In a game of Dragon Ball, there are Easter eggs from well-known series in the anime world. However, you could only discover them if you weren’t focused on the fight.
What kind of game is this? The characters are featured in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. The title was originally released in 2007 for PlayStation 2. In the popular Tenkaichi series, players could choose their fighter from all characters in Dragon Ball and then compete against each other. All animes were included, even GT and the movies.
The latest installment and successor, Sparking! Zero, has upped the character selection and expanded it to 182 fighters. But did you know that there were even characters in Tenkaichi 3 that actually don’t belong in Dragon Ball?
Naruto, Luffy, and Edward appear in Dragon Ball
Who is involved? If you look closely, you can recognize several characters from One Piece, Naruto, and Fullmetal Alchemist:
- Naruto from the eponymous anime is present, although with orange-brown hair. His rival Sasuke is also visible.
- From One Piece, both straw hat pirate Luffy and his ship’s cook Sanji are present. However, some colors are also different from the original. Nonetheless, Sanji didn’t give up his cigarette.
- Even two characters from Fullmetal Alchemist are included. Protagonist Edward Elric seems to be getting closer to antagonist Envy…
- Even Bruno Bucciarati from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is present, showcasing a heart-shaped cutout.
You can see the characters in a YouTube Short from MoreTVO. However, as you quickly notice, they are not playable fighters.
How do the characters appear? The anime figures appear in the background of the battle arena in the audience. They are represented as pixel characters and might therefore be harder to recognize. Those who focus on the fight may not even notice how many characters from other series actually appear throughout their gameplay.
Of course, other characters from Dragon Ball also appear in the audience. Among them are Son-Goku’s wife Chi-Chi and his grandfather. Unfortunately, the grandfather had already passed away before Goku’s adventures began. The reason he didn’t simply revive him with the help of the Dragon Balls can be found here: There is a good reason why Son-Goku never revived his grandpa in Dragon Ball.
