Even if Dragon Ball has a predominantly male-centric narrative and target audience, it has still managed to attract fans of all demographics. So there is one important aspect of it that has been absent for a very long time: the lack of a female Super Saiyan.

Unfortunately, Dragon Ball GT missed a golden opportunity to revolutionize its character roster and stuck to generic tropes with a male-centric lead. Fans were denied the iconic moment of witnessing a powerful female Super Saiyan, Pan, emerge from the ranks of the Earth.

Pan’s intentional resemblance to Bulma couldn’t make her a true female MC

In a resumed interviewAtsushi Maekawa, who was the screenwriter of Dragon Ball GTexplained that the idea to create the character of Pan came from a core nostalgia. According to him, they wanted a character like Bulma in the early series to accompany Goku on his journey.

However, they believed that it would be unrealistic for Bulma, who is already in her advanced age, to join Goku on his adventures. This led to the creation of Pan, who was meant to embody the spirit of the young Bulma. According to Maekawa,

Come to think of it… she herself didn’t really stand out much in the series…

Although Pan’s character development was based on Bulma, it was minimal, only a supporting role. Maekawa and his team deliberately made Pan share Bulma’s traits, such as being strong-willed and resourceful. Still, Pan was always a supporting character in the series, never reaching the level of prominence that Bulma achieved in the original Dragon Ball series.

The Dragon Ball GT producer chose to stick to the traditional Shonen formula

The manufacturer of Dragon Ball GT, Kōzō Morishita, also said that he chose to continue the old school formula where Pan is just there to set up events while Goku serves as the star of the resolution. This pattern was first seen during episodes such as the transformation of Pan into a puppet.

Introducing Pan as a Super Saiyan would have completely disrupted the pattern, and Goku wouldn’t have remained the main character. However, this option could have brought more intricacies to the series. A golden opportunity was certainly missed there!

Dragon Ball GT has an episode where Pan turns into a doll, but that episode established the “Pan sets the event in motion while Goku solves it” pattern. So making Pan a Super Saiyan and strong would break that pattern.

Despite Dragon Ball’s massive franchise status, the introduction of a female Super Saiyan would have generated significant backlash and criticism. But this bold move could also have attracted new fans and revived the series. By playing it safe, the producers missed a chance to create a seminal moment in anime history.

The Dragon Ball series is available to watch Crunchyroll.