In the early days of Dragon Ball, the series was much more focused on the heroes actually collecting Dragon Balls as opposed to the later stories within DBZ and Super where the heroes are way more focused on fighting. In Dragon Ball, the entire story begins with Bulma finding Goku alone in the woods as she is tracking down the Dragon Balls, and then invites him to join her on her quest – thus sparking the entire franchise.

Dragon Ball GT even returns to this formula as Goku, Trunks, and Pan are scouring the universe searching for the Black Star Dragon Balls. During these stories, where finding the Dragon Balls is the prime objective, there is one object that is more valuable than any other, and that’s the Dragon Radar.

Trunks Accidentally Makes The Dragon Radar Sentient In GT

In Dragon Ball GT season 1, episode 5 (written by Masashi Kubota, directed by Osamu Kasai, produced by Toei Animation), Goku, Trunks, and Pan are stuck on an alien planet after their spaceship crash lands on its surface. Even though they didn’t mean to come to this world, the Z-Fighters still decide to see if there is a Black Star Dragon Ball here. So, Trunks pulls out the Dragon Radar before he is startled by a little robot that was buried under the sand.

The robot moved suddenly under Trunks’ feet, causing the Saiyan warrior to drop the Dragon Radar right in front of it. The robot then quickly consumes the Dragon Radar and converts it into energy, which gives it the boost it needs to spring forth from out of the dirt. While initially the Z-Fighters think they’ve just failed their mission, it is revealed that the robot formed a fully operational Dragon Radar on its back, meaning the device wasn’t lost as the Z-Fighters originally thought.

Dragon Ball GT Turned the Dragon Radar into an Actual Character

In this episode of Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Radar – something that has been used since the very first episode – literally becomes sentient. Rather than remaining a tool used by the Z-Fighters to find Dragon Balls, the Dragon Radar (which is named ‘Gill’ once it becomes a part of the robot) becomes an active participant in the search. Gill can walk, run, speak, and assist in activities while searching for the Dragon Balls–plus, Gill audibly alerts the Z-Fighters when a Dragon Ball is nearby, so the heroes don’t have to constantly be looking down at the radar while searching.

Without the Dragon Radar, nothing in the entire Dragon Ball mythos could have happened. Bulma wouldn’t have found Goku, the Z-Fighters wouldn’t have formed, and every single story arc fans know and love today would have been completely altered or erased from existence entirely. The Dragon Radar is pivotal to the series and it finally gets a chance to participate after it got the perfect upgrade in Dragon Ball GT.