Dragonball is actually a loose adaptation of Journey to the West novel, which was written back in the 16th Century China.
The main character Goku was based on the Mary Sue archetype Sun Wukong, who despite being a Mary Sue was actually entertaining.
Do you also know?
- In terms of feats, Goku of the first Dragonball anime was actually weaker than the original Sun Wukong, but Goku of DBZ went so far past the original to reach planet-level status.
- Goku was an idiot throughout the entire anime, DB or DBZ wise. Sun Wukong of the novel was actually cunning and uses as much wits to overcome his opponents as much as he uses brawn.
- Goku got married and had children, but Sun Wukong of the novel remained celibate and had absolutely zero romantic leanings and eventually became a Buddha.
- Goku loved to eat, Sun Wukong of the novel doesn't have much of that trait, it belongs to his fellow apprentice Zhu Bajie, whom Oolong is based on!
- Goku and Bulma's relationship were more of friends. Bulma's closest counterpart in the original novel is a male Buddhist monk named Xuan Zang, who is also Wukong's Master.
- The Dragon Balls in the anime are based on the holy scriptures of the novel - What we termed as macguffin. They have nothing common otherwise.
Interesting trivia from Dragon Ball that I liked to share :)
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