Dragon Ball’s fandom is more alive than ever thanks to the confirmation of new Dragon Ball Super anime, but eyes are still curiously locked on one confirmed new project bearing the work of Akira Toriyama himself, Age 1000. While the game is largely mysterious in terms of what it’ll be, its main character’s Saiyaman-inspired getup may be a big hint.
The Great Saiyaman, Son Gohan himself, was conceived to conceal his crime-fighting persona in Satan City, as well as to draw attention away from the Golden Fighter who saved Earth in the Cell Games. Gohan is far from the only one to don the Saiyaman identity, but beyond immediate relatives and friends, Age 1000’s hero may be his true successor.
Age 1000 Has Identified Gohan’s Future Saiyaman Successor
During the Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri event in which Age 1000 was unveiled, footage of the mysterious protagonist, designed by Toriyama himself, showed him clad in gear reminiscent of a Saiyaman getup, down to a GS logo. On top of it being Capsule Corporation apparel, much like the original Saiyaman Suit, it’s a fair hypothesis that this is the Saiyaman successor.
Lining up directly with the Dragon Ball Online storyline, this mysterious Saiyaman successor may be busy given the various warring factions present should they be brought into Age 1000. However, given his ability to attain Super Saiyan state, he may share more in common with the likes of the original Saiyaman alongside Saiyaman 3, X-1, and X-2.
Dragon Ball Has Already Introduced a Dizzying Array of Saiyaman Successors
In a move not unlike Western comics and their prevalent use of successors taking on famous mantles such as a DC Omniverse of Batmen or a sprawling Spider-Man multiverse, plenty of Dragon Ball characters have donned the Saiyaman identity. Since Gohan’s original debut in 1988, there was bound to at least be one more character to take his wacky persona.
Not only was there an immediate subsequent Saiyaman, Videl aka Saiyaman 2; there are a ton of would-be Saiyamen across multiple Dragon Ball properties, not all considered canon. Barry Kahn played Great Saiyaman’s in-anime movie counterpart in Dragon Ball Super. Goten and multiple iterations of Trunks have taken on various Saiyaman iterations, too.
This spans from non-canon examples, too, like Super Dragon Ball Heroes’ Saiyaman 3, aka Xeno Trunks, or more absurd creations out of Dragon Ball Fusions including Great Jaco, Great Satanman, and Great Saiyaman 12, a fusion of Gohan and Videl. Other original characters, such as Beat, have taken on the mantle too, but not quite in the spotlight like with Age 1000.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- Latest TV Show
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Super Dragon Ball Heroes
- First Episode Air Date
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April 26, 1989