Toyotaro initially started out with pen-and-paper sketches with a grainy, earthy detail to them. Most of them are drawn in something closer to his usual manga style with digital adjustments, but he has since moved onto a more colourful, simplistic style for the more "cartoony" characters, similar to Toriyama's modern concept designs. Though Toyo rarely bothers in later entries, many of the sketches are accompanied by fairly detailed descriptions of the character. Sometimes, these descriptions contain neat semi-official fan theories from Toyotaro about how the character fits into the continuity of the manga, with some broad brush strokes applied.
Anyway, this isn't necessarily a ranked list, but just some that I find especially well-made or interesting from a lore perspective.
Bardock

"Iconic" may be a stretch to say here, but I feel that out of all the TDI sketches, this one possibly made the most impact and even inspired some fan-art of its own. Bardock is one of those characters who is often portrayed with an undue amount of glamour and reverence, particularly in spin-off media and fan-art, where he thrives most. Toyotaro completely subverts that trend here with a very visceral, decidedly unglamorous portrayal of a low-class Saiyan foot soldier doing what they're born and bred to do: slaughter civilisations and eat their remains. Of course, the drawing harkens back to Vegeta and Nappa's introduction in Ch. #204, where Vegeta can be seen casually munching on some defeated alien's corpse.
There's a real simian vibe to Bardock here. He's barefoot, battle-scarred and scowling, with what seems to be like some shin hair, though that could just be shading. Most Saiyan characters have no body hair at all, so that would be refreshing if it were true. Whereas Vegeta exuded "alpha" gorilla energy, Bardock instead resembles a "beta" chimpanzee forced to eat scraps in the corner. Bardock actually appeared several times in Toyotaro's sketches before finally making a major appearance in the Super manga, but this is my favourite one of him.
Onio and his Wife

In spite of its clear status as a parody manga with almost no regard for continuity with Dragon Ball, some still view Neko Majin Z as the definitive Toriyama-penned coda to his longest-running manga. Toyotaro takes that to its logical conclusion here by portraying Onio as one of the several Saiyans to survive Planet Vegeta's destruction. Onio still looks like his usual clueless Sourman-esque self, with his wife being too preoccupied about finding a new vacation planet to notice, but it's cool to see him react with some concern that his home planet may have just exploded. What's more interesting than the drawing itself is Toyotaro's list of all surviving Saiyans in his personal head-canon combining the anime and spin-offs, coming up with nine in total: Onio, Kakarrot, Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, Broly, Paragus, Tarble and... Tullece? I'm surprised that Tullece has yet to be drawn. Toyotaro isn't afraid of portraying characters in new and unfamiliar ways, so I'm looking forward to when he eventually gets round to it.
Belmod (Pride Trooper)

As Belmod is evidently Toyotaro's favourite Hakaishin design (besides Beerus), he got around his usual rule against Super era characters by portraying a "what if" scenario involving a younger, presumably mortal Belmod as a member of the Pride Troopers, just as he is apparently about to leave the group. Flashback scenes in the Super anime show that the Pride Troopers gathered around Jiren, inspired by his unparalleled strength. However, in the manga, Belmod confirms that the Pride Trooper organisation existed long before, and Jiren only joined them at the request of his master Gicchin as a lesson to learn the value of teamwork. The idea that Belmod was once a Pride Trooper himself, millennia before the events of the series, is a really interesting idea and I wish it would be incorporated into the canonical story somehow. It's cool that Toyotaro's "head-canon brain" from his AF days still ticks along in the background, and once again, he demonstrates his skill at drawing battle-damaged characters.
Damn, Belmod sure has a tight ass for a clown.
Gregory

This one is purely here because I happened to be reading Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis with its protagonist Gregor Samsa, who likely inspired the name of Kaio-sama's insect pet. The drawing is nice, it's fun to see a bit character like Gregory take a more dynamic pose. But once again, Toyotaro's little comment got me thinking. Toyotaro has been criticised for occasionally sneaking in minor "anime-isms" into the Super manga, which apparently dilute the series' authority as a true sequel to Toriyama's manga. If you're some kind of medically-classified idiot who can't tell the difference between a still comic book and an animated television cartoon, you can use the existence of Gregory as a good litmus test to determine which medium/continuity you're watching. Toyotaro, in an effort to stay consistent to Toriyama's manga, makes no reference to Gregory in his sequel comic, whereas the Toei anime production continues to include Gregory on Kaio's world alongside Bubbles. Checkmate, animetheists.
Unnamed Crocodile who lost to Kuririn at the prelims of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai

I'm frankly surprised that Unnamed Crocodile who lost to Kuririn at the prelims of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai didn't get drawn earlier, what an icon, he should return in the Super manga. Just think. "Unnamed Crocodile who lost to Kuririn at the prelims of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai vs. Gas, Part 2".
Anyway, I like that this croc was only drawn as a reference to This Croc Will Die in 100 Days. For a while, Toyotaro got into a habit of drawing obscure characters to piggyback on current pop cultural trends. He's basically saying "hey, mermaids are popular - guess what, Dragon Ball has one!" Another example is his drawing of Tapikar and Tapion drinking bubble tea when that was the big global fad.
What are some of your favourites?






