Bulma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bulma | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Japanese | ブルマ |
| Romaji | Buruma |
| Anime Name | Bulma |
| Manga Name | Bulma |
| Alternate Name(s) | Bulma Briefs Bloomers Lena |
| First Appearance | Book 1 (Chapter 1) (Manga) Episode 1 of Dragonball (Anime) |
| Appears in |    |
| Race | Human |
Family
|
|
| DB Character Listing - Category | |
Bulma Briefs (ブリーフ ブルマ Burīfu Buruma?) is a fictional human who is the Dragon Ball series' longest appearing female character. While she is referred to only as "Bulma" throughout the series, the English translations imply that Briefs or Brief is her family name. As common in the Dragon Ball universe, family names are based on themed objects (also useful as a mnemonic device); in her case, these are types of garments. Bulma is based off of a Japanese pun that refers to bloomers (ブルーマー burūmā?), a type of gym shorts (trousers). Her Japanese voice actor is Hiromi Tsuru, and in the FUNimation English dub she is voiced by Tiffany Vollmer. Her original English voice actor for the Ocean Group is Lalainia Lindbjerg, and when the Canadian dub resurfaced, Maggie Blue O'Hara took over for Season 5.
In the early Harmony Gold English Dragon Ball dub from the 1980s, she is known as Lena.
Bulma has a very spunky, tomboyish, temperamental personality. She is quite spoiled and vain (specially when young, though this slightly mellows out later), is known for her extreme intellect, and is a genius inventor. She'll do whatever it takes to get what she wants and she won't let anything stand in her way, not mountains, not monsters, not even pride, in the form of her lover/husband Vegeta: she is in fact the only person who never seems intimidated by him (although she initially was terrified of him, she later develops a tolerance of him, and Vegeta eventually becomes the one who is terrified of her).
Rare for a cartoon character, even in anime, her hairstyle varies considerably depending on what point the narration is in the storyline. Throughout the entire series, she has 17 different hairstyles. Bulma has turquoise hair in the anime, and purple hair in the manga. Her outfit also changes often. Bulma is the only female character to be featured topless in the series.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Bulma is the second (after Son Goku) character to be introduced in the series. In the early part of the plot, she is the one that has invented a Dragon Radar and is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls, wanting to ask for a good boyfriend. She finds that Goku inherited one of the balls (the four-star ball) from his Grandpa Gohan, and then asks him to loan it for her in exchange of taking him in her travels. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure begins.
As the anime progresses, Bulma's role waxes and wanes. In the later action-oriented episodes of the series, there is little room for a genius but Bulma continues to play a role as a secondary character, helping Goku and CIA with her gadgets, and having a rather rocky relationship with Yamcha.
In the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, an older and more mature Bulma got to see a full grown Goku, as well as her old friends. She was a spectator in 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. After five years of peace, an evil menace came to the Earth. It was Goku's eldest brother, a Saiyan, named Raditz. After Goku and Piccolo killed him, Kuririn and Bulma took the scouter from Raditz, and fixed it to find the power levels of people in human numbers.
The only way to get to Namek, was with a spaceship. When Mr. Popo got Bulma to one, he tried to figure out if it really was a spaceship or not. After closer inspection, it was indeed, an actual spaceship. She fixed it with the help of her father, and flew off to Namek with Kuririn and Son Gohan.
Bulma is well known for her intellectual approach to situations. She is also very proud of her abilities and can be very cantankerous when slighted, which may indicate a similar approach with other men. Bulma's first relationship in the series was with Yamcha, whom she met in their first travel with Goku; they have an on and off relationship, which is terminated later romantically but continues as a friendly one. She also finds herself automatically attracted to handsome villains such as Zarbon and General Blue, both on separate occasions. However, after the Freeza Saga she begins a relationship with Vegeta which leads to the birth of Trunks and thirteen years later, Bra.
In the Great Saiyaman Saga, She helped Gohan make a super hero costume so he could fight crime, without his real identity being known.
In the Fusion Saga she and the other Z Fighters, with the exception of Goku, Vegeta and Gohan, hide on the Lookout from the monstrous Super Buu, however she is killed when Buu turns her into chocolate and eats her. In heaven, she, along with Chi-Chi, Videl, and a reformed Dabura looked for Gohan. She is revived by the dragon balls, along with her family and friends, and gives her energy to Goku to create the huge Genki Dama to eliminate Kid Buu once and for all.
In GT she becomes possessed by Baby, who takes her as his apparent queen and lover (or second in command, at least.) During this time, she organizes the migration to Planet Vegeta (Renamed the Tuffle home planet), and creates the Brutz Wave device that helps Bebi-Vegeta become a Golden Oozaru, and later helps Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 4. However, the Holy Water hidden in Dende's lookout is used to free her and the rest of Earth from Baby's enslavement.
Bulma's father is Dr. Briefs, but it is unclear in the manga whether 'Briefs' is his first name or his last. Bulma's mother is shown several times in the anime and manga, without an official name.
Bulma's notable inventions besides the Dragon Radar, include: a Microband that shrinks her, modified Saiyan Armor for the hyperbolic time chamber, a Blutz Wave generator to allow Vegeta to reach Super Saiyan 4, and a time machine to allow Trunks to get to the past, in an alternate future timeline. She also repairs Android 16 with her father.
[edit] Alternate timeline
Bulma survived the Androids' onslaught in the "Trunks Timeline," as seen in The History of Trunks special. Bulma lives at the former site of Capsule Corp. attempting to build a time machine. She's very protective of Trunks and hates the idea of him fighting, but nevertheless allows him to take the time machine to the past to stop the Androids before they have a chance to wipe out humanity.
In this timeline, Bulma aged very quickly, probably due to the stress of living in the hell that was Earth. She still was as smart as ever, but she didn't look as young as she used to. She had also grown more mature and wasn't as selfish. She spent most of her life devoted to building a time machine so that Trunks could go back in time and prevent the devastation wrought by the Androids. Once the Androids (or more importantly, Cell) were taken care of in the main timeline, Trunks returned to his original time and defeated the much weaker Androids and this timeline's Imperfect Cell with ease.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Video games
![Bulma as an alternate outfit for Videl, using a cheat disc, in the PlayStation 2 video game, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3.[1]](../../../upload/thumb/d/dd/Dbz3bulma.jpg/230px-Dbz3bulma.jpg)
Bulma usually appears as nothing more than a one-line character in cut scenes for most Dragon Ball video games, such as Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3. The biggest rumor on Budokai 3 game was that Bulma was playable, for the fact that she was seen in the 11th stage of the training mode, to explain how to use capsules during a duel. She barely could move, but it was a complete game model of her. Also in the DVD that comes with the special edition, her voice actor is seen recording fight sounds for Bulma. Note: Bulma is unlockable using a cheats disc. She has no moves and cannot set skills. This shows that they made a Bulma model, but for one reason or another they decided not to use it.
In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, Bulma sells capsules in the Skill Shop. Bulma will wear a different costume depending on how many you have collected in Dragon World. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Bulma appears in the Options Mode explaining how the various game settings work. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, she appears in the data center, explaining about custom characters and in practice mode along with a pink shirt-wearing Vegeta. She also comes with her desert costume from the original Dragonball anime, once unlocked.
[edit] Manga crossover
She is a Space Pirate with Nami in a Dragon Ball and One Piece crossover.
[edit] References
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saiyans: | Son Goku • Son Gohan • Vegeta • Future Trunks • Son Goten • Trunks • Pan • Broly | |||
| Humans: | Bulma • Muten-Rôshi • Yamcha • Kuririn • Tenshinhan • Mr. Satan | |||
| Androids: | Android 17 • Android 18 • Cell | |||
| Aliens: | Piccolo • Freeza • Majin Buu • Baby • Coola | |||
| Character lists: | Saiyans • Earthlings • Aliens • Supernatural beings | |||
