Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dragon Ball Super chapter 80!
How the villainous Heeter Force restrains the true power of their comrade Gas in Dragon Ball Super matches the way in which the Saiyan Paragus kept his son under control in Dragon Ball Z’s first, non-canonized version of Broly. This is the latest example of the manga picking apart aspects from the first Dragon Ball Z film and recycling them in Granolah, the Survivor Saga.
In chapter 80 of Dragon Ball Super, the leader of the Heeter Force Elec tears off Gas’ headpiece, unleashing the latter villain’s true power and causing Gas to go berserk. Elec is clearly aware of the headpiece’s purpose. The leader had just returned from wishing to planet Cereal’s eternal dragon Toronbo to make Gas the most powerful warrior in the universe and tells Gas to liberate his true power so he can truly become the strongest.
In the first Broly movie called Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, Paragus keeps his eponymous son’s power in check and prevents him from going berserk through a headpiece that he controls with a handheld device. The revamped version of the film retcons how Paragus dominated his son Broly. Instead of a device that affects Broly’s power, Paragus now controls him through pain by triggering a shock collar that his son wears. Dragon Ball Super‘s Gas undoubtedly shares the same handicap as the first Broly. However, Gas even depends on it while Broly seemed to be oblivious to his predicament or, at least, just accepted his fate. Another major difference is that Elec successfully reasons with Gas to get him to control his berserker state before the latter villain undergoes some sort of awakening while the first Broly couldn’t be reasoned with.
This is just the latest example of Dragon Ball Super recycling moments from the first Broly movie for reuse in the manga. In the original film, the Saiyan Paragus arrived on Earth and tricked Vegeta into coming with him to the new planet Vegeta under the guise that the Legendary Super Saiyan’s uncontrollable thirst for destruction is preventing him from creating a new Saiyan kingdom. But, of course, Paragus had ulterior motives. He wanted to avenge King Vegeta’s attempted murder of his then newborn son Broly who was the real Legendary Super Saiyan. In Dragon Ball Super, Goku and Vegeta are tricked to leave Earth by members of the Heeter Force who claimed they wanted to hire the Saiyans as mercenaries to help them defeat a villain on another planet. Of course, this turned out to be false as the Heeter Force was exploiting Granolah’s hatred of Saiyans with the hope that they would kill each other. The Heeter Force viewed Granolah as a threat to their aspirations, for Granolah had just become the strongest warrior from the eternal dragon Toronbo.
This pattern of Dragon Ball Super recycling moments from the first Broly movie is undoubtedly a gift for those who prefer it to the retconned version. Since there is no hope of the original ever reappearing, this is the only way for these fans to relive some of the most pivotal tropes and themes from the non-canonized film. This also encourages further speculation on what other ways Granolah, the Survivor Saga will incorporate other key aspects of Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan.
