Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has become one of the most popular anime series of all time, and its exciting and action-packed stories have been able to entertain and endure for decades. There are a lot of different factors that bring audiences into Dragon Ball, and the anime has been able to effectively adapt and change over the years to broaden its perspective.
However, one crucial aspect to the anime series that’s never fully disappeared is the significance of the titular wish-granting orbs. There are few luxuries greater than a wish upon the Dragon Balls, but that doesn’t always mean that there’s always a lot of thought that goes into these esteemed requests. In fact, some Dragon Ball wishes come across as outright wastes.
10 Dr. Kochin Wishes For Dr. Wheelo's Icy Prison To Thaw Out
The Dragon Ball Z movies often make for good opportunities for villains to show up out of nowhere with their sights set on the Dragon Balls. The second movie, The World’s Strongest, has Dr. Kochin make use of the Dragon Balls to wish for the powerful Dr. Wheelo to be released from his frozen prison. Admittedly, this is the easiest way to free Wheelo, but it’s something that could also be accomplished by any common energy blasts. Dr. Kochin even reveals he has a machine gun arm, which could have also worked to trigger an avalanche and free Wheelo.
9 Mai Wishes For World-Class Ice Cream
Dragon Ball Super features a light-hearted throwback to the original Dragon Ball series with the return of Pilaf, Mai, and Shu as comic relief that skirts through the background of the series. This juvenile trio are equally immature when it comes to Dragon Ball wishes. One of the shortest-sighted wishes to Shenron is Mai’s wish for top-tier ice cream. Shu’s wish for one million zeni isn’t much better, and both of these requests provide only temporary rewards. There are such smarter wishes that they could have made that still give them what they want, but also more.
8 Penny Wishes For The End Of The Blood Rubies
Feature film installments for popular anime series aren’t uncommon, and Dragon Ball Z has over a dozen movies. The original Dragon Ball also has a few films that don’t get as much attention, yet still feature some exciting events. The Curse of the Blood Rubies movie culminates in Penny making a wish to get rid of the tempting blood rubies.
Penny’s wish has a justifiable purpose, but she could also just ask Goku to use his power to destroy the rubies. There are easier alternatives that would still leave Penny with a Dragon Ball wish to use.
7 The Pilaf Gang Wishes To Become Kids Again
What’s truly one of the strangest wishes in the Dragon Ball series is the revelation that Pilaf, Mai, and Shu apparently wish to be young again prior to the events of Dragon Ball Super. This is such an unusual decision since it seems like it’s meant to provide some odd symmetry with Dragon Ball GT, where a youth-based wish from the gang spirals out of control. Whether Pilaf and company wanted to be younger or not, it’s still a waste since the characters become less helpful in this state, although it does improve their ability to function as comedic relief.
6 Baby Wishes To Create A New Planet Tuffle
Dragon Ball GT remains a controversial chapter in the series to fans, yet it arguably does more with the Dragon Balls than any other entry in the franchise. Baby uses the Dragon Balls to wish for a new Planet Tuffle, which in theory isn’t a terrible wish and does help him in his effort to rebalance the scales with the Saiyans.
That being said, this new planet basically just serves the purpose of a unique battlefield between Baby Vegeta and Goku. This planet fails to gain a presence in the series afterward and is promptly ignored.
5 Lord Slug Wishes To Be Eternally Young
If there’s any Dragon Ball wish that could be considered cliché, it’s the request to regain lost youth. This wish is first put into practice by Demon King Piccolo, which certainly makes him a relevant fighter again, but youth can only go so far. The fourth Dragon Ball Z movie, Lord Slug, details a vengeful Namekian’s mission to accomplish the same thing. Lord Slug wishes for his youth, but Goku still eliminates him. Lord Slug wishing for immortality wouldn’t be such a waste and would have likely kept him in the picture for longer, even at an advanced age.
4 Krillin Wishes To Have The Explosive Devices Removed From The Androids
The introduction of the Androids in Dragon Ball Z brings forward a whole new type of villain. It turns out that these man-made menaces can even evade the limits of Shenron’s power in certain ways. Following the chaos of Cell, Krillin attempts to wish to turn the Androids into humans, which Shenron cannot grant. Krillin compromises and wishes for the Android’s internal bombs to be removed from them. It’s a nice gesture, but the Androids are largely pacified at this point. It’s unlikely they’d ever use their explosives in the future.
3 Oolong Wishes For Underwear
There have been dozens of Dragon Ball wishes throughout the hundreds of episodes of the franchise, but what stands out as one of the most memorable wishes is easily Oolong’s impulsive request for undergarments. This wish doesn’t just come as a surprise, but it’s also the first wish to Shenron that’s seen in the series. To be fair, Oolong swooping in with his wish does save the day from Pilaf’s tyrannical wish, so in this sense, it’s not a waste. However, this wish could have still been a lot more practical and serve the greater good beyond its symbolic importance.
2 Garlic Junior Wishes For Immortality
Immortality often seems like the ultimate wish and assertion of power, even outside of Dragon Ball. In this sense, Garlic Junior at least deserves some credit for his ability to actually achieve this pipe dream. Garlic Junior successfully wishes on the Dragon Balls to become immortal. With any other villain, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a waste, but Garlic Junior’s immortality is ultimately what dooms him to a fate that’s even worse than death. If Garlic Junior weren’t trapped in the Dead Zone then it’d be a good wish, but that’s not his fate.
1 Pilaf Wishes For Goku To Become A Child
Dragon Ball GT begins with a nostalgic nod to the original Dragon Ball when Pilaf inadvertently wishes for Goku to become a child again, rather than regaining his own youth. This transformation does initially throw Goku off his game ,and it makes him slightly weaker than normal, but he’s still incredibly strong, and it’s really more of an aesthetic change than anything else. Goku's child form again doesn’t restrict him from turning into a Super Saiyan, and he even miraculously regains his adult body again when in Super Saiyan 4 form.