Dragon Ball Z is the main entry in the franchise created by Akira Toriyama, serving as the foundation that turned Dragon Ball into one of the most legendary shonen and anime series ever made. Featuring iconic villains, unforgettable transformations, and groundbreaking action sequences, Dragon Ball Z established the blueprint that countless shonen series would later follow.
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While Dragon Ball Z is filled with iconic moments, it isn’t without its flaws. Given the scale of its narrative, there are bound to be elements that don’t always align with the story, making them seem like plot holes. The series has established dozens of plot holes over the years; however, these five stand out as the biggest in the franchise.
5) Vegeta’s Understanding of the Saiyan Is Less Than Goku’s
Vegeta had always viewed himself as the proud Saiyan Prince, and considering he was revealed to be one of the few remaining Saiyans, fans expected him to have a deep understanding of his own race. However, Vegeta doesn’t learn that recovering from a near-death experience makes a Saiyan stronger until he witnesses Goku doing it during the Frieza Saga. This makes little sense, especially given the extensive knowledge of Saiyan biology that Vegeta consistently displays.
If anything, this highlights a plot hole in the writing itself, portraying Vegeta as a character with a big mouth without emphasizing his understanding of the Saiyan race, particularly compared to Goku’s. Looking back, it feels especially uncanny that Vegeta lacked knowledge of his own biology.
4) Saiyans Breathing In Space
Speaking of how Saiyans’ bodies work, they possess many advantages, such as slow aging and immense strength. However, breathing in space has never been one of them. Saiyans have always required oxygen to survive, just like humans. Despite this, Dragon Ball Z repeatedly forgets this rule. One of the most notable examples is Vegeta claiming that he first transformed into a Super Saiyan in space while standing on an asteroid.
Meanwhile, Toei Animation also produced special episodes centered on Goku’s father, Bardock, portraying him as an ambitious warrior leading a rebellion against Frieza. Those episodes even show the Saiyans fighting Frieza in space while breathing without issue. This plot hole makes it clear that the series was still trying to establish the true limits of the Saiyan race.
3) The Ability to See in the Future
One of the most senseless abilities Goku has showcased, courtesy of Toei Animation rather than Akira Toriyama, is the ability to see the future. There is never any explanation for it, making it seem as though Toei simply wanted to include Goku in scenes where he was never present in the manga. One of the ways the studio did this was by portraying him as a hero capable of foreseeing future events and his enemies.
Goku was shown having visions of Nappa and Vegeta before their arrival on Earth. The most notable example comes during the Cell Saga, which largely focuses on Cell and the Androids while Goku is absent for much of the story. In the anime, however, he is able to perceive these events almost like a prophet. Thankfully, Toei eventually stopped using Goku’s prophetic abilities.
2) Saiyan Hair Biology
A character’s hairstyle is an important part of their identity, helping define both their appearance and personality. However, Dragon Ball Z reveals that a pure-blooded Saiyan’s hair never changes, a statement made by Vegeta after emerging from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with the same hairstyle. This revelation raises more questions than it answers. Since Nappa is shown with hair earlier in his life before later becoming bald, does that mean he shaved it at some point, and it never grew back?
This would mean Goku and Vegeta’s entire appearance could be ruined by a single bad haircut. However, Dragon Ball Super contradicted this by showing both Goku and Vegeta growing beards. This suggests the concept was introduced simply to preserve the main characters’ appearances, but it ultimately created several loopholes that don’t make sense.
1) Resurrection
Resurrection has become the norm in the Dragon Ball franchise, yet it is arguably its biggest plot hole. From a narrative standpoint, relying on resurrection so frequently undermines the emotional weight of death, stripping away the impact that could have been used to create more meaningful moments. However, the biggest inconsistency is that everyone who was brought back to life was originally required to travel Snake Way.
This was specifically emphasized when Goku was first wished back to life, as he had to travel Snake Way before arriving on Earth to fight Vegeta and Nappa. Later in Dragon Ball Z, however, characters who are revived simply return to the place where they died, with Vegeta even reappearing on Planet Namek after being resurrected. While resurrection has become one of the franchise’s defining elements, Dragon Ball Z often used it in ways that created more plot holes than meaningful storytelling.
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