Dragon Ball is one of the most influential manga and anime series ever made. Not only was the franchise the de facto face of the medium for several years (and remains so in the eyes of many), Akira Toriyama's magnum opus also influenced hundreds of other artists and creators, meaning its DNA can be found in numerous modern works.

It's only natural the Dragon Ball franchise has crossed over with many anime during its run, but where some crossovers are obvious & expected, others are out of left field. Now four decades old, the Dragon Ball franchise has crossed over with the likes of Dr. Slump, One Piece, and so much more.

Dr. Slump was Akira Toriyama's manga right before Dragon Ball. Dr. Slump ran in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1980 and 1984, following the residents of Penguin Village and their frequently wacky lives. The manga was a massive hit, leading to Toei Animation creating a 243-episode anime adaptation between 1981 and 1986. Due to the Dr. Slump anime's popularity and Toriyama's love of it, Dragon Ball is packed with references & nods to the series, with characters frequently popping up on background TVs or posters, and making cameo appearances in crowd shots. However, Dragon Ball Chapter 81 and Episode 55 would feature both series finally crossing over.

After General Blue steals the Dragon Balls and escapes, Goku gives chase. Following a long and tense midair struggle, Goku and General Blue somehow crash-land in Penguin Village. This mini-arc features Goku and Arale teaming up to track down General Blue while Blue tries to find a way to escape from Penguin Village with his ill-gotten Dragon Balls. This Dragon Ball x Dr. Slump crossover is interesting because it isn't a self-contained story. The events in Penguin Village build on the General Blue saga and massively influence the next stage of the Red Ribbon Army arc, making it an essential part of the Dragon Ball story. The anime version of the crossover aired on March 18th, 1987.

Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure is the third Dragon Ball movie, and like the franchise's previous two cinematic outings (Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies and Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle), is an abridged retelling of the anime's plot. Mystical Adventure features Goku and Krillin heading to Mifan to participate in the World Martial Arts tournament. However, the political situation in Mifan is complex, as Minister Shen and General Tao plan to collect the Dragon Balls and use their wish to overthrow the emperor of Mifan, Chiaotzu.

Late into the movie, Tao hits Goku so hard that he flies to Korin Tower. Realizing he needs the Dragon Ball Goku had in his shirt, Tao tries to fly to the tower. While traveling, Tao passes over Penguin Village, where Arale Norimaki throws a boulder at the warrior, knocking him out of the sky. With Arale's help, Goku takes down Tao, stopping his evil plans in their tracks. Mystical Adventure ends up combining Goku's fight with Tao Pai Pai and General Blue into one event in order to bring in Dr. Slump's cast.

In 1997, Toei Animation remade Dr. Slump into a 74-episode anime, re-imagining the original Dr. Slump series, while adapting several of the manga's most beloved plotlines along with introducing several new storylines. Dr. Slump Episode 56, "The Super Secret: I Saw the True Form of the Great Monkey," would start a four-episode arc loosely adapting the original Dragon Ball crossover, albeit from Arale's perspective.

These episodes have Goku arrive in Penguin Village, hoping to find the last Dragon Ball. However, this plan goes awry when Ninja Murasaki and General Blue arrive on the island and team up with the Nikochans to steal Goku's Dragon Balls. A more comedy-focused take on the classic Dragon Ball arc, this crossover stands out as a rare example of Goku appearing in a regular episode of another character's show.

Kyutai Panic Adventure! is one of the most obscure pieces of Dragon Ball media in history. This unique film was only shown during 2003's Odaiba Boken-Oh event, a massive festival hosted in and around Fuji TV's Headquarters. What makes Kyutai Panic Adventure so interesting (and likely one of the reasons it's never been released on home media) is that the crossover was designed to be shown in a venue with several screens wrapping around the audience. Unlike other Dragon Ball media, many Kyutai Panic Adventure scenes use photographs or video footage as the background, making it look like the characters exist in the real world.

The story starts with Frieza attacking Fuji TV's Headquarters, aiming to throw the structure's iconic dome (the room the audience is standing in) into the sea. Before he can, Goku, Gohan, and Krillin appear and begin fighting him. Frieza gets the upper hand, but Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Zoro, and Robin from One Piece join the battle. Alas, the heroes' advantage is short-lived, as the Arlong Pirates pull up and start firing their canons at the Going Merry. Thankfully, before the dome can fall into the sea again, Astro Boy swoops in and grabs it, allowing the heroes to drive back the villains and save the day in what remains one of the oddest Dragon Ball crossovers ever.

Kyutai Panic Adventure Returns! is a sequel to 2003's Kyutai Panic Adventure. Like the previous show, Kyutai Panic Adventure Returns! was designed to be displayed on multiple screens and only seen by those attending that year's Odaiba Boken-Oh event at Fuji TV's headquarters. The story starts with Kankichi Ryotsu from KochiKame hanging onto the outside of the Fuji TV building. Before he can explain what's going on, One Piece's Enel arrives aboard the Ark Maxim. After bragging about his power, Enel starts to destroy the city despite Ryotsu firmly demanding he stop. Thankfully, before he can do too much damage, Goku arrives and takes the fight to Enel.

However, the fight knocks the dome loose, causing it to plummet towards the sea. Thankfully, the dome is caught by the Straw Hat Pirates, who place the dome in a safe place and then start to help Goku. Eventually, this team takes down Enel. This is not a happy ending, though, as the city is totally leveled. Thankfully, Goten, Trunks, Bulma, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, and Android 18 arrive with the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron (represented by a physical balloon which would inflate within the theater space). Using their wish, the gang requests that Shenron restore the city before they all celebrate together. Unfortunately, like the previous Kyutai Panic Adventure, Kyutai Panic Adventure Returns! was never released on home media, meaning fans can't watch this crossover today.

Created by Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama, Cross Epoch was a special 20-page manga featuring characters from Dragon Ball and One Piece. Cross Epoch starts with Mr. Satan summoning Shenron and wishing to become king, a wish that Shenron quickly grants. Overjoyed by his new status, Mr. Satan invites all his friends to a massive party to celebrate. The story follows alternative-universe versions of Dragon Ball and One Piece characters as they attempt to travel to the party.

For example, Krillin and Chopper pilot the Kri-Chopa Marine Train Coaster. Bulma and Nami are space thieves who try to arrive via a stolen spaceship. Most memorably, Vegeta leads a sky pirate crew consisting of Robin, Usopp, and Trunks. While this happens, the Pilappaggy Villain Union (consisting of Buggy and Emperor Pilaf) is trying to hunt down and stop Goku and Luffy once and for all, leading to a chaotic and comedic adventure. Cross Epoch is still one of the most memorable crossovers in the Dragon Ball franchise.

Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special takes place across two different anime. Dream 9 Episode 1 is actually Toriko Episode 99, the anime series based on Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro's popular manga. The story then concludes in One Piece Episode 590. This special starts with the International Gourmet Organization hosting a special tournament where the first person to reach the center of an island earns a Carat Sizzled Cattle, a cow whose meat is said to be legendarily delicious. Naturally, many of the heroes enter the contest, including Luffy, Sanji, Chopper, Nami, Franky, Brook, Zoro, Toriko, Sunny, Rin, Komatsu, Setsuno, Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Android 18, and Master Roshi.

However, the contest soon becomes chaotic as the island's obstacles force the heroes to find unique ways to reach the legendary meat. In Dream 9 Episode 2, the gang learns that the tournament isn't all it seems. In reality, it was a way to gather the world's strongest warriors to fight Akami, the Deep Sea Glutton, who has been draining the life force of all living things it encounters. Naturally, this leads to an epic battle where the heroes of all three franchises team up to take the beast down, forcing them to use their mightiest moves and combine their powers.

Dragon Ball Super continued the tradition of including various background references to Dr. Slump, with the residents of Penguin Village popping up several times during the anime run. On top of this, Dragon Ball Super also features two crossovers with Toriyama's classic gag manga. However, the first of these crossovers is small and easily missed due to the chaos surrounding it.

During Dragon Ball Super Episode 43 "Goku's Energy Is Out of Control?! The Struggle to Look After Pan" Goku is struck by a mysterious illness (which is later revealed to be Delayed Onset Ki Disorder) that causes his powers to malfunction. When trying to teleport to King Kai, Goku ends up accidentally teleporting to other random locations, including Penguin Village, where he encounters Arale poking a poop with a stick. Sadly, Goku doesn't hang around long and quickly teleports away, much to Arale's confusion.

The most recent crossover between Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump occurred in Dragon Ball Super Episode 69, "Goku vs. Arale! An Off-the-Wall Battle Spells the End of the Earth?" In this episode, West City hosts an awards ceremony for inventors where Bulma is nominated for one of the awards, meaning Vegeta is forced to tag along to the ceremony. Goku doesn't have a better evening planned, as Chi-Chi makes him accept Mr. Satan's offer of a security guard job, forcing the mighty Saiyan to wear a suit and stand outside the venue.

Alas, the judges give the award to Dr. Slump's Senbei Norimaki instead of Bulma. However, during Senbei's demonstration of his Reality Machine, his long-time foe, Dr. Mashirito, bursts in and reveals that he's taken control of Arale and the Gatchans. As Arale starts to cause chaos, Vegeta and Goku step up to take her down, only to quickly learn that power levels don't matter when you're fighting a gag character.

Every year, Fuji Television Network hosts a 27-hour broadcast to commemorate its anniversary. In 2017, the theme was Japanese history. The broadcast featured animated segments where popular characters would reenact famous moments from Japanese history. This included One Piece characters covering the warring states era, Chibi Maruko-chan explaining the Heian Era, Kochikame characters discussing the life of Sakamoto Ryōma, and Dragon Ball's cast explaining prehistory and the Yayoi Period. It should be noted that this isn't a crossover in the traditional sense, as each animated section only includes characters from one franchise.

So viewers don't see Goku and his buddies chatting with his Jump stablemates. Over its long and storied history, Dragon Ball has collaborated with numerous anime franchises. These collaborations range from tiny nods to Akira Toriyama's other projects to massive events that see Goku team up with other world-famous heroes. Due to Dragon Ball's international fame and Goku's status as anime's most beloved hero, it's likely only a matter of time before Dragon Ball teams up with another anime series, producing a crossover that will once again set the internet alight.