#they're ALL ghost king

[puppetmaster13u]

I'll be honesty. I don't really care for ghost king Danny. HOWEVER, I will make an exception for the Ennead. Because just, imagine, going to see the king/queen of the Infinite, and it's no man, no woman that you stand before. But an abomination born of desperation.

Something of sheer destruction, whose form blocks out the sun. Yet is of beauty and balance at the same time. A beast of duality, of hubris and the desperation of humanity.

[sakuravalelp]

Phantom letters - DPXDC PROMPT

The bats wake up one day to the internet going crazy; people around the world were getting letters from they're diseased loved ones. The reactions are mixed, from people being outraged for the "prank" to people crying in melancholy at getting closure.

All the letters have something in common: They're closed with a green sealing wax that had an stylize DP and the name Phantom beneath it. Posts about the cards were using the # Phantom Letters.

The bats are discussing the viral posts in the cave when Alfred comes holding a basket filled with letters, announcing they were left at the doors. The letters had the sealing wax that they recognize from the posts. Checking the cameras they can see how they glitch before the basket appears.

Alfred starts to distribute the letters that had only one destinatary. Letters from each Thomas and Martha to both Bruce and Alfred. Letters from each John and Mary to Dick. A letter from Catherine to Jason. A letter from the Drake's to Tim, and another one to Bruce.

Once they had calmed down enough from the shock, Alfred proceeded to read the shared recipients. From Thomas and Martha to "The grandchildren we never got to meet." From John and Mary to "the family that took our little Robin in." Letters from Catherine to "My little boys family." The letters were directed to people the deceased didn't get to meet.

As much as the mere existence of the letters tugged at their hearts, they decided to not read them until they verified that the handwriting actually belong to the ones it claimed. They checked each letter, and in the end confirmed the letters were in fact from they're lost love ones.

After much discussion, each person makes the decision to read they're own letters later in private, and they proceed to read the ones that shared recipients out loud. The letter mentioned specifics like names and events that the deceased shouldn't have been able to know, including they're vigilante abilities, which had them pause each time to panic a bit. But what was more interested were certain pieces of the letters that mentioned a Prince Phantom.

"Prince Phantom said to don't mention things past our death, but it wasn't a command, so we're hoping this won't be much of a problem." - John and Mary

"I still can't believe Prince Phantom is letting us do this, but I'm so glad." - Catherine

It finally paints the mystery in a more concerning light when at the end of Thomas and Martha's letter there is a call for help.

"We're sorry for ending the letter on a serious tone, but seeing the kind of job you all get involved in, we wanted to ask: Could you please help Prince Phantom? Phantom had asked us to not give information about this, but he's so young, and has already been hurt so much. Please, check on Amity Park, Illinois."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Meanwhile, team Phantom has decided that they needed to get the news about the GIW out of Amity and ask for help. Two problems:

the GIW blocks any technological attempt made.

People might be afraid to learn that ghosts exist and side with the GIW.

As a way to deal with the public image, Phantom opens a possibility that the death have never had:

"All afterlives are open to write letters to their love ones that are still alive today. Nothing that includes threats, and don't go talking about the anti-ecto acts or Amity Park yet, we're trying to ease people into our existence first. Also, I know you all check on your love ones when the veil is thin, but please keep the things you shouldn't know out of the letters if possible. If you want your letter to be sent in the first batch, make sure to deliver your letter before the week ends."

Letters are a good way to reconnect people with the death, they aren't digital, and the GIW won't be able to intercept letters if they're send through inter-dimensional portals. Two birds in one shot.

[starry-bi-sky]

don't you want to be a cult leader? - danyal al ghul au

this is mostly a joke post but i thought it was funny and had to share so--

his first mistake was, obviously, inheriting his father's inability to see an injustice and stand still. -- actually, danyal's first mistake was his lair being so big. a mountainous island with a large temple in the center resembling his old home in Nanda Parbat? With sprawling foliage and rivers and streams and waterfalls galore? What was he going to do with all that space? Let it go to waste? He had plants there! Native trees of the ghost zone growing from the soil! He couldn't let it all be left unchecked!

So naturally after helping a fellow teenage assassin ghost -- who he later learns is named Akihiko, -- from Walker of all people, he sent them over to hang low at his lair until it was safe enough for them to wander around the Zone. Walker couldn't get through Danyal's astrofield if his life depended on it, and trust him -- he's tried. Danny was clearing out debris from his stupid transport vans for weeks.

Honestly it wasn't so bad, he and Aki really quickly became fast friends and Danny loves having a sparring partner close to his level again -- he hasn't had this much fun fighting since he left the League. Aki was very dedicated and levelheaded, the both of them clicked really well because of it.

Nonono, the real trouble began after Danyal met some long-passed League members and allowed them to come join his island as well. Apparently they had made a few enemies of the zone, and maybe Danyal still felt some loyalty to the League. He couldn't just let them be left to rot. Their zealotry could be overlooked so long as they kept it contained and helped him take care of his island.

And it.. snowballs from there? He meets a teen squire aptly calling himself Ambroise -- whether that was his living name or not is yet to be seen -- who died during feudal france, who is just about as dramatic and passionate as every french stereotype makes them out to be. He calls Danyal "my moon and great muse" -- which is both flattering and little uncomfortable, but Danyal's grown up in the League as the Grandson of the Demon Head, he is used to mild worship. he passes it off as nothing more, nothing less. -- and while his energy is overwhelming on the worst of days, he helps Danny draw out of his shell more in ways that Sam and Tucker still struggle with.

Him and Aki butt heads a lot, but the two seem to hold the other in at least some positive regard, so Danny doesn't worry too much about them fighting while he's gone. It only becomes a mild issue when Aki also begins calling Danny "my moon". It's a little sweet, so Danyal brushes it off.

Then he takes in a troupe of ghosts some time after he defeats Pariah Dark and they begin calling him "great one" just as the yetis do in the far frozen. This is where he meets the twins -- a pair of sibling ghosts who call themselves Trixie and Missy (short for Trick and Mislead) -- who aren't quite as passionate as Ambroise but more energetic than Aki. Eventually they also start calling Danyal "my moon" and attach themselves to his hip, even within the living. They like to hide in his shadow and cause trouble for the rest of the students. He makes sure they don't hurt anyone.

He's pretty sure Aki is jealous, same with Ambroise, but he can't be too certain other than the fact that they become much more lingering (re: clingy) whenever he visits the island.. Something he's trying to do much more often these days due to the increasing amount of people living there now. Since when did he become so popular?

Then there's Pēnelópeia from the Greater Athens, who ran away from home and joined his Island after he ran into her while she was being chased by Skulker -- and he's pretty sure the reason was because of her chimeric appearance. Her strange eyes and mismatched wings and lion's tail and talons. She assimilates into his friend group very easily, she gets along well with Ambroise and Trixie and Danny usually finds the three of them climbing the trees to pluck the most fruit from the top. They can fly and he knows it, but they prefer to climb.

Then finally there's silent poet Akkara who comes from ancient mesopotamia, who gets along most with Aki -- which is no surprise there considering their similar personality dispositions. he watches Aki and Danyal fight each other and leaves comments on this or that that he notices. He writes Danyal poems on clay tablets and leaves them by his room.

They're one big mismatched group of outcasts, and Danny's got the other ghosts on his island to tend to, because they're living on his island and he wants to be hospitable even if he struggles with that. But he spends the most of his time with them.

Sam and Tucker are making fun of him. Tucker jokingly tells him 'careful Danny, at this rate you're gonna start a cult'. Danny really wishes he had taken that joke more seriously.

He just. keeps. collecting people. Wayward souls lost in the zone, looking for shelter or refuge from something or other -- whether that be another hostile ghost, or a past afterlife, or just a purpose. Danyal finds them, he takes them in, offers them a place on his island until they are ready to leave. Many seldom do. He's not complaining -- he has the space, and it feels like it's only ever growing.

His close friends, his "inner circle" as he's heard the others call them, keep insistently calling him "my moon". He starts calling them his stars, because then it only feels fair. They're his stars, this is his constellation. It becomes a thing; little star halos begin forming behind their heads, picking them out from the rest. He loves them so much, it's hard to place. Sam and Tucker are also his stars, but they reside in the living realm, they're his tie to Life. Meanwhile, his friends here know what it's like to be dead, and sometimes its nice to relate.

Those living on his island keep calling him "Great One" and he's beginning to notice zealotry in their care for his island. He really, deeply appreciates it. His close friends gain nicknames -- as his stars, it's only natural for him to pick them out from the cluster in the skies. Akihiko, his Sirius and bright star. Trix and Missy, Castor and Pollux, the twins and troublemakers. Ambroise, his zealous Antares and close friend. Penelopeia, chimeric and loyal Vega. And Akkara, his Arcturus and strength.

It's ridiculous how long it takes for him to notice; he is, of course, a deadly trained assassin. He is meant to be observant -- and normally he is! But somehow this becomes a blind spot. One that becomes too big to be dealt with by the time he realizes it.

He should've noticed when Aki, his Sirius, stood beside him one day while Danyal looked over his island and saw the sprawling spirits carrying on about their afterlife and bowing to him as they saw him, and said: "I looked down into the depths when I met you; I couldn't measure it." They aren't one for flowing prose, it took him so off guard he was silent for over a minute before he finally spoke.

Danyal should've recognized devotion for what it is, and yet he didn't. He should've recognized it when Antares began spouting praises about him, crowing about his radiance and resplendence to the heavens. He just brushed it off as Ambroise being Ambroise. He should've recognized it when Trix and Missy nearly broke Dash's leg after he knocked Danyal's books out of his hands, he excused it as them being protective. Of them coming from times where such violence may have been customary -- after all, that's what he used to be like. What he was still like, sometimes, when his emotions nearly got the better of him.

He should've noticed it when the people living on his island followed his word like gospel, looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. When his friends gifted him a shawl with the moon phases delicately embroidered into it, with silver, shimmering thread and moving stars lovingly stitched into it. Their constellations seen clear as day in the dark fabric. When he found small shrines dedicated to him -- but they lacked any image of him beyond stones carved to look like moons, so he ignored it. When the religious imagery began popping up.

He really, really should've noticed it when a bunch of cultists accidentally summoned Antares, and Antares had turned to him when he arrived and called them heretics. But he was so centered on the fact that they had kidnapped one of his stars, that he hadn't paid much attention to what Ambroise had said.

Sages say that faith is blind, they should also say faith in you is even blinder.

It really only hits him one afternoon while he's sitting in Sam's room studying with Tucker, Missy and Trixie lounging at his feet, Aki sat on his right, Penelopeia braiding his hair, Ambroise draped against him, and Akkara lurking over him. Its one of the rare few times they're all in one room together.

It hits him like a bolt of lightning. He looks up from his textbook. "Oh Ancients," he says in no amounting shock. Everyone looks up to him.

"I've become my grandfather."

[chaos-bringer-13]

I've seen a lot of people writing Danny as a space ancient and Dan and Dani as ghosts with moon and sun cores, being sort of parts, versions of Danny and therefore weaker. Now, consider: Dan and Dani are both powerful ghosts with really cool cores and stuff but Danny is just some guy™

Dan, who came from an alternate timeline and is kind of from the future but also not, is Clockwork's apprentice and will eventually become an ancient of time. He probably only agreed to have some lessons with Clockwork to understand better what happened to him, but he enjoys his apprenticeship now.

Dani, with her love of travelling, loves seeing all the different places the world offers to her, and that includes space and different planets and maybe even parallel universes, and she accidentally ends up being an apprentice of the space ancient. For now she's probably a baby ancient of freedom or something like that, but she might become an ancient of space in the future.

We can also have something like Dan having a core of destruction or Dani being the Speed Force if you want it to be dcxdp, or any headcanon of yours about their cool powers.

And then there's Danny. And yeah, everyone knows that he's super powerful, but also he's just some guy.

It can go different routes. Does everyone know that Danny is just Danny? Or do they think that with siblings (well, technically a clone and an alternate version, but whatever) so powerful, he must be even stronger? Is Danny actually something terrifyingly eldritch and ancient and strong, almost a god, but he just doesn't know himself? Or is he just really some guy?

Now, because it's obvious that I have a dcxdp brainrot, have a regular "JL summons/meets a powerful ghost" but its Dan and Dani, and they keep mentioning their original/brother who won a fight against them at some point. The JL is very concerned about Dan and Dani's godlike powers, and they can't imagine what Danny is like. And then they meet him (in his human form), and it's just a young adult in casual clothes, very friendly and helpful, with no evident powers. Imagine the confusion. Imagine Dan and Dani, radiating power, in their eldritch ghost forms, admitting that fighting Danny for real is the dumbest thing to do and not even they would succeed... And then there's Danny is jeans and silly t-shirt, waving shyly.

[bet-on-me-13]

Technically a Cult

So! Danny has been hearing through the Grapevine that a large Cult has been Summoning all the biggest Magical Creature's for some reason. Demon Lord's, Fae Kings, even a few Gods. Clockwork was summoned a little while ago, and so was Fright Knight and Pandora

And he has been patiently waiting his turn for a while. Apparently everyone they summon has gotten a really good deal from them, all in return for a few favors, sometimes a promise to not go to a specific place.

Danny really wants to strike a deal with them. He wants to ask them for a favor so he can get out of work for a few weeks, he's been planning on taking a vacation with Sam and Tuck, but the Eyeballs are being annoyingly resistant.

He feels the familiar pull of Summoning, and realizes that it's time. Awesome, time to meet this mysterious Cult!

...

Why is the JLA standing in from of him?

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC PROMPT #28

(#) = Notes at the end of post

✦

Chartreuse

Due to the high levels of ambient ectoplasm, all the citizens of Amity Park gained a permanent change in eye color. They don't glow or flare in response to rampant emotions like true ghosts or the halfas though. They're just an unnaturally bright yellow-green.

The thing is, nobody else on Earth has this eye color, and it's never been seen in the human race until the recently graduated Amity Parkers started branching out to other cities to find jobs.

Nobody paid this any mind at first, though. Many just thought the individuals liked strangely colored contacts or it was a trick of the light. It's not until Danny and Tucker are both hired for positions in Wayne Enterprises that questions start popping up.

At first, the other employees thought the two might be related. It could happen, it's not that strange. However, when both of them said they're nowhere near related, just childhood best friends, it left everyone confused. If they aren't related and they aren't wearing colored contacts, then what are the odds of too completely unrelated people having the exact same strange and unseen eye color?

After a while, everyone just stops asking questions. After all, both men are easy to get along with and are excellent at their jobs, so a strange eye color isn't really something to complain about. Their stares were just a bit more intense than most people, and honestly, they've seen stranger things.

It helps that they've started seeing other people with the same eye color popping up in celebrity, sports, and activist circles. (1)

However, It's not until the power goes out during a late meeting/presentation, and Tim Drake accidentally turns on and shines his cell phone light into Tuckers eyes, that he starts seriously digging.

Needless to say, the animal-like green shine of his pupils scared the shit out of him and got him wondering if two of his new employees were part of a previously unknown alien race that'd recently settled on Earth without anyone noticing. When he looks into the middle of nowhere town they came from, this idea is even further cemented when he sees every person he finds a photo of have the exact same shade of chartreuse eyes. Ignoring the ghost rumors and "sightings" as just a strange tourist trap for the strange little town to make extra income, he brings the info he found to the other bats and birds.

They aren't exactly welcomed when they go snooping around Amity Park, unfortunately... (2 & 3)

✦

Now. To make this a bit more cracky, when confronted, do Danny and Tucker just come clean or do they milk the idea of them being aliens for all it's worth? (4) Add in a few strange, but perfectly normal for them, things they do that have people scratching their heads and make the assumption even worse/more irrefutable. This includes the unexplainable eye shine Tim discovered.

✦

(1) Paulina became a supermodel and is coveted for her striking eye color and beautiful complexion. Dash became a coach for a well known college in Metropolis, while Kwan became a fitness trainer and sponsor for health related items that actually work, also partnered with the college Dash coaches at. Sam became a notorious environmental activist and is the enemy of many companys who are determined to turn the world into a toxic wasteland. With the help of Danny's parents, she's found many eco-friendly chemical compounds that dissolve many of the toxic substances damaging ecosystems around the world. Etc, etc.

(2) Ectoplasm exposure has made everyone a bit more territorial over the town, including their protectors. They don't need outside heroes/organizations interfering with their work and don't/won't take kindly to the sudden interest hero organizations gain over them and their strange little town. That hasn't worked out too well with other government sanctioned organizations in the past and they don't want a repeat, thank you.

(3) Maybe Team Phantom even established themselves right around the same time or even before the Justice League was formed and they just flew under the radar until now. Maybe Amity Parkers feel a bit superior due to their seniority in having an excellent team in the know about the supernatural/non-human side of the world/universe? Who knows? You pick! Amity Park has been through a lot by themselves, so it's no shocker if they have an extreme amount of solidarity towards those they call their own.

(3 cont'd) Also! Since Amity Park has become so rich and saturated in ectoplasm over the years, they were eventually annexed/became an outside part of the Ghost Zone. Jack and Maddy are border patrol and any ghosts coming through need a passport now. Amity Park is basically a vacation hub for ghosts? Ghosts can freely roam the streets, they just don't wreak havoc anymore. That'd basically be terrorizing their fellow citizens at this point anyway and that's a no no. That means jail time with Walker. Amity Parkers also aren't afraid anymore and in fact CAN hit back now. This does not stop the Bat Clan and eventually the Justice League from thinking they're a town full of aliens tho. Some are just more human looking than others. Or they've been on Earth and procreating long enough with humans that their hybrid offspring have also started looking more human, is the ongoing conclusion.

(4) The Anti-Ecto Acts are not an issue here! Team Phantom already dismantled and annihilated the GIW years before they even thought of leaving Amity Park on its own. Before graduating highschool even. Yes, Team Phantom is perfectly self-sufficient and able to handle their own problems and have kept the city-wide ghost infestation pretty isolated outside a few events that were handled quickly and with the world none the wiser. So the world is still pretty ignorant of the existence of ghosts/the Ghost Zone. Would Team Phantom and Amity Park prefer to keep it that way though?

[benevolenterrancy]

this description made me realise what one of my favourite MXTX character tropes is: Over-Worked, Under-Appreciated Employee Who Is Not Above Becoming Somewhat Evil About It

[ghostincorrectinternetedition]

Terzo: *In a sermon* In conclusion; if Satan himself requires consent to enter a person’s body, So. Do. You!

[italianhomosexuality]

headcanon: will LOVES line dancing.

it's one of the only art mediums he feels comfortable in. even common dancing isn't for him—he'll do a white boy two-step and wave his arms around, mostly because he doesn't feel super comfortable and always compared himself to other artistic kids at camp, but he shines whenever he hears country music.

and he has the full get-up, with the heeled, pointy boots ready to stomp and do grapevines. he taught most of his siblings (and campers, if we're being honest) how to dance to cotton eyed joe and even showed them basic line dancing steps. his idols are carrie underwood and toby keith. he's country.

if he's feeling confident enough, he will line dance to anything; from nico's italian operas to percy's led zeppelin, even to austin's random saxophone riffs. give him enough 8-counts and he'll stomp and heel and boot his way into a choreography.

(nico thinks it's ridiculous. nico also thinks it's endearing. and if, sometimes, the hermes cabin hears stomping, "damnit"s, and "1, 2, 3, 4"s, it's none of their business.)

[sysig]

Didn’t know you had it in you, did you (Patreon)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 79

  When Pariah was awoken from his slumber, he wasn’t exactly expecting it. One was never expecting to awaken when they were supposed to be sealed for eternity after all. He also wasn’t expecting for the reason the sarcophagus was even opened to be a pair of literal infants. A pair of very sick infants.

  One was a newborn ancient for Realms’ sake! Two years dead, if that, and the other- Where was their guardian?! Who had let an obsession get that bad?! How long had he been sealed away that no one had caught an obsession turning toxic and harmful towards a ghostling?! 

  Why was he even sealed inside this area of the zone?! Why had his Keep been moved in the center of one of the zones where ghostlings formed?! He’d never harm a ghostling, but if he’d been any madder (And he knows he had lost it near the end there, that he’d gone too far as he cracked under the weight of the Realms, he’d had an eternity to realize) it would have been a catastrophe! 

  Who has been in charge, the observants!? … What the fuck, that was supposed to be rhetorical! No! They’re good for paperwork but they seem to have failed even at that and- what do you mean they’ve sealed Clockwork away?! 

  The already traumatized Time Primordial who was in this type of area specifically to care for ghostlings, and was now being prevented?! How long has this been going on- No! He’s fixing his realms-damned kingdom before he even thinks about conquering other ones, because who the fuck let it get this bad!

   Pspsps, here little sick ghostlings, he’s trying very hard not to hurt you but you are very tiny and he has been locked away for a long time so please stop squirming…

[funeralprocessor]

God I wish my brain didn't shut down the moment I try to actually write down anything about my OCs/ideas/etc. I've got some freaks knocking around in here y'all would go wild for.

[wonderlandsakura]

As Clockwork stood in the time stopped dark alley, knowing soon, the man who would raise their child would arrive, knowing soon, they would only be able to watch their baby grow up, not hold him or tell him his true parentage for the longest decade of their immortal life, knowing soon, they would have to let him go.

They grieved for the moments they would never be able to spend with their child in this timeline, knowing it was for the best, yet hating it with every fiber of their being.

They knew it would be worth it once it was done, but they still hated that it had to happen.

So in that stolen eternity between snatched seconds, they took the time to cradle their baby close and sing to him once last time, hoping he could at least remember their love for him through it:

All that I know

Is that stars come and go

I'll hold you close

Even when the Sun cannot glow

[starry-bi-sky]

wolfpack. aka: if not friend, then why friend-shaped?

"Hey-- uh, Danny?" There's an almost imperceptible tremor in Tucker's voice.

Danny doesn't look up from what he's doing, his pencil scritching across his notebook as he tries to do another quadratic formula question. "Hm."

"What's -- uh -- what's with the dogs?"

He looks up now, and finally sees where Tucker is -- standing in the doorway of his room with an ashy look on his face and a skewed, nervous smile. He's got a white knuckle grip on the doorknob. Sam is wide-eyed behind him, and using him as a partial meat-shield.

Danny looks down to the two giant ghost wolves sprawled next to him lazily. One large green one with his head in Danny's lap, letting him use him as a prop-up for his notebook. Another equally large black one splayed against his hip, sleeping on her side with her head tilted inward to his calf.

Automatically, a grin tilts across Danny's face, and he lifts his notebook up to scratch behind the green one's ears. He opens a lazy eye, one that is bloody red with a ring of yellow around the pupil, before slipping it shut and leaning his head into Danny's touch. "This is Sirius and Procyon," he says, and reaches down to scratch Sirius' belly. "And they're not dogs, they're wolves."

"Great," Tucker says, his voice suddenly much smaller and faint, "Love that distinction."

Sirius makes a great big groan, and Danny's grin widens, his heart swelling with fondness. His hand slips away from her belly, and before he can put his notebook back down, Procyon pushes his head up his lap until his ear is against his stomach, demanding pets now too.

Sam peeks her head up from over Tucker's shoulder, "I think what Tucker's asking here is what are they doing here, Danny."

He shrugs, scratching under Procyon's chin. "They kinda just showed up. I tried sending them back to the Zone, but they keep returning." And they were weirdly intent on just following him around, which is the only reason he gave up on returning them. They weren't causing trouble, and they knew how to hide around the living. Plus, he just loves dogs. "So now I have two wolves living with me."

This, oddly enough, did not do anything to calm Sam and Tucker down. Tucker's mouth purses into a thin line, and he presses the sides of his palms to his lips in prayer. "How have your parents not found out about this?"

Danny wordlessly raises his hand, and his sleeve slides down to reveal a thin chain bracelet hooked around his wrist. He whistles sharply, and both Procyon and Sirius jerk their heads up to look at him, ears pricked up and eyes alert.

Silently, he points to his wrist and rattles it twice, and in unison both wolves stand up and pounce. Instantly, they turn into a respective, opaque black and green mist that swirls around the bracelet and forms into two, flat wolf charms.

Both wolves are posing in the stereotypical wolf howl, with little stars indented on the sides. Procyon's charm has the Canis Minor constellation engraved on it, while Sirius has the Canis Major.

Danny faces Sam and Tucker, and points at his wrist. "Like this."

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (1993) OVA 1

Okay.  This is one I’ve been wanting to cover for a long time.  I had considered working it into the 2019 liveblog, but decided I had enough on my plate without trying to untangle this knot.  The cartoon itself is pretty straightforward, but the production history is kind of convoluted. 

In the fandom, the obscurity of Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans led to it being known as the “Lost Movie” of Dragon Ball Z.  In truth, Plan never had a theatrical release like the actual DBZ films.  Nor was it a TV special, like the Bardock and Trunks specials that aired during DBZ’s original run on television.  Instead, Plan was a direct-to-video release, and in the anime industry, this is what’s known as an Original Animation Video (OAV) or Original Video Animation (OVA).  So sometimes it gets referred to as the “Lost OVA” instead, but for a long time, it was the only OVA in the franchise, so calling it “lost” seems kind of unnecessary.

What makes it “lost”?  Well, I always assumed it had to do with the fact that there was no dub or localization of this one.  From 1998 to 2006, Funimation was releasing every scrap of Dragon Ball footage they could get, except for Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans.  I remember attending a Funimation panel at a 2006 convention where some of the voice actors promoted the upcoming release of Wrath of the Dragon, and it was kind of a bittersweet moment for them, because it was (as far as anyone knew at the time) the last bit of Dragon Ball material that they would get to dub.  Someone in the crowd mentioned Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans and I think Chris Sabat was like “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that one.”  They discussed it for a little while, but there was no clear explanation for why it hadn’t been released in North America, or if it ever would be.  Seventeen years later, and it still hasn’t happened.  I’m not holding my breath.

So why did Toei make a movie-length Dragon Ball Z animation and sell it direct-to-video?  Well, it’s because Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans began as a video game.  Released on August 6, 1993 on the Nintendo Famicom (NES), the game was one of the “Gokuden” series of Dragon Ball RPG titles.  The earlier entries in the series were based upon the various sagas of the anime.  Plan, on the other hand, featured a completely original story.

Around the release of the game, Toei made the OVA, which was sold in two VHS cassettes as the “Official Visual Guide” for the Famicom game.  I can’t find any information about these visual guides, but my understanding is that they serve as sort of a walk-through of how the story mode is supposed to go in the game.  I’m not sure how helpful that would be to players, but I suspect that it was more of a cross-promotional tie-in than anything else.  And maybe they made similar VHS tapes for the previous Gokuden titles, but those would have been based on the main Dragon Ball story, so they could have just edited together clips from the existing TV anime.  Since Plan was an all-new story, it’s visual guide would need to be an all-new animation.  And I suppose that’s why this one seems to be the only “Official Visual Guide” that matters to the Dragon Ball fandom. 

So the OAV was released in two parts, one on July 23, 1993, and the second on August 25, 1993, before and after the game itself was released.   I’ll be covering Part 1 here. 

One last note before we get started: The OVA footage was used again for two games released on the Playdia console in 1994.  And then Toei made a new version of the OVA that was included as bonus content in the 2010 game Raging Blast 2, on the Playstation 3.  But for now, let’s focus on the ‘93 version of the story.

Okay, so we open with Dr. Raichi, or Dr. Lychee, depending on how you want to spell it.  He rants and raves about revenge, then summons a bunch of demonic creatures and releases them from his spooky castle to carry out his dark bidding.  Then we cut to Earth, where Gohan’s been gathering firewood for his family.  Seems that all the trees are getting sick and dying, which is great for firewood collecting, but kind of terrible for everything else. As Goku wonders what to do about it, Mr. Popo shows up and tells them exactly what’s causing this.  The new Kami, Dende, has learned that the Earth’s atmosphere is being polluted by a toxic substance called “Destron Gas”.  Trees have already been affected, and even powerful life forms like Goku and Gohan will die in a matter of weeks unless something is done. 

Gohan suggests that they consult with Bulma over at Capsule Corp., but there doesn’t seem to be much she can do about it.  She has no data on Destron Gas, which... I mean, okay, but Dende already knows what it is.  He knew its name and how long it would take to kill everyone.  Why are we not asking him? 

Oh, let’s be honest, they just included this scene because Bulma looks hot in that chair.  Dende may be a good Kami, but he just doesn’t have the gams to pull off a shot like this one. 

Dr. Brief is here too, with his signature black cat. But he’s just sort of zoning out for no reason.  There’s a lot of vacant stares in this video, but this one is the best.

Okay, so they finally ask Mr. Popo what to do, and he explains that there are four generators pumping Destron gas into the atmosphere.  You have to destroy them all and you’ll solve the problem.  One is in “The Grand Apron”, southwest of East City.  The second is near the pyramid in the desert west of North City.  The third is on Poco Poco Island, home of an active volcano that’s been erupting for over a century.  That’s in the Southern Sea.  Finally, the fourth generator is in the Land of Ice in the far north.

Piccolo shows up and offers to join Goku and Gohan on their quest, but then a couple of monsters show up and attack them.  Goku tries to defeat them quickly with a Kamehameha, but it fizzles out in his hands.  The same thing happens when Piccolo tries the Special Beam Cannon, and when Gohan tries the Masenko.  Popo explains that the effects of the Destron Gas are interfering with their ability to concentrate their ki energy, so the gang has to fight it out the old fashioned way. 

Okay, so here’s my beef with the Destron Gas: It doesn’t make any fucking sense.  It’s already killed some life forms, like the trees Gohan found.  But it hasn’t killed every tree, so how does that work?  Also, it seems to interfere with the Z-Fighters’ powers, but only enough to be mildly inconvenient.  Also, why hasn’t the gas affected anyone else?  Bulma seems to be just fine, at least for now.  Shouldn’t she be coughing or something? 

I guess it did take a toll on Dr. Brief, though.  I just assumed his was high, but maybe the Destron Gas has left him catatonic.

So the gang split up, and Goku finds the first generator in the Great Apron. It’s surrounded by rock, which seems dumb, because how can it spew poison gas into the atmosphere when it’s completely sealed off?  Anyway, Goku punches a hole in the wall, and beats up the one (1) monster assigned to guard the thing.  He destroys the generator without any trouble at all.  Shouldn’t he get weaker from standing so close to this thing?  I mean, the Destron levels ought to be much higher here than back in West City?

In the desert, Gohan makes short work of the second generator, thanks in part to Goku having destroyed the first one.  Now, Gohan can use ki blasts again, and this guy guarding the second generator is no match for him.  So that’s two down.

Before we check in on Piccolo, I should point out that each of these scenes is prefaced with an 8-bit overworld map, showing each character traveling to their assignment.  It’s corny and dumb, but I guess they had to include this so players would be able to figure out where to go in the game?  I don’t know, it doesn’t seem that complicated to me.  Then again, I’m watching the walkthrough, so this is like reading an answer key instead of taking the test. 

The point I want to make here is that stuff like this makes it very apparent that this was never supposed to be a movie.  It’s about an hour long, but a lot of the action is repetitive, and the minion characters are just the same two character models with different color schemes, and the plot is nonsensical, even by the standard of old Dragon Ball films.  Why didn’t Dende say anything before these stupid Destron generators were installed?

So the third generator is on Poco Poco Island, and the monster guarding this one actually planned ahead. He planted land mines all over the island, so Piccolo can’t get anywhere near it. 

And that... is really dumb, because Piccolo can fly.  The monster tries to fly after him, except... the monster can’t fly?  Which would be fine, except, why did he not know that?  Like, he jumps after Piccolo, and then he’s shocked to find that he’s slowing down, and then falling back down. 

And he lands right back down on his own land mines, setting them all off.  Wotta maroon.

This shot of the goof has always stuck with me, because he looks so pitiful here, caught in his own trap.  I guess he’s trying to fire an energy blast?  All I know for sure is that it ends up hitting the generator instead, so Piccolo wins this battle without even touching the island.

Astonished, Piccolo compares this guy’s stupidity to that of Mr. Satan, which is kind of weird, because this OAV is set in that weird period with Movies 6, 7, and 8, where Dende is the new Kami, but the Cell Games probably haven’t happened yet.  So should Piccolo even know who Mister Satan is at this point?  Oh well.

So the three of them meet up at the Land of Ice to take out the fourth generator, and this time there’s a bunch of monsters there guarding it.  It’s enough to keep the good guys busy until Trunks and Vegeta show up to help.

Trunks cuts a bunch of them up with what looks like a sword, but it’s actually just a big icicle he must have found on the way here.  The continuity on this thing is all screwy anyway, so I don’t see why they couldn’t just let him have his sword for this spot.  Yeah, 18 broke it during the Androids Saga, but so what?  Just have him get another sword from Menards or something. 

So the fourth generator actually gets destroyed during the fight, so things turn out better than expected.  Vegeta grumbles that he probably didn’t even need to show up for this one.   See, earlier, Trunks tell the others that the monsters attacked Capsule Corp., presumably to stop Bulma from discovering an antidote to the Destron Gas.  So Vegeta and Trunks saved her and that’s how they found out about all this.  But now it’s over.................

.... or it would be, except Dende calls them to inform them about a fifth Destron generator that he must have missed somehow.  This one is back in West City, mounted on Tongari Tower.  Vegeta was right, he should have stayed home and he could have taken care of the next generator while the others headed back.

But, as it turns out, this fifth generator is protected by a force field.  Well, why this one and none of the others?  When they try to break through it, Frieza shows up and tells them it’s no use.  Wait, Frieza?

Here’s a pretty cool shot of Trunks killing Frieza, courtesy of Trunks recalling this moment as he reacts to Frieza appearing before them. 

So yeah, this OVA is yet another entry in the “what if we brought back LOWARD FUHREEZA SAMA?” stories.  At least this one has Future Trunks in it, and I like how Frieza goes after him instead of Goku or Vegeta, since this was the guy who actually killed him.  Also, I like how incredulous Trunks is, since he literally chopped this guy into pieces.   How could Frieza possibly return?  But he didn’t come along, because Frieza has a posse of movie villains. 

For instance, Lord Slug is here, and he echoes Frieza’s call for the eradication of all Saiyans.  He offers to spare Piccolo if he withdraws, but if Piccolo sides with them, then Slug will show no mercy. 

Turles is kind of an odd-duck in this anti-Saiyan squad, but he points out that he was killed by a Saiyan, so his hatred of Saiyans is that much more profound.  Uh, sure, I guess.

And Cooler is here too.  He also hates the Saiyans, because he’s just a retread of Frieza, who hates the Saiyans. 

So they all fight, except for Vegeta, who doesn’t have a dance partner for this.  You’d think they would have brought in Garlic Junior or Super 13 to make it five on five, but oh well.  Back in his evil lair, Dr. Raichi is pleased with how things are going.  The good guys can overpower their foes, but....

Everytime they land a killing blow, their opponents just turn into foam and reform, good as new.  This really starts to frustrate the Z-Fighters until Goku gets a call from King Kai.

All he really says is that they’re “Ghost Warriors”, and that they aren’t truly real, and this seems to be all Goku needs to know.  He shouts this out to the others, like “Guys, I know what they are!   They’re Ghost Warriors”, and Frieza’s team all get scared like “Oh shit, he figured it out!” Then the good guys just fight them exactly the same way they did before, only this time it actually works.  It is incredibly stupid.

I will give some credit to this spot where Piccolo locks up with Slug, then extends his arms, allowing Gohan to slip in and whistle right in Slug’s face, softening him up for a ki blast from Piccolo to finish him off.  That’s a cool double-team, but I’m not sure it was necessary.   Piccolo was handling Slug just fine before.  Apparently he only needed to hear that Slug was a ghost warrior to finish the job. 

Seriously, a lot of this movie is just characters knowing things for no reason, and then telling the heroes whenever it happens to be convenient for the plot.  And you can get away with that in a video game, where the player is mostly just happy to get more game to play, but when you do it in a movie it looks like you’re just padding out your runtime.  And this isn’t a movie, but when I watch it thirty years later, it’s hard for me to think of it as anything else.

And really, this is probably why Funimation hasn’t dubbed this thing yet, and probably never will.  It’s just not very good.  I mean, it’s not offensively terrible or anything, but it’s a very weak production that was never meant to be anything more than an hour-long commercial for a thirty-year-old video game.  If it weren’t for the “lost movie” mystique, this thing would be dismissed like all the Dragon Ball Heroes trailers, or the cutscenes in the Xenoverse games.  If Toei thinks about this OVA at all, they probably don’t want to license it, and I don’t think Funimation is champing at the bit to localize it.  It just sort of dilutes the brand.

Okay, so the ghost warriors are gone, but they still can’t destroy the fifth generator.   Piccolo suggests that Goku just ask King Kai what they should do, and King Kai lays it all out for them.  Again, why didn’t King Kai contact Goku from the start? He must have been following all of this action, so why did he wait around while Dende told Goku to destroy generators when that wouldn’t actually solve anything.

So this is where King Kai reveals the true mastermind behind the Destron Gas, a Tuffle named Dr. Raichi.  I’m just going to go through his entire spiel, since this is key Tuffle Lore. 

“A long time ago, Planet Vegeta was called Planet Plant and it was inhabited by highly scientifically advanced Tsufuru-jins.  One day Saiya-jins arrived on the planet in a wrecked space ship and asked for help from the Tsufuru-jins.  The Tsufuru-jins allowed the Saiya-jins to come down and settle on their planet, and the two races started to live together on the same planet.

“The Saiya-jin warrior race increased its number over the years, and one day, a man was born with an extraordinary brain which was as good as a Tsufuru-jin.   The man, who was later called King Vegeta, led the Saiya-jins to rebel against the Tsufuru-jins.  Ever since then, the planet was renamed Planet Vegeta, and Saiya-jins had become the rulers.”

Now, this part of the video is really the only interesting part, because it delves into the lore of the Tuffle-Saiyan War, which was introduced way back in Episode 20 of Dragon Ball Z.  This time, some details have changed. The planet was originally called Plant before the Saiyans conquered it and named it after their king, and it’s firmly established that the Tuffles were there first, and they allowed Saiyan refugees to settle there. 

One cool detail in all of this is how the flashback is mostly presented in a couple of still images that pan across the screen.  In this one, we start with the Saiyan ship on the planet, and then a group of Tuffles and Saiyans shaking hands and being friendly, but as we go further down, the Saiyans become more numerous, and less friendly-looking, and the Tuffles look pretty queasy about the whole thing.

Then there’s a second one showing Tuffle soldiers looking frightened, and then Saiyans in oozaru mode, which I guess is meant to illustrate the turning point of their war.

One detail that’s clearly been jettisoned is the notion of Tuffles being only half the size of Saiyans.  In this scene, we can see them side by side, of roughly the same height. 

When King Kai finishes his tale, Goku acts like he’s never heard about any of this before, which is weird, because this is all based on the last time King Kai told him this same story.  Vegeta, on the other hand, is unapologetic about the Saiyan conquest of Plant, and he insists that it was the Saiyans’ destiny to reach Plant and wipe out its inhabitants.  

Trunks and Piccolo have nothing to say, but Gohan points out the real issue with all of this.  Okay, so Dr. Raichi might have a legitimate greivance with the Saiyans, but the people of Earth have nothing to do with it, so why is he attacking them with his Destron Gas?

Goku agrees, and resolves to take the fight to Dr. Raichi.  King Kai informs them that he’s supposed to be at the Dark Planet “at the end of the universe”. 

And so the Z-Warriors plan a trip to the Dark Planet, but Raichi already knows they’re coming, and he’s anticipating their arrival.   Ultimately, it seems that the Destron Gas was just a tactic to draw his enemies to him. 

The thing is, if Dr. Raichi’s a Tuffle, like the ones we saw in the flashback, then what the hell happened to him?  We’ll try to get some answers.... NEXT TIME, in part 2!

[nyankoizumi]

victim fans stay away I’ve done ATROCITIES to their character /j