Dragon Ball: Why Isn’t Broly Considered Canon?

When it comes to Dragon Ball, keeping track of the franchise’s canon is hard. The series is several decades old at this point, and the folks behind Dragon Ball have produced a lot of content for it. From manga to video games, Akira Toriyama’s beloved series has done it all – and that is a problem for some fans. Dragon Ball has racked up a rather extensive canon, and Toriyama hasn’t written up a formal canon timeline of the franchise to help fans out. As such, newcomers and longtime fans alike are left to wonder why some of their favorite are not considered canon.

And, unsurprisingly, that very same question is asked about Broly all the time.

Whether you love or hate him, Broly has become a defining character for the Dragon Ball franchise. The villain may be known best for his muscles, but Broly’s fit body is only overshadowed by his controversial place amongst fans. Fan-wars have been waged time and again over whether Broly could fit into the canon of Dragon Ball Z, but the fandom continues to withhold the Legendary Super Saiyan’s canonicity.

Why, you might ask? Well, it all comes down to what Toriyama penned.

Dragon Ball fans are not the only ones who strictly uphold canonicity, but the fandom is one of the most stringent. Like many anime, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were shows adapted from a pre-existing manga. Toriyama was the mastermind behind the serialized story, and Dragon Ball fans consider the artist’s manga to be the bible of all things canon. So, when you realize Broly is nowhere to be seen in the manga, then you can understand the fandom’s dilemma.

Broly is an anime-only character, and he is one who’s only seen in films. Toriyama has said in the past that he considers all of Dragon Ball’s films outside of the canon save for titles like Battle of Gods and Yo Son Goku. Broly made his apt debut in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, and that arena inherently puts the villain outside of the canon. Despite being a recurring character in the franchise, Broly has yet to be penned in a manga that’s either drawn or written by Toriyama. But, if the artist ever decides to make nod to the character, then Broly would be folded into Dragon Ball‘s already crammed canon.

After all, it’s not unheard of to have a Dragon Ball character made canon after living outside of the promised land. For years, the film Yo Son Goku was excluded from the canon, but one of its character was added to Dragon Ball’s official timline thanks to Battle of Gods. The latter film, which was overseen by Toriyama, made the Saiyan Tarble canon after his appearance in Yo Son Goku. And, as such, the film and the protagonist were welcomed by fans into the official timeline of Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball Super‘s “Universal Survival” saga is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. CST. Toonami will begin airing the English dub on Adult Swim Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.