Naruto and Dragon Ball are two of the most influential and iconic anime series ever released, garnering international recognition and widespread popularity that solidified their status as household names in pop culture. When the late Akira Toriyamafirst wrote Dragon Ball and its even more popular follow-up, Dragon Ball Z, he pushed the medium of anime to new heights by setting the precedent and blueprint for generations of shōnen that followed. Masashi Kishimoto‘sNaruto was one of the most notable successors to DBZ, becoming one of the “Big Three” manga alongside One Piece and Bleach due to their unmatched commercial success for Shōnen Jump in the 2000s.
The lasting legacy of Dragon Ball can be seen in Naruto, which built off of the foundation set by the earlier anime to continue making innovations in the exciting genre. Though there was never an official crossover between the two series,Kishimoto paid homage to his predecessor and included a surprisingly extensive reference to Dragon Ball in Naruto, writing a character who was directly inspired by Toriyama’s most famous creation. This Dragon Ball allusion was hidden in plain sight without unnecessary attention drawn to it, but was nonetheless a heartwarming and innovative way for Kishimoto to applaud the shōnen series that put anime on television for Western audiences. Kishimoto created a character whose design — from visual aesthetics to naming conventions — was directly inspired by Toriyama and one of the most recognizable heroes in all fiction, Son Goku.
Son Goku Is the Inspiration Behind ‘Naruto’s Four-Tailed Beast
Kishimoto referenced Dragon Ball with his creation of the Four-Tails, one of the most powerful creatures in the entire world of Naruto. The Four-Tails is one of the massive tailed beasts, a kaiju-sized creature possessing unfathomable strength and destructive capabilities made entirely of chakra, the main power source in the series. While a cursory glance at the large red-furred and horned gorilla-like beast with four tails doesn’t immediately draw parallels with the cheerfully energetic Son Goku of Dragon Ball, there are actually several layers to this cross-anime connection. Though their names have been lost to people for generations, each of the tailed beasts has their own unique name that is later revealed to Naruto in Naruto: Shippuden. The Four-Tails’ true name is Son Gokū, which was directly inspired by Son Goku from Dragon Ball, though they can be separately identified thanks to the difference in accents.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
In terms of design inspiration, Son Gokū takes two important traits from Goku’s upbringing and family. Kishimoto chose to make Son Gokū a monkey based on the Great Ape form that Saiyans from Dragon Ball can turn into when they see the full moon. It is also specifically important that Son Gokū possesses four tails, which is an allusion to the Four-Star Dragon Ball that Goku’s Grandpa Gohan once possessed. This Dragon Ball was Goku’s prized possession when he was a child, as he believed it to contain his grandfather’s soul, and would later be passed down to his son, Gohan, who was named after the original owner of the ball.
In Naruto, tailed beasts can be sealed within ninja called jinchuriki. The jinchuriki within Son Gokū was named Rōshi, referencing the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi, from Dragon Ball who trained Goku and Krillin. Master Roshi is one of Goku’s most important teachers, having taught him fundamental training skills and even his signature technique, the Kamehameha
‘Dragon Ball’ and ‘Naruto’ Are Both Heavily Inspired by ‘Journey to the West’
While Son Gokū takes direct inspiration from Dragon Ball’s Goku, both characters find their true origins in the classic Chinese story, Journey to the West. The story follows Sun Wukong, a mythical monkey king with unparalleled strength, knowledge of mystical techniques, and a confident and often mischievous personality. Although many stories draw inspiration from Journey to the West, the connections to Goku are already apparent from those traits alone. However, it’s further confirmed by the existence of the Great Ape form, which was the major mystery with Goku’s character in the original series. Toriyama took heavy inspiration from Journey to the West when writing Dragon Ball, as many of the characters, such as Bulma, Yamcha, and Oolong, are based on characters from the story.
In Naruto, the complete name of the Four-Tails, as it refers to itself, is Seiten Taisei Son Gokū, which translates to “Great Sage Equalling Heaven,” a title originating from Sun Wukong. Naruto also features another reference to Journey to the West with Monkey King: Enma, who was a ninja monkey summoned by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, summoned Enma to combat the First and Second Hokage in the midst of the siege on Konoha during the Chūnin Exams.
