Dragon Balls

One of the most mystical artifacts of all time, the Dragon Balls are orange, crystalline spheres (like an average size of a baseball and a tennis ball) with the ability to call forth a colossal dragon (Shenlong) which has the ability to grant a wish. Dragon Balls come in sets of seven with each ball containing the number of stars that signifies its respective number in the set. Dragon Balls are difficult to find because they are scattered all over their respective planet (Earth and a few other planets which have their own set), and are deactivated for a year after every wish, disguising themselves as stones. To have the opportunity to summon a Dragon, one must travel all over the globe to retrieve them. As technology progressed, this became somewhat easier, and became relatively simple with Bulma's invention of the Dragon Radar.

Unlike other forms of fiction that involve wishes being granted, the Dragon Balls seem to grant a wish exactly as the wisher imagined it, rather than warping the wish so that it is technically granted, but ends up making the wisher's life even more difficult. For example, when Piccolo Daimao wished for restoring his youth, he was not reduced to an infant, but rather, appeared in his early twenties. Also, when a victim is revived from the dead, they are not undead, but rather, are truly alive.

Restrictions on the Dragons powers are set by the relative capabilities of the Dragon Ball set's creator. A problem with any set of Dragon Balls is that their creator must be alive, otherwise they will be stones for eternity. This often results in the Z-Senshi protecting their creator with their lives.

Since all seven Dragon Balls must be brought together (though it is unknown exactly what the maximum distance between the balls is), it is often a sound strategy employed by the villains of the series (e.g. Freeza) to find one Dragon Ball and hold on to it, while the Z-Senshi go through the trouble of finding the other six, after which the villain will step in and steal them. Since this strategy technically works, but is considered cheap, the Z-Senshi do not usually employ it, as they prefer to fight fair.

The History of the Dragon Balls

When Kame-sennin stated on the English dubbed Ep. 33 "The Legend of a Dragon", he stated the the original Dragon Balls were made:

"The Legend as, I was told, goes something like this. In the beginning there was only one Dragon Ball. It was huge. I mean REALLY huge, It had to be. It held all of the mystical energies of the universe. An ancient tribe discovered it, and was inspired by it's magnificent power. They built a shrine around it, and protected the orb by placing it in the mouth of a giant Dragon statue, said to be it's eternal guardian You should have seen the detail on this thing, it was INCREDIBLE, scales made of Ruby, teeth of pearl-speaking of Pearl they say there was this one native girl ("GET ON WITH IT!")- yes well the tribe enjoyed years of prosperity until one day, evil paid a visit to the village in the form of a band of thieves. These agents of Darkness stormed the temple in an attempt to steal the Dragon Ball for their own selfish gain. They were shocked to discover the true power of the Ball. To ensure such an attack never happened again, the Dragon Ball was divided into seven smaller orbs, and scattered across the globe. Separately, the Dragon Balls were useless, but when all seven were united, then a single voice could summon the Eternal Dragon for one wish, and one wish only. Some wishes were pure. but others were tainted by blind ambition. This led to pain and suffering as an unjust few wished for power and dominion over mankind. But as the story goes there will one day come a hero who will use the Dragon Balls for goodness, and bring peace and unity to the world once more."

How the Dragon Balls are made

The creators are the Dragon Clan, which they are the Namekians. However, they were the symbol of Planet Namek's hope. The Earth ones are made by Kami-sama, whom he was the Nameless Namek sent to Earth.

Over the course of the story, Shenlong is wiped out twice, but is repaired by Kami-sama and then Dende. First, Kami-sama's attendant Mr. Popo makes a small model of Shenlong. Kami-sama then pours his power into that model. Once he's poured enough power in,  Shenlong  will be complete. Typical examples as depicted below: 

The user might call "Eternal Dragon, by your name, I summon you forth:  Shenlong !" . Eventually in DBGT, it was changed to "Arise, Shenlong!"

The usage and comparisons

SHENLONG

These are the common set of Dragon Balls for the earth. The Earth Dragon Balls are about 7.5 cm (approximately 3 in) in diameter, and they summon a dragon named Shenlong. They were created by Kami-sama, and later re-created by Dende. Shenlong can grant a wish within its powers as long as it does not kill, create love, repeat a wish he previously granted, and a few more restrictions. Legitimate wishes include eternal youth, immortality, bringing back a scorched forest or even an annihilated planet. Also, it is possible to return a person to life, although only if they meet certain criteria, like dying of unnatural causes or (if more than one person) within a year before, and each individual can only be brought back once. The Eternal Dragon will grant the first wish uttered after it was called, by whom ever is present. When Dende became the Earth's guardian he modified the burnt out Dragon Balls created by Kami-sama (which transformed into seven ordinary stones when Kami-sama fused with Piccolo to fight Cell), giving  Shenlong the power to grant two wishes (though in the Buu Saga, in the English manga it was labeled as three wishes). In addition to this, Dende's  Shenlong  can grant one wish and then have the second wish saved for a later time. This was shown in the Buu Saga, when one wish was made to revive all those killed by Majin Vegeta, and then Goku asked Shenlong to save the second wish. Therefore, only four or so months after Kid Buu's defeat, another wish was made to erase the Earthling's memories of Buu. However, one obstacle that Dende put in place on the new set of balls is that, like the Namekian dragon balls, the summoner must utter a set of words.Shenlong can bestow any wish as long as it does not exceed the power of his creator, who must still be alive when he is summoned (i.e. Kami-sama or Dende). He is unable to restore life to those that have died because of old age (but he can restore a person's youth), sickness or any other natural deaths. In the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, it is revealed that Shenlong cannot grant the same wish more than once (e.g. bringing back those from the dead that have been killed before, etc.) and he also cannot grant a wish to defeat or kill a living being that surpasses the power of his creator (This means that the Dragon can't kill an enemy that Kami-sama or Dende themselves are incapable of killing.)

The History of Shenlong

Killed by Piccolo Daimao

Revived by Kami-sama

Wiped out through the fusion of Piccolo and Kami-sama

Dende becomes the god of Earth, and he is revived again

The number of wishes he can grant is raised to three (two in the anime)

POLUNGA

Unlike the Dragon Balls of Earth, the approximately basketball/volleyball-sized Dragon Balls of Planet Namek summon a different dragon, Polunga (lit. God of Dreams) and can grant three wishes, due to their creation by Guru. Since the years on Namek are shorter (130 Earth days), they can also be used more frequently. However, Polunga is only capable of one individual's revival, whereas the Eternal Dragon of Earth can wish many, even an entire planet's population (if you can state your will in one wish). Additionally, the Namek Dragon Balls require the summoner to say a password before the dragon can be summoned (the password is Polunga), and the wish must be spoken in the Namekian language. (The Z-Senshi used Dende to translate their wishes.)Of course, one notable advantage that the Namek Dragon Balls have over that of Earth is that they can revive a person as many times as wished to. Sometime after settling on New Namek, the Namekian's decided to modify their existing Dragon Balls, giving Polunga the ability to bring back to life as many people as needed (this was done as a reaction to their experiences dealing with Freeza).

The Namekian Dragon Balls are a unique exception to the link between their creator and their existence, since Guru, at the end of the Freeza arc was able to name another Elder right before he died, after which the Dragon Balls' existence rested on the new Elder's fate (Muuri for instance). It is unknown if the Earth's Dragon Balls can be passed on in such a manner.

Polunga appears in the same way as Shenlong, with the sky becoming dark and light emitting from the Dragon Balls, but the form which the light takes is different than Shenlong. Polunga is more a human-type than a dragon, and the light doesn't surge put rather shoots up in a swift straight line.

The History of Polunga

Wiped out through Guru's death

Just as Guru is revived through the power of the Earth's Shenlong, Polunga is revived as well

Warped to Earth through Shenlong's power together with the Namekians

After Guru's death, Polunga continues on due

to Muuri inheriting the position of Guru

Moves to New Planet Namek together with the Nameks

Through Muuri, becomes able to revive multitudes of dead people

BLACK STAR SHENLONG

Yet and deadly, this unique set of Dragon Balls was created by the Nameless Namek, before he had split into Kami-sama and Piccolo Daimao. Presumably because this Namek was not pure good and was much more powerful (since he had not dispelled his evil half), the Black Star Dragon Balls are apparently the same size as the Earth Dragon Balls approx. 7.5 cm (see above). It can summon Black Star Shenlong that can grant any wishes, including killing people, which the original Shenlong cannot. Unfortunately, to counter such unrestricted powers, these artifacts have a lethal side effect. After the wish has been granted, the Dragon Balls spread across the galaxy. If all seven balls have not been re-collected and returned to the planet on which the wish was granted in one year, the planet will explode. Also, after the wish has been granted, these Dragon Balls do not turn into stone, so if someone does collect all seven, they can wish again right away. As the name indicates, the Black Star Dragon Balls have black stars instead of red ones. These Dragon Balls have only granted two wishes in the series before Piccolo's death (as he is the "creator" of these Dragon Balls after his re-fusion with Kami-sama (even Nail)) destroyed them forever.

An interesting aspect of Black Star Shenlong is his size. While Shenlong and Polunga are both shown to be comparable in size to a large skyscraper, Black Star Shenlong is shown to dwarf each of these Eternal Dragons combined. As a size reference, while coiling Shenlong has been shown as being roughly the size of Kami-sama's Lookout. Black Star Shenlong on the other hand is so large that his head alone is roughly the size of the lookout. Black Star Shenlong's appearance is also similar to that of a traditional Japanese dragon, while Shenlong bares a resemblance to Chinese dragons. Another interesting difference is that the Shenlong has his "whiskers" on the upper part (like a moustache) of its mouth while Black Star Shenlong has them on the lower part of its mouth (like a beard).

The History of Black Star Shenlong

Created by the Nameless Namek

Scattered across the universe

Goku, Pan, and Trunks searched over and over universe

Bebi Vegeta wished for his Tsufuru Planet

Artifacts wiped out after creator dies and planet exploded

Negative Energy / Shadow Dragons

Another concept introduced was the existence of negative energy in Dragon Balls. According to the series, when ever a wish is made on the Dragon Balls, an equal amount of negative energy is created along side the beneficial, wish granting energy. To prevent this energy from causing problems, the Dragon Balls absorb this dark energy. As the dark energy stored in the Dragon Balls disperse only after hundreds of years, and the Dragon Balls can only store a limited amount of it, the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet, giving them time to dispel the dark energy (since it should, in theory, take centuries for someone to find all the Dragon Balls and summon Shenlong again). Unfortunately, this counter measure was proved near useless when Bulma invented the Dragon Radar, allowing the Z-Senshi to easily find the Dragon Balls and summon  Shenlong many times. Eventually (during Dragon Ball GT) all seven Dragon Balls were filled to full capacity, causing them to crack. When these damaged Dragon Balls were used to summon  Shenlong to restore the Earth after Goku's battle with Super #17, the Dragon Balls summoned years worth of dark energy instead, which manifested into an evil Black Smoke Shenlong, who in turn swallowed the Dragon Balls and split into seven Shadow Dragons (影龍; Kage Ryuu).

The evil dragons were created from all of the negative energy in each positive wish granted. The negative energy stored is a balance for the good energy that was used to make the wish. Most of the dragons have an ability & most of them had some kind of transformation. Ironcally, despite the fact that the seven Shadow Dragons were all created by individual wishes, not every wish made, even in the Manga canon, spawned a Shadow Dragon. For example, none of the wishes made after the Cell Games to revive Cell's victims and remove the bombs from the Androids spawned a Shadow Dragon. It is unknown what became of the negative energy of those wishes.

If you're famliar with Eastern cultures, the names are spoken aloud in the series using the Japanese pronunciations above the Chinese characters. At the same time, they were only pronounced that way because the Voice Actors themselves were unfamiliar with Chinese and may not have been able to produce the right sounds to pronounce the names correctly. So, since the names are written with Chinese characters to begin with, and are intended to be pronounced as though they are Chinese, they should probably be romanized as Chinese, rather than Japanese (which would be something like a secondhand translation). Here's a chart showing the different names and pronunciations:

*The Chinese word for "two" is actually "Er," which is carried through to the name of the Two-Star Ball, "Er Xing Qiu" (written in Japanese as "Arushinchuu"). "Liang" is closer in meaning to "pair" than "two," so the reason for this change remains a mystery.

To make things easy. their names in the English dub are related to the name "Shenron". When the dragons are ordered by ascending number of Dragon Ball stars, the first letter of their names spells SHENRON. These are their names, listed from 1 star to 7 star per corresponding Japanese names. However, they are listed per star. 

Iishinron - Iishinron is the ultimate evil power in the universe.  Iishinron was born with the combination of all the evil energy given out by the corroded Dragon Balls making him the strongest of the dragons. Ii eventually absorbs all 7 Dragon Balls to become the awesome Super Iishinron giving him the powers of every Shadow Dragon. The Dragon Balls were used to restore life, but Syn has only one goal...the destruction of all life in the universe! Dragon of the 1 star ball. Born from the wish that revived the Namekian victims who were killed by Freeza.

Ryanshinron - Ryanshinron is the Dragon of Pollution. He uses his powers to create a muggy fog that settles over the land and drains any person coming into contact with it of all their power and energy. He was born when Goku used the Dragon Balls to wish Bora back to life many years ago after being killed by Tao Pai Pai. Dragon of the 2 star ball.

Sanshinron - The Dragon of Ice, Sanshinron, is Suushinron's brother. Sanshinron joins the fight against Goku and even has him down and beaten. Just as the Dragon Balls have turned against their masters, Sanshinron may find that turnabout is fair play. Dragon of the 3 star ball. Born from the wish that erases Majin Buu's memories from people's minds.

Suushinron - The Dragon of Fire, Suushinron, was born when Piccolo Daimao wished for youth when Goku was a child. With the power of the sun and of fire at his disposal, Suushinron is more than a challenge for Goku. Things really get hot when Nuova's brother, Sanshinron, joins in the fray! Dragon of the 4 star ball. Member of the Z-Senshi

Uushinron - Despite his small size, Uushinron carries a shocking power: electricity! He creates a slimy substance that draws the energy out of any object that it touches; the energy is then transferred to his body as strength. Uushinron was born when Goku wished himself back to life after the Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa landed on planet Earth. Dragon of the 5 star ball.

Ryuushinron - The Dragon of Water and Wind, Ryuushinron, dons the persona of Princess Oto, who the residents of a small fishing village worship as a god. When asked which wish she was born from, Princess Oto becomes angry and embarrassed. Dragon of the 6 star ball. Spawned when Oolong wished for an underwear.

Chiishinron - After Majin Vegeta killed a large number of innocent people, a wish on the Dragon Balls brought them all back to life. In this way, Chiishinron was born. Possessing the power of Earth, he delights in causing earthquakes and watching cities fall before his power. Dragon of the 7 star ball. 

Wishes Granted (SERIES)

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball GT

Wishes Granted (FILMS)

(Note: Its possible that Shenlong didn't appear due to the presence of the immensely powerful Broli, it is possible that Shenlong may have sensed Broli's murderous intent and didn't appear as Broli would have probably killed Shenlong if it had appeared (Broli would most likely have viewed the Dragon as an enemy). Shenlong having been previously killed by Piccolo Daimao, may not have been willing to risk destruction at the hands of Broli (who was far more powerful than Piccolo Daimao). This might also partially explain why he refused to come out earlier in the movie with Goten's failed attempt at summoning him. Shenlong probably granted Goten's wish from within the Dragon Balls. As to why there was no second wish, Shenlong could have possibly been unable to grant a second wish due to the way in which Goten's wish was granted and/or he may not have had the energy for a second wish, due to possible temporary revival of Goku (who already been revived by the Dragon Balls once).)

In live-action films, the following wishes were made as well: