What are the Dragon Balls? The namesake of the series, the Dragon Balls play a major role throughout much of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. In Dragon Ball and DBZ, the Dragon Balls are a collection of seven crystal spheres each containing stars numbering from one to seven which can be used to grant the summoner a wish. After the summoner's wish has been granted, the Dragon Balls scatter across the globe and cannot be used again for quite some time. The number of wishes (1-3), power of each wish, and the time between successive summonings (130 days to one year) depend on the set of 'Balls used. When the creator of a particular set of Dragon Balls dies, the balls instantly turn to stone until a successor can take his place and revive the dragon. In Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Balls have a much different appearance. The set of 'Balls used in this anime-only series was created by Piccolo before he split into Kami-sama and Piccolo Daimaio. These Ultimate Dragon Balls (a.k.a. Black Star Dragon Balls), have some rather unique properties. For starters, these balls scatter across the entire universe after being used, rather than just being scattered around the globe. In addition, the Ultimate Dragon Balls put so much strain on the planet on which they are used that they must be returned to that planet within one year or the planet will be destroyed! Finally, the wishes granted by these Dragon Balls are so powerful that they cannot be reversed by any other set of 'Balls. Earth Dragonballs Created by Kamisamma, the earth's guardian Can only grant one wish per gathering Must have all 7 dragonballs together to make wish When all 7 dragonballs are gathered, the eternal dragon Shenlong comes out to grant the wish Only wishes within the creator's power can be granted Can only wish a person back to life once Characteristically yellow in color with a red star(s) centered Very small, about the size of a soft-ball After a wish is made, the dragonballs turn to stone, and scatter around earth; they cannot be used to make a wish until a year has passed Can bring back certain or special groups of people If Kamisamma dies, the dragonballs turn to stone and can't be used to make wishes. New Earth Dragonballs Created by Dende, the earth's new guardian Can only grant 2 wish per gathering Must have all 7 dragonballs together to make wish When all 7 dragonballs are gathered, the eternal dragon Shenlong comes out to grant the wish Only wishes within the creator's power can be granted Can only wish a person back to life once Characteristically yellow in color with a red star(s) centered Very small, about the size of a soft-ball After a wish is made, the dragonballs turn to stone, and scatter around earth; they cannot be used to make a wish until a year has passed Can bring back certain or special groups of people If Dende dies, the dragonballs turn to stone and can't be used to make wishes. Namekian Dragonballs Created by Guru, the eldest namek Able to grants 3 wishes per gathering Must have all 7 dragonballs gathered to make a wish When all dragonballs are gathered, the eternal dragon Porunga, must be summoned in Namekian language with the password which is "Porunga" Wish must be made in Namekian language Only wishes within the creator's power can be granted Can wish a person back to life numerous times so long as they didn't die by natural causes Characteristically yellow in color with a red star(s) centered Bigger compared to the Earth dragonballs. About the size of a bowling ball After the three wishes are made, the dragonballs turn to stone and scatter across Namek and cannot be used to make wishes until 3 months have passed Can only bring back 1 person per wish If Guru dies, Porunga disappears and the dragonballs turn to stone. Black Star Dragonballs Created by Kamisamma Can grant 1 wish per gathering Must have all 7 dragonballs to make wish Characteristically yellow in color with a black star(s) centered Scattered all over the universe