Shenlong: A "Character" or A "Tool"?

[SHINOBI-03]

Shenlong / Shenron is undoubtedly one of Dragon Ball's most iconic elements, but would you consider the Dragon of the balls a proper character with defined personality? Or just a thing the series uses to serve its purpose before it goes away until the next time they need it?

Up until Super / Battle of Gods, Shenlong was to be honest with you the blandest of the dragons of the series. He's all just business and goes his way once his job is done and in-between he throws some vague hints about his powers or something only he and Goku knows about, but beyond that there's not much interactions between him and the characters. The one time where he had something going for him in the original series was when Piccolo killed him, but then Kami revives him and it's treated like it was nothing.

Now compare him to Polunga, he had fewer appearances than Shenlong but in that short amount of time we see more playful side of him from giving the occasional OK sign to giving freebies whenever he feels like it.

And if we're including GT dragons, the Black Star Dragon doesn't have a personality either but the drawbacks of using the Black Star Dragon Balls is what gives him the edge over Shenlong, and then you have the Seven Dragons with their own traits and personalities explored within their respective episodes.

Back to Shenlong, Battle of Gods is where he started to get a hint of a personality by being terrified of Beerus which is something neither Kami or Mr. Popo could do, and then comes Revival of F where he starts to accept the fact that he's having regular "customers" he trusts over first time strangers, and in Super Hero he seemed like he picked some of Polunga's mannerisms by being more casual with Piccolo and adding some extra stuff to his wishes.

But back to the original question: Would this still make him a character like the rest of the cast of the series, or a special tool to be used?

If I'd use another famous wish-granting entity as an example, the Genie from Disney's Aladdin is certainly a character who takes his time and effort to know his master better and eventually became his best friend. Even the Cave of Wonders raised an eyebrow when he saw Aladdin before him. But would you say the same for Shenlong?

Maybe it's the fact that he is one of the least "Toriyama" characters in the series? Normally Toriyama would make a comedic spectacle out of a character like him, be it over the top serious for a gag manga or play it like how he would've done it in Dr. Slump being nothing but chaotic energy, but Shenlong didn't even react in disbelief or insulted when Oolong made his first wish in a hundred years, and it's a pair of panties, and this was still the gag-filled era of early Dragon Ball before things started to get serious.

Maybe this is what makes him a unique element for a wild and crazy franchise like Dragon Ball. He's an entity that's unlike any other, but still raises an eyebrow when you notice how little we personally know about him outside of his creation and history.

[PowerPhantom245]

Shenlong is a character.
He may not be the most interesting character, despite its importance, but he is definitely more than a tool.
At least he is more character than Giru from GT; that is LITERALLY a tool. lol

It is an interesting topic you bring up.

[Kenji]

Shenlong is a character.
He may not be the most interesting character, despite its importance, but he is definitely more than a tool.
At least he is more character than Giru from GT; that is LITERALLY a tool. lol

It is an interesting topic you bring up.

Giru's actually a character. He has relationship dynamics with other characters, needs, flaws and makes self-conscious decisions that affect the story. Shen Long doesn't display any of these things in the original manga. He only ever displays those, quite ironically, during GT's final arc where he rebels against his masters and his programming and goes evil, needs to be purified, then chooses to take himself away for 100 years as a test of character for humanity.

There's also Daima with the client royalty rule. And Super, but Shen Long's newfound cowardice in Super really doesn't change anything if he were played more seriously than offer comic relief, so eh.

[JulieYBM]

Shen Long is as much a character as he is meant to be a vessel for a joke. He doesn't really have an arc, he just shows up when the story requires him to keep the story going as the writer needs. Shen Long shitting himself because a god is around? A funny way to slip in a joke and maybe make Beerus look tougher. Shen Long short-changing Gomah? A funny way to get Toriyama out of a corner that he wrote himself into.

Is Shen Long really a character? Not really, but it's funny when he embodies our more fickle moments as people.

[Zephyr]

Back to Shenlong, Battle of Gods is where he started to get a hint of a personality by being terrified of Beerus which is something neither Kami or Mr. Popo could do, and then comes Revival of F where he starts to accept the fact that he's having regular "customers" he trusts over first time strangers, and in Super Hero he seemed like he picked some of Polunga's mannerisms by being more casual with Piccolo and adding some extra stuff to his wishes.

But back to the original question: Would this still make him a character like the rest of the cast of the series, or a special tool to be used?

I know some people treat the term "character" as something reserved only for someone who goes through a character arc. Does Shenlong have an arc he goes through? I mean, the bits you highlight above seem to suggest that he's certainly changed by the time of Super. Does that count as an arc? Maybe. Either way, he's certainly developed some characterization that he didn't have before, and I think that's good enough to call him a "character".

[angeldreamZ004]

Of course he does. He and the other Shenlongs all have personalities just like how the Tamagamis have. They're sentient, have consciousness and memories. The thing is that they are entities created for very specific purposes and to execute very specific actions, and nothing more than that. Our human concept of free will to do anything we want does not exist for them, they weren't designated for that. So Shenlong will always exist to be summoned, grant 1 or more wishes, disappear and that's all. Tamagamis will always exist to stay at the same place protecting a Makai DB and fight those who want them, and do the puzzle challenge at the end.

They're like an ancient artificial intelligence. The Androids work in a very similar way. Depending on the Androids, they are allowed to have some degree of free will. Android 8 doesn't obey the orders given to him, and becomes Goku's friend. Android 19 is very obedient, but panics when Vegeta destroys his hands. Android 16 despite still remembering his mission of killing Goku at the Cell Games, decides to live in peace.

The difference is that the Androids are cybernetic constructs, made by humans and physical matter, so they are limited by the physics of the mortal reality.

Shenlong and the Tamagamis are spiritual constructs, created through spiritual technology and occult physics, so they have supernatural powers by standard.

I believe the reason why Shenlong seems to be more expressive in Super is because of Dende. Starts with the upgrade from one wish to three, then, adding more memories, and allowing him to express himself more. So he's aware of certain entities such as Namekujins, the Hakaishin, etc. In Super Hero, before Piccolo summons him, Dende does some kind of ritual with water on that small statue seen for the first time back in the Piccolo Daimao Saga (I don't know if it has a name), so it's likely what makes Shenlong act the way he does. Some other dragons will demonstrate special actions as well, Porunga has his popular “OK” hand, in the Toei original there's the Black Smoke Shenlong who smokes a cigar. For the most part, especially mortals, they'll always give the same generic treatment, but they are also designated to treat specific entities in specific ways, especially their creators. Remember the interactions Neva has with Tamagami 1.

The supernatural entities have a sense of humour, and they can apply that to their creations if they want. Apparently, Kami didn't want Shenlong to be so expressive while he was the one behind Earth's DBs.
Also they have limitations in both worlds. Porunga stopped functioning after the Grand Elder died, as if the source for his “spiritual wifi connection” was turned off.
When the dragons are summoned, they materialize a physical manifestation, meaning that they are exposed to the dangers of the physical world. That's why Piccolo Daimao could kill Shenlong.

There are other spiritual constructs as well. For example, the Room of Spirit and Time. The difference is that it wasn't built to have a consciousness. It's not meant to be an entity. It was made to be just a supernatural place in another dimension that breaks the laws of physics and time, and that's it.
I think the ROSAT can be called a tool.
Shenlong? The tool is the dragon balls, so he can be summoned.

[Saiya6Cit]

Sheng Long is a God. I suppose Toriyama had to keep him mystical and "neutral" in personality as a way to prevent possible cultural offenses (Chinese believe in Dragons).

We don't need to see him as a character because it would not matter to the story. Watch Dragon Ball with someone for the first time, they will get angst because of Krillin's death, then you just have to say: "Don't worry. he will be wished back to life with the dragon balls". In that sense, yes, the dragon balls are the tool, but not Sheng Long, he is a character.