Retcons in Dragon Ball

[Sin]

In the anime, King Kai stated that the Saiyans and Tsufurusians both live in the same Planet together then in GT, Bebi said that the Saiyans invaded the Planet since we saw them coming out of the sky in the flashback.

I thought that yes they invaded initially, but they then lived together and utilized the Saiyan's strength and Tsufurusian's tech, so it might not be a retcon and maybe just a recollection from two different points.

[Weejus]

The only retcons I can think of are dub-based, the first one that comes to mind being Master Roshi claiming that Tao Paipai worked for the RRA (because they didn't do their research properly and ended up using Mystical Adventure as a reference point) so when they dubbed DB they had to rename Tao entirely. If you think about it that's kind of the opposite of a retcon, as a retcon is when new information changes past information, but considering DB takes place before DBZ, it's the other way around. Ugh...

A postcon?

An antonym for 'retroactive' is 'proactive' so to coin a term it would be a 'procon', a reversed retcon.

[superkakarrot2]

I can think of several

1. Goku's age
Near the start of the series Goku walks in on Bulma having a bath. Bulma asks what age he is and Goku replies that he is 14. He says 1 year later that he is 12 which would make him actually 11 at that point.

2. Kamesennin's mortality
When Kamesennin asks Goku to fetch him a big breasted woman he tries to convice him by claiming he is a frail old man. Turtle retorts that he got given immortality by a phoenix. Kamesennin later admits to Tenshinhan that that was a lie.

3. Fate of killed dead people (anime filler only)
Piccolo does an attack that could kill Chaozu if they were alive. Kaio then mentions they don't have to worry about getting killed because they are already dead. Much later Goku tells a dead Vegeta that he could be gone for good if he gets killed again.

4. Near death power ups
Near death power ups for Saiyans are only brought up when Kuririn mentions in the Saiyan arc that Goku always got stronger after nearly being killed.

5. The origin of the dragon balls (anime filler only)
Kamesennin tells an origin story for the dragon balls which is completely false about one big ball becoming seven small ones. When Kami is introduced this gets completely forgotton.

6&7. The legendary Super Saiyan
First Bardock survives being vaporised by Freeza's attack then he goes back in time and turns into the first Super Saiyan that becomes the legend constantly mentioned in the Namek arc.

[Weejus]

1. Goku's age
Near the start of the series Goku walks in on Bulma having a bath. Bulma asks what age he is and Goku replies that he is 14. He says 1 year later that he is 12 which would make him actually 11 at that point.

I think that discrepancy is justified by Goku's lack of formal education.

[Vegard Aune]

1. Goku's age
Near the start of the series Goku walks in on Bulma having a bath. Bulma asks what age he is and Goku replies that he is 14. He says 1 year later that he is 12 which would make him actually 11 at that point.

I think that discrepancy is justified by Goku's lack of formal education.

Indeed. It's even mentioned in the manga and anime alike that he messed this up because he didn't know what order the numbers were actually in at the time.

Anyway, I also seem to distinctly recall that when Goku was first going up to God's palace, he was told that he couldn't use Kinto'un or a plane or anything of the sort, as they couldn't fly that high. In the Cell-arc Bulma uses a plane to go to God's palace with no problems whatsoever.

[superkakarrot2]

1. Goku's age
Near the start of the series Goku walks in on Bulma having a bath. Bulma asks what age he is and Goku replies that he is 14. He says 1 year later that he is 12 which would make him actually 11 at that point.

I think that discrepancy is justified by Goku's lack of formal education.

I find it more likely that Toriyama changed his mind.

[Kamiccolo9]

3. Fate of killed dead people
Piccolo does an attack that could kill Chaozu if they were alive. Kaio then mentions they don't have to worry about getting killed because they are already dead. Much later Goku tells a dead Vegeta that he could be gone for good if he gets killed again.

That's anime filler as well, I believe.

[superkakarrot2]

3. Fate of killed dead people
Piccolo does an attack that could kill Chaozu if they were alive. Kaio then mentions they don't have to worry about getting killed because they are already dead. Much later Goku tells a dead Vegeta that he could be gone for good if he gets killed again.

That's anime filler as well, I believe.

Oh yeah you're right. I've edited it slightly.

[RandomGuy96]

Two relating to Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga: Nappa says he was named after Planet Vegeta itself, and Vegeta says that he's the strongest in the universe, even though according to the Freeza Saga he knew of almost a dozen people who were stronger

[Polyphase Avatron]

Two relating to Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga: Nappa says he was named after Planet Vegeta itself, and Vegeta says that he's the strongest in the universe, even though according to the Freeza Saga he knew of almost a dozen people who were stronger

He could have just been bragging

[Hellspawn28]

I guess Jaco retcon Goku going to Earth now as a baby. It seems like he was three years old when he was sent to Earth in Jaco.

[Puto]

I'm thinking to list down the list of stuff that was retcon in Dragon Ball. Outside of the anime filler stuff, I remember in the 2008 Jump Special that everyone partying for Mr. Satan for beating Majin Buu when they used the Dragon Balls for erasing the memories of Majin Buu.

You can kind of reconcile it by saying they just erased the memory of Boo's appearance.

[Gaffer Tape]

1. Goku's age
Near the start of the series Goku walks in on Bulma having a bath. Bulma asks what age he is and Goku replies that he is 14. He says 1 year later that he is 12 which would make him actually 11 at that point.

Not exactly. Eight months later, Goku admits he's 12, but he says that's because he thought 14 came after 11, so not only wouldn't he have been 11, he couldn't have been 11 at that point.

[Marco Polo]

Anyway, I also seem to distinctly recall that when Goku was first going up to God's palace, he was told that he couldn't use Kinto'un or a plane or anything of the sort, as they couldn't fly that high. In the Cell-arc Bulma uses a plane to go to God's palace with no problems whatsoever.

Bulma has the technology to build spaceships. Maybe her planes are advanced enough to be able to fly to God's palace.

[Kamiccolo9]

Anyway, I also seem to distinctly recall that when Goku was first going up to God's palace, he was told that he couldn't use Kinto'un or a plane or anything of the sort, as they couldn't fly that high. In the Cell-arc Bulma uses a plane to go to God's palace with no problems whatsoever.

Bulma has the technology to build spaceships. Maybe her planes are advanced enough to be able to fly to God's palace.

I've always just took it as Kami repels anybody who tries to fly up there. In the Cell Arc, Kami has already fused with Piccolo by the time Bulma flies up there, and there is no god to repel her plane. And Dende would just choose to allow her to fly up to the lookout, since they are friends.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

What about Freeza believing he was the strongest in the universe but then implied he knew about the Gods of Destruction who were stronger?

It can be assumed that strongest one when Beers is asleep.

[Valerius Dover]

I kind of thought of that story Master Roshi told Maron as a simplified version to make her understand (not that it worked). She seemed to be rather lacking in the brain department.

[mAcChaos]

For the whole memory wiping of Buu thing, as far as I remember they didn't erase people's memory about Buu himself so much as his appearance. They still know Mr. Satan saved everyone from a monster.

[superkakarrot2]

I kind of thought of that story Master Roshi told Maron as a simplified version to make her understand (not that it worked). She seemed to be rather lacking in the brain department.

I was referring to a (mostly) filler episode of the original series. Not Z.

Episode 33.

[goku the krump dancer]

Two relating to Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga: Nappa says he was named after Planet Vegeta itself, and Vegeta says that he's the strongest in the universe, even though according to the Freeza Saga he knew of almost a dozen people who were stronger

Counting Vegeta's Oozaru form hes stronger than Ginyu. So while it is a lie it isnt too far from the truth.