Dragon Ball GT hasn’t always had it easy and remains one of the franchise’s more polarizing anime, despite the recent reappraisal that it’s received. There are certainly tonal issues in play when Dragon Ball GT begins as well as misjudging the type of audience that would be tuning into the series. Dragon Ball GT gradually becomes a more confident anime and its heights are easily on par with Dragon Ball Z’s best moments. Dragon Ball GT gets a lot of mileage out of returning to classic concepts and characters from previous Dragon Ball series.

This includes a vengeful attack by Baby, a Tuffle, who wants revenge for the atrocities that were done to his people by the Saiyans. The Tuffles were introduced in Dragon Ball Z and the Saiyan-Tuffle War is a pivotal piece of Saiyan history that helped them establish Planet Vegeta. The Tuffles remain elusive figures for characters who are intrinsically tied to the Saiyans’ past, but Dragon Ball GT at least gives them a little more love. There’s still a lot about the Tuffles that is likely to surprise fans, some of which doesn’t even necessarily make sense.

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The Tuffles From Universes 7, 6 & 2 Look Completely Different

Dragon Ball Takes Some Serious Liberties With Its Tuffles

Dragon Ball has established a rich stable of alien species, many of which have made return appearances. It’s always interesting when there’s some dissonance between alien designs, like in the case of the Yardratians, where two distinct designs exist. Dragon Ball retroactively explains that Yardrat is made up of two different beings, both of which are Yardratians. Dragon Ball finds itself in similar territory with the Tuffles, but there’s never an explanation for why completely unique entities exist. The inconsistency only becomes more extreme over time.

The Tuffles from Universe 7 look a lot like humans, whereas the Tuffles from Universe 2 are totally different with a more alien appearance. The Universe 2 Tuffles – Zarbuto and Zirloin – have less of an emphasis on technology, but instead embrace a magical girl aesthetic with their Kamikaze Fireball association. They can even transform with the power of love. Additionally, Universe 6’s Tuffles also have a distinct appearance. It’s rare for a certain alien race to be present in at least three separate universes, while all being so different. Universe 6’s Frost, for instance, isn’t that dissimilar to Universe 7’s Frieza in design. Tuffles are wildly different across the multiverse.

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The Tuffles Were Created By Akira Toriyama

The Tuffles’ Have Toriyama’s Blessing As A Non-Canon Creation

The first appearance of the Tuffles is in Dragon Ball Z Episode 20, “Goku’s Ancestors,” where King Kai enlightens Goku on some Saiyan history. Curiously, none of this material occurs in the manga and it’s anime-original filler. The Tuffles’ biggest storylines are also in other non-canon stories, such as Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans and Dragon Ball GT. The Tuffles – and the Arcosians, for that matter – are never actually mentioned in the manga.

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This has prompted the belief that the Tuffles are not canon or that Akira Toriyama wasn’t involved in their creation. Toriyama did, in fact, help create the Tuffles and does consider them to be a proper part of the series, even if he’s never personally made use of them. There are many compelling concepts in Dragon Ball GT that some fans dismiss because they presume that Toriyama didn’t contribute to them, but he’s more involved with some ideas than one would think.

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The “Tuffle” Pun Is Lost In Translation

Localization Changes Obscure The Tuffles’ Roots

Dragon Ball engages in some incredibly deep storytelling, which makes it all the sillier that the series is so beholden to name-based puns and characters whose names are grouped together through arbitrary categories. For instance, “Saiyan” comes from a pun on the Japanese word for vegetable, which is also why all the Saiyans’ names are vegetable-based puns. Tuffles, as the natural rivals to the Saiyans, were meant to extend this gag with a series of fruit-based puns, in contrast to the Saiyans’ vegetables.

The Tuffles’ Japanese name, “Tsufruian,” derives from the Japanese word for fruit. This pun is clear in the original Japanese version, but it’s lost in Dragon Ball GT’s dub. “Tuffle” is a modest translation attempt, but there’s nothing about that word that resembles “fruit.” It’s unfortunate because Dragon Ball’s dub would likely have properly translated the Tuffles if it just reached this material a few years later.

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The Tuffles Created The Scouters

An Iconic Piece Of Dragon Ball Tech Came From The Tuffles

Dragon Ball has come a long way since its origins and there are certain elements that used to be staples, but have since been completely dropped. Scouters were an advantageous tool for Dragon Ball Z characters to identify another character’s power level and pinpoint their exact strength. That became less practical over time, especially with characters reaching unbelievable power levels through Super Saiyan transformations.

Scouters were still fundamental during Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan and Frieza Sagas and it’s worth knowing that this technology was created by the Tuffles, not the Saiyans. The Tuffles have always been technologically advanced and this intelligence goes as far as the creation of scouters. The Saiyans eventually co-opt this technology, which then becomes a staple of Frieza’s army, too. The scouter has gone through various revisions over the years, like the more rudimentary scout-scope that preceded it.

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Tuffle Transformations Make No Sense

A Unique Design Defies Logic

Baby’s possession of Vegeta results in several transformations that explore the vast potential in Tuffle-Saiyan hybrids. Baby doesn’t just exploit Vegeta’s existing Super Saiyan transformations and instead experiences something that’s more connected to his Tuffle roots. Baby Vegeta experiences his Strongest Form 1 and Strongest Form 2 transformations, but the requirements for these changes are incredibly impractical and don’t make much sense. Baby Vegeta obtains his Strongest Form 1 state after he’s given more energy by other Tuffle-Saiyan hybrids. One would think that Tuffle-Saiyan hybrids are incredibly rare and not the best conduit for a transformation.

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Baby Vegeta’s Strongest Form 2 involves the same process, albeit with every Tuffle-Human on Earth. This is another steep requirement and not enough is known about these transformations to understand how much leeway is possible. Can Strongest Form 2 be achieved with fewer people who possess greater strength, or does it require a planet’s worth of people. These transformations also develop biological shoulder pads, a collar, and gloves that just come out of nowhere. They contribute to a striking design, but their addition doesn’t make any sense. The same is true with Baby’s Tuffle Gorilla transformation, which is apparently the Tuffles’ unique take on a Golden Great Ape that’s slightly different.

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Tufles Can Take Over Just About Any Race In The Universe

Baby Possesses Some Interesting Characters

Dragon Ball GT truly lets Baby loose on the Earth and a full-on Tuffle plague is released. There are plenty of humans and Saiyans who temporarily become Tuffle hybrids, but it’s curious to see this infestation spread over to other characters who might have presumably been immune. Baby infects both Dende and Android 18, which results in a Tuffle-Namekian hybrid and a Tuffle-Android hybrid.

Dragon Ball GT doesn’t take advantage of these compelling combinations, which is unfortunate because a Tuffle could do some real damage in a Namekian or Android body. It doesn’t necessarily make sense that an Android with cybernetic components would still be susceptible to Baby, but Dragon Ball GT doesn’t overly scrutinize the moment. The same is true with Dende, who might be able to resist Baby’s infection because he’s Earth Guardian and a godly figure.

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Tuffles Have A Unique Means Of Fusion

Kamin & Oren Combine Into A Creepy Fused Creation

Dragon Ball Heroes introduces two new Neo Machine Mutant Tuffles from Universe 6, Kamin and Oren, who feel like Neo Machine Mutant analogues to Androids 17 and 18. Kamin and Oren were created by Tuffles for the sole purpose of becoming stronger. The Neo Machine Mutant Tuffle twins are incredibly powerful, but they also exhibit a unique means of fusion that they implement when they’re overwhelmed in battle. Kamin and Oren demonstrate their own means of fusion that’s different from the Metamoran fusion dance or the Potara Earrings, as they become the intimidating creature, Kamioren.

Admittedly, this fusion technique seems to be more a component of Kami and Oren’s Neo Machine Mutant status, rather than their Tuffle heritage. Nevertheless, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which the proliferation of Neo Machine Mutant Tuffles makes this fusion technique a recognized Tuffle staple. Not enough details on this Tuffle fusion are revealed and it’s unclear if it’s a process that can only be performed by two individuals or if an infinite number of Neo Machine Mutant Tuffles could continually fuse and become stronger.

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The Tuffles Are Masters Of Cloning & Genetic Manipulation

Tuffles Have Advanced Skills That Don’t Get Enough Credit In Dragon Ball GT

The Tuffles are treated like the more intelligent counterparts to the barbaric Saiyans, which leads to some fascinating innovations on their part. The Saiyans ultimately overpower the Tuffles, largely because of the strength of their Great Ape forms. However, the Tuffles make remarkable headway when it comes to cloning and advanced genetic manipulation. These skills might have even helped the Saiyans repopulate and not become an endangered species.

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The Tuffles utilize these scientific skills to develop Baby, Oren, and Kamin, who all wreak havoc on the world. Dr. Lychee also uses technology to resurrect the dead as ghosts and then sustain their presence with a powerful gas. These are skills that could change the universe, yet Dragon Ball GT is strangely content to distill this Saiyan/Tuffle feud into an extended feat of strength.

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Every Single Saiyan In The Series Except Goku Gets Infected By A Tuffle

Dragon Ball GT’s Tuffle Invasion Almost Marked The End Of The Saiyan Race

There’s a stark contrast between Dragon Ball GT’s introductory Black Star Dragon Ball Saga and the Baby Saga that follows. There’s a little overlap between these separate narratives, which means that Baby has already infected most of Earth’s population by the time that Goku, Pan, and Trunks return from space. Baby’s parasitic possession is noteworthy because he technically infects all of Dragon Ball’s Saiyans, a feat that’s especially poignant considering the Tuffle and Saiyans’ contentious past.

Baby notably possesses Gohan and Goten before he turns Vegeta into his ultimate host, while Trunks and Bulla later become part of the Tuffle hive-mind. Pan avoids infection in Dragon Ball GT, but it happens in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. Goku is even briefly infected by Baby before he manages to force him out of his body with Super Saiyan.

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Baby Isn’t Actually A Tuffle

Baby Is The Ultimate Tuffle Science Experiment

What’s easy to misunderstand with Baby is that he’s actually more of a Neo Machine Mutant than he is a Tuffle. Baby is a Tuffle biological experiment who possesses all the Tuffles’ genetic information, particularly that of the Tuffle King.

Baby is an amalgamation of Tuffle DNA and not just a recreation of the Tuffle King, which is also why he carries the Tuffles’ inherent Saiyan hatred. While Baby is built from Tuffle genetic material, he’s not technically a Tuffle himself, despite how he’s able to infect the Earth with Tuffle DNA. It’s certainly a convoluted backstory that could be simplified and a little more focused.