Dragon Ball Super has made a Dragon Ball GT character canon. While it's just a cameo, and of a secondary character, this is proof that Dragon Ball Super's author, Toyotaro, is a huge fan of the franchise created by Akira Toriyama, and he constantly references its lore with small easter eggs that only the more keen-eyed fans can spot.
Dragon Ball GT occupies a weird spot in the universe of Goku and his friends. As the first official "sequel" to Dragon Ball, which is arguably the most influential modern manga/anime series, it's impossible to ignore Dragon Ball GT. Many Western viewers transitioned from the end of Dragon Ball Z straight into GT, so they consider it a canon sequel. However, the series was created by Toei Animation with little to no input from Toriyama. This created inconsistencies and bad reactions to the plot, which made fans question Dragon Ball GT's canonicity for decades, especially after the "true" sequel to the original series, Dragon Ball Super, came out, picking up right where the Majin Buu Saga left.
The artist and co-writer of Dragon Ball Super, Toyotarou, is a huge fan of the franchise. In fact, before being hired to work with Toriyama on Super, Toyotarou created his own fan-fiction sequel to Dragon Ball GT, called Dragon Ball AF, which became quite popular and brought him to the attention of Shueisha. In chapter #88 of Dragon Ball Super, Toyotarou shows just how much of a Dragon Ball Geek he is, introducing a character from Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy, a television special that aired in Japan in 1997 and serves as a prelude to the final episode of Dragon Ball GT. The character in question, in Super, is an unnamed man who owns a hot dog stand and serves Trunks on his way to school. The man looks exactly the same as the truck driver who gives Goku Jr. a lift in A Hero's Legacy, before stealing all his food.
Toyotarou's References To Dragon Ball GT Prove He Respects That Part Of The Franchise
The reference is pretty obvious, as the man who made Goku Jr. starve is now feeding Trunks. While this is just a cameo of an unnamed side character, it proves that Toyotarou is always looking for ways to surprise fans with hidden references and easter eggs. A Hero's Legacy is a pretty obscure part of the franchise, which is set one hundred years after the end of Dragon Ball GT, showing Goku's descendant, Goku Jr., who also makes a brief appearance in GT's finale, where he fights Vegeta Jr. What makes this whole story even more interesting is that, in fact, Dragon Ball is now considered a canon part of the franchise's timeline, as confirmed by Shueisha itself, meaning that the same applies to Goku Jr.'s adventure.
Dragon Ball Super managed to not interfere with GT too much because it actually takes place in the seven-year gap that incurs between the defeat of Kid Buu and Dragon Ball Z's finale. However, as the series' timeline proceeds (and it actually jumped a lot forward with this latest arc), Dragon Ball Super will inevitably catch up with the start of GT. Before that happens, fans can rest assured that Toyotarou is the biggest fan of Dragon Ball out there, and his frequent references to Dragon Ball GT prove that, if and when the time comes to adapt it into a manga, he will treat that part of the franchise with the respect it deserves.
The latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super is available from Viz Media.