Akira Toriyama established himself as one of the most successful and beloved mangaka ever over the decades. Toriyama’s success with Dragon Ball put him on the map, and while he created interesting stories that fans still enjoy to this day, one thing that’s always stuck out with him is his incredibly distinct art style.
All the great mangaka have their own unique styles, and Toriyama’s is one even a non-manga or anime fan can recognize. From Dragon Ball to Dragon Quest, Toriyama’s designs stick out. But some might be surprised to know that he didn’t design all of Dragon Ball’s many characters. Here’s a look at the best designs that weren’t Toriyama’s.
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Janemba
Designed By: Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Tadayoshi Yamamuro has contributed a lot to the Dragon Ball franchise, and Janemba might be one of his best designs. But just because Yamamuro is credited with the design, doesn’t mean that Toriyama had nothing to do with it.
Often, the pattern was that we’d have [Toriyama] sensei look at the rough designs we had drawn and add corrections. For instance, with the transformed Janenba (note: the enemy character from “The Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta”), the order from the anime staff was for a “demonic-looking character”, so I drew a rough design with spiral shapes entwined around his arms and legs, which I showed to sensei. He checked it and sent it back, and that became the real design for transformed Janenba. So the faint blood vessel-like things on his arms and legs are remnants of the rough draft. – Tadayoshi Yamamuro (Translation via Kanzenshuu)
This is a great example of the collaborative relationship between Toriyama and the many people who have contributed to the series. He goes over a lot of final designs, but some really underappreciated people have added in new elements that have kept Dragon Ball looking great for years.
Baby
Designed By: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
GT had some really incredible character designs. Fans liked to dog pile on the series for years, but some are starting to see it as a superior series to Super. Baby was one of the series’ most recognizable villains, with his evolving looks standing out the most aside from the Shadow Dragons. His Larval form wasn’t much to look at, but his child form and the Super Baby Vegeta forms remain some of GT’s best designs.
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Moro
Designed By: Toyotarou
The future of the Dragon Ball Super manga is now in Toyotarou’s hands. There have been some promising hints at the manga’s future return, but we’re still waiting for it. Now officially Toriyama’s successor, Toyotarou has shown some promise with Super, especially when it comes to coming up with the designs for some of its more memorable characters. Moro was designed by Toyotarou with some feedback and approval from Toriyama himself. Not only is Moro a great villain, but his design is one of the more unique ones we’ve gotten out of the series in years.
Bardock
Designed By: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
Though Toriyama would give feedback and later on add his own touches to his design of the character in Minus, Bardock was initially designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. Nakatsuru’s initial design for Bardock saw him with significantly longer and spikier hair, something between Vegeta and Goku’s styles. His armor was also different than what we ultimately got, with there being no pants and flaps at his waist, similar to what we see Raditz wear.
Gogeta
Designed By: Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Fans have always argued over whether Gogeta is a better fusion than Vegeto, or if it’s the other way around. Tadayoshi Yamamuro designed the first version of the character we see in Fusion Reborn, with Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru having his own iteration of the character for GT, and Toriyama making his own tweaks to the design when Gogeta was brought into the series’ canon in Broly. That’s a lot of different interpretations of one character, each iconic in its own way.
Granolah
Designed By: Toyotarou
Another great Toyotarou design, Granolah didn’t seem like much at the start of the Granolah the Survivor Saga, but ended up being one of its strongest characters by the end of it. As with a lot of Super designs, Toriyama gave his approval and feedback for Granolah’s design, keeping it in line with the overall vibe of the series. Among the newer characters introduced in Super, Granolah has a great design, and it would be fun to see him again once the series returns.
Omega Shenron
Designed By: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
Probably one of the most iconic GT designs, Omega Shenron was one of the franchise’s most memorable villains. He’s so iconic and memorable that fans are still banging the table, saying he should be made canon decades after his debut. Omega has all the classic qualities of a DB villain: a massive frame, a menacing face, and incredible power that made him tough to take down. Nakatsuru did great with a lot of GT’s designs, but this might be some of his best work.
Super Saiyan 4
Designed By: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
So this might be cheating a little bit because it’s a transformation and not just a single character, but whether it’s SSJ4 Goku, Vegeta, or Goigeta, Nakatsuru created a transformation that, while not as iconic as the original Super Saiyan, has come pretty close. GT was a big part of many fans’ childhoods, and the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is a big part of why the series has stuck in fans’ minds for so long.
The complete shift in design from its predecessors, favoring a Great Ape-hybrid look and a red color scheme as opposed to the classic yellow of the original line, made SSJ4 really stand out on its own. After being non-canon for so many years, Nakatsuru’s design was finally brought into the main series by DAIMA. There are some differences between Nakatsuru’s design and Toriyama’s interpretation of it, but the blueprint Nakatsuru put out three decades ago is still there in its DNA.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- First TV Show
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Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
Dragon Ball is a franchise by Akira Toriyama which follows the adventures of Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the earth with his group of friends. A recent title from the series is Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an action style game where 7 players have to survive being hunted by the Raider.
