Bulma

Infobox animanga character
name = Bulma
series = Dragon Ball


caption = Bulma by Akira Toriyama
first = Book 1 (Chapter 1) (manga)
Episode 1 of Dragon Ball (anime)
last =
creator = Akira Toriyama
voiced by = See Voice actors
nickname =
alias = Lena (Harmony Gold dub) [ [http://templeotrunks.com/media/lost_dub/index.html Temple O' Trunks - Media - The Lost 80s Dragonball Dub ] ] Nora ("Dragon Power") Bloomers
age =
born = 733 A.D. [http://www.myfavoritegames.com/dragonball-z/Info/Dragonball-Timeline.htm]
gender = Female
species = Earthling
death =
relatives = Dr. Briefs "(father)"
Mrs. Briefs "(mother)"
Vegeta "(husband)"
Trunks "(son)"
Bra "(daughter)"

nihongo|Bulma|ブルマ|Buruma is a fictional character who first appears in the "Dragon Ball" manga created by Akira Toriyama, followed by three anime adaptations. She was originally portrayed as a secondary main character, next to the main protagonist Son Goku, but her role was quickly downplayed as the series continued, even though she did still remain an important supporting character for most of the series. In the series, Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Briefs the founder of Capsule Corp, a fictional corporation that creates the special capsules many characters in the series use to store objects of basically any size. Bulma's mother Mrs. Briefs also appears occasionally in the series. Being the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Bulma is also a scientist and inventor. Bulma is most credited for inventing the Dragon Radar, a device that is specifically designed to detect the signal emitted by the Dragon Balls in the series.

Bulma's role as an inventor becomes important at several points in the series. Several of her creations were major to various plotlines, including a microband that could make her shrink, the time machine that brought her son Trunks to the past during "Dragon Ball Z" and the generator that allowed her husband Vegeta to achieve Super Saiyan 4 in "Dragon Ball GT".

Name and character origin

Bulma is a direct parody of the character Xuanzang from the Chinese novel "Journey to the West". Even though Bulma's character parodies a monk, her Japanese name "Buruma" is the brand of a popular gym short worn by girls in Japan. Her re-adapted name Bulma is a direct take on the word bloomers, which was a popular brand of women's underwear in the early 20th century.

As with most characters in the "Dragon Ball" series, Bulma's name is consistent with those of the rest of her family. Her family name has been said by Toriyama to be "Briefs", which is a type of undergarment. All of Bulma's family members are named after underclothing of some sort.

Appearance

Bulma's appearance in the anime differs slightly then her appearance in the manga. In the manga, her hair is usually depicted in a shade of fuchsia, while in the anime and the first chapter of the manga, her hair is a shade of turquoise. Her hair in the film "" is changed to the manga color for unknown reasons.

Bulma's appearance in the series is not as consistent as the other characters as she quite often changes her hair style and clothing. Bulma has also been seen topless, in several chapters and an episode using that apparel as a toolbox, the only toplessUnicode| female character in the entire "Dragon Ball" series.

Her breasts (revealed to be a 34 C) are often viewed as rather large by other characters.

Personality

Bulma's personality is like the typical female characters in Toriyama's stories; nagging and temperamental. Bulma at first is the identical to the image of a pampered city girl for most of the series; arrogant and adventurous, but afraid of being alone. Her arrogance can be seen to stem from her intellect; Bulma is most recognized for her fierce determination to get what she wants, and can be viewed as reckless in those quests. Bulma is well known for her intellectual approach to situations and her sexiness. Master Roshi frequently harasses her. She is also very proud of her abilities and can be very cantankerous when slighted, which may indicate a similar approach with other men. Throughout the series, Bulma goes through many life-threatening situations and is often a damsel-in-distress, needing the protection of Goku and the others. Despite their heroics however, Bulma at times takes advantage of them by escaping whenever possible, uncaring of how they will survive.

Bulma mellows out as the series continues in the present timeline, ultimately befriending Vegeta and helping him adapt to Earth. Initially depicted to support Goku, her relationship with Vegeta and his rivalry with Goku sparks a friendly rivalry with Chi Chi, but she manages to remain one of Goku's strongest supporters due to their long friendship and she does seem to believe that Goku is more powerful than Vegeta. One of the best examples of this belief comes from "The History of Trunks" special when she describes Goku in such a positive way in contrast to her rather negative description of Vegeta.

Plot overview

"Dragon Ball"

Bulma is the second character to be introduced in the "Dragon Ball" series. In the early part of the story, she is the inventor of the Dragon Radar and is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls. Bulma was hoping to use the Dragon Balls to wish for the perfect boyfriend. While searching for a nearby Dragon Ball, she runs into Goku. It is at this time that she finds out Goku inherited one of the balls (the four-star ball) she is searching for from his adoptive father Grandpa Gohan. Because of Goku's love for the ball and his belief that his Grandpa's spirit lives in the ball, Goku is not willing to give it up. Bulma then asks him to loan it for her in exchange of taking him in her travels. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure begins. ["Dragon Ball manga, volume 1] As the search progresses, Bulma and Goku meet Master Roshi after finding his pet turtle; Oolong, a shape-shifting pig who is terrorizing a village; and Yamcha, a desert bandit who Bulma soon finds herself attracted to, and who she eventually starts a relationship with. In one of the final episodes of "Dragon Ball"; Bulma can be seen having a crush on Goku when she witnesses his mature features. This affection for Goku never becomes anything serious due to Chi Chi's arrangements for their marriage, thus prohibiting any love relations between Goku and Bulma. ["Dragon Ball manga, volume 14]

"Dragon Ball Z"

As the anime progresses, Bulma's role waxes and wanes. In the later action-oriented episodes of the series, there is little room for a genius but Bulma continues to play a role as a secondary character, helping Goku and his friends with her gadgets, and having a rather rocky relationship with Yamcha.

After five years of peace, an evil menace comes to the Earth. It is Goku's elder brother, a Saiyan, named Raditz. After Goku and Piccolo kill him, Bulma takes the scouter from Raditz, and fixes it to find the power levels of people in human numbers. During the subsequent battle against Vegata and Nappa, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo are killed and because Piccolo dies, the Dragon Balls are rendered useless. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 3] After Goku defeats the Saiyans, Bulma volunteers to travel to Piccolo's home planet Namek and use the Namekian Dragon Balls to restore Yamcha and the others back to life. In need of a spaceship, Mr. Popo reveals one to Bulma, which had been the ship Kami had used to travel to Earth when he was a boy. Bulma repairs the ship with the help of her father, and flies off to Namek with Krillin and Son Gohan. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 5] While on Namek, Bulma has her body switched with the frog version of Captain Ginyu after she gives his frog body a special collar she developed that allowes him to speak in her language. Being able to speak once again, Ginyu shouts "Change, Now!", allowing himself to use his body switching technique with Bulma. Ginyu attempts to use Bulma's body to fight, but soon decides she is too weak. Ginyu then tries to swap bodies with Piccolo, but Gohan throws frog-Bulma in the way and she is transferred back into her own body.

After Goku defeats the tyrant Frieza, Yamcha and the others who were killed are revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls. However, Bulma's romantic relationship with him ultimately ends, though they remained friends afterwards. Vegeta eventually returns to Earth, staying with the Briefs family. Bulma chooses to befriend him, developing a strong bond that by the time of the Androids' invasion, leads to a romantic relationship that leads to the birth of her first child, Trunks. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 12] Many years later she would give birth to Bra, Trunks' sister.

Seven years after the battle against the Androids, Bulma helpes Gohan by making a watch which automatically changes his clothes into a super-hero costume so he could fight crime, without his real identity being known. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 20] Later, she and the other Z Fighters, with the exception of Goku, Vegeta and Gohan, hide on Kami's Lookout from the monstrous Majin Buu, however she is killed when Super Buu turns her into chocolate and eats her. In the Other World, she, along with Chi Chi, Videl, and a reformed Dabura look for Gohan. Bulma is revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls, along with her family and friends, and gives her energy to Goku to create a Super Spirit Bomb which eliminates Kid Buu once and for all. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 26]

"Dragon Ball GT"

In "Dragon Ball GT" she becomes possessed by Baby, who takes her as his apparent queen and lover (or second in command), as possessing Vegeta gave him all of his memories and emotions. During this time, she organizes the migration to Planet Vegeta (Renamed Planet Tuffle), and creates the Blutz Wave device that helps Baby become a Golden Oozaru. However, the Holy Water hidden in Dende's Lookout is used to free her and the rest of Earth from Baby's enslavement. Later, she helps Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 4 by exposing him to a new Blutz Wave Cannon, and witnesses Omega Shenron's defeat at the hands of Goku. ["Dragon Ball GT" anime, episode 64]

Future Bulma

nihongo|Future Bulma|未来のブルマ|Mirai no Buruma|Bulma of the Future survives the Androids' onslaught in the "Trunks Timeline," as seen in "The History of Trunks" special. Bulma lives at the former site of Capsule Corp, attempting to build a time machine. She's very protective of Trunks and hates the idea of him fighting, but nevertheless allows him to take the time machine to the past to stop the Androids and also deliver Goku an antidote for a heart virus that claimed his life in the alternate timeline.

In this timeline, Bulma aged very quickly, probably due to the stress of living in the hell that was Earth. She still was as smart as ever, but she doesn't look as young as she used to. She has also grown more mature and appears to have lost her selfish personality. She spends most of her life devoted to building a time machine so that Trunks could go back in time and prevent the devastation brought by the Androids, by saving the life of Goku, whom Bulma firmly believes is the only one who would save both timelines. Once the Androids (or more importantly, Cell) are taken care of in the main timeline, Trunks returns to his original time and defeats the much weaker Androids and this timeline's Imperfect Cell with ease, thus restoring peace to the future timeline world. After Cell's defeat, the future world is never shown again. ["Dragon Ball Z" manga, volume 19]

Family Tree

Appearances in other media

Video games

Bulma usually appears as nothing more than a one-line character in cut scenes for most Dragon Ball video games, such as ', ' and "". The biggest rumor about "Budokai 3" was that Bulma was playable, for the fact that she was seen in the 11th stage of the training mode, to explain how to use capsules during a duel. She barely could move, but it was a complete game model of her. Also in the DVD that comes with the special edition, her voice actor is seen recording fight sounds for Bulma. Note: Bulma is unlockable using a cheats disc. She has no moves and cannot set skills. This shows that they made a Bulma model, but for one reason or another they decided not to use it.

In ', Bulma sells capsules in the Skill Shop. Bulma will wear a different costume depending on how many you have collected in Dragon World. In ', Bulma appears in the Options Mode explaining how the various game settings work. In "Budokai Tenkaichi 2", she appears in the data center, explaining about custom characters and in practice mode along with a pink shirt-wearing Vegeta. She also comes with her desert costume from the original "Dragon Ball" anime, once unlocked.

Bulma is a Help Koma in Jump Ultimate Stars. She gives more SP for collected coins to the Battle Koma she is attached to.

Cross Epoch

as a pair of space pirates.

Live-action film

Bulma will appear in the upcoming "Dragonball" live-action film. She will be played by Emmy Rossum. [ [http://blogs.ign.com/McKlyde/ Live-Action DBZ info.] , "McKlde's Live-Action DBZ movie blog", December 14, 2007.] Rossum describes her portrayal of Bulma as "She’s pretty bad-ass, but still quirky and fun, and kind of ridiculous in the way she is in the anime." [ [http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/09/19/emmy-rossum-on-the-8-foot-monster-toys-catsuit-and-scrutiny-of-live-action-dragonball/ Emmy Rossum On The 8-Foot Monster, Toys, Catsuit And Scrutiny Of Live-Action ‘Dragonball’] ]

References