Acronyms
The following acronyms are widely used both in the professional and fandom space with regard to the Dragon Ball franchise and expanded works of Akira Toriyama:
- BT: Budokai Tenkaichi (video game series international localization)
A corruption of Tenka'ichi Budōkai used to rebrand the Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! series of video games internationally. (Sparking! was renamed to Budokai Tenkaichi, followed by Sparking! NEO being renamed to Budokai Tenkaichi 2, followed by Sparking! METEOR being renamed to Budokai Tenkaichi 3). - DB: Dragon Ball
Both the name of the overarching franchise, as well as the name of the original manga and first television series. - DBAF: Dragon Ball AF
An unofficial series spawned from various rumors and misinformation propagated throughout the late 1990s and early aughts. Its most notable versions include separate "Dragon Ball AF" fan comics by Toyotarō and Young Jijii. - DBGT: Dragon Ball GT
The third television series for the franchise, Dragon Ball GT was a wholly-original series made directly for television by Toei Animation. - DBZ: Dragon Ball Z
The second television series for the franchise, Dragon Ball Z adapts chapters 195 through 519 of the original manga. - GT: Grand Touring
The 64-episode Dragon Ball GT television-only series from 1996-1997 served as the first official sequel to the original Dragon Ball production. The "GT" moniker was suggested by Akira Toriyama, who said: "...in car lingo, GT means 'Gran Turismo': a fast, high-powered car, in other words. But in this case, I had GT mean 'Grand Touring', a great journey, since the scenario was that they’d be running around the universe." - RoSaT: Room of Spirit and Time
With predecessors in the original manga itself as well as filler material in both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, the Room of Spirit and Time (精神と時の部屋 Seishin to Toki no Heya) makes its formal debut during the Cell arc. While other similar rooms exist throughout the universe, the primary Room of Spirit and Time is located within God's Palace on Earth and allows its users to spend one full year inside for only a single day on the outside. - SJ: Shōnen Jump or Saikyō Jump
Under the overarching "Jump" branding produced by Shueisha, "Shōnen Jump" is perhaps the most recognizable, particularly with the adoption of its specific branding internationally. Even within the "Shōnen Jump" branding, however, there are specific magazines such as Weekly Shōnen Jump and (the now-defunct) Monthly Shōnen Jump. Another magazine produced by Shueisha under the "Jump" branding is Saikyō Jump, though this magazine is aimed at a demographic even younger than that of the Weekly Shōnen Jump audience. - SSB: Super Saiyan Blue
A transformation introduced the 2015 theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' and subsequently adapted into Dragon Ball Super, "Super Saiyan Blue" is a name later used in dialog in the Dragon Ball Super television series and manga when characters refer to the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan transformation. - SSG: Super Saiyan God
A transformation introduced in the 2013 theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and subsequently adapted into Dragon Ball Super, "Super Saiyan God" is notable for its red hair and thinner character stature. - SSGSS: Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan
A transformation introduced in the 2015 theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' and subsequently adapted into Dragon Ball Super, "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan" is described as "a Super Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God". The transformation is later referred to in dialog by character as "Super Saiyan Blue". - SSJ: Super Saiya-jin
An adaptation of 超サイヤ人 (Sūpā Saiyajin), or "Super Saiyan". While the shorter "SS" acronym has certainly been used, factors contributing to the full "SSJ" acronym being put into wider use have included: the prevalence of the "jin" word ending in Japanese to non-native speakers in a pre-localization era, a desire to distance oneself from the Nazi police force, etc. - SSJ1/SS1: Super Saiyan 1
The regular Super Saiyan form with golden hair is the initial transformation of the overall Super Saiyan transformation line. - SSJ2/SS2: Super Saiyan 2
The second transformation of the Super Saiyan transformation line, Super Saiyan 2 is generally identifiable by spikier hair and lighting/sparks around the character. - SSJ3/SS3: Super Saiyan 3
The third transformation of the Super Saiyan transformation line, Super Saiyan 3 is generally identifiable by hair growing longer down the back and a lack of eyebrows. - SSJ4/SS4: Super Saiyan 4
Introduced in the Dragon Ball GT television series, Super Saiyan 4 is a unique transformation sporting longer, black hair and fur on the character. - SSR: Super Saiyan Rage
A form introduced for the future version of Trunks as seen in the Dragon Ball Super television series (and subsequently later in video games), Super Saiyan Rage (スーパーサイヤ人怒り Sūpā Saiyajin Ikari) features a blue hue surrounding the standard Super Saiyan form. - TB: Tenka'ichi Budōkai
The "Number One Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament" (天下一武道会 Tenka'ichi Budōkai) prominently featured throughout the various Dragon Ball series. Often left untranslated, sometimes adapted as "Tenkaichi Tournament", or translated either in part or in full. - USJ / USSJ: Ultra Saiya-jin / Ultra Super Saiya-jin
Prior to a formal name being provided in official franchise documentation, Curtis Hoffmann assigned the "Ultra Saiya-jin" naming scheme to the "Grade" forms within the first Super Saiyan transformation in his online, text-based tankōbon summaries from the 1990s. (See also: "SSJ" above.) - WJ / WSJ: Weekly Shōnen Jump
A weekly manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha, Weekly Shōnen Jump was home to the original serializations of Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball along with various other works by Akira Toriyama. "WJ" is often used in place of "WSJ" as a point of distinction from the Wall Street Journal.