Dragon Ball GT
Dragon Ball GT is a Japanese anime television series based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga franchise that ran from February 1996 to November 1997. Produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and ran for 64 episodes. Unlike Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, the previous two television adaptations in the Dragon Ball media franchise, Dragon Ball GT does not adapt a manga by Toriyama. It is an anime-exclusive sequel to Dragon Ball Z with an original storyline using the same characters and universe, which follows the exploits of Son Goku, the series main protagonist who is turned into a child; his granddaughter, Pan; and their associates on a quest to collect the Black Star Dragon Balls, a more powerful set of Dragon Balls which are hidden throughout the galaxy.
Despite the series being a non-manga adaptation, series creator Toriyama designed new characters and concepts for Dragon Ball GT. It is the last Dragon Ball series chronologically and until the release of Dragon Ball Super in 2015, Dragon Ball GT was the final televised animated series of the Dragon Ball trilogy of shows altogether.
Plot
Black Star Dragon Balls/Baby Saga
Five years after the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament and the end of Dragon Ball Z, Son Goku is accidentally turned back into a child by Ultimate Shenron, a much more powerful red version of Shenron created by the Nameless Namekian who can grant any single wish, regardless of any restrictions placed on the other dragons, summoned from the Black Star Dragon Balls by his old enemy Emperor Pilaf. He is then forced to travel across the universe to retrieve them, accompanied by his granddaughter Pan and Trunks as, if he does not retrieve them within a year, the Earth will explode. The trio goes through various adventures in their journey to find the Black Star Dragon Balls, until they encounter the artificial Tuffle parasite, [|Baby], who intends to destroy the Saiyan race as his revenge for their extermination of the Tuffles many years ago.After turning practically all of the Earth's population, including the Saiyans, into Neo-Tuffles, Baby decides to convert Vegeta's body into his own and use it to kill Goku. Goku fights him and is quickly defeated, but, after having his tail regenerated by Kibito Kai and Old Kai, transforms and achieves the power of Super Saiyan 4. In this new form, Goku easily overpowers Baby before destroying the evil Tuffle by propelling him into the sun with a 10x Kamehameha. Piccolo then sacrifices himself to permanently destroy Ultimate Shenron and the Black Star Dragon Balls when the Earth explodes after Goku and the others help the people of Earth evacuate to Planet Plant, which Baby had wished back into existence using the Black Star Dragon Balls.
Super Android 17 Saga
A year after Baby's defeat and Piccolo's sacrifice, Dr. Myuu and Dr. Gero create an evil replica of in Hell, and have it control the original Android 17 so that a portal from Hell to Earth opens up, leading to a mass invasion of the planet by revived villains. The original Android 17 attempts to mentally manipulate Android 18 as well, but Krillin intervenes. Enraged, 17 murders Krillin by shooting an energy beam through his heart. The two Android 17s then fuse into Super 17, who vows to destroy all of humanity and avenge the Red Ribbon Army's defeat at the hands of Goku. Super 17 seems impervious to all of Goku's attacks, but when 18 attacks him to avenge Krillin's death, Goku takes advantage of the distraction to penetrate through Super 17 with his Super Dragon Fist technique, then unleashes a Rapid-Fire Kamehameha that completely eradicates him.Shadow Dragons Saga
The Dragon Balls are collected to revive those killed by Super 17, including Krillin. However, an evil black dragon emerges and then splits into seven Shadow Dragons, who set out to punish humanity for their constant misuse of the Dragon Balls by destroying the Earth. All but the most powerful and evil, Syn Shenron, are defeated by Goku and Pan. Syn Shenron appears to be losing until he absorbs the Dragon Balls and gains tremendous power, transforming into Omega Shenron and surpassing even Super Saiyan 4 Goku's power. Goku is about to sacrifice himself to destroy the evil one-star dragon, but Vegeta intervenes and gains the Super Saiyan 4 transformation with help from Bulma's newest invention, the Blutz Wave Generator. Goku and Vegeta merge using the Fusion Dance technique to create Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, who uses his immense power to beat Omega Shenron to a pulp. However, after being too confident in his ability to defeat Omega Shenron, he uses up too much time in an attempt to embarrass him. Gogeta then defuses and Goku and Vegeta revert to their Base forms. Eventually, using the energy of every living being in the universe, Goku creates the incredibly powerful Super Ultra Spirit Bomb and uses it to destroy Omega Shenron once and for all.Afterward, the real and original Shenron appears from the restored Dragon Balls to grant Goku and his friends one last wish, which they use to revive everyone killed by Super 17 and the Shadow Dragons after Shenron informs that the Dragon Balls can no longer be used forever, and then proceeds to disappear – along with Goku and the Dragon Balls. Several decades later, Goku's great-great-grandson and descendant, Goku Jr., competes in the 64th World Martial Arts Tournament against Vegeta's great-great grandson and descendant, Vegeta Jr., as the now-elderly Pan cheers him on. Pan then sees a rejuvenated adult Goku and tries to approach him, but he quickly disappears into the crowd. Goku leaves the World Martial Arts Tournament with a flashback covering all the events of his timeline. Before leaving Earth, Goku retrieves his Power Pole and rides off on his Flying Nimbus cloud, concluding the story of Dragon Ball.
Characters
Main characters
Son Goku
Goku is descended from an alien warrior race known as the Saiyans, who sent him, originally named Kakarot, to Earth to prepare it for conquest. In the first episode, Goku is transformed back into a child by an accidental wish made by the Pilaf Gang using the Black Star Dragon Balls, setting in motion the events of the entire series. The Black Star Dragon Balls were then scattered around the whole universe in different planets after the wish making, and due to the lethal side effect of these Black Star Dragon Balls, the Earth was set to be destroyed in a year if the Balls were not collected within that period of time. Goku, his granddaughter Pan, and the son of Vegeta, Trunks, travel the universe to search for the Black Star Dragon Balls and return them to Earth to prevent its destruction. After acquiring the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, Goku battles the evil Tuffle Baby, Super 17, and the evil Shadow Dragons. His final challenge is against Omega Shenron, whom he destroys using the Spirit Bomb. Goku leaves with the original form of Shenron, but not before saying his goodbyes to his friends on Earth. He then appears 100 years later at the next World Martial Arts Tournament as an adult, where he watches a battle between Goku Jr., his descendant, and Vegeta Jr., Vegeta's descendant. An elderly Pan sees him, but he quickly departs. Goku is the main protagonist of Dragon Ball GT, and the overall main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise.Pan
is the granddaughter of Goku and Chi-Chi and daughter of Gohan and Videl, as such her ancestry comes from both humans and the extraterrestrials called the Saiyans. Pan appears as a young child in the final installments of the original manga and Dragon Ball Z anime series and is featured as one of the protagonists of the Dragon Ball GT anime series and its television special A Hero's Legacy. According to Dragon Ball GT producer Kōzō Morishita, Pan's role in the GT series was intended to be a strong but constantly imperiled character who had to be rescued by Goku, essentially a “heroine who makes Goku a hero”.In Japanese media she is voiced by Yūko Minaguchi. In the North American versions of Dragon Ball GT, she is voiced by Elise Baughman in the Funimation dub and by Caitlynne Medrek in the Blue Water dub. Sharon Mann voices the older version of the character in AB Groupe's English dub of the GT TV special, which was recorded in France. In the English version of Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout, she is voiced by Julie Maddalena.