Dragon Ball Super: how Uub's god ki reveal changes DBZ

Chapter 66 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, part of the Moro arc, revealed that Uub carries the god ki Kid Buu once had. I think that reveal makes the ending of Dragon Ball Z more powerful and more exciting. It gives us a new viewpoint on the meaning behind Goku's incredible interest in Uub.

I've criticized Toyotaro and his mistakes many times. This is one change I agree with. In my opinion, giving Uub that hidden power is probably the smartest decision Toyotaro has made since the Dragon Ball Super manga began.

Why Goku wanted Kid Buu reincarnated as Uub

Watch the Buu arc of Dragon Ball Z from start to finish and you see how tough it was to finish off Majin Buu. That was especially true of Kid Buu, known in Japan as Pure Majin Buu, the purest and original form of Buu. Given that fight, you can understand why Goku wanted to keep him around as a training partner.

Goku asked King Yemma to reincarnate Kid Buu as a regular human child. This time he would be a benevolent, good person, but he would keep the potential Kid Buu had. In the final three episodes of Dragon Ball Z, which cover the last chapter of the manga, a ten year time skip follows. Goku meets Uub, the reincarnation of Buu. It's incredible how his parents figured out to name him that.

The story ends with Goku sparring with him and realizing he is indeed the reincarnation. Goku then goes off to train him to be the possible next big hero, and the next big challenge for Goku to improve himself as a fighter.

The criticism of Goku leaving his family at the end of Dragon Ball Z

Many people don't like this ending. It has been criticized for years over the idea of Goku leaving his family to train with Uub. People also question why Goku would see Uub as the next big hero instead of his own blood relatives like Goten, Gohan or Pan.

I never had a major problem with it. Goten, Gohan and the other half Saiyans seemed preoccupied with their own regular lives rather than focusing on being heroes. On top of that, the fight Kid Buu gave them was enough to spark Goku's interest.

The story that Goku went off to train with Uub and never visited his family is a fairy tale. "I don't care what Dragon Ball GT says." It makes no sense that Goku would leave and never go home. He knows how to teleport and can do it very easily by this point. Wouldn't it make sense for Goku to maybe train with Uub during the day and still go home to his wife and family at night? I've always found that a weird claim for people to make about the end of Z.

How Dragon Ball Super made Uub's potential look small

Dragon Ball Super created a strange anomaly around Uub. Super takes place after the defeat of Kid Buu, during the ten year time skip, and before Uub enters the story. By the halfway point of the series, around the Universe 6 arc or the Trunks arc, Goku's fascination with Uub's potential felt diminished.

Kid Buu had tons of stamina and was very hard to kill. Even so, it made no sense for Goku to want that kind of opponent once he had faced Beerus and witnessed the power of the Angels and others. Even Vegeta had evolved well beyond Kid Buu's level. That's before counting Broly, Jiren, Hit and the other strong fighters Goku met in Dragon Ball Super.

That became one of the big head scratchers for fans from early in Super's run. Why would Goku care about Uub's power after feeling characters significantly stronger? Did Uub really have that much potential?

The Moro arc reveals Kid Buu had god ki

The Moro arc added layers to this that I feel are comfortable ones. Uub had always shown potential. Early in the Moro arc, we find out that Kid Buu, and most versions of Majin Buu, have a form of divine ki, or god ki.

God ki was first introduced in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, when Beerus first used it. We know it is a higher form of power than everyday ki. Some characters who can't use god ki can still compete with the gods, but god ki gives you the edge. That's why forms like Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue are so much more potent.

So why would Goku go back to Uub after feeling that incredible new strength? Chapter 66 added layers to that question.

Chapter 66 shows Uub inherited Kid Buu's divine energy

Chapter 66 shows that the god ki Kid Buu had was inherited by Uub through the reincarnation. He kept that innate, suppressed power. At this point Uub is only a kid. He has never trained and hasn't met Goku yet.

Even so, he had enough divine energy that when he raised his hand and donated energy for Goku to defeat Moro, it powered Goku back up to at least close to top stamina. That tells you that whatever power Kid Buu had, he had no idea how to access it. That's possibly because Kid Buu was a demon, or because he never had any real training. He was simply ridiculously strong.

It all makes sense here. Uub has a secret power he doesn't know how to use. With proper training, which Goku is presumably going to give him, "we could have a real monster on our hands."

Why I think this is Toyotaro's smartest decision

With Chapter 66, Toyotaro increased Uub's power and made him more useful and more interesting. Now there's another character who can tap into god ki, someone on Goku's side who could be a powerful ally or maybe someday take over from him as the hero. Uub is a good kid from a village who fights for his parents. He isn't evil the way his previous incarnation was, but he now has innate god ki. If he were trained by Goku, or possibly Whis, we may be talking about a seriously powerful character.

Uub already had a fan base and was already popular. I think Dragon Ball GT gave him a little shine, but probably not what many fans expected from the reincarnation of Majin Buu. Now we know he has a secret power deep inside him that's even higher than many of us thought. That makes the idea of going past the end of Z and seeing the real training between Goku and Uub even more interesting, as long as it's something original and not what GT did.

I think Toyotaro has made the end of Z more fascinating and given us a new viewpoint on Goku's incredible interest in Uub. It all makes a lot of sense now. Whether it was his idea or Toriyama's, we may never know. In my opinion, having Uub tap into god ki is probably the smartest decision Toyotaro has made since the start of the Super manga, going back to when he wrote the Battle of Gods material and even before that, when he wrote a little of the Resurrection F promotional manga.

Uub's possible future alongside Goku, Vegeta and Broly

Uub turned out to be the savior without either Goku or Uub knowing it, and to me that makes him a much more interesting character. It makes it seem like at some point, hopefully, we'll go past the end of Z and see this character's potential. I'd like to see him fight alongside Goku, Vegeta and the others, maybe forming a new squad.

Broly is out there too, along with the Universe 6 Saiyans Kale, Caulifla and Cabba. There are lots of interesting characters, and to me Uub would fit right in, especially now. He could be a great leader someday. "He's still very young, he needs more seasoning," but who knows what could happen in the future of Dragon Ball.

It may not happen for a while, but I hope Uub gets his shine. People like Uub and the concept behind him, and I think Toyotaro did nothing but enhance that with the Moro arc.