Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotretells the classic anime story that begins with Raditz’s arrival on Earth and ends with the defeat of Kid Buu. However, along the ways, fans are introduced to moments in a new light or are met with a piece of content that challenges the ideas ofDBZcanon.
As such, many may be curious as to how the story truly unfolds. While these moments are far and some not so big, the key moments that push to thesecret ending inDragon Ball Z: Kakarotwill be mentioned here. NOTE: This article containsSPOILERSfor the latestDBZaction RPG.
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The Saiyan Saga
Goku’s older brother,the Saiyan Raditz, arrives on Earth. He had expected Goku to have destroyed it by now and is surprised when it turns out that Goku is relatively “soft.” Regardless, Goku then fights Raditz who beats him and kidnaps Gohan. Goku then teams up with Piccolo, a former enemy, in order to stop Raditz, but Goku ends up dying in the process. Raditz warns that two new Saiyans were on their way to finish what he started.
The game then focuses on Gohan’s training, mostly showing and skipping over the majority of Goku’s training and Snake Way in Other World. As Gohan, players try to survive, fight a dinosaur, and at one point, players take on the role of Piccolo as Gohan turns into a Great Ape. This turns out to be aretcon inDragon Ball Z: Kakarot,as Piccolo doesn’t destroy the moon to end Gohan’s rage, he just creates an illusion. At the same time, the Z Warriors such as Yamcha, Tien, and Krillin are also doing their own perspective training.
Eventually, Vegeta and Nappa arrive on Earth where Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, and the others attempt to stall them until Goku can arrived. Facing off with Saibamen and Nappa, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu all die rather quickly. Then, later on, Piccolo dies protecting Gohan from Nappa. Goku arrives shortly thereafter, easily disposes of Nappa, and fights Vegeta, eventually winning out in the end and letting him go. It’s worth mentioning as well that the iconic"Over 9000!" scene is missing fromDragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
The Frieza Saga
At the beginning of theFrieza Saga, everyone is prepared to travel to Namek to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to bring everyone back (Piccolo’s aforementioned death turn Earth’s into stone). Vegeta, and Vegeta’s overlord Frieza, also have the same idea, arriving on Namek to pursue the Dragon Balls. Frieza quickly gathers a majority of them, while Vegeta hides one, takes one from Krillin (who arrive about the same time as Vegeta), and then tricks Frieza to get the rest.
However, Vegeta doesn’t realize that the one he hid was discovered by Gohan, forcing him to reunite with them. Throughout this chaos, Frieza’s henchmen, Dodoria and Zarbon, are defeated by Vegeta, so Frieza calls in the Ginyu Force. It’s during a fight with Recoome of the Ginyu Force that Goku arrives, mostly wiping the floor with the Ginyu Force, all the way to the point that Ginyu swaps bodies with him.
Eventually, they all learnhow to use the Dragon Balls, summon Porunga, make their wishes, and then Frieza finds them. A series of fights continue on that result in the death of Vegeta and Krillin, and the ascension to the Legendary Super Saiyan, but many think the both Frieza and Goku died there on Namek.
The Android/Cell Sagas
It’s quickly discovered that not only did Goku live but so did Frieza. As the Z Warriors on Earth await the arrival of Goku, Mecha-Frieza appears with his men but is then taken out by a mysterious Super Saiyan who knocks the exact time and location of Goku’s arrival. He explains to Goku that he’s from the future, that he’s Bulma and Vegeta’s son, and that he has to take some medicine to stop the Androids in this timeline 3 years from now.
Training resumes, and eventually, Goku and friends travel to the time and place of the Android arrival. They fight Android 19 and 20, who Trunks reveals are not the androids of his time, but fail in stopping them from waking Android 16, 17, and 18. They embark on a journey to kill Goku, while the others discover another time machine. They discover it’s how Cell came back in time, eventually destroying the manifestation of Cell in this timeline, but having to also deal with the current Cell.
Cell eventually absorbs 17 and 18, achieving his Perfect Form. As a show of his power, he hosts the Cell Games where eventuallyGohan achieves the Super Saiyan 2 transformationand defeats him alongside his father in the Father-Son Kamehameha.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotadds some new context to this transformation to better explain Gohan’s anger.
It’s also important to note that it’s during this saga when players meetAndroid 21, this time around not being an Android. She just seems to be a human lab assistant to Dr. Brief, but she has bigger implications in when looked at in a certain light.
The Buu Saga
Gohan’s in school, Goku’s dead, and Goten is roughly 7 years old. This huge time gap is compensated by having Goku return to Earth one day to compete in the World Martial Arts tournament. However, it all goes wrong after Spopovich and Yamu steal Gohan’s power. The Elder Kai reveals that they are trying to revive a monster known as Majin Buu, which leads to fights against Pui Pui, Yakon, Dabura, and ultimately Goku vs. Majin Vegeta.
Majin Buu is awakened and goes on a killing spree, eventually transforming into Super Buu to kill everyone (having already killed Babidi - his master - prior to this). Majin Vegeta tries to blow him up,Super Saiyan 3 Gokutries to stall him, Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks tries to fight him, Ultimate Gohan tries to beat him, and finally, Goku and Vegeta fuse to try to end it all. They manage to free the others, de-fuse, but removing these absorptions turns Super Buu into his original form, Kid Buu, pure unbridled rage.
Instead of refusing, Goku and Vegeta attempt to fight Kid Buu, with Goku winning after Mr. Satan convinces the Earth to raise their hands. And ultimately, that’s where the anime ends….but notDragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s Secret Ending
After the credits roll and players have defeated every Villainous Party in the game, including Evil Gotenks and Super Vegito, they will be able to face off withMira, one of the antagonists fromDragon Ball Xenoverse. Comments made about timelines here imply that there are alternative timelines, aside from the Cell Saga’s, in the canon, meaning Mira and Majin Android 21 could be up to their shenanigans in other timelines. Either way, it’s a nice touch and cameo if nothing else.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
