Name Origins
Some of the origins for the names of the characters in DBZ are painfully obvious, but I still wanted to make note of it for those of you with denser minds ^_^.
Dr Briefs and his descendants were named after underwear (0_0 wonderful!)
Dr Briefs name comes from the American word for men's "briefs"
Bulma's name comes from the American word for women's "bloomers"
Trunks's name comes from the American word for men's "trunks"
Bra's name comes from the American word for women's "bra"
Mr Satan's family is named after figures of hell...
Satan is named after the word "Satan" -_-
Videl, when the letters are rearranged, spells "devil" (which makes me think of why Gohan went out with her in the first place... o_o)
Piccolo Daimao, his "team," and his son were named after instruments
Piccolo, Piano, Drum, Tambourine, and Cymbal were named after the American words for the respective instruments.
Jackie Chun is named after the Chinese martial arts actor Jackie Chan
Shenlong is named after the nickname for Jackie Chan. It means "Rising Dragon."
Goku's is Japanese for "air" (maybe because he's essentially a clueless airhead ^_^ through much of the series when it comes to matters not related to fighting)
Gohan's name translates to "rice"
Goten's name translates to "sky"
The Majin Boos were named after Disney chants (hooray! -_-)
Bibi-di, Babidi, Boo, and Darbura were a part of the lyrics to the song that the fairy godmother sang (-_-;)
King Cold and his family were named after words describing frost-like temperature
Cold is named after the American word "cold"
Freeza is named after the word "freezer"
Cooler was named after the word "cooler"
Freeza's right- and left-hand men were named after fruits
Zarbon's name comes from "zabon" (a citrus fruit)
Dodoria's name comes from "durian" (a fruit from SE Asia)
The Ginyu Force members were named after dairy products (is it just me, or does this get cornier and cornier? -_-)
Ginyu's name comes from the Jap word for "milk"
Guldo's name comes from the Jap word for "yogurt"
Recoome's name comes from the Jap world for "cream"
Jeice's name comes from the American word "cheese"
Burter (Baata is a spelling variant) comes from the American word "butter"
Bardock's crew members were named after plants
"Toteppo" (the tall, bald guy) is derived from "potato" (root)
"Seripa" (the female) is derived from "parsley" (herb)
"Tooma" is derived from "tomato" (fruit/vegetable)
"Pan-Bukin" (the fat guy) is derived from "pumpkin" (gourd)
Some pure-bred Saiyajin were named after vegetables
Vegeta is named after "vegetable"
Kakaroto (Goku) is named after "carrot"
Raditz is named after "raddish"
Yamcha and Pilaf are named after Jap food dishes
Tenshinhan is named after a rice dish
Oolong and Puar are named after a type of tea (note - both are shape-shifting animals)
Pan is named after the Spanish for "bread"
Chaozu is named after "gyouza" (you got me there... ^_^)
Marron is named after "chestnut paste"
Shuu and Mai (Pilaf's assistants) are named after the words for "pot stickers"
Lunch is named after "lunch" (again -_-)
Bora is named after "mullet fish"
Origins of the Dragon Ball Series
Dragonball was derived from the Chinese story Journey to the West
Here's a bit of a culture lesson heh... who said that DBZ was not educational and enriching? ^_^
Goku was derived from the Monkey King himself
Goku's bow was also the weapon that the Monkey King used
Goku's flying nimbus was a source of transportation for the Monkey King as well
Oolong was created from the pig disciple
Yamcha was molded from the former bandit disciple
Krillin was formed from the Tang monk Tong Jun
Tenshinhan was made up from the 3-eyed god
Ox-King was based on the Ox-King/Demon
The Ox-King's fire mountain was the same home as the Ox King in the story
The fan that Master Roshi claimed to have spilled juice on was also derived from the Chinese legend
Enma Daiou's (King Yuma) special fruit (only available in Hell) was a fruit of the heavens in the Chinese folktale
Some Other Info
Androids do not have ki. That's why they cannot run out of energy whereas the Z Fighters ran out of energy as they fought with the Androids (The Z Senshi therefore had to be at least 1 fighting level above them to win). (However, why is it that Android 17 breathes heavily obviously from exhaustion while fighting Piccolo in ep 148? Maybe because no machine is 100% efficient?... here's where physics knowledge comes in 0_0. Also, Vegeta comments on Piccolo's power level right after Nonperfect Cell escapes from Pepper Town, saying that it rivals that of the Jinjoningen. If the androids didn't even have ki, how could be possibly make the comparison?)
When Perfect Cell, he regenerated from a single surviving brain cell.
As long as Piccolo's head is intact, he regenerate any lost body parts. This is why he was able to survive although Trunks knocked down the frozen statue of Piccolo before it turned back into living tissue etc.
In the Boo Series, Gohan trained to become Mystic Gohan, a stage intermediate between SSJ2 and SSJ3. Hence, Gohan does not power up to SSJ2 (his max SSJ level) to fight Super Boo.
Planet Vegeta is 363115496481 light years away from Earth (that means a lot to me ^_^).
Inconsistencies in the Series section coming soon...
- Credits go to DragonBall-Z-GT for providing much of the info in this section -