Showing up across several series' that share their name, the Dragon Balls are some of the most powerful objects in all of anime. The epitome of wish fulfillment, these magical objects grant those who gather them a single wish by way of a powerful green dragon. The power inherent in the Dragon Balls has led to countless adventures on Earth and beyond, with many of their restorative wishes being key to bringing back the Z Fighters who've fallen in battle.
Bringing people back to life is just one of the many wishes granted by the powerful Dragon Balls, but even they have limits, especially concerning overuse. This has seen the Z Fighters using different sets of Dragon Balls, most of which have their own special powers and quirks. Here's a rundown on just what the franchise's title objects do, what can be done to them and the few times their powers might fail.
What Are Dragon Balls?
The eponymous Dragon Balls are a series of seven orange crystal balls that, when brought together, allow those around to summon an Elemental Dragon (Shenron in the case of Earth's Dragon Balls). This powerful sentient beast will then grant the user one wish, although this will be exactly as the person imagines the result and not literal. For instance, when King Piccolo wished for his youth to be restored, he was made into a young man again and not any younger. These wishes can range from giving the wish-maker incredible power to things that are completely superfluous and random, as shown by Oolong the pig's notorious wish early in the series. Dragon Balls become dormant for one year after they're used to grant a wish.
Later upgrades to the Dragon Balls include granting three wishes at once, as well as saving the remaining wishes for later after the first has been made. The most common set of these objects are the Dragon Balls found on Earth, although there are also Dragon Balls found on the alien world of Namek, complete with their own dragon Porunga. These Dragon Balls were apparently remnants of the original Super Dragon Balls, which were the size of planets. Kami, a Namekian himself, created both the main set of Dragon Balls as well as the Black Star Dragon Balls in the now non-canon sequel series Dragon Ball GT.
Can Dragon Balls Break or Be Destroyed?
For most of the series, it is suggested that Dragon Balls, due to the immense power that they house, are virtually indestructible. This is first stated by Colonel Silver of the Red Ribbon Army, although this may have stemmed more from the folklore surrounding the Dragon Balls than anything else.
If their creator is killed, the Dragon Balls will turn to stone and become dormant. The only solution to this is to revive their creator or have another Namekian restore the Dragon Balls themselves. When they were once in this stony form, it was stated that if even one of the Dragon Balls was destroyed, they would never work again. This could mean that either sufficient force would destroy the Dragon Balls or that their stony state left them vulnerable to destruction.
Can Dragon Balls Grant Immortality?
The Dragon Balls can in fact be used to grant the wish maker immortality, as shown in several instances in the anime, movies and video games. For instance, the villainous Garlic, Jr. used them to become immortal. In the timeline lived in by Future Trunks, Future Zamasu also gains immortality through the Super Dragon Balls.
What Can't Dragon Balls Do?
Unfortunately for Goku, Gohan and the rest of the Z Fighters, even the mighty Dragon Balls have times where they fail or are limited in what they can do. For instance, Dragon Balls will not grant the same wish more than once, effectively meaning that they can only bring back a specific person once. These people also have to have been dead for a year or less, although this limitation seems to have been upended after Dende upgraded the Earth Dragon Balls, explaining Frieza's revival. The Dragon Balls also can't kill anyone stronger than whoever created the Dragon Balls. Thus, foes like Majin Buu and others who are too much for Piccolo to take down logically couldn't be wished to death by the Dragon Balls.
Shenron will typically grant a wish exactly after it's made, with there being very few times where he's allowed a last-minute wish change. This means that anyone blurting out a wish, much as Oolong did, will have their wish granted right away. Shenron also couldn't turn Android 17 and 18 into humans (although this may have been because they were in fact humans and not true androids). The one-year limit is also a major limitation, as are the Dragon Balls' ties to their creator. All in all, however, the Dragon Balls are immensely powerful tools, and arguably weapons in the hands of whoever unites them and awakens the mighty dragon inside.
