Since the beginning Super Dragon Ballfans have questioned whether the original Dragon Ball sequel series, Dragon Ball GT, still canon. Obviously, there will be some plot holes if GT is just the future Super is aiming for, but in one case the timeline has definitely been tested – and it’s all thanks to a fallen hero. down.
In Dragon Ball Z’s Cell Saga, the Z-Fighters face the greatest threat Earth has ever seen: Cell. Although the heroes were able to defeat him in the end, their victory came at the expense of not only Goku’s life but King Kai’s as well. When the villain was about to be defeated after Cell’s battle with SSJ2 Gohan, he decided to detonate himself – an explosion that could destroy the entire world. To prevent that from happening, Goku grabbed Cell and used the instantaneous transmission to travel to King Kai’s world. Goku saved Planet Earth, but he killed himself and King Kai in the process. Skip Dragon Ball Super and King Kai is still dead. Not only that, he constantly begs Goku and his friends to use the Dragon Balls to bring him back to life, but they either forget or refuse to do so. This is one of the funniest jokes going on in the anime, but based on what’s shown in GT, it also has a classic purpose.
King Kai still dies in Dragon Ball GT, so he can’t come back in Super
King Kai appears in several episodes throughout the Dragon Ball GT anime, and each time he appears, King Kai still emits a halo, indicating that he is not dead. Dragon Ball GT takes place approximately fifteen years after the main events of Dragon Ball Z (about five years after DBZ’s ten-year time jump in the previous chapter). This means that for almost two decades, no one wished for King Kai to come back to life, although the only reason why he died in the first place was because Goku essentially sacrificed him to save Planet Earth.
The fact that Dragon Ball Super is continuing the trend of not bringing King Kai back to life shows that the series is staying true to the established standard of Dragon Ball GT. While GT takes place about fifteen years after Goku defeated Majin Buu in battle, Dragon Ball Super takes place only a few months after that event. This gives Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou plenty of room to create new and exciting stories with these fan-favorite characters before those stories inevitably get incorporated into the Dragon continuity. Ball GT – which King Kai almost confirmed will happen (though his prolonged death was not the only thing).
While many fans will still argue that Super has effectively re-tuned GT, thus removing GT from the established standard of the main series, an official Dragon Ball timeline seems to be as indicates that they are, in fact, two series existing in one continuum – and King Kai’s death (or more precisely, the lack of a resurrection wish for King Kai) only strengthens the argument that Dragon Ball GT is canon to Super Dragon Ball.
