There’s plenty to Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series that has contributed to it being one of the most enduring and beloved manga and anime of all time. The series has evolved from a light-hearted adventure to a martial arts-focused battle series that now deals with God-like entities fighting it out. Though massive battles and power-ups occupy the majority of Dragon Ball’s narrative today, the series started out with a different goal in mind.
The goal for Goku and many others in early Dragon Ball was to collect the titular magic artifacts, granting them the wishing powers of the Eternal Dragon; Shenron. The Dragon Balls have taken a smaller role in the narrative over the years, with the Dragon Radar taking all the adventure out of finding them and making the process more of a rudimentary failsafe. The franchise has introduced a variety of variants to the Earth Dragon Balls over the years, each with its own unique function and history.
Earth Dragon Balls
The first and most recognizable set of Dragon Balls introduced in the series, the Earth Dragon Balls played a big role in the first half of the original series, before gradually losing relevance with the start of the Saiyan Arc. They were created by Kami, and while powerful, have their limitations. The Earth Dragon Balls have typically been used to revive fallen fighters and citizens following a disastrous confrontation, but can also be used to grant the wish maker immortality or eternal youth. One notable caveat is that they can’t grant the same wish twice, making it so that no one can be revived multiple times by the Earth Dragon Balls.
The original set of Earth Dragon Balls created by Kami could only grant the user one wish, making them all the more valuable and the decision that much more difficult. When Dende succeeded Kami as Earth’s guardian, his new Dragon Balls were made to grant three wishes. The number would be reduced to two if one wish was used to revive a large number of people. Dende additionally made it so leftover wishes could be carried over, allowing for wishes to be used more strategically.
With every wish made, the Earth Dragon Balls accumulate a certain amount of negative energy that is stored and cleared every century. The supposed years it would take to find the Dragon Balls once they’ve scattered allowed for this negative energy to gradually dispense, but thanks to the dragon radar, finding and using them became too frequent for the method to properly work.
Though this concept was introduced in the original series, GT would expand upon it with the inclusion of Black Smoke Shenron and the Shadow Dragons. Though it’s not canon, this was an interesting way to depict the consequences of overuse when collecting and using the earth Dragon Balls; something that had become far too routine at that point.
Namekian Dragon Balls
The Namekian Dragon Balls were created by Grand Elder Guru, and are considerably different than their Earth counterparts. Though they’re mostly similar in power, they’re much larger than the Earth Dragon Balls, making them harder to carry around and conceal in comparison. They played a large role throughout the Frieza Saga on Namek but would be phased out once the Earth Dragon Balls were once again active.
Aside from the visual differences, the Namekian Dragon Balls are functionally different from their Earth variants in various other ways. Rather than summon Shenron, the Namekian Dragon Balls summon Porunga, who is able to grant three wishes as opposed to Kami’s Dragon Balls only being able to grant one. The user must also utter a password in Namekian in order to activate the Dragon Balls rather than simply gathering them all. Poruna can revive the same person multiple times, unlike Shenron, but this comes at the cost of only being able to revive one person per wish.
Super Dragon Balls
The Super Dragon Balls were introduced during Super’s Universe 6 Saga, revealed to have been created by the Dragon God, Zalama. These were the first-ever set of Dragon Balls to be created, making them much older than Earth and Nameks sets. When the Namekians found the Super Dragon Balls, they shaved pieces of them off in order to make theirs.
These Dragon Balls are much larger than any seen in the series, rivaling many planets in size. Using the Super Dragon Balls requires users to chant “Come forth, Dragon of the Gods, and grant my wish pretty peas!” in the language of the gods. Like the first version of the Earth Dragon Balls, users can only wish for one thing at a time. But the Super Dragon Balls stand as the most powerful Dragon Balls in the series, with the ability to grant virtually any wish without limitations.
Other Variants
There are other variants that are less relevant to the main series, but noteworthy all the same. The Black Star Dragon Balls were introduced in GT as creations of the Nameless Namekian, and seem much stronger than their counterparts. The wishes made with these Dragon Balls aren’t limited as with the regular Earth set, though they release so much power that they cause the planet they were summoned on to be destroyed if they aren’t retrieved within a year’s time. The Black Star Dragon Balls also scatter across the universe rather than across the planet, making retrieving them in that one-year time frame that much more difficult.
Dragon Ball Heroes introduces the Dark Dragon Balls, a variant created by an evil incarnation of Dende named Xeno Dende. The Dark Dragon Balls summon Dark Shenron, a demon-like amalgamation of Shenron, Black Smoke Shenron, and Porunga. Once they’ve served their purpose, the Dark Dragon Balls scatter across time and space, making them the most difficult variant to locate. They’ve also been shown to be somewhat sentient as they can merge with evildoers in order to increase their power.
The Dragon Ball franchise has introduced fans to a multitude of different Dragon Ball variants, each different than the Earth set in some way or another. Though their effect on the narrative varies, the Dragon Balls always manage to change the trajectory of the narrative, sometimes for the better and sometimes worse.
