Dragon BallI is infamous for its massive cast of characters who rarely contribute to the story. For the most part, these characters were once major elements of the anime, and they just weren’t fully written out after they ceased to serve any purpose. Unfortunately, the only example of a main character in the series being completely abandoned is Launch, who stopped appearing after the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament Saga.
Introduced as a new friend of Goku and Krillin during the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament Saga, one of Dragon Ball the first main characters deserved a place among Dragon Ball Z casting. Throughout the original series, Launch didn’t offer much to the story outside of comic relief, but the gags involving her were often hilarious. And unlike characters like Oolong, Puar or Turtle, Launch’s potential was still completely untapped. If she had been included in DBZ, she could have offered a lot to the anime.
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1 The pitch only started to get interesting towards the end of the original Dragon Ball
Launch does not develop as a character until the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament Saga
For the first arcs in which she participates, Launch is more of a living gag than a character. Her kind, docile self sneezes, she transforms into her violent self, and she shoots her guns at anyone around her for putting her in a ridiculous situation. It’s a funny joke, but that’s all. It’s not until a little later that viewers see changes that are more than superficial comic relief.
During the Arc of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Launch becomes a completely different character. Her gentle, blue-haired personality disappears almost entirely, while her blonde, aggressive personality softens and becomes more active as a member of Team Dragon. Throughout the final three arcs of the original Dragon BallLaunch is funnier, she gets into the action and a seed of interest is planted with her crush on Tien Shinhan. This new version of Launch is a wonderful part of the series, and it’s a shame it’s never developed further.
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2 Launch and Tien’s relationship was never properly developed
Launch crush for Tien Shinhan goes nowhere
Among the most underdeveloped plots of Dragon Ball the story is the romance between Launch and Tien Shinhan. Launch falls in love with Tien after witnessing his match against Goku in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, drawn to his inner turmoil. However, not only does this go nowhere, but, in the manga, the two never speak to each other.
Rather than just having Launch Pine after Tien, Dragon Ball Z gives the two a true friendship. Their filler scenes together during the Saiyan Saga are adorable and make a strong argument for Launch’s continued presence in the story on their own. Seeing their oddly wholesome romance develop naturally could have been a lot of fun, and it also would have given Tien a role in the anime other than occasionally pulling a Tri-Beam.
3 Characters less important than launch continue to have roles in Dragon Ball Z
Oolong, Puar, Turtle and Yajirobe remain in Dragon Ball Z
Launch was never the most important character in Dragon Ball but, by the end of her time on the series, she had a larger role than several characters who had not been dropped. As examples, Oolong, Puar and Turtle had already become useless long before Dragon Ball Z began. Even Yajirobe, who plays a major role in the Saiyan Saga, contributed less to the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament Saga than to the launch.
Even though Launch only sat on the sidelines in DBZ, she deserved to do so as much as the rest of the supporting cast. Its filler scenes are more entertaining than those featuring Oolong and Turtle, as well as those featuring bigger players like Chi-Chi and Master Roshi. If everyone can stay in the cast, even in Dragon Ball Superso Launch should have been too.
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4 Goku spent more time at launch than most of his friends
Launch lived with Goku and Krillin during their training with Master Roshi
Something that’s easy to miss Dragon Ballespecially before Greatis that Goku barely spends time with most of his so-called friends. Arcs in the series tend to only take place over a few days, and Goku tends not to see any of the other Z-Warriors during time skips. Before Dragon Ball Zthe only main characters Goku had spent a lot of time with were Bulma, Oolong, Krillin, Roshi, and, oddly enough, Launch.
Launching is first introduced during Goku and Krillin’s training under Roshi. She begins living with the boys at Kame House and stays there with them for eight months. Although most of these images are never seen on screen, Goku should logically consider Launch a closer friend than Yamcha, TIen Shinhan or Chiaotzu.
5 Super Saiyan jokes write themselves
Launch’s hair turns from blue to yellow when she sneezes
Long before Akira Toriyama designed the Super Saiyans, Launch was the first character in Dragon Ball with the power to turn her hair blonde. Only, in her case, sneezing brings luck, not a power-up, and blonde hair has a completely different personality. If Launch had always been present in Dragon Ball Z, there could have been many jokes comparing her to Saiyans.
Having known Goku since he was little, Launch might have mistaken Goku’s transformation as a tribute to her. Having never met her, Launch’s transformation could have shocked and horrified Vegeta while he was still envious of Goku. Goten and Trunks might have even been confused that Launch wasn’t a Saiyan.
6 Launch would have been a better romantic partner for Vegeta
The presence of the launch would have made the Cell saga less artificial
Overall, Vegeta and Bulma’s romance is by far the best developed ever. Dragon Ball. However, there are two major problems with this, and they both stem from how they became a couple in the first place. Namely, it was necessary to make Yamcha unlikable by leading him back to cheating on Bulma, and no explanation is ever given for how Bulma and Vegeta became attracted to each other in the first place.
Launch Could Have Been a Superior Romantic Partner for Vegeta. Considering how underdeveloped the romance between Launch and Tien was, it wouldn’t have been out of place at all to mix things up. And since Launch’s blonde personality is as violent, proud, and amoral as Vegeta, an attraction developing between the two would have seemed much more natural.
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7 Launch had potential as a fighter
The launch repeatedly proves capable of fighting
From Dragon Ball Z from now on, characters who aren’t fighters or Bulma are completely useless. Although he was initially brought to Kame House under the guise of training as a martial artist, Launch never joins Goku and Krillin in their training. However, that doesn’t mean she can’t fight or that she couldn’t have gotten stronger.
Launch’s main weapons are her guns, which she often uses to fill her friends with comical bullet holes. But when it comes time for her to fight, she tends to prefer hand-to-hand combat, and she’s not bad at all. With a little practice, The launch could have been a Z-Warrior.
8 The launch helped Goku win his first match of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament
Launch saves Goku in one of Dragon Ball’s funniest filler episodes
Launch is one of the characters who benefits the most from filler episodes. Arguably its shining moment in the franchise comes during episode 92 of the original anime, which is mostly made up of material not present in the manga. In the episode, Goku is kidnapped by Pomput’s manager so he can’t defeat him in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, and what follows is even more wonderfully absurd than that premise.
Having just bought Goku some ice cream before he was taken away, Launch is furious that she can’t eat something she paid for. This leads Launch to get into a motorcycle chase with Pomput’s manager and beat up his bodyguards, before delivering Goku his ice cream cone. While maybe it wasn’t Launch’s goal to help Goku win his matchshe made sure he could fight Pomput in time, allowing him to advance further in the tournament.
9 The launch’s past has never been explored
Almost nothing is known about the origin of the launch
Fans know at least a little about the backstory of most of the main characters in Dragon Ball. Even characters like Oolong and Puar are known to have spent their childhood together at the Southern Transformation Kindergarten. Other than the fact that she was a thief, nothing is known about Launch.
Dragon Ball Z didn’t need to spend time exploring Launch’s past. This just isn’t the kind of story that DB is, and Launch isn’t an important enough character to warrant distracting from the main plot in this way. Always, it would have been nice to know where Launch came from before she disappears.
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10 The launch would fit perfectly into modern Dragon Ball
Comic book characters are a staple of Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball DAIMA
Not to be in Dragon Ball Z assured that Launch had no chance of appearing in either Dragon Ball Super Or Dragon Ball DAIMA. It’s a shame, because Launch would fit into these modern series better than DBZ.. Although the tone of the anime is not identical to that of the original series, modern versions Dragon Ball as a whole, is much more willing to be goofy and place comic book characters in leading roles.
If Dragon Ball Super can have entire episodes about Baby Pan, the Pilaf Gang, and Arale, there’s no reason he couldn’t have created equally awesome material with Launch. Likewise, Dragon Ball DAIMA thrived in part because of fun characters like Hybis and the Demon Traders. If Launch had just been in Dragon Ball Zeven as a background character, she could do a lot more now.
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball tells the story of a young warrior named Son Goku, a peculiar young boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when once the 7 reunite , grants any wish of choice.
- Created by
- Akira Toriyama
- First film
- Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Ruby
- Latest movie
- Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes
- First TV show
- Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show
- Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First episode broadcast date
- April 26, 1989
- Cast
- Sean Schemmel, Laura Bailey, Brian Drummond, Christopher Sabat, Scott McNeil