Dragon Ball Z - No actual character development?

[thatdbzguy]

Saying DBZ has no character development has become a fairly common claim. Some accuse if of having characters that just "switch sides", with no actual development. Do you agree?

[Zephyr]

Though Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and Vegeta all fill the same general role of "asshole bad guy who turns into Goku's rival and later a very trusted ally", they all certainly have character development.

For someone to say otherwise is to demonstrate the fact that they've not actually read/watched the series.

[DBZ Mick]

It depends on what you see as character development.

I see it like this- The audience must infer for themselves what the character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech (choice of words, way of talking), looks and interaction with other characters, including other characters’ reactions to that particular person.

Dragonball certainly has that.

Or character arc- the change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a narrative.

Dragonball has that.


It might not be the richest but it certainly has character development.

[DoomieDoomie911]

I think there's plenty of character development in Dragon Ball. Just as Zephyr said above, Vegeta, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo all fit the are villians who turn into allies, but there is still lots of character development.

[Cursed Lemon]

In DBZ specifically, the only characters who truly undergo character development are Piccolo in the Saiyan saga, Gohan up until the Cell games, and Vegeta throughout the series.

[Gonstead]

In DBZ specifically, the only characters who truly undergo character development are Piccolo in the Saiyan saga, Gohan up until the Cell games, and Vegeta throughout the series.

And Goku during the Frieza Saga.

[Cursed Lemon]

And Goku during the Freeza Saga.

I don't really think Goku undergoes any character development. I mean, he changes demeanor with respect to the situation, but what about Goku's fundamental personality is ACTUALLY, permanently altered at any point in DBZ? He remains the same slightly naive, happy-go-lucky individual we expect.

[Gonstead]

And Goku during the Freeza Saga.

I don't really think Goku undergoes any character development. I mean, he changes demeanor with respect to the situation, but what about Goku's fundamental personality is ACTUALLY, permanently altered at any point in DBZ? He remains the same slightly naive, happy-go-lucky individual we expect.

He finally accepts who and what he is - A Saiyan, after so long of denying it.

Ever since Raditz, he's pretty much been barraged with "You're a Saiyan!". When he finally turned Super Saiyan, he understood.

[coola]

In my opinion, Goku turned worse in DBZ, in DB, he would never allow bad guy to live, wanting to fight him again, so, instead of development, we have regress.

[Gonstead]

In my opinion, Goku turned worse in DBZ, in DB, he would never allow bad guy to live, wanting to fight him again, so, instead of development, we have regress.

Simply, he learned from Kami that killing is wrong.

[TheMightyOzaru]

Goku's really the only one who doesn't develop. Everyone of Goku's allies were all "bad" at one point and they became good later. They all just have varying degrees in the time it took for the turn to take place. Vegeta's was the longest.

[SsjRavi]

I think the whole aspect of Prince Vegeta and his pride helped develop his character a lot throughout Z.
Vegeta was an arrogant proud soldier whose actions were reflected by his powerlevel at that point in time and was due to his upbringing in as a warrior. Later in the series as he started to get use to human life he developed a soft spot for his family and other civillians.

[DBZAOTA482]

Goku's really the only one who doesn't develop. Everyone of Goku's allies were all "bad" at one point and they became good later. They all just have varying degrees in the time it took for the turn to take place. Vegeta's was the longest.

Bulma, Chi-Chi, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan weren't "bad" (though three of them were morally flawed).

[TheMightyOzaru]

Bulma and Chi Chi are the exceptions. Tenshinhan WAS bad, and Krillin was morally in the wrong.

[CaBrPi]

Bulma was quite often morally in the wrong.

She grew up quite a bit when she had a kid.

[Gyt Kaliba]

The way I've always looked at it is that Dragon Ball does have character development - it just doesn't really dwell on it long enough for us to really 'experience' it the same way we do in most other series.

For example, say...well, barring what would become of the character later, let's take Sasuke from Naruto. We see him becoming slightly less douchey towards Naruto during the initial couple of arcs, and you can really see the wall between the two start to come down (again, this is barring everything past that point that kinda throws this comparison completely out of whack). Now let's look at a similar situation with rivals forced to train together, Goku and Kuririn. We know Kuririn is a bit of an ass at first, and we see them training together - but we don't really get a lot in the way of them actually growing closer per say. It just kind of happens along the way, without anything directly showcasing that it's happening until it's over, it happened.

The weird thing? It manages to make 'just happening' really heartfelt in the scene where they're jumping into the air together after ditching the heavy turtle shells. It manages to be more sweet than anything between the other pair I mentioned, without giving it much focus. Somehow that's just the Toriyama magic I suppose though.

[Marco Polo]

Does Dragon Ball ahve character development?



Yes.

[matt0044]

The weird thing? It manages to make 'just happening' really heartfelt in the scene where they're jumping into the air together after ditching the heavy turtle shells. It manages to be more sweet than anything between the other pair I mentioned, without giving it much focus. Somehow that's just the Toriyama magic I suppose though.

I think it's because he doesn't spell it out there and it works because that's how it'd go in real life. You don't really need a focus storyline to hammer the point home.

[Zephyr]

Bulma, Chi-Chi, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan weren't "bad" (though three of them were morally flawed).

Tenshinhan was an assassin in training with a history of extremely dirty fighting.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

We have character development for Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo... I think that's it in DBZ.