Thread by @Herms98

Age 712 or earlier: while Earth scientists dick around with capsules and time machines, on Planet Plant the elite Saiyan Nappa is born around this time. Also born around now (give or take a decade or two) is King Vegeta III, plus the low-class mook Bardock. #HistoryofEver

Let’s start with ages: Nappa was over 50 when he died in Age 762 according to his Daizenshuu 7 bio, placing his birth in 712 or before. We don’t have official ages or birth years for Bardock/the King, and Saiyans being youthful up to 80 makes judging based on looks a crapshoot

Still, Raditz looks about 10 in DB Minus, so we might lazily assume Bardock was at least 30 when he got blown up/time warped/brainwashed, putting his birth at ~710 or earlier, about the same as Nappa. King Vegeta’s probably older, if he kicks off the Saiyan/Tsufruian war in 720

(But way more on King Vegeta in diverse continuities on Friday)

The idea that Saiyan society was organized into a hierarchy with elites like Vegeta on top and low-level scum like Goku on bottom has been a fixture of series lore for as long as Vegeta’s been around to whine about it. However, as usual the details have shifted a bit over time.

The first shift comes in the Namek arc. Before then, Vegeta had only ever been referred to as an elite (or “super elite”), but Dodoria spills the beans that he was in fact the prince, and we later learn that his father was the king (logically enough)

Daizenshuu 7 explains how Saiyan society was ruled by generations of kings named “Vegeta”, with the rest of the populace all being soldiers divided up into ranks like elite or low-level. No mention here of non-combatant Saiyans. magikarp46.com/dragonball/gui…

The Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume says much the same thing, with the added detail that Elites get to serve on the frontlines, with low-levels shipped off to the frontiers.

(Also in the SEG: Character Volume, Toriyama says Nappa went bald. So obviously Vegeta must not consider this a “weird change”) kanzenshuu.com/translations/s…

While Raditz is typically described as a low-level warrior, Toriyama claims Raditz and Nappa had equal status in one of his Saiyan arc Full Color manga Q&As. Perhaps they only became equal once the rest of Saiyan society went kaput? kanzenshuu.com/translations/d…

Later in his Episode of Bardock Q&A, Toriyama describes Bardock (and nearly all Saiyans) as low-class warriors. In this version of things, “elite” refers specifically to the royal family, and in between are only about 10 mid-class warriors. kanzenshuu.com/translations/e…

Then in the Saiyan Special Q&A, Toriyama reaffirms his Raditz fanboy status by describing him as an upper-level warrior. In this set-up, low-level warriors become either engineers (ala Beets in DBS: Broly) or “infiltration babies” (ala Goku in DB Minus) kanzenshuu.com/translations/s…

Bardock and Goku look alike, as you’d expect of father and son, but DBZ Movie 3 lets us see Tullece (Turles), who’s identical to Goku simply because “there weren’t that many types” of low-class Saiyans. Daizenshuu 3 attributes this to the low-class warriors’ shared environment.

Tomorrow: galaxy brain!

Thanks to @DBReduxTDC for helping with the class struggle (and Jaco/DBO)