What are Broly's origins in Dragon Ball? Character's journey to canon, explained

Modified Jun 06, 2024 23:30 GMT

Dragon Ball and the origins of Broly in the franchise (Image via Toei Animation)

Dragon Ball has a lot of iconic characters, and Broly might be one of the most interesting examples because he was originally non-canon, but nowadays, he is part of the main storyline. That might sound complicated to many people, but the truth of the matter is that there are two versions of Broly: the non-canon and the canon versions.

In that regard, the character's journey in the series started with the three Dragon Ball movies he was a part of in the 90s and remained there for decades. However, the character was revamped and integrated into the Super canon through the 2018 movie, which was titled Broly and has become a part of the series, with a different origin story and personality.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Broly's origins and actions in non-canon Dragon Ball, explained

Goku fighting Broly in the first movie of the 90s (Image via Toei Animation)

The character first appeared in the 1993 movie Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan, which was created by Takao Koyama, the writer of all the Z films and author of the series, Akira Toriyama, who helped with the design. He is depicted as one of the last remaining Saiyans at first, and his father, Paragus, goes to Earth to help Vegeta and his friends.

However, as the movie progresses, it is revealed that Broly is the true Super Saiyan of legend, with a power and thirst for violence that even makes his close once fear him. Therefore, King Vegeta tried to kill him, and Paragus and he ran away, so they decided to track down the king's son and get revenge.

In this movie, Broly has a device in his head that keeps him at bay, but once it is destroyed, he reaches his full power and goes insane, destroying anything and anyone in his path. It took the combined efforts of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Future Trunks to defeat him, although the character returned for two more movies in the 90s while remaining non-canon.

Broly's canonical origins

Broly fighting in the 2018 canon film (Image via Toei Animation)

This version of the character of Broly was modeled after one of the non-canon 90s movies and how author Akira Toriyama thought that it would be a good idea to add him to the main storyline because of his popularity. However, the author also wanted to modify his personality and make him more of an antagonist for the story rather than a full-blown villain.

Broly is still one of the legendary Super Saiyans but, in this version, he and his father Paragus were abandoned on planet Vampa. They lived there for years until they were found by the newly revamped Frieza Force and were sent to deal with Vegeta and Goku to get their revenge, thus leading to an epic clash with Broly.

In this version, Broly is shown as a very kind and introverted man, who only displays violent traits when he fights because he cannot control his powers. However, he switches sides once Vegeta and Goku fuse into Gogeta to defeat him. He becomes a group member, as shown in the Dragon Ball Super manga and the 2022 Super Hero movie.

How Broly became canon?

Broly powering up in the 2018 film (Image via Toei Animation)

As mentioned earlier, it was Akira Toriyama who suggested that the people in charge of the 2018 film include him in the story and make him a part of its canon. He was also the one who contributed to the changes of the character design, his personality, and the backstory, thus leading to a very different interpretation compared to the 90s Dragon Ball Z movies.

His role as part of the series' canon was also complemented, as mentioned earlier, through his role in the Dragon Ball Super manga and the Super Hero movies as he is seen in Beerus' planet training with Goku and Vegeta.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika