What happened to the third Dragon Radar? And is there a fourth??

[KBABZ]

So if you've been following the Rewatch thread you'd know that I've been helping Robo in coming up with interesting trivia for each week's episodes. And this week has got me REALLY thinking on the number of Dragon Radars we see in the series, and what befalls them. Here's what I know thus far:

1) The original Dragon Radar built by Bulma for the original quest was given to Goku at the end of the Pilaf Arc and is used during the Red Ribbon Army Arc. It is notably taken by General Blue in Penguin Village, taken to Red Ribbon Army HQ, and used by Colonel Violet. Its resting place is the RRA HQ, although whether or not it was destroyed in the chaos of Goku's assault is unknown.

2) The Turbo Radar. After Blue steals the original Radar, Turbo uses bits of Noramaki's plane to build a second Radar for Goku. So good is this rebuild that when Bulma opens it up at the start of the Baba Saga, she does not notice it at all: only Goku is aware that this Radar isn't the original. Goku would use this Radar to track down Tambourine, but after being used to locate the Dragon Ball around Yajirobe's neck, it's never seen again (we'll get to this below).

3) The Roshi Radar. After Goku runs off with the Turbo Radar, Roshi asks Bulma to build another Radar so that he can track down the other Dragon Balls before Piccolo Daimao can. This Radar would later be used to track down Raditz via the Dragon Ball on Gohan's hat.

4) So here we get to the discussion part. The Radar taken for the trip to Namek has a new, more rounded design with a mushroom-shaped button, compared to the puck shape of the original. Is this an upgraded Roshi Radar with a new chassis? OR is it a completely new design altogether? Personally, I err towards the former simply because when Bulma asks Trunks to go to Capsule Corp in the Buu Arc, she only says "the Dragon Radar", singular. Her verbage never suggests that there's a second one lying around.

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And now we return to the Turbo Radar. WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?? The most logical answer is that Goku put it somewhere and forgot, but if so, where?? There are a few logical answers to that...

2a) Goku left it at Kami's Lookout whilst training with him. This presents a problem because it completely invalidates Trunks even having to go to Capsule Corp to pick up the redesigned Radar: his entire mission was worthless and Goku burnt through his Otherworld timer for nothing! While Dende wouldn't have known about it, Mr. Popo or even Piccolo (having gained Kami's knowledge) would have pointed this out.

2b) Goku kept it and had it on him at the 23rd Tournament, where he handed it to Bulma off-screen. This causes the verbage problem for Trunks' search similar to the "fourth" Radar idea, unless the Radar was broken during the Tambourine rematch and Bulma never got around to fixing it.

2c) Goku left it at Korin's Tower before setting off to face Piccolo Daimao. This presents a small problem because Korin is able to read minds and thus probably knows telepathy, and given his close proximity to Kami's Lookout, he would have certainly used it to tell them he had the Radar so that Trunks' trip would be much shorter.

2d) Goku put it in the glovebox of Yajirobe's aircar while being taken to Korin, where it's forgotten about. This is the most interesting answer because Yajirobe would use an aircar that looks just like it at the start of the Android Arc to deliver Goku some Senzu Beans... where it's then blown up by 19 and 20. BUT, in the anime it's pink in the Daimao Arc, while it's blue-grey in the Android Arc, meaning it's a different aircar. In the manga meanwhile they're the same, by nature of the manga's black and white format meaning they appear identical. So this answer means the Radar is destroyed in the manga, but survived in the anime!



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Personally, my viewpoint is this: the Radar we see on Namek is a remodel of the Roshi Radar, and that the Turbo Radar was broken in the fight with Tambourine and returned to Bulma. It's also possible that if the Turbo Radar was in Yajirobe's glovebox, he may have noticed it and stowed it elsewhere, having no idea what it actually is.

What do you guys think??

[Akira]

This is a very interesting topic, because it brings up a neat discussion that I had never really through of before. It has been a few years since I watched Dragonball last, but I always assumed the Radar Goku had was his and he still had it. Although, maybe he didn't leave it with Yajerobi, Korin or Kami? At the beginning of the Saiyan Arc, Gohan is introduced with a hat that has the four star ball on it. Goku says some passing line about having tracked down a few of the Dragonballs for fun until he found the one that was his grandfather's keepsake, and his son's namesake. I always thought he had tracked down those Dragonballs with the same Radar he had during the Daimao arc. So, my thought was that radar was at his house. I may be missing a key plot point in there somewhere, but when he sent Trunks to West City in the Buu Arc, I assumed it because it was closer than his house?

Also, I figured Goku used his own radar to track down the Dragonballs again once Dende became the guardian of earth and restored them during the Cell Arc. Neat discussion idea, makes me want to re-read those manga chapters and see if there is any more evidence to these points.

[KBABZ]

This is a very interesting topic, because it brings up a neat discussion that I had never really through of before. It has been a few years since I watched Dragonball last, but I always assumed the Radar Goku had was his and he still had it. Although, maybe he didn't leave it with Yajerobi, Korin or Kami? At the beginning of the Saiyan Arc, Gohan is introduced with a hat that has the four star ball on it. Goku says some passing line about having tracked down a few of the Dragonballs for fun until he found the one that was his grandfather's keepsake, and his son's namesake. I always thought he had tracked down those Dragonballs with the same Radar he had during the Daimao arc.

That's a very good point, hadn't considered that!

Also, I figured Goku used his own radar to track down the Dragonballs again once Dende became the guardian of earth and restored them during the Cell Arc. Neat discussion idea, makes me want to re-read those manga chapters and see if there is any more evidence to these points.

Luckily the Dragon Radar he used is easy to figure out: it's the one that went to Namek, because of its teardrop shape.

[Akira]

Ah, okay, that makes sense on the Cell Arc hunt, because Bulma had flown her air car up there to deliver the Saiyan Battle armor to everyone. Explains how the Radar from Freeza arc was used. So, the one Goku had might still be at his house then.

[KBABZ]

Ah, okay, that makes sense on the Cell Arc hunt, because Bulma had flown her air car up there to deliver the Saiyan Battle armor to everyone. Explains how the Radar from Freeza arc was used. So, the one Goku had might still be at his house then.

Yeah. If that's the case, Goku hadn't forgotten the Turbo Radar and either retrieved it or kept it, allowing him to find the other three in his briefer search for the Four Star Ball during the 5 year timeskip after the 23rd TB.

[TobyS]

I always wondered how goku found any of the balls before EoZ even with his speed and stuff it'd take a lifetime to go through bushes and rivers and stuff.

I choose to believe he had one and Trunks house was just nearer/better known to Trunks in the Buu saga.

Great thread.

[KBABZ]

I always wondered how goku found any of the balls before EoZ even with his speed and stuff it'd take a lifetime to go through bushes and rivers and stuff.

I choose to believe he had one and Trunks house was just nearer/better known to Trunks in the Buu saga.

Great thread.

Thanks!

Yeah, at this point I personally believe he kept the Radar he took from Bulma after Krillin's death, and used that for his searches from that point. When he had to track down Raditz he correctly assumed Bulma had her latest one on her, and did this again when he had to gather all seven during the Cell Games.

[MasenkoHA]

Despite it’s questionable placement the first Z movie suggest Goku doesn’t have a dragon radar since he went from home to Kame House to get it from Bulma.

It’s possible Goku found the three Dragon Balls without a radar in the five year gap.

[KBABZ]

Despite it’s questionable placement the first Z movie suggest Goku doesn’t have a dragon radar since he went from home to Kame House to get it from Bulma.

It’s possible Goku found the three Dragon Balls without a radar in the five year gap.

I mean I decided long ago that the movies are so far removed from the anime, let alone the manga, that they shouldn't be taken seriously regarding what happens in the anime.

I also don't feel it's feasible for Goku to have found three Dragon Balls entirely without assistance. My assumption was that, with his Radar, he started looking for the Four Star Ball, but found the other two first. Similar to how in the RRA arc he found five other Dragon Balls before finding the Four Star Ball.