'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Gods of Destruction provided unique designs for Dragon Ball. From a small imp combination to an Egyptian-themed cat, the gods have varied designs and are all attractive to the eye.
Good character design usually has something that will attract the eye (hairstyles, a unique outfit, etc.). The Gods of Destruction look rather unique, from cats to fish people to whatever Iwan is supposed to be!
It’s a fascinating approach to higher deity characters not seen since Asura’s Wrath or Shin Megami Tensei, being collaborative design projects by Dragon Ball Super manga artist Toyotarou and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama.
Note: Spoilers for Dragon Ball Super are included. The article reflects the author’s opinion and excludes Beerus and Champa since they’re known to the audience.
Dragon Ball: Ten best Gods of Destruction, ranked by design
10) Sidra
Dwarven deities might be new to some people, but not to Dungeon and Dragons fans. There’s an entire parthenon of dwarven deities in D&D, culminating in the high deity All-Father Moradin and various other deities representing many things from good fortune to wanderers.
Beyond the realm of tabletops, there are dwarfs in Germanic and Norse folklore (including the forgers of Thor’s hammer). Contemporary audiences will likely recognize the dwarves from either Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.
All of this is to say that Sidra’s short and stout appearance is more in line with typical depictions of dwarves: long beard, somewhat lengthy hair, short and stout appearance, and stern attitude. He fits a Dragon Ball God of Destruction based on appearance alone but is on here because he’s the least in terms of unique designs for one.
9) Liquirr
According to Japanese religious folklore, Kitsune are fox spirits that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. The more tails a fox spirit has (usually going up to nine), the wiser and older they are.
There are many stories about foxes being tricksters and others about being faithful guides, spiritual messengers, and even lovers.
Modern audiences would probably recognize Kurama from Naruto, the once malicious nine-tailed fox that inhabits the titular Naruto’s body, or the Vulpix/Ninetales evolutionary line in Pokemon, or Renamon in Digimon.
If we go by the folklore aspect, Liquirr must be hiding his age, as he has two tails, akin to Sonic’s kid sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. However, this may be a misdirection as he sprouts nine tails when in combat, as in the Dragon Ball Super manga to fire a stream of Ki blasts.
It’s an exciting design but expected if one is familiar with the idea of foxes being important in Japanese (among others) folklore. In Dragon Ball itself, the only other character the audience may know that’s a fox is Shu, Pilaf’s henchman. So Liquirr is unique as a fox god for Dragon Ball.
8) Heles
The Egyptian pantheon is so full of deities that Heles would be welcomed handsomely. Various deities include Ra of the Sun and Anubis of Death.
Modern audiences would no doubt recognize these deities in various media, from Yu-Gi-Oh! with the god cards and naming conventions (Seto Kaiba named after Set, God of Darkness, for example), to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure with Dio’s elite guards naming Stands after Egyptian gods such as the Anubis sword.
Heles’ design evokes Egyptian queens Cleopatra and Nefertiti, with the eye shadow, the headdress/hat in that style, and a necklace in that large semicircle style. It projects her personality, as does the bow and arrow she uses, similar to Egyptian archers.
It’s a little expected for a god to have Egyptian influences, especially since the aforementioned Yu-Gi-Oh! exploded on the anime scene. Though for Dragon Ball, Heles is also conventional in the thinness of her body type.
7) Rumsshi
Elephants as deities and holy figures are unique primarily to Hinduism but also have religious and cultural significance in Buddhism. The most well-known and widely revered is the deity Ganesha, remover of obstacles and bringer of good luck, patron god of the arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.
Notable examples of elephants in popular culture include a representation of Ganesha in Persona 5 (one of the strongest and highest-luck stat Personas), Dumbo the flying elephant from the Disney film of the same name, and Horton from Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who!
The elephantine design is certainly one of the more unique ones to Dragon Ball. So much so, in fact, that it stirred up some controversy as to whether or not he was evil, which was quickly dismissed.
The phrase “seeing pink elephants” comes to mind with Rumsshi because he is named after alcohol, and the phrase refers to hallucinating when intoxicated.
6) Mosco/Mule
A robot/demon combination, Mosco is quite the interesting combination for a god. Robots have their own history, from ancient automata like the clay golems of Jewish legend to modern-day robotic hands and animatronics.
Notable examples of larger, self-aware robots include Genos from One Punch Man, Isaac Asimov’s robots in iRobot, and the titular Transformers. Demons and imps also have their own histories from various religions and mythologies.
A combination God of Destruction is rather unique, as there are androids and people in mech suits in Dragon Ball. When in his suit, Mule had to have his Angel Camparri translate everything he said. He looks more traditionally impish outside the suit, with a bald head and twin horns.
The fact that he’s a combination is why he’s up here, as nobody would expect a robot to be a god.
5) Belmod
Believe it or not, clowns have something of a history harkening back to court jesters and even further back to Greek and Roman theater. They have traditionally been foolish characters, harkening back to Shakespearean plays like Othello.
Clowns have a mixed bag of representation in the media, from the fun ones seen at circuses to the horrific ones like Pennywise from Stephen King’s It or The Joker from Batman, or the more unhinged clownish looking Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter.
So a clown-looking God of Destruction with dual-colored pants? With a red nose, the makeup, and hair? Belmod is absolutely funny-looking. It belies his true nature, so maybe the funny look is the point.
That’s always the case in Dragon Ball, where appearances are often deceptive.
4) Quitela
Mouse figures as deities are most definitely unique. Rats were venerated as holy descendants of Karni Mata, worshiped as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga in the 15th century. The Greek God Apollo was considered a lord of mine and heavily associated with mice since he could send or finish epidemics.
Mice and rats in fiction tend to either be recognized as cute (Mrs. Frisby from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Fevil from An American Tale, Disney’s own Mickey Mouse, the space mice from Voltron, etc.) or as plague carriers and evil (The rats from A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Rat King from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
A mouse as a God of destruction, simple and cute design. Small, yellow, large ears, and a cute-looking appearance that belies power. It's very fitting of Dragon Ball and keeping in with Yoda of Star Wars’ adage that “size matters not.”
3) Arak
For the unusual ones, Arak fits the bill. With a wrinkled-looking humanoid appearance with a mohawk of hair, it’s very apparent that work was done on this design. It’s more of an alien design than anything else, unique to Dragon Ball, save for Iwan. He has whiskers on his face, ear holes instead of ears, and large purple lips.
His design is mostly reminiscent of the Shakōki-dogū of Japanese mythos and tiki masks. The “google-eyed dogū” are small humanoid figurines made during the Jomon period of prehistoric japan. They are seen in the Shin Megami Tensei series with Arahabaki, Shakkoumon from Digimon, and Baltoy and Claydol from Pokemon.
2) Giin
Aquatic-looking creatures and creatures from the Black Lagoon are rare to see nowadays, especially when horror moves more toward demonic possessions or thrillers. This doesn’t mean that the creature features are dead, however.
The Secure Contain and Protect (SCP) Foundation of fictional horror media profile creatures that look almost exactly like Giin. Another famous example of a larger water-based creature is Gojira or Godzilla.
Giin looks more muscular and more akin to what one would expect from Dragon Ball characters. He is muscular and has fins on his face, and a calmer attitude than his otherwise intimidating demeanor would suggest.
1) Iwan
Admittedly, finding sources on Iwan’s design was difficult. According to the official Dragon Ball Japanese website, his true form beneath all the fur resembles Shiva in Hinduism.
Shiva, ironically, is a god of destruction and destroyer of evil and the supreme being in Shaivism. Depictions of Shiva can be found in the Shin Megami Tensei (and Persona) series as well as Smite.
As for Iwan himself? If he is hiding a muscular body underneath, that would be something to see. However, his design as a shorter and furry being definitely ranks among one of the more unique and stronger designs.
It’s mainly because his design isn’t exactly standard, among Gods of Destruction or even in Dragon Ball. Furred creatures do exist, but only Star Trek’s Tribbles are as completely fur-covered as Iwan is.
Note: This article reflects the author’s views.
