Name and character origin

Bulma is a direct parody of the character Xuanzang from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Even though Bulma's character parodies a monk, her Japanese name "Buruma" is the brand of a popular gym short worn by girls in Japan. Her re-adapted name Bulma is a direct take on the word bloomers, which was a popular type of women's underwear in the early 20th century. As with most characters in the Dragon Ball series, Bulma's name is consistent with those of the rest of her family. All of Bulma's family members are named after underclothing of some sort. Her father's name is "Dr. Briefs", while her son and daughter are named "Trunks" and "Bra" respectively.

Appearance

Bulma's appearance in the anime differs slightly than her appearance in the manga. In the manga, her hair is usually depicted in a shade of fuchsia, while in the anime and the first chapter of the manga, her hair is a shade of turquoise. Her hair in the film Dragon Ball: The Path to Power is changed to the manga color for unknown reasons.
Bulma's appearance in the series is not as consistent as the other characters as she quite often changes her hair style and clothing. Bulma has also been seen topless, in several chapters and two episodes. She is the only female character in the entire Dragon Ball series to appear topless. In most editions of the episodes in question the scenes are censored.

Personality

Bulma's personality is like the typical female characters in Toriyama's stories; nagging and temperamental. Bulma at first is identical to the image of a pampered city girl for most of the series; arrogant and adventurous, but afraid of being alone. Her arrogance can be seen to stem from her intellect; Bulma is most recognized for her fierce determination to get what she wants, and can be viewed as reckless in those quests. Bulma is well known for her intellectual approach to situations and her beauty. Master Roshi frequently harasses her and Oolong often tried to get a peek at her panties. She is also very proud of her abilities and can be very cantankerous when slighted, which may indicate a similar approach with other men. Throughout the series, Bulma goes through many life-threatening situations and is often a damsel-in-distress, needing the protection of Goku and the others.
Bulma mellows out as the series continues in the present timeline, ultimately befriending Vegeta and helping him adapt to Earth. Initially depicted to support Goku, whom she affectionately calls "Son-kun," her relationship with Vegeta and his rivalry with Goku sparks a friendly rivalry with Chi Chi, but she manages to remain one of Goku's strongest supporters due to their long friendship.

Plot overview

Dragon Ball

Bulma is the second character to be introduced in the Dragon Ball series. In the early part of the story, she is the inventor of the Dragon Radar and is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls. Bulma was hoping to use the Dragon Balls to wish for the perfect boyfriend. While searching for a nearby Dragon Ball, she runs into Goku. She finds out Goku inherited the four-star Dragon Ball from his adoptive father Grandpa Gohan. Because of Goku's love for the ball and his belief that his Grandpa's spirit lives in the ball, Goku is not willing to give it up. Bulma then asks him to loan it for her in exchange of taking him in her travels. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure begins. As the search progresses, Bulma and Goku meet Master Roshi after finding his pet turtle; Oolong, a shape-shifting pig who is terrorizing a village; and Yamcha, and his shape shifting cat companion Puar, a desert bandit who Bulma soon finds herself attracted to, and who she eventually starts a relationship with. In one of the final episodes of Dragon Ball; Bulma can be seen having a crush on Goku when she witnesses his mature features. This affection for Goku never becomes anything serious due to Chi Chi's and Goku's marriage, thus prohibiting any love relations between Goku and Bulma.

Dragon Ball Z

As the story progresses, Bulma's role waxes and wanes. In the later action-oriented episodes of the series, there is little room for a mechanical genius but Bulma continues to play a role as a secondary character, helping Goku and his friends with her gadgets, and having a rather rocky relationship with Yamcha. After five years of peace, an evil menace comes to the Earth. It is Goku's elder brother, a Saiyan, named Raditz. After Goku and Piccolo kill him, Bulma takes the scouter from Raditz, and fixes it to find the power levels of people in human numbers. During the subsequent battle against Vegeta and Nappa, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo are killed and because Piccolo dies, the Dragon Balls are rendered useless. After Goku defeats the Saiyans, Bulma volunteers to travel to Piccolo's home planet Namek and use the Namekian Dragon Balls to restore Yamcha and the others back to life. In need of a spaceship, Mr. Popo reveals one to Bulma, which had been the ship Kami had used to travel to Earth when he was a boy. Bulma repairs the ship with the help of her father, and flies off to Namek with Krillin and Son Gohan.
After Goku defeats the tyrant Frieza, Yamcha and the others who were killed are revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls. However, Bulma's romantic relationship with him ultimately ends, though they remain friends afterwards. Vegeta eventually returns to Earth, staying with the Briefs family. Bulma chooses to befriend him, developing a strong bond that by the time of the Androids' invasion, leads to a romantic relationship that leads to the birth of her first child, Trunks. Many years later she would give birth to Bra, Trunks' sister.
Seven years after the battle against the Androids, Bulma helps Gohan by making a watch which automatically changes his clothes into a super-hero costume so he could fight crime, without his real identity being known. Later, she and the other Z Fighters, with the exception of Goku, Vegeta and Gohan, hide on Kami's Lookout from the monstrous Majin Buu, however she is killed when Super Buu turns her into chocolate and eats her. In the Other World, she, along with Chi Chi, Videl, and a reformed Dabura look for Gohan. Bulma is revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls, along with her family and friends, and gives her energy to Goku to create a Super Spirit Bomb which eliminates Kid Buu once and for all.

Dragon Ball GT

In Dragon Ball GT she becomes possessed by Baby, who takes her as his apparent queen and lover (or second in command), as possessing Vegeta gave him all of his memories and emotions. During this time, she organizes the migration to Planet Vegeta (Renamed Planet Tuffle), and creates the Blutz Wave device that helps Baby become a Golden Oozaru. However, the Holy Water hidden in Dende's Lookout is used to free her and the rest of Earth from Baby's enslavement. Later, she helps Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 4 by exposing him to a new Blutz Wave Cannon, and witnesses Omega Shenron's defeat at the hands of Goku.

Voice actors

Bulma is voiced by Hiromi Tsuru in all of the Japanese media. In Funimation's dub, she would be voiced by Maggie Blue O'Hara in the first Dragon Ball film; Lalainia Lindbjerg in the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball and the 64 episodes and first three movies of Dragon Ball Z; Leslie Alexander in the film Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle; Tiffany Vollmer in all other Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT dubs including re-dubs of previously dubbed works; and Monica Rial in Dragon Ball Z Kai. In Westwood Media's dub, Maggie Blue O'Hara returned to voice Bulma in Dragon Ball Z; Leda Davies was cast for Dragon Ball; and Kristin Nowosad in Dragon Ball GT.

Future Bulma

Future Bulma (Mirai no Buruma?, Bulma of the Future) survives the Androids' onslaught in the "Trunks Timeline," as seen in The History of Trunks special. Bulma lives at the former site of Capsule Corp, attempting to build a time machine. She's very protective of Trunks and hates the idea of him fighting, but nevertheless allows him to take the time machine to the past to stop the Androids and also deliver Goku an antidote for a heart virus that claimed his life in the alternate timeline. In this timeline, Bulma aged very quickly, probably due to the stress of living under the constant threat of the Androids. She still was as smart as ever, but she didn't retain the youthful appearance of her counterpart from the other timeline. She has also grown more mature and appears to have lost her selfish personality. She spends most of her life devoted to building a time machine so that Trunks could go back in time and prevent the devastation brought by the Androids, by saving the life of Goku, whom Bulma firmly believes is the only one who would save both timelines. Once the Androids (or more importantly, Cell) are taken care of in the main timeline, Trunks returns to his original time and defeats the much weaker Androids and this timeline's Imperfect Cell with ease, thus restoring peace to the future timeline world. After Cell's defeat, the future world is never shown again.