Here’s How Android 21 Fits into Dragon Ball Z Canon Now

One of the most enticing elements of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball is that the universe continues to expand long after the end of Dragon Ball Z. Debates about what is and is not canonical to the original series are still sparked by fans to this day, and this argument has only gotten more heated in the last couple of years with new game releases like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Thanks to new creative involvement from Toriyama himself, these games have helped to shift the canon of the original series. Fans argue whether or not that’s a good thing, however.

Dragon Ball FighterZ has a complete original story made for the game while Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot adapts the original anime and manga series, but they share one notable appearance from Android 21. This original character was created to be the end boss fighter in FighterZ, and was teased to have ties to the official canon. But those ties have been cemented further with Kakarot.

Android 21 was revealed to be included as a special appearance in Kakarot, and her new tie to the official canon of the series is that she’s a young researcher that was recruited to help Bulma’s father whip up a new kind of training machine. So it’s her human form before she was eventually used as the base for an android by Dr. Gero. Here’s an example shared by @KenXyro on Twitter:

In FighterZ, Android 21 is built by Dr. Gero utilizing cells from Majin Buu into her body. As the story continued, it was teased that she was based off of Gero’s former wife and mother to their son — who was used as the inspiration for Android 16. This connection unfortunately remains unconfirmed by either title, but now her human self exists in the canon officially.

There’s still a debate over whether or not supplemental material counts, but until it’s de-confirmed by an official anime or manga release later, this debate will rage on. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Did you nab a copy for yourself? How is it so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!