Over Dragon Ball’s many decades of content there have been multiple characters to rise and fall in popularity. This can be frustrating in the case of some characters, but it also allows others to possibly evolve in exciting ways. Chi-Chi has always operated as a cipher in many respects.

The audience knows that she’s integral to Goku and that they have a strong family, but beyond that she often gets slated to the sidelines and is a member of Goku’s cheering squad (or even the contrary, as she often wishes that he was the one not doing the fighting). In spite of Chi-Chi’s waning presence in the series, she’s actually a character that’s full of some rather surprising details when you dig deep enough into her. Accordingly, Here Are 20 Disturbing Facts About Dragon Ball’s Chi-Chi.

20 Akira Toriyama Hated Drawing Her

In a very curious interview in 2003, series creator, Akira Toriyama, became quite candid over how much he slowly grew to resent the character. This disdain primarily came out of how much he disliked drawing the character, even describing the exercise as a "punishment" of sorts. It's likely this is why her presence slowly decreased as the series continued.

19 She And Goku Have Never Kissed

This one is absolutely more on Goku than it is Chi-Chi, but it still doesn't change the fact that a very necessary ingredient is missing from her romance with Goku. There's a crazy moment in Dragon Ball Super where Goku sees Future Trunks "kiss" Future Mai and he's completely flummoxed by the action. Goku reveals to Vegeta that he's never kissed his wife before, in spite of the fact that they have two children. That's disturbing for other reasons entirely.

18 She Falls Second Place To Bulma In Her Husband's Eyes

At one point during the final leg of Dragon Ball Z, Goku is in desperate need to use the Dragon Balls. The only catch here is that he needs to bribe the lecherous Old Kai in order to gain that right. Goku decides to offer up Bulma as a trade and when Vegeta catches him in this deal, Goku says that it's because she's more attractive than Chi-Chi. It's a harsh admission and adds yet another layer of abuse that Chi-Chi must endure from her husband.

17 She's Only Heard "I Love You" Once

Goku's skills as a loving husband are seriously dreadful. He may be able to defend his family from enemy attacks, but he's absolutely oblivious when it comes to exhibiting affection. Surprisingly, the only time that Goku actually tells Chi-Chi that he loves her is during the conclusion of Dragon Ball Z's Buu saga. That's kind of ridiculous and perhaps explains why she's so quick to anger.

16 She Withholds Her Family Fortune

This one requires a little extrapolation on the audience's part, but it's something that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Chi-Chi's younger years explain that she's actually a princess and that her lineage with Ox-King is actually rather important. When Chi-Chi shacks up with Goku, she doesn't sever ties with her father, but she chooses to withhold everything that he offers and instead forces Goku to work or tend the fields, something that he absolutely hates to do. Chi-Chi could remove this torment for her husband, but instead she enables it.

15 She's Capable Of Purity... And Yet

Chi-Chi is one of the few characters throughout Dragon Ball that actually qualifies to ride upon Goku's Flying Nimbus. The special cloud only works for people with a heart of pure gold, which Chi-Chi appears to qualify for. This is great, but it makes her angry, reactionary personality in Dragon Ball Z all the more depressing. It highlights how much she's fallen and it's seriously questionable if she'd still be able to ride the Nimbus.

14 She's Had A Serious Fight With Nearly Every Member Of Her Family

Dragon Ball is a series that's notorious for all of the fighting that occurs in it, between friend and foe alike. Chi-Chi's experience in the ring certainly dies off as Dragon Ball transitions over into Dragon Ball Z, but in spite of that, Chi-Chi has still traded fisticuffs with the majority of her family, which is... problematic. She fights Goku in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokait, she squares off against Goten when she trains him, and Gohan attacks her when the Black Water Mist takes control of her.

13 She's Repeatedly Had To Mourn Her Husband

Dragon Ball's relationship with death is often in flux. It's a significant act in the series, but one that's increasingly lost weight, due to the Dragon Balls' ability to revive fallen characters. In spite of this, Goku is a character that spends a significant amount of time in the afterlife, leaving a broken Chi-Chi to grieve during this absence. Goku's passing with Raditz is difficult, but after he chooses to remain in the afterlife after Cell's explosion, it maybe feels like he's just trying to avoid Chi-Chi.

12 She Has A Grim Backstory With Her Mother

When it comes to Chi-Chi's family, most audiences are familiar with the enormous Ox-King, but there hasn't been much discussion on whether there's a lady in his life and what exactly happened to Chi-Chi's mother. The Dragon Ball manga explains that Chi-Chi's mother passed away from an unknown disease the same year that Chi-Chi was born. This means that Chi-Chi never got to know her mother and likely has no memory of her. It's a rather tragic glimpse into Chi-Chi's family tree.

11 Her Severe Strength

Chi-Chi has comfortably shifted into the role of caregiver and worried, responsible mother over the course of Dragon Ball's evolution, but it's important to remember that Chi-Chi's introduction in the series was as a worthy competitor to Goku. Chi-Chi's skills may drop off through the years, but she does an impressive job at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and even goes on to train Goten during the later chapters of Dragon Ball Z. She's not one to be underestimated.

10 She's The Subject Of Angry Petitions

There are plenty of unpopular characters to crop up in the Dragon Ball universe, but with most characters audiences are able to keep their dislike to acceptable levels. Chi-Chi apparently rubs viewers the wrong way so badly that several petitions have been formed across the world that ask Toriyama to off the character. While it's doubtful Toriyama would just blindly listen to such things, no other character has such a public hit on their head.

9 She's Taken Out Dinosaurs

It's one thing to make a strong impression at a Martial Arts tournament, but the Dragon Ball universe is also full of unusual predators that roam free, like dinosaurs. These ferocious beasts typically are useful when it comes to training, but Chi-Chi outright demolishes one when she's just a child. Granted, her bladed helmet deserves a lot of the credit, but it's still a pretty formative moment in your childhood to make a dinosaur become extinct.

8 She’s In Possession Of An Alarming Arsenal

Dragon Ball is a series that likes to keep weaponry out of the battles for the most part, with it instead opting to focus on hand-to-hand combat or unwieldy energy blasts that would render conventional weapons useless in the first place. Guns and the like aren’t common in the series, but for whatever reason Chi-Chi is in possession of a distressing arsenal. On two separate occasions (both in the defense of Gohan) she turns to the massive weaponry to make a point.

7 Her First Date With Goku Involved A Concussion

Some of the earlier romantic moments from Goku and Chi-Chi's relationship are left to the viewer's imagination, but Dragon Ball Z actually shines a light on the couple's very first date via flashback in the episode, "Gohan's First Date." This look into yesteryear show's that Goku's first action during their date is to bash her head into a tree, not fully understanding that a date isn't just a sparring match. It's a brutal surprise for Chi-Chi.

6 She Equates Marriage Proposals To Fighting

There are plenty of old-fashioned traditions when it comes to marriage in different cultures, but Goku finds himself in a particularly unusual predicament when he agrees to face off against Chi-Chi in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Chi-Chi reveals that she won't allow anyone to propose to her (and therefore marry her) without first besting her in battle. It's a strange stipulation that speaks to Chi-Chi's much more barbaric side.

5 She Can Achieve Kaio-Ken's Aura Via Sheer Anger Alone

This is more so meant to be a visual joke that plays around with Chi-Chi's intense anger, but if you take these scenes for face value they actually imply a rather terrifying image of Chi-Chi's emotional state and anger issues. Chi-Chi gets called an "old lady" in Dragon Ball Z and it causes her to produce a red Kaio-Ken-like aura, an effect that later happens in Super when Gohan suggests that Goten fight against his father. There's likely no actual power behind this, but it really speaks to how angry she can get.

4 She Weaponizes Household Objects

Dragon Ball has turned some rather creative items into weapons in the past, but Chi-Chi deserves credit for going above and beyond in that regard. She often doesn't get to be a playable character in fighting games, but the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game throws her into the fray with what are hopefully good intentions. The technique "Broom Bustle" involves Chi-Chi administering some swift strikes with a broom, but it seems like a highly reductive look at her role as a housewife. All of this doesn't exactly sit right.

3 She Fundamentally Misunderstands What A Super Saiyan Is

Dragon Ball makes it rather clear that surpassing the hurdle of Super Saiyan is a tremendous achievement for any member of the race. However, when it comes to this milestone with Gohan and Goten, Chi-Chi can’t help but show disgust towards the transformation. When Gohan goes this route, she calls him a “delinquent” and when she witnesses Goten undergo the change she even calls him a monster. There’s an old Japanese custom that a child dying their hair blond is a way to rebel against the family, so perhaps Chi-Chi just thinks they’ve gone through a dye job.

2 She's Executed By Her Own Husband... Kind Of

Dragon Ball Super's Goku Black is a disturbing villain for many reasons, but one of the most controversial and upsetting scenes with the doppleganger foe involves Zamasu, freshly in possession of Goku's body, taking out both the Chi-Chi and Goten from an alternate timeline. These two never learn that this is Goku Black and not the real Goku, which makes their demise at his hands even bleaker.

1 She Turned Into An Egg And Lived To Tell The Tale

As Dragon Ball Z goes on it tries to find ways for its villains to become more intimidating than sheer strength alone. Majin Buu nicely fits that bill as he possesses an unusual ability where he's ability to turn his victims into random. food before gobbling them up. Chi-Chi happens to get in Super Buu's cross hairs and is turned into an egg as a result, which he promptly crushes. Thankfully Chi-Chi returns with the rest of Buu's revived victims, but what an experience!