Dragon Ball in Popular Culture

This is a list of real life topics or fictional works which have been influenced by the Dragon Ball franchise.

Animation

 * The Dr. Slump remake from 1997 has several references to Dragon Ball. In one episode Arale and Akane are seen playing a Dragon Ball Z video game with Akane playing as Goku and Arale playing as Vegeta. Akane ends up winning the game. Another time Arale puts the last volume of Dragon Ball into the Real Machine and a black and white Goku comes out and fights a black and white Kid Buu. There is also a 4 episode story arc where the young Goku ends up in Penguin Village with appearances from Murasaki, General Blue and even Shenron.
 * Goku has been cited as an inspiration for such protagonists as Monkey D. Luffy, Naruto Uzumaki and Zatch Bell of the One Piece, Naruto and Zatch Bell series respectively.
 * In South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut to deal with Eric Cartman's swearing problem they attach an electrical device to him that shocks him when ever he swears. However it breaks so that when ever he swears he zaps other people. Cartman of course abuses this power. During the climax where the Satan and Saddam Hussein appear to the over the world, Cartman uses his powers to defeat Saddam Hussein. The battle is a parody of Dragon Ball Z.
 * In South Park: Imaginationland: Episode II, Frieza makes an appearance.
 * Koji Murasaki, the founder of Shuriken School from the anime Shuriken School, looks very similar to Ninja Murasaki.
 * The character Omi from the show Xiaolin Showdown resembles the Orin Temple monks (especially Krillin due to the lack of nose, as he had his own design based on Krillin).
 * Goku and Gohan are clay-mated in the "A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas" skit featured in the Robot Chicken episode "Easter Basket". In the sketch, Goku and Gohan help Santa Claus fight the evil forces which want to take over Christmas. After defeating Mrs. Claus, Goku and Gohan state that the Tenkaichi Budokai is complete while Santa, who is puzzled as to what they're talking about, and also angered by the death of his wife, decides never to deliver presents to Japan again.
 * In an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door named Operation R.E.P.O.R.T., when Number Four tells a story it is a parody of Dragon Ball Z, including the Delightful Children from Down the Lane resembling Frieza, Number 4 going Super Saiyan, and a parody of the Kamehameha using a gumball.
 * In the Fairly Odd Parents TV movie Channel Chasers a show called "Maho Mushi" is featured, which is a parody of Dragon Ball.
 * In an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy there is an episode (Called "Grim for a Day / Chicken Ball Z / Halls of Time") which is a parody of Dragon Ball Z.
 * In the TV movie special Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, the troopers wear helmets almost identical to the Great Saiyaman, Gohan's super hero name.
 * In an episode of the 2003 Duck Dodgers series Porky Pig mentions watching reruns of Dragon Ball.
 * An episode of Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes is called "The Shell Games" much like the Cell Games.
 * In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime, the Dark Signer Roman Goodwin (Rudger in the Japanese version) has a similar hair style and red facial markings to Baby Vegeta.
 * In the manga series To Love-Ru the main female Lala makes a reference to Dragon Ball when she shows the protagonist Rito that she has a tail which freaks him out. She tells him that he doesn't have to worry and says that she doesn't transform when she looks at the full moon. Another time she is shown trying several odd outfits to look for a normal one, two of the odd outfits she was seen in were Goku's uniform and the Bunny Costume Bulma wore. Additionally, it is revealed that when her tail is pulled, she is weakened, much like Goku.
 * In the Latin American dub of "Cow and Chicken" when Cow asked Cousin Black Sheep why he is so bad, he answer her that he is bad because he watched Dragon Ball Z.
 * In the Latin American dub of "The Simpsons" when the Family Simpson gets stuck in Japan and Homer was working in a Eel Farm, he used a Eel like a whip changing the TV Channel saying: "I wanna watch Dragon Ball Z"
 * In the popular Western cartoon Chowder, there is a episode where a character named Schnitzel powers up and becomes similar to a Super Saiyan, including a yell and growing golden hair.
 * In the Cartoon Network series MAD, in the skit "Grey's in anime", the nurse tells the doctor "His heartrate is over 9000!" with the doctor replying "What? Over 9000! Then I must go Super Surgeon!"
 * A character in the anime series "MM!" transforms into a Super Saiyan in the 5th episode.
 * In School Rumble episode 9 one of the main characters Harima transforms into a Super Saiyan (in his manga) during his fight with Kurasama (who is ironically voiced by Eric Vale the Funimation voice actor for Trunks). Additionally Harima has clothes similar to Vegeta's GT outfit. In the episode he fights Kurasama for Tenma's love. They both shoot energy blasts and reenact the fight between Majin Vegeta and Goku when they clash their energies in a sphere.

Television and Movies

 * In the movie, Fight Club, box sets of Dragon Ball Z are seen being trashed along with hundreds of other movies.
 * In the movie Agent Cody Banks, posters of the Z Fighters and one of just Goku are seen on Cody's bedroom walls.
 * In the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the character Andrew Wells claims his life is like Vegeta's from Dragon Ball Z, who originates as a villain but eventually changes his ways and joins Goku to fight for the side of good (Andrew claims this in the episode Potential).
 * On the popular comedy show Two and a Half Men, in the episode 'Squab,Squab,Squab,Squab,Squab' when Alan asks Jake whats it gonna take to get him to spend time with his Grandma, one of the things that Jake says he wants is the new Dragon Ball Z game.
 * A Big Citrus advertisement uses an altered image of Gohan for a commercial.Gohan-ripoff.jpg
 * In the movie, The Matrix Revolutions, the final fight between Neo and Smith appears to be very similar to fights in DBZ.
 * In the movie documentary Super Size Me, Dragon Ball Z toys are seen at a shop.
 * In the movie Birth, Sean has a backpack featuring Super Saiyan Goku.
 * In the movie Are We There Yet?, a boy asks Nick if his store carries Dragon Ball GT.
 * In the movie War of the Worlds, Dakota has figurines of Emperor Pilaf and Mr. Satan's car.
 * In the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin, a Goku action figure is seen on Andy's bed and a boxed figure of Kibito is seen on one of Andy's shelves.
 * In the movie American Gun, the show is discussed.
 * In the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a bartender mentions the show by name.
 * In the movie The Glass House, Ruby wakes up her brother by telling him "They're giving away free Dragon Ball Z tapes at Blockbuster. If we hurry, we can beat the rush."
 * In the television series Criminal Minds, the computer hacker has figures of Super Saiyan Goku and Gohan Buu.
 * In the television show Heroes the character Ando fires his red lightning in a similar way to the way Goku fires his Kamehameha.
 * In the television series According to Jim, during a marriage counselling session Jim states that his weekends are spent "watching Dragon Ball Z with his kids" he then goes on to say "there are 7 of them"
 * In the movie, The Tooth Fairy, in the background of the kid's room you can see a Goku statue/ figurine.
 * In the movie, Friends with Money, starring Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand discusses the responsibilities of caring for friends' children in her home, with friends at a dinner outing, and says: "This kid played at my house all day, and his parents don't know who I am. I see them at school, they don't even say thank you. I've kissed their kids' boo-boos, cleaned his pee." Friends say they would want to know everything their kid was doing. One of them asks McDormand: "Where's yours?", and she replies with "Sitting in front of Dragon Ball Z where I left him." One of the friends says: "I think it's too violent.", then his wife says "You think SpongeBob is too violent.", and he responds with: "No. I think it's ugly."
 * On the radio station(s) that features Dr. Drew and "Love Line" in California, a caller requests to speak with current guest Tom Green, and asks him if he has any videogames in the works. The caller repeatedly asks Tom Green if he's played the Dragon Ball Z games. Dr. Drew asks Tom himself: "He wants to know if you play any of the Dragon Ball Z games?". Tom comments on the concepts involved with Dragon Ball Z, relating to "super aliens invading earth, and super warriors".
 * On the "TV Funhouse" of Saturday Night Live, competitive eating champion Kobayashi is featured in KOBAYASHI The Hot Dog Eater, which parodies Dragon Ball Z In the skit, he transforms into a Super Saiyan and eats hot dogs to save people. The skit is completely in Japanese, but different variations of both original and English DBZ music is used during the skit, as well as footage of the show itself in the background. The intro also has him land and transform into a Super Saiyan, much like the actual intro to DBZ. Crude drawings of villains are made as well, these include Dr. Gero, Android 19, King Cold, Captain Ginyu, Hirudegarn, Dabura, Pui Pui, and Frieza.
 * In the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the titular character battles a bass-playing vegan named Todd Ingram (played by Brandon Routh), who has gained psychic powers by not eating meat. When Todd powers up, his blond hair stands straight up in a process similar to that of the Super Saiyan transformation. He also uses energy-based attacks, somewhat similar to those used by characters throughout the Dragon Ball series. The fact that Todd is vegan is most likely a play on the way that all Saiyans, such as Vegeta, are named after vegetables.
 * The appearance of Future Hiro in the series Heroes was inspired by Future Trunks. In an interview, actor Masi Oka compared Trunks to his Heroes character Hiro Nakamura, as both are time travelers that carry swords.

Music

 * On Emmure's album Goodbye to Gallows is a song entitled "Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle", in homage to the Dragonball movie.
 * "U Know What it Is", a song by American rapper Young Jeezy from his 2006 studio album The Inspiration, samples "Pikkon's Theme", a song recorded by Bruce Faulconer for the FUNimation dub of Dragon Ball Z.
 * "Spell it Out", a song by American rapper Mike Shinoda (of Fort Minor/Linkin Park ), samples "Cell's Theme", a song recorded by Bruce Faulconer for the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z.
 * B.o.B mentions Super Saiyan in his song autotune.
 * Krillin appears in his Saiyan armor on the cover of the album Who is, This is (by Voodoo Glow Skulls)
 * Rapper Soulja Boy has two songs that reference Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, the Ginyu Force, Korin, Master Roshi, Chi-Chi, and Super Saiyan.
 * The Japanese punk metal band "Maximum the Hormone" has a song called "F" which pays a homage to Frieza.

Comic Books

 * The first issue of Mecha-Nation (a 3 issue miniseries) contains a profile for several characters. The profile for Marcus Brand/Blast mentions him to be geek for various mediums of entertainment (including anime) and can "rattle off Dragonball power levels on an episode-by-episode basis".

Video Games

 * The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise by Sega has borrowed elements of the Dragon Ball series. Most notably, Sonic's Super Hedgehog form is a homage to Super Saiyan. As well as there being 7 Chaos Emeralds compared to the 7 Dragon Balls.
 * In the game Ratchet &amp; Clank: Size Matters, the famous "Over 9000" meme from the Ocean dub is referenced after the "Triple Wave Armor" is unlocked.
 * The Over 9000 meme is also featured in the Nintendo DS game Scribblenauts. If you write "It's over nine thousand" then you get a scouter.
 * Another Nintendo DS game, Ninjatown, also features the infamous meme.
 * In the DS game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, when you talk to a character named Sal Manella he'll say "IT'S OVER 9000!".
 * The popular MMO-RPG World of Warcraft also features the "Over 9000!" meme as a Feat of Strength.
 * One of the achievements in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 5 is titled "Over 9000!" in reference to the internet meme.
 * A house in Fable II that has dozens of plants in it is titled "The House of Might" which is a reference to the third Dragon Ball Z film The Tree of Might.
 * In the game Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Lucario (voiced by Sean Schemmel) has a final smash which is quite similar to a Kamehameha wave.
 * It is generally understood that Silver the Hedgehog from SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is based on Future Trunks, due to that both came from a ruined future to fix something in the past, both lose someone they care about deeply in their futures (Gohan for Trunks and Blaze for Silver), said deaths lead a motion of events (Future Gohan's death leads to Trunks's first (anime) Super Saiyan transformation and Blaze's sacrifice leads Silver to go back in time to destroy Iblis and save Blaze), both have super forms (Super Silver and Trunks' Super Saiyan), and both gain something from their experiences in the past that helps them defeat their disaster (strength and knowledge of the Android's weaknesses for Trunks and knowledge of how to defeat Iblis for Silver). His entry in the game script reveals that even his creators compared the two.

Internet

 * Team Four Star created a parody series called Dragon Ball Z: Abridged. The entire Saiyan Saga was adapted and at the end of the series it said a second one would be made. Characters such as Nappa, Goku and Mr Popo and a lot of other characters had different personalities for comical reasons. Recurring jokes usually involved Raditz and Krillin. The series got in legal trouble from Toei Animation and were removed from YouTube eventually, but have since returned with the beginning of the second season. They also made a special site for their workings.
 * It's Over 9000! and many other scenes have become common popular memes on the Internet today.
 * It has become somewhat of a meme to showcase on YouTube mock videos of the farmer's shotgun blast, originally used to retaliate against Raditz, killing many significant Dragon Ball villains.
 * Cell commonly appears in the Shoop Da Woop!/Imma Firin' Mah Lazah meme, and appears at the end of each episode of the Lazer Collection.
 * Kid Goku is seen riding the Flying Nimbus in the Ultimate Showdown video.
 * Three sprite series are based on Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball AF. These are Super Mario Bros. Z (see Super Mario Bros. Z wikia), Nintegaball GT, and Mega Sonic Bros. AF.
 * Super Mario Bros Z contains a story similar to the Cell arc such as the conformation of Mecha Sonic holding a tournament after reaching his ultimate (perfect) form.
 * Dozens of Dragon Ball characters have been made and are available for the customizable fighting game M.U.G.E.N. Most of which are used with sprites from Dragon Ball Z Arcade Games, the Super Butōden series and Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22.