While Dragon Ball is easily one of the most popular and iconic shonen manga and anime series to date, one elder god within its continuity confirms that the series itself never should have happened at all.
In the classic Dragon Ball manga, Dragon Balls were at the center of practically every adventure as finding them was the main goal of the heroes, though that quickly changed once the series entered its ‘Z’ era. Basically, from Z through Super, the stakes became crazy high, and instead of focusing on searching for Dragon Balls as the original series did, the wish-granting orbs became afterthoughts–means to an end in any given saga rather than the main focus of the adventure. However, just because the Dragon Balls weren’t always at the center of each storyline, doesn’t mean they weren’t important. In every saga–from classic through Super–Dragon Balls have always played a key role in every storyline. In this way, Dragon Ball always stayed true to its roots–but apparently, there were never supposed to be any Dragon Balls to find in the first place.
In Dragon Ball chapter 509 by Akira Toriyama, Vegeta, Goku, Dende, and Mr. Satan retreated to the world of the Kais after Kid Buu blew up the Earth. While there, the Z-Fighters are trying desperately to come up with a plan to undo Buu’s evil action. They decide to travel to New Namek and use their Dragon Balls to restore the world–but when Old Kai hears this, he stands up in protest. Old Kai is the former Supreme Kai of this universe who is centuries old and was around during the formation of the first ever Namekian Dragon Balls. In this chapter, Old Kai says that he warned the Namekians to only create Dragon Balls for their planet, and no other world in the cosmos, as Old Kai thought of them as an affront to nature. But, as fans have known from the start, the Namekians didn’t listen which is why Earth had its own set of Dragon Balls.
If the Namekians Had Listened to Their Kai, Dragon Ball Wouldn’t Have Happened
This chapter reveals that Old Kai told the Namekians to never create Dragon Balls on another world, but that they didn’t listen. But, what if they did listen? The Kai was a god, after all, so it seems reasonable enough that they would follow his direction–so what if they heeded his warning and never created Dragon Balls outside their own planet? Well, 'Dragon Ball' the series would never have happened. In the first chapter, Bulma only finds Goku because she is searching for the Dragon Balls and his grandfather had one in his possession, but if there were no Dragon Balls on Earth, Bulma and Goku would have never crossed paths and Goku would have likely remained living in the woods away from humanity forever–but it doesn’t stop there.
If there are no Dragon Balls then it is likely there would be no Kami and Piccolo–that matched with the fact Goku wouldn't have been found by Bulma, and essentially no Dragon Balls means that every storyline in the classic run wouldn’t have happened. In fact, one of the few things that would remain is that the Saiyans would come to Earth as their invasion initially had nothing to do with Dragon Balls. The Saiyans’ invasion without Z-Fighters to stop them would mean the destruction of Earth–nullifying any future Dragon Ball villains. So, without the Dragon Balls, nothing special would happen until the Saiyans show up and destroy the world–a short, grim story that no one would be interested in reading. This is the outcome that almost took place as one god, Old Kai, revealed that he forbade Dragon Balls from being made outside Namek–and if those orders had been followed, then Dragon Ball would never have been a series.
