Shenron

* God (First Creator)
* Dende (Second Creator)
* *Wish-Granting*

Earth's **Shenron** (神（シェン）龍（ロン）, *Chinese: "Shénlóng"*; Literally meaning "Dragon God") is a magical, wish-granting Dragon that debuted in the *Dragon Ball* series. Shenron is summoned by the Dragon Balls on planet Earth, and was originally created by the God of Earth. Years later, he would be 'recreated' by Dende after Piccolo and God fused into one entity.

Shenron has appeared in every series of *Dragon Ball* to date, and has always been called upon by the Dragon Team in times of peril, in the hopes of using his powers to fix the damage done to the planet by the villains.

## Background

Shenron, alongside the Dragon Balls, were initially created by God to inspire the Humans on Planet Earth, and give them hope. Much to his regret, the Humans later came to abuse the power that the Dragon Balls gave them, using it for their own personal gain. Before the start of the series, Shenron was summoned and the person who made a wish became king.

Sometime in the past, Shenron heard stories of Beerus, the Hakaishin, gaining a fearful respect for the deity.

## Personality

Shenron has been repeatedly shown to be a rather temperamental Dragon. Unlike Porunga, Shenron lacks the patience and kindness of his creators, and, when summoned, can grow impatient if a wish is not made within a short amount of time (which seems to vary depending on when he's summoned). However, these threats are usually empty; Shenron has never been seen acting on a threat to kill a summoner before. Beyond this, Shenron usually remains composed, rarely showing a hint of emotion no matter the wish that is delivered. Even when a wish could potentially place his own planet in jeopardy, he will grant if it is within his power to do so.

Despite his generally aloof demeanor, Shenron is not without the capacity for reaction. Ludicrous wishes, for example, are capable of shocking the Eternal Dragon, as seen when Oolong wished for panties — the first wish seen in the series — Shenron was as surprised as everyone in the surrounding area. Harsh words also draw Shenron's ire; he dislikes summoners who are arrogant and order him around while making wishes. His composure is entirely broken, however, in the presence of Beerus, the famed God of Destruction. Shenron immediately began kowtowing to the God, immediately fulfilling his request to hear information about the Super Saiyan God, and departing in fear without granting any further wishes.

## Appearance

Shenron's appearance is the traditional depiction of a Chinese dragon, taking the form of a long, serpentine dragon with two sets of legs along the length of his body and no wings. His body is covered in thick, green scales, and similar to a serpent, his body could be considered one long tail. Notably, Shenron possesses vivid red eyes, which glow when granting a wish, a long snout, fur on his cheeks that resembles hair, and long flowing whiskers. Additionally, he has large stag antlers perched atop his head. Shenron's underbelly is yellow.

Shenron's size is truly immense; while coiled, his body is roughly the size of Castle of God. Shenron is among the largest creatures shown in the *Dragon Ball* universe, dwarfing even most dinosaurs. However, as he has never been seen to fully stretch out his body in the manga, it is not known precisely how long Shenron is.

Kept by Mr. Popo on Castle of God is a model of Shenron, identical to the Dragon, but miniature. The appearance of this model changes to reflect Shenron's own state; if he has been destroyed, the model will break. It can, however, be mended.

## Abilities

### Wish Granting

*Main article: List of Wishes*
As an Eternal Dragon summoned from a set of Dragon Balls, Shenron has the power to grant wishes to those who summon him. Initially, Shenron was only capable of granting the summoner one wish, however, when he was recreated by Dende, this limit was boosted from a single wish to three wishes, the same as Porunga. However, Shenron can only grant two wishes if he has to revive a significantly large amount of people.

Due to being created by God — and later Dende — Shenron is bound to his creator. If his creator dies, he will die as well, turning the Dragon Balls to stone. A further limitation created by this binding is that Shenron himself cannot grant a wish that would surpass the power of the Nameccian who created him. This is in spite of Shenron saying that there are no limits to the wish he can grant.

Shenron is also capable of granting only a partial amount of the normal wishes after his upgrade; in this case, if less than the full amount of wishes are required, he will depart, and scatter the Dragon Balls across the globe once more. In this instance, they will become stone for only four months. After this, they can be gathered again and utilize the remaining wishes before the Dragon Balls depart once again and turn to stone for a full year.

## Dragon Ball

### Hunt for the Dragon Balls Arc

Shenron made his first appearance when Bulma was describing the Dragon Balls and their effects to a young Son Gokū.

The Dragon God appeared in the flesh when the devious Emperor Pilaf and his gang pilfered the Dragon Balls from Gokū and his friends, and summoning the Eternal Dragon within the middle of the desert, outside of the Emperor's Castle. Before Pilaf could make his wish to rule the world, Oolong interrupted him, wishing for "the panties off a hot babe". Shenron, while slightly perturbed by such an unusual wish, granted it before departing, and the Dragon Balls spread across the globe.

### Uranai Baba Arc

Shenron would later make his second appearance when Gokū gathered the Dragon Balls to resurrect Upa's father, who had been killed earlier by Taopaipai.

### Piccolo Daimaō Arc

Shenron was summoned by Piccolo Daimaō to restore his body to the prime of his youth. When Shenron made to depart, however Piccolo released a Kikōha from the Mouth at the Dragon God, killing him in an attempt to ensure no one could use the Dragon Balls to stop him.

After the defeat of the Demon King, Son Gokū went to Castle of God to meet with God, the creator of the Dragon Balls, to request he recreate them. Initially, God was unwilling to do so — even having considered leaving Shenron dead and the Balls inert — as humanity had perverted the Dragon Balls away from God's original intentions, which were to give people a sense of hope. But Gokū's pure nature convinced him there were still people who would use the Dragon Balls for what he'd intended. Mr. Popo brought out the model of Shenron, reassembling its shattered pieces, and God breathed life into the model. Reborn, Shenron's light moved towards the Dragon Balls, returning them to their full power immediately.

## Dragon Ball Z

### Saiyan Arc

Shenron made his first appearance in Part II when the Gokū's friends summoned the him to revive Gokū, who had been killed by Piccolo during the fight with Raditz. Oolong originally wanted to wish for Shenron to kill the Saiyans who were approaching Earth, but the Dragon stated that this was a wish he could not grant, as it was beyond the power of God, his creator. Instead, he was asked to revive Gokū from Other World, a request he could grant easily.

Shenron later died when Piccolo was killed by Nappa, as God died along with him.

### Freeza Arc

Shenron would go on to be revived when Piccolo was wished back to life by the Nameccian Dragon Balls. Later, Mr. Popo would gather the Dragon Balls at the request of God, and the Shenron revived all the people on Namek who were killed by Freeza and his men.

### Cell Arc

Piccolo and God would later fuse into a singular being, an act that yet again killed the Dragon and turned the Dragon Balls to stone. Due to a pressing need for the Dragon Balls, Gokū would go to Namek to retrieve a new Guardian for the Earth. Choosing Dende, the young Nameccian proceeded to remake the Dragons Balls, upgrading Shenron to allow him to grant three wishes (two if a large number of people are being revived, as Dende was not powerful enough at the time).

After events of the Cell Game, Dragon Team summoned Shenron once again. Their first wish was used to revive everyone killed by Cell, in the hopes that such a wish would revive Gokū as well, who died in an explosion caused by Cell. Despite their persistent requests, Shenron was adamant that he was unable to revive Gokū, as he had already died and been revived by Earth's Dragon Balls before. Instead, Kuririn opted to change Numbers 18 and 17 into normal humans. Shenron stated this wish was impossible as well, due to the sheer power the Androids possessed over himself. As the final wish, Kuririn requested the explosive devices implanted in both cyborgs be removed, a request Shenron could grant easily.

### Majin Bū Arc

Against the intentions of Gokū and Dende, Bulma and the other members of Dragon Team summoned Shenron after the events of the Tenkaichi Budōkai and Vegeta's rampage. Without understanding the gravity of the situation, they used Shenron to revive everyone who died that day, with the exception of the evil ones — a wish that thus omitted Vegeta from a revival. Gokū, however, arrived, and horrified at the premature use of Shenron's powers, told Shenron he could leave at Dende's suggestion saving the remaining wishes for a later date. Shenron complied, and left, scattering the Dragon Balls across the globe once more. Few months later, Shenron is summoned again after the defeat of the pure Majin Bū to erase the memories of Majin Bū from everyone on Earth — with the sole exception of Gokū's friends and family — to allow the Majin to live with Mr. Satan without terrifying humanity.

### Dragon Ball Z: God and God

*Main article: Dragon Ball Z: God and God*

### Dragon Ball Z: Revival of "F"

*Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Revival of "F"*

### God and God Arc

*Main article: God and God Arc*
On the cruise ship, Gokū gathers the Dragon Balls together which were originally prizes for the bingo tournament and summons Shenron. Shenron is startled by Beerus' presence and nervously greets the Hakaishin; Beerus orders Shenron to explain what the Super Saiyan God is, to which Shenron complies. Shenron quickly explains that the Super Saiyan God is not a person but a legendary transformation that only kindhearted Saiyans can achieve by fusing their power together. Shenron then departs as quickly as his explanation was.

## Creation and Conception

According to Akira Toriyama in an interview from the 30th Anniversary Dragon Ball Chōshishū: Super History Book, Shenron was based on an Eastern dragon. However, Shenron's design would have ended up more complex than Toriyama's liking if he'd drawn an Eastern Dragon as they appear — due to things like fur and other traits — so he combined aspects of Eastern and Western dragons to make Shenron.

## Trivia

* Despite being referred to as both the 'Eternal Dragon' and a 'Dragon God', Shenron has shown that he can be killed; first, when King Piccolo killed him, and additionally, when Piccolo died and later fused with God, rendering the Dragon Balls inert and Shenron dead.
* Shenron is stated to live in the center of the Earth, within the planet's core, and dwells there until he is summoned by the Dragon Balls to grant a wish. This, however, was a statement made only in *The World of Dragon Ball Z* and the back of the "Saga of Gokū" boxed set. Neither of these instances are taken as canon.
* In traditional myth, a Shenlong (神龙; Literally meaning "*god dragon/spirit dragon*"; Japanese (神竜, *Shinryū*)) is a spiritual dragon that originates from Chinese mythology, and is a master of storms and bringer of rain. This could be where the dark clouds and lightning originate from whenever Shenlong himself is summoned in the actual series. Just as Shenlong himself is easily angered or irritated, Shenlong from Chinese mythology can bring bad weather, drought, floods or even thunderstorms if they are angered, and the Chinese took great care to avoid bringing about their wrath.
* In the manga, Shenron is summoned a total of 8 times.

## References

1. ↑ *Daizenshū 3*, page 136
2. ↑ *Daizenshū 4*, page 32
3. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 165, page 3
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Dragon Ball* chapter 1, page 28
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Dragon Ball Z: God and God*
6. ↑ *Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'* chapter 1, page 11
7. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 20, page 6
8. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 394, pages 1-2
9. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 212, page 10
10. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 111, pp. 14
11. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 469, page 12
12. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 19, pages 9-19
13. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 20, pages 6-8
14. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 111, page 13
15. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 148, pages 2-4
16. ↑ Dragon Ball chapter 165, pages 3-5
17. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 212, pages 10-11
18. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 223, pages 5-6
19. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 322, page 13
20. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 360, page 8
21. ↑ Dragon Ball chapter 394, pages 1-2
22. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 418, pages 10-12
23. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 419, pages 2-3
24. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 469, pages 9-13
25. ↑ *Dragon Ball* chapter 518, page 5
26. ↑ *Dragon Ball Super* episode 9
27. ↑ Dragon Ball 30th Anniversary “Super History Book” (21 January 2016); Akira Toriyama Interview