Ask John: What Does the Z in DBZ Mean?

Question:
What does the Z in Dragon Ball Z stand for?

Answer:
Actually the Z in Dragonball Z doesn’t stand for anything in particular. It’s an anime convention used to distinguish the change in Dragonball’s story and focus. Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball manga detailed Goku’s life, from his childhood until the aftermath of his battle with Majin Buu, when he’s a grandfather. Throughout the entire manga serial, the title of the manga remained, simply, Dragonball. Part-way through the story, Toriyama introduced the idea that Goku was an alien, and introduced the concept of the Saiyan race. At this point, Toei Studios decided that, to signify the sudden change in style of Dragonball- turning largely from an adventure series to a fighting series, the animated TV series would re-start with a new name. Toriyama choose the letter Z because it was the last letter of the Western alphabet. Z represented an ultimate, a final, climactic pinnacle. In terms of practical reality, though, the only purpose and meaning of the Z in Dragonball Z was to alert viewers that something new was happening in Dragonball. The Z was essentially nothing more than a successful marketing gimmick.