Bulma: The Capsule Corporation Genius
CharacterCapsule CorporationInventor
Bulma is the first character Goku meets in the Dragon Ball manga: a sixteen-year-old girl, the daughter of Capsule Corporation's founder, out hunting for the Dragon Balls with a radar she invented herself. A genius who can make sense of alien technology, she follows the heroes all the way to Namek, starts a family with Vegeta and gives birth to Trunks. Here's a look back at her inventions, her family life, Future Bulma, the slap she gave Beerus and the voices that brought her to life.
Without her, there would be no adventure: it's Bulma who drags young Goku off his mountain to hunt for the seven Dragon Balls. A brilliant inventor with a fiery temper, she spans the entire saga, from the very first chapter to Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Daima. Here's her story, from the Dragon Ball hunt to the Capsule Corporation lab, including her life as a couple with Vegeta.
Contents
Goku's First Friend and the Dragon Radar
Bulma appears in the manga's very first chapter, published on November 20, 1984. At the very start of the story, she's sixteen and spending her summer vacation searching for the Dragon Balls. To find them, she built the Dragon Radar, a handheld device that pinpoints exactly where each ball is, whereas the Red Ribbon Army's global radar only gives a rough area. Her wish? First, all the strawberries she can eat, then the perfect boyfriend.
On Mount Paozu, following her radar, she comes across a young boy while driving: Goku. He takes Bulma and her vehicle for monsters and wrecks the car; furious, Bulma shoots at him with a pistol. Goku has never seen a girl in his life. He refuses to hand over his Dragon Ball, but offers to go with her: she'll be able to use it at the end of the quest.
During the adventure, Bulma tries to ride the Flying Nimbus, Goku's magic cloud, but the cloud won't hold her: she doesn't have a pure heart. And at the end of this first quest, she doesn't get her wish; she does, however, leave with Yamcha, who becomes her boyfriend, and heads home to West City.
In the anime, their meeting takes place in the first episode of Dragon Ball, which aired in Japan on February 26, 1986. In France, the series premiered on TF1 on March 2, 1988, as part of Club Dorothée, and Bulma kept her Japanese name there.
🔑 Bulma's Dragon Radar fits in one hand; to carry a piece of the saga with you everywhere too, hang one of our Dragon Ball keychains on your key ring.
The Capsule Corporation Genius
Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Brief, founder of Capsule Corporation and one of the smartest and richest men in the world. The company is named after the capsules the scientist invented himself, tiny objects that hold a vehicle or even an entire house. Its logo boils down to two “C” letters and the company's name.
Like father, like daughter: Bulma excels in just about every technical field and grasps alien technology almost effortlessly. When Goku comes back to see her with a broken Dragon Radar, in the middle of the Red Ribbon Army Saga, she has already developed the Micro Band, which lets her shrink down and travel in the boy's shirt. After Raditz dies, she repairs and modifies the Saiyan's scouter so it displays fighters' power in Earth numerals.
To get to Namek, Bulma and her father reprogram the old Namekian spaceship found on Earth so it responds to their language. She then takes off with Krillin and Gohan, at the ship's controls.
Later, with Dr. Brief, she builds a remote control that can shut down Androids 17 and 18, using the blueprints recovered by Future Trunks and Krillin. In love with Android 18, Krillin destroys the remote instead of using it. Bulma is also the one who designs the Great Saiyaman costume, which Gohan puts on with a watch to fight crime.
🖱️ The Capsule Corporation logo appears on the company's vehicles and products; to show off a saga emblem of your own, set up one of our Dragon Ball mouse pads on your desk.
From Yamcha to Vegeta: Bulma's Family Life
After the Frieza Saga, Bulma invites Vegeta to stay at her place. The prince of the Saiyans is taken aback when she calls him “cute.” A few years before the androids arrive, she leaves Yamcha and begins a relationship with Vegeta that leads to the birth of their son, Trunks.
Even before that birth, when Future Trunks shows up, Bulma first takes him for a Capsule Corporation employee because of the logo on his jacket. By the Buu Saga, Bulma and Vegeta are married and their relationship has mellowed.
Bulma is also turned into food twice: into a carrot in Dragon Ball, then into chocolate in Dragon Ball Z by Super Buu, who eats her; she only comes back to life thanks to the Dragon Balls.
In the Dragon Ball Super series, the couple welcomes a second child, a daughter, whom audiences had first seen as a little girl at the very end of Dragon Ball Z. Vegeta is about to suggest a Saiyan name, but Bulma beats him to it with the one she has chosen: Bra, “Bulla” in the English dub.
For fans of Bulma
Dragon Ball Cushion Cover - Bulma
Teenage Bulma with her Dragon Radar, then adult Bulma with a baby in her arms: this cushion cover brings together two eras of the Capsule Corporation genius.
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View product →Future Bulma, Beerus and the Super Era
In the alternate future ravaged by the androids, it's Future Bulma who builds the time machine Trunks uses to come back and warn Goku. On its side is the word “Hope!!”: the hope of a world in ruins.
In the movie Battle of Gods (2013), Bulma, furious to see her birthday party ruined, slaps Beerus, the God of Destruction. Unfazed, he slaps her back and knocks her out; seeing his wife struck, Vegeta explodes with rage. After the fight, Goku imitates Vegeta shouting “My Bulma!” and Bulma says she felt loved; the prince denies ever shouting any such thing. That day, she claims to be 38. The Dragon Ball Super series revisits the slap in episode 7, which aired on August 23, 2015.
The series gives her more inventions. When Shenron can't say where the last Super Dragon Ball is, Bulma invents a Super Dragon Radar. She also gets an ore from the dragon to build her own time machine, but Beerus destroys it and forbids her from making another one.
In the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly, she admits she wants to use the Dragon Balls to make herself five years younger. Finally, there's Dragon Ball GT, an anime-only sequel to Dragon Ball Z whose storyline Dragon Ball Super doesn't follow: in it, Bulma helps Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 4 with a wave generator of her own design.
Bulma's Creation, Name and Voices
Akira Toriyama unveiled Bulma a month before the manga began, on postcards sent to members of his readers' club. Her first incarnation was the princess of the Land of Flowers, a character from the one-shot Dragon Boy. The character is also loosely inspired by Tang Sanzang, the monk from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.
Toriyama explained that at first, Goku knew nothing about the world: without Bulma, he wouldn't have said a word. Bulma's name comes from the word “bloomers”, the gym shorts worn by Japanese high school girls. Following the same pattern, her family is named after underwear: her son Trunks and her daughter Bra.
In Japan, Bulma was voiced by Hiromi Tsuru from the anime's debut in 1986 until the actress's death on November 16, 2017. Aya Hisakawa took over starting with the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly. In English, her main Funimation voice was Tiffany Vollmer, from 1999 to 2009 in Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, before Monica Rial took over in 2010 with Dragon Ball Z Kai and kept the role in Dragon Ball Super. Lalainia Lindbjerg voiced her in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z's first English broadcast.
Bulma at a Glance
| Key fact | Bulma |
|---|---|
| Japanese name | ブルマ Buruma, from the English word “bloomers” |
| First appearance | Chapter 1 of the manga, November 20, 1984 |
| Family | Dr. Brief (father), Vegeta (husband), Trunks and Bulla (children) |
| Inventions | Dragon Radar, Micro Band, Great Saiyaman costume, Super Dragon Radar |
| Company | Capsule Corporation, founded by her father |
| Voices | Hiromi Tsuru, then Aya Hisakawa (Japanese); Tiffany Vollmer, then Monica Rial (English) |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who is Bulma in Dragon Ball?She's the daughter of Dr. Brief, founder of Capsule Corporation, and the first character Goku meets in the manga. A brilliant inventor, she sets out to find the Dragon Balls with the Dragon Radar she created.
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Who does Bulma marry?Vegeta. After dating Yamcha, she begins a relationship with the prince of the Saiyans that leads to Trunks's birth; by the Buu Saga, they're married. Their daughter Bulla appears at the very end of Dragon Ball Z, and the Dragon Ball Super series shows her birth.
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Where does the name Bulma come from?From the word “bloomers,” the gym shorts worn by high school girls in Japan. Her family follows the same logic: her son Trunks and her daughter Bra are named after underwear.
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Who invented the Dragon Radar?Bulma. Her handheld radar pinpoints exactly where each Dragon Ball is, whereas the Red Ribbon Army's global radar only gives a rough area. In Dragon Ball Super, she also invents a Super Dragon Radar.
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Why does Bulma slap Beerus?In the movie Battle of Gods, Beerus ruins her birthday party. Furious, Bulma slaps him; the God of Destruction slaps her back, which sends Vegeta into a rage.
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Who voices Bulma in English?Tiffany Vollmer and Monica Rial, her main voices in the Funimation dub: Vollmer from 1999 to 2009 in Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, then Rial from Dragon Ball Z Kai in 2010, including Dragon Ball Super. Lalainia Lindbjerg voiced her in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z's first English broadcast. In Japanese, Hiromi Tsuru voiced her until 2017, followed by Aya Hisakawa.
💫 With a simple watch, Gohan slips into the Great Saiyaman costume designed by Bulma; to wear the saga on your wrist too, pick one of our Dragon Ball bracelets.