Intended Endings Guide

If you've been involved in the DragonBall fandom for more than eight consecutive seconds, then you've no doubt heard various rumors about how Toriyama originally intended to end the series. The biggest such rumor by far is that he planned on ending the series after the Freeza story arc (typically with Goku and/or most of the named cast dying), but was forced to continue due to the series' overwhelming popularity. There are various other rumors too, such as Toriyama wanting to end the series after the Cell Games, or have Gohan be the one to defeat Buu, etc.

This entire toured guide has been created to analyze the validity of these claims about Toriyama's intentions on how to end DragonBall. The short answer is that the success of DragonBall did compel Toriyama to continue drawing it for far longer than he had ever planned, but that the various claims about specific places or ways in which Toriyama was going to end it are almost all unsupported by any real evidence. For the long answer, well, read on...

EDITOR'S NOTE

This section is somewhat unique, featuring a mixture of straight-up factual information, rumor debunking, and speculation. It is therefore not strictly speaking a guide, but more of an extended look at the topic with occasional editorial content.

Information by: Herms