As Much As He Loves Bulma And Trunks

Now, Vegeta’s not in love with Goku, but he definitely does love his rival, even if just in a familial sense. When Vegeta sacrifices himself in the Buu saga, his thoughts naturally go to his wife and his son. He even hugs his son for the first time before he blows himself up. This all makes sense. What’s a bit of a surprise is Vegeta’s claim that he’s doing this for Goku, too. In his dying moments, Vegeta thinks about the people he loves: his wife, his son, and his rival. It’s also quite telling that Vegeta mentions Goku’s name last. The last thing Vegeta thinks about before he dies is Goku. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

2 Vegeta Is Naturally Stronger Than Goku

Let’s get right to the facts. As a child, Goku is as strong as a grown human man. As a child, Vegeta can kill a Saibaman with ease. Goku trained every day of his life and needed to undergo godly training twice just to hold his ground against an untrained Vegeta. Vegeta was able to go Super Saiyan through sheer force of will, Goku needed an emotional trigger. No matter how you look at it, Vegeta is naturally stronger. The divide in their power comes from Goku’s determination, his lack of pride, and his desire to better himself for personal reasons. If Vegeta had just half of Goku’s discipline, it’s likely he’d be able to mop the floor with every character. But, then again, that wouldn’t be the Vegeta we know and love.

1 Goku IS The Eternal Dragon At The End Of GT

At the end of GT, Goku flies off on the back of Shenron after defeating Omega Shenron. He comments on how Shenron’s back is warm, falls asleep, and that’s the last anyone sees of Goku for 100 years. Like most things with Dragon Ball GT, it’s natural to just write this off as thoughtless nonsense, but there might be a plausible explanation to what’s going on here.

The Shadow Dragon saga pushes one theme over everything else: responsibility. The Z-Warriors were not responsible in their use of the Dragon Balls and now they have to take responsibility and defeat seven dragons born from their narcissistic wishes. Goku considers himself the most responsible for this scenario so, when the time comes for Shenron to return, Goku is whisked away and made into the next Eternal Dragon as penance. This explains why he can appear mystery 100 years later to Pan and why his spirit manifests when Goku Jr. comes in contact with the 4-Star Dragon Ball in A Hero’s Legacy. For all the problems GT has, this outcome has a surprising amount of thematic foresight put into it.