'Dragon Ball' Creator Reveals a Surprising Secret Behind Saibamen

Ever since their introduction to the series in Dragon Ball Z, the Saibamen have been a key figure in the franchise despite only being around for a short time. But their origins may surprise you.

In a recent Q&A published in Shuiesha's Weekly Shonen Jump, series creator Akira Toriyama divulging where exactly Nappa and Vegeta got them during the "Saiyan" arc:

The Saibaiman question is probably the most interesting of the remaining ones, so I've translated that but will probably save the rest for later: pic.twitter.com/l2sEQwlNf3

— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) December 1, 2017

When asked if the Saibamen were a Saiyan invention, Toriyama stated "The Saibamen are one of the Saiyan's classic weapons. But the Saiyans didn't invent them; rather, they are a life-form discovered on a certain planet."

So the Saibamen are confirmed not to be a Saiyan creation, but from an alien world the Saiyans had conquered. As to why the Saiyans used them, "Saibamen are handy sincee they can fight on their own, but they are also an extremely rare and valuable item since harvesting their bulbs is difficult, so not everyone gets to use them. Plus they're so wild they might attack you, which means only a select few warriors are capable of handling them."

Saiyans were a conquering race and managed to not only discover the Saibamen in their travels, but were able to dominate them with their strength. Which is probably why they managed to eventually kill off Yamcha, and made such an impression in the series that they're the standard grunt enemies in many of Dragon Ball's video games.

But while Toriyama's revelation doesn't contradict the series itself it does negate a memo he wrote to staff early on explaining that the Saibamen were created by scientists through biotechnology.

While it doesn't contradict anything said in the series itself, Toriyama's new statement that the Saiyans discovered the Saibaimen on a planet goes against his earlier memo to the DBZ anime staff that Saiyan scientists created them through biotechnology. pic.twitter.com/MbaaYxjbuN

— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) December 2, 2017

Either way, Toriyama's addition to the lore does add an interesting spin on the franchise much like his other huge revelation about Saiyans and their S-Cells.

Dragon Ball Super's "Universal Survival" arc is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon BallSuper airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and it will soon be available to stream on FunimationNOW.

What do you think of this new Saibamen lore? Talk to me @Valdezology.