Bulma


 * This article is about the original character. For the character portrayed in live-action by Emmy Rossum, see Bulma Brief (Emmy Rossum).

"Somebody help me! I'm too young and pretty to die!"

- "Plans for Departure"

Bulma (ブルマ, Burumā; lit. "Bloomers") is a scientist and the daughter of Capsule Corporation's founder, Dr. Brief. and is Goku's first friend. She used to be the girlfriend of Yamcha, but moved on and, eventually, became the wife of Vegeta. With him she had a son named Trunks and a daughter named Bulla. She lives in West City all her life, and her address is listed as WST 3338926 K.

Bulma is the most significant female character in the series. Aside from Goku, Bulma is the single longest-running character in the entire meta-series, being introduced in the first chapter and episode, and maintaining a prominent role until the final chapter of the manga and the final episode of Dragon Ball GT.

Creation and Concept
Like the rest of her family (except her husband, Vegeta), Bulma's name is an allusion to an undergarment, modern bloomers in particular. While Bulma is referred to only by her given name during the series, English translations seem to imply that Brief is her family name, and by proxy, her full name may be Bulma Brief (this is actually what she calls herself in Dragonball: Evolution).

Bulma was originally a parody of a character from Journey to the West (like Goku was too). She was adapted from Xuanzang (also called Tripitaka), the monk and the main protagonist of the novel. Like in the original novel, she leads the band of five consisting of herself, Goku, Oolong, Yamcha and Puar (each an adaptation of a Journey to the West character) in search of the Dragon Balls. Despite Xuanzang being a male, Bulma being a female follows a tradition in Chinese opera where the role is performed by a female actor.

Her personality was based off of the princess from Akira Toriyama's one-shot Dragon Boy and her appearance was from Plamo from another one of Toriyama's one-shots named The Adventures of Tongpoo.

In Toriyama's first draft of Dragon Ball, Bulma's design was significantly different giving her the appearance of a western girl. During the second draft Bulma had the braided ponytail that she had in her first appearance but older looking with a different styled dress. The third draft gave her the name of Pinchi and had the exact same design as the final draft but her clothes her tight black pants with a shirt that had her shoulders exposed.

Appearance
Throughout the entire series, Bulma has changed her appearance more than any character going through a total of 17 different hairstyles. In the original manga, her hair is purple, and in the anime it is turquoise. Many of the clothes Bulma is seen wearing often bear her name or the Capsule Corporation logo on it. She had a tender appearance in her teen years, like her milky colored skin.

In her initial appearance she had her hair in a braided ponytail with a red ribbon and wore a pink dress with her name on it with blue sneakers and purple socks. Due to wetting her pants when being captured by a pterodactyl, her clothes are quickly changed to a pair of boots, grey pants and a blue jacket with a white tanktop underneath with her hair unchanged. When she was staying the night in her Capsule House she wore a pink night gown with one side of her hair in a pigtail and adds a pair of pink socks and blue sneakers to it when she was forced to take Turtle to the beach. After coming back from the beach, Bulma is briefly seen in a white shirt and pants with brown shoes and gloves when attempting to ride Goku's Flying Nimbus.

When dealing with Oolong in Aru Village, Bulma is seen in one of her more consistent appearances featuring her hair down and wearing a pair of brown short shorts, red & white shoes, pink socks, a red jacket with a white shirt underneath and a red hat with her name on it. Since she loses her Capsules at a river, she is forced to wear a Bunny Costume since she thinks the previous outfit got too dirty for her to wear. She wears the Bunny Costume until she gets a pair of gypsy styled clothes at Monster Carrot's Village. The gypsy clothes consisted of her hair in a ponytail while wearing white suit with a red waistband, a golden collar, a small blue jacket, gold armlets, white socks and red sandals. She wears this outfit until she gets back to West City. When she attended the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament she wears a red tank top that has her name on it, a white shirt underneath, orange skirt, yellow socks and purple shoes. Her hair is also pony tail with a red bow on her head.

During the time, Bulma met back with Goku in West City during his time being targeted by the Red Ribbon Army, Bulma wore a red shirt that leaves her shoulders exposed, orange shorts, and pink shoes with purple socks while having her hair in a side ponytail. When she was with Krillin being pursued by General Blue in the Pirate Cave she left her shorts, shoes, and socks behind to swim and was just in her red shirt and red panties. After getting back to Kame House after the incident she is seen wearing an outfit which is identical to the outfit worn before but everything being pink. She wears this outfit all the way until the end of the Fortuneteller Baba Saga.

After the three year time skip, has her hair cut shorter and wears an opened up orange sweatshirt, a red shirt underneath, white skirt, orange socks and blue shoes with orange laces at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. She wears this same outfit minus the orange sweatshirt for part of the King Piccolo Saga. In the later half, she switches to a blue shirt and skirt. After King Piccolo's defeat Bulma is seen wearing a white and blue stripped shirt with an orange skirt. After another three year time skip during the Piccolo Jr. Saga, she wears a purple dress with a white belt that has a pouch to the side. She also is wearing white boots with yellow socks and has her hair at shoulder length as well as wearing red lipstick.

After the five year gap that begins Dragon Ball Z, Bulma has her hair cut short again and wears white shorts, blue socks, blue and orange shoes and a blue shirt that leaves her shoulders exposed underneath an open white coat. After the year has passed in the middle of the Saiyan Saga, Bulma wears a blue short with a white collar and white edges on the sleeves as well as matching blue shorts with the edges on the bottom. Her hair is also back to a pony tail with a red bow. After the battle of the Saiyans is over, Bulma wears a white shirt with that says Capsule Corporation and a pair of tight red jeans and has her hair all the way down with it longer than before. While on the ship on their trip to Planet Namek, Bulma had her hair cut to shoulder length again and wore only her grey bra and panties while traveling on board the Nameless Namek's spaceship. While on Namek, she wore a black jumpsuit with a yellow tunic over it and pair of orange boots as with as a red hairband.

Personality
Bulma has a temperamental personality while being very tomboyish and girly at the same time. While known for her extreme intellect, she is also considerably spoiled and vain. Bulma is shown to typically believe that she is one of the most beautiful girls ever and uses it as an excuse for her selfish behavior. Bulma's selfishness prevents her from being able to ride the Flying Nimbus. Despite her temperament, she often displays friendliness and helpfulness towards others. As she gets more mature she focuses on becoming a great scientist and helps out by creating and fixing inventions that help the Z Fighters. While being the most helpless out of the rest of the protagonists, she often gets put in the position of being the damsel in distress. While in stressful conditions, she becomes frightened easily and gets angry toward everyone including her allies. Bulma also tends to have a great deal of concern over her hygiene, frequently complaining when circumstances prevent her from taking a bath or replenishing her beauty supplies, even when her hygiene is the least of her worries such as being stranded in the wilderness.

Bulma enjoys strawberries, attractive boys and bubble baths. She tends to approach major situations rationally, often making crucial decisions on her own, and she tends to be very persistent in achieving her goals. While dealing in certain social dilemmas, Bulma sometimes has to deal with using her sex appeal to get what she wants. Though she shows a strong annoyance to perverted men, she herself gets infatuated towards any attractive guy she sees. During her marriage with Vegeta, she tends to have a unanimous relationship with him despite their quarrelsome natures.

Search for the Dragon Balls
"I want a bath, I need air conditioning, I don't want to be stranded in the desert without a boyfriend or my dynocaps anymore"

- "Bulma while walking in the desert"

At the age of 16, she found the two-star Dragon Ball in her basement. She created the Dragon Radar to find the other Dragon Balls so she can wish for a lifetime supply of strawberries, but later decides she wants to wish for the perfect boyfriend instead. She began her quest for the other balls during her summer vacation and after a couple of days she found the five-star ball in a cave.

Nine days later she went to Mount Paozu, to find the next Dragon Ball, when she accidentally hit a young boy named Goku with her car. Bulma was the first girl Goku had ever seen and even more so, the second human Goku had ever seen, after his guardian, Grandpa Gohan, who had died. After Goku took Bulma to his house, she finds out that he has the four-star Dragon Ball, and explains the legend and power behind them. After failing to seduce Goku for the Dragon Ball, she decides to become traveling partners with him to which he agrees, though she deliberately neglected to tell him that the Dragon Balls scatter after the wish is made.

Later that night when camping in a Capsule House in Skull Valley, Bulma ends up introducing Goku to several elements that he was deprived of in his isolation such as technology, bathing and even the anatomy of women (by accident). The next morning, Goku finds a sea Turtle lost and decides to walk him back to the beach, which Bulma unhappily agrees to since she does not want to be left alone and defenseless. After an encounter with a Bear Thief, they got him to the beach and met Master Roshi, who gave Goku the Flying Nimbus for bringing him back. Bulma, who saw Master Roshi's Three-Star Dragon Ball, got it from him in exchange for showing him her panties (which she did not know were not on at the time because Goku removed them while she was sleeping that morning). Only later, she discovers that her underwear is gone and gets furious as Goku admits (after being explained what panties are) that he took them off. When the two continue their journey, Bulma tries to use the Flying Nimbus, but was rejected since she is not pure hearted.

Three days later, Bulma and Goku ended up in Aru Village which was under rule of a shapeshifter named Oolong who kidnapped the young daughters of the villagers. Bulma was given the six-star Dragon Ball by an old lady in the village for coming up with a plan to have Goku defeat Oolong. Bulma forced Oolong to come with them on their journey since his shapeshifting ability can come in handy. The journey became hard for when they reached the Diablo Desert and lost her capsules after traveling through a river on a boat just before. While in the desert, she met Yamcha, who she develops a crush on.

After spending the night in Oolong's House-Wagon, she was forced to wear a bunny costume, because it was the only clean clothes around she had to wear. Two days later, the Dragon Ball Gang arrived at Fire Mountain to find the next Dragon Ball before the Ox-King finds them. Bulma and Oolong almost got killed by the Ox-King, but were saved when he found out that Goku knew Master Roshi. Bulma got the seven-star Dragon Ball when Goku and the Ox-King's daughter Chi-Chi, retrieved Master Roshi to put out the flames on Fire Mountain but unfortunately for her, Bulma had let Roshi touch her breasts in return. Bulma had Oolong take her place in her shape, but Bulma got angry when he went overboard and exposed her breasts to him as well.

While on their way to the final Dragon Ball, they end up getting supplies at a town. While there, Bulma is mistaken for a member of the Rabbit Mob because she is still wearing the bunny suit Oolong gave her. After getting new clothes, she is not feared by the townsfolk anymore. After Goku defeats two members of the mob they call their boss Monster Carrot, who turns Bulma into a carrot. Goku got help from Yamcha and Puar (who have been secretly following them the whole time) to defeat Monster Carrot and have Bulma turned back into a human. The gang got back on track to their last, one-star Dragon Ball which was in the possession of Emperor Pilaf who has the desire to use them to rule the world. Bulma and the others had to get a ride from Yamcha and Puar to Pilaf's Castle since they had their previous car destroyed by Pilaf's minion Shu and five of their Dragon Balls stolen by him.

While in Pilaf's Castle the gang was trapped in a room where Pilaf was able to steal the last ball from them that Goku had on. Oolong was able to save the world by stopping Pilaf from making his wish by shouting his wish for panties just a fraction of a second before Pilaf's request for world domination. However, the Dragon Ball Gang was put into a cell to be fried the next morning. Bulma and the others were able to escape when Goku looked at the Full Moon and become a Great Ape and break them out. The next morning Bulma becomes disappointed that she did not get her wish but then decides to hook up with Yamcha and head to back to her home in West City.

Attending the 21st World Tournament
After preventing Pilaf from taking over the world, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar decide to return to West City while Goku goes to train with Master Roshi. On their way back their airplane crashes into a jungle where they are forced to walk. While back at West City, Bulma and Yamcha start to date. She cheers Yamcha on while watching him defeat an entire dojo of fighters to train for the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament. During the time Bulma decides to go visit Goku at Roshi's Island but found that the house was moved to a different location. Bulma becomes mad when Yamcha leaves West City to train in the wild. A month later, when coming home from grocery shopping, Bulma almost gets run over by a truck but is saved when Yamcha returns and saves her. Bulma becomes disappointed at him for being gone for so long and not contacting her. Afterwards, she takes Yamcha to her house and gets him cleaned up.

When Bulma arrives at Papaya Island to watch the Tournament, She meets back up with Goku and Master Roshi while they were signing up. During the Elimination Rounds, Bulma used Oolong to help her get a good view into the room so she can watch Yamcha fight. When the Tournament started she got a front row seat. While Goku did excellent job in the Tournament, Bulma proudly took credit for being the one to discover him. After Goku lost the final round against Jackie Chun (who was really Master Roshi in disguise) Bulma and the rest of the gang ate dinner and began to leave back home but she was unfortunately stranded in the desert again when Yamcha's car broke down and was caught in a sand storm bringing them back to the World Tournament Arena where they started.

The Red Ribbon Army conflict
Bulma returns to West City and continues going to school at the Senior High School. She begins to dislike Yamcha due to his popularity with other women. Goku meets back up with her in front of her house at Capsule Corporation one day when she ditched school and came home early. Goku came to have Bulma repair the Dragon Radar that got broken while traveling. Feeling bored with life at West City, she decides to join Goku and collect the Dragon Balls once more. Before Goku had arrived, she had made a new device, the Micro Band, so she can shrink and travel with him in his shirt while he is on the Flying Nimbus. Just before leaving, Bulma decides to show Goku around the city. While traveling through the city, Goku and Bulma come across Yamcha, Oolong and Puar, who decide to come along with them to Dream Land. At Dream Land, Bulma decides to be moody the whole time because of her fight with Yamcha and walk around by herself. When she decides that she wanted to apologize to Yamcha, she sees what looks like Yamcha holding another woman, however Yamcha was actually trying to disarm a scimitar from Hasky. Angry at Yamcha for his "infidelity", Bulma whacks him with a pot, knocking him out and allowing Hasky to escape. After Goku caught Hasky, Bulma officially breaks up with Yamcha and travels with Goku to find the Dragon Balls.

Bulma and Goku end up flying to an island that is right near the location of a Dragon Ball that is located in the ocean. When Bulma finds out that she did not have a submarine capsule on her, Goku goes off to find the ball underwater by himself, leaving Bulma on the island. Bulma wanders the island not knowing that it was a base for the Red Ribbon Army. While wandering the island, she comes across two soldiers who were attracted to her. Since they were on an island in the middle of nowhere, the two soldiers wanted to take advantage of her, but Bulma ran from them. This made them angry, so they got into their planes and started shooting at Bulma, but Goku came by just in time to defeated the soldiers and save her. Seeing that the ball was very deep underwater, they went to Kame House to see Master Roshi and got a submarine in exchange for her Micro Band (for perverted reasons on Roshi's part). When they began to go off into the ocean, Krillin decided to come along and help them.

While searching in the ocean, they were chased by the submarine of General Blue into a Pirate Cave that was the site of some hidden treasure. While sneaking through the cave, they came across a trap that shot arrows by touching any of the black holes that were littered all over the hallway. Goku and Krillin were able to jump over all of them, but Bulma had to hang upside down on to Goku's Power Pole as it slowly brought her through the hall. While continuing through the cave, Bulma ran away from a Pirate Robot that Goku and Krillin fought. During the fight, Bulma and Krillin left and went ahead of Goku, who decided to stay and fight the robot. At the end of the hall, they had no choice but to strip to their underwear and swim the rest of the way. When Bulma and Krillin found a room filled with the treasure, they encountered General Blue. Bulma stayed and watched Krillin fight against General Blue. Just as Krillin was losing, Goku caught up and took him on. When Blue released his telekinesis on Goku, Bulma tried to seduce General Blue with her body, but it failed because General Blue is not interested in women. After Goku was able to defeat General Blue, Bulma and Krillin went to escape the cave as it was crumbling and Goku went to quickly find the Dragon Ball. Bulma drives an ancient submarine out of the Pirate Cave once Goku got the Dragon Ball.

When they got back to the surface, Bulma shows Krillin and Goku that she hid a diamond from the treasure in her underpants while they were still in there. Bulma uses the diamond to pay Roshi back for not returning his submarine, but Launch reverted to her bad form and stole it. General Blue shows up at Kame House and has everybody tied up using his telekinesis while he takes the Dragon Balls and escapes leaving a bomb behind to kill them. Launch returned just in time to save them by untying Goku so he can throw the bomb and catch up to General Blue. At that point, Bulma decides to end traveling with Goku and stay at Kame House for the time being.

While Goku was out continuing his quest for his Dragon Ball, Bulma took the Micro Band back from Roshi, since he was using it for perverted reasons. While Goku was training at the top of Korin Tower, he looked through one of the water jugs and saw Bulma and Krillin cooking at Roshi's house, where she accidentally burned her finger on the stove. Another time Goku looked through the Jug, she was seen teaching Roshi, Launch and Krillin how to do aerobics. While she was Roshi's house, she was using what little resources he had laying around to make a Scouting Plane and another Dragon Radar to track Goku down. When Bulma launched the scouting plane, she saw that Goku was heading to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters to get their Dragon Balls. Bulma decided to make a phone using spare parts around the house so she can call Yamcha and have him take everyone to Goku. When everyone gets to the Red Ribbon Army Base to meet Goku, they are late only to find the Goku easily beat all of them.

Fortuneteller Baba's Challenge
Bulma fixes the Dragon Radar, and is confused that it doesn't pick up the trace of the last Dragon Ball. Bulma decided to stay behind while Goku, Yamcha, Krillin and Puar go to meet Master Roshi's sister, Fortuneteller Baba, to help them locate the ball, but Bulma and Roshi end up getting dragged to Fortuneteller Baba's Palace by Goku as part of a plan Krillin has. Since Yamcha is a fighting See-Through the Invisible Man, and was struggling to fight, not knowing where his opponent is, Krillin has Bulma face Roshi, while pulling her shirt off, exposing her bare breasts to Roshi. Roshi then has a nose-bleed onto the invisible man revealing him to Yamcha for him to easily defeat. Afterwards, Bulma gets mad over Krillin pulling her shirt down and hits him.

Bulma meets Upa and spectates the rest of the fights in the Devil's Toilet against Bandages the Mummy and Spike the Devil Man. When Goku finishes the final fight outside against his Grandpa Gohan, Bulma tells him about what Goku accomplished when he's been dead. After Goku finished getting the Dragon Balls, Bulma had to promise Master Roshi that she would stay at Kame House if he would train Yamcha. While everyone was preparing for the World Martial Arts Tournament, Bulma saw pictures of Master Roshi when he was young and learned of InoShikaCho which she had a nightmare of Goku being slaughtered by.

Attending the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament
Bulma arrives with everybody else at Papaya Island by plane. While waiting for Goku to arrive, they meet Master Roshi's rival Master Shen the crane hermit, who brought along with students Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu. During the tournament, Yamcha got his leg broken by Tien in the first match and Bulma helped him at the hospital. While staying at the hotel, she shared a room with Launch. As a spectator in the tournament she seemed to hit Oolong a lot (mostly on accident) and also argued with Master Shen on many occasions. Bulma is also shown to be a fan of Pamput and even debated to cheer for him instead of Goku.

King Piccolo's Resurrection
Bulma's part in the King Piccolo Saga began to emphasize her role as a scientist. She lends the Dragon Radar to the early Z Fighters so that they might locate the Dragon Balls before King Piccolo, however the protagonists' efforts are in vain when King Piccolo is successful in summoning Shenron, and the menacing Namekian is granted eternal youth. Bulma stores the lifeless bodies of Krillin, Chiaotzu and Master Roshi, all victims of King Piccolo and his deformed son Tambourine, to later be revived by Shenron, along with every other undeserving victim of King Piccolo's campaign.

Attending the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament
Three years later, Bulma was once again a spectator at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, where she reunited with Goku, as well as the other friends she made during Dragon Ball. It is here when she notices how Goku has grown up into a young man. She refers to him as handsome and almost took a liking to him, despite Goku being 18 years old and Bulma now 22. However, any possibility of a connection was not going to happen since Goku ended up getting engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Chi-Chi in the Quarterfinals. Bulma becomes happy for Goku and looks forward to becoming friends with soon-to-be-bride.

Saiyan Attack
After five years of peace, in the Vegeta Saga, Bulma is with Krillin, and Master Roshi at the Kame House, when Goku arrives and introduces them to his new child, Gohan. Bulma, Krillin and Roshi are shocked by this information at first. Bulma also witnesses Goku's brother, Raditz, arriving on Earth to investigate why Goku, revealed to be a Saiyan named Kakarot by birthright, failed to exterminate the population of Earth as a child. She witnesses Goku fall to Raditz by only one kick, and him kidnapping Gohan. After Raditz's defeat at the co-operative hands of Goku and Piccolo, Bulma is able to repair and modify the warrior's "scouter" device, so that it may display a person's power level in Earth figures, rather than Saiyan ones. A year later, the two Saiyans arrive on Earth. Bulma watches the battle on TV as Yamcha is killed by one of the Saibaman. When they lose the TV signal, Fortuneteller Baba arrives and they watch the battle on her Crystal Ball. Bulma is at age 28 at the time. When Goku fought Vegeta, Bulma read Goku's power level through the scouter, but his power level went too high for the scouter and it broke.

Misadventures on Namek
After many of Earth's finest defenders, including Piccolo (and by extension, Kami and the Dragon Balls), are lost in the battle against the Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta, Bulma attempts to get a trip to Kami and Piccolo's homeplanet, Namek in hopes of retrieving the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Piccolo (whose restoration would also revive Kami and the Dragon Balls of Earth). Bulma tries to use the remote to Nappa's spaceship which was left behind but accidentally self destructs the ship instead. Mr. Popo then assists Bulma by taking her with him on his Magic Carpet to help identify a large contraption in Yunzabit Heights as a spacecraft, particularly the craft used by Kami to escape Namek centuries earlier. After seeing that the ship was fast enough to travel to Jupiter within minutes, she has the ship repaired and modified at Capsule Corporation with the help of her father. During the preparation, Mr. Popo taught Bulma some of the Namekian language in order to help use the ship. Namek Saga joined by Krillin and Gohan, Bulma uses the spaceship to travel to Namek.

En route to Namek, Bulma was captain of the Namekian Spaceship where she spent the next 34 days sitting around in only her underwear. During this time in filler, the group is intercepted by a platoon of orphans certain that Bulma, Krillin and Gohan are henchmen of the space tyrant called Frieza. They are later tricked into making a crashlanding on a fake Namek, where after a complex plot by the aliens Zaacro and Raiti, the group is almost left stranded.

Upon reaching Namek, their troubles only multiply when Banan and Sūi, two of Frieza's henchmen, deliberately damage the group's spaceship during an investigation, rendering them unable to leave the planet. Bulma leaves the Dragon Radar in the care of Krillin and Gohan, who begin their search for the Dragon Balls.

During the two's departure, Bulma sets up camp in a Capsule House hidden inside of a cave. While relaxing in a bath, she receives a radio transition from her father that Goku is on his way to Namek. After telling Gohan and Krillin of the news of Goku coming, she meets the child namek Dende which they befriended.

She is soon plagued by numerous misdeeds while on Namek when she is caught in the middle of a devastating confrontation between Vegeta and Zarbon, one Frieza's top henchman. She quickly admires Zarbon's appearance prior to the gruesome revelation of his second form, which scared her. She also witnesses Zarbon's demise as Vegeta obtains the Dragon Ball from them.

After she is left out in the open to keep guard of the four star Namekian Dragon Ball. After it accidentally falls into the ocean, she is uses her capsule submarine to go underwater and get the Dragon Ball back from a giant crab and its babies. After getting it back on land, she is threatened and kidnapped by two more soldiers of Frieza, Blueberry and Raspberry.

She later briefly has her body snatched by Captain Ginyu, leaving her soul trapped inside the body of the Namekian Frog Ginyu had mistakenly snatched during his conflict with Vegeta. She later regains her body when Gohan interferes with Captain Ginyu's body change attempt towards Piccolo by throwing Bulma's frog body between Ginyu and Piccolo. Afterwards, she is knocked back by one of the blasts from Frieza and Goku's battle along with Ginyu, and is eventually knocked back even further by the aftershock of the Spirit Bomb. Bulma, still feeling sore towards Ginyu for tricking her, has Ginyu try to scout ahead for her friends. After Ginyu reports back, she then notices the aura on a nearby island resulting from Goku's transformation into the Super Saiyan. Bulma attempts to restart the ship when preparing to leave for Earth, and tries to stop Gohan from trying to sacrifice himself to stop Frieza from escaping the dying planet.

After a wish made to Porunga, the Eternal Dragon of Namek, transports to Earth all living beings on Namek except for Goku and Frieza, Bulma allows Vegeta and the Nameks to take shelter at Capsule Corporation for a year, until the Z Fighters could be revived and a new planet, suitable for the Nameks, could be found. She even offered Vegeta to stay at her home, which he does.

Under control of the Black Water Mist
In the filler Garlic Jr. Saga of Dragon Ball Z, Bulma attends Master Roshi's party and quickly develops a grudge for Krillin's beloved but frustrating girlfriend, Maron, as Maron relentlessly advances on Yamcha even in Bulma's presence, and often calls Bulma an old lady. She inhales the coat of Black Water Mist that Garlic Jr. lays across the Earth, which degrades her into one of Garlic Jr.'s thoughtless and violent mindslaves. Like the other possessed residents of Earth, Bulma is eventually reverted to normal when Mr. Popo and Kami spread the Sacred Water through Kami's Lookout's seven air currents of the world.

Motherhood and further inventions
‎ A year later, after Future Trunks mysteriously arrives and easily slays Frieza and his father, King Cold, Bulma is at first under the impression that the young man is an employee of Capsule Corporation, due to the logo on his jacket. The only two people who are made aware that he is actually the future son of Bulma and Vegeta are Goku, who is told this by Future Trunks, and Piccolo, whose powerful Namek ears inadvertently hear the confession. Still, Piccolo explains to the Z Fighters and friends the boy's story of the androids and that he is a legitimate visitor of the future.

Three years later, at the age of 33, Bulma gives birth to a baby boy named Trunks. Although she initially intended to reveal Trunks' name as well as the fact that his father was Vegeta when the Z Fighters congregated at the area the Androids were to appear, Goku accidentally reveals both information, to her confusion and shock, not knowing that Future Trunks revealed this. Eventually, with the return of Future Trunks not long after, the fact that he is the same person as her child slowly becomes clear to everyone including Vegeta, who assumes that having his blood is why Future Trunks could become a Super Saiyan at such a young age. Krillin later gives Bulma blueprints for Android 17 that were confiscated by him and Future Trunks during the Imperfect Cell Saga.

Bulma develops a remote device that can be used to deactivate androids 17 and 18, but when Krillin has the chance to use it and destroy Android 18, he chooses to destroy it because he has come to have feelings for 18. Bulma goes to Kami's Lookout to give the Z Fighters the third-party model of Battle Armor she developed to help in their training for the Cell Games. After Android 16 is damaged while trying to prevent Cell from absorbing 18, he is repaired by Bulma and her father. During the repair, the unconfident pair decide to remove 16's bomb, which proves to be a poor move as 16 later attempts to use the bomb against Cell, but does not realize until he is in combat with his opponent that he has no trump card, which causes his death. After Super Perfect Cell is defeated by Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, Bulma is seen at Capsule Corp. with the others, saying her farewells to Future Trunks before he returns to his time.

Alternate timeline
In the Alternate Timeline, Bulma is one of the few that survives the onslaught of Androids 17 and 18. She lives on the location of the former Capsule Corporation only living with her son Trunks who she sends back to the past using a Time Machine.

Death and revival
Seven years later, in the Great Saiyaman Saga, Bulma designs a disguise Gohan can use with his Great Saiyaman Watch while fighting crime as the protector of Satan City, the Great Saiyaman. When it is announced that the deceased Goku will be returning to Earth for a day, she is 40 years old. Bulma attends the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, although she spends most of the tournament arguing with Chi-Chi over whose husband and son is better. After the Tournament she goes with the group to look for the dragon balls. She later takes shelter from Majin Buu on Kami's Lookout with the rest of the group. A day later Super Buu finds everyone at the tower and allows them to live for a short time. While on the lookout Super buu used his Human Extinction Attack to kill all the people on earth except for the people on the Lookout. In addition, unbeknownst to her, Goku, in order to get Old Kai to unlock Gohan's hidden depths of his power, bribed him with having him grope/gain nude pictures of/go on a date with her.

When Super Buu escapes from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber during his fight with Gotenks, Bulma, along with the others, is transformed into chocolate and consumed by the monster. In the afterlife, Bulma goes to Heaven where she gossips with Chi-Chi, Videl and Dabura until the battle ends. Afterward, she is revived by the Dragon Balls along with her family and friends, and gives her energy to Goku to create the Spirit Bomb used to eliminate Kid Buu once and for all. Bulma later hosts a party at her home capsule corp. 10 years later, Bulma and Vegeta have a second child a daughter named Bulla. She attends the 28th World Tournament with her family and friends at the end of the Dragon Ball Z series.

Search for the Black Star Dragon Balls
Years later, in Dragon Ball GT, Bulma helped to prepare the spaceship for Goku, Trunks, and Goten to go in to space to look for the Black Star Dragon Balls, she is 56 years old.

The parasite Tuffle, Baby
Bulma and the majority of the Earth's population, becomes possessed by Baby, and organizes most of his operations, such as the mass-migration of Earth's residents to the restored Planet Vegeta (renamed "Tuffle Planet"), and creating the Blutz Wave Generator used to help Super Baby Vegeta transform into a Golden Great Ape. However, the Sacred Water hidden in Kami's Lookout is used to free her and the rest of Earth from Baby's enslavement. She is seen having a party at her home, Capsule Corporation.

The ultimate android, Super 17
Some months later, Bulma is seen having dinner at Chi-Chi's house with Bulla, Goku, Pan, Gohan, and Videl. Trunks later comes injured by Android 17. There is a hole that leads from Hell to Earth. They watch on TV resurrected villains destroying the cities. After Super 17 is defeated by Goku and Android 18 Bulma tells Goku that the planet is out of balance.

The evil Shadow Dragons
Bulma helped Vegeta achieve Super Saiyan 4 in the Shadow Dragon Saga in order to help defeat Omega Shenron. She also attempted to destroy Omega Shenron using the Blutz Wave Generator's Blutz Waves, but Omega Shenron destroyed it with a Finger Beam. After Omega is defeated, she is seen saying her final farewell to Goku and continues to live the remainder of her life with Vegeta, Trunks and Bulla, before meeting an unknown fate. Bulma is seen in a few of the flashbacks in the final scene of the Dragon Ball GT series.

Dragon Ball movies
Bulma has appears in all four of the Dragon Ball films: Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies, Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, and Dragon Ball: The Path to Power.

Curse of the Blood Rubies
In this alternate retelling, Bulma meets Goku in the same way as the anime and manga but instead they go after King Gurumes after his minions Bongo and Raven steal Goku's Four-Star Dragon Ball. Bulma who still has her Dragon Balls travels with Goku where they meet Penny who was chased by Oolong. Once teaming up with Oolong, they all travel to Master Roshi's Island where they meet Master Roshi himself. Bulma requests Roshi for his Dragon Ball but Bulma then has to have Oolong turn into her and show him her breasts for it. After receiving the Dragon Ball, She has them stolen by small robots working for King Gurumes. Afterwards, Bulma and everyone else goes to the Land of Gurumes to try to get them back. Bulma throws the last Dragon Ball into King Gurumes's mouth to summon Shenron causing him to explode and return to his normal state after Penny wished for her land to become peaceful again. In the end Bulma is disappointed that she does not have a boyfriend but then realizes Yamcha is around and they decide to hook up.

Dragon Ball Z movies
Bulma appears in the following Dragon Ball Z films:
 * Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone
 * Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest
 * Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might
 * Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
 * Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan
 * Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans
 * Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound
 * Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn
 * Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon
 * Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

Special abilities
Although Bulma's physical strength is that of a regular human, she possesses an almost superhuman intellect and uses it to create a bounty of useful inventions in her quest for the Dragon Balls. Many of these creations, like the Dragon Radar, are so complex that experts and scientists have not been able to understand them.

Though she does not possess the ability to manipulate ki herself, she has been able (according to an anime filler scene where Captain Ginyu possessed her body) to sense the power of other fighters, something even Vegeta couldn't do in the beginning of the series. However, this is most likely a temporary skill obtained from Captain Ginyu. From time to time, her strength has been exaggerated for comedic purposes, even to the point where she is able to perform feats of strength normally thought to be impossible for a regular woman.

Arsenal

 * Gun – Bulma used a gun very early in Dragon Ball to shoot Goku when he attacked her car, only for it to have no effect. Also used in the Dragon Ball: Origins video game series.
 * Machine Gun – Bulma often shoots people such as Goku, Master Roshi, and Krillin with a MAC-11 when they anger her. Also used in the Origins series as her special technique.
 * Shotgun – Used in the Origins series.
 * Bazooka – Used in the Origins series.
 * Irome – A technique used when she tried to seduce General Blue. Bulma can also use this seduction technique in the Origins series.
 * Stripping – Bulma used this technique to get the Dragon Ball from Goku, but it did not work due to Goku's naive nature.
 * Scouter Drone – A tracking device created by Bulma while on Kame House to find Goku, who was going to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters. In Dragon Ball: Origins 2, Bulma can use it to explore distant areas, as well as an explosive weapon to attack enemies.

Video games
Bulma makes minor appearances in a number Dragon Ball video games such as Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo, Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu, Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden, Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan, Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan, Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku - Chikyū-Hen and Uchū-Hen, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2, Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden, Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu, Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle, the Legacy of Goku series, Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World, and Dragon Ball Online. In Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou, Bulma appears occasionally and throws out capsules that contain various bonus for Goku, who is riding on the Flying Nimbus. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, Bulma appears in the game's Skill Shop mode where she sells various capsules to the player; her outfit in this mode varies based on how many capsules the player has collected. She is an assist character in Dragon Ball Z: Bakuretsu Impact.

She is the fist boss (in her car and using her pistol) and prominent NPC in Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Bulma appears in the Options Mode, explaining how the various game settings function. In Budokai Tenkaichi 2 she appears in the Data Center to explaining custom characters, and in Practice Mode, along with a pink shirt-wearing Vegeta. Once unlocked, she also appears wearing the desert outfit she adorned in the Dragon Ball anime. In Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Bulma again hosts the Data Center. Bulma is a "Help Koma" in Jump Ultimate Stars, where she in exchange for collected coins, she rewards the Battle Koma she is attached to with additional SP.

There is a rumor surrounding Budokai 3 that Bulma is playable, due to the fact that she is seen in the 11th stage of Training Mode, where she explains how to use capsules during a duel. She hardly moves, but it remains evident that a full 3D model of Bulma exists in the game. Also in the bonus DVD packaged with the special edition of the game, Tiffany Vollmer can be seen recording combat voicework for Bulma. There is some truth to this rumor however, as using cheat methods, Bulma can be played in Budokai 3, but has no techniques, nor can she be designated skills. Nevertheless, Bulma is partially-playable Dragon Ball: Origins and fully playable in Dragon Ball: Origins 2. The bonus level 1-4 in Origins 2 has her fighting against Colonel Silver as well as a transformed Oolong, and the bonus level 6-6 has her in battle with Colonel Violet. Bulma is also a boss for Yamcha in the bonus level 1-5, the situation being a comedic scenario where Bulma attacks Yamcha in a teen lover's spat.

She is again playable in the Dragonball Evolution video game spin-off.

Cross Epoch
In the manga crossover story of Dragon Ball and One Piece called Cross Epoch, Bulma is partnered up with One Piece's Nami where they are space pirates. In the story, Bulma is shown to be an older sister-like figure to Nami in it due to her calling Bulma Nee-San (which is generally means older sister). Bulma and Nami are both seen again later at the party shown at the end of the story.

Live-action Movies
Bulma has been depicted in all three of the live-action adaptions of Dragon Ball. In the first two films her appearance has no relative resemblance to her manga and anime incarnations, but she plays the same role in the story. In the first live action film, which was named Dragon Ball: Ssawora Son Goku, Igyeora Son Goku and was released during 1990 in South Korea, Bulma was portrayed by Lee Ju-Hee. In the second film which was from china and made in 1991, The Magic Begins, she is called Seetoe and portrayed by Jeannie Tse. Her third portrayal is in Dragonball Evolution, where she is played by Emmy Rossum. Rossum describes her portrayal of Bulma as, "pretty bad-ass, but still quirky and fun, and kind of ridiculous in the way she is in the anime."

Voice actresses

 * Japanese dub: Hiromi Tsuru
 * English dubs:
 * Harmony Gold dub: Wendee Lee (DB Eps. 1-5, DB Movies 1 and 3)
 * Ocean Group dub: Lalainia Lindbjerg (DB 1995 dub (ep. 1-13), DBZ Seasons 1-2, DBZ Movies 1-3); Maggie Blue O'Hara (DB Movie 1; DBZ Seasons 4-9)
 * FUNimation dub: Leslie Alexander (DB Movie 2 only); Tiffany Vollmer (most media); Monica Rial (DB Movie 1, DBZ Kai)
 * Blue Water dub: Leda Davies (DB); Kristin Nowosad (DBGT)
 * Spanish dubs:
 * Latin American dub: Rocío Garcel (until DBZ Cell saga, DBZ Kai); Mónica Manjarrez (Buu Saga onwards); Laura Ayala (Buu Saga, some episodes); Isabel Martiñón (DBZ; one episode and The Path to Power)
 * Spanish dub: Nonia de la Gala
 * German dub: Katja Liebing (DB); Claudia Urbschat (DBZ & DBGT)
 * Portuguese dub (Portugal): Cristina Cavalinhos
 * Italian dub: Emanuela Pacotto
 * Croatian dub: Zrinka Kušević

Trivia

 * Bulma is the most recurring female character in the Dragon Ball series.
 * Bulma is the source for most of Dragon Ball's examples of fan service, as she can be seen either partially or completely exposed in a sexual manner in numerous situations, most of which take place during Dragon Ball.
 * Bulma likes her men to have short hair as said in episode 19 (this is more obvious in the Japanese version).
 * Bulma's hair was originally purple, which would make more sense as to why Trunks' hair is purple. However, in the V-Jump power level list, her hair is blonde (see near top right).
 * Bulma's brassiere measurement at the beginning of Dragon Ball is 34C.
 * In the manga and the 10th anniversary anime movie, Bulma has purple hair. In the anime, it was changed to light blue.
 * Bulma has been food twice in her life: a carrot once in Dragon Ball, and candy once by Buu in Dragon Ball Z.
 * She loves strawberries, and originally her wish with the Dragon Balls was to have an lifetime supply of them.
 * Bulma was a smoker at one point. She is seen smoking in the unedited Dragon Ball and in the manga. She can be seen later smoking again, at some points during Dragon Ball Z, such as the time during the Great Saiyaman Saga when Gohan asks her to make him a suit.
 * Bulma, at the end of the Dragon Ball Z series, looked older than the version seen in The History of Trunks. This is odd, because technically, the alternate version of Bulma seen in the Trunks special is actually three years older than the mainstream timeline Bulma. However, this could be due to the fact that in the main timeline, Bulma has another child, Bulla, which may make her appear older.
 * In episode 47 of Dragon Ball, "Kame House - Found!", Krillin accidentally calls Bulma "Bloomer", the garment of which she is named. In this same episode Bulma calls Krillin, Gohan in the English Dub.