Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dragon Ball Super chapter 86!
Akira Toriyama has the chance to finally treat his latest villain Gas in a way that he has never done before with his long list of other antagonists and evil-doers ever since he started the franchise, through DBZ and into Dragon Ball Super.
Although an innovative figure to the manga genre, Toriyama is infamous for sticking to the tropes and formulas he initially innovated decades ago. For his villains specifically, each one has met either one of two fates. They either join the Z Fighters (Vegeta, Androids 17 and 18, Majin Buu etc.) or are killed (Nappa, Cell, Moro, etc.). The only two exceptions are Dr. Gero and Frieza, though, they still fit in their respective characters to a degree. Dr. Gero only survived since he never actually fought directly against Goku. He worked from the shadows, though, he was eventually killed by his own creations. And although Goku was initially going to let Frieza live, he did eventually try to kill him after Frieza forced his hand. It is also important to note that Future Trunks did later finish what Goku started even though Frieza was later revived to help the Z Fighters in the Tournament of Power.
Now Toriyama has provided himself with the unprecedented chance to give his latest villain a third option in Dragon Ball Super chapter 86. At the end of Goku's battle against Gas, Goku becomes the villain's punching bag so Granolah can power an attack strong enough that can overwhelm their opponent and then throws him into the air to ensure that Granolah doesn't miss. But Gas isn't killed, and Granolah allows him to live.
Although this shocking development ends the cycle of revenge for Granolah, it opens the possibility for something much more could happen for the franchise. And that is a progression in Dragon Ball where a villain is allowed to live, doesn't join Goku and continues to exist in the universe as a prospective threat. Of course, Frieza currently fills this particular role as he's a previous villain who's fought against Goku and still lives. He's even rebuilding his so-called Frieza Force to even greater glory than ever before. The difference with Gas is that after being defeated in this possible future, no one is forced to try and kill him or finish him off later when that first attempt fails. It's unclear, however, how Gas being spared would change him as a villain compared to Frieza aside from his survival forever changing a longstanding formula that Toriyama would have never broken until now. It is clear, however, that if Gas does survive, he won't have a full life ahead of him since it's been established that the eternal dragon Toronbo had to shorten the villain's life dramatically in order to make him the strongest warrior in the universe. The understanding that he doesn't have much longer to live could have a profound effect on his psyche that would be intriguing to see in some capacity, especially in a Dragon Ball story.
But all of this is just speculation. Dragon Ball Super still needs to deliver by allowing Gas to survive his encounter with Goku, Vegeta and Granolah, and still remain their enemy instead of befriending them like almost every other villain in the franchise. Although unlikely, these latest chapters have already proven that Toriyama is capable of breaking a formula. Hopefully he will continue this trend for many more chapters, arcs and sagas to come.
The latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super is available now on Viz Media's Shonen Jump app!