Should Dragon Balls be able to bring people back to life?

[coola]

"God don't have enough power to bring people back to life" said Piccolo to Buma and others, after Radditz, and it was said couple times, that Shenlong cannot grand wishes, that require more power than its creator have.

[Nejishiki]

While God is capable of creating a dragon with great power, that doesn't necessarily mean he can utilize those powers, too. I certainly can't compute faster than a robot because I built it.

[UltimateHammerBro]

I don't have any problem with the Dragon Balls being able to do that, but I do think it would have been interesting, story-wise, if they had had that limitation. It would have made death seem less cheap in the Dragon World. Not that I have a problem with characters coming back from the dead, but since the only time they tried to ask Shenron to kill he said he couldn't, they could have had the same limitations as Aladdin's Genie

[Cipher]

Yes, but not after the second trimester because I'm morally opposed to it.

[Nejishiki]

Not that I have a problem with characters coming back from the dead, but since the only time they tried to ask Shenron to kill he said he couldn't, they could have had the same limitations as Aladdin's Genie

Unfortunately, Dragon Ball (specifically, the moment you're referencing) predates Disney's Aladdin. Toriyama can't be inspired by something that doesn't exist!

[UltimateHammerBro]

Not that I have a problem with characters coming back from the dead, but since the only time they tried to ask Shenron to kill he said he couldn't, they could have had the same limitations as Aladdin's Genie

Unfortunately, Dragon Ball (specifically, the moment you're referencing) predates Disney's Aladdin. Toriyama can't be inspired by something that doesn't exist!

In the alternate reality I'm talking about, Toriyama INSPIRED Disney's Aladdin

[Cure Dragon 255]

Yes, but not after the second trimester because I'm morally opposed to it.

Where have you and your amazing posts been all my life? LOL

[ABED]

While God is capable of creating a dragon with great power, that doesn't necessarily mean he can utilize those powers, too. I certainly can't compute faster than a robot because I built it.

Yeah, but this is magic. Magic is inherently illogical.

[UltimateHammerBro]

While God is capable of creating a dragon with great power, that doesn't necessarily mean he can utilize those powers, too. I certainly can't compute faster than a robot because I built it.

Yeah, but this is magic. Magic is inherently illogical.

Yet not everything related to magic has to be illogical. If we accept that a dragon can be summoned by seven balls and grant a wish, and there are certain rules to the wishes he can grant, we've built an internal logic we can follow. It doesn't work in the real world, but it does in universe.

[ABED]

While God is capable of creating a dragon with great power, that doesn't necessarily mean he can utilize those powers, too. I certainly can't compute faster than a robot because I built it.

Yeah, but this is magic. Magic is inherently illogical.

Yet not everything related to magic has to be illogical. If we accept that a dragon can be summoned by seven balls and grant a wish, and there are certain rules to the wishes he can grant, we've built an internal logic we can follow. It doesn't work in the real world, but it does in universe.

It's fictional, so while within the world, you need to set up some rules, it's ultimately arbitrary because magic is illogical. Why can't Kami bring back people to life even though the Dragon Balls can? Ultimately it's just because the writer says so. That was my point, sorry if that wasn't clear.

[nickzambuto]

I don't see a problem with Kami possessing the knowledge and power to create a deity with abilities that surpass his own in certain respects. The dragon can not physically effect beings stronger than its creator without their permission; that's the only such rule placed on Shenron. It doesn't mean that Shenron can only do things Kami can already do.

[UltimateHammerBro]

Yeah, but this is magic. Magic is inherently illogical.

Yet not everything related to magic has to be illogical. If we accept that a dragon can be summoned by seven balls and grant a wish, and there are certain rules to the wishes he can grant, we've built an internal logic we can follow. It doesn't work in the real world, but it does in universe.

It's fictional, so while within the world, you need to set up some rules, it's ultimately arbitrary because magic is illogical. Why can't Kami bring back people to life even though the Dragon Balls can? Ultimately it's just because the writer says so. That was my point, sorry if that wasn't clear.

Yeah, I get it now.
I agree that it's illogical after all, but it's not bad to have an explanation which makes sense within the universe of the series, even if we know that, out of universe, it's that way because Toriyama wants it to be that way.

[floofychan333]

It's pretty much necessary by now to have the Dragon Balls revive people. If they repealed that now, then death would have real consequences and the series would be way different.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

Well, I do think that the near limitless revival thing is making death pointless, to now it's gotten to the point why they even get worried or care if people die in front of them while knowing this. I mean when you could only bring back a character once, it did have weight if the were killed again, but then you could argue that the limit of one time would hold the series back from the fact that killing the Z-fighters is the only real source of tension and motivation to "get serious" most of the characters have. I really don't know what the alternative would be.

[coola]

Well, I do think that the near limitless revival thing is making death pointless, to now it's gotten to the point why they even get worried or care if people die in front of them while knowing this. I mean when you could only bring back a character once, it did have weight if the were killed again, but then you could argue that the limit of one time would hold the series back from the fact that killing the Z-fighters is the only real source of tension and motivation to "get serious" most of the characters have. I really don't know what the alternative would be.

Elder Kai said in Manga, that when Dragon Balls are used outside Namek, they create chaos in the universe, GT picked that idea with Shadow Dragons, maybe Super will do something similar?

[Lord Frieza]

Well you have three options if the series was to continue as it did

One: the Dragon Balls act as the fix all, resurrection machine.

Two: You have to keep coming up with new ways to keep bringing someone back to life.

Three: You characters keep surviving stuff that should have been more then sufficiently fatal.

All of them take away the threat of death and would be contrived but at least the Dragon Balls are a full time part of the series and to not require a continues set up every time someone dies. Plus death, while only temporary, still holds some meaning withing the context of the story and you dont have pull any "you just wait till it grows back" moments.

Well, I do think that the near limitless revival thing is making death pointless, to now it's gotten to the point why they even get worried or care if people die in front of them while knowing this. I mean when you could only bring back a character once, it did have weight if the were killed again, but then you could argue that the limit of one time would hold the series back from the fact that killing the Z-fighters is the only real source of tension and motivation to "get serious" most of the characters have. I really don't know what the alternative would be.

Elder Kai said in Manga, that when Dragon Balls are used outside Namek, they create chaos in the universe, GT picked that idea with Shadow Dragons, maybe Super will do something similar?

Well it kind of has already. But rather then create some limitation or secret dark consequence, Super opted to go in the other direction.

Let the bad guys abuse the Dragon Balls to. Frieza's resurrection was the beginning of this but it really kicks off in the Zamasu arc.

[TheUltimateNinja]

All of them take away the threat of death and would be contrived but at least the Dragon Balls are a full time part of the series and to not require a continues set up every time someone dies. Plus death, while only temporary, still holds some meaning withing the context of the story and you dont have pull any "you just wait till it grows back" moments.

DB would be vastly improved if the entire series was like the Ocean Dub's Saiyan Arc.

[Beek King]

All of them take away the threat of death and would be contrived but at least the Dragon Balls are a full time part of the series and to not require a continues set up every time someone dies. Plus death, while only temporary, still holds some meaning withing the context of the story and you dont have pull any "you just wait till it grows back" moments.

DB would be vastly improved if the entire series was like the Ocean Dub's Saiyan Arc.

Tbh I'm surprised Bardock wasn't actually changed into a brilliant scientist in DB- with all these changes we've seen there.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

Well it kind of has already. But rather then create some limitation or secret dark consequence, Super opted to go in the other direction.
Let the bad guys abuse the Dragon Balls to. Frieza's resurrection was the beginning of this but it really kicks off in the Zamasu arc.

Its why I liked the Fusion reborn thing where the afterlife goes in turmoil. Something in regards to managing Souls and the two realms should be connected.
Its just weird how that isn't at all effected. Though I hate the plots of just all the villains come through hell and stuff we've seen more than once, but just something that gets in between them wishing back so many people at once to fix everything or reviving the same people over again so easily.

All of them take away the threat of death and would be contrived but at least the Dragon Balls are a full time part of the series and to not require a continues set up every time someone dies. Plus death, while only temporary, still holds some meaning withing the context of the story and you dont have pull any "you just wait till it grows back" moments.

DB would be vastly improved if the entire series was like the Ocean Dub's Saiyan Arc.

Its obvious Ocean lampshaded a lot more than they mistranslated/censored in that irony.
- Tenshinhan can grow extra arms.
- They are being sent to "another dimension" and Piccolo casually asked Gohan to just wish him back when its over in the ocean scene.
- Being sent to another dimension sounds like it has more weight than kinda "dying" as the actual series portrays it.
- Minus was a Krypton-Vegeta retcon.

[DBSQA]

"God don't have enough power to bring people back to life" said Piccolo to Buma and others, after Radditz, and it was said couple times, that Shenlong cannot grand wishes, that require more power than its creator have.

Yes, how else would the stories continue?