Bulma, the prodigal inventor and most prevalent female character in theDragon Ballseries, is actually a pretty complex character. While at first, she may seem like a smart woman who is just a bit quick to anger, there’s actually a lot more to who she is and what her motivations are.
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So, with that in mind, let’s take a bit of a deeper look atDragon Ball’sBulma and talk about some lesser-known facts about her.
10She Has An Older Sister Named Tights
Right off the bat, let’s talk about the fact that Bulma has another member of her family thatDBZfans typically, on average, barely know anything about. In her family, Bulma has her parents Dr. Brief and Bikini as well as her own daughter Bulla, but how many fans remember that Bulma also has an older sister?
That’s right, Bulma isn’t an only child, and of course, her sister also follows the same naming convention as the rest of her family, which is why her name is Tights. Not all too much is known about Tights, other than the fact that she was smart enough to graduate university at 16, went on a whole series of misadventures with Jaco in theJaco The Galactic Patrolmanone-shot, and then became a science fiction writer not long after.
9She’s Technically Been In The Dragon Ball Story Longer Than Goku
Bulma is by far the female character with the most screen time across all the differentDragon Ballseries. And there’s a reason for this as Bulma is basically the series' secondary main character, at least in the originalDragon Ball. To prove it, people often forget that Bulma shows up on the 4th page of the very first issue ofDragon Balland is a continuous part of the series from then on.
In fact, ifThe Jaco The Galactic Patrolmanseries, which came out in 2013 but takes place 10 years before the events ofDragon Ballin-canon, then Bulma was actually part of the story before even Goku was since Jaco originally came to Earth to find Goku
8Her Hair Color Constantly Changes For No “Canonical” Reason
Here’s an interesting question: if Trunks is supposed to have the same hair color as his mother, Bulma, then why is it purple? Well, there are numerous examples throughout the different anime series and even the colored spreads of the manga where her hair color flips between purple, blueish-green, and the canonical bright blue. Remember that the original anime forDragon Ballcame out in 1989, which is relatively far from when digital coloring became the norm.
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Because of this, Bulma’s hair could change colors based on how the ink was mixed that particular day. At some point, they just kepther iconic hairstylepurple in the manga, but by then it was already seen as blue in the anime, leading to this confusion. Now, inSuper, Future Trunks finally has the same shade of blue hair as his mom and it’s explained in-universe as him dyeing it as a tribute to her passing away in his original timeline.
This next fact is such a minor thing, but it becomes more memorable simply because the show doesn’t put any emphasis on it. Long after the Cell Arc anda bit before the world-destroying Buu Arc, Gohan was getting into crime fighting as the Great Saiyaman. And, the one responsible for his “amazing” costume is Bulma.
She comes up with this solution one night when Gohan is talking about how Videl is suspicious of his real identity. And, while they’re having this conversation, Bulma just casually grabs a pack of cigarettes and starts smoking. She’s never shown smoking again and it seems like it may have just been a short-term vice, but who really knows for sure.
6She’s The Genius Mind Behind Most Inventions In The Series
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with theDragon BallIP is likely very aware that Bulma is hyper-intelligent. This heir to the Capsule Corp conglomerate has earned her stripes as an inventor, a scientist, and an all-around intellectual.
But, people often forget just how far her expertise goes, including the fact that she even expanded to being able to perfectly replicate and even improve upon alien technology. To give a few examples of her many inventions:
5She’s An Expert-Level Machine Operator
Even in her first appearance, it’s incredibly clear that Bulma knows her way around vehicles. Her debut panel inDragon Ball’sfirst chapter has her standing next to her very own Capsule Corp motorbike, and her driving skills don’t stop there.
Throughout the franchise, Bulma has been seen behind the wheel or controls of bikes, cars, planes, spaceships, submarines, tanks, and much more. And the best part is, she’s also incredibly skilled at driving all of them as well.
4She Fixed Jaco’s Spaceship At Five Years Old
Jaco is a character that manyDBZfans only saw for the first time during the Golden Frieza Arc ofDragon Ball Super.But dedicated fans of the IP as well as its author, Akira Toriyama, would actually recognize this character as the same Jaco from the one-shot series Toriyama released two years before Super started calledJaco The Galatic Patrolman.
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In this one-shot, there’s a lot that goes on, but at one point Jaco’s ship is broken and the Briefs family is visiting Omori Island (where Jaco is staying). While Jaco is conversing with her older sister Tights, the five-year-old Bulma manages to not only repair Jaco’s ship on her own but then proceeds to fly it with gusto right after.
3Her Original Wish Was For Strawberries & A Boyfriend
Throughout all theDragon Ballanime, there are quite a lot of examples of dumb wishes characters have made or have wanted to make. Some examples include:
Even Bulma is guilty of having some truly awful wish ideas. In the originalDragon Balladventure, she had two wishes in mind. First, she wanted to wish for a lifetime supply of strawberries but later decided that this wasn’t quite enough and wanted to wish for a perfect boyfriend instead.
2She Might Have Cheated On Yamcha
The relationship between Bulma and Yamcha was always a rocky one. Throughout the events ofDragon BallandDragon Ball Z, the couple is “on-again-off-again” pretty often. And, afterthe incredibly long Freiza Saga, the two are still technically dating when Vegeta and the Namekians start staying at Capsule Corp.
During this time, there are a lot of scenes with Bulma doting on Vegeta and acting concerned for him, leaving Yamcha gaping in surprise as they walk away. And, a year later, Bulma gives birth to Trunks, proving that sometime during this period the two of them started seeing each other, which very much implies she cheated on Yamcha or at the very least broke up with him and immediately moved on.
1She Slapped Beerus For Ruining Her Birthday
Lastly, this is probably the thing Bulma is most known for inDragon Ball Super, the act of slapping the God of Destruction (who fans really want inDragon Ball: The Breakers) across the face. Of course, this was all due to a misunderstanding, as an angry and irritated (tipsy) Bulma had no ideathat Beerus is an actual god.
Then, when a conflict between Beerus and Buu eventually turns into an all-out brawl between Vegeta and Beerus, Bulma steps in and slaps the cat god for ruining her party. This results in him slapping her back, Vegeta screaming his, now-iconic, “My Bulmaaaaa!” line while trying to force himselfinto a Super Saiyan God transformation.
