When it comes to iconic anime protagonists, few can rival the longevity and success ofDragon Ball’s Goku. For decades, the Saiyan has largely stood alone as the art form’s guiding light,ushering generations of new fans into the world of anime and manga. With new shows and games coming each passing year, Goku isn’t likely to give that spot up so easily, either.
His iconic spiked, unruly hair and overly orange color scheme have become integral to his image,but his origins might surprise even long-timeDragon Ballfans. It’s well known thatGoku was heavily inspired by Sun Wukong, the monkey protagonist of the 16th century Chinese novel,Journey to the West, and that influence was felt in his early design.
His mischievous energy and unmissable tail played a large role in his early characterization, butAkira Toriyama’s originalDragon Ballconcept artreveals that Goku was once much more monkey than human.
Goku Once Shared Much More In Common With the Monkey King
Goku’s Original Design Was Far Different From the Saiyan Fans Know Today
Rather than the largely human appearance he took on in his debut, Akira Toriyama’s original concept art reveals that Goku shared quite a bit more in common with Sun Wukong than he does today. Most notable is the difference in his top half. Rather than his instantly recognizable spiky hair,the top of his head and ears are entirely that of a monkey.
On top of his head is a sort of crown, and his tail is much longer than it would turn out to be in his official design.His iconic Nyoiboremains largely the same, though he uses gloves to grab hold of it, hiding whether his hands are a human’s or not.Goku’s outfit is also much more intricate, which would likely have given Toriyama quite a hard time illustrating in action sequences.
All that remains of his original design is his face, which stays largely the same throughout the majority of Toriyama’s sketches. It’s assumed that Bulma is standing to his left,resembling Launch far more than her final design, dressed in what appears to be a classic explorer’s outfit. Oolong joins them at the top and looks relatively the same, just far larger. Sketches resembling their final designs appear underneath.
Dragon Ball’s Character Designs Remain the Blueprint Decades Later
Dragon Ball’s Influence Can Still Be Felt In Modern Anime and Manga
Throughout the forty-plus years that followedDragon Ball’s debut, its character designs didn’t change all that much. Goku himself grew up, but his overall appearance hasstayed largely the same since the time skip brought the arrival of the Saiyans. Earth’s other heroes, especially Krillin and Tien, went relatively unchanged even through numerous timeskips.
Bulma has changed her hair and clothes on a number of occasions, but never so drastically that she became unrecognizable. After all those years, none ofDragon Ball’s characters appear outdated in any way, and that’s largely because they acted as the blueprint for anime and manga’s heroes to come.
The spiky-haired protagonist wasn’t exactly novel when Goku arrived on the scene, but the flashy yet simple Super Saiyan brought along countless transformations which attempted to capture the magic of a simple hair and eye color change.Simple but incredibly stylish was Toriyama’s bread and butter, and artists following in his footsteps took his cue and kept their casts from becoming overly bold.
Dragon Ball’s influence on the world of anime and mangacannot be understated, andGoku remains one of the most popular mascots of the mediumover four decades on from his debut. It’s unknown whether the series' impact would have been the same had Toriyama gone with the Saiyan’s original design, but fans will likely be happy that he didn’t.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
