Thanks to some creative input from original series creator Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is firmly sitting in the canon of the franchise. This means that there are a few extra details and stories featuring characters fans haven’t seen in a quite a while. It’s resulted in some pretty cute Easter Eggs and character returns, but it’s also fleshed out some of the more glaring bits of information for some of the franchise’s most prominent fighters such as Android 16. One of the more interesting factoids in the Android arc was that 16 was modeled after Dr. Gero’s son, and thanks to Kakarot, we have his name!
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As spotted by @KaboomKrusader on Twitter, the art book for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot features a diagram that details many of the relationships of the Android arc. Tying together Dr. Gero and Android 16, it was confirmed that 16 was modeled after Gero’s now dead son, Gebo. This falls in line with Toriyama’s quirky need to name parents and children similarly.
Another interesting detail has been the inclusion of Android 21 into the game as well. Introduced in Dragon Ball FighterZ, Android 21 was a character designed by Toriyama as is teased to be related to the Gero family. Just as 16 was modeled after his fallen son, the story of FighterZ implies that 21 was modeled after Gebo’s mother.
So, it seems Kakarot’s art book name’s Gero’s son that 16# was modeled after as “Gebo”, per the English translation.
Interesting reveal. But it’s also kind of a terrible name. (Maybe I’m just scarred by Beebo from Legend of Tomorrow. xD )
— TDC (@DBReduxTDC) January 18, 2020
Picture thanks to @KaboomKrusader pic.twitter.com/pAjeHPDuzp
The story of that fighting game was canon adjacent to the franchise, but Kakarot is bringing all of these elements further together. But at the same time, it’s complicated even further as 21 is still not an official part of the family in Kakarot‘s art book. But perhaps this can be explored in the future through some DLC or other additional content?
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!
The Japanese-language and English dub releases of Dragon Ball Super are now complete and available to stream with FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. Viz Media is releasing new chapters of the manga at a monthly rate that can be read entirely for free through the Shonen Jump digital library, and Dragon Ball Super’s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Fans in Japan are also able to enjoy fresh non-canon adventures from the franchise with new episodes of Super Dragon Ball Heroes‘ promotional anime series.
