Animals were a constant focus in the Dragon Ball manga. Fans believe that Akira Toriyama’s love for animals is reflected in his work. However, the reason for including a multitude of humanoid animals is rather about the artwork variations he could create with a single creature.
Earth in the Dragon Ball universe includes a variety of strange creatures such as demons, Saiyans, and resident aliens. Among them are anthropomorphic animals, creatures that possess human-like intelligence and often a few human body parts. The manga revealed that 17% of the DB world comprised animals but they disappeared as the series progressed.
Why Did Akira Toriyama Include So Many Humanoid Animals in Dragon Ball?
Dragon Ball started by introducing the humanoid animals Oolong the shapeshifting Pig and Puar the flying Cat. Both talking animals became reoccurring characters in a world that took no offence to the creatures. In fact, they were worshipped or hailed as can be seen in the case of Korin, a humanoid cat diety, or the dog King of the Planet, King Furry.
Akira Toriyama is a pet owner whose pals include fish, turtles, and cats. He may have initially drawn animal characters in the Dragon Ball manga out of his love for animals. Eventually, Toriyama realized he could use different variations of such characters, such as swapping the head of a humanoid cat with a dog to depict a whole new role – a lame reason for not putting effort.
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As noted by Dragon Ball Wiki, Toriyama also revealed in an interview that anthropomorphic animals possessed certain traits that didn’t need to be elaborated in multiple character arcs. For example, dogs are the symbol of loyalty as was the case with King Furry while Turtles are wise creatures, as seen in the interaction of a turtle with Goku and Chi-Chi when it gave them directions.
Animals were background or supporting characters that assisted Goku in his missions. Moreover, they added a lighter, comical tone to the manga that became pleasing to young readers. Unfortunately, as the series progressed, their numbers decreased.
The Unfortunate Reason For The Disappearance of Humanoid Animals in Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama’s reason for the lack of animal characters in the latter mangas of Dragon Ball is possibly due to the increased seriousness of the world. Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super were more action-focused and consisted of villains that posed a serious threat to the Earth. These mangas were more into the Shonen genre, appealing to teens, rather than the kids.
When questioned about the disappearance of the “animal-headed people”, Toriyama sensei revealed during an interview in 2006 documented by Kazenshuu:
“It could be the seriousness [of the Dragon Ball universe], but it’s probably that I’d forgotten by the end to include them. In the beginning, I was still working under the after-effects of Dr. Slump.”
The presence of humanoid animals was due to a drug called Animorphaline that was manufactured by Magical Pharmaceuticals. Having grown in popularity around the time when Bulma was ten-years-old, people who administered the serum out of craze transformed into “beastmen.” Some were ostracized by society while some got weird stares like in the case of King Furry.
Animals have somewhat retained their position in the Dragon Ball Universe. Beerus’ face design is based on a Cornish Rex cat that had lived with Akira Toriyama. The Trio De Dangers members in Dragon Ball Super had the appearance of humanoid foxes. In the same anime, Moro transformed into a goat-like creature during the Tournament of Power to symbolize the powers of the occult.
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