Where would you have ended the series?

[Saiga]

I would have ended it with Gohan defeating Boo

How, exactly? I've considered this as an ending too, but I can't think of any version that doesn't feel anticlimactic. The closest I can think of right now involves Goku showing up to fuse with Gohan, with Gotenks' fusion breaking down inside Buu soon after he shows up. Buu refuses to let them fuse and attacks Gohan, who in this version would be injured from that Vanishing Ball Buu was charging up earlier (having managed to just stop it from destroying Earth with his Kamehameha at the cost of being critically injured and fatigued himself). Goku holds off Buu for a few seconds while Dende heals Gohan, and then Buu absorbs Goku. Then the final battle is Buuku vs Gohan, with maybe some last minute help from teleporting Kibitoshin (though I don't know how). I guess the battle could still be set on the Kaioshin planet due to Buu blowing away the solar system (because Earth still needs to be destroyed, in my eyes), and still somehow result in Mr. Buu surviving (maybe they could just wish him back?).

Yeah, it's hard to come up with an appropriate ending to the fight, but I'd argue that it'd be hard to make something more anti-climatic than the actual way they beat Boo - they came up with a plan that was far worse than Gohan just boringly curb stomping Boo, so I'd say even if they end came to that it'd be a bit better for not being so stupid.

The most basic idea I had was just having it end in a beam struggle, and Boo losing the struggle due to the fusion time wearing off and then being wiped away from the blast. I think that might be a bit too similar to the climax of Cell vs Gohan, though (then again, if we're talking hypothetical changes I think their fight could stand to be re-done, so that possibly might not end that way, maybe it ends like in Dragon Ball SD). There might also be an element of Gohan outsmarting Boo: perhaps the 5 minute limit actually does apply to Boo, and he mistakenly thinks he has much more time than he does, which Gohan exploits (not sure if Gohan was aware of the 5 minute limit, but it's easy enough for him to change him to having seen part of the post-RoSaT fight or overhear Goku mention it). Or Boo's still got 30 minutes, but his sense of time is still imperfect. Otherwise he didn't get the time wrong, but Gohan manages to last in the struggle longer than expected - maybe because of Dende restoring his ki to keep him going longer - and so the fusion comes undone, the beams engulf Boo and eradicate him completely.

Another simple idea would be Boo's fusion wearing off, and trying to self destruct again with the intent of wiping out the Earth (or Kaioshin realm, wherever they are) this time. Gohan attacks, and launches Boo into the air, using a Kamehameha with all his might in it to push Boo far away enough that the explosion doesn't engulf the planet. The combined explosion and Kamehameha is something Boo can't survive. Alternatively this would be an alternate way for Gohan to kill Cell after a hard battle, Cell attempts his self destruction as a last resort and warns Gohan not to attack him. Cell's warning is really a bluff since being attacked stalls his self destruction, and Gohan sees through this and finishes him off. Similar to what Dragon Ball SD did although not quite the same.

I also thought about maybe Boo's fusion wearing off, then out of desperation absorbing Chaozu and using his psychic powers to give Gohan trouble (under the assumption that the psychic powers are stronger when the user is stronger, and Boo is close enough to Gohan's strength for it to work) leading to Ten deliberately getting absorbed so he can free Chaozu. While Ten is inside Boo, Boo can't effectively split his attention between him and Gohan which leads to a much more even fight until Ten eventually saves Chaozu, leaves and Gohan finishes off Boo. Although this is just adding another temporary fusion to the mix that once undone, allows Gohan to beat Boo. I guess it's just not too different from Boo's fusion wearing off and Gohan beating him there, except that I think this could allow for a satisfying and evenly matched fight before it.

Personally I wouldn't add potara or bring Goku back to life.

I guess if I really had to make a change to the ending, it'd be to remove the Kaioshin absorption subplot from Buu's back story. Fat Buu and Super Buu are both far more interesting if you view them as the same guy, opposite sides of Majin Buu's true nature, rather than artificial personalities caused by the addition of the Kaioshin to an essentially mindless being. Oh, and keep Vegeta dead.

Oh yeah, I'd definitely keep this right out of there. I'd add Goku staying dead to that.

[RandomGuy96]

Yeah, it's hard to come up with an appropriate ending to the fight, but I'd argue that it'd be hard to make something more anti-climatic than the actual way they beat Boo - they came up with a plan that was far worse than Gohan just boringly curb stomping Boo, so I'd say even if they end came to that it'd be a bit better for not being so stupid.

Actually, maybe that COULD be the ending. Think about it; it's not actually that bad. Everything goes the way it did until they start making wishes with the dragon balls. Goku and Vegeta have just lost to Pure Buu (or Pure Evil Buu, if the Kaioshin absorption subplot is being edited out). They were only spared a quick death because Mr. Buu popped out thanks to Satan's intervention. Mr. Buu is now fighting his evil counterpart, but is clearly losing. The situation looks grim... until they get to use the dragon balls. Instead of relying on the Genki-Dama, they actually bring Gohan after he gets revived by the wish, via Kibitoshin's teleportation (Goku can't do it as a result of having no more energy). Gohan proceeds to blow Pure [Evil?] Buu into nothingness with a one handed ki blast. Also, Vegeta doesn't get brought back, because the dragon is sane and still considers him evil.

There, done and done. Mr. Satan, Mr. Buu, Gohan, Goku, Kibitoshin, and Dende all get their due credit. The final plot isn't absolutely stupid. The only problem I can see with this is, while Mr. Satan does save the world, he doesn't do it by being a showboating douche with good PR. Which was, like, the best thing.

As for your solutions: creative, I wouldn't have thought of some of those. My main problem with those is that Good Buu would still get destroyed without doing anything (seemingly wasting the whole Fat Buu-Satan subplot from earlier), and Mr. Satan wouldn't save the world. A more minor problem is that we wouldn't get those scenes where Super Buu chooses to attack Goku rather than let him fuse, and that other scene where he offers to let Goku fuse with Mr. Satan. I think those were both nice moments for him.

[Low Tone G]

I would have like if it ended with Freeza saga without Vegeta to be resurrected.

[Marco Polo]

Frieza vs Goku on Namek. Base Goku is too weak and is killed after a decent battle. Gohan was there watching and he is the one turning Super Saiyan. Krillin, Tien, Yamcha are teleported to Namek with the Dragon Balls. Gohan and co. including Goku's spirit defeat Frieza in a variant of the Gohan vs. Cell Kamehameha duel.

[Saiga]

Actually, maybe that COULD be the ending. Think about it; it's not actually that bad. Everything goes the way it did until they start making wishes with the dragon balls. Goku and Vegeta have just lost to Pure Buu (or Pure Evil Buu, if the Kaioshin absorption subplot is being edited out). They were only spared a quick death because Mr. Buu popped out thanks to Satan's intervention. Mr. Buu is now fighting his evil counterpart, but is clearly losing. The situation looks grim... until they get to use the dragon balls. Instead of relying on the Genki-Dama, they actually bring Gohan after he gets revived by the wish, via Kibitoshin's teleportation (Goku can't do it as a result of having no more energy). Gohan proceeds to blow Pure [Evil?] Buu into nothingness with a one handed ki blast. Also, Vegeta doesn't get brought back, because the dragon is sane and still considers him evil.

There, done and done. Mr. Satan, Mr. Buu, Gohan, Goku, Kibitoshin, and Dende all get their due credit. The final plot isn't absolutely stupid. The only problem I can see with this is, while Mr. Satan does save the world, he doesn't do it by being a showboating douche with good PR. Which was, like, the best thing.

Definitely better than the ending we got, however I think there would still be problems in the events leading up to it - mostly just in potara, the way Gohan is absorbed (can't catch an earring wtf), and Vegetto vs Gohan-Boo being so boring. So all potara related problems, actually.

As for your solutions: creative, I wouldn't have thought of some of those. My main problem with those is that Good Buu would still get destroyed without doing anything (seemingly wasting the whole Fat Buu-Satan subplot from earlier), and Mr. Satan wouldn't save the world. A more minor problem is that we wouldn't get those scenes where Super Buu chooses to attack Goku rather than let him fuse, and that other scene where he offers to let Goku fuse with Mr. Satan. I think those were both nice moments for him.

Thanks. I also like Good Boo being relevant and Satan saving the world, but I'm not sure how I'd keep those while keeping my preferred ending. Maybe Satan actually causes Good Boo to awaken inside Gotenks-Boo, which hinders Gotenks-Boo at a crucial point (super ripping off Oob's role in the Baby fight here) ? Also, my idea wouldn't end with Good Boo being destroyed. As a separate being who is literally devoid of evil, Good Boo should be included in the final wish at the end. For those scenes with Evil Boo, I also like them but I'm not sure I'd make a priority of keeping them in. Easiest way to keep it, though: Goku would still show up, and Gotenks-Boo immediately kills him. Then offers Gohan to fuse with Satan.

I did have another idea that could make Good Boo more relevant, though, but it means not ending it with Gohan beating Boo and ripping off Fusion Reborn - After Evil Boo is killed, all the souls are separated in Otherworld. Evil Boo's soul is put into the cleansing thingy, and it overloads and he manages to reform, then take control of Otherworld like Janemba did. Vegeta was given a body before this point by Enma just in case, as per the original series, and he and Goku go confront Boo. In this version Pure Evil Boo is as strong as Pure Boo was, so things proceed mostly the same. Gohan can't just solve this problem instantly by killing himself, because Enma and God are frozen in jelly and can't give him a body when his soul gets there, and Goten and Trunks already had bodies at this point but can't fuse because it hasn't been an hour since they defused inside Boo. So Super Saiyan 3 fails, Goku and Vegeta get smacked around, and then Vegeta has a little character development moment where he is the one to suggest fusion (oh, ripping off GT again). Good Boo stalls Pure Evil Boo while Goku and Vegeta fuse, and Gogeta ends it. The problem here is that it ends without Gohan being involved at all which is not what I want. I guess maybe I could lift that restriction that stops him killing himself, though, and have him step in after Good Boo stalls. Or they could use the Dragon Balls to fix Otherworld before that.

Thought of a crazy alternative to fusion: Goku tries the Spirit Bomb, it fails, Majin Boo tries the Spirit Bomb with his ability to copy techniques and Satan does his thing to have humanity donate to the bomb. It succeeds.

[WittyUsername]

[/quote]

I never said Toriyama intended to end the series there, I'm saying that I think it could have been a good place to end the series. As far as unresolved plots are concerned, Gohan's rage still did show up in the Freeza saga, and the whole thing about Piccolo and Kami being separate wasn't really an unresolved plot, it wasn't something vital to the story at the time. As far as the thing about Vegeta is concerned, Goku was never dead in the Freeza saga, so Vegeta technically would not have been the strongest in the universe had the series ended at Freeza.

I'm aware.

Gohan's rage amounted to nothing, and was left dangling as a plot point (it seems fairly obvious that Z was meant to end with Gohan as the protagonist and stronger than Goku, going by his introductory arc). Kami and Piccolo's separation was alluded to multiple times in the Freeza arc, with Guru and Nail saying that, if they merged, the results would be legendary. Goku wasn't dead, but Vegeta could still do whatever the hell he wanted while Goku was gone.

I wouldn't say his rage amounted to nothing, it did show up in the battle against Freeza after all. And just because the idea of Piccolo and Kami merging was alluded to doesn't mean it would be something required to happen.

[CatouttaHell]

The series should've ended after Son Goku defeated the evil Giant Fish and restored peace to Mount Paozu once again.

[jjgp1112]

The Cell saga ending wrapped the whole series up pretty well. The Buu saga just felt kinda redundant afterwards.

[Lord Beerus]

Hey, I already started threat just like this.

Anyway... the Cell arc is where I would have ended Dragon Ball. Just felt the most conclusive out of all the arcs in Dragon Ball. Although, I love the Majin Boo arc and I'm fairly content with original ending, but if Dragon Ball had ended with the Cell arc it would have felt more definitive.

[RandomGuy96]

Definitely better than the ending we got, however I think there would still be problems in the events leading up to it - mostly just in potara, the way Gohan is absorbed (can't catch an earring wtf), and Vegetto vs Gohan-Boo being so boring. So all potara related problems, actually.

I was just pointing out that it's not actually that bad. Up until a few days ago, I almost forgot that bringing Gohan wasn't even an option until the fight with Pure Buu was basically over. So, you'd still get a climactic final battle (Goku, Vegeta and Good Buu vs Pure [Evil?] Buu), except now it doesn't have to be completely stupid, and only a couple of chapters would have to be changed. Just replace the Genki-Dama one-shotting Buu with Gohan one-shotting Buu. It's a pretty good ending when you think about it; Gohan gets to be the hero, and the rest of the gang still gets credit for holding the line long enough for him to get wished back... basically inverting the common "stall for Goku" plot.

The Potara still presents problems, though. I guess you could just eliminate the PIS involved in Gohan getting absorbed by having Buu absorb him while he's too injured to resist, rather than having Buu absorb him because he can't catch an earring. Just have Dende heal him the first time, then Buu kills Dende, then Gohan manages to barely cancel out Buu's Vanishing Ball with his own amplified Kamehameha at the cost of most of his ki (sustaining some damage in the process), then Buu absorbs the now-helpless Gohan. Buu's Gotenks fusion breaks down soon after Gohan stops his Earth-destroying Vanishing Ball, but it doesn't matter, because Gohan can barely move. Goku tries to convince Buu to let them fuse, but Buu lolnopes him and goes back to absorbing Gohan. Goku tries to stop Buuccolo from absorbing Gohan, but he just gets smacked down. After the absorption is finished, Buu offers to let Goku fuse with Mr. Satan, Goku senses Vegeta, yadda yadda yadda, everything goes the same way it did from there, except Pure Evil Buu replaces Pure Buu, and Gohan replaces the Genki-Dama.

More minor things: if I was going to go this route, I would have Gohan actually be able to put up a bit of a fight against Gotenks-Buu, and have Super Buu destroy the Potara earrings inside his body, rather than having Vegeta crush them (that made zero sense, even for Vegeta). Well, actually, I'd probably eliminate the Potara altogether, but this is me trying to be minimal with the changes made, so the story still generally goes the same way.

[AnimeMaakuo]

There seems to be a fair amount of debates in the fandom as to where the manga should have ended. The general consensus seems to be that the Cell saga would have been the most appropriate since Gohan's character arc pretty much came full circle, and it ended with Goku passing the torch to him.

Me personally, I think the Freeza saga would have been the best place to end the series. Goku's backstory was fully explained, and in a way, Freeza was essentially the big bad of the entire series up to that point when looking back.

I would have ended the series after Cell.

[Saiga]

I was just pointing out that it's not actually that bad. Up until a few days ago, I almost forgot that bringing Gohan wasn't even an option until the fight with Pure Buu was basically over. So, you'd still get a climactic final battle (Goku, Vegeta and Good Buu vs Pure [Evil?] Buu), except now it doesn't have to be completely stupid, and only a couple of chapters would have to be changed. Just replace the Genki-Dama one-shotting Buu with Gohan one-shotting Buu. It's a pretty good ending when you think about it; Gohan gets to be the hero, and the rest of the gang still gets credit for holding the line long enough for him to get wished back... basically inverting the common "stall for Goku" plot.

The Potara still presents problems, though. I guess you could just eliminate the PIS involved in Gohan getting absorbed by having Buu absorb him while he's too injured to resist, rather than having Buu absorb him because he can't catch an earring. Just have Dende heal him the first time, then Buu kills Dende, then Gohan manages to barely cancel out Buu's Vanishing Ball with his own amplified Kamehameha at the cost of most of his ki (sustaining some damage in the process), then Buu absorbs the now-helpless Gohan. Buu's Gotenks fusion breaks down soon after Gohan stops his Earth-destroying Vanishing Ball, but it doesn't matter, because Gohan can barely move. Goku tries to convince Buu to let them fuse, but Buu lolnopes him and goes back to absorbing Gohan. Goku tries to stop Buuccolo from absorbing Gohan, but he just gets smacked down. After the absorption is finished, Buu offers to let Goku fuse with Mr. Satan, Goku senses Vegeta, yadda yadda yadda, everything goes the same way it did from there, except Pure Evil Buu replaces Pure Buu, and Gohan replaces the Genki-Dama.

More minor things: if I was going to go this route, I would have Gohan actually be able to put up a bit of a fight against Gotenks-Buu, and have Super Buu destroy the Potara earrings inside his body, rather than having Vegeta crush them (that made zero sense, even for Vegeta). Well, actually, I'd probably eliminate the Potara altogether, but this is me trying to be minimal with the changes made, so the story still generally goes the same way.

Well, why wasn't it an option? They could have used the Dragon Balls at any time, basically. They just waited until they screwed up first. You could say that's understandable and going immediately for the Dragon Balls to bring back Gohan is being uncharacteristically cautious of them, though. As I said in the other thread, I feel like this probably wouldn't actually make Gohan look like the hero, because it's over as soon as he comes around. I think that kind of plot only really works if there's still a rather climatic battle ahead. Also, Gohan already kind of did that earlier in the arc, just without people knowing he was coming.

So to me it'd feel like Gohan just fixing up what he lost earlier, and against a lesser villain at that. I'm also not sure if there's any point having Dende heal Gohan in this version, if he's getting injured again. I'd just have him somehow manage to deflect the Vanishing Ball while injured, then get absorbed while he's down on the ground.

Well, I'd rather see the Potara eliminated as well. Otherwise, the easiest change would be that Vegeta and Goku can't re-merge after they defuse because of Potara's rules - they try it with both sets to be sure. That requires only one explanation for why they don't use Potara rather than two, and also frees up the problem for future stories ('cause I don't think there's any way for the manga to have ended that would prevent people milking it later) - especially since having Mr Boo around makes Potara risk free. I mean, Vegeta crushing the potara inside Boo made little sense, but Goku crushing them as well made even less sense.

Yeah, still don't know how big I am on this scenario. It does allow for a lot of things to be included that would be lost if Gohan beat Gotenks-Boo, though.

[thomas1up]

I'd end it at the party after Majin Boo's defeat, it felt more like an ending while Oob feels so forced and is a pretty boring ending (at least to me), the 28th Budokai is my least favourite section of cannon episodes in Z.

[ABED]

-Gohan's rage still means nothing.
-Piccolo and Kami are still separate.
-A genocidal maniac is now the most powerful person in the universe... and on Earth.

I like ending it after the battle against Freeza. It would require a slightly different ending, but not radically. I don't think there has to be a huge payoff for Gohan's rage. He's just powerful, perhaps write an epilogue where Goku trains Gohan in order to eventually take over as the strongest.
Does the story require Kami and Piccolo to become one in order for DB to feel complete? Just because someone brings up them being much stronger as one being doesn't require the story to show that.

Regarding the stuff with Buu, the strengths of each of the characters would have to be rethought. Gohan's new form is so insanely strong, so even if Goku and Vegeta die, he's still there. The final fight doesn't feel quite as climactic.

[fadeddreams5]

I would have ended it with Goku and Gohan killing Buu together. The way it would have worked is actually pretty simple: Gohan has a one-sided fight with Super Buu, but then Buu absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo like normal. Instead of Gohan losing against him, they fight in a stalemate, with Gohan gaining the advantage. When Buu notices he's losing, he absorbs Gohan too, but Gohan, like Vegito, manages to resist being absorbed, and ventures to save his friends. After these events, Buu turns into Kid Buu, and the story progresses as normal, except Gohan is the one fighting Buu alongside Goku, who remains dead, on the Kai planet. Kid Buu turns out to be weaker than Buutenks but capable of "catching up" to any fighter he fights, so to speaks, and almost impossible to put down, given his regeneration and superior stamina, so Goku is FORCED to use the spirit bomb. Here, Goku is the one who plans everything instead of Vegeta, but Gohan (as well as Mr. Buu) has to be the one to stall. Perhaps Goku and Gohan even shoot the spirit bomb together.

So basically, in this ending, there would be no Vegito, and Gohan would be buffed. FYI, Vegeta still gets his epiphany while watching or sensing Goku fight.

[Rocketman]

I still think that the best ending for the series is Super Saiyan Goku killing Freeza and then himself getting caught in the explosion of Namek. It's so perfectly symmetrical.

[rereboy]

I still think that the best ending for the series is Super Saiyan Goku killing Freeza and then himself getting caught in the explosion of Namek. It's so perfectly symmetrical.

And totally inappropriate for the tone of the manga.

[Galan007]

Cell saga.

The Buu saga just wasn't needed, imo.

[Kakacarrottop]

To all the people saying the manga should of ended at Cell instead of Buu, well Buu was a much better final boss than Cell. Cell didn't feel strong enough, he was basically just a stronger version of Freeza who had minor regeneration abilities and a few other quirks, but nothing about him felt too hard to beat, Buu on the other hand felt truly invincible, i mean he could regenerate and absorb/eat people at will. It felt like no matter how much you spam him with ki blasts he's still gonna regenerate. He also lacked the logic and common sense of Freeza & Cell so he felt really unpredictable, and it was like you knew he could snap at any minute and casually bust the universe.

[DBZAOTA482]

To all the people saying the manga should of ended at Cell instead of Buu, well Buu was a much better final boss than Cell. Cell didn't feel strong enough, he was basically just a stronger version of Freeza who had minor regeneration abilities and a few other quirks, but nothing about him felt too hard to beat, Buu on the other hand felt truly invincible, i mean he could regenerate and absorb/eat people at will. It felt like no matter how much you spam him with ki blasts he's still gonna regenerate. He also lacked the logic and common sense of Freeza & Cell so he felt really unpredictable, and it was like you knew he could snap at any minute and casually bust the universe.

All of the villains are rather unpredictable. And Majin Boo's regeneration abilities made him more of a cheap annoyance than a genuine threat. Besides, he has no real connection with any of the heroes when villains before and after him did so he didn't really have that final boss feel (for me, at least).

Anyways, I'd end it with Gohan beating Super Boo (not easily though) or the Cell Saga. The Freeza Saga ending is too dark.