If Zamasu came back

[Kappa]

I think it would cool if he came back as an anti hero.

Ideas?

[JulieYBM]

Give Zamasu a boyfriend!

Hey, Freeza's single right now!

[SupremeKai25]

The same thing that Heroes did with him.

- Have him return and cooperate with the main villain to eliminate the protagonists, out of shared hate for the protagonists.
- Keep Zamasu with his own agenda and his long-term vision to eliminate all mortals (including turning on his villain ally).
- Have his plans be foiled not by the protagonists, but by the "bigger fish" who backstabs him before the endgame.

As in this scene from Heroes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AKXiHCrjes


Toriyama loves sacrificing older villains to prop up a new character (see Mecha Frieza) and he also loves villains turning on each other midway through an arc (see Android 17 killing Gero, Majin Buu killing Babidi, what happened between Frieza and the Heeter gang). I suspect that he would want Zamasu to share this fate if he brought him back.

In a way, this was already the main purpose of Zamasu's character. It was to show the power of Zeno himself, that is why you had Zamasu throughout the arc gloating about his majesty, only to be instantly erased by the true deity.

Toriyama basically used Zamasu as a "sacrificial pawn" to prop up Zeno and his power (it was all hearsay before Zeno actually erased a whole timeline), then discarded him once he was no longer useful to the plot. Therefore, I suspect that Zamasu (or any other villain) would return to prop up a New, never-seen-before villain (a "bigger fish").

Could this be the fate that awaits Black Frieza? Just a sacrificial pawn to prop up a new villain?

What I absolutely, definitely, most certainly do NOT want is a redemption arc. Dragon Ball is already oversaturated with redeemed villains; it is good to keep a few villains around who are just pure evil and mad:

[Hellspawn28]

Zamasu is too evil to become good. His hard hate towards mortals will never change and the character was erased from Zeno. It was the first time where we had a villain to be erase from existence because he was too hard to be killed.

[Magnificent Ponta]

If Zamas were to see continued use as a character, I'd quite like to see him continue his story from where we left him.

Super Shenron made him immortal, and allegedly nothing is beyond its power, but Zeno also erased him and the reality he was in - so it'd be logical (and pretty neat) to see that conflict between the 'unstoppable force' of Zeno and the 'immovable object' of Super Shenron constantly contesting with each other on Zamas himself - make him a malevolent shade that has tumbled out of Trunks's lost reality and into "our" one, a disembodied and vengeful spirit continually disintegrating and re-integrating, and not quite able to fully and properly interact with the world around him as he wishes.

Have him manifest himself to some trusting mortal rubes on some random planet, as a God who reveals divine secrets that can grant power to a growing band of fanatical acolytes (things he learned as a God himself, so perfectly legitimate, but also some darker things specific to his new status; perhaps he can occasionally summon the will to temporarily merge his spirit with a willing vessel also - perhaps he has some senior Cult members volunteer to ritually sacrifice themselves for the cause, dying as a side-effect of the merger that allows his more concrete manifestations in the world) - a powerful but shadowy Death Cult forms around him as their True God, and Zamas uses their trust and growing power to advance his personal goal of the Zero Mortal Plan again as a fundamental tenet of "doctrine", siccing his empowered servants onto other Mortal civilisations and destroying them, telling his followers they're making a Just world by so doing. All the while, he hopes to find a way to fully restore himself (perhaps by finding some set of Dragon Balls, or just some other means) so that he can finally awaken as his True Self, and realise his plans to cleanse reality of Mortals, once again leaving himself as the only God in a World of "Balance".

There's an opening for a darker Eldritch vibe around Zamas (a mild one - this is still Dragon Ball, after all - but still authentically "the world will die screaming when the Gods return" as the basis of his new status), with a fairly logical character evolution as a shadowy Death God with a fanatical following; a subtler, quieter, and more cunning way of realising his plans than his first attempt (from a distance, it looks like just the standard turbulence of the Mortal world rather than the reckless crimes of a rogue God), and one that he simply has to undertake due to not being able to use his real power in the world until the day he is restored. I feel like this kind of Zamas - significantly weakened, but more cunning and influential - would be a neat shadowy boss figure for the Next Generation of Dragon Ball characters (Uub, Pan, Goten and Trunks) to contend with on an adventure.

[ZombieVito]

Super Heroes did a fantastic idea of Goku Black traveling to parallel worlds and fighting the Gokus from them to perfect his body. I would love that to be canon.

Fused Zamasu is too broken to bring back. You will have to seal him or repeat the same outcome from his arc. Maybe he lost his immortality thanks to Zeno but survived?

[Rafa Fast]

I honestly don't know
I think Zamasu was a cool villain, but I'm definitely not a big fan of his character (neither of his saga), so I wouldn't expect anything from his return, I personally don't see much reason for it, I believe his work is done.
Heroes made him return, and for me his participation in that Hatsu Saga arc was quite forgettable (I can barely remember his scenes), but I did like Black in that Fake Universe Saga.
One thing he has in his favor is that Super so far only has three original main antagonists who are genuinely villains, him, Moro and Gas, and as much as I prefer Moro I can't deny that the fans like Zamasu more (at least as far as I know).
I wouldn't see a problem if he followed the same path as Piccolo and Vegeta and became a hero or anti-hero. I don't mind the "too evil to get a redemption arc" argument, for me this is possible for anyone (except for someone like Kid Boo), and I don't think the fact that Zeno erased him from existence prevents him from coming back, script can do anything.

For me as long as it's fun, I accept anything to be done with him him, specially if he switches bodies with a different character, I really would like to see more "Ginyu like" characters in the series ^^.

[SupremeKai25]

Wasn't there talk about Daima revolving around a Demon-centric story/Demon realm?

That could be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce Zamasu, either as Zamasu himself or as a sort of "reboot" of the character (if Daima and Super are meant to be in separate continuities).

And where do erased souls go anyway? Are they really "erased" or is there a turbo afterlife where they go to when they are "erased"? There you have it, another story hook to bring back Zamasu and anyone else who was erased by Zeno (including the 13-18 universes).

[super michael]

Give Zamasu a boyfriend!

Hey, Freeza's single right now!

Technically he does love himself, he even fuse with himself. Can't exactly get closer than that.

Zamasu hates mortals, therefore would hate Freeza.

[Majin Buu]

And where do erased souls go anyway? Are they really "erased" or is there a turbo afterlife where they go to when they are "erased"? There you have it, another story hook to bring back Zamasu and anyone else who was erased by Zeno (including the 13-18 universes).

You're overthinking this.

Super already established that the Super Dragon Balls can bring back erased people and universes. That's how you bring Zamasu back.

The question is, who would want to bring Zamasu back?

Gowasu. Gowasu brings back Zamasu in a misguided attempt to redeem him and ultimately make up for his failure with Zamasu the first time. Perhaps he specifies that Zamasu be brought back as a good person and takes him in again, but tragically, Zamasu's core personality traits lead him to fall into evil once again (establishing that Zamasu's personality just inherently lends itself towards deadly narcissism).

Gowasu is an awful judge of character so it would be in character for him to do something foolish like this. Plus there's the pathos of his seemingly good intentions being fueled by an ultimately selfish desire (Wanting to redeem Zamasu to restore his own wounded pride from his past failure more than anything else).

[JulieYBM]

Give Zamasu a boyfriend!

Hey, Freeza's single right now!

Technically he does love himself, he even fuse with himself. Can't exactly get closer than that.

Zamasu hates mortals, therefore would hate Freeza.

good, that'll make it hotter

the dialogue between those two would be amazing, especially if they both wind up being each other's downfall

[Thani]

Give Zamasu a boyfriend!

Hey, Freeza's single right now!

Technically he does love himself, he even fuse with himself. Can't exactly get closer than that.

Zamasu hates mortals, therefore would hate Freeza.

good, that'll make it hotter

the dialogue between those two would be amazing, especially if they both wind up being each other's downfall

Tbh, in the anime at least, Zamasu and Black were pretty much a couple, and they worked amazingly well together

Honestly, if Zamasu is to come back, it has to be as Goku Black. Goku's body, instincts and mind is one of the things that really made Zamasu come off as so interesting to me - he's still proud of being a god, but he's taking the core aspects of Goku's personality, such as his blood knight tendencies and desire to keep pushing himself to become stronger.

[Trouser]

Only as Goku Black. Normal and Merged versions are lame and boring. He shines only as "Goku".

[Jack Bz]

I'm not at all eager for his return but I do like the idea of the manga version of him being an Agent Smith like entity in a tainted universe. Can replicate himself and has just taken over that particular universe but can't leave. And I'd like to see blue fusion level character vs like 1000 of him

[JulieYBM]

Technically he does love himself, he even fuse with himself. Can't exactly get closer than that.

Zamasu hates mortals, therefore would hate Freeza.

good, that'll make it hotter

the dialogue between those two would be amazing, especially if they both wind up being each other's downfall

Tbh, in the anime at least, Zamasu and Black were pretty much a couple, and they worked amazingly well together

Honestly, if Zamasu is to come back, it has to be as Goku Black. Goku's body, instincts and mind is one of the things that really made Zamasu come off as so interesting to me - he's still proud of being a god, but he's taking the core aspects of Goku's personality, such as his blood knight tendencies and desire to keep pushing himself to become stronger.

The immense queer energy of Zamasu and Gokuu Black as a partnership was the best part of the Future Trunks arc. Pairing Zamasu up with other personalities would be just as fun to watch.

[capsulecorp]

I wouldn't want this to happen and I find it very hard to imagine it happening, but... if it did happen... I think I'd want them to add some depth or nuance to his "anti-mortal ideology". Zamasu is defined by his disgust and fear of mortals, but his reasoning is thin, arbitrary and self-defeating. "They're destructive, unlike us gods, so we must destroy them" isn't even wrong, it's circular and paradoxical, which is far worse.

So, yeah, I'd like to see another attempt at explaining or justifying his motivations, or perhaps show him come to realize that he's simply insane?

[Mr Baggins]

Dragon Ball's divine pantheon is discernable entirely for the fact that it's just a bunch of blundering dipshits, without exception. Zamasu and his comical narcissism is exactly what you'd get from taking that idea and spawning a full-on villain from it.

I don't think there's any need to revisit this. The concept was sufficiently explored by the Future Trunks arc.

[SupremeKai25]

Dragon Ball's divine pantheon is discernable entirely for the fact that it's just a bunch of blundering dipshits, without exception. Zamasu and his comical narcissism is exactly what you'd get from taking that idea and spawning a full-on villain from it.

I don't think there's any need to revisit this. The concept was sufficiently explored by the Future Trunks arc.

How do you define the term "sufficiently explored"?

Do you think that Frieza was not "sufficiently explored" in DBZ and that his return in DBS was warranted?

The question is, who would want to bring Zamasu back?

Any villain really.

Anyone would want to have an Immortal partner on their team.

That is why you had Hearts from Heroes recruiting Zamasu to his cause, even though he hated mortals. An immortal partner is just that invaluable.

That is why the original Zamasu himself went through the trouble of recruiting an alternate timeline version of himself to make him immortal. No one can hurt you if you have an immortal partner to constantly tank anything coming your way.

Any villain would be wise to recruit Zamasu and get an invaluable asset in an Immortal partner.

That is why it will be Zamasu himself (either his Future or Fused version) who comes back, not Goku Black. There is pretty much no point in bringing back Black over his other versions. Immortality is more valuable than Goku's body, and Immortality + Goku's body is more valuable than just Goku's body.

The real question is: Who would even know that Zamasu existed?

Supreme Kais are not well-known in-universe, and the relevant versions of Zamasu were located in an entirely different timeline entirely (that is erased). You wouldn't get an entire empire trying to resurrect their leader, the plot would have to be more contrived and complicated, but such a plot can be made.

[Mr Baggins]

How do you define the term "sufficiently explored"?

Alexa, define "sufficiently explored" for our pal SupremeKai25:

Sufficiently explored refers to a situation where a particular area, topic, or subject has been thoroughly investigated, researched, and understood to a significant extent. It implies that comprehensive efforts have been made to gather data, conduct experiments, analyze findings, and draw conclusions that provide a deep understanding of the subject matter in question. When something is deemed sufficiently explored, it suggests that there is a high level of knowledge and insight available about that specific area.

In summary, sufficiently explored signifies a thorough investigation and understanding of a specific area or topic through rigorous research and analysis.

If you're asking me how that's applied here, the story fittingly presents Zamasu as a childish genocidal hypocrite who was undone in much the same way he sought to undo. Contra Trunks, the arc's protagonist whose character comes to terms with his reality in keeping hope, Zamasu refuses to accept his own reality that he's no different from the mortals he decries – to the point that he actually ends up defying reality before he's ultimately poofed out of existence.

That's where Zamasu's role as an antagonist culminates. His storyline is completed the moment he's ironically, unceremoniously wiped out by an apathetic god child. Freeza's was complete as well, but Freeza also has an existing relationship and grudge with the Saiyans that Zamasu lacks; so while Freeza's end works in the context of the original manga, I'd say there's potentially more to tell beyond that end in a series about Goku/Vegeta than with a character whose motivations were far less personal yet even more out of touch and arguably more self-destructive.

tl;dr: I appreciate Zamasu's character coming full circle in its own irreverent capacity as another silly god who happened to be in way over his head. Perhaps you should as well. Some things are better left concluded.

[capsulecorp]

tl;dr: I appreciate Zamasu's character coming full circle in its own irreverent capacity as another silly god who happened to be in way over his head. Perhaps you should as well. Some things are better left concluded.

Given how hierarchical the system of deities is, and how far outside his station he was conducting himself, maybe he'll have to start over from the bottom rung of the ladder. Years from now we'll find that Zamasu has been working contritely on some far flung planet, filing paperwork and making tea for junior Kais hundreds of years younger than him.