Our story begins when a young boy named Goku meets a girl named Bulma. Goku decides to join Bulma on her journey to find all 7 of the magical Dragon balls. Bulma wishes to find all 7 Dragon balls to wish for a boyfriend, after of course she learns to legend of the Dragon balls. Of course, a good story needs a bad villain. In this case, we meet a little runt named Pilaf, the king of some small kingdom, and his henchmen, Mai (a girl) and Shao (a ninja dog), all of which want to find the Dragon balls too, and use them for bad things.  

Along the way on their Dragon ball quest, Goku and Bulma meet many interesting friends. First, they encounter a lost turtle named Umigami. Bulma and Goku help Umigami find his way back home, where they meet an old man named Master Roshi. From Roshi, Goku is given the "Flying Nimbus", a flying cloud that can only be ridden by those pure of heart, which of course Goku qualifies for. The Flying Nimbus becomes Goku's main source of transportation throughout the rest of the series.  

Goku and Bulma soon find their way into what seems to be a deserted city. When they find the townspeople in hiding, they assume that there is something terrorizing their city. A monster named Oolong is the culprit. Oolong is a shapeshifting pig looking for a bride in the town. After an encounter in the city, Goku defeats Oolong. The pig decides to join Goku and Bulma on their quest.  

The 3 soon find their way into a vast wasteland known as the Diablo Desert. Oolong tells them of a bandit guarding the desert, driving away trespassers who stumble upon this home. his name is Yamcha, the Desert Bandit, a ruthless martial arts master. Yamcha, and his shapeshifting partner Puar (he went to Shapeshifting Academy with Oolong) find the group and engages in battle with Goku. Yamcha is defeated of course, and he and Puar tag along with Oolong, Bulma and Goku. From that moment on, Yamcha and Bulma sort of have a "thing" going on between them.  

On the top of a mountain called Frying-Pan is where they find a Dragon ball, and where the group meets another ally, this time in a man named the Ox-King (a student of Master Roshi), and his daughter named Chi-Chi. The top of the mountain has also caught on fire. To help with this, Master Roshi comes and delivers a special power ball called the "Kamehameha Wave" which blows out the fire. Master Roshi claims it took him 50 years to learn this move. Goku sees this and decides to try it out for himself. To everyone's amazement, he nails it on the first try! Goku and Chi-Chi get into talking, and Chi-Chi asks if Goku will marry her when she and him are old enough. Goku, using the "brain-power" he has, (thinking that marriage is some kind of food) heartily agrees.  

Now the group travels to the palace of Pilaf to gather the Dragon balls he had collected. Pilaf captures them and steals their Dragon ball. He then proceeds to make his evil wish: to what else? Rule to world of course. He summons the Eternal Dragon by putting all of the Dragon balls next to eachother. Goku tries to break a hole in the wall of the cell he and his friends are put in by using his new technique, the Kamehameha Wave. The wave makes a small hole in the wall. Now, all of them are too small for the whole, but by converting into bats, they fly through the hole in the wall. Oolong of all people saves the day right before Pilaf makes his wish by making a wish of his own: a pair of women's underwear! The Dragon grants his wish and the Dragon balls turn to stone and once again are scattered throughout the face of the globe, waiting to be activated in one year. Pilaf gets really P.O.ed by this and puts the group into a large cell with a glass roof, where they can fry the next morning.Outside is a full moon. Goku glances up and remembers of a large monkey monster who killed his grandpa Gohan while there was a full moon out. Before dying, Gohan tells Goku to never EVER... EVER EVER EVER EVER look at the full moon. Goku says he doesn't remember a thing because he slept through it and does not remember the monster. The team starts to get a bit shaky, hoping that Goku isn't that same monster. Bulma tells Goku not to look at the moon. Goku wonders why and turns around to face the moon. Goku then begins to transform into a giant weremonkey known as an Oozaru. While growing, Goku bursts through the glass top of the cell, freeing him and his friends. They were safe from being turned into fried chicken, but were not safe from their enlarged friend Goku. They try to cut off his tail to see if it works, and does. Goku shrinks down to his normal, human, nude self. The group decides not to tell Goku what happened because it would break him if he were to find out he was the monster who killed his grandpa. After that, the group decides what to do. Goku says he shall train with Master Roshi on his island, while the others decide to live in the city. Since she already has her wish (a boyfriend, named Yamcha), Bulma gives Goku her Dragon Radar to help him find his grandfather's four-star Dragon ball again 1 year later. After a few goodbyes, the group departs their own ways.  

Goku travels to Master Roshi's island to begin his training. There, he meets a monk named Krillin, who happens to be only a year older than Goku. He also seeks training from Master Roshi, but the old man refuses, saying he does not wish to train anyone. But he asks that if the two bring him a pretty girl, he will gladly train them. A while later they bring back a girl named Lunch with an odd power. When she sneezes, she goes from being a sweet blue-haired girl to an agressive blond. The old man is pleased with the young lady and takes both Goku and Krillin as students. Hoping their long training will pay off, Goku and Krillin enter the 21st Annual Tenkaichi Budokai to show off their skills.  

Goku finds some old friends in the tournament, one of which, is Yamcha, who has also signed up for the tournament. Him, Goku,a nd Krillin all then qualify for the finals. A contestant by the name of Jackie Chun (Master Roshi in disguise) eliminates both Krillin and Yamcha, then proceeds to fight Goku in the final match. Goku though manages to change into his Oozaru form and begins to destroy everything. Roshi solves this problem by utilizing his Kamehameha and destroying the moon. Roshi defeats Goku and wins the tournament. Goku promises to train harder for the next tournament in 3 years, then heads off to find his grandfather's Dragon ball.  

Goku is now on his quest for his grandfather's Dragon ball. But of course, there's usually some type of evil in this way. This time, we see it in the form of a large military organization known as the Red Ribbon Army, bent on gathering the 7 Dragon balls together again. To get his Dragon ball back, Goku has to go through the entire Red Ribbon Army.  

The Red Ribbon series introduces a new cast of characters to the Dragon ball series. These include Gora and Upah (two Indians who guard Karin Tower), Karin (the cat living at Karin Tower), Dr. and Mrs. Briefs (Bulma's parents), Number 18 (an android created by Dr. Gero), Sho (a girl who lives in the mountains), and the people of Penguin Village. Now of course, like I said, can't have a good story without some villains. First, there is the main baddie of the RR, Sosvy and his assitant, black. Then there are the three leaders of the RR Army; Silver, Violet, and Yellow. Others are the two Sergeants, Blue and White, Dr. Gero (a RR scientist) Murasaki (a ninja), and the world's greatest assassin, Tao Pai Pai.  

OK, now back to the story. TPP kills the father of Upah, so Goku vows revenge. Of course, he gets it. TPP tries to get Goku with a grenade, but ends up falling for his own dirty trick and getting himself blown up by the grenade instead. Goku destroys him and the rest of the Red Ribbon Army, then begins the task of trying to revive Upah's father. A problem arises when one of the Dragon balls cannot be found, so he goes to Baba (Master Roshi's sorceress sister) to have her look into her magic ball to locate the missing Dragon ball. Goku performs the deed, but discovers he has no money. Baba has Goku fight some ghosts in return for the service. These ghosts include Ackman the devil, Mira the mummy, Tomein Ningen the invisible man, Dracula Man, and of all people, Son Gohan, Goku's grandfather. Now that Goku has finished his battle, he recovers the lost Dragon ball from it's owner, Pilaf. He then revives Bora, Upah's dad. After this, he leaves to travel the road and tone his skills.  

Once again, some of the best fighters in the world are gathered together for the 22nd Annual Tenkaichi Budokai. Some of these include a triclops named Tien, and his best friend Chaozu, both of which are students of Tao Pai Pai's brother, Tsuru Sennin. Other include of course, Goku, Krillin, and Master Roshi once again disguised as Jackie Chun. The exciting tournament includes a match between Goku and Krillin, which Goku wins. Another match was Jackie Chun vs. Tien, which Jackie Chun intentionally loses. The tournament's final match consisted of Goku vs. Tien. A long hard battle ensued, and Tien barely wins. The end of the tournament doesn't stay very joyous for long, because Krillin gets killed.  

The final chapter of the original Dragon ball series begins when an ancient evil force returns to terrorize the Earth once again. His name is Piccolo Daimao, an evil warlord. He brings with him a few henchmen, including Tambourine (the same creature which killed Krillin), Drum (he fights Tien), and Cymbal (who ends up being eaten by Yajirobee). Now then, our baddie Piccolo Daimao meets up with our hero, Goku. They engage in battle, and defeats Goku. With Goku out of the way, Piccolo now can wish for eternal life from Shenlong, the Eternal Dragon. His wish is granted, and then he destroys Shenlong. Master Roshi, in an attempt to trap Piccolo with a special technique, ends up being killed by Piccolo, along with Chaozu.

Goku goes to Karin Tower with Yajirobee to drink the sacred water, which increases his powers. Tien engages in battle with Piccolo to try to use the technique Master Roshi tried. He almost is killed when Goku arrives just in time to defeat Piccolo, killing him. Before Piccolo dies, he leaves behind an egg (who grows up to be the DBZ Piccolo we know and love so dearly ^_^) to avenge his death.

With Piccolo out of the picture, Goku now can wish his friends back to life. The only problem is, he can't! It is worthless, since Piccolo destroyed the Eternal Dragon. Goku then seeks out the help of a being named Kami-Sama. When he gets to his island, it turns out that Kami-Sama has a special symbiotic relationship with the evil Piccolo, being his good side! With the help of his assistant Mr. Popo, Kami revives Shenlong so Goku can make his wish. He gets his wish, and his friends come back. There is a catch though: Goku cannot see his friends for another 3 years. Kami wishes to take Goku can train with him until the next Tenkaichi Budokai, where he is to face Piccolo Jr.  

Goku shows off another 3 years of hard training at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Contestants include Kami, Goku, Chi-Chi, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Tao Pai Pai, and the offspring of Piccolo, Piccolo Jr. In a fight against Tao Pai Pai, Tien wins. Krillin takes on the evil Piccolo Jr., who ends up winning the match. Finally, Goku takes on Chi-Chi. Goku of course wins the match, and then is reminded by Chi-Chi of his promise to marry her. After the match, an announcement is made of the marriage of Goku and Chi-Chi in the near future. Goku and Piccolo both win their semi-final matches to go face eachother in the final round. A long hard battle ensues, and the victor is Goku, winning his first tournament. Soon after, Goku and Chi-Chi are married, hoping to have a happy joyful life ahead of them...