Your own personal canon?

[Rory]

I wanna know what you guys think about the happenings in the Dragon Ball Universe! Personally, what happens in your own canon?
Does Broli exsist? Does Freeza have a brother? Does Gokuu become a child 5 years after the end of Z? Did Bulma indeed fight the crab?
I say this because a few of of my friend's favourite characters are from the movies. He's a Broli fan, and says it's a shame that he was a 'wasted' character, and that the Legendary Super Saiyan had a lot of potential which should've been developed further in the series. When I informed him that he didn't appear in the manga in any capacity, he says that he still exists as a 'real' character in the series to him. Those events took place in his view of the series. Now I wasn't trying to say "Broli isn't in the manga therefore Broli doesn't exsist", but it's interesting that based on our perceptions of the series alone, different events take place for us.

Now I'm a "manga bible" guy, if it ain't in there, it's not in my canon. But that isn't to say I don't enjoy the movies or a lot of filler! I'm just curious to know what you guys think of this? What takes place in your own personal canon?

[Gaffer Tape]

Does Broli exsist? Does Freeza have a brother? Does Gokuu become a child 5 years after the end of Z? Did Bulma indeed fight the crab?

No. Nope. Nuh-uh. And.... no.

Like you, I just go by the manga. That certainly doesn't mean I don't enjoy a lot of filler, or a lot of movies. There is some filler, particularly the training for the Saiya-jin, that I wish had been part of the manga, but alas. As for the movies, though, I've never really had any inclination or desire to try to incorporate those into my canon. That could be because most of them are just so far removed that it's usually impossible to even try, but it's also because I never really found any of the characters compelling enough or the situations impactful enough to care to have them in the story. That's not to say I didn't enjoy a lot of those characters and situations, but they were usually only important or captivating enough to fill out those 45 minutes in which I saw them, but no more than that. But if I did have to choose a movie character that I thought was good enough to deserve to be in the main story, BROLI SMASH! would probably be close to the bottom of the list.

[roidrage]

If the anime doesn't contradict the manga outright, I'm willing to consider it canon. Freeza and Vegeta might have brothers, Gohan could have had those little adventures in the wilderness (although he didn't try to go back to Chi-Chi), etc. I don't even try with the movies, except for Coola. And hell no, GT is not canon.

[Metalwario64]

Nevermind, misread the post. Carry on folks!

[Mewzard]

Freeza and Vegeta being brothers sounds like filler that'd be hilarious to watch (but ignored as canon).

I stick with the official manga is canon rule, and specifically, the original manga only, and any exceptions being made are material done by the original creator (or with his permission) that is stated to be part of the official canon storyline by him/her. Of course, I would make exceptions if it was plothole riddled (or at least, beyond a certain limit).

[Hellspawn28]

The manga is the only canon to me. I do view the Manga, Anime/GT, and the movies as their own universes though. Hard to believe some fans have fan fictions like DBM as their own personal canon.

[Ex-Dubbie369]

I have two separate canons, that being the manga and then the "extended" anime canon, which includes GT and the four movies which more or less fit in with the main timeline: 1 (there's contradictions, but it kinda has to fit for the Garlic Jr. arc to make sense), 5, 9, and 13. I guess the Dr. Slump manga would also exist within the manga canon while the Dr. Slump anime would fit in my DB anime canon.

I also don't mind the existence of other movie characters (Tullece and Broli in particular), but they couldn't exist in the way they do in their movies because of the contradictions.

Now, when arguing what exactly's "true canon", I'm pretty cool with allowing filler into the manga canon as long as there are no contradictions (Dr. Frappe, the Garlic Jr. Arc as a whole, etc.). For example, I have no problem saying that the Afterlife Budokai took place in the manga timeline, I mean, what else would Goku be doing with himself anyway?

[AnimeMaakuo]

.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I know I've said this before in a previous version of this topic, but all the manga series Toriyama has done, the video games he contributed designs for, or the potential extra info he may have given (like for filler, DBO or guidebooks) is canon to me in some capacity. Most of his works, or Toei's adaptaions, are simply contained within alternate universes, though I suppose there would have to be one where everything could potentially take place...given the right circumstances. I admit that it gets fairly complicated when you consider the manga alone has 3-4 alternate universes/timelines, but it is the best view IMO. I love Toriyama's works, though Dragon Ball is by far my favorite. I enjoy everything about it: plot, characters, art, etc. Just because something isn't contained within the manga doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist within the universe. Just my opinion though...

My own personal, preferred, canon would have to be the fictitious universe where everything happens, though with slight changes for accommodations. (In the process of writing/creating this universe actually). Though I openly admit I'm not going to use anyone's canon, not even my own, for debating or the like, because honestly, no one is going to care about MY CANON. As this topic demonstrates, since Toriyama never made a statement, Dragon Ball's canon is purely fan opinion. You can say "the manga is the pure canon", but nothing official states that.

**Note, things like video games (Dragon Quest, Blue Dragon, etc.) or crossovers like (DB x Kochikame, Cross Epoch) don't have to be a separate universe. I have the video games as also being games the Dragon World has, and the crossovers are dreams...similar to the Cell Jr./Kuririn nightmare in Budokai 1.

[Mountain]

I enjoy it all, but the following is my personal canon:

- DragonBall manga
- Z TV Specials

[Levlik]

Bearing in mind that Toriyama wrote Dragon Ball as he went along, I don't take things into account until Toriyama came up with the idea in the story. For instance, Saiyans as a whole more or less don't exist as far as I'm concerned until volume 17, Namek doesn't exist until that's introduced so Piccolo split into Kami and Daimao is the only one of his kind (Which makes the whole God and Demon King thing more powerful to the story, in my opinion), #19 and #20 ARE the cyborgs Trunks warned Goku about until they decided to change that, etc.

[CatouttaHell]

Anime filler and Dragonball GT are canon for me.

[Bura]

I personally view everything Toriyama made up as canon. So yes, Vegeta does have a brother.

[Booney]

I don't really exclude anything that I don't like or doesn't fit within the series.
But when writing fanfiction or creating oc's I do try to make it fit in the manga.

So I guess my canon would be the manga and everything that fits with it's story.

Even though I don't consider Dragonball to have a canon anyway.
I see the characters as some kind of actors who play there roles in different movies and series.
For me there isn't one official timeline, universe or media that is the "real" thing.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

Up to the Cell arc of the manga and TV specials in my book (Jump special excluded) are the crux of the story. The Trunk's TV special takes precedent over the manga's version because it seemed much more well thought out to me. That's not saying I don't enjoy everything else. I just view the aforementioned personal canon to be a better conclusive story.

[Cipher]

I have no problem acknowledging that the manga and anime are two separate canons. Could some of the anime-only events fit into the manga? Sure. But since they aren't there, I can't assume they're part of that universe.

My preferred version of the story includes all three original anime series, along with Movie 1 (contradictions aside, it has to be there for the Garlic Jr. arc, which is again referenced in GT) and Movie 13 (which has to be there for the first use of Dragon Fist). I waffle on including the 2008 Jump Special and Movie 9 as well. They can both fit, but don't necessarily have to.

[kaialone]

Anything that doesnt cotradict the manga all to much is canon to me. But for me Gt didnt happen (I just have issues with GT)
The driving lesson definitly did happen . I'm not sure about Garlic Jr. Saga,because while it absolutely doesnt fit,since the Garlic jr. movie couldnt have happened,and I dont like Krillins girlfriend,I also like it because Piccolo and Co manage to defet a villain without Goku´s help,and God gets to hold an epic speech(in the japanese version)

In my canon while most of the moves couldnt have happened timeline wise:
-Cooler exists
-Broly could exist,I'm not sure,probably depens on the weather and my mood
-Turles could exist,depends on how much nuts were in my chocolate
-Bojack exists
-Tarble and Gure exist
-Kuriza could exist depens on how much breakfast I ate

[Ahiru77]

Everything that doesn't obviously contradicts the canon is canon.

So stuff like "Dende asking for an first-aid kit doesn't make sense." passes while things like "Vegeta exits his pod in space, but the show makes a whole issue about saiyans not being able to breathe in space." don't.

To me that is.

[beast mode]

1. Manga

2. All-encompassing DB/Z/GT/Movies/JSAT/TV Specials/Neko Majin/Dr. Slump canon with tons of continuity problems

[Piccolo Daimao]

Isn't there already a thread for this?