Dragon Ball Daima Officially Explains The Kais' Connection to the Demon Realm

Warning: Spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima, episode #3Dragon Ball Daima has already expanded on Dragon Ball's lore quite substantially, and an important part of that expansion has to do with the Kais, the divine rulers of the universe. The Kai have long been a mysterious component of Dragon Ball's cosmic hierarchy, and now their origins are finally being revealed.

The Kai were first introduced with King Kai, whom Goku sought out in order to learn techniques like the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb. King Kai is said to be responsible for the "northern" portion of Universe 7, and has counterparts in the east, west, and south. It was later revealed that there was a Supreme Kai above them, and Supreme Kai was introduced at the beginning of the Majin Buu saga as the top-level Kai administering the whole universe. Dragon Ball Super would reveal that each universe has its own Supreme Kai, whose fate is connected to that universe's God of Destruction.

Dragon Ball Daima Reveals Where the Kai Originate

The Kai Are Native to the Demon Realm

In Dragon Ball Daima episode #3, Glorio asks the Supreme Kai if he is a "Glind," which the Supreme Kai confirms. Glorio goes on to state that the Glind were originally inhabitants of the Second Demon World, implying that many of them have left. This suggests strongly that the Supreme Kai, as well as his predecessors and assistant, like Kibito, are actually a race of demons, which their pointed ears would seem to confirm. Glorio speaks of the Glind as if they were relatively well-off in the Second Demon World compared to the inhabitants of the Third Demon World.

Much of the pre-existing lore about Kais comes from databooks, non-canonical video games, and other supplementary sources rather than the Dragon Ball series itself. Previously, they were referred to as "Core Persons," as they were said to originate from the World Core, a planet somewhere within Universe 7 that resembles the world of the Kais, where Goku had his final showdown with Buu. However, even in this supplementary material, there is a strong hint that the Kai, like the Namekians, are actually associated with the Demon Realm, and still send "evil" members of their race back to the Demon Realm.

This does fit relatively nicely with what has been seen of the Demon Realm so far; if Supreme Kai was selected to be a Kai from the Core Persons, but his siblings were found to be evil, that would explain how they wound up in the Demon Realm in the first place, something that Daima hasn't answered yet. Degesu didn't seem to be surprised to find out that his brother was the Supreme Kai of Universe 7, after all, so their parting must have come after he gained the title, or at least began training for it.

Daima will no doubt continue to explain more about the Glind and Supreme Kai's connection to them as the story progresses; bringing the Supreme Kai with Goku on this adventure ensures he'll have to reveal more of his past. Dragon Ball Daima is being quite free with the new lore, and it seems fans will have a totally different understanding of Dragon Ball's world by the time this series is over.

Dragon Ball DAIMA is the fifth overall series in the action-adventure anime franchise. It features most of the classic cast members as de-aged versions of themselves, including Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma. The series was announced at NYCC 2023, with creator Akira Toriyama returning to handle DAIMA's run.

Seasons 1

Writers Akira Toriyama