Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Actually Set Up Pan’s Major Victory in GT

Despite the fact that Pan isn’t the most well-known character in the Dragon Ball mythos, she has certainly made a name for herself in more than one installment in the franchise. In Dragon Ball GT she had a major victory against a group of villains, that was retroactively set up by the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is a film that takes place within the Dragon Ball Super era. In the movie, the Red Ribbon Army has made its villainous return, and the evil organization has recruited the brilliant scientist/inventor Dr. Hedo (who is the grandson of DBZ’s Dr. Gero). With Hedo’s new advanced Androids, the Red Ribbon Army launches an attack against the Z-Fighters while Goku and Vegeta are not on Earth.

In order to lure out Gohan, the Red Ribbon Army thinks that it’s a good idea to kidnap his three-year-old daughter, Pan. As those who have watched the movie can attest, the plan backfired, but the experience still left an impact that lasted all the way to GT.

Pan Gets Revenge on the Red Ribbon Army in Dragon Ball GT

Dragon Ball GT episode #42, written by Atsushi Maekawa, directed by Osamu Kasai, produced by Toei Animation.

In episode #42 of Dragon Ball GT, a portal from hell opens in the sky and nearly every villain of the past comes flying out from it to cause chaos and destruction in the world they left behind. Among them were representatives and high-ranking officials within the Red Ribbon Army–the original Red Ribbon Army, who first debuted in the classic Dragon Ball era and who were originally defeated by Goku when the Saiyan hero was just a child. However, before they could cause too much damage, Pan single-handedly took them down like it was nothing, and she did so with a smile on her face.

Obviously, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero came out in 2022 while this episode of Dragon Ball GT first aired in the ‘90s, so Pan’s prequel storyline regarding the Red Ribbon Army was far from being included in the established canon. However, upon revisiting the episode, knowing what Pan went through a few years before, the connection is simply too perfect not to bring attention to. Pan was taken from her father by the Red Ribbon Army in Super Hero, and while Piccolo was there the entire time to make sure nothing could happen to Pan, the situation itself was still traumatic. Sure, the Red Ribbon Army may have not been a real threat to Pan, but the arrival of Cell Max changed things completely, and the girl even risked getting killed in the battle.

Ultimately, the Red Ribbon Army was the first villainous group Pan ever encountered, which is bound to leave a mark, making her eventual take-down of the original Red Ribbon members that much more satisfying. The resurgent Red Ribbon Army tried to mess with Pan before she could even really fight back in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and when she is strong enough to defend herself in Dragon Ball GT, Pan takes the fight right back to them by obliterating the original version of her first enemy like it was nothing, and with a smile on her face, making this a great moment for both Pan and Dragon Ball fans alike.

Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero are both available on streaming on Crunchyroll.

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