Key Takeaways
- Majin Buu’s new origin is that he was created by a witch from the Demon Realm named Marba.
- The reworked storyline raises questions about Bibidi’s motivation and how he knew about the Demon Realm.
- Despite the origin shift, Majin Buu has had minimal screen time in Dragon Ball Daima thus far.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima, Episode 8, “Tamagami”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Dragon Ball Daima set out to shake up the Dragon Ball formula, and one way to do that is to give Majin Buu a revamped origin story. The pink blob of pure rage from Dragon Ball Z is easily one of the most monstrous foes the Z Fighters have ever faced, but also one of the most mysterious. There’s still a lot of intrigue surrounding the Buu, such as, what is he? Why was he created, or what purpose does he serve? Even his old origin story is the murkiest out of all the other Dragon Ball antagonists.
Piccolo, Vegeta, and Cell all have crystal-clear backstories. There’s still a lot that fans want to know about Frieza‘s race and where the rest of them are, but at the very least it’s known that Frieza belongs to a race of aliens with incredible potential. With Buu, there are no other creatures like him (so far) in the show. Majin Buu-like creatures appear in some Dragon Ball games, but they’re not canon to the show, and they mostly originated from Majin Buu himself anyway.
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Majin Buu’s Previous Origin Story
He Was Either Bibidi’s Creation or a Primordial Entity
The previous origin story for Buu was told in Dragon Ball Z episode 219, “Energy Drain”, where the Supreme Kai Shin and Kibito tell the story of how an evil wizard named Bibidi created Majin Buu. Bibidi is either the father or clone of Babidi, who later revived Buu in the show. Yes, Buu isn’t the only one with a murky past, as even Bibidi and Babidi are in the same boat. As revealed in the same episode, Shin and Kibito claim that Bibidi is Babidi’s father. However, in Dragon Ball Full Color: Majin Buu Arc Q&As, Akira Toriyama said that Babidi is actually Bibidi’s clone, who he’d assign tasks to if he needed an extra pair of hands.
But going back to Majin Buu’s origins, this isn’t actually the first time it was altered, as later on, Akira Toriyama stated in Saikyō Jump #6 (2014), that Buu is an ancient being who has existed since time immemorial. He’s more like a force of nature that occasionally went on violent rampages across the universe, destroying everything in his path and then going into hibernation. Weirdly enough, this makes Majin Buu similar to Beerus, the God of Destruction, who goes on long naps after destroying worlds. However, all of that is about to change because Dragon Ball Daima changed Majin Buu’s origin once again, and this time, viewers finally get to see who created Buu.
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Majin Buu’s New Origin Story
He Was Created by a Demon Realm Witch
As Dragon Ball Daima revealed in episode 8, “Tamagami”, Majin Buu was, in fact, created by a witch from the Demon Realm named Marba at the request of Bibidi. However, Marba considers Majin Buu a failed creation as he wasn’t supposed to be as evil and uncontrollable as how he turned out to be. After Majin Buu’s creation, he apparently went on a rampage across the Demon Realm, which led to the Glinds (the race where the Supreme Kais come from) leaving.
“I know the truth. All he (Bibidi) did was come to you and ask you to make Buu. Bibidi never had that sort of ability.” – Dr. Arinsu to Marba
The new origin does bring up some questions though: why did Bibidi want a destructive force like Majin Buu, and how did he know to ask Marba for it? The first one is somewhat answerable. The reason is that Bibidi wanted the Supreme Kais dead, but that’s as far as it goes. It was never really revealed why Bibidi harbored such hatred for the Supreme Kais of his universe, but maybe future episodes of Daima will give viewers a proper answer. As for the second question, who knows how Bibidi even knew about the Demon Realm to begin with? Perhaps Babidi and Bibidi’s race, like the Glinds, originated from the Demon Realm, and that’s how he knew about Marba the witch.
Where Is Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Daima?
He Hasn’t Had an Important Role Yet
It’s kind of weird that they reworked the origin of such a big character, and yet said character is almost nowhere to be seen in the show. The only appearance Majin Buu has made in Dragon Ball Daima is in episode 2, “Glorio”, where a kid Buu (not the Kid Buu) runs past the screen in front of Mr. Satan, Goku, and Vegeta. He also makes an appearance in the opening theme, but that’s about it. Since he’s a shapeshifter, he might have the ability to just revert to his normal self, but whether the viewers will even get to see that is questionable, as Buu is not part of the party that sets off to the Demon Realm. Maybe somewhere down the line, a third group of Z Fighters makes it to the Demon Realm with Buu in tow, but right now, there’s unfortunately, no sign of that happening.
It would be interesting to see how Marba would react to seeing the friendly fat Buu that joined the Z Fighters. Would she be upset that her weapon became such a peace-lover, or would she consider this Buu to be what she wanted all along, a powerful being that doesn’t randomly fly off the rails?
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Dragon Ball DAIMA English Dub Begins January 10 on Crunchyroll
The English dub of Dragon Ball DAIMA hits Crunchyroll this January, and a certain someone returns after a decade away from the franchise.
Dragon Ball Daima is now available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix. The release date for Dragon Ball Daima, episode 10, is set to be December 13, 2024 at 10:00 AM PT.
Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Release Date
- October 11, 2024
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Akira Toriyama
- MyAnimeList Score
- 7.89