Dragon Ball is one of the most popular anime and manga series ever created, and fans have spent decades discussing and analyzing its narrative and lore, while sharing its biggest secrets. Some of which have become common knowledge within the community, like the Saiyan naming convention or the clear inspiration taken from Journey to the West. Dragon Ball has become such an iconic franchise that most of its fun facts have been shared endlessly among its fan base.

However, when a series spans four decades of releases like Dragon Ball does, it's incredibly unlikely that even the biggest fans know every little detail about the franchise. Akira Toriyama famously wrote his story week-to-week without much planning, which led to quite a few interesting developments, whether they were intentional or not. Dragon Ball has quite a few devoted fans within its ever-growing community, but there are certain secrets even the biggest fans of the series never knew.

9 Akira Toriyama Introduced the World Tournament Because Sales Weren't Good

Dragon Ball's Creator Turned to Action When the Series Wasn't Gaining Popularity

Dragon Ball has become iconic in the years since its debut in Weekly Shōnen Jump, permanently altering the landscape of battle shōnen manga and inspiring countless fans and artists. However, during its earlier sections, when the series prioritized adventure over anything else, it just wasn't very popular. In a 1995 interview, Toriyama revealed that his editor at the time put the reason for Dragon Ball's lack of success rather bluntly, saying, "Your protagonist is rather plain, that's why it's not popular."

The legendary artist explained that the comment annoyed him, but inspired the idea that changed the series forever. From that point on, Toriyama decided to focus on action, and came up with the World Martial Arts Tournament. Instantly, Dragon Ball's popularity skyrocketed, and Goku began his journey of becoming the strongest fighter he could be.

8 Piccolo Isn't Piccolo During and After the Cell Saga

The Character That Was Piccolo Ceased to Exist After One Cell Saga Event

Piccolo's origin story is widely known, but few Dragon Ball fans actually realize what it means for the character. The Nameless Namekian journeyed to Earth hundreds of years before the events of the series, and split into two beings. One was Kami, the guardian of Earth, and one was Piccolo, the personification of the Nameless Namekian's evil side, and the two coexisted for hundreds of years more. However, this all changed when the two characters fused just before Cell achieved his second form.

From that point on in the series, the character that was Piccolo had actually become the Nameless Namekian once more, only retaining the name he inherited from the evil Demon King Piccolo. Piccolo even states as much after the fusion takes place, but later tells Goku to continue calling him by the name he knows. It may seem strange, but the Piccolo that fought Goku in the World Tournament and later trained Gohan is not the same character following the Cell Saga.

7 Dragonball Evolution Was the Cause of the Series' 2010s Revival

Akira Toriyama Was So Unsatisfied With the Film That He Returned to Working on Dragon Ball

The 2009 live-action Dragonball Evolution is commonly regarded as one of the worst anime adaptations of all-time, and Akira Toriyama warned the film's creators before its release, but was eventually ignored. As a result, the artist was so unsatisfied with their take on the series that he began heavily contributing to Dragon Ball for the first time in over a decade. When approached with the script for 2013's Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Toriyama took charge and rewrote nearly the entire movie.

He said, "What came out in the end was a movie I couldn't really call a Dragon Ball that lived up to my expectations," then continued on about Battle of Gods, saying, "that being the case, there were parts where I wanted to show some spine, with a world and story only the creator could draw." The movie would eventually inspire 2015's Dragon Ball Super and kicked off the series' revival during the 2010s.

6 Even Dragon Ball's Creator Didn't Know Who Trunks Was on First Appearance

Toriyama's Week-to-Week Writing Style Led to One of the Best Reveals in Manga History

Akira Toriyama was notorious for never planning too far ahead. Having his roots firmly planted in Gag Manga, where surreal comedy takes precedence over a coherent narrative, the legendary artist would often flesh out the finer details of his series as he went. A recent interview with his editors revealed that even they were shocked when Trunks first appeared and quickly disposed of Frieza, and when they asked for an explanation from Toriyama, he didn't exactly have one.

Initially, he planned for Trunks to be a simple messenger who wouldn't make much of an impact down the road, but when it became increasingly clear he would have to explain the new character, he decided at the last minute to make him the son of Bulma and Vegeta. Prior to then, Toriyama had no intention of bringing the two characters together, and seemingly created one of anime and manga's most popular couples on a whim.

5 Super Saiyan Was Given Its Color to Save Time

The Iconic Golden Super Saiyan Was Only Created to Save Time

A manga creator has an incredibly difficult job, and though Akira Toriyama often called himself lazy, that very likely wasn't the case. As the intensity of the fighting on Namek increased, it came time for the artist to debut the Super Saiyan transformation, but all the work was catching up to him. He explained in an interview that he only had one assistant working by his side at all times, compared to most modern artists who keep an entire team, and all his time was spent inking Goku's hair.

In order to lessen his assistant's workload and receive some more help elsewhere, Toriyama decided that filling in Goku's hair wouldn't be necessary after he transformed. From this decision, the iconic golden glow of Super Saiyan was born, and battle shōnen would never be the same again. Interestingly, the first published design of Super Saiyan Goku gave the protagonist red eyes, which were changed to green some time down the road.

4 One of Dragon Ball's Most Iconic Lines Wasn't Correct

Goku's Power Level Wasn't "Over 9,000!"

One of Dragon Ball's most iconic and joked-about lines, in which Vegeta reads Goku's power level to have sured 9,000, was actually incorrect. The early days of anime dubbing often led to some strange alterations in scripts, and Vegeta's now famous line was one of those. Both the original manga and Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z actually featured Vegeta saying, "It's over 8,000!", but the line was changed in the Funimation dub of the series.

While the change has never been explained, it's likely it came about to match the lip movements of the characters. Every English dub of the series contains the '9,000' line, including Dragon Ball Z Kai, which was made in order to more faithfully adapt the series and correct past mistakes. It was only ever corrected in the DVD release of Kai, which also contained some uncensored moments of the series.

3 Hercule's Real Name Is Mark, and Was Never Hercule

Dragon Ball's Comedic Relief Character Has a Surprisingly Normal Name

In a 2009 interview, Akira Toriyama answered some questions about the origins of several characters, and when it came time for some backstory on Hercule, the artist dropped one of the most surprising fun facts ever. Hercule's real name is Mark. It's a strangely normal name for the series, but is translated from the Japanese "Maku", which can be rearranged to "akuma", and means devil or demon.

This is in line with Videl's name being an anagram for "devil", keeping the family trend alive. What's more is that Hercule's name was never actually Hercule, and instead Mr. Satan. His name was changed, like the "over 9,000" line, in the English dub of the series, and has remained as such ever since. However, Toriyama clarified that Mr. Satan was only ever his stage name.

2 Gogeta Was Created Before Vegito

Despite Appearing Later, Gogeta Came Along First

Fusion has long been one of Dragon Ball's most popular techniques, and debuted in the original manga with the introduction of Gotenks. Later on, Goku and Vegeta would use the Potara earrings to fuse into Vegito, and Gogeta debuted not too long after in 1995's Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. However, not many know that Gogeta was actually created first, and Akira Toriyama had originally planned for the fused fighter to face-off against Buuhan in the manga.

Upon watching an early cut of Fusion Reborn, Toriyama went back to the drawing board, not wanting to take from the anime-original movie. It was then he decided to give the Potara an ability, and introduced Vegito into his series. Interestingly enough, the original preview at the end of Dragon Ball chapter #503 states that fans will get a look at Gogeta in the next week's entry, though the fighter would never appear.

1 Frieza Returned Because of a Song

Toriyama Was Inspired to Bring Frieza Back After Attending a Concert

Frieza's return in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', and later in Dragon Ball Super, made for some of modern Dragon Ball's most exciting developments, and the iconic villain remains a presence in the ongoing Dragon Ball Super manga. Surprisingly, Akira Toriyama was inspired to bring the character back after attending a Maximum the Hormone concert. The punk metal band's song, titled "F", uses Frieza as an allegory for oppressive governments and the 1995 terrorist attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

The song was eventually featured in Resurrection 'F', and directly inspired the film's title. Maximum the Hormone has been featured in a number of different anime series, like Death Note and Chainsaw Man, and was recently referenced in the Chainsaw Man manga. Their song, "F", wound up changing the trajectory of modern Dragon Ball, and fans can thank the group for Frieza's continued major role in the series. "F" by Maximum the Hormone is available to listen to on YouTube.

Sources: Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume, Fying Postman Press April 2015, Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 2 (all translations by Kanzenshuu)