Goku race?

[Namekjin]

I read somewhere that Akira Toriyama did not plan on making Goku a Saiyan but just a Extraordinary boy with a tail. Is any of this true?



P.S i did not know what to name this topic...

[Kaboom]

This should be common knowledge, but there was a whole 15 volumes' worth of Dragon Ball around before the word "Saiyan" (or "Saiya-jin," if you wanna get technical) was ever even uttered. At its very earliest, Dragon Ball was just a big parody of the ol' Journey to the West fairy tale, with Goku serving the role equivalent to Sun Wukong, the monkey king. So in the beginning, he was only ever meant to be a super-strong monkey-boy. His eventually-revealed alien ancestry was a much later idea.

[Namekjin]

Oh well ok. I knew it was based on Journey to the West though...at least...

[Herms]

Yeah, Toriyama talks about not thinking up Goku's alien origins until well into the series a few times, such as his Daizenshuu 4 interview:

Q:Speaking of Piccolo, did you think from the beginning of his background as a Namekian alien?
A: Of course, I didn't think that at all (laughs). The Saiyans were like that as well. When I thought up Goku's tail and the Oozaru, I didn't think Goku was an alien or anything. Piccolo either. Because I thought that up when Kami-sama came out.

[cpd12589]

Yeah it's pretty cool to see how things came together and ended up being how they are today. I think if AT had the idea of Goku being a Saiyan and Piccolo a Namekian from the beginning of Dragon Ball then Dragon Ball wouldn't have been as great as it was. Idk I just like DB how it focuses on Goku and his Earthly adventures and not all over the universe and what not.

[Terra-jin]

Funny thing is, during the aftermath of one of little Goku's transformations, Oolong wonders if Goku is some kind of space alien

[Piccolo Daimao]

Funny thing is, during the aftermath of one of little Goku's transformations, Oolong wonders if Goku is some kind of space alien

EPIC FORESHADOWING