Goku … Yamcha … Vegeta …. The names are synonymous with action, thrilling adventure and excitement. It is animation at its best that has been thrilling audiences since 1984. That’s right 33 years and still going stronger than ever, the Dragon Ball world crashed onto the scene and the world has never looked back.
Considered a huge Japanese media franchise today, it was created by Akira Toriyama and the colorful cast of characters struck a chord with not only Japanese fans, but young viewers the world over. It was all inspired, interestingly enough, by the classic Chinese novel, Journey To The West. It has grown to become a conglomerate business that has spawned numerous books, comics, TV shows, movies and video games. Not to mention tons and tons of merchandise.
Well, these days, with such fame and adoration, a little fun-poking goes with the territory, and many, many online fan-made comics, memes, and running jokes have appeared online depicting the multitude of Dragon Ball characters in rather mocking and hilarious circumstances. And as fans we know that it’s all in good fun and we laugh along, amused.
That’s why we’ve combed through the internet and have found some memes depicting some of our favorite characters, and if we do say so ourselves they are indeed hilarious … so brace your ribs as you roar uncontrollably with laughter at these 25 memes. And yeah ... they'll have you going Super Saiyan in a New York Minute, so hold onto your hats, readers.
25 Super Saiyan Mode
The Super Saiyan transformation is a phenomenon that characters undergo in the franchise when they’ve transformed and advanced, becoming a more powerful being. Sounds really scientific, but it isn’t. Really, it’s just that the characters look like they’ve drank about a dozen Red Bulls and taken a few caffeine pills to boot. It’s actually pretty awesome to see, as the animation is done quite well, the characters lighting up and transforming into a heightened version of themselves. Hence the absolute hilarity of this meme.
Music definitely has the power to inspire, especially in the gym or on the road as you jog your way to a slimmer waist.
For some, it’s dance or step music, but for a few, it’s metal or rock. There’s nothing like the opening riff to “Back In Black” by AC/DC to get you moving on that treadmill.
24 Poking Fun At Your Bud's Favorite Character
The great thing about a franchise that has this many characters is that fans can pick and choose the ones they like and, of course, the ones they don’t. This only adds to the fun and, fun it is, as memes like this show.
If we go back in time, to the nineties, fans were doing this, but probably in simpler terms … sitting around the lunch table at the cafeteria at school, chomping on Jamaican Meat Patties and drinking juice, pawning over tons of comics and commenting on who they liked and which characters they found “lame.”
Ah! Simpler times indeed.
Well, today that still goes on, only online, and a meme like this is the best way to tell your friend what you really think about his favorite character.
23 A Little Bit Of Awesome Tunes While You Wait!
Well, as you'll read on in this article and as this meme so perfectly addresses, the show tends to drag on a tad, especially when something big is about to happen, but as draggy as it can sometimes get, there are a lot of awesome pluses that carry the viewer forward while waiting to see what and when something spectacular will happen. Case in point: the soundtrack.
Now here’s something you may not have known about Dragon Ball as the casual viewer and reader: the series has also spawned numerous recordings and soundtracks and they’ve done considerably well in the Japanese market and across the globe when considering how many times the music was either purchased, shared or downloaded online.
The numerous films and shows have always had music produced to accompany the action on screen, but the soundtracks give the fans a chance to appreciate the music as it stands alone without any accompanying images.
22 Extremely Successful Despite Its Few Kinks!
But all negative aspects aside, such as the aforementioned tendency to take a little too long to get to the point--and as this meme so tactfully displays--the series is undeniably successful. How successful, you ask?
Try 5 Billion dollars worth!
Yup … that’s right and no it’s not a typo. The franchise has generated 5 billion dollars as of 2012, and who knows what heights the franchise will reach.
That’s definitely quite the sum of money, even for these days. And yes, albeit, it is a franchise that has been producing content and merchandise for the better part of 33 years, but still … there are other franchises out there that have been around for longer that haven’t generated that amount of income or even come close to that same amount of success.
It’s indeed huge and it just goes to show how the power of a good and loyal fan base can be impactful and have such an influence in terms of sales.
21 Original Design
In the above meme, a couple of Saiyans share an inside joke and as we look upon the image behind the meme, we can only be reminded and amazed at how intricate and innovative the Dragon Ball designs actually are.
In the 80s and 90s cartoons were indeed the height of entertainment for young viewers, especially for the 5-13 year old demographic, and a lot of Canadian and American produced programming was released and to rave reviews and acceptance.
And although the format was popular even before, i.e.: Looney Tunes and the like, the 80s brought along with them, the heightened ability to produce better quality work and showcase characters that the viewers fell in love with, hence The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other shows like it.
But when Dragon Ball came onto the scene, the world was shown a rather original artwork and the lively characters called to viewers everywhere, as the style of design was indeed something very different and awesome to behold.
20 Filler Content
As we eluded to earlier, it is rather obvious in this meme, fans of the franchise tend to like to poke fun at the fact that the content in some of the shows is at times rather long in getting to the point. True fans of the show really don’t mind, as they love watching and reading about their favorite characters, but the novice Dragon Ball fan can certainly get a little irritated at first.
When thinking about the plethora of content out there, writers and creators need to drag it on a little more … leading fans to keep watching.
It’s the oldest trick in the book and it works … hence the incredible success of the franchise. Besides, so what if it takes the time for something important to finally happen on the show! Dragon Ball is awesome and we watch because we can’t get enough.
19 Everything's Better With Bacon
Powerful characters have influence in the media and in the world. It’s just that simple and there’s no ifs and or buts about it. That’s why advertising companies have been using huge celebrities to endorse products and it’s smart at the end of the day … very smart.
If you see Dwayne Johnson on TV saying he drinks Gatorade post workout, or during, you bet your bottom dollar that millions will flock to their local 7/11s and buy as many neon colored Gatorade flavors they can carry.
And this influence is shown now on social media. If you want to get a certain point across, pick an influential character and stick a comment on it and BAM! You’ve got yourself an influential meme.
The argument in the above meme is that Bacon is indeed awesome and well, we’d have to agree. BLT anyone?
18 Vegeta's Plight
Vegeta’s journey is indeed an interesting one, and one that has gone through many twists and turns, and as fans have watched the character evolve, a love and respect for him has also grown among fans everywhere.
Vegeta started as a villain … very cruel and ruthless and cold-spirited. He was a fierce warrior and he showed no mercy in how he dealt with foes. But, as his story moved on from chapter to chapter, he left The Galactic Frieza Army (the evil-doers of the series).
He decided to stay on earth, eventually becoming a hero himself, no longer performing any evil deeds.
It’s interesting to see how characters such as this evolve as the series moves forward and if it can be said, the story is almost Shakespearean in scope, and shades of classic literature are indeed apparent.
17 You Like Dragon Ball Too!
Hey… I’m sure we’ve all been there. We’ve got a pretty good feeling that you wouldn’t be reading this if you hadn’t. We think, by now, we can all admit that it wasn’t always “cool” to like the things we like. If you don’t believe us, let’s think back.
Back in the mid to late 90s, was it really all that okay to tell the girl you had a crush on that you secretly collected Overpower cards in your spare time? Or that you played Pokémon on Game Boy?
Don’t lie. It’s okay… you can tell us, we’re all friends here. Of course it wasn’t okay, but hey, we got by, didn’t we? You millennial(s) probably don’t understand, seeing that most people are pretty accepting about this stuff, but trust us when we tell you, we had it tough back then.
16 A Great Find
Memes are such a huge part of our culture these days. You can’t go online without seeing one. If it isn’t on Facebook, then you find it in your emails, and if not there, somebody at work is calling you over to their desk to get a load of a meme depicting a tiny bear cub who’s seemingly screaming at the top of his lungs, with the tagline: It’s Friday!!! strewn across the top of the photo.
This Dragon Ball meme takes the cake, as it’s an evident and shameless play on words and well, jokes like that are always pretty funny.
Memes are definitely good for a chuckle or two and they’re great fun, but we’ve gotta admit, not all are epic like this one.
15 A Deeper Story Line
What would an epic story be without the addition of a love story? Probably nowhere and somewhere in the ranks of failed series’ of all time, that’s where.
The show is famous for its battles and its heroes, but the addition of a love story or two gives the series a much more realistic feel, if that’s at all possible for a series like this, but bear with us, please.
Much like a fine album, or a film, a series such as this one needs dynamics… moments of high octane action, as well as softer more docile moments that contain a narrative that is indeed quite necessary. After all, a hero needs a partner and children, don't they… after all, a hero’s a hero at home first, as he should be.
14 Take That
Back in the day, if you had a problem with someone, you had to get off your tush and make your way over to that particular person and hash it out. Many unfortunate confrontations erupted between people, but hey, that’s the way things were done back then.
These days, things are much simpler.
Let’s say you’ve got a problem with Orville whose cubicle is in the far corner of the office. Maybe he got the promotion you thought you deserved, or maybe he never refills the paper tray … but for some reason, you’ve got a beef with him, and there’s no other course of action but to throw the gauntlet.
What do you do?
Well, from the safety of your desk, you post a meme such as the one above and you make sure that he understands that the sarcastic comment was meant for him.
Post and Boom! Take that Orville.
13 Impostor!
The Super Saiyan transformation is something rather spectacular to behold. The character stands with his legs slightly bent, and obvious volcanic surge erupts through his/her body, they shake considerably, their bodies change and gain vascular muscles, their biceps bulging with every tremor of the significant moment. And most importantly, their hair goes from black to blond.
So the next time Sally at the office dies her hair blond, you can tell her she went Super Saiyan. Yes, we’re aware it’s a lame joke, but sometimes lame jokes are quite effective.
This is what makes this meme so hilarious. For a character to want to go Super Saiyan so badly that he dyes his hair is exquisitely funny and definitely worth a chuckle or two.
12 The Wonder That Is Goku
In terms of story and content, Goku can be considered the main character and protagonist in Dragon Ball. He is the hero of the story, if you will. And with that title comes the adoration of fans from the world over. All storylines in the series hence, point towards him or away from him and he is obviously involved in one form or another.
The character of Goku is a hard worker and continuously wants to be the best at what he does, which is fighting against the forces of the evil around him. Now if that isn’t the definition of a good hero, then we don’t know what is. He fits the title well and his integrity is shown time and time again.
11 That Guy!
For any of you work out enthusiasts and gym-goers, there are indeed a lot of stereotypical characters you can run into at your local fitness center.
Whether it’s someone that wears the garbage bag on the treadmill, or screams when they're trying to curl a 180 pound barbell; what about the person that can’t stop looking at themselves in the mirror as they does their stretching routine … or how about the people that refuse to re-stack their weights. A lot of these common behaviors can definitely get on your last nerve.
The above meme pokes fun at a very common stereotype found at gyms and particularly among weight lifters. There’s always someone that can’t lift without their gloves.
“Dude … where are my gloves … I can’t lift without my gloves.”
Come on! Slap some chalk on your palms and get to work … I wanna see 12!
10 Indeed It Is
The characters in the show are always training and working on their skills as warriors, but they are also all equally rather enthusiastic about food. They eat a lot, and are often depicted enjoying vast meals in which to replenish their exhausted bodies.
It makes sense… they must burn hundreds of calories going Super Saiyan alone, just imagine how many they burn in training and in regular battle.
Regardless, such scenes are absolutely awesome to see and they actually have inspired millions to race to the fridge in search of sustenance as they watch their favorite characters chomp down on some great food.
In fact, I think there’s a piece of leftover lasagna in the fridge as we speak. Give me a second, and we’ll move on to the next meme.
9 The Meaning Of A Name
Bulma, one of the many great female characters in the series, had the unfortunate circumstance of being named after a type of underwear, but a lot of the characters have a odd name origin. Some of the names when studied are rather hilarious actually, but no harm, no foul. In the end a name is a name, and it’s the integrity or characteristics of a character that define them in the end, as all these characters are indeed multidimensional.
Bulma is actually married to Vegeta, a pivotal character in the series, and we’re sure we can all understand where his name comes from. Other interesting names are: Piccolo, which means a small flute and Yamcha, which is the actual word in Chinese for Dim Sum.
8 A Multi-Faceted Character
Talk about a character going back and forth and being wishy-washy, for a lack of a better term. This character can’t decide if he’s good or bad and he’s had a plethora of names.
The character has the ability to split, separating himself into two separate entities. Some of these entities have been good, while some of them have been pure evil, hence the absolutely side splitting, hilarious meme.
His many names are all derivatives of his main name which is Buu, only with different adjectives preceding. Examples: Good Buu, Future Evil Buu, Super Buu and many, many more. This is a character that keeps on giving and has been involved in many great storylines. And a long-running series such as this one definitely needs characters like this, as they only add more content for fans to enjoy.
7 Back-up
We’re sure all members of the younger portion of our readers can agree… growing up is hard. Especially these days, kids are smack dab in the middle of a vastly changing world and their parents are having a harder time understanding the world’s ever-changing ways.
So there is no doubt in our minds that a few arguments have erupted in quite a few homes around the world and for whatever reason.
This causes a lot of added stress and difficulty, and it’s terrible when you’ve got both parents on your case. But there are indeed those rare moments and occasions when one of your parents agree with you instead of their spouse. Such a circumstance is great for you, and you may even win the argument with your good old dad backing you up, but the offence might land poppa bear on the couch if he isn’t careful.
6 So Many Characters... So Little Time
There are indeed a lot of characters in the Dragon Ball series, and a lot of them look nothing alike, but a lot of them do, and at times it can be rather confusing no matter how you look at it. Especially when trying to differentiate Saiyan from Saiyan, or even brother from father. It’s well known that Goku looks like Bardock, his father, but at the same time that’s understandable too, now isn’t it? Even in the above meme, it would have been extremely hard to tell the two apart had it not been for the significant height difference and the orange vest.
This isn’t really a huge problem for avid fans, but for the casual viewer and reader—as in the black and white comics, distinguishing the characters from each other is even harder—it’s pretty much a nightmare trying to keep some of the names straight.
The good news is that it doesn’t take too long to tell them all apart as soon as you get to know them.