Is GT REALLY Non-Canon?

[SonEric84]

Okay. I don't know what his "official" name is, unfortunately. But if I call him "The result of the awkward fusion of Oob and Majin Boo", will you be satisfied?

Well, he's only ever called "Oob" in the original GT series even after his fusion with Boo, like with Piccolo and his mergings with Nail and God. So I don't really see why we need a special name for him, any more than we do with Piccolo. The Funi dub calls him "Majuub" because they apparently don't understand that "majin" is a title or race name, not part of his name proper. So you might as well call Captain Ginyu in Goku's body "Capku", or Cell after absorbing Android No.17 "Celroid", or the hypothetical fusion of Goku and Mister Satan "Goster". It's just a dub name I find particularly absurd, sorry.

"Celroid" sounds like something you'd need the Dragon World equivalent of Preparation H to defeat.


As for this canon thing...you should really just take it how you want it. In the end, that's what everyone does. Personally I would say the manga is really the ultimate source since it's the original work, so technically GT wouldn't be included, but that also means we miss out on the good filler in Z. Example being the extra training/build up in the Saiyan arc. Even if you want to consider the Z filler as canon, you can still go with GT just being a side-story. (Or as our own Tanooki imagines it: Goku's bad dream.)

[The Time Traveller]

His name shall be Boob.

[Kendamu]

If you want to include GT in what you consider canon then be my guest. It won't hurt either of us if that's what you want.

I wonder when it was ever implied it would?

Asking what's canon can open a huge can of worms related to personal feelings about dumb things. I felt like getting that out there since it may apply in this thread at some point or another.

I'm surprised you even asked.

[Great Saiyaman I]

His name shall be Boob.

I would say you were ninja'd, but it's more like an elderly lady slowly coming to kill you. Already made this joke.

[NeoKING]

If you want to include GT in what you consider canon then be my guest. It won't hurt either of us if that's what you want.

I wonder when it was ever implied it would?

Asking what's canon can open a huge can of worms related to personal feelings about dumb things. I felt like getting that out there since it may apply in this thread at some point or another.

I'm surprised you even asked.

So basically, it's taboo and if I even think of asking anything canon-related the DB fanbase will tear me to shreds? Darn, this touchy fandom!

[Kendamu]

So basically, it's taboo and if I even think of asking anything canon-related the DB fanbase will tear me to shreds? Darn, this touchy fandom!

It's not taboo. There's plenty of well-rounded people here who can give you great discussion! There's just a few really loud touchy people around here who, if things work out just wrong (and they have before), get all crabby if you don't walk on eggshells in every thread. So, it's best to make things clear upfront.

Back to the comment about, "The manga is canon. Now shush," it's the truth. The manga is canon. GT isn't part of the manga. The end. Not a big deal, really. Like I said, I consider some other stuff outside of it canon. No reason to sweat it.

[Freeza Heika]

GT is about as canon to Dragonball as "Romeo + Juliet" is to the Shakespearean canon.


-Клああту барадああ にиктω

[NeoKING]

So basically, it's taboo and if I even think of asking anything canon-related the DB fanbase will tear me to shreds? Darn, this touchy fandom!

It's not taboo. There's plenty of well-rounded people here who can give you great discussion! There's just a few really loud touchy people around here who, if things work out just wrong (and they have before), get all crabby if you don't walk on eggshells in every thread. So, it's best to make things clear upfront.

Back to the comment about, "The manga is canon. Now shush," it's the truth. The manga is canon. GT isn't part of the manga. The end. Not a big deal, really. Like I said, I consider some other stuff outside of it canon. No reason to sweat it.

Ah, okay then. Just figured that AT's side-story comment would TECHNICALLY make it canon. That would be an interesting bit of trivia.

[Kendamu]

So basically, it's taboo and if I even think of asking anything canon-related the DB fanbase will tear me to shreds? Darn, this touchy fandom!

It's not taboo. There's plenty of well-rounded people here who can give you great discussion! There's just a few really loud touchy people around here who, if things work out just wrong (and they have before), get all crabby if you don't walk on eggshells in every thread. So, it's best to make things clear upfront.

Back to the comment about, "The manga is canon. Now shush," it's the truth. The manga is canon. GT isn't part of the manga. The end. Not a big deal, really. Like I said, I consider some other stuff outside of it canon. No reason to sweat it.

Ah, okay then. Just figured that AT's side-story comment would TECHNICALLY make it canon. That would be an interesting bit of trivia.

True, but it's hard to trust Toriyama's word on occasion. Look at his comments about Dragonball Evolution for an example.

EDIT: On the other hand, you do raise a good point!

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Ah, okay then. Just figured that AT's side-story comment would TECHNICALLY make it canon. That would be an interesting bit of trivia.

I really don't think that's Toriyama's intended meaning. But if it helps ya sleep at night...

[Deep Thought]

Canon is defined as the works of an author or artist to be genuine, at least in this case. Aside from a few character designs, Toriyama had nothing to do with GT. Therefore, it is not part of the Toriyama-canon. To me, the Toriyama-canon of Dragon Ball is the only canon worth anything in a debate, and it comes first, with Gt being a side mention if need be. For instance, I'd say "There are three Super Sayajin levels, four if you count GT" rather than "There are four Super Sayajin levels." I kind of thought everyone shared this viewpoint, but apparently not.

[NUDEoctopus]

To me, Dragon Ball GT holds about as much relevance as the movies. It is just a story from the Dragon Ball universe, but not THE Dragon Ball story, if that makes sense.

[Bardo117]

I actually didn't think GT was all that bad. Not considered cannon to me though.

[the_abberration]

Personally, I view GT as anime canon with the DB series (or at least an expansion of the universe). It continues from where DBZ left off. It keeps the same characters from the previous series. At times it references the prior series (through flashback), to establish some connection to the previous show or to build off a point mentioned in the former series. If it was a more stand alone show, with totally new characters and slight (or no) references to the earlier anime, I would see it a non-canon (or another alternate universe).

I've always seen this argument/opinion/belief, in the same vein as Star Trek:TAS. Officially, it's not considered canon to the live action show, but it makes references to TOS (e.g. revisting planets and plots established by TOS). So some fans do consider it canon. Also some things that were introduced in the animated series did become part of the canon material later on.

So maybe one day the same will happen with GT. Mr. Toriyama is still alive, so there could be some hope.....maybe. And even though there is official word on how Mr. Toriyama views GT at this time, if you want to consider it as canon to DB(Z) I don't see any harm in that.

[AnimeMaakuo]

.

[Saimaroimaru]

GT is an anime series that continue the anime not the manga. In the manga world till an author saids that the anime exclusive/filler part is canon it isn't due to the nature anime exclusive/filler based series like GT. Till I see an interview of Akira saying GT is canon, it is non-canon till proof saids otherwise.

Thats like saying all that Pt. 1 Naruto filler is canon when its purpose was to just draw time for Kishi to get his second half of the story under way. Gt as I see it was just giving people more dragonball without actually affecting the canon in any way. Anime wise, Gt is the end story wise, video game wise DBO, manga wise DBZ.

[AnimeMaakuo]

.

[rereboy]

Why cant someone get Akira Toriyama to comment about "GT," and end all of this?

He did. He called it a side-story.

[Olivier Hague]

The original question was asking whether GT was canon or not from as objective a standpoint as possible.

'Going to be hard to answer that one, considering there's no such thing as an "official canon" in the first place...

[caejones]

I kinda just think of GT like another series of Dragonball. While the manga was all one series, GT is like a new series, like a new Power Rangers or the newer Yugioh series. It's not part of the DB manga, but the manga is part of GT. Does anyone get what I'm saying?

I like the comparison to Power Rangers.
I think various PR series work better without trying to fit in the universe of the first six seasons.
Though I often think of Turbo as the PR equivalent of GT... except... less easily ignored. ^^