Immortality

Garlic Jr. becomes immortal

Immortality (不死, Fushi) is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an infinite length of time without dying. As in reality, fame itself appears to be the only biological method of "achieving immortality" in the Dragon Ball franchise, however there a several outside methods in the series which can be sought after in order to become immortal, the most common being to make such a wish to the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, using the seven Dragon Balls.

Methods of gaining immortality

• Collecting the seven Dragon Balls (or, alternatively, the Namekian Dragon Balls or Black Star Dragon Balls) and having a wish for immortality granted by an Eternal Dragon.
• Drinking the immortality elixir alluded to in the Dragon Ball manga.
• Having Master Roshi's pet, the Immortal Phoenix, bestow immortality. This method is rendered unavailable some time before the beginning of Dragon Ball, due to the irony that the Immortal Phoenix died from being fed "tainted bird seed".
• The grueling process of converting a human into a cyborg entails them freedom from a death by natural causes.
• Wishing for Eternal Youth, which halts aging and thus leaves them unable to die of natural causes. However, they can still be killed during battle, with suicide, and/or being caught in a lethal event.
• Sealing with Eternal Dragons and goes to next Jinchuriki hosts with the glowing Dragon Balls Birthmarks appears on their foreheads and the rest of their bodies of the Dragon Eight Telegrams Seals and Four Symbols Seals on the bellies.

Characters who are immortal

• Master Roshi: Gained immortality via constantly eating the Paradise Grass. It does not eliminate death via unnatural causes, however, and he must eat it every 1000 years to maintain his eternal life.
• Fortuneteller Baba: It is not revealed how, but she must have gained immortality in some way, as she is over 500 years old.
• Master Shen: It is not revealed how, but he must have gained immortality in some way, as he lived to be as old as Roshi.
• Mercenary Tao: It is not revealed how, but he must have gained immortality in some way, as he lived to be over 300 years old.
• Mr. Popo: Mr. Popo is the eternal caretaker and gardener of Kami's Lookout, having long outlived all of Earth's Guardians, being essentially ageless, as he cannot die of natural causes like aging or disease; however, he can die of unnatural causes, like Buu's magic Transfiguration Beam, or complete disintegration.
• Darkness: The mysterious entity which guards the Ultra Divine Water in the Cave of Darkness. Darkness tells Goku that the two of them could live together forever while fooling him with illusions, suggesting that he is immortal.
• Shawn:
• Zesmond Spencer:
• Kaylah:
• Katherine:
• Adam:
• Justin:
• James:
• Shaun:
• Kayla:
• Melissa:
• Tommy:
• Marie:
• Garlic Jr.: In the film Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Garlic Jr. is successful in his campaign to wish for eternal life from Shenron. As such, he is abnormally defeated not by being slain but by being victimized by his own ploy, the Dead Zone, wherein he is trapped for several years until his escape in the filler Garlic Jr. Saga of Dragon Ball Z. It should be noted that, until Future Zamasu's debut in Dragon Ball Super, Garlic Jr. was the only character in the series to have complete and unhindered immortality. Whereas characters such as Master Roshi and the Androids are free from death by natural causes but are still susceptible to such acts as murder or suicide, Garlic Jr. seems to be literally incapable of dying.
• While not completely immortal, it is explained by Dr. Gero shortly after activating Android 17 and Android 18that the process of configuring humans into cyborgs essentially grants them "eternal life".^[2] This only applies to aging and death by natural causes, as while their energy never drains, they are still capable of being killed in battle, as shown with Future Trunks destroying the future androids in his timeline, Super Buu turrning Android 18 into chocolate along with Marron, and eating them, and then lastly, Android 17, though offscreen, who was either killed by Super Buu's Human Extinction Attack or when Buu's pure form, Kid Buu, blows up the Earth with his Planet Burst.
• Cell states that he will live forever as long as he isn't completely annihilated.
• Majin Buu: After Garlic Jr. and Future Zamasu, Majin Buu is the closest to completely immortal as he is not only immune to aging and disease, but his body is almost indestructible. The only way to kill Majin Buu is to use an incredibly powerful force to completely destroy his body with not even a trace left behind, as he can regenerate from even the smallest particles, such as the Super Spirit Bomb.
• King Piccolo: King Piccolo gained "Eternal Youth" (永遠の若さ Eien no Wakasa), after wishing it from the Dragon Balls. This made him immune to aging, allowing him to stay on his physical prime for eternity, however, he could die or be killed by unnatural causes, such as being obliterated or pierced through the chest.
• Piccolo: Piccolo inherited his late father's eternal youth, giving him ageless immortality after reaching his physical prime, which has been proved in several video game stories, such as the Hero Mode story from Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, which takes place long after Dragon Ball GT's ending, and shows Piccolo, still alive and looking physically young. It is also stated in Daizenshuu 2 that Piccolo inherited all of his father's techniques and abilities, including "Eternal Youth". It was due to his eternal youth that Kami, when both he and Piccolo decided to fuse back to their original self, made the latter the dominant host, as the latter's eternal youth made him much stronger than Kami.
• Lord Slug: Slug wished for "eternal youth on his prime" from the Dragon Balls. This made him return to his physical prime, and he became ageless immortal. However, he could still be killed, such as being obliterated.

Characters who have pursued immortality

• King Piccolo: Wished for Eternal Youth to regain his physical prime. Was ultimately killed by Goku via the latter plowing through his chest.
• Vegeta: The proud Saiyan warrior seeks the Dragon Balls of Earth, where he is encountered and defeated by Goku. After recovering, Vegeta searches Namek for the Dragon Balls of that planet, which he is successful in stealing from Frieza (with the exception of one he locates himself). He loses the artifacts to the Ginyu Force, before coming to gain possession of them again once again with the arrival of Goku. He nearly loses the opportunity to become immortal when Krillin, Gohan and Dende summon the Eternal Dragon of Namek, Porunga, in his absence, but he realizes with enough time to track the group down and force Dende to make the wish (as Porunga requires his summoner to speak in Namek dialect when making a request). The wish ultimately fails however, when Grand Elder Guru dies, thus killing the Eternal Dragon and crippling Vegeta's conquest for immortality.
• Nappa: A Saiyan who travels to Earth with Vegeta to seek out the Dragon Balls. Their plan ultimately fails when Goku arrives and pummels Nappa, who ends up being killed by Vegeta.
  • Zarbon: Wished for Eternal Youth in the what-if saga Beautiful Treachery in order to suppress his beast form. However, as Frieza pointed out, it was a wasted wish since such a wish won't protect him from being killed, which rang true when Planet Namek was destroyed before Zarbon could escape it.
• Frieza: The self-proclaimed "lord of the universe" seeks the Dragon Balls in an effort to solidify his terrifying influence by gaining true immortality. Frieza becomes increasingly desperate to fulfill this desire as more threats to his campaign begin to surface on Namek, such as Vegeta, the Earthlings Krillin and Gohan, a Namek victim's curious last words that Frieza could never make a wish even with the Dragon Balls gathered, and finally the arrival of Goku. Ultimately, Frieza loses his opportunity to wish for immortality to Vegeta, who in turn also fails to have this request granted when Porunga, the Eternal Dragon of Namek, prematurely dies. After Porunga is revived, Frieza makes a desperate attempt to wish for immortality, but is rejected due to his failure to speak the wish in the Namekian language. Dende seizes this opportunity to wish for all living beings on Namek except for Goku and Frieza to be transported to Earth.
• Vodka: A mob leader employing Mercenary Tao during the Cell Games Saga, who desires immortality so that he may escape Cell's path of destruction.

Drawbacks

Even if one is immortal they are still susceptible to being trapped in a place where they cannot escape, be it a different time era, dimension, etc. They are also susceptible when fusing with a mortal being due to merging in a cellular level with said being. This could result in major problems, varying in each person, due to merging their cells with mortal cells. This would either overwrite the fused body's DNA, or treat the merged cell as a one single cell, both resulting in catastrophic mutations. They're also susceptible to being erased from existence by Zeno. It is also possible the Angels may be capable to do the same as well. In the case of gaining eternal youth, they also are still susceptible to the unnatural taking of life such as murder or suicide. There are examples of these drawbacks such as:

Even if one is immortal they are still susceptible to being trapped in a place where they cannot escape, be it a different time era, dimension, etc. They are also susceptible when fusing with a mortal being due to merging in a cellular level with said being. This could result in major problems, varying in each person, due to merging their cells with mortal cells. This would either overwrite the fused body's DNA, or treat the merged cell as a one single cell, both resulting in catastrophic mutations. They're also susceptible to being erased from existence by Zeno. It is also possible the Angels may be capable to do the same as well. In the case of gaining eternal youth, they also are still susceptible to the unnatural taking of life such as murder or suicide. There are examples of these drawbacks such as:

Trivia

• Daizenshuu 2 states that Majin Buu has an immortal body because he can regenerate it. It is shown however that he can be killed when he is obliterated by Goku's Super Spirit Bomb. It should be noted that this refers to the fact that the pure Majin Buu had existed since time immemorial (as Bibidi only summoned him and did not create him as previously believed) indicating that he cannot die of natural causes. Additionally his regeneration makes him extremely hard to kill to the point it caused several characters to wonder if he was completely immortal.
• While in Hell, Frieza and Cell appear to be immortal as they are immune to any and all harm,^[3] coming back every time they are defeated, however this is due to the fact that they are already dead and lack true living bodies. Throughout the series it is often mentioned that even if a strong deceased individual is allowed to keep their body, they cannot be killed again, as mentioned during the Other World Tournament, when the announcer lists the rules, he mentions that the fighters shouldn't worry about being killed because they are already dead. King Kai stated something similar during the Namek Saga, when he tells Chiaotzu after the latter's failed suicide attack on Piccolo while training on Other World, that he can't die anyways due to his being already dead. Although, this point is countered during the Buu Saga, when Goku states that when fighters that are already dead are killed, they are wiped from existence completely; however, this statement only occurs within anime filler.
  • Additionally it should be noted that in the anime, Goku could use the Super Kaio-ken while dead. In Dragon Ball Super, it was explained by Goku in the anime that using the Kaio-ken and Super Saiyan form together would be fatal as the Super Saiyan form prevents the user from maintaining the precise ki control necessary to use the Kaio-ken safely (it should be noted that Super Saiyan Blue does not have this limitation allowing Goku to use the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken without dying), thus implying that Goku was only able to use the technique as he was already dead when he used the Super Kaio-ken and explains why Goku never used the technique during his later battles with Super Buu, Kid Buu, and Beerus in the anime and Dragon Ball GT as he had been revived and would have been killed if he had used the Super Kaio-ken. It should be noted that Goku use of the Super Kaio-ken and Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken only occur in the anime of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super.
  • However it should be noted that the ghosts and souls of the dead can still be destroyed/erased by a God of Destruction's Hakai ability (as shown when Beerus destroys the ghost of Dr. Mashirito) and Zeno/Future Zeno's Erase ability (which erased all the souls of the dead such as Future Bulma, Future Goku, and Future Gohan when he erased the Future multiverse to destroy the immortal essence of Fused Zamasu). If a dead person or ghost is destroyed by such means, they will be effectively erased from existence.
• While it is never actually stated, it is likely that Fortuneteller Baba possesses some form of immortality as she is the elder sister of Master Roshi and is shown to be still alive in Age 1000 in Dragon Ball Online. Given that she is a witch, she may have obtained immortality via means of witchcraft, the Immortal Phoenix (possible when it was still alive), Paradise Grass, or via drinking the same immortality elixir that granted her brother his immortality. Interestingly, Baba is never depicted being killed during the entire series, which can be attributed to both her ability to see the future and her ability to freely travel from the living world to Other World. This would potentially allow her to foresee events (like when Kid Buu or Frieza destroyed the Earth) that could lead to her death (should her immortality be limited to natural causes like her brother's) and flee to Other World (where she could remain alive until the danger had passed, like she did during the Fusion and Kid Buu Sagas).
• Both Master Shen and Mercenary Tao are implied to have achieved some form of immortality as well since they are around the same age as Master Roshi and have had a close history together.
• In the manga, Piccolo compares Magetta's great durability to immortality, due to the Metal Man being able to shrug off Super Saiyan Vegeta's strongest attacks - despite Vegeta being stronger than Magetta.
• In Dragon Ball FighterZ, Immortality is one of the wish options when summoning Shenron in battle. As a result various characters can wish for immortality even those who have no interest acquiring it in the main series such as Goku. In the game immortality causes the user and their teammates health to regenerate and their ki is always full. Additionally certain characters will comment on acquiring immortality.
  • For example, SSJ Goku states he wants to fight forever, while SSGSS Goku states he can train forever with immortality.
  • SSGSS Vegeta states he should leave seeking immortality to Frieza, indicating he had lost interest in acquiring it after Frieza's defeat on Namek (which makes sense as his original reason for desiring it was so he could oppose Frieza without fear of death). SSJ Vegeta states who cares about immortality.
  • Adult Gohan states that immortality would be an interesting subject to study. Teen Gohan however states he doesn't want to be a kid forever.
  • Future Trunks states that immortality is worthless if he's the only one that survives.
  • Piccolo says he isn't sure such a long life would be such a good choice, which fits with his and Kami's negative views on immortality in Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone as both considered Garlic Jr. foolish for having wished for it.
  • Gotenks states that he doesn't want to be treated like a kid anymore, implying that his wish for immortality would keep him a kid forever.
    • It is unclear how such a wish would effect his two fusee Goten and Trunks (whether they would both be immortal when they defused or if immortality would prevent then from defusing, or if they would only be immortal when fused together as Gotenks).
  • Android 18 simply says "Come on, you know what a woman wants right?" presumably referring to how most women would rather be young and attractive forever.
  • Krillin notes that since he has died several times, immortality might be a good idea.
  • Yamcha states that he should have wished for immortality when he was younger.
  • Tien wonders how long Master Roshi and the others can live.
  • Nappa states he can now fight as much as he wants.
  • Android 16 states that the "function" of immortality is useless to him.
  • Majin Buu states he doesn't even know that immortality is.
  • Android 21 says who wouldn't want eternal youth.
  • Bardock simply say "I'm not dying here!"
  • Broly says he will continue to destroy everything.
  • Goku Black states that he too shall become immortal like Future Zamasu.
  • Hit simply remarks that he has already lived for 1000 years.
  • Frieza simply tells Shenron to grant him Eternal Life, while Cell and Captain Ginyu tells Shenron to make them immortal.
• In the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Super, Future Zamasu's immortality is called Invincibility.

References

1. ↑ Dragon Ball chapter 4, "They Call Him...the Turtle Hermit!"
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Dragon Ball chapter 349, "The Androids Awake!"
3. ↑ Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game, 2000