Dragon Ball's Kais Explained: Where They Come From and What They Rule

The Kais, also known as the Kaios, are the celestial rulers of the Dragon Ball cosmos. Each one oversees the realm of the living from the afterlife and is assigned control of its own quadrant of the universe.

The original Dragon Ball manga gave us a glimpse of how the Kais work. A lot of what follows comes from other sources: the anime, the guide books, and interviews done over the years that open up the cosmos of Dragon Ball and teach us more about the Kais.

Goku had to die before he could meet King Kai

When Goku arrived in the heavenly realm in the original Dragon Ball and met Kami, Kami was the only god Toriyama had introduced at that point. Some wouldn't even call him a god, even though Kami literally translates to God. He oversaw the planet Earth.

Goku had to die to truly meet the celestial rulers of the afterlife. At the very beginning of Dragon Ball Z, when Goku sacrificed himself in the battle with Raditz, Kami took him for special training in the afterlife. Goku had to cross Snake Way, also known as Serpentine Road, to meet and train with a being known only as Kaiosama, or King Kai in the English dub, the Lord of Lords.

At that time in the series, we only knew of one Kai: the Kaiosama who trained Goku and taught him the Kaio-Ken and the Genki Dama, the Spirit Bomb. Later in Z, we learned he was only the master of one of four quadrants in the universe. So while Kami was basically in charge of one planet, the Kais were in charge of an entire quadrant of the universe. That's quite the organizational chart.

Four Kais rule north, south, east and west, and the North Kai befriends Goku

Each Kai represents a quadrant: north, south, east and west. The one who becomes friends with Goku is the North Kai.

What I've always found interesting is something you only really grasp in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball and Z, which I consider the purest version. The narrator for the series is played by the same voice actor who voices Kaio. To be honest, the voice is identical for both characters, and one of the implications is that throughout all of Dragon Ball, he was the one observing Goku's life and telling his story. I've always felt that's a very powerful aspect of the character that was truthfully lost in translation in various dubs around the world.

Obviously, when the original Dragon Ball was being produced, before King Kai was introduced in Z, this couldn't have made sense, because Toriyama hadn't come up with Kaiosama yet. But it's a fun little head canon retcon that I've always appreciated.

The Grand Kai was designed by Toriyama but never shown in the manga

Beyond the four Kais, there's the Dai Kaiosama, aka the Grand Kai, who oversees the other four. He was mentioned in the manga but never actually shown. In Dragon Ball Z, starting with the Other World Tournament Arc, we do get to see him as an old man with a beard and a boom box.

That design came from the pen of Akira Toriyama, so he's a character Toriyama designed, albeit for the anime. He never actually appeared in the manga.

The inspiration behind these deities comes from the gods who watch over the cardinal directions in Hindu scriptures. Toriyama borrowed and drew inspiration from a lot of things as he created his manga.

The Kais are born as Shinjin from the Tree of the world

Where do the Kais come from, and how are they created? The Dragon Ball manga itself doesn't tell us. To find out, we have to go beyond it to the supplementary material, meaning the guide books and various Toriyama interviews where he went into it more deeply.

The Kais are born from a tree called the Tree of the world, located in a special realm of the gods called the core planet. Its magical fruit matures and eventually becomes a being known as a Shinjin, which translates to people of God or God person. All of this happens before they're assigned a role in the cosmology.

Toriyama has stated that a Kai's lifespan is around 75,000 years. However, there are special Shinjin born from golden fruit who can live for millions of years.

A new Kai is chosen only when an old one dies of old age

Whenever a Kai dies, usually of old age, and not the way King Kai was killed during the Cell Saga, the Shinjin come together to figure out who the next Kai will be. Normally this decision is made by the Supreme Kais of that universe.

The Supreme Kais also train regular Kais to become Supreme Kais. We saw this in Dragon Ball Super during the Goku Black arc, as Gowasu was training Zamasu, who was the Kaiosama at the time, to be promoted to Kaioshin status, aka Supreme Kai.

Not every Shinjin becomes a Kai. They have to wait for a position to open up and apply for it, just like any other job in the real world. Remember, it's when a Kai dies of natural causes that someone replaces them, not if they die early like in the Cell Saga. It's very rare for a Kai to die.

Regular Kais oversee creation rather than create, and the North Kai takes it a step further

Typically, the Kais are supposed to stay out of mortal problems, which is why you rarely see them get involved unless something truly treacherous is going on. The North Kai who befriends Goku takes it a step further. Not only does he guide Goku through a lot of Dragon Ball Z, he's also one of Goku's martial arts masters, teaching him the Kaio-Ken and the Genki Dama. This tells us the Kais have martial arts abilities going back centuries that were unknown to mortals in the realm of the living.

Unlike the Supreme Kais, the Kaioshin, regular Kais are there to oversee what's already been created. They aren't gods of creation; that applies to the Supreme Kais. Regular Kais don't create anything. They spend many years learning things at a giant castle until an opening pops up.

Mortals like Goku can surpass the gods

What's interesting about Dragon Ball's cosmology is that even with tons of gods, there are mortals who have overcome them. Goku learns the Kaio-Ken from King Kai, but he goes on to use higher, more dangerous multipliers and truly surpasses King Kai's knowledge of his own technique.

Occasionally, the fruit from the sacred tree that forms the Shinjin ends up polluted or rotten. That Shinjin grows up with evil in their heart, is cast down to the demon realm, and becomes a Makaioshin. But that's a discussion for another day.

The Kais are just another step up the cosmology ladder. The next level after them is the Supreme Kais, the Kaioshin.

Which part of the Kais' place in Dragon Ball's god hierarchy do you find most interesting?