Why is Broly popular?

[Doctor.]

I get why Goku is popular, he's the main character. I get why Vegeta is popular, he's the rival of the main character and was once a villain. I get why any of the main characters in the series are popular. But I cannot comprehend how a movie character whose only lines consist of "KAKAROTTO!" is popular in the slightest. What makes him any different from other villains like Slug or Tullece? Why did Broly stick?

[Hellspawn28]

Probably because he is the first SSj villain and he has a big muscular body design. He has a cool looking design compare to the other villains. He also nearly kill everyone until Goku pull off a random attack out of nowhere to defeat him.

[Blade]

I've tried to rationalise this a number of times.

I think that he encapsulates a raw, cut-down caricature of what Dragonball Z is to a lot of people - "epic" fights and superlative battles. Broly is what you end up with when you strip away everything from a Dragonball villain - every motive, every ounce of character, every fibre of back-story, and get as close as possible to being just a big and imposing physical roadblock.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

I myself have no idea why Broli is so popular. What is it about this one dimensional hulk that the fans even the creator himself is so obsessed with?

[Hellspawn28]

The video game intros made Broli feel stronger too. Budokai 3 had him punching Gogeta in the face. His size and him being legendary makes people think that he is super strong. He also had a somewhat decent backstory in the first movie. I like him better than Super #13 who was a poor man's version of Cell with almost no personality and had a very silly looking design.

[sintzu]

I think his design has a lot to do with it.

[voltlunok]

It is a multitude of factors, first and foremost, yes he is basically what a lot of people think DEE BEE ZEE is all about. He's just this pure distillation of what is overall a fraction of the franchise's charm. But that's not really all there is to it and I think some fans miss that. First off, at the time his first movie was rather unique, it was a lot darker then the ones before it and Broly, once unleashed, was a pure sadistic killing machine. Though I think a lot of people forget in Movie 8, he was a lot more articulate and even a little witty...His design is also a major part of his popularity, this big hulking monster of a man...yeah some people are gonna dig that. His design screams MAXIMUM POWER and THIS IS MY FINAL FORM all over the place.

For me, while yes I dig the design and the very sadist way he goes about things in movie 8, I also think the parallels he shares with Goku also add to his character in a way. He's a way better dark mirror of Goku then say Tullace. That and I like a lot of the concepts behind him as well that make him a lot more of Goku's negative world doppelganger in a way.

[SaiyaSith]

"Why is Broly popular?"

Because he's the most scary and menacing villain in Dragon Ball. They designed him to look the biggest and strongest so of course he's going to be popular. If they rewrote his character with more inteligence he would actually be cool.

[Cetra]

Because he is stylish and cool in appearance for many people, same goes for that even greater hopelessness that you can see when the heroes fight him. Really only Beerus topped that "oh crap, no matter what it does not help".

[voltlunok]

A quick addendum to my previous post! I think Broly is also a fine example of "Not every character needs to be flushed out to be enjoyed." It is a blast to watch Broly tear through people and just do what he does, he's a villain whom you watch for the fighting, not the motives behind the fighting. I mean he still holds that record of "Never defeated in pure 1v1 combat." _{If that makes any sense, writing this all early morning so pardon anything that sounds like tired ramblings.}

[rereboy]

I get why Goku is popular, he's the main character. I get why Vegeta is popular, he's the rival of the main character and was once a villain. I get why any of the main characters in the series are popular. But I cannot comprehend how a movie character whose only lines consist of "KAKAROTTO!" is popular in the slightest. What makes him any different from other villains like Slug or Tullece? Why did Broly stick?

Because he is a straight, no-bullshit, powerhouse, hellbent on wrecking stuff, with a cool look/design and a mythical (and interesting) backstory. A character doesn't have to be very complex to be liked, sometimes being simple works best.

[Blade]

I get why Goku is popular, he's the main character. I get why Vegeta is popular, he's the rival of the main character and was once a villain. I get why any of the main characters in the series are popular. But I cannot comprehend how a movie character whose only lines consist of "KAKAROTTO!" is popular in the slightest. What makes him any different from other villains like Slug or Tullece? Why did Broly stick?

Because he is a straight, no-bullshit, powerhouse, hellbent on wrecking stuff, with a cool look/design and a mythical (and interesting) backstory. A character doesn't have to be very complex to be liked, sometimes being simple works best.

Yeah, but here's my thing: how many times can you swing a wrecking ball before it stops being impactful?

Broly's lack of depth makes him difficult to port beyond the confines of his first appearance, which, in part, is why his two appearances in subsequent films didn't make a lot of sense.

[SaintEvolution]

He is basically and literally the personanification of what a lot of people thinks Dragon Ball is: flat character development with many fights, action, tension, transformations and some other "badass" stuff. Not more than that.

[rereboy]

Yeah, but here's my thing: how many times can you swing a wrecking ball before it stops being impactful?

Broly's lack of depth makes him difficult to port beyond the confines of his first appearance, which, in part, is why his two appearances in subsequent films didn't make a lot of sense.

He can certainly overstay his welcome, but that is true with any character and how quickly he overstays his welcome doesn't depend just on the character but also on the fan's opinion. In any case, the question of the topic is why people like him, not why people don't like him.

[ABED]

Don't underestimate people's love of things based almost purely on design. Boba Fett is loved by so many people simply because he has a great design. Broly has a memorable design and he's a wrecking machine which is also popular.

Yeah, but here's my thing: how many times can you swing a wrecking ball before it stops being impactful?

Which is why the sequels weren't as popular, but that doesn't mean people hate the character.

[pacz360]

I myself have no idea why Broli is so popular. What is it about this one dimensional hulk that the fans even the creator himself is so obsessed with?

cool looking design check
interesting background check
stomping the z fighters with charisma check
i mean broly along with cooler and janempa also turles are the most recongnizable movie villians from the franchise along what others have stated is due to his design plus the english dub seem to give him more a personality than in the original plus his apperance screams you fucked x10 they need a deus ex machina to beat him in the first movie true his character isn't much but it not you need depth to be entertaining.

[dbzfan7]

-His design is cool
-He wrecks a bunch of shit with a wrestling martial arts style, which is different from other fights.
-The first Super Saiyan villain
-The fact he's called the Legendary Super Saiyan which alone brings up hype
-The video game stuff that hyped him up further
-Being batshit insane (People like Kid Boo for the same reason)
-His pure unbridled hatred of Goku for motivation
-His battle cry which just got sillier and sillier over time.
-Probably his trollish attitude, scene more so in the dub.
-Power level wank
-Peoples more recent hatred just sparked more attention for him.

And I think that's it.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

If we're still allowed to say this confidently, Broly is entertaining to watch from the unique and apparently exclusive idea of an evil super saiyan makes him stand out. He also has a very royal-esc design and the most unique for the series Imo.

[Lord Beerus]

He's basically an amalgamation of all the superficial tropes in regards to Dragon Ball: He's tall, he has huge muscles, he screams a lot, he loves to kill and fight, he's always after Goku and he has spiky coloured hair. Plus, the video games shoehorn him into everything and wank his strength to the nth degree

[Soppa Saia People]

Cuz he broly.
Naw just kidding. It probably due to he's a big muscular dude who tears stuff up and a lot people like that. And his back story is pretty cool to.