How could the anime fit around the movies? My thought experiment!

[KBABZ]

Okay, so, with me and Robo's big Dragon Ball Rewatch thread concluded, I can finally share the fruits of my labour! The Rewatch was a fantastic reason for me to dive into the movies, because it allowed me to try and answer a thought experiment question I've had for a while now:

Assuming all the classic movies and specials are canon with each other, how would the anime storyline be different so they can actually happen?

The end result is my Dragon Ball Classic Movie Timeline document, which aims to answer this question. The goal was simple: bend and rework the anime storyline to allow for all the movies and specials to transpire exactly as they do on the screen (with the goal to keep the anime as close to how it normally is as possible). This was super-fun to do and I'm really happy with how I made it all happen and the various solutions I came up with.

You can read the full 30-page document in the link above, but here's the more comprehensive breakdown of how it shaked out:

Spoiler:

• Because of their interconnected nature that retells events of the anime, Curse of the Blood Rubies, Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle and Mystical Adventure replace the Pilaf, 21st Tournament and Red Ribbon Army Arcs entirely.
• Between Curse of the Blood Rubies and Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, Goku travels the world looking for the Four-Star Ball, as he said he would at the end of Blood Rubies. While he doesn't find it, during this time he does meet Chi-Chi and Ox-King at Fire Mountain, confusing wedding for a food. This has to happen since Chi-Chi and Ox-King appear in several of the movies, and this time is the easiest way for this encounter to happen.
• Since the Red Ribbon Army is part of the Mifan Empire, Dr. Gero hates Goku for defeating Crane and Tao Pai-Pai and causing Chiaotzu to disband the RRA.
• After the events of Mystical Adventure, Chiaotzu disbands the Red Ribbon Army and resigns as Emperor of the Mifan Empire, seeking the Dragon Balls with Tien so they can undo the actions of Crane and Tao Pai-Pai and redeem themselves. They accomplish this a year later, which revives General Blue and the Pilaf Gang. The latter is important because they're involved in the Daimao and Wedding Dress Arcs, as well as Dragon Ball GT, whose events are referenced in the Goku Jr. Special.
• The 22nd Tournament, Daimao and 23rd Tournament Arcs transpire as normal, with the sole change being Goku taking Nyoi-bo with him after ascending to Kami's Lookout, since it appears in the early Dragon Ball Z movies. As well, Kami doesn't have to restore the moon since Roshi never blew it up in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.
• The Wedding Dress Tournament's sole change is that this is the first time Goku meets Baba, since their original meeting was replaced with Mystical Adventure. As noted earlier, the Pilaf Gang can still show up since Tien and Chiaotzu revived them.
• Dead Zone occurs at least a year before the Saiyan Arc, since Goku needs to be able to track the Four-Star Ball on Gohan's hat with the Dragon Radar to rescue him from Raditz. That can't happen if it's turned to stone!
• The Saiyan Arc has the most drastic differences of any arc, since it has to accommodate for World's Strongest:
  • The reveal that Goku sired a son doesn't happen, since Bulma, Krillin and Roshi found that out in Dead Zone.
  • Raditz never specifies that more than one Saiyan is coming to Earth to avenge him. This pivots with the change that Vegeta sends Nappa ahead of him: while Vegeta tends to business in the local area, Nappa goes to Earth alone, and the Dragon Team has no reason to expect Vegeta.
  • Since Nappa doesn't have Vegeta to calm him down or defeat the Saibamen, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu are able to hold him off until Goku arrives and is forced to kill him. This allows Goku to be on Earth with the Kaio-ken and Genki-Dama with Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu still alive, which, combined with Vegeta taking a month to get to Earth in response to Nappa's death, allows World's Strongest to happen.
  • World's Strongest happens in the month-long gap between Nappa's death and Vegeta's arrival.
  • A month after Nappa's death, Vegeta arrives to the surprise of the Dragon Team, and is able to kill Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu before being defeated by Goku, Gohan, Krillin and Yajirobe as normal. This allows the Namek Arc to still happen as normal.
• To remain consistent with Lord Slug, on Namek Goku attains False Super Saiyan as a sort of "Super Saiyan Omen". Combined with a zenkai boost thanks to World's Strongest, this is enough to push Frieza in a corner and destroy Namek to try and win (thus allowing Return of Cooler to still happen on New Namek).
• Thanks to the adjustments that allow both Dead Zone and the Saiyan Arc to happen, the Garlic Jr. Arc can fit in nicely.
• When meeting with Trunks, Goku still uses False Super Saiyan. Trunks' use of the real thing motivates both Goku and Vegeta to attaining it themselves, which will happen in Cooler's Revenge.
• As you might expect, the Android / Cell Arcs also needed a lot of reworking to accommodate the movies:
  • Tree of Might is placed in the timeskip leading up to the Androids, since Goku and Yamcha's gi reflect the events of the Namek Arc. Goku opts to use the Genki-Dama before Super Saiyan Omen because the latter is still wild and untested, and luckily it works.
  • The Driving Episode happens so that Goku can legally drive in the credits of Lord Slug.
  • Lord Slug is also placed in the Android timeskip due to Goku's gi. Here he uses Super Saiyan Omen first because he has a better handle on it by this point.
  • Cooler's Revenge (also in the Android timeskip) is now the first time Goku attains the genuine Super Saiyan form.
  • While not a change as such, after discovering Cell's time machine, Bulma keeps and restores it, allowing Tapion to use it at the end of Wrath of the Dragon.
  • Krillin and Trunks don't destroy Dr. Gero's basement lab, instead taking the Android schematics and killing the fetal Cell. This is so that Dr. Gero's computer can develop Androids 13, 14 and 15 in Gero's death and still allow for Super Android 13 to happen.
  • Gohan not using Super Saiyan in Return of Cooler, Super Android 13 and Broly is explained by Goku saving their session in the Room of Spirit and Time until Cell announces the Cell Games.
  • Further, Trunks exits the Room of Spirit and Time early as he's frustrated by Vegeta's coldness. After Vegeta finishes up, he appears in Return of Cooler, during which time Trunks finishes his session, explaining why he isn't in that movie AND why he has long hair in Super Android 13 (it also neatly explains how Trunks and Vegeta find Super Saiyan Grade 2 without noticing the other doing it too).
  • Cell has a much longer delay in announcing the Cell Games than usual, allowing for the "normal life" scenes in Super Android 13 and Broly to still happen since Earth's populace aren't panicking. Still, Goku doesn't trust Cell to behave, so appoints Dende as the new God anyway, thus allowing Dende to fulfill this role in Return of Cooler.
  • The Return of Cooler and Super Android 13 happen at this point in the wait for the Cell Games.
  • Goku and Gohan enter the Room of Spirit and Time after Super Android 13, where they learn how to hold Super Saiyan as their natural state. However Goku isn't as strict on this after they leave, explaining why they aren't persistently Super Saiyan in Broly or Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans.
  • Broly happens after Goku and Gohan train in the Room of Spirit and Time since Gohan is using a version of Piccolo's outfit in that movie. Further, Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans happens after Broly because Goku compares Hatchiyak directly to him.
• Bojack Unbound can still happen as it normally does, as can the Other World Tournament.
• The Boo Arc also needed some adjusts, of course!
  • Since Goten is more familiar with Goku in Second Coming, Gohan and Chi-Chi are more open about him here.
  • In the Great Saiyaman Arc, Goku doesn't ping in to say he'll be competing in the Tournament, nor does Vegeta challenge Gohan.
  • Broly - Second Coming occurs in the month-long wait for the Boo Tournament.
  • Goku, Vegeta, Yamu and Spopovich don't appear at the Boo Tournament. meaning the battle royale format is never used. Instead, 18 and Mr. Satan make it to the finals, where 18 blackmails him into 20,000,000 if she throws the fight for him (thus cleaning that up for Bio-Broly).
  • Bio-Broly happens in the aftermath of the Boo Tournament.
  • Goku now spends his day on Earth to celebrate the Boo Tournament, where he promises Vegeta to have a rematch before returning to Other World. During this celebration, Yamu and Spopovich turn up, kickstarting the Boo Arc.
  • When Vegeta is corrupted by Babidi, Babidi now transports him and Goku to Capsule Corp., so that Bulma still witnesses her partner's atrocities on Earth's people.
  • Goku is able to get to Capsule Corp to tell them about the Fusion plan before they summon Shenron. This means that Videl never sees the Dragon God, allowing for Fusion Reborn to still be her first time seeing him.
  • Because of the above, Kibito isn't revived by Shenron. To accommodate for this change, Boo doesn't damage Kaioshin quite as badly, allowing him to take Gohan to the Realm of the Kais on his own rather than needing Kibito to do it. As a reminder, fusion with a dead person is still possible.
  • Pure Boo is defeated by Gotenks and Gohan, meaning Goku and Vegeta don't get revived to fight him, so Fusion Reborn happens as normal. This solution was chosen because Fusion Reborn assumes Goku and Vegeta stayed dead, so I went with that assumption as well.
  • When killing Pure Boo, Gohan honors his father's past actions with Majunior, Vegeta and Frieza and hopes he comes back as a good guy someday. Thus, Goku takes in Oob as his student in End of Z.
  • Fusion Reborn happens very shortly after the Boo Arc; this is because Gohan and Videl are in school, and without Instant Transmission it still takes a while for them to find all the Dragon Balls and wish everyone to forget Boo. Thus, Boo is still in hiding during the events of the movie.
  • When the Dragon Balls are gathered, the first wish is to restore everyone killed by Boo and Cell. Thanks to Dende upgrading the Dragon Balls, this allows both Vegeta and Goku to be revived.
• When Hoi discovers Minoshia's music box in Wrath of the Dragon's backstory, he takes Minoshia's sword (identical to Tapion's), hoping to use it to break open Tapion's music box. When this doesn't work, he discards Minoshia's sword. This event can also take place in Future Trunks' timeline, thus explaining how he has a sword identical to Tapion's.
• Because Shenron revived a LOT of people alongside a second wish, Wrath of the Dragon occurs a year after the Boo Arc, since that movie features a Dragon Ball hunt.
• Dragon Ball GT can still occur as normal, thanks to Tien and Chiaotzu wishing the Pilaf Gang back to life a year after Mystical Adventure. This is important because a photo of Pan with Trunks, Kid Goku and Gill is showcased in the Goku Jr. Special.
• The wish that created the Six-Star Dragon is now the wish for Pansy to restore her homeland from King Gourmet at the end of Curse of the Blood Rubies, since the Pilaf Arc didn't happen where Oolong interrupted him with the panties wish.
• The Goku Jr. Special and End of GT still transpire as they normally do.

Oh, and if that weren't enough, I ALSO figured out how Movies 6-13 DON'T happen in Future Trunks' Movieverse timeline!

Spoiler:

• Since Goku dying of the Heart Virus is the first major change, DB Movies 1-3 and DBZ Movies 1-5 still transpire as normal.
• Because killing Goku was Gero's primary motivation, Goku's death to the Heart Virus cripples his motivation, and he doesn't make critical breakthroughs. As such, 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18 aren't as powerful than in the "Familiar" timeline, he doesn't create Androids 16, 19 and 20, and he doesn't sort out 17 and 18's psychopathy.
• When Gero debuts the Androids, 17 and 18 quickly betray and kill him, initiating Trunks' bad future as we know it with Gohan as the only surviving Z Fighter. In particular, Piccolo is killed, killing Kami and turning the Earth Dragon Balls and the Dark Dragon Balls to stone.
• Return of Cooler still happens a few days after the Androids appear (equivalent to the Cell Games wait). Since Dende isn't God, nobody is there to prevent Metal Cooler taking over New Namek. He kills Moori, turning the Namekian Dragon Balls to stone, and so it becomes impossible to wish the bad future away.
• Since Dr. Gero was killed by 17 and 18, Super Android 13 takes place, but as detailed earlier, they aren't nearly as strong. They have a run-in with 17 and 18 and are killed, with the surviving Dragon Team none the wiser.
• By the time Paragus wants to invite Vegeta to New Vegeta for Broly, only Gohan and infant Trunks remain as the only surviving Saiyans (and half-bloods at that), thus he has no reason to visit Earth. New Vegeta's populace are enslaved in any case.
• Because only Gohan and infant Trunks are the surviving Saiyans (and half-bloods at that), Dr. Raichi enacts the Tsufruian revenge on Paragus and Broly, as they ARE full-blooded Saiyans. Since Broly and Hatchiyak are evenly matched, they wind up killing each other in a draw. This means that Second Coming and Bio-Broly never happen.
• Bojack Unbound never happens because he was released from Kaio's world when Goku warps Cell there before he blew himself up. That never happens in Future Trunks' time, so Bojack remains bound in Kaio's world.
• Bio-Broly is missing its titular villain, and the generic Bio-Warriors are easily killed by 17 and 18 when they stumble upon Baron Jaga-Baba's island.
• The Boo Arc never happens because the strongest beings on the planet are 17 and 18, who can't have their ki extracted. They kill Babidi and his minions and then blow up his spaceship, inadvertently killing Boo before he can be awakened.
• The events of Fusion Reborn can actually still happen as it's both initiated and solved entirely in Other World. While the villains from DBZ Movies 1-4 and 8 (plus Hitler) do appear on Earth, because almost the entire Dragon Team are dead and continued training in Other World, they can help Goku, Paikuhan and Vegeta defeat Janema more quickly.
• The "Hoi Solution" can still happen in Future Trunks' time, where Hoi takes Minoshia's sword to Earth and then discards it when it can't open Tapion's music box. Sometime between Gohan's death and Trunks fighting 17 and 18 again, Trunks finds Minoshia's sword, thus explaining how he was one identical to Tapion's.
• Because the Namekian, Earth and Dark Dragon Balls are all inert, Hoi has no method of opening Tapion's music box and leaves Earth, so Wrath of the Dragon never happens.

Let me know what you guys think!!

[Drepanosaurus]

It's pretty cool for an alternative timeline. There's no way any of the old DBZ movie can fit now expect for DBZ Movie 9 and Movie 13 in the main timeline now. Also, we already have a canon Broly in Super. I like to view DBZ Broly as a "What if Broly was around the same time as Goku?". Broly is more nicer and calmer in Super without Goku crying around him.

[Grimlock]

There is absolutely no reason to "fit" the movies in the "main" timeline when the movies were always said to take place in another dimension, which obviously means there always was another version of the anime where they can happen.

[KBABZ]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=47188&p=1736875#p1736870

Grimlock asked what the special continuity problem was with the Goku Jr. Special. That problem is that it directly acknowledges GT, by showing Baby's defeat, but also a photo of Pan with Gill, Kid Goku and Trunks. What means that Dragon Ball GT happened in its history.

Why is this a problem? Because in the opening of Mystical Adventure, Tao Pai-Pai kills the Pilaf Gang, who set GT off in the first place so Goku is a kid and Pan meets Gill!

My solution to this was to dovetail it with Tien and Chiaotzu by having them gather the Dragon Balls and with the victims of Red Ribbon Army brought back to life, reviving the Pilaf Gang! I really like this solution because it also ties into Tien seeking to redeem himself, which is a big arc for him after he rejects Crane.

[MasenkoHA]

That seems less of a continuity problem and more of the GT special is supposed to occur in the main tv series timeline. Mystical Adventure does not.

[Robo4900]

That seems less of a continuity problem and more of the GT special is supposed to occur in the main tv series timeline. Mystical Adventure does not.

Sure, but it becomes a continuity problem if you buy into the concept KBABZ was trying to deliver here. (And personally, I think it's a rather fun thought experiment)

[90sDBZ]

It's fun to think about how the movies might fit into the main story, even if it is ultimately impossible for most of them.

It's safe to say most take place in their own respective self-contained universes, although it seems some do share a universe. Z Movie 4 has a brief flashback to Movie 3 for example, Icarus/Hiya Dragon is in both, and there's no major inconsistencies between them.

The Cooler movies are an interesting case. Movie 6 is clearly a direct sequel to Movie 5, but there are small inconsistencies. Movie 5 seems to act as if Goku came straight home from Namek, as he can't go Super Saiyan at will, he shows no sign of knowing Instant Transmission, and Gohan still has his mushroom hair. Then in Movie 6 Goku somehow knows Instant Transmission, meaning he'd had to have been to Yardrat at some point.

The Broly movies have similar issues. Movie 8 has Goku alive, with Gohan having SS1 but not 2, and the world seemingly at peace. Cell was likely killed by Goku in this universe. That's all well and good. But why is Goku dead in Movie 10 if he defeated Cell without dying prior to Movie 8?

[TobyS]

Fun idea but I don't like Vegeta killing the gang when Goku is alive, he'd fight first and they'd only jump in when Vegeta is wounded and they had another year of training. He'd be harder to forgive.

Nappa would die to Kuririns Kienzan without Vegeta actually.

Not sure why Raditz only mentions 1 saiyan or how that would work. Perhaps he just mentions Vegeta and they assume Nappa is Vegeta. Butterfly effect they hit him harder because of Movie 1 and so he struggles to speak.

Perhaps just Chaozu dying, having died twice he needs the Namek DB's.

I don't like Goku not iconically getting SS1 from Freeza. It's uneeded. Just having had slug batter him he can't control it well enough creating false SSJ maybe.

Broly vs Raichi is cool.

Doesn't really explain what happens to Cooler after Namek, maybe a run in with Broly or Raichi before the fight.

Cooler very much is like "ah I see how you beat Freeza with this" and no one contradicts him.

Don't think Vegeta would sacrifice himself for Trunks without a year together but maybe they spend their second year together instead of the first.

Buu could help with the undead invasion as if everyone dead coming back so would he as he has an excuse to be back for a day to the publics mind.

Not really sure why Spoc Yamu and the tournament need changing, all for Videls suprise at Shenron?

Dabra would kill the future androids you need to assume they took Buu's egg like they did in supers time after the androids. Or just took the egg and bailed as the human pop was low missing the androids.

Kibito being dead is I assume to keep Kibitoshin fused?

I don't know if Vegeta is kept around long enough to be revived later, why they would want to if he hasn't proved himself not "really evil" versus kid buu. But sure.

Yo Son Goku and his Friends return not being considered?

[Lukmendes]

[*]The Boo Arc never happens because the strongest beings on the planet are 17 and 18, who can't have their ki extracted. They kill Babidi and his minions and then blow up his spaceship, inadvertently killing Boo before he can be awakened.

There's no way 17 and 18 could deal with Dabura lol.

Also not sure if it's a good idea to change the anime's events to fit around the movies, it'd be more fitting to change the movie's events around the anime, but maybe that's an overused option lol.

Either way, don't think it's a good idea to say Goku got false SS against Freeza, just have him get SS and just not manage to use it again easily until he does some training with it before the androids arrive.

The Broly movies have similar issues. Movie 8 has Goku alive, with Gohan having SS1 but not 2, and the world seemingly at peace. Cell was likely killed by Goku in this universe. That's all well and good. But why is Goku dead in Movie 10 if he defeated Cell without dying prior to Movie 8?

The best way to explain Broly's first movie is to say it happens after Cell became perfect, but before Cell games, even that has its own issues, but compared to other movies, they're minor.

The hardest movies to fit are Turles', Slug's, Android 13's and Janemba's, Turles happens after saiyan saga, but it can't work with everyone else being alive, Slug somehow happens during Namek, but, they were all on Earth, and even if we say it happens after saiyan saga too, it runs into the same issue as Turles', and 13's, the only way that one could happen would be after Goku woke up, but before Vegeta and Trunks went training, which can't happen with how everyone else there is relaxed, so maybe it's a timeline where Cell didn't show up, and Janemba's, that one would have to happen when Boo was freed from Babidi and going on killing sprees, but that can't work 'cause, Boo would still be a huge threat, and Gohan shouldn't be on Earth.

[Grimlock]

Why is this a problem? Because in the opening of Mystical Adventure, Tao Pai-Pai kills the Pilaf Gang, who set GT off in the first place so Goku is a kid and Pan meets Gill!

What the actual fuck!? Why, how, what, how so, is that, which (insert all other question words there exists!) would Toei deviate so, so much like that!? Even though I never watched the Dragon Ball movies, I'm extremely astonished I never knew or heard about this at all.

If that's the case, then "Mystical Adventure" (I don't even know the number of the film so I can call it properly by its number) should not be considered, it would be the first "what-if" movie ---- "what if Pilaf had died by Tao Pai Pai?". Pilaf being alive must take priority.

Either that or the solution you provided, which since I haven't watched the movie, I can't tell if it's good enough and if it doesn't deviate too much from what happens in the anime.

[KBABZ]

Fun idea but I don't like Vegeta killing the gang when Goku is alive, he'd fight first and they'd only jump in when Vegeta is wounded and they had another year of training. He'd be harder to forgive.

This is the same Goku who let Frieza go after he killed Krillin right in front of him.

Not really sure why Spoc Yamu and the tournament need changing, all for Videls suprise at Shenron?

It's also for logistics in Bio-Broly. In the anime, Trunks and Goten go from the Tournament straight to Babidi's spaceship, leaving no time for that movie to happen. By not having the Boo stuff interrupt the Tournament, that gives it the window it needs.

Yo Son Goku and his Friends return not being considered?

Nope. I consider that part of the modern "revival" era, since it released a decade after GT and was digitally animated. That being said, it would easily fit in considering it doesn't contradict anything else. Would be interesting to think about how it plays out for Future Trunks, though!

Also not sure if it's a good idea to change the anime's events to fit around the movies, it'd be more fitting to change the movie's events around the anime, but maybe that's an overused option lol.

That's not what the thought experiment is though. The idea is this: the classic movies generally don't fit in the anime. What if they were their own continuity? It's clear that SOME version of the anime's events happen before each one. So with that in mind, what do THOSE events look like?

[fleahop]

This was really cool to look over and I bet it was a ton of fun.

I actually have an ancient fanfic I've held off on because it was just too many leaps, but this is giving me motivation to try it again.

Thanks for sharing!

[Asin]

I feel like I've seen this before. Was this posted before?

[KBABZ]

This was really cool to look over and I bet it was a ton of fun.

It was! It was really fun trying to figure out how to make each one work, especially famous conundrums like World's Strongest in the Saiyan Arc and the later movies in the Boo Arc. It was also my first time watching these movies AT ALL, and I figured it out step-by-step as the Rewatch hit each one.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

This is pretty neat, definitely a lot of fun to think about, even though TOEI never expected us to .

There's no doubt the movies were intended to be self-contained stories with some having continuity between one another, although that's not unlike the Garlic junior Arc in Z assuming Z movie 1 happened. Even in the series filler has always had contradictions.

This was really cool to look over and I bet it was a ton of fun.

It was! It was really fun trying to figure out how to make each one work, especially famous conundrums like World's Strongest in the Saiyan Arc and the later movies in the Boo Arc. It was also my first time watching these movies AT ALL, and I figured it out step-by-step as the Rewatch hit each one.

The two main problems with World's Strongest are the two big shocks when Raditz arrived, which of course are Goku and Piccolo teaming up and the revelation Goku had a son, if neither happened then that movie could have worked with the series and allowed events to play out as normal. At one point I actually wished there was one more arc in OG Dragon Ball that showed a gradual softening of Piccolo before Z, perhaps where himself and Goku likewise had to face a common enemy, not unlike Dead Zone. In retrospect I think everyone still being terrified of Piccolo after Raditz was for the best as it made him taking Gohan and the bond they developed that much more impactful and thus removing the aforementioned revelations would have been detrimental to it, so the only way to make World's Strongest work is with a revised version of the Saiyans' arrival like you said with the gap between Nappa and Vegeta.

With the later movies you covered everything I would have done to make them work in a revised timeliness where Goku doesn't defeat Majin Boo.

[MasenkoHA]

The two main problems with World's Strongest are the two big shocks when Raditz arrived, which of course are Goku and Piccolo teaming up and the revelation Goku had a son

I think you're confusing World Strongest with Dead Zone. World Strongest takes place after the Saiyan arc and conflicts with how events unfold after that arc.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The two main problems with World's Strongest are the two big shocks when Raditz arrived, which of course are Goku and Piccolo teaming up and the revelation Goku had a son

I think you're confusing World Strongest with Dead Zone. World Strongest takes place after the Saiyan arc and conflicts with how events unfold after that arc.

I know where the movies are supposed to fit in their own respective continuities. The fact there was still some fear of Piccolo in Dead Zone whereas he was accepted in World's Strongest implies something must have happened in between for everyone's fear of him to have somewhat subsided. KBABZ's idea about the latter taking place in a revised timeliness where Nappa and Vegeta arrive separately is the best way of explaining the difference in the reactions to him in both movies. I'm just suggesting how World's Strongest could have theoretically worked before Raditz' arrival, which is another What-If entirely.

On second thought I just remembered Goku knew Kaioken (which he learned from Kaio) in World's Strongest, so that would invalidate it taking place before Raditz even without the revelations.

[90sDBZ]

The best way to explain Broly's first movie is to say it happens after Cell became perfect, but before Cell games, even that has its own issues, but compared to other movies, they're minor.

The main issue with this is that Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks were all taking turns training in the Time Chamber during this period, or training at the lookout the rest of the time. Also the entire world was in a state of panic, with cities being evacuated, so the opening scene with Goku and Chi Chi attending an interview for Gohan in a crowded city doesn't make sense.

[KBABZ]

The best way to explain Broly's first movie is to say it happens after Cell became perfect, but before Cell games, even that has its own issues, but compared to other movies, they're minor.

The main issue with this is that Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks were all taking turns training in the Time Chamber during this period, or training at the lookout the rest of the time. Also the entire world was in a state of panic, with cities being evacuated, so the opening scene with Goku and Chi Chi attending an interview for Gohan in a crowded city doesn't make sense.

For me the RoSaT stuff was more easily managed (like I did with Trunks); it was the state of the world in general that I had to work around with. It's already a stretch as it is with Cell murdering thousands of people across the land, but the COVID pandemic kinda revealed how stupid people can be when it comes to pretending things are normal, and the people of Earth are meant to be dumber than US, so I guess it's not too unbelievable. But the shit hits the fan when Cell announces the Cell Games, so there was no way around that one.