How Beerus Went From Lizard Villain Concept to Dragon Ball's God of Destruction

Back in 2015 I began a long-form series going in depth on Dragon Ball, and one entry in it went into the history of Beerus, but that look came before Dragon Ball Super had begun, and Super revealed a great deal more about the God of Destruction. This is the updated story: where Beerus came from, what he can do, and why a character who changed the Dragon Ball landscape forever had, by the time of the Granola arc, become little more than a supporting player on the sidelines.

Beerus began as a lizard-like villain meant to infect minds like a virus

Beerus was one of the earliest concepts for the 2013 revival film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, known in Japan as Kami to Kami, which means God and God. He went through significant redesigns from what he was originally supposed to be. Akira Toriyama, the original creator of Dragon Ball, was involved in the process, but not from the start. The original script and concepts came from Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Yusuke Watanabe, and Toriyama chose to get involved later, after the debacle that was Dragon Ball Evolution.

Yamamuro, the anime character designer, said in an interview that the original concept for Beerus had a lizard-like form. Toriyama came in and turned him into an Egyptian-style character, redrawing him as the purple cat we know today. As of when I wrote this, none of the concept art of a lizard Beerus had been seen.

The original plan went beyond looks. The God of Destruction was supposed to inflict evil on people and hack their brains, somewhat like a virus, and he would be the one responsible for the Saiyans being infected and becoming evil. His original name was intended to sound like a pun on the word virus.

Toriyama reworked Beerus into a lighthearted cat paired with Whis

When Toriyama came in, he went for a much more comedic and lighthearted approach. Due probably to some confusion, he reworked the name into a pun on the word beer, and he created Beerus's assistant Whis from scratch as a pun on whiskey, so the two go together.

On the design, Toriyama said in an interview: "because there are so many gods in my work ... i figured somebody humanoid might be difficult now so i thought i'd make him a cat." The gods he's talking about there are, of course, the Kais. He went on to explain that, thinking of feline gods, he went with an Egyptian-style costume that gave off an ominous air, and that he was pleased with the result.

Watanabe also commented on the change. He said he had been thinking for some time that the Saiyans had an evil planted in their hearts by someone, and the idea was that Beerus would be revealed as the one who made them do bad things. Everyone would be taken over and given an evil heart. But Toriyama felt that after the earthquake in Japan, he wanted a less tragic, more positive story. So a Beerus who would infect people, a bit like Baby, was dropped. Luckily, we got the far more lighthearted Beerus instead.

A temper and a prophecy brought Beerus to Earth in Battle of Gods

As Battle of Gods showed, Beerus isn't evil, but he does have a temper. That temper goes off after he tastes how delicious Earth food is and Majin Buu selfishly refuses to share. That's typical Toriyama comedy, where little things lead to very big consequences.

The reason Beerus came to Earth was to seek out the Super Saiyan God, after a prophetic dream, encouraged by the Oracle Fish, about a great warrior who would challenge him. That warrior turned out to be Goku. The idea was already in place before Toriyama got involved in the rewrite, though he changed it. In the original, pre-rewrite script, the story was supposed to be more of a good versus evil tale. Dragon Ball Super confirmed that Beerus is not evil. He's a being tasked with the job of God of Destruction.

The God of Destruction role has to be earned, which raises a question about Champa

When I wrote this, there were no details on what it takes to become a God of Destruction. We did know it's not something you get from birth. It's a position among the godly ranks that has to be earned, not given, as the Tournament of Power showed when Toppo was revealed to be a God of Destruction in training. So at some point in the distant past, Beerus had to have trained, possibly with Whis, to attain the position.

Strangely enough, his twin brother Champa is the God of Destruction of Universe 6. Universes 6 and 7 are matched as twin universes, but did the brothers achieve the title at the same time? It's something to think about, though we'll probably never get an answer, and Dragon Ball is never meant to be taken that seriously.

A Cornish Rex cat inspired the design, and Spanish dubs call him Bills

Toriyama revealed that he modeled the design of Beerus on a 14 year old Cornish Rex, a rare breed of cat that happened to live with him.

When the movie first came out, people called him Bills. That's an incorrect way to say his name, but it became official in the Spanish dub, because his name sounded too much like the Spanish word for virus. The irony is that Beerus was supposed to be a virus in the original version of Battle of Gods before Toriyama changed it. Whichever version of the name you use, it's fine.

Beerus became the most feared character in Dragon Ball

Beerus was heavily hyped when he arrived. In the first moments of Battle of Gods, the Kais tell us that the God of Destruction is awake and that they are extremely afraid of him. Throughout the movie he's shown as a fearsome warrior, the first to flick Super Saiyan 3 Goku away with one finger. Perhaps never before had Goku been humiliated that badly in a fight, especially in the movie version, since the anime version of that fight is different and not as quick.

Beerus doesn't like Frieza or the Saiyans. As was revealed later, he was perfectly fine with wiping out the entire Saiyan race and even suggested it to Frieza, something he told Vegeta in the early part of the Granola arc. Vegeta didn't do anything about it, because by then he didn't care. In Battle of Gods, Vegeta knew exactly who Beerus was, and later flashbacks showed Beerus abusing King Vegeta and turning him into a joke.

In Resurrection F, we learn that Frieza's father warned him many years ago about both Majin Buu and Beerus. Even Jaco at one point thought Beerus was fictional, based on all the stories he had heard. The name Beerus is respected throughout Universe 7.

Chopsticks, a finger poke and only 70 percent of his power

In Battle of Gods, Beerus has his way with the Z Fighters, pummeling everyone from Ultimate Gohan through Piccolo and Vegeta. At one point Vegeta gets angry after Beerus slaps his wife, and he lands some shots, but they do no damage.

Remember the scene where Beerus handles the Z Fighters with chopsticks? According to Yamamuro, in the original version of that scene he wanted Beerus to deal with several of the fighters, including 18, using a spoon or a fork. He and film director Masahiro Hosoda agreed on chopsticks instead. Beerus uses them in a traditional aikido or hapkido style, which shows his martial arts go far beyond punches and kicks. He's trained in various joint locks he can inflict on people.

He also knows how to knock you out by poking you in the forehead with his finger, as he did to Vegeta. I first saw that in the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony video for Crossroads. Did they get the idea from there? Maybe, but it's awesome.

Beerus fights God Goku on even terms in Battle of Gods, yet we find out he was only using 70 percent of his power, so as of when I wrote this we had never seen him at his max. With Goku continuously improving and unlocking new forms, the debate over whether Goku has surpassed him has gone on for a long time, especially after Ultra Instinct in the Moro arc. The manga shows Beerus knows a version of Ultra Instinct: during a battle royale among the Gods of Destruction in the Tournament of Power arc, he performed very well and showed something similar to it, though we don't know the details. Later in that arc, Goku achieved the completed version of Ultra Instinct, and Beerus was very surprised and showed Goku, his representative of Universe 7, a lot of respect.

Hakai can erase even the dead, but Beerus is not immortal

Beyond hapkido techniques and very quick, effective strikes, Beerus has Hakai. Dragon Ball Super revealed that Gods of Destruction have their own kind of energy, not just god ki but Hakai, or destruction energy. Beerus can use it to wipe somebody out of existence, beyond even being sent to Hell. He first demonstrated it against the evil Supreme Kai Zamasu, and later used it on the ghost of Dr. Mashirito from Dr. Slump. Beerus can kill you even if you're already dead.

Based on what we know, Gods of Destruction follow the same theological constraints as other gods in the Dragon Ball hierarchy. They're chosen and given the position, and they usually have someone above them, except for Zeno the Omni King, who is the highest. They are also not immortal. Beerus could die of old age, since it has been teased that he is getting old, or he could be killed in battle.

The third option comes from Dragon Ball Super: Gods of Destruction are connected to their Supreme Kais, so if a Supreme Kai dies, the God of Destruction dies with him. The question I've always had is how that explains the other Supreme Kais. In the Dragon Ball manga and Dragon Ball Z, there were five in total, including the Grand Supreme Kai, and all but one were killed by Majin Buu eons ago. Do you have to kill every Supreme Kai in a universe for its God of Destruction to die? I've always found that a weird retcon that wasn't explored as much as I wish it was.

After Battle of Gods, Beerus moved to the sidelines and picked up odd retcons

At first, his duality with Goku was interesting. Both want to fight strong opponents: Beerus wanted to fight the god, and Goku is always looking for a new fight. Both love food, and they focus on those two things more than anything in life.

After Battle of Gods, Beerus became more of a side character who watched what was going on and rarely got involved. There were comedic moments and moments where he threatened to step in, or did, but apart from training, we haven't seen a full-out Beerus fight since that film. I think everyone wants to see more of him fighting, and to finally see him at max power against Goku. Whether we'll ever get that remains to be seen. He's powerful but also lazy and playful, which makes him a cat, and it fits the character.

Some retcons in Super are weird and unnecessary. We learned that Beerus was the one who sealed the Old Kai in the Z Sword, which the original manga never stated. There, the Old Kai said it was somebody who wasn't very powerful, so Toriyama obviously changed that, because Beerus is the opposite. Super also said Beerus was responsible for the dinosaurs going extinct, which makes no sense because Dragon Ball has dinosaurs everywhere.

Beerus demands respect, bullies the Supreme Kai and needles Champa

I like that Beerus is always demanding respect. It's a good part of his character, even if he's lazy and eats food all day. In return, he can be very polite, as when he's polite and apologetic to Bulma, and he even babysat her daughter in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

In some cases, though, he doesn't respect other gods. He treats the Supreme Kai as beneath him, not caring what he has to say and bullying him around, which is funny. He also has a sibling rivalry with Champa. He does care about his brother, but he constantly makes fun of Champa's weight and calls him the inferior brother of the two.

Beerus also seems to have a beef with Quitela, and for a long time the question was whether Quitela is stronger. All we know is that Quitela beat Beerus at arm wrestling, and nothing about an actual fight. We know nothing about his parents. He has no children, Champa is his brother, and he doesn't appear to have any other siblings.

His laziness cost Universe 7 and once infuriated Zeno

The Tournament of Power arc revealed that Beerus's laziness had a cost. Universe 7 had a very low mortal ranking because Beerus did not fulfill his duties properly as God of Destruction, wiping out too many civilizations without giving them a chance to grow. Because of that, the universe ranked very low in the eyes of the Omni King.

Something I always found amusing from the manga: in the distant past, Zeno held an all-universe hide and seek tournament. Beerus hid, fell asleep for 50 years, and the tournament was canceled, which infuriated the Omni King. As Super showed, Zeno is the only character Beerus is truly afraid of. Beerus can sleep for decades, but he's already woken up and faced Goku once. The open question was whether they would face off again, and when Beerus might go back to sleep for a long time, whether at the end of Super or never.

A mentor to Vegeta and an invisible measuring stick for Goku

Beerus has become something of a mentor to Goku and to Vegeta, especially in the Granola arc, where at the time he was training Vegeta in the Hakai technique, taunting him while trying to inspire him to do better. Tough love has always been his style. In the Moro arc, when Moro fused with planet Earth and his universe was threatened, Beerus was about to jump in, but chose not to, and Goku dispatched Moro.

Having Beerus stick around in Super instead of going back to sleep is both a positive and a negative for the story. I like him a lot and he's a lot of fun, but he's become nothing more than a supporting character on the sidelines who makes threats, eats food and serves as an invisible measuring stick for Goku. Based on Goku's growth in Super, one would think Goku surpassed him a while back, yet Beerus kept being used as a goal for Goku to reach. We don't know, because they won't show Beerus fighting Goku or give a statement about his max power. In the Moro arc many were sure Goku had surpassed him, but in the Granola arc it seemed Beerus might still be stronger, and I hoped for an answer by the end of that arc.

His character hasn't evolved much. He's grown closer to Goku, maybe even a friend, and a mentor to Goku and Vegeta, but nothing personal has happened to him, and we haven't seen him show any real emotion since the Tournament of Power, when his universe was in danger of being wiped out. Will we maybe see Champa in trouble, or see Beerus do something to make him a more layered character? I'm not sure. He seems to be there to elevate Goku and Vegeta, and there isn't much to him yet. I hope the future changes that, and that we get more answers about his past.