"Terminator" Influence In Dragon Ball

Piccolo Daimao · Post by **Piccolo Daimao** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:10 am

I think you know who I'm talking about. Sergeant Metallic/Major Metallitron, who has a very close resemblance to the Terminator in the first "Terminator" film.

Is it possible that Akira Toriyama may have based his design of Sergeant Metallic off of the Terminator, as the resemblance is so close? "The Terminator" was released on October 26, 1984. "Dragon Ball Volume 5", in which Sergeant Metallic first appeared in, was first released on January 15, 1987.

Discuss.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:13 am

It's possible. Plus there's the whole Android Saga with the Trunks story.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:19 am

Probably. Toriyama always parodies stuff.

Amigo Ten · Post by **Amigo Ten** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:42 am

Given that Terminator, as far as I know, pretty much invented the look of the big muscle-bound cyborg with shades, I'd say it's pretty likely.

RoarkVegeta · Post by **RoarkVegeta** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:13 pm

Watch "Mind Power...Energy."

B · Post by B » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:14 pm

Reacoom and No. 16, I believe.

Shoryuken · Post by **Shoryuken** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:42 pm

B wrote:Reacoom and No. 16, I believe.

I've always seen it as:
Super Sentai mannerisms + Arnold Schwarzenegger = Rikoom.

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:53 pm

Logic tells me that he did base him off Terminator. If not, the writers of Terminator have the same brain as Toriyama.
The Terminator was a low budget (believe it or not) movie that got internationally famous and put the ground for all the "tech noir" movies that were to come in the 80's.
It's not odd that the movie had gotten the attention of Toriyama, and thus made him to make a parody of the character.

Supa Saiya-Jin Tullece · Post by **Supa Saiya-Jin Tullece** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:03 pm

I'm pretty sure he is.

Even the DragonBall Collector in that one issue of Shonen Jump from a while back makes the same comparison.

Hellspawn28 · Post by **Hellspawn28** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:04 pm

I recall AT him saying he gets most of his ideas from most action movies. I would not be surprise if he got his ideas from T2 for the Cell saga.

Shiyonasan · Post by **Shiyonasan** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:18 pm

I'm pretty sure Akira Toriyama stated himself that Sergeant Metallic was based off of the Terminator. I may be wrong, but they look too similar to not be related.

Hellspawn28 wrote:I would not be surprise if he got his ideas from T2 for the Cell saga.

It could be. Both have a powerful robot which comes from the future, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Post by **TripleRach** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:31 am

It seems incredibly obvious that Metallic is a parody of the Terminator. That part of the manga was done in late 85/early 86, when the original movie was still very fresh.

As for the Cell arc, that started around summer 1991 in Weekly Jump. Guess what movie came out during the summer of 1991? Although the references are more to the first movie. For instance, Trunks warns that #19 and #20 will arrive on May 12th. May 12th is also the date Kyle Reese and the Terminator arrived in the past in T1. And then there's the whole deal about the apocalyptic future ravaged by machines who had turned on their creator. Or even just the mix of both time travel and cyborgs in general. (The manga actually does use "cyborg" as a synonym for jinzouningen in one instance.) There's even one Trunks flashback in the anime that resembles one of Reese's flashbacks in T1, where they're both walking through a depressing tunnel full of people.

The summer 1991 thing could be a coincidence, of course. Looking at the dates, Trunks first appeared in Jump a good month or so before T2 was released in Japan, and I certainly don't know how far in advance Toriyama drew that chapter or started planning the arc out. (Though we do know he didn't plan things out too far in advance, especially in this case.) But I'm just saying, it's more than possible that the pre-release hype for the movie gave him at least a little bit of inspiration. Maybe it made him want to rewatch the first movie? Also, look at Trunks's hair. It's the same style John Connor had in T2, and that's something that could have easily been picked up from trailers or posters or whatever.

Terra-jin · Post by **Terra-jin** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:16 pm

There's also the semblance between the T-1000 (Mr. Melt) and Majin Buu.

russ869 · Post by **russ869** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:03 pm

A lot of 80's anime had clear inspiration from Terminator. The Boomers in Bubblegum Crisis are cyborgs with human flesh living among us. The Dirty Pair OVA - Affair on Nolandia has a very obvious Terminator rip-off. It looks exactly like a T-800! Black Magic M-66 is basically a Terminator story.

So this kind of thing was all the rage.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:18 pm

Even the Metal Gear series was influenced by The Terminator. Snake was influenced by Kyle Reese and of course Snake Plissken from Escape From New York.

MCDaveG · Post by **MCDaveG** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:35 pm

Majin Buu is based on T-1000........ T-1000 is from liquid steel, Majin Boo is from

liquid chewing gum
Majin Boo-bbaloo, even the pun is confirmed

SparkyPantsMcGee · Post by **SparkyPantsMcGee** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:14 pm

I was expecting something like a comparison to the Terminator Movies and the Cell Saga. Like how young Trunks looks like John Conner. Or, my favorite, how 16(the closest android to look like Arnold) starts off as a mindless robot who's sole purpose is to kill the hero but is later reprogrammed to help the humans fight against a bigger threat.

I love the cell saga because it alludes to Terminator(intentionally or not) but doesn't completely rip the series off.

<--- the T1000

Post by **Herms** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:17 pm

MCDaveG wrote:Majin Boo-bbaloo, even the pun is confirmed

According to Toriyama, Majin Buu is named after the magical chant "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo" from Disney's Cinderella.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:56 pm

SparkyPantsMcGee wrote:I was expecting something like a comparison to the Terminator Movies and the Cell Saga. Like how young Trunks looks like John Conner. Or, my favorite, how 16(the closest android to look like Arnold) starts off as a mindless robot who's sole purpose is to kill the hero but is later reprogrammed to help the humans fight against a bigger threat.

I love the cell saga because it alludes to Terminator(intentionally or not) but doesn't completely rip the series off. <--- the T1000

You may have been expecting it, but you're the one to actually list those things. Thank you

MCDaveG · Post by **MCDaveG** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:22 pm

Herms wrote:
MCDaveG wrote:Majin Boo-bbaloo, even the pun is confirmed
According to Toriyama, Majin Buu is named after the magical chant "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo" from Disney's Cinderella.

I know, that was supposed to be kind of joke