Bulma is the girl who sets the whole saga in motion: in the manga's first chapter, published in late 1984, she runs into Goku while hunting for the Dragon Balls. A brilliant scientist and the daughter of Capsule Corporation's founder, she goes on to become Vegeta's wife, the mother of Trunks and Bulla, and the technical mind behind almost every mission the group undertakes.
Who she is
Born into the wealthy Brief family, Bulma has already built a radar that picks up the signals given off by the Dragon Balls by the age of 16. She sets out alone to collect them with a very practical wish in mind: finding the perfect boyfriend. Along the way she meets a tailed boy living in the mountains, and everything starts from there.
She is vain, impulsive and occasionally bossy, but also brave and loyal. In a group of fighters, she is the one who solves problems with her brain.
Her story across the series
- Dragon Ball: she leads the first Dragon Ball hunt with Goku, Oolong, Yamcha and Puar, and fixes the radar whenever it breaks. She begins a long, on-and-off relationship with Yamcha.
- Dragon Ball Z: she studies the Saiyans' scouter, flies to Namek with Gohan and Krillin and survives a planet crawling with enemies. Before the androids arrive she breaks up with Yamcha and gets together with Vegeta, and Trunks is born. In the alternate future, that timeline's Bulma builds the time machine; in the present, she replicates the androids' emergency shutdown remote. During the Majin Buu saga she is killed and later brought back with the Dragon Balls.
- Dragon Ball Super: she throws the party where the god Beerus loses his temper and slaps her, sending Vegeta into a rage. She gives birth to Bulla and helps Future Trunks by repairing his time machine.
- Dragon Ball Daima: shrunk along with the others, she follows the group into the Demon Realm and keeps their ship flying with her repairs.
- Dragon Ball GT: her Blutz Wave Generator plays a key role in Vegeta's path to Super Saiyan 4.
Inventions and skills
Bulma does not fight, but the story would grind to a halt without her.
| Invention or feat | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Dragon Radar | Makes every Dragon Ball hunt possible |
| Capsules | The family technology that shrinks vehicles and houses to pocket size |
| Scouter analysis | Lets the heroes prepare for the Saiyans |
| Time machine | Built by the Bulma of the alternate future |
| Emergency shutdown remote | Copied from Dr. Gero's blueprints |
| Blutz Wave Generator | Helps Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 4 in GT |
Relationships
- Goku is her first friend and something like a little brother she has to keep in check.
- Vegeta is her husband: an unlikely couple that works precisely because neither lets the other walk all over them.
- Trunks is her son in two versions: the one born in the present and the one who arrives from the future in her time machine.
- Yamcha is her boyfriend throughout most of the original series.
Why she is iconic: our take
In a story dominated by fights, Bulma is the character who holds the world together. Her inventions drive entire sagas: no radar, no Dragon Ball hunt; no time machine, no Trunks. She is also one of the very few people who can shut Vegeta up and even stand her ground in front of a God of Destruction.
Her arc is one of the most complete in the franchise, from a 16-year-old looking for love to an adult scientist and family matriarch. Brian Camp and Julie Davis, authors of Anime Classics Zettai!, singled her out as the character who goes through the greatest number of changes over the series.
Did you know? Before the Dragon Ball anime even premiered, Bulma made a cameo in the film Urusei Yatsura: Remember My Love, released in Japanese cinemas in January 1985.
Trivia
- Her name comes from bloomers, the gym shorts. The whole Brief family is named after underwear: her father Brief and her children Trunks and Bra, known as Bulla in the English dub.
- Hiromi Tsuru voiced her in Japan until her death in November 2017; since 2018 the role has belonged to Aya Hisakawa.
- In Funimation's English dub she was voiced by Tiffany Vollmer and, from Dragon Ball Z Kai onwards, by Monica Rial.