Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

WittyUsername
I Live Here
Posts: 4170
Joined: Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:09 am
Location: Houston, Texas

Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by WittyUsername » Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:47 pm

As the series progressed, we began seeing less and less anthropomorphic animals, and as of Super, they’ve become virtually nonexistent, outside of some occasional appearances by Oolong and Puar. Does anyone have any ideas as to what happened to them? The world of Dragon Ball honestly feels less distinctive without them.

User avatar
Pantalones
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1432
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:30 pm

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by Pantalones » Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:19 pm

It is really odd that there's no furry guys running around like back in original Dragonball anymore. The king's still a dog and there's still a few stragglers from the original cast like you mentioned, but I can't remember any others showing up in post-Z Dragonball. Until Dragonball Online, anyway -- I know I remember there being a bunch of NPCs/enemies of the humanoid critter variety in there.

Maybe there was a plague that only affected them at some point between the end of Dragonball and the start of Z? Or for whatever reason they all started moving away from the major human population centers, so in city/crowd scenes we don't see them anymore?

User avatar
The S
I Live Here
Posts: 2348
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:54 am
Location: Moesko Island, WA
Contact:

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by The S » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:04 pm

Is the King of the World still in charge at the end?
Battle High 2, starring Kyle Hebert as well as myself, has been released on Xbox 360, OUYA, PC, Linux, Mac, and Xbox One!

WittyUsername
I Live Here
Posts: 4170
Joined: Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:09 am
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by WittyUsername » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:08 pm

The S wrote:Is the King of the World still in charge at the end?
I don’t recall him ever being mentioned in Super.

MyVisionity
Banned
Posts: 1834
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 11:51 pm
Location: US

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by MyVisionity » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:23 pm

The S wrote:Is the King of the World still in charge at the end?
I think he is last seen in the final battle when the Earth gives their Genki to defeat Boo, at least in the anime.

As for the animal characters, I've always loved them. Just the idea of a mother bear out running errands with her bear son, or a crocodile watching a tournament in the audience is great stuff and really helps give life to the series.

User avatar
Makaioshin
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1350
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:51 pm

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by Makaioshin » Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:25 am

I have to imagine Toriyama just wasn't interested in drawing detailed minor characters or backgrounds after awhile. After the 23rd TB the characters spend their time fighting in wastelands, on a barren planet, or in seclusion. There were less background characters in general until the cast is reintegrated in the Boo arc. Super kind of brings animal characters back to the forefront between characters like Botamo, the Wolfgang crew, and obviously Beerus. Before that I guess there is Neko Majin and that boar man who could transform his hands in GT.
Pantalones wrote: Until Dragonball Online, anyway -- I know I remember there being a bunch of NPCs/enemies of the humanoid critter variety in there.
They also seemingly lampoon the disappearance of animal-type earthlings by having General Bon establish the Red Pants Army to restore the power of the animal humans.

DragonBallFoodie
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1371
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:12 pm
Location: Zambia, Southern Africa

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by DragonBallFoodie » Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:44 am

The animal characters of Earth been phased out as the setting changed to different worlds/universes, which featured a few animal characters (Trio de Dangers) but mostly different alien beings.

Only Korin and Puar are still around, since they're part of the main cast.
"Don't take pleasure in destruction!" / "I will not let you destroy my world!"
A true hero goes beyond not the limits of power, but the limits that divide countries and people.

DragonBallKing
Regular
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:44 pm
Location: Oklahoma, USA

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by DragonBallKing » Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:55 am

Is there any actual in universe explanation for this? There aren't even any furries at the Buu arc/EOZ tournaments I don't think so at least.
Check out my MAL page: https://myanimelist.net/profile/RapeHorse


Original Dragon Ball arcs ranking: 23rd Budokai, Saiyan, 21st Budokai, Red Ribbon, Freeza, Piccolo Daimao, 22nd Budokai, DB Hunt, Cell, Buu

User avatar
KBABZ
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5180
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
Location: The tallest tower in West City

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by KBABZ » Sun Apr 22, 2018 5:55 pm

From a storytelling standpoint, I think the animal characters were de-emphasized due to the more mature and action-oriented tone compared to earlier in the series. You can see this as early as the Daimao arc; with the exception of Korin and King Furry, no animal public characters appear, and they are also completely absent in the 23rd TB.

Disappearing along with them are the more non-martial arts nationalistic characters, like Native Americans and Australians that appeared earlier on (the anime held onto this a bit longer thanks to shoving in Suno at the King Furry parade thing). In fact I dare say that King Chappa in the 23rd TB is the last nation-specific character (India or thereabouts) in the whole series until we get the middle eastern elements of Buu and the Egyptian ones of Beerus. Until then every new character is either quite alien and not themed after a culture's designs, or are generically white anime characters (and yes I'm counting tanned Goku in GT here). Although Mr. Satan may be an exception there, which is nice.

User avatar
VegettoEX
Kanzenshuu Co-Owner & Administrator
Posts: 17542
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 3:10 pm
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by VegettoEX » Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:24 am

This question is addressed and answered in an interview with Toriyama from the July 2006 (#43) issue of the American Shonen Jump magazine, and is one of the (rare) actual times that Toriyama figures he may have simply forgotten about something (combined with other circumstances):
In the beginning of Dragon Ball, there are many animal-headed people — panda people, crocodile people, cow people, cat people, etc. — in the backgrounds. But, by the end of the series, there are almost no animal-headed people. Was this a result of the increasing "seriousness" of the story?
It could be the seriousness, but it's probably that I'd forgotten by the end to include them. In the beginning I was still working under the after-effects of Dr. Slump.
:: [| Mike "VegettoEX" LaBrie |] ::
:: [| Kanzenshuu - Co-Founder/Administrator, Podcast Host, News Manager (note: our "job" titles are arbitrary and meaningless) |] ::
:: [| Website: January 1998 |] :: [| Podcast: November 2005 |] :: [| Fusion: April 2012 |] :: [| Wiki: 20XX |] ::

DragonBallLove
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 294
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 7:34 pm

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by DragonBallLove » Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:01 pm

There's a whole plotline in DBO about animal-human discrimination as the main motive for new recruits to join the Red Pants Army, the RR revival. So, there's that for In-Universe explanations, at least for DBO/XV/H (?) canon.

User avatar
Puaru
Banned
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 1:58 pm

Re: Why did the animal characters just disappear?

Post by Puaru » Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:58 pm

Of course, antropomorphic animals have made a BIG comeback to the DB universe in recent years, with Beerus being the cataclyst (pun noticed).

Of course these new animal people in the franchise are never earthlings but that doesn't change the fact that from a design point of view they are just as much anthropomorphic animals as Oolong and the rest of the old guard. And personally I'm happy that they exist because antropomorphic animals are favorite ingredient in fiction of mine.

Post Reply