Toei Animation took a bit of a hiatus with Dragon Ball films (a bit too long if you ask us). 1996 was the last time a Dragon Ball title was released, and the studio ended the drought with Battle of the Gods. It tells the story of the introduction of Lord Beerus, a god of destruction. He is an anthropomorphic cat charged with keeping balance to the galaxy by destroying other universes. This may seem like an almost noble job, but it sucks if you are the universe that is in the crosshairs of this feline. Per the usual, Goku has to become the superhero we all know and love to save his world from Lord Beerus. It is a film filled with nostalgia and typical DBZ comedy. Any diehard fan would enjoy it, while people who are new to the series would have some fun with it as well.

What makes this film unique is that it has brought about the resurgence of the Dragon Ball franchise to the United States. This film was a bit of an introduction (or retelling) to the events of Dragon Ball Super. Before the current installment of the series, American audiences had not seen a worthy adaptation of the manga since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Dragon Ball is back, and Battle of the Gods helped to usher it in! Here are 25 crazy things you probably had no clue about concerning this film.

25 Sometimes, The First Idea Is Best

If you are a DBZ diehard, we know you probably enjoyed Battle of the Gods. What is there not to like? Goku going into Super Saiyan God form, a talking cat, epic battles, the list could go on and on. Even with this activity, Battle of the Gods could have been even better The original idea was for Beerus to take on an even more sinister and evil role in the story. He was supposed to infect his evil into other people so they could do his bidding. He was also supposed to be responsible for the power of the Super Saiyan race. This was supposed to be a bombshell revealed during the movie. Unfortunately, it was scrapped. This movie struck a nostalgic and humorous chord. However, we cannot help wondering how epic it would have been if Beerus was as sadistic as initially intended.

24 SSG Predates Battle Of The Gods

This is for the die-hards out there. You know those people that know the story or comic book inside and out. They are the first people to point out obscure facts that are different from the medium they are familiar with. Also, they are not very fond of the liberties filmmakers may take with a particular plot point or character.

Fanboys and girls totally serve the greater good.

While they may be annoying at some points, they do serve a purpose. They are the watchdogs of popular media. We are going to be one of those guys (or girls) for a second. While we first hear about SSG during Battle of the Gods, Frieza was the first to mention this form, not Beerus. It happened in the Dragon Ball Minus manga.

23 Come On Toriyama!

Isn’t it the most annoying thing ever when you know a film could have done something a little differently? Many times, ideas that you have thought about have already been brought up by writers and animators. While Battle of the Gods had some excellent points, there are some things that Toriyama should have changed. You probably noticed how “underwhelming” Goku’s Super Saiyan God Form looked. He had the color, but he was missing the bulk. One of the animators felt that Goku should be muscular in his Super Saiyan God Form, for some reason Toriyama shot this down and thought he should be as sleek and lean as possible…ummm why in the world would anyone look skinny in a god form? They might want to do an HD redo of this in the future.

22 A Surprising Turn Of Events

Sometimes, Dragon Ball movies (and significant television events) can resemble The Walking Dead season finales. You never know when someone is going to breathe their last breath. Many times, it is a villain, but often it can be a version of a beloved character.

R.I.P Future Bulma.

Now, no one has mastered the art of the “bringing characters back to life arc,” then Dragon Ball, but it is still heart wrenching to see your favorite characters potentially experience elimination from the series. If you were worried about this being a problem in Battle of the Gods, you thankfully had nothing to worry about. Even though the title suggests otherwise, no one actually dies in this movie. A major deviation from the norm for DBZ.

21 Dragon Balls Of Youth?

With a universe as vast as DBZ, it is normal that mistakes can be made. This franchise is likely older than many of its most die-hard fans, so that leaves a lot of room for errors regarding time and ages. However, even we cannot overlook this one. Even though this film is set four years after the Kid Buu fight, for some reason, many of the younger characters have not seemed to age, namely: Trunks, Goten, and Marron. Did the animators forget, or is there some Saiyan age thing going on? Do Super Saiyan children age a lot slower? Is Trunks messing with time again? One thing is for sure, DBZ is so epic that we can give some leniency on this one.

20 Who Is Wrong?

We all know that you never ask a woman her age. We also know that many people lie about things like their age to not appear as old as they really are. Maybe this discrepancy is a reference to this (which would be pretty hilarious), but in reality, knowing Toriyama’s record of forgetting things, it probably is not. Some age errors are going on in this film. Bulma was born in 733, but she says she is 38 when she really should be 45. Mai claims to be 40, but this would have had her at age 12 during the events of the Pilaf Saga. Both of these ages do not make sense. Either these ladies are lying, or someone clearly forgot their actual ages.

19 Revenge Is So Sweet!

Alright, so who remembers that ill-fated Dragon Ball Z Evolution movie? The trailers were an early indication that it was not going to be a pleasurable movie experience. Even though public backlash was swift, studios went on with it anyway. It may have seemed like everyone forgot what an atrocity this film was, except for one person.

This movie set DBZ back. 

Rumor has it that Akira Toriyama created Battle of the Gods to show his distaste for Dragon Ball Z Evolution. The studio failed to make a viable live-action movie that captured the magic of the anime. Toriyama knew this and created Battle of the Gods to give DBZ fans some hope. Well, thank you Toriyama, you gave fans something to look forward to going into Dragon Ball Super.

18 Walk Like An Egyptian…Cat

Oh, Beerus! He is so sarcastic, intelligent, and mildly ignorant at times. However, no one can deny that he is a compelling character who can bring an end to any universe of his choosing. Where in the world did this cat come from? Beerus has quite a few inspirations. Toriyama created Beerus as a homage to one of his earlier works that featured a feline as the main character. However, he also made the cat look like an Egyptian goddess of destruction. If you saw Beerus and thought the cat had some Ancient Egyptian flair, you would have been on to something. Either way, he is a lively character that helps to set in motion the events that have led to the successful Dragon Ball Super.

17 A Brotherly Revelation

Vegeta acts like an only child. He likes his own way, brags a lot, and seems to have a bit of a selfish streak. No knock on only kids (the author of this piece is one too…wink!). He seems to fit a lot of the stereotypes set forth for only children. However, Vegeta is probably not an only child. Another Vegeta-clan family member is running around.

Imagine the fights that happened in their house.

Tarble, Vegeta’s brother, is confirmed to be canon after Bulma mentions him. So, this solidified the events of Kid Buu’s defeat and the fact that Vegeta has a brother as canon. We hope this guy gets a little more airtime. Being a brother to Vegeta has to make you a pretty tough guy. Could you imagine a sibling rivalry with someone as aggressive as Vegeta and live to tell about it?

16 Serving Up The Beat Down

Since Beerus is a central character in Battle of the Gods, we are going to continue to talk about some of the quirks of the role. Animators had different ideas of how they wanted to portray the fighting style of this character. They knew they wanted a touch of humor, but they were not sure about how far they wanted to go.

What is a better weapon than chopsticks?

The original plan was for Beerus to fight enemies with a fork and knife. However, the animation director did not think this would work, so they dropped the idea. Instead, they decided to go with the plan of having Beerus fight with chopsticks to show his skill and comedic timing. The animation director also felt it was a great homage to Japan’s widely used utensil.

15 A Sad Real-Life Inspiration

While Beerus was mostly inspired by Toriyama’s previous works and an Egyptian goddess, there was also a personal reason for creating the feline. Toriyama had an old Cornish Rex cat. The cat was sick at the time and did not look like he would make it. Toriyama decided to put the cat in the story because he thought it might come back as a demon.

Ummmm...a demon cat?

How cool (except the demon part)? Cats always seem like they know more than we do. They are intelligent, sneaky, and predatorial, so choosing a cat to be Beerus makes perfect sense. This little guy will forever be immortalized as the famous Lord Beerus. If he is still alive, we hope Toriyama bought him a scratch post and some premium soft food. He deserves it!

14 An Easier Way….

Sometimes, the animators can make things look a lot more complicated than they are. During the movie, the warriors around Goku have to channel their energy into him to help him transform into the Super Saiyan God Form. The same is true in the manga, except the characters get a little touchy feely and hold hands to help the hero. We as the viewers have no idea what is right or wrong regarding this practice. Not until we find out in the DBS manga that Vegeta can become SSG at will. Wait a minute! All that energy channeling doesn’t need to happen? Toriyama, is this a moment you forgot about again? How can someone transform into a god form at will? Why in the world would this be Vegeta?

13 A First For The DBZ Universe

Now, this one makes us wonder about the other films. Before The Path to Power, a lot of Dragon Ball films were being made, so it is a bit of a bummer to find out that many of them were not canon. However, it is apparent that Toriyama wanted to pull out all the stops for this movie. So, this revelation is pretty unique for DBZ fans out there. This film is the first film to be considered a part of the Dragon Ball Storyline. It is set during the time skip in Chapter 517 in the original manga. It is always a great idea when a franchise can take either a plot point or gap in time and create something awesome within it.

12 The Voice Of An Olympian

DBZ believes in showing love to the home team. Battle of the Gods featured the voice of Kaori Matsumoto, the Olympic gold medalist in Judo. She voiced a motorcycle policewoman that was created in her physical likeness. The athlete has always been a fan of DBZ and was excited to feature her voice in the movie.

Even better than an Olympic medal!

This is like Michael Phelps making a cameo in The Big Bang Theory, or Lebron James walking onto Scandal. It is always cool to see a famous face on a show you love, especially when that person is as big a fan as you are. However, we cannot help but be a little jealous. This person’s voice will forever be immortalized in one of the best animes of all time.

11 Who Brought The Dinosaurs?

Beerus does seem like a bit of a try-hard. He comes off as that guy (or girl) who brags about these insane things you know they never did. So, you brush it off and move on to the next topic. Yet, there is still a part inside of you that wonders if their story could be right. Beerus claimed that he was responsible for the death of the dinosaurs on Earth.

Soooo...there was no asteroid? 

That is a pretty big claim. He is a god of destruction, so we could see how this could have happened, but why? Why would he need to do this? Well, again either we have a cause of lying, or there is a more in-depth story going on. The animals still exist during the events of the movie. It begs the question if he was lying or if an unnamed corporation regenerated them.

10 Primal Fear

You know that friend who doesn’t get scared of anything? Situations that would rattle even the bravest person don’t seem to faze them. This means that when they are afraid, you know you are doomed. You are in a situation of extreme danger when this person becomes rattled. Vegeta is one of those people. The forever cocky and reckless Vegeta is always ready for a fight. Nothing bothers this guy. Vegeta is a tough customer, so seeing him frightened should be of alarm to other characters. Beerus (along with Frieza and Broly) is one of the only characters to bring out genuine fear in Vegeta. If you are rolling with Vegeta and his face changes to the expression in the photo above, then you may want to panic.

9 Recycled Content

Fans who never saw Battle of the Gods have probably not realized this, but the first few episodes of Dragon Ball Super are an abridged retelling of Battle of the Gods. Yes, if you missed the movie, you saw the plot of the film during the first season of Dragon Ball Super.

It is actually kind of a boss thing to do.

Toriyama knew their content was so good and that fans are always clamoring for it. Therefore, they took the Battle of the Gods and retold it for the first season. Full Metal Alchemist did something a bit similar with Brotherhood. So, if you saw Battle of the Gods, you have seen most of the first part of Dragon Ball Super. If you are fans of Dragon Ball, you probably watched it anyway.

8 Like Father Like Son

Goku isn’t the only person in his family to try to save the universe. For some reason, battling for the fate of humanity seems to be something that runs in the family. Goku’s efforts to protect the world in Battle of the Gods echoes his father Bardock’s. Both are noble and have the best interest of others at heart. They are willing to fight and sacrifice themselves for the good of the universe. It also doesn’t hurt that they are some of the most ferocious warriors in the land. Unfortunately, both stories did not end the same way. Goku was fortunately victorious in his efforts, while his father failed. Even though Bardock was not able to fulfill his mission, we still give the guy an “A” for effort!

7 More Libation Humor…

For some reason, the animators of DBZ and Dragon Ball Super have a fascination with alcohol. They always find some way to name a god and their attendant after an alcoholic beverage. It is likely all in good fun, and it shows the animators are always up for some humor.

Whis is a part of a longstanding tradition of DBZ humor.

His name is a play on Whiskey, and Beerus’ name refers to beer. One of the remarkable things about this franchise is their dedication to keeping the humor alive. Everything does not have to be serious, and they embrace this. They even allow time for some self-depreciating comedy which is just as admirable. DBZ has a sudden charm to it, and little Easter Eggs like this add to it.

6 Party Crasher!

How would you feel if someone crashed your party? It was your first in ages, and your friends finally surprised you. Then, someone has the nerve to come in and make it about them. Granted, it is an emergency situation where the fate of the universe is at stake, but goodness! Couldn’t they have waited until you blew out the candles or eaten cake to start babbling about a god of destruction? Some people have no concept of tact! Well, Bulma’s party crash was supposed to belong to a duo. The party at the beginning of the film was supposed to be the wedding of Krillin and Android 18. They instead decided to have it focus on Bulma’s birthday party. That was probably a smart move, as an interruption of Krillin and Android 18’s wedding could have gotten pretty violent.