Dragon Ballhas had three sequel series at this point:GT,Daima, andDragon Ball Super. However, all three of these series have major continuity conflicts with one another. How can these problems be solved? Well, there’s one all-powerful character who could easily clear it up: The Omni-King, Grand Zeno.
The continuity issues between the three series range from fairly minor to almost irreconcilable, which has caused no end to frustration for fans trying to figure out what should be considered canon and what shouldn’t at this point. Is it really possible for Grand Zeno, even as a limitlessly powerful god, to fix these issues?
Dragon Ball’s Continuity Issues Have Created a Mess
Dragon Ball’s Sequels Were Created Without Regard for One Another
The first sequel toDragon Ball ZwasDragon Ball GT, back in 1997.Dragon Ball GThas always occupied a difficult space inDragon Ballcontinuity, as it was created by Toei Animation without any input from Akira Toriyama. As such, whenDragon Ball Supercame along, and did have Toriyama’s input, many immediately calledGTnon-canonical.
Toei insistedGTwas still canon, but asSuperwent on, it became apparent they couldn’t coexist.GTis set afterSuper, but doesn’t feature any of the characters or transformations seen inSuper, when logically they should still exist and be accessible. It pushed the bounds of believability too far, and soon the canon was too far apart.
IfDaimais set beforeSuper, then why didn’t Goku use Super Saiyan 4 at any point duringDragon Ball Super?
ThenDragon Ball Daimacame out, and while it didn’t immediately introduce any major problems, the series' conclusion,which featured Super Saiyan 4, caused issues for bothGTandSuper. IfDaimais set beforeSuper, then why didn’t Goku use Super Saiyan 4 at any point duringDragon Ball Super?
The situation is worse still forGT, asDaimais set beforeGTand features the introduction of Super Saiyan 4, directly contradicting the events ofGTin a completely irreconcilable way. After all, how could Goku go Super Saiyan 4 for the first time at two different points? What could possibly connect these series back together?
Fans Already Have Theories to Repair Dragon Ball’s Continuity
Some Fan Explanations Make Dragon Ball’s Timeline Make More Sense
Faced with these continuity issues, many fans began looking for explanations. Some have speculated that Goku was unable to attain Super Saiyan 4 again afterDaima, hence why he doesn’t use it inSuper. One might still expect Goku to lament his inability to access the form, but that’s easy enough to handwave away.
With the radical power increase of Super Saiyan God and later, Blue, Goku wouldn’t necessarily miss having access to Super Saiyan 4, except for during his battle with Beerus at the start of the series. The explanation fits fairly well, and there are a number of reasons why this might be the case, even if it wasn’t spelled out.
BridgingGTandDaimais much more difficult, however.That’s where Grand Zeno comes in. As the omnipotent god ofDragon Ball’s multiverse, Zeno has the power to do a variety of different things, which might help the two series fit together.
For example, perhaps Zeno heard about the goings-on in the Demon Realm and decided to pay a visit, possibly even resetting time to before Gomah made his power grab. Zeno could also wipe the memory of the people involved in theDaimastoryline, causing them to forget what happened, even though it still occurred.
The Most Elegant Solution is Right in Dragon Ball Super
Dragon Ball Super’s Time Rings Could Easily Explain Continuity Issues
One thing established inDragon Ball Superis that when someone performs time travel, it creates what’s known as a Time Ring, objects which are kept by the Supreme Kai and used to travel back and forth for educational purposes. It’s believed that there are several Time Rings in existence, only one of which is explained by Future Trunks.
It’s entirely possible that an instance of time travel could’ve led toDragon Ball GTorDragon Ball Daimataking place in these alternate timelines.Zeno can also time travel, and may have done so for reasons completely unrelated to theDragon Ballcast. That would allow these three sequels to coexist in separate timelines, all canonical.
Dragon Ballhas already played around a lot with time travel in its non-canonical side series,Super Dragon Ball Heroes, which uses “Xeno” versions of characterswho are explicitly from a different timeline than the primaryDragon Balltimeline, while still including the primary versions from time to time.
It wouldn’t be too hard for a future chapter ofDragon Ball Superto bring up the Time Rings again, and perhaps even provide a glimpse of these alternate timelines, if the series did want to establishGTandDaimaas canonical alternate timelines. This explanation would likely satisfy most fans, as they can simply follow the timeline they prefer.
Dragon Ball Deserves a Logical Continuity
The Series Must Clear Up the Continuity Problems Between Sequels
At the very least, setting up this sort of explanation forGTis a must at this point. As the oldest and least popular of theDragon Ball Zsequels, there’s simply no way to reconcile it withDaimain the same timeline, and so it’s the most likely series to be pushed aside to make room for new content.
WithDragon Ball Super’s manga still (hypothetically) ongoing, that’s the most likely place for an answer to arise, and given that Toyotaro is a big fan of the franchise, it’s likely that he, too, is a little vexed by the continuity problems facingDragon Ball. Perhaps that will be enough to prompt him to come up with an explanation like this.
While calling in a literal god to smooth out continuity issues is a questionable move from a writing perspective, the problems have become great enough that it might just be justified. Without official word on the continuity of the franchise, however, fans will just have to keep their own theories, at least untilDragon Ball Supercan address the issue.
