wrapped up another starring performance in Dragon Ball Daima.

However, when a franchise spans as many years of celebrated releases as Dragon Ball does, it's inevitable that issues begin forming within the overall narrative of a series. Retcons are shoehorned into a story in order to make future developments possible, and often only create more inconsistencies elsewhere. In Dragon Ball's case, plot holes began forming even in its earliest sections, as creator Akira Toriyama was famous for writing the manga week-to-week with little planning. Despite that, the series has outlived its flaws, but there are few that are simply too large to ignore.

8 Beerus Doesn't Involve Himself, Despite Being in Danger

The Destroyer's Life Is Tied to the Supreme Kai, But He Doesn't Help Out

Dragon Ball Super's gods and angels are supremely powerful beings, and could likely wipe out any threat that surfaces throughout the story. As a way to combat that massive gap in power, they typically don't involve themselves in the affairs of mortals. This allows any confrontation throughout the series to still hold weight, despite there being fighters on the Earth's side with the ability to crush any force of evil. It's a smart bit of writing on Akira Toriyama's part, and showcases the masterful ability he had to make an ever-shifting story work.

However, an issue arises when ing that Beerus' life is tied to the life of the Supreme Kai. If Shin dies, then so too does Beerus, yet Universe 7's God of Destruction has never stepped in to intervene, even knowing that any fighter introduced after the Majin Buu Saga could very easily eliminate Shin.

The moment the Kai involved himself in Buu's re-awakening, Beerus likely should have touched down and dealt with the problem instantly, considering Buu had already absorbed every Kai but Shin. Either he had quite a bit of confidence in his keeper, or his laziness overpowered his will to survive.

7 Frieza Was Scared of the Super Saiyan, But Not Enough to Train

Dragon Ball's Most Iconic Villain Is Terrifyingly Powerful, But Only When He Wants to Be

Frieza's return in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' was unexpected, and forever changed the trajectory of modern Dragon Ball, but it needed a bit of convenient writing to happen. If the space tyrant were to pose any sort of meaningful threat, he would have needed to become infinitely stronger in quite a short period of time, and that's exactly what took place in the lead-up to the events of the film.

To explain his sudden growth, it was stated that Frieza only needed to train for a fraction of the time the Saiyans would to reach the same level of strength. The development works well in explaining how Frieza was able to go from Namek Saga level to suring Super Saiyan Blue in strength, but it also creates quite a few issues with the rest of his time in the series.

If he was able to become so strong with relatively little effort, there really wasn't anything to be afraid of when it came to the Super Saiyan. All Frieza had to do was train for a few days, and he could have wiped the floor with Goku. Instead, he was scared enough to eradicate an entire race of warriors, but not quite scared enough to exercise. It isn't the worst inconsistency in the series, but one that trivializes much of the Namek Saga.

6 Beerus Claimed He Killed the Dinosaurs

Either the God of Destruction Was Lying, Or He's Bad at His Job

When Beerus awakens from his slumber and begins his search for the Super Saiyan God of prophecy, he's led to Earth, where the last remaining Saiyans reside. At first, he had some trouble ing the planet, but then recalled that the dinosaurs were so rude he drove them to extinction. The line is a funny little inclusion to demonstrate just how terrifying Beerus' powers are, and is in line with much of Dragon Ball's usual humor.

There is an issue with it, however. Dinosaurs are very much alive and even thriving in the Dragon Ball universe. They've appeared several times in both anime and manga format, and have even taken on starring roles in a few of Dragon Ball Z's filler episodes. The best part of the gag, though, is that a dinosaur appears in the very film where Beerus states that he did away with them. Either some paleontologist wished the dinosaurs back to life with the Dragon Balls, or Beerus isn't very good at his job.

5 The Dragon Balls Don't Follow Their Own Rules

The Central Dragon Balls Appeared Too Soon After Use

The Dragon Balls have undergone quite a few changes over the course of the series. From the number of wishes granted to the number of times they can revive someone that has died, their rules have constantly shifted to allow the best possible outcome each time they are used. One rule that has always been relatively unchanged, though, is that they turn to stone for a year after the dragon is summoned, and cannot be used again until that time is up.

Which makes it all the more interesting that only one arc after the Dragon Balls are used for the very first time, Akira Toriyama ignored that one single rule. Following the 21st World Tournament, the events of the Red Ribbon Army arc begin, and Goku takes off searching for the Dragon Balls with the radar in hand.

One ball is already in the possession of the Red Ribbon Army, and the rest of the surprisingly impactful section of the series is jump-started from the search. However, only about 8 months ed between Oolong's wish and the World Tournament, meaning the Dragon Balls should still have been stone. The titular wish-granting orbs always loosely followed their own rules, but Toriyama forgetting how they worked so early in the series is most likely a product of his improvisation-heavy writing style.

4 Dragon Ball Has Still Yet to Explain Kibito Kai

The Constantly Fusing and Un-Fusing Duo Can't Stick to One Explanation

Since their introduction, the powers of the Potara earrings have been ever-changing. It was originally said that a Potara fusion was permanent, but that was quickly undone when Goku and Vegeta de-fused after being absorbed by Buu. In order to explain the change, the rules were changed so that only a Potara fusion between Kais was permanent. That could have worked well, but Shin and Kibito, who fused during the Majin Buu Saga, appeared both as Kibito Kai, and then separately, in Dragon Ball Super.

This was later explained by the Kais claiming they wished to become separate using the Dragon Balls. It seemed all the confusion was finally cleared, until Dragon Ball Daima aired this past fall, showcasing Shin and Kibito separately following the Buu Saga, but before Dragon Ball Super. They explained that it was actually Buu's absorption that caused the Potara fusion to be undone, retconning every prior explanation.

While this works nicely to explain both Vegito and Kibito Kai de-fusing, it creates another issue that the Kais appear as one singular being in Dragon Ball Super. That means that Shin and Kibito fused in the Buu Saga, de-fused in Daima, fused again before Dragon Ball Super, and then de-fused again at a later point. Sometimes, explanations for plot holes can create several more.

3 Trunks Should Be Older in Dragon Ball Super

Goten and Trunks Look Far Too Young During the Later Stages of Dragon Ball Super

It became something of a meme that Trunks and Goten never aged during Dragon Ball Super, still appearing as small children years after the events of the Majin Buu Saga. The two half-Saiyans finally grew up a bit for 2022's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, though Trunks in particular should already have looked much older. At the time of the Tournament of Power, he was 14-years-old, but it's been stated that Saiyans remain small into their teens, and hit one giant growth spurt later on.

This explanation works well for Goten, but not for Trunks, who already appeared in the series at 14-years-old in the TV Special, Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks. There, he looks significantly older than he does at the same age during the Tournament of Power, yet the inconsistency has never been explained. Unlike most of Dragon Ball's anime-original films or specials, The History of Trunks was referenced in Dragon Ball Super, making it a canon entry in the franchise.

2 Trunks Mentions Androids That Don't Exist in His Timeline

The Cell Saga Was Filled With Retcons and Inconsistencies

Time travel is an incredibly difficult plot device to work around. One misstep, and an entire narrative can crumble under the very rules it set for itself. This makes it all the more impressive that Akira Toriyama was able to craft a coherent time-travel story all while incorporating changes suggested by his editors and Shueisha. In the anime version of events, Trunks warns Goku that two fearsome androids will appear and wreak havoc on the Earth.

The androids he references are #17 and #18. However, in the manga, he tells Goku that Androids #19 and #20 will be coming to terrorize humanity. In Trunks' timeline, those two androids don't actually exist, and the line was a product of Toriyama consistently walking back on his plans and changing the series. Dr. Gero and Android #19 were originally supposed to be the headlining villains, until his editors famously disliked their designs. He then shifted towards #17 and #18, and eventually landed on Cell.

1 Super Saiyan 4 Created the Largest Plot Hole Yet

Dragon Ball's Latest Adventure Has Created Confusion Within the Fan Base

Goku's latest anime adventure, Dragon Ball Daima, takes place shortly after the events of the Majin Buu Saga, during a previously unexplored section of the timeline prior to Beerus' arrival. The series masterfully expands on the lore of Demons and Namekians, and takes the cast to the incredibly designed Demon Realm. However, the anime's final fight created the largest unexplained plot hole yet with the reintroduction of Super Saiyan 4.

Despite stating that his transformations end with Super Saiyan 3 during the fight with Beerus, Goku uses Super Saiyan 4 to defeat Gomah and save the Demon Realm from his oppressive rule. Until the Dragon Ball Super manga resumes, it's unlikely that an explanation for the form is given, meaning fans will likely continue to be at each other's throats over the matter for some time. Of all of Dragon Ball's plot holes and inconsistencies, its latest anime series introduced the biggest yet.