Wham Episode / Dragon Ball

Akira Toriyama loves throwing curve balls in Dragon Ball but some were just so shocking it would simply leave your jaw on the floor.

Warning: Due to Wham Episode being a spoileriffic trope, all spoilers are unmarked.

Dragon Ball

• When Goku tells Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar about the night a giant ape monster killed his grandpa when the moon was full. After a few minutes of Goku's reminiscing (in which he recalls how his grandpa told him never to look at the full moon) the gang, petrified, scoot into the corner and deduce that Goku was the monster that night.
  Yamcha: I-I-I had a f-feeling he wasn't an ordinary k-k-kid...!
  • Bonus points for Oolong's question after their escape: "So what is he, some kinda space alien?" Fast forward to the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, where we find out that this is indeed the case.
• Krillin's first death. After a tournament, the gang go out to eat, but Goku realizes he's forgotten something, so Krillin decides to go back and retrieve it. Goku has an uneasy feeling throughout dinner and finally snaps and runs back to the tournament grounds... to find Krillin dead. This set the tone for the King Piccolo arc, and is considered to be the turning point of the show when it became more serious.
• Goku takes on Demon King Piccolo to exact revenge for one of his subordinates killing his best friend Krillin. Seems like the typical Shonen battle set up: Main protagonist takes on the Big Bad to get revenge for harming the protagonists friend. After Goku takes the initial offensive and seemingly overwhelms Piccolo, Piccolo decided The Coats Are Off and proceeds to kick Goku's ass six ways to Sunday. He beats Goku so bad, that for a short period of time Goku was dead. Piccolo then takes the Dragon Ball around Goku's neck and proceeds with his plan of wishing for eternal youth. Which he succeeded in doing so in the end.
• Roshi unleashes the Evil Containment Wave in a bid to seal King Piccolo, however, Roshi misses at the last second and dies. Shortly after that, King Piccolo summons Shenron.
  • In the next episode, which is arguably even more of Wham Episode, King Piccolo has his wish granted for him to be restored to his physical prime, and then KILLS SHENRON so that nothing may ever threaten him again. Well played, Piccolo.
    • Bonus points for also killing Chiaotzu immediately when he tried to make his wish before him.
• At the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament Kami launches the Evil Containment Wave at Piccolo Jr. with the intention of sealing him in a bottle... only for Piccolo to reverse the technique and imprison Kami instead.
  • Bonus for points for also later swallowing the bottle that contained Kami during his match with Goku, so that if Goku were to kill him he would end up also killing Kami as well. A leaf straight out of his father's book.

Dragon Ball Z

• While this wouldn't register with most English speaking fans due to Sequel First making it a Late-Arrival Spoiler, the entire Saiyan arc would qualify for this:
  • Goku, the Chaste Hero, has a son.
  • Goku, the All-Loving Hero protagonist, turns out to have a long-lost brother, and an evil brother on top of that.
  • Goku and Piccolo are aliens.
  • Goku is dead.
  • Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Tien all die as well.
    • Yamcha's death in particular. While he's the franchise butt monkey nowadays (partly due to his infamous death pose in this very scene), it must have been shocking for contemporary audiences to see a powerful series mainstay killed off with little warning by a mere underling.
  • Piccolo dies saving Gohan from Nappa's attack, and because of this, Kami drops dead too, and as a result of this... the Dragon Balls VANISH!
  • And Vegeta escapes. (In a strangely ironic twist, Krillin survives.)
• The ending of Goku's battle with the Ginyu Force. For the last several episodes since his arrival on Namek, Goku's been mopping the floor with the Ginyu Force, and has finally confronted Captain Ginyu himself. Goku should eventually just beat the Captain as easily as he did his men and get ready to take on Freeza, right? Except Ginyu reveals he has the power to steal someone's body, and proceeds to steal Goku's for himself! Although Goku is eventually able to regain control, the damage dealt to him while Ginyu was still in charge leaves him in heavy need of hospitalization. Which means Freeza is still out there waiting to attack, and and the Z Warriors' biggest powerhouse has just been taken out of action.
• The actual fight with Frieza defies all expectations a few times. Firstly with the fact that Frieza can transform into something more monstrous after Vegeta was able to match his strength. Secondly with the revelation that in Frieza's final form, for all his bluster, Vegeta is leagues behind him. A fact that Frieza has fun with. Finally, Goku shows up and all things seem to be going well...until it's revealed that Frieza isn't even using 10% of his power. This marks the first time that Goku arrives on the battlefield only to be just as outmatched as everyone else.
• The first time Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan, a direct result of Freeza killing Goku's best friend, Krillin (yes, again) and mocking him after the fact. Before that, Piccolo's seemingly senseless sacrifice, thankfully Freeza didn't mock Piccolo. Not just because the whole scene was epic but also because the normally cheerful Goku's disposition drastically changed. Besides the fact that he was revealed to be the legendary Super Saiyan, his looks changed and he became more powerful. No one was quite sure of what was going on with him; not his son Gohan nor Freeza nor the audience.
• A minor one in the beginning of the Android Saga, when it was revealed that the mysterious sword wielding Super Saiyan was in fact Trunks the son of Vegeta and Bulma... who hasn't even been concieved yet.
  • Trunks' entire introduction prior to this was a Wham moment too. Prior to this, the it was firmly established that the only living Saiyan characters were Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan. His reveal as a Super Saiyan revealed that somehow, someway, there was somebody else with Saiyan blood.
• After Android 20 (Actually Dr. Gero) and 19 didn't live up to be the terrifying threat that Future Trunks set them up to be, the heroes seem to think that Android's 17 and 18 would be just as much of a pushover. Especially Vegeta in his Super Saiyan form, since he enacted a brutal curb stomp battle on 19. This despite how much Future Trunks is freaking out. But even as the battle between 18 and Vegeta really shows just how powerful these new foes are, no one was expecting 18 to effortlessly break Vegeta's arm. Such a brutal act showed just how screwed the heroes were, as their training for three years was practically All for Nothing.
• When Cell debuts, Piccolo asks who and what he is and Cell tells him he's his brother. He's actually technically correct, given what his genetic composition is.
• Gohan becoming a Super Saiyan 2, following the the tragic death of Android 16, who for the record, couldn't be brought back to life.
• Believe or not, the following all happened in one episode: Cell reverts back to his Semi-Perfect form, Cell turns himself into a bomb ready to destroy the Earth and himself, Goku at the last second, then teleports Cell to King Kai's planet and in the process killing himself, King Kai, Bubbles and King Kai's planet in last ditch effort to save the earth... which proves to be futile in the end as Cell survives explosion, comes back even stronger and even more bat-shit crazy and to end the episode... Cell kills Future Trunks.
  • The episode that follows it is just as much as Wham Episode, if not more so: Vegeta is knocked senseless in a failed attempt of Roaring Rampage of Revenge for his son's death at the hands of Cell, Gohan ends up losing an arm trying to save Vegeta from being killed by Cell and Cell then starts to charge a kamehameha with enough power and energy to destroy the solar system.
• Kibito is killed by Dabura and in the same episode Krillin and Piccolo are turned to stone.
• Vegeta becomes possessed by Babadi's magic and then kills 200 innocent bystanders (give or take) at the World Martial Arts Tournament stadium.
• Majin Buu turns Dabura into a cookie and then eats him, and absolutely owns Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and one of the rulers of the Universe!
• Vegeta kills himself in epic fashion in an attempt to kill Majin Buu. It didn't work.
• When Goku had to distract Majin Buu the first time he fought him everyone thought he would share the same fate as Majin Vegeta. That was until Goku revealed that he had a Super Saiyan 3 transformation. This of course shocked both the audience and the characters a bit, echoing the Super Saiyan transformation in the Frieza Saga with one of the most spectacular transformation sequences ever.
• Mr. Satan convinces Majin Buu not to cause any more destruction by explaining what the differences are between good and bad. Majin Buu not only agrees to never kill again but also starts to show his side of love and compassion with a new dog the he and Mr Satan had adopted when Majin Buu healed it. The dog was shot at the end of the episode.
  • The next episode takes it up a notch. In that episode Mr Satan gets shot and while he succeeds in saving his life the grief is all to much for Majin Buu as his desperation to not do anything bad as his friend Mr Satan had instructed him so, such as being angry, lead to his anger manifesting and creating Evil Buu.
    • And in the next episode Majin Buu gets turned into candy with his own attack and gets eaten by Evil Buu. Leading to Super Buu being born an even stronger, eviler and smarter version of Buu. It then takes him no less then a few seconds to then find Z Fighters on Kami's Lookout, who for record were totally unprepared.
• Super Buu's Human Extinction Attack... 'nuff said.
• Piccolo destroys the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber trapping Super Buu in the time chamber... along with himself and Gotenks.
• Gotenks becomes a Super Saiyan 3 and use his new power to rip a hole through a dimension and escape the time chamber along with Piccolo... but not in time to stop Super Buu from turning all of their friends into chocolate and eating them alive.
• Goku is revived by Old Kai, who sacrifices his own life force, exchanging it with that of Goku. With this, Goku becomes the only character in the entire series to be revived NOT by the Dragon Balls.
• As Gotenks defuses inside Buu, cutting Buu's power to half of what it was before, Super Buu is seemingly on the edge... until he absorbs Gohan out of nowhere, giving him a great increase in strength and leaving Goku with no-one left to fuse with other than Mr Satan. Enter Vegeta.
• Super Buu turning Vegito into a piece of candy. AND promptly gets his ass whopped to next Satuday, and the NEXT Saturday after THAT.
• Kid Buu becomes the first villain to destroy the Earth and in the process killing Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Gohan, Tien, Chiaotzu, and any Earthlings who may have survived Super Buu's Human Extinction Attack. The only people who survived were Goku, Vegeta, Dende, Mr Satan and Bee the dog. Of all the dark times there have been in Dragon Ball Z, this was undoubtedly the darkest.
• The (re)emergence of Fat Buu.
• Dende and Vegeta reviving Earth and all those (good people) killed since the start of the World Tournament Arc. It's a Wham Episode as the dead are revived BEFORE the defeat of the villain, effectively making this a Godzilla Threshold. Vegeta himself is revived, essentially cementing his Heel–Face Turn for good. Vegeta then tells Goku to prepare the Spirit Bomb to finally defeat Buu. All this in a single episode!!!
• Mr. Satan motivating the entire world to donate their energy to Goku, who drops it all on Kid Buu.
• Kid Buu no sells the firing of the Spirit Bomb, lifts it up using sheer willpower, and fires it back towards Goku!!!. Dende uses his wish to restore Goku's power (allowing him to turn Super Saiyan), and Goku sends the Spirit Bomb back, finally defeating the Majin menace once and for all.
• Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods introduces the God of Destruction Beerus, who is feared in the universe by anyone who knows him. He takes out Super Saiyan 3 Goku with two hits, one of which being a finger flick. With the help of Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Videl (who is pregnant with Pan), Goku obtains Super Saiyan God. Ultimately, the new form isn't enough for Goku to beat Beerus, who used 70% of his power. After Goku surrenders, Beerus chooses not to destroy Earth out of respect for Goku's efforts and takes his leave, but not before revealing to Goku that his assistant Whis is his teacher (and thus stronger than him) and that there are 12 universes, with the one Dragon Ball has been set in being the seventh.

Dragon Ball Super

• The end of Episode 47. The new villain is Goku! Moreover, "Goku" kills Future Bulma and (as it looked like then), Future Mai.
• Zamasu assassinates Gowasu. Then Whis rewinds time, Zamasu's caught red-handed. While moving on to attack Goku and Gowasu, Zamasu's promptly intercepted by Beerus, who then proceeds to ATOMIZE Zamasu, with only one word... HAKAI!
• Episode 61, where we finally learn Goku Black's true origin. He's NOT Zamasu possessing Future Goku's body, he's Present Zamasu, one year after the Champa Saga. To elaborate, this is the version of Zamasu who succeded in assassinating Gowasu (with no Whis and Beerus to interfere), usurping the position of Supreme Kai from him. Then, he used the Super Dragon Balls to swap bodies with Goku. THEN, he swiftly kills Goku, along with Chi-Chi and Goten. After that, he jumped from timeline to timeline, finally meeting Future Zamasu and setting the arc in motion.
• From the aptly-named Universal Survival Arc, the revelation that Zen'o is using the tournament Goku suggested to decide which universes should be completely erased from existence, save for the Angels.
• The end of Episode 98, which makes everyone truly realize how high the stakes are. Goodbye, Universe 9. Forever. (Okay, not really, but still!)
• The reveal of Goku's newest transformation: Ultra Instinct.
• The winner of the Tournament of Power isn't Goku, Vegeta, Jiren, or even Frieza. It's Android 17. Furthermore, not only does said winner wish back the universes that got wiped out of existence, but Whis revives Frieza, meaning the heroes will have to deal with him yet again.

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