The canon of Dragon Ball has expanded in various ways over the last several decades, and even though it can be difficult to follow as is, these 25 abandoned storylines and ideas would've changed the franchise even more. Created by Akira Toriyama in 1984, the manga for Dragon Ball introduced readers to the martial arts and fantasy world that mainly focuses on Goku. After the popularity of the manga, the stories were adapted in anime form and have spawned continuations in the forms of new anime shows and movies.
Throughout the last 30 years of Dragon Ball content, though, it can get confusing to follow everything that has happened. This can make it challenging for people just now discovering the franchise to get involved, as even the most diehard fans can sometimes lose track of what story arcs are considered actual parts of the canon. Along the way, the shows have left several scenes and ideas on the cutting room floor that would've changed everything.
In Screen Rant's newest video, we dive deep into the Dragon Ball franchise and discuss 25 story points that were changed from the source material or disregarded after the fact. These examples can be something as major as Dragon Ball Z retconning King Piccolo's origin to make him a Namekian instead of a demonic entity as he was in the manga, while others may be unresolved plot points like what the Angels were up to in Dragon Ball Super. Check out the full list in the video featured at the top of this post.
One of the major changes that almost came to Dragon Ball was moving past Goku as the main character. Toriyama previously considered making Gohan the new focal point of the franchise, but the transition never happened. Additionally, one story that appears to have been forgotten about is the family that Android-17 claims to have. Some theories believe that Android-17 is making up this life to deal with his loneliness.
Even though some of these storylines have not been to discussed recently, it is always possible that future Dragon Ball could explore them. The future of the franchise is currently not known, but the performance of Dragon Ball Super: Broly at the box office guarantees that more stories will come due to the continued popularity. Once Dragon Ball does move forward, maybe this will be when Launch will return to the series, if Crane Hermit and Tao Pai-pai can get revenge on Tien Shinhan, or if Vegeta achieves his past goal of collecting every Dragon Ball and becoming immortal.