Dragon Ball Super Confirms Who Its World Sees as the True Heroes

Dragon Ball Super chapter 104 has given fans a peek into the world beyond the Z-Fighters, allowing us to see exactly who Akira Toriyama’s Earth views as their heroes and saviors. Many casual enjoyers would expect that the world-saving battles Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and the other Z-Fighters have found themselves in would secure them as heroes in the eyes of the public. However, the contrary appears to be true. This chapter itself has us follow Trunks through the newly introduced museum full of statues dedicated to Earth’s heroes, giving readers fun Easter eggs as the chapter goes on.

Surely, all fans are wondering, “If not Goku, then who?” and Dragon Ball Super’s brief return answers that question almost immediately. We are treated to statues of various characters that have saved the world in some capacity or helped the Z-Fighters on multiple different occasions. The first statue we get to see is that of Olibu, a character that has had a number of one-off or non-canon references during the original run of Dragon Ball Z and has been stated to have trained with King Kai. Olibu is attributed to a large number of heroic feats that are held within the mythos of mankind and is, therefore, a lot like a great Grecian hero within Akira Toriyama’s works, and the obscure character exhibit doesn’t end there, either.

Dragon Ball Super Replaces Earth’s Mightiest Warriors With Obscure Past Heroes

Moving deeper into the museum, we then get a long panel shot that exhibits rows of statues depicting a myriad of unknown and frankly cheekily designed characters. The characters featured on these pedestals wear masks or appear to be past martial artists who have shown moments of great heroism but are still left nameless to the reader. This single panel really allows the readers to understand that the museum is attempting to immortalize all heroes and not just the ones that became famous outright.

After the panel filled with these unnamed characters, we are treated to another familiar face, Master Mutaito, seen in Dragon Ball when Goku went back to the past via the Pendulum Room and a quick Dragon Ball Super flashback. Master Mutaito is another one of Earth’s tragic heroes, who not only sealed away Demon King Piccolo but also trained Master Roshi. We then get a bit of dialogue asking about how all of the heroes featured as statues must be rich and famous, but it is rebutted with the fact that many of them, like Mutaito, gave their lives for the Earth.

However, any keen-minded fan, when riches made from heroism is brought up, would immediately envision a statue of Mr. Satan, and the manga would follow not far behind. Mr. Satan’s statue, being larger than life, is stylistically fitting for the loud-mouthed martial artist and a fervent reminder of who the world thinks defeated Cell. This towering statue, backed by intense lighting, is only juxtaposed by the reality of Mr. Satan’s contributions to saving the world and by the anonymity of Goku and Gohan’s statues, respectively.

[RELATED: Dragon Ball Daima’s Biggest Secret May Have an Answer After All]

What About the Sayains?

Readers, along with Trunks, are directed towards two other statues that remain as a reminder that not all world savers will be remembered by name. The Great Saiyaman is featured, and as Saiyaman, his heroics and hero name are immortalized in stone for the small acts of heroism such as thwarting robberies and the like. But Gohan himself will never be remembered by the masses for the great acts of heroism he has accomplished, such as his defeat of Cell and Cell Max. Their lives have been saved more than they can know, yet all of the Earth will continue to immortalize the masked hero and not the man.

The final Saiyan featured as a statue is the Dragon Ball protagonist himself, Son Goku. However, something isn’t quite right as the statue is nameless and features a question mark where the hero’s face would be. Goku’s likeness has been captured as the gi, hair, and stature depict the iconic hero to the readers, yet the public at large will likely never know Goku by name or even as a hero.

While Dragon Ball Super chapter 104 did not progress the narrative forward in much of a meaningful way, it did expand upon Akira Toriyama’s world at large. The references and callbacks were fun and rewarded longtime fans for their dedication, and it was nice to see that even though the Z-Fighters exist in a form of obscurity, at least some of them get to be featured in this hall of heroes, even if their faces aren’t center stage.