Dragon Ball (object)

* Many individuals

The **Dragon Ball** (ドラゴンボール, *Doragon Bōru*) is the eponymous artifact of the *Dragon Ball* series. Originating on planet Namek, these orbs consist of a set of seven magical balls that, when gathered, can summon a magical, wish granting Shenron to grant the user a varying number of wishes.

## Background and Usage

The Dragon Balls are a set of seven magical, wish granting orbs, that originally came from the planet Namek. According to Champa, the Nameccians created them by shaving off pieces of the Super Dragon Balls. They are not a recent concept to the universe, as the Elder Kaiōshin from 15 generations of Kaiōshin in the past is familiar with the Dragon Balls, and the intricacies of how they work. The Dragon Balls on Earth are a unique exception, as only Nameccians are supposed to have them, due to the 'rule-breaking' nature of the mystic orbs.

The ability to create Dragon Balls is limited only to Nameccians, and at that, only to Nameccians of the Dragon Clan. Creating them is a magical ability in nature, and does not require any actual teaching, as God was able to create the Earth's Dragon Balls despite being sent to Earth as an child. The appearance of the Dragon that comes from the orbs varies depending on the set, and the strength of the Dragon — i.e. the amount of wishes they can grant, along with the types of wishes that can be granted — are dependent upon the creator of the Dragon Balls. Even the size of the Dragon Balls varies; while Earth's Dragon Balls are around the size of an orange, the Nameccian Dragon Balls are larger, more comparable to basketball.

They are noted to feel like a hard natural resin, and any damage to a Dragon Ball will be reverted after a wish is granted and they scatter, becoming whole spheres again. Creating a set of Dragon Balls from scratch takes approximately 100 Earth Days.

When gathered as a set of seven, the Dragon Balls can be activated to summon their Dragon. Doing so requires a chant, which varies depending on the Planet that the Dragon Balls call home. On Earth, summoning Shenron by his name in the common language is sufficient. Nameccian Dragon Balls, however, only activate when Polunga is summoned in the Nameccian language, and furthermore, wishes can only be made to Polunga in the Nameccian language. He is, however, more than capable of understanding the common tongue, as well as speaking it.

Once a wish is made, the Dragon Balls turn to stone for a full year. The year, as with most aspects of the Dragon Balls, vary by the planet they are on. Earth's Dragon Balls turn to stone for one full Earth year. The Nameccian set, however, turn to stone for only 130 Earth Days, which is equivalent to one Nameccian year. Additionally, while Earth's Dragon Balls spread across the globe after one use, the Nameccian set have never been shown doing this; rather, they return to the location of the current Grand Elder.

### Wish Granting Capabilities

When all seven Dragon Balls are gathered together, an Eternal Dragon can be summoned to grant the user a varying number of wishes. The wishes that can be granted from the Dragon Balls, as well as the specifications to make said wish, vary as much as the Dragons themselves. Initially, Earth's Dragon Balls could only grant a single wish until Dende upgraded the Dragon Balls to be able to grant three in total (two, if a large amount of people is being revived). The Earth's Dragon Balls are also incapable of granting the same wish twice; this extends to reviving someone who has been revived before. Namek's Dragon Balls were capable of granting three, but there were limitations on precisely how it could grant the wishes; the wishes must be made in the Nameccian tongue, and while they can revive a person numerous times, so long as it wasn't a natural death, they could not, initially, revive a group of people.

The amount of wishes an Eternal Dragon can grant also seems to be entirely dependent on the complexity of the wish, as well as the skill of the creator. Shenron, when reviving a large group of people, can only grant two wishes as opposed to his usual three. Polunga, after his upgrade, can revive a numerous amount of people in a single wish without diminishing the number of wishes.

The Eternal Dragon summoned by the Dragon Balls, while they claim to be able to grant "any" wish, cannot grant a wish that would surpass the power of their creator. Additionally, should the wish affect the physical body of a target, the Eternal Dragon cannot grant the wish should the target be stronger than Dragon themselves.

## In Other Media

### Dragon Ball GT

*Main article: Dark Dragon Balls*

*Dragon Ball GT* introduced the concept of the **Dark Dragon Balls** (ダークドラゴンボール, *Dāku Doragon Bōru*; *English TV* "Black Star Dragon Balls"), a unique and very dangerous set of Dragon Balls created by the Nameless Nameccian, before he split to form Kami and Piccolo. They're roughly the same size as Earth's Dragon Balls, and appear to be identical, with the only exception being the black stars that shine within the orbs, hence the name. Gathering these seven orbs would summon a different version of Shenron, red in colouration, with vivid yellow eyes. Unlike the Earth's Dragon Balls, the Dark Dragon Balls appear to have no true limitation; wishes involving death to not exceed this Shenron's limitations, and the wishes he grants have magic so powerful that the regular Shenron cannot reverse them. Only a second wish on the Dark Dragon Balls can reverse a wish made by them.

## Creation and Conception

Toriyama explains that he got the concept of seven magical orbs from the ancient Japanese tale *Nansō Satomi Hakkenden*. In this tale, there are eight crystal orbs, and each represents a specific Confucian principle. Toriyama states that the reason there are seven, as opposed to eight, is because he wouldn't have wanted the Dragon Balls to have the exact same number as the reference.

## Notes

1. ↑ Dende was able to create a set of Dragon Balls that granted three wishes, while God himself only created a set to grant one. Polunga, the set created by Saichōrō, granted three as well, and was vastly stronger than Shenron by the end of the series once the Dragon Balls were passed to Muri

## References

1. ↑ *Daizenshū 3*, page 136
2. ↑ *Daizenshū 4*, pages 30-31
3. ↑ *Dragon Ball Z: God and God*
4. ↑ *Dragon Ball Super* chapter 6
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Dragon Ball* chapter 510, page 3
6. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 244, page 7
7. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 214, page 4
8. ↑ Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume: The Truth About the “Dragon Ball” Manga
9. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 394, page 1
10. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 329, page 5
11. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 1, page 20
12. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 327, page 2
13. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 215, page 5
14. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 212, page 12
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 *Dragon Ball* chapter 394, pages 1-2
16. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 515, page 2
17. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 514, page 11
18. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 212, page 10
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 *Dragon Ball GT* episode 1
20. ↑ *Dragon Ball: Bouken Special*