The Dragonballs are a set of 7 balls that existed originally on the Planet Namek. They are created by the Namekian Elder and are dispersed among 7 Namek tribes, each of which is led by a relatively old Namekian. In the English DBZ series, the Namekian Elder is given the name of Guru, who is an abnormally enormous (in size and weight) entity. There are two types of Namekians - warriors and Dragonball creators. Usually, Dragonball creators were not skilled fighters, but Piccolo (the original one before separation into Kamisama and Ma Jr) was the exception. This was seen when he trained Goku in DB and some of the Z Fighters in DBZ. He was sent to Earth as a baby in a Namekian spaceship in order to escape the plague that wiped out all Namekians except for Guru (who lived to repopulate Planet Namek). Piccolo lived a lonely life in some cold, mountainous region until he decided to "apply" to be Guardian of the Earth. He flew to Skypalace when he was a teenager and asked the current Guardian (which looked like a cloaked shadow) if he could take his place when he died. Although he passed many physical and mental tests, he still had some evil inside him which did not qualify him to succeed the Guardian. He ejected this evil, becoming Kamisama and releasing the evil Piccolo Daimao to terrorize the Earth (Goku eventually beats him up, kills him, etc). Kami then created 7 Dragonballs. Unlike the Namekian DBs, Kami's DBs could only generate 1 wish instead of 3. However, 1 wish by the Earth DBs could be used to revive more than 1 dead person at a time, whereas only 1 dead person can be revived per wish using the Namek DBs. In other words, both sets of DBs had their own advantages and disadvantages.

First, let's discuss the Earth DBs. They are relatively small in size (like a baseball), compared to the basketball-sized Namek DBs. Originally, the balls are dispersed in various areas throughout the Earth. When they are collected and brought together, the Eternal Dragon springs forth from the balls in a spectacular burst of yellow light. The sky darkens as the Dragon swirls through the air. When all this fancy stuff is finished, he asks whoever "awoke" it what wish he would like to be granted (much like a Genie and his master). As long as the wish is within the Dragon's power (which, in turn, is measured by the power the Dragon's creator gave it originally), it will be granted. Wishes like saving the Earth from Brolly and destroying Vegeta and Nappa before they arrive, however, will not be granted. Throughout the DB and DBZ series, the Earth DBs were used primarily for reviving someone from death. One limitation of the Earth DBs is that they cannot be used to revive a dead entity more than once. For example, if Goku dies, is revived, and dies again, he cannot be revived using the Earth DBs. After a wish is granted, the impatient Dragon whirls back into the 7 balls, which fly up into the sky and disperse in 7 different directions. They remain as stone spheres for one year, at the end of which they become regular orange DBs again, which means that they can only be used once per year. (Normally, we'd think that important wishes would be made. Oolong the perverted pig shows us that this was not the case when he wished for a pair of female underwear ... with the Eternal Dragon's logo on it heh) Like the Namek DBs, the Earth DBs turn to stone and can never be used again to make wishes when the creator dies. A special situation exists with the Earth DBs, as Kamisama and Piccolo were originally one entity, so the death of one would mean the death of the other. This was a conflict for Goku, as he could not kill his rival Piccolo (Ma Jr) because Kami would then die, but ebbed in DBZ when Piccolo slowly emerged on the Z side.

After Kami fuses with Piccolo in the Android Saga, a new DB creator was needed. Dende was chosen to succeed Kami's position as Guardian of Earth. Although he was still a child (why the heck doesn't he grow as tall as Piccolo or the other Nameks by the end of DBZ?!) and inexperienced, he was still a good choice. Using Kami's Dragon model (basically a stone miniature of the Dragon), Dende created a new Eternal Dragon and bestowed upon it more powers than Kami's Dragon had. The new Eternal Dragon could now grant 2 wishes at some sacrifice (which I forgot) instead of just 1. I find this pretty interesting know that I think about it because there were actually 2 Eternal Dragons, also they both looked the same.

The Namek balls are different from the Earth DBs in that they can be used 3 times max per year. Each time, Porunga, the Namek Dragon, rises out of the 7 balls and grants a max of 3 wishes. If just 2 wishes are granted and 1 still remains, however, the Dragon can disappear and be summoned at a slightly later time. This happened in the Freeza Saga when Guru died. Vegeta was just about to make his wish for immortality when Guru passed away and Porunga suddenly turned into stone. The DBs also turned into stone and dropped to the ground. When Guru was revived with the Earth DBs (along with all those killed by Freeza on Planet Namek), Porunga was revived as well and appeared in the position at which it had vanished earlier. 1 wish still remained and Goku and Kaiosama used it to teleport everyone except for SSJ Goku and Freeza to Earth. When Guru dies again on Earth because of natural causes (ie aging), he transfers his power to create DBs on to an old Namek (I think his name was Rooli). And so, a second set of Namek DBs was created. However, they did not gain a powerup like the one Dende's Earth DBs experienced. Still, it's pretty interesting to know that there are 2 Porungas as well.

Unlike the Eternal Dragon, who just comes out for just about anyone who calls it forth, Porunga must be summoned in the Namekian language. Thus, Freeza was not granted immortality even when he beat Dende to Porunga and asked for that wish to be granted. (It is also funny to know that Vegeta would not have been able to make a wish himself for immortality if he managed to gather all 7 Namek DBs.) I think this was due to the original assumption that the Namek balls were meant to be used only by the people of Namek, and not by any foreign visitors. Oh yeah - one more thing - there is NO password for the Namek Dragon to come out, contrary to the ridiculous FUNi ep title "Password is Porunga" when they aired Season 3 on Cartoon Network.