Poop

Poop in the world of Akira Toriyama is far more than biological refuse. In Penguin Village, the setting of Dr. Slump, sentient poop creatures exist as a recognized part of the community. They come in several different colors, range in size from something that fits in a human hand to roughly the height of a child, and possess full sapience. They walk, they talk, and they go about their lives with the same dignity as any other Penguin Village resident.

The character Arale Norimaki, the robot girl protagonist of Dr. Slump, is famously known for poking poop as her favorite hobby. This running gag became one of the most iconic elements of Dr. Slump's comedic identity and helped establish Toriyama's reputation for gleefully juvenile humor even within otherwise action-oriented stories.

Poop makes its first Dragon Ball appearance early in the original manga, during chapter 19, "At Last... the Dragon!" In this scene, Mai holds poop on a stick, prompting Emperor Pilaf to scold her for making a Dr. Slump reference. Pilaf then breaks the fourth wall entirely, declaring that Shonen Jump has become far more sophisticated and intelligent since Dr. Slump ended, and that Mai should not ruin the publication's elevated standards.

This moment is pure Toriyama, using his own previous creation as the punchline and letting his characters acknowledge the fictional nature of their existence. Poop also appears briefly in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, though Dragon Ball as a franchise generally exercises more restraint with toilet humor than its predecessor.

In Resurrection F, poop makes a film appearance as well, proving that no matter how high the stakes or how godlike the combatants become, Toriyama never fully abandoned the comedic sensibility that made Dr. Slump a household name in Japan.

Sentient poop represents something important about Toriyama's creative philosophy. Even as Dragon Ball evolved into a global action franchise with universe-shaking battles and power levels beyond comprehension, the creator never lost his roots as a gag manga artist. The occasional appearance of poop, whether sentient or simply present as a visual joke, serves as a reminder that Dragon Ball grew out of Dr. Slump's comedic soil.

Several named poop characters exist within the broader Dr. Slump universe, and the crossover episodes between Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball Super brought Penguin Village's unique residents back into contact with Goku and his friends. In these moments, the tonal whiplash between Dragon Ball's serious battles and Penguin Village's absurdist comedy is entirely the point.