‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ Confirms Goku’s ‘Minus’ Origin is Canon

Dragon Ball Super trailer 2 turns out to be heavy on the backstory of the movies three principal characters: Goku, Vegeta, and Broly. Included in the montage of footage from the three baby Saiyans’ tragic beginnings, was the official confirmation that a controversial piece of Dragon Ball lore is indeed being drawn upon to give a new origin story.

…That’s right fans (and haters): Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child is now an official part of canon!

If you don’t know, Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child is a Dragon Ball bonus story featured in Shonen Jump in 2014. The story was a major retcon to Goku’s origin, which saw his father Bardock and mother Gine send Goku/Kakarot from Planet Vegeta to Earth, in order to escape the Saiyan homeworld’s destruction. That destruction came at the hand of Freeza, who was informed by his scientist Kikono (also in the film) that Saiyans possessed a power that could one day reveal a “Super Saiyan God” that would rival Freeza himself.

That origin story was different different from the one told in Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku, altering a lot of important details, such as:

• What age Goku was when he was sent to Earth (as a child in the Minus, as opposed to a newborn in the anime)
• The introduction of Gine, Goku’s mother
• The reasoning behind Goku coming to Earth (for his salvation vs. as a conqueror)
• The implication that the Super Saiyan God legend was behind Freeza’s destruction of Planet Vegeta.

It seems as though Dragon Ball Super: Broly is expanding the mythos established in Minus to be a story of how Goku, Vegeta and Broly were all sent on their respective paths through life and the universe, due to what Freeza does to Planet Vegeta. It seems Goku will get a Superman-style arc, while Vegeta will ironically be brainwashed into being Freeza’s soldier, and the trailer makes it seem as though Broly will end up in the care of two other characters that will shape him into this canon version we’ll meet in the film.

Dragon Ball Minus is considered to be one of the more controversial and criticized standalone stories / retcons of Dragon Ball lore. With Dragon Ball Super: Broly making that story an official part of Dragon Ball canon, fans may have to wrestle with the idea that not all official changes the film make are going to be ones they like. Hopefully, the other new canonized elements of Dragon Ball Super: Broly will be more openly embraced.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly will hit Japanese theaters in December, and is expected to arrive in the U.S. around mid-January 2019. Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. ET. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete and available to stream on Funimation, VRV and Crunchyroll.