Do you like fusions?

[Kappa]

I think fusion is a great concept. All of the fusions we have seen (so far) are pretty cool. I wish we had more of them in the main story.

How bout you guys?

[SupremeKai25]

Yes, but more so for the Antagonist role.





When you have two powerful antagonists and have them fuse together into one being, that raises the stakes in a way that feels coherent and logical with the overall storyline. In a way, Fusion was a natural continuation after the Cell arc, where the Perfect Cell (Main villain) was effectively a fusion of two cyborgs and a bug android.

So when you have Goku Black and Zamasu, two antagonists who individually are both a menace, merge into one being, that raises the stakes.

When you have Kale and Caulifla, two antagonists who are both prodigies, merge into one super prodigy, that raises the stakes.

Fusion can be a great tool in the hand of the writer to hype up a final villain and mark the beginning of the endgames, as in the case of Zamasu. But even Kefla served her purpose as the final antagonist for the middle segment of the ToP arc.

And I was there in 2016/2017, I remember the hype and excitement online when the two Zamasus fused and the two Saiyan girls fused.

For the protagonists, I don't really care. It's either fusion or Goku conveniently asspulls his latest/strongest mode right when he needs it. It is not as impactful storywise as when it's the antagonists fusing. Also because everyone already knows everything about Vegito, Gogeta, and Gotenks, so it's not as surprising or shocking when it's the protagonists fusing (everyone already knows everything about their fusions).

[TheGreatness25]

I never liked fusion, to be entirely honest. Firstly, it seems like a cop-out. The characters hit a brick wall and suddenly, they get to fuse! But also, fusion characters aren't the protagonists that you know and love. Vegetto, for example--it's not Goku, it's not Vegeta, it's a whole separate character that we didn't get to know anything about. He just shows up for the purposes of evening out a fight.

[Zephyr]

Yeah, I like them. I like the combining of names, outfits, and (in the anime) voices.

It's also funny that there's pretty much always a dominant personality, such that the fusion might as well be "Dominant Person [Other Person Absorbed]". Gotenks is pretty much just Trunks (Goten absorbed). Gogeta and Vegetto are pretty much just Goku (Vegeta absorbed). And Kafla is pretty much just Caulifla (Kale absorbed). Kibitoshin doesn't even combine the voices, hes very much Kaioshin (Kibito absorbed).

[Koitsukai]

It's a good concept, and DB makes good use of it, usually not depending on the fusion to win, they tend to fail more than they succeed. It'd be boring if all it took to win was to fuse.

It's a fun way to have a new character based on two existing characters, like the best and the worst of both worlds, and it's a clever way to have them sort things out or learn things about each other.
I wish the show treated it like the intimate event that it is, you should fuse as a certain person and be completely changed once unfused. Although, I firmly believe, based on nothing at all, that Vegeta came out of Vegito changed. It's probably due to authorial intent, but after that fusion, he became much less anti-Goku.

[Vegetto95]

Yeah, I like them. I like the combining of names, outfits, and (in the anime) voices.

It's also funny that there's pretty much always a dominant personality, such that the fusion might as well be "Dominant Person [Other Person Absorbed]". Gotenks is pretty much just Trunks (Goten absorbed). Gogeta and Vegetto are pretty much just Goku (Vegeta absorbed). And Kafla is pretty much just Caulifla (Kale absorbed). Kibitoshin doesn't even combine the voices, hes very much Kaioshin (Kibito absorbed).

Personally, I never really liked the whole aspect of the fused characters having dual voices. I know it was Toriyama's idea, but it felt entirely at odds with the fact that the fused characters, both Metamoran and Potara, consider themselves to be entirely new beings separate from their components.

Hell, Vegetto's VERY FIRST line in the manga (after his famous "YOSHAAA!", of course lol) is "Cacarrotto and Vegeta have combined together, so I guess that makes me Vegetto", and in the anime he immediately follows that up by saying "I was wondering what would happen, but it looks like they successfully combined together". And when he reappears in Super, he introduces himself to Zamasu as "The combination of Gokū and Vegeta, Vegetto!" and later mocks Zamasu's faulty immortality by saying that "Now that you've fused, no matter what, you've always have the mortal named Son Gokū in your body!". He purposely refers to them both in the third person at all times, addressing them like they're entirely different people.

The same goes for Gogeta, as seen when he stated, both in Z movie 12 AND GT: "I am neither Gokū nor Vegeta, I am the one who will defeat you!" And in the Super: Broli movie, he tells Freeza that "I am Gogeta, Gokū and Vegeta merged together", followed shortly by "Their strengths are not just added together, but are much greater!", again with the heavy emphasis on referring to both entirely in third person.

Obviously the less prominent use of subject-identifying pronouns in Japanese speech means the uses of "they" and such aren't quite AS much of a "See, told you so!" type of thing since liberties always have to be taken when translating into English which puts much more emphasis on that, but even still... the repeated use of Gokū and Vegeta's names, and the way Vegetto and Gogeta use them is unmistakable. They CLEARLY consider themselves to be brand new existences and not just merely "Gokū + Vegeta", so it's weird that Toriyama/Tōei would write them that way and yet make their voices literally nothing but simply "Gokū + Vegeta".

Honestly, If I had to pick, I feel that Hiyama Nobuyuki would have been PERFECT for Vegetto and Gogeta. His voice is a really good middle-ground between Nozawa's high-pitched but tomboyish delivery for Gokū and Horikawa's slightly deeper, more raspy delivery for Vegeta. Plus, the man is a MASTER of badass Kiai yells, as evidenced by such great roles as Hiei in Yū Yū Hakusho, Viral in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shishiō Gai in The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Sanageyama Uzu in Kill la Kill, and even his own role in Dragon Ball Super as BARRY KHAAAAAAN!! just to name a few lol

[pepd]

Interesting topic.

In general I do like them, simply because they are fun. With Gotenks was silly that the kids fused and achieved SS3, surpassing everyone. Vegetto as a final resource that was exciting without solving the plot. But after that I'm not sure. Maybe because it was supposed to end and wasn't accounted for future stories. I guess it fitted Zamasu since they were two of the same narcissistic psycho and they are kaioshins, but with Vegetto even tho it funny how it annoyed Zamasu, and also didn't solve the plot, it felt gratuitous and fanservicy. Caulifla fusing to save Kale in the manga was a nice fix.

[MasenkoHA]

I think they're a useful way to give characters a power up besides Super Saiyan, and it's a bit disappointing Toriyama pretty much made it exclusive to the Saiyan characters. Imagine if Tenshinhan and Kuririn fused during the Tournament of Power to give themselves a leg up.

[Trouser]

I like them but I'm bored of Gotenks (or rather the ways he's been used in the series that made me dislike him now).

[LoganForkHands73]

Personally, I never really liked the whole aspect of the fused characters having dual voices. I know it was Toriyama's idea, but it felt entirely at odds with the fact that the fused characters, both Metamoran and Potara, consider themselves to be entirely new beings separate from their components.

Hell, Vegetto's VERY FIRST line in the manga (after his famous "YOSHAAA!", of course lol) is "Cacarrotto and Vegeta have combined together, so I guess that makes me Vegetto", and in the anime he immediately follows that up by saying "I was wondering what would happen, but it looks like they successfully combined together". And when he reappears in Super, he introduces himself to Zamasu as "The combination of Gokū and Vegeta, Vegetto!" and later mocks Zamasu's faulty immortality by saying that "Now that you've fused, no matter what, you've always have the mortal named Son Gokū in your body!". He purposely refers to them both in the third person at all times, addressing them like they're entirely different people.

The same goes for Gogeta, as seen when he stated, both in Z movie 12 AND GT: "I am neither Gokū nor Vegeta, I am the one who will defeat you!" And in the Super: Broli movie, he tells Freeza that "I am Gogeta, Gokū and Vegeta merged together", followed shortly by "Their strengths are not just added together, but are much greater!", again with the heavy emphasis on referring to both entirely in third person.

Obviously the less prominent use of subject-identifying pronouns in Japanese speech means the uses of "they" and such aren't quite AS much of a "See, told you so!" type of thing since liberties always have to be taken when translating into English which puts much more emphasis on that, but even still... the repeated use of Gokū and Vegeta's names, and the way Vegetto and Gogeta use them is unmistakable. They CLEARLY consider themselves to be brand new existences and not just merely "Gokū + Vegeta", so it's weird that Toriyama/Tōei would write them that way and yet make their voices literally nothing but simply "Gokū + Vegeta".

Honestly, If I had to pick, I feel that Hiyama Nobuyuki would have been PERFECT for Vegetto and Gogeta. His voice is a really good middle-ground between Nozawa's high-pitched but tomboyish delivery for Gokū and Horikawa's slightly deeper, more raspy delivery for Vegeta. Plus, the man is a MASTER of badass Kiai yells, as evidenced by such great roles as Hiei in Yū Yū Hakusho, Viral in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shishiō Gai in The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Sanageyama Uzu in Kill la Kill, and even his own role in Dragon Ball Super as BARRY KHAAAAAAN!! just to name a few lol

This leads to a shower thought I had many years ago, but if the Fusions essentially see themselves as separate individuals than their component parts, isn't that only a few steps removed from them being like the children of their components? How do they feel about having such fleeting lives? I always wondered how a longer story focusing on the Fusion characters would go. While not much of a worldbuilder, Toriyama seems to enjoy exploring some esoteric aspects of his own lore and answering questions few would think to ask. All that said, I don't seriously think that the Fusions really see themselves so separately, hence Toriyama's suggestion to overlay the voices (though the idea of a completely different actor playing them is interesting). They share the same combined memories and personality traits. I think their insistence on referring to their alter egos in the third person is easier than Vegetto saying "You have a mortal within you, Zamasu: me, when I was just Kakarot" or something awkward like that.

[AliTheZombie13]

9 out of 10 times, the result is that the fused is too cocky and refuses to just kill the villain before it's too late, so no.

[MasenkoHA]

9 out of 10 times, the result is that the fused is too cocky and refuses to just kill the villain before it's too late, so no.

9 times out of 10 being...Gotenks? Because it didn't really apply to Gogeta in Z Movie 12 or Super Broli where he was the trump card (and I'm fuzzy on his appearance in GT but I don't recall him having that problem). It didn't apply to Vegetto when fighting Buuhan since the point was to get absorbed by him to free Gohan and the others and the fusion ran shorter than anticipated when fighting Zamasu and he didn't have that much of an edge. And it certainly didn't apply to Kaulifa who was fighting in a tournament.

[Hellspawn28]

9 out of 10 times, the result is that the fused is too cocky and refuses to just kill the villain before it's too late, so no.

9 times out of 10 being...Gotenks? Because it didn't really apply to Gogeta in Z Movie 12 or Super Broli where he was the trump card (and I'm fuzzy on his appearance in GT but I don't recall him having that problem).

Gogeta in GT did clown around for a bit since he did pull off a fake Kamehameha attack. He could have used that time to do a proper kill instead.

[AliTheZombie13]

9 out of 10 times, the result is that the fused is too cocky and refuses to just kill the villain before it's too late, so no.

9 times out of 10 being...Gotenks? Because it didn't really apply to Gogeta in Z Movie 12 or Super Broli where he was the trump card (and I'm fuzzy on his appearance in GT but I don't recall him having that problem). It didn't apply to Vegetto when fighting Buuhan since the point was to get absorbed by him to free Gohan and the others and the fusion ran shorter than anticipated when fighting Zamasu and he didn't have that much of an edge. And it certainly didn't apply to Kaulifa who was fighting in a tournament.

I haven't watched the movies, but in GT, Gogeta defused before he could kill One-Star Dragon.
Other than that, I think fusion only ever achieved anything twice (for the heroes). The rest is just fan-service.
You can either love or hate the cocky supreme abomination that spawns out of it. In my case, I don't like them.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

They're fine, as a kid I probably would have liked more but as an adult I'm glad Dragon Ball didn't overdo the concept as its one of those ideas where less is more.

[nineko]

I'm still waiting for a 4-way fusion between Gogeta and Gotenks.

[Zephyr]

9 out of 10 times, the result is that the fused is too cocky and refuses to just kill the villain before it's too late, so no.

9 times out of 10 being...Gotenks? Because it didn't really apply to Gogeta in Z Movie 12 or Super Broli where he was the trump card (and I'm fuzzy on his appearance in GT but I don't recall him having that problem).

Gogeta in GT did clown around for a bit since he did pull off a fake Kamehameha attack. He could have used that time to do a proper kill instead.

If I remember right, Gogeta was was stalling in GT so that the One Star Dragon would use his minus energy attack, which Gogeta could turn positive to dissipate all the negative vibes in the sky.

So, I'm pretty sure "fusion is too cocky and refuses to kill the villain" is like 1 time out of 6.

[Koitsukai]

GT Gogeta played around way too much, and it was odd that after beating the other dragons and seeing how their demise also meant the dissipation of negative energy, he never thought that killing Omega once and for all would've also cleared up the planet.
Shit, killing him wasn't even needed, just a good ol' genki dama did the trick.

Gotenks and GT are the only cases where fusion is too smartass for their own good. That's an 8 year old fusion and a fusion written by people who were missing the forest for the trees, thinking killing the villain wouldn't undo the damage, unlike with the other dragons. I feel they tried to give him a complex secret plan like Vegito had, but much more flawed.

[Lukmendes]

If I remember right, Gogeta was was stalling in GT so that the One Star Dragon would use his minus energy attack, which Gogeta could turn positive to dissipate all the negative vibes in the sky.

So, I'm pretty sure "fusion is too cocky and refuses to kill the villain" is like 1 time out of 6.

That's what happened yes, but Gogeta was just being a moron for even bothering, since it's established multiple times that if you kill the shadow dragon, the negative energy goes away with him, so Gogeta waiting for One Star to use that negative energy ball to them kick it away with positive energy to dissipate the negative energy surrounding the planet is less effective than just killing him.

They clearly wanted a fusion to fuck around and this "He wanted to bait the enemy into doing something and was delaying the fight for it" is the same thing Vegetto did against Buu, but it works with Vegetto because he didn't want to kill the people Buu absorbed (Specially since technically Trunks, Goten and Gohan are all his sons), but again, this excuse doesn't work for Gogeta given the logic already established about the negative energy.

[MasenkoHA]

Regardless, even if Gogeta could have/should have killed One Star Dragon instead of doing his thing "Fusions fucking around instead of killing their opponent for no reason" is still a minority and not some sort of significant problem that permeates the whole concept.

We've had more examples of non-fused characters fucking around, Goku being two of them in just the Boo saga.