"Live Action Dragon Ball Z Movie"

[ABED]

Not a bad idea, although is this hypothetical movie one where Dr. Gero plays a more prominent role? I've always liked the idea that he gets killed by his creations early on.

[MasenkoHA]

That's a big no on Dr. Gero's son being collateral damage. What a stock motivation.

So is mad scientist wants to take over the world because…mad.

It doesn’t have to be a dead son. It can even be the same Red Ribbon army related reason ala the actual story.

Hell even Julie’s suggestion he just has it out for Bulma . He can send the Cyborgs to kill her and Goku just has to protect his friend.

Yes, having a stock motivation going in no matter what it is won't make it deeper or more interesting. It all boils down to execution. If Goku's friends are put in danger over the course of the story, that's great. The simple fact that Goku destroyed his life's work is more than enough to motivate him. I think that's enough for anyone to understand.

To go back to Die Hard, he's just a bank robber, an exceptional thief, but still ultimately a thief, and yet a cinematic icon. The Predator was just going on a big game hunt. Any number of classic Bond villains fall into that category.

I’m not saying it needs to be deep. My problem is evil scientist with no connection to Goku as someone else suggested and nothing else is uninspired and just really lame. Dr.Gero wants revenge because Goku destroyed his life work when he ended the Red Ribbon army is fine.

Gero sends cyborgs to kill Bulma because Capsule Corp got a military contract he was trying to get. Literally anything is better than “I’m a mad scientist and that’s good enough for me to do whatever I want”

[ABED]

Gero sends cyborgs to kill Bulma because Capsule Corp got a military contract he was trying to get. Literally anything is better than “I’m a mad scientist and that’s good enough for me to do whatever I want”

Again, it all boils down to execution. Write a fun character and give it to a talented actor with charisma, and it could work. But I don't think it's not that big of a deal if Gero is simply the catalyst and doesn't play a prominent role. He doesn't in the manga, so I dunno why we would want him to in an adaptation. I've long loved that for all the differences in the two timelines, Dr. Gero is still murdered by his own creation and Goku still dies. I'd be more concerned with Trunks' role in the story since other than him giving the heroes a heads up, he does little in the story and doesn't play a role in the climax.

[WittyUsername]

For the record, when I said that Dr. Gero doesn’t necessarily need to be motivated by revenge, I was saying that under the assumption that Dr. Gero wouldn’t be the main villain of the movie. He’s the guy who sets the plot in motion, but his creations largely act independently of him, so I don’t think it matters all that much whether or not he personally has it out for the heroes.

Actually, the more I think about it, I think it would be interesting if Gero’s reason for creating the Artificial Humans and Cell isn’t because he wants to kill Goku or take over the world, but because he’s obsessed with creating the ultimate specimens. You could even have him be fascinated by Goku and his friends because of how powerful they are, which could be used to explain why he makes Cell from their DNA.

[goku the krump dancer]

It's a matter of quantity (or oversaturation), what has been more prevalent in popular media, "not morally complex nor deep connection to the mc" villans or "morally complex with deep connection to the mc", depending on perspective, some say for far too long in modern media the former overwhelmened the later and that's why more people demand that kind of villan.

Well if its a concern with mainstream media then I think that's an an issue with the "State of the game" as opposed to an already completed work like Dragon Ball, which in of itself is a simple story.

I think its interesting though that you say modern media ( namely anime in this case i guess) is over saturated with bland villains when stories like Naruto are known for going out of its way to try to make all of its villains (all of its characters honestly) sympathetic and relatable almost to the point where its eye rolling, at least for me anyway.

[jjgp1112]

Sympathetic villains are one of the most boring trends of the last 20 years. Give me a ruthless, irredeemable bastard.

That's why I give One Piece props for most of its villains. Take Doflamingo, for instance - they actually set him up to have a sympathetic, tragic past, only to reveal that nope, he was a piece of shit even as a kid and all of his angst just amounted to a temper tantrum because his family wanted to live like the poors instead of flaunting their obscene wealth.

[MasenkoHA]

Actually, the more I think about it, I think it would be interesting if Gero’s reason for creating the Artificial Humans and Cell isn’t because he wants to kill Goku or take over the world, but because he’s obsessed with creating the ultimate specimens. You could even have him be fascinated by Goku and his friends because of how powerful they are, which could be used to explain why he makes Cell from their DNA.

That I think would be interesting. If Goku is the strongest man in the world, Gero could be motivated to see if he can create specimens that surpass biological limitations. First with the Cyborgs then with Cell.

[lancerman]

Starting off with Tao Pai Pai doesn’t make much sense to me. He’s just a mercenary. You could maybe do the Red Ribbon Army, but I will echo the sentiment that starting off with Piccolo is the most pragmatic way to go.

It creates several problems. RR army is necessary for Cell and the androids, you skip over Goku getting real training from Kame Senin and Karin. You got to find new ways to get Kuriren and Tenshinhan in there.

Too much of the foundation starts in the first few arcs

There’d be no guarantee that a hypothetical adaptation would get that far, but even if it did, the fact that Dr. Gero is motivated by a desire for revenge against Goku doesn’t seem like an especially important detail to keep. It’s not like Goku is the reason Dr. Gero is evil. He was already a mad scientist who was bent on world domination.

The entire premise is that Gero had been tracking the heroes for years to use information on them to collect data so his Artificial Humans could defeat them. Cell himself relies on Gero collecting DNA of all the heroes.

[WittyUsername]

It creates several problems. RR army is necessary for Cell and the androids, you skip over Goku getting real training from Kame Senin and Karin. You got to find new ways to get Kuriren and Tenshinhan in there.

Too much of the foundation starts in the first few arcs

There’d be no guarantee that a hypothetical adaptation would get that far, but even if it did, the fact that Dr. Gero is motivated by a desire for revenge against Goku doesn’t seem like an especially important detail to keep. It’s not like Goku is the reason Dr. Gero is evil. He was already a mad scientist who was bent on world domination.

The entire premise is that Gero had been tracking the heroes for years to use information on them to collect data so his Artificial Humans could defeat them. Cell himself relies on Gero collecting DNA of all the heroes.

Like I said, I think an interesting way to work around that would be to give Gero a personal fascination with the strength of Goku and his friends, which could be used to explain why he keeps tabs on them.

[ABED]

He keeps tabs on them because they are the strongest and Goku destroyed his life's work

[WittyUsername]

He keeps tabs on them because they are the strongest and Goku destroyed his life's work

We’re talking about a hypothetical scenario where you do the Cell arc without having done the RRA beforehand.

[lancerman]

There’d be no guarantee that a hypothetical adaptation would get that far, but even if it did, the fact that Dr. Gero is motivated by a desire for revenge against Goku doesn’t seem like an especially important detail to keep. It’s not like Goku is the reason Dr. Gero is evil. He was already a mad scientist who was bent on world domination.

The entire premise is that Gero had been tracking the heroes for years to use information on them to collect data so his Artificial Humans could defeat them. Cell himself relies on Gero collecting DNA of all the heroes.

Like I said, I think an interesting way to work around that would be to give Gero a personal fascination with the strength of Goku and his friends, which could be used to explain why he keeps tabs on them.

But then what is the point of the Artficial Humans? Like are they now all just science experiments gone wrong? Is Gero just crazy? The Red Ribbon Army supplied the motivation for the Artificial Humans existing and being threats.

[90sDBZ]

In the series Bulma mentions Gero once being a well known scientist, and seems to infer he was an asshole back then too.

They could portray him as a Walter White type of character, ie; a guy who's enourmous ego is his main driving force, but also his undoing. I could definitely picture Gero getting shunned by the scientific community, and then going down a dark path. Maybe even have him be at odds with Commander Red when his ego gets in the way of operations, and he ultimately becomes too dangerous to control.

[WittyUsername]

The entire premise is that Gero had been tracking the heroes for years to use information on them to collect data so his Artificial Humans could defeat them. Cell himself relies on Gero collecting DNA of all the heroes.

Like I said, I think an interesting way to work around that would be to give Gero a personal fascination with the strength of Goku and his friends, which could be used to explain why he keeps tabs on them.

But then what is the point of the Artficial Humans? Like are they now all just science experiments gone wrong? Is Gero just crazy? The Red Ribbon Army supplied the motivation for the Artificial Humans existing and being threats.

Dr. Gero can still be an amoral mad scientist who forcibly converts human beings into cyborgs. He just doesn’t necessarily need to be interested in ruling the world or getting revenge. I actually think it would be pretty interesting if Dr. Gero were some egotistical lunatic who wants to create the “perfect” beings in an attempt to prove that he’s the greatest mind the world has ever seen. That would actually be a great way of explaining why Cell is so obsessed with “perfection.”

[jjgp1112]

A Walter White-esque Gero is something I never knew I needed.

[precita]

Dr. Gero should have been shown brutally torturing human teenage 17 and 18. I think a lot of people don't really realize what he did to them because it's all off-screen and 17 and 18 are portrayed as emotionless when they first debuted.

He basically raped and tortured them both.

[ABED]

Getting revenge on Goku was A motivation but the Walter White-esque desire to make the perfect cyborg was implicit. This would just be putting it on front street, and so it's clear, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just that this isn't new to his character.

[Shaddy]

Dr. Gero should have been shown brutally torturing human teenage 17 and 18. I think a lot of people don't really realize what he did to them because it's all off-screen and 17 and 18 are portrayed as emotionless when they first debuted.

He basically raped and tortured them both.

Okay, couple things here:

1. Torture you can make an argument for, but rape? How?

2. This is what "should have been shown"? Are you fucking joking?

[MyVisionity]

This is what "should have been shown"? Are you fucking joking?

I don't see why not. If they really wanted to drive home just how evil of a character Doctor Gero was, they could have expanded upon his experiments with 17 and 18 and show a sadistic side.

[Asin]

Dr. Gero should have been shown brutally torturing human teenage 17 and 18. I think a lot of people don't really realize what he did to them because it's all off-screen and 17 and 18 are portrayed as emotionless when they first debuted.

He basically raped and tortured them both.

You are aware DB is a kid's franchise, right? I don't think even in Japan they could show rape or how Lapis and Lazuli got their "enhancements" on TV or in the pages of a shonen manga.