#xicore

[abbadoabbadon]

{ I'm a waking hell

And the gods grow tired }

[krello-png]

Feelings on Xicor and DB AF as a whole!

Posting a thread I had back on Twitter here, though I'll be expanding on a fair bit since I have MUCH more room to breath so, let's get into one of my favorite subjects in this fandom, AF fan culture!

The fandom in the 2000s is really fascinating to me as someone who wasn't "there", the show and manga were 100% DEAD, there were only games that retold the same story from Z to GT during that time and yet because of a certain localization that was happening the fanbase was kinda thriving, constantly making new stuff. There was ZERO actual new story content and yet the fans just took it upon themselves to make shit and keep that flame going! New transformations, endless sagas, whole multi work fan manga that just spawned from a dead series that happened to get an English Dub with a different soundtrack.

Arguably at the center of most of this was this guy right here, XICOR, third son of Goku and the main villain of AF (or at least, it's first arc.). People talk about how a character like Xicor is rather boring and yeah that is true, the character of Xicor is boring, but it's not he himself that's the fun part, it's what he represents that makes him interesting!

He's undeniably fascinating if ya think about it.

His design? Ripped from a fan form. This pic is from like, 04' if I recall correctly and it's not even a new character, it's Goku in Super Saiyan 9. That's why he has Goku's Gi but green, the spikes are there cause apparently it's a dragon form??? Who'd have thunk it eh?

His character? Basically every villain that came before him and then some, a high and mighty powerhouse with an ego to match. Eager to take the throne atop the universe where his father supposedly sat as West Kai had told him. Ruthlessly evil to his core and merciless, in other words, very generic.

His backstory? A hodgepodge of several different fanfics from around the same time that combined into what we know now. The illegitimate third son of Goku, born of West Kai and Goku's DNA because she had taken his blood (or seduced him depending on the fic!).

It's just endlessly interesting what he represents, he feels less like a real character to me and more like an icon. Something that embodies DB's OC culture and general fandom in a lot of ways, whether the fans would admit it or not, he's a mainstay in this fandom that won't go away. No matter how far removed we get from that era.

And that's not even getting into the story he's attached to, or rather the concept. DRAGON BALL AF, After Future! Or perhaps it's April Fools? AF is never concrete. It could be anything and everything. It's far beyond what it originally was, beyond what the creator of that "SSj5" image intended. Hell, it's not SSj5 at all, it isn't even Goku! But as far as the fandom is concerned, that didn't really matter.

What had originally began as one fan story, one image really, eventually became something that would define basically any Post GT story line. A lot of them having similar elements with wildly differing execution, from Goku's third son to Cellbuuzer or any manner of unholy creations one could dream up in their heads.

I think to some degree everyone involved in spreading the idea around knew it wasn't "real" but there's something insanely cool about how it became this big community fan project with ideas anyone could use in their own stories.

I honestly can't speak to the quality of AF Origins cause I've never read it myself but Toyble and Jiji's AF Doujinshis are probably the most well known versions of the story aside from maybe PGV's take, but I can't speak on that either cause it's insanely long and it's lore is.. complicated to put it lightly.

Toyble's version of the story takes the Xicor premise and runs whole hog with it, the majority of Xicor's agreed upon characterization is found here and the action is a damn fun read if you're into this kinda thing.

The real highlight is probably the art and what little bits of humor are present, it feels very Toriyama like at it's best and I've no doubt it's why he landed a job doing official work.

It's a darn shame that it never truly finished but the ending we did get was kinda sweet and I'm more than happy with that.

Jiji's AF is a lot longer and has the benefit of actually being finished, with multiple arcs that are quite fun. The highlight is probably the story with Marble and seeing Goten, Trunks and Uub handle a threat on their own.

The last arc being a repeat of the Shadow Dragons is not my favorite conceptually and their designs even less so but it's really nifty to see everyone handle their own Dragon so, I give it a pass.

Both are rife with heavy amounts of ripping shots from the original manga and tracing in some instances but I can't say I'm too bothered by it. As they're still fun to see as real takes on AF in some form. There's definitely better fan manga out there but these are the ones I wanted to highlight.

There's so many more fun and bizarre things from this era of DB's fandom history that I wanna highlight and go in depth on but I'd be here for a million years if I did so I'll leave on this:

I honestly believe there's no fandom that's like Dragon Ball's, Sonic's fandom is close, but that was never a dead franchise. This fandom can be annoying, offensive and quite unfun sometimes, but I adore it at it's best. It's a wildly interesting ride I'm happy to be part of!

[thatcasualgamergirl]

One of the most interesting things I’ve looked up while being new to the Dragon Ball fandom is the existence, or the non-existence, of Dragon Ball AF and Super Saiyan 5.

It was a giant rabbit hole of, at its core, fanfics that were staged at the end if GT all because if that ONE IMAGE that was actually OC art.

So I went and redesigned the poster boy of AF, Xicor/Zaiko!

The one of the left is his original design in a fan made render by LeandroBuscaglia. The one on the right is my redesign.

I honestly think it doesn’t look half bad. The hair might need some work but other than that 👍🏻

[johanelnoobuwu]

Gohan modo bestia/Beast mode-Zaiko/Xicor

Ultimamente me siento motivado para hacer este tipo de cosas, creo que por fin puedo tener un cambio medianamente positivo en mi vida, y que mejor manera de demostrarlo que con un paralelo bastante interesante con Zaiko y Gohan.

[scribe-of-hael]

I love when ppl remake Xicor

Look at this lil green freak I love em

[harmonyverendez]

Tethered Souls ( A Theory )

I don't care what anyone thinks. Rafal and Rhian's birth was from dark magic / Potion. Why? Because I have a feeling the reasons we don't get to know about their parents is because they are dead.

Now I have my fanon version of their parents. Evanora and Xicor, along with their triplets sisters, Alpa, Bethna, and Omeida ( Cool Names 😎 ) by the way.

One of the reasons I have that in mind is because Agatha and Sophie were received from Love Potions, I think Rhian Sader and Japeth could have. I'll go with yes.

I'm not saying all children that are born from dark magic, or love potions come out evil (Clear throat * Agatha *) but that could be another reason why the theory of the Soul Puppet thing comes in.

Now I had a theory for a while that The Evil parent(s) soul is reincarnated in their child(ren) and that's one of the reasons why the child grows up resenting and becoming worse?.

Don't come at me! It's just a theory.

Also what's up with the Good twin being evil, and having doubts and becoming evil.

Why the ' Evil ' twin pretends to be ' Good ' and then become evil, but their Evil is worse than the Good twin evil?.

There is something dark going on in Soman Chanani's school for the good and evil world.

That's all for now.

My ADHD Brian won't let me remember all I wanted to post. One of the reasons why I hate publishing.

Farwell for now.

- Harmony

P. S- what is up with the evil twin always trying to kill their Good twin? I'm I the only one who notices this? That's weird. Or the evil twin always wants more, while the Good twin is satisfied with their bond, or is always up to the good twin to save the day.

[sweetescapeartist]

MARRON'S HEIGHT IN THE MANGA'S SUPER HERO SAGA

My issue with this here is not that Marron has a nose. Nope. Its that she is drawn too tall. She isnt GT age yet. But look at how tall Marron is when she's supposed to be 11 or 12.

Her legs & torso are too long. She's almost as tall as 18. She doesn't get taller until DBGT.

Toyotaro is a GT fanboy and keeps going back to GT designs or incorporating aspects of GT into the DBS manga because his ideas are usually crap (an example is that he incorporated Xicor from his fan manga into Goku Black's character). Not to mention how he incorporates the GT aspects into Super are often done poorly.

Anyway... THIS is how Marron is supposed to look during this time period. Slightly taller than Krillin and noticably shorter than 18.

Marron just looks too old in the DBS manga.

She's the right height on this page here tho. Then in the bottom panel she is a bit taller again.

Toyotaro also has issue drawing short characters. Something I noticed. Particularly a short character in combat. There was another reason why Krillin was eliminated immediately in the manga version of ths TOP other than Toyo disliking him. Toyo isnt good at drawing short characters fighting. Read through the manga and see for yourself. The few times Krillin or another short character is shown fighting, they are either getting beaten up or hitting an opponent with a ki blast or you see them punch somebody but no contact. Look at Gas when he was short and Toyo drew him fighting. He made Gas grow in height just so he could draw him fighting easier. Even in the flashback against Bardock, short Gas gets knocked around until he transforms into a teller form that way Toyo can draw him fighting.

[dragon-ball-meta]

Freeza's mom who was also the West Kaioshin, no less.

Excuse me, what?

Yeah. The best part is that Xicor still had Freeza's... uh, gem-looking shiny bits? As well as spikes similar to Freeza and King Cold's horns, despite those being traits from Freeza's father and not her. So there's no reason for a child of her and Goku to have them. Supposedly after Majin Buu almost killed her she survived but went insane and became obsessed with creating a warrior strong enough to kill him or something? Which lead to her birthing Freeza. But then seeing both that Freeza wasn't strong enough and seeing Goku best him in combat, she decided his genes would be fitting and went and banged him to make a hybrid Saiyan baby. Don't recall TOO many other plot details, or why they invaded Earth, but that weirdo origin was always burned right into my brain.

[heyyallitsbeth]

Okay yknow what, i get to make a rant post about Dragon Ball. I absolutely DESPISE the conception that Goku is a bad dad. The main sticking point is the Cell Games, and how Goku gave Cell a senzu bean and forced Gohan to fight. but like. that was THE ONLY OPTION at that point. Goku knows "fuck, i aint strong enough to win this. But I know Gohan is. I know the strength he has, and I know that the only way to unlock his power is through rage and desperation" it may seem dumb, but Goku is a fighter, the man knows strategy in his fights, and strategically, Goku knows Gohan is stronger than him, he's seen how Gohan was able to stand up to second form frieza due to his rage, he knows that both he and Vegeta evolved to Super Saiyans due to rage and desperation, that it was their one chance. Goku had to make the situation more dire to make an explosive response.

and heres the thing, the Cell Saga also makes a good case that Goku does know and care about Gohan, he spent a full year straight isolated with him, he spent every day bonding and connecting with him. And fighting and training is genuinely one of Goku's ways of showing him caring, think about his relationship to all his friends, and his wife, who he literally met through fighting. And when push came to shove, Goku was willing to sacrifice himself to protect Gohan. And that's not even the first time he did. He was willing to sacrifice himself on planet Namek so that Gohan could survive. He let Piccolo kill him so that he could save Gohan from Raditz.

And then, after the dust settled, he realized that he invited all this fighting and pain into Gohan's life, since Raditz came to earth for Goku, Vegeta and Nappa came to earth for Goku, Frieza came to earth because of Goku, the androids and cell exist because of Goku. He knew the best option was to stay dead and let Gohan enjoy a life of peace. and for 7 years, there was peace. outside of *maybe* Bojack and Broly, who once again, when needed, Goku literally jumped out of the afterlife to help Gohan fight both Bojack and Broly (and Cell too).

And if you think Goku staying dead was selfish, and that he shouldve come back , literally the MOMENT Goku was resurrected for 1 day, an ancient battle of Gods and Demons dragged Gohan's life back to fighting, forcing him to awaken his inner strength and fight a god-killing demon. And in GT we saw that overuse of the Dragonballs to revive people was Bad to say the least. And as soon as Goku comes back to life, what does he do? He becomes a good grandfather to Pan, and spends his time with Goten, working together on a farm. Clearly, the man wants to spend time with his family, it just so happens he keeps dying for them and ends up trapped fighting deathmatches when he is alive.

TLDR :Basically, Toyotaro. I know that picture of Xicor on your desk is beckoning you like the Green Goblin mask. Bring in Xicor to the canon and let Goku be a good dad to Goten and Xicor in Super, and let him be a good grandpa for Pan.

[fictionkinfessions]

To my headmate Nazo the Hedgehog,

I think we should be friends because we are so similar as characters beloved by fanon. It'd be funny.

Xicor, a Dragon Ball AF fictive and your headmate (If you were unaware)

[abbadoabbadon]

{ Godmother, rise up

I need you to see me f̴o̴r̷ ̵w̴h̴a̸t̸ I̷̗͙̍̄ ̶̪̽̍h̶̤͖͐à̷̪̠v̴̖͠e̵͔͖̽̚ ̴̻̽b̵̥̈́e̶̦̿c̷̗̔o̷͛ͅm̴̱͝ę̴̀ }

[johanelnoobuwu]

Ayuda, tengo insomnio

Otros Bocetos lindos de dragon ball, esta vez de un Zamasu chikito para continuar el dibujo del Vegito y tambien una comparacion entre Gohan modo bestia de SuperHero y Zaiko de AF

[stormclawponyrises]

Two unrelated images.

1: From my JJBA phase; I was invited to join a communal drawing event but I don't have much confidence drawing humans so I drew Star Platinum as a lion. It was received well by other attendees (some of their contributions are visible in black). 24th April, 2020.

2: A joke image I never got around to finishing. My friend TYCH4K (the crying guy holding flowers) was doing a nuzlocke and his best Pokémon, a Duskull named Pepper, was knocked out and thus died. He is mourning while we exist. On the left is our friend The B??? whose profile picture at the time was this absolutely horrifying image of a bee with grotesque eyes and lips. I will provide the image if asked, but I don't know who made it. On the right is Xicor, who likes Dragonball so I drew him as a super Saiyan. I am the little cat person as I am short. Furthest on the right is another Pokémon, Hitmonlee, who we all called Obama for some reason so I gave him a suit and tie. 24th May, 2021.

[dbzebra]

What do you actually like about Toyataro's AF?

The art was actually pretty good, seeing SSJ4 Gohan and Vegeta was cool, I liked the continuation of Goku in the Dragon Realm after fusing with the Dragon Balls, the writing and characterization actually felt better than Toyo’s DBS, Xicor is a cool design, and the plot overall just felt like a better Goku Black saga to me

[harmonyverendez]

Frozen | A school for good and evil fanfic ( Au )

[ PART ONE ]

The moment prince Rafal and Rhian were born, king Xicor and Queen Evanora knew something was wrong. Prince Rafal had icy blue eyes, while his brother Rhian was born with blue/green eyes, they both were two different skin colors, while Rafal had milky pale skin, Rhian had gold skin, and gold hair. Both were perfect in their parents eyes, but something was wrong.

When the doctors took the newborn babies in, they noticed strange things. Prince Rafal had icy sickles coming from the Ceiling and his fingertips, snow started storming around the room and the doctors shivered in fear as they were back in the corner.

Prince Rhian on the other hand was born with a weak heart, any stress on him could cause him to have a heart attack and lose his life.

Something the doctors noticed that was strange was when they put the two together, it seemed the ice cooled and Prince Rhian calmed.

They were shocked.

Was Prince Rhian the key to Prince Rafal's curse?.

It couldn't be.

From that moment forward King Xicor and Queen Evanora made sure her two children stay far from the public eyes.

Even their sisters Alpa, Bethna and Omeida was shocked at the twins.

When the Princesses Triplet first played with Prince Rafal and Rhian, they feared for their lives when Rafal lost control of his magic and nearly killed them with powerful snow.

From on then, The triplet sisters didn't play with Prince Rafal again.

Prince Rhian was sad, because he loved playing with his sisters but it seemed Rafal didn't want anything to do with his sisters.

It wasn't until one thing something terrible happened that shattered their world forever.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

When Prince Rafal and Prince Rhian were five years of age. Something terrible happened, Prince Rhian was sleeping soundly in his room until he opened his eyes and gased as he got out his bed and went to the window and saw snow falling down on the ground and on the window.

" ohhhh Pretty " he whispered.

He giggled and moved away from the window as he ran to his door, opened it and ran down the hall to his brother room.

He absorbed all the history of paintings that were hung on the wall, he excitedly ran to them but at the last moment turned and continued on running down the hall.

Finally he reached his brother door and ran inside, Prince Rafal was sound asleep on the bed and unaware of what his brother was planning.

Prince Rhian climbed on the bed and jumped on his brother side, instantly the eldest prince opened his eyes in alarm and was ready to defend himself.

But once the eldest prince realizes it was his brother he laid back on the bed and went to sleep once again.

Prince Rhian frowned at this, the sky was awake! And he wanted to play.

He yanked at the sheets and pulled them down to exposed his brother blue pajamas, he grabbed his brother by his hair and yanked at it.

He then leaned down in his ear to scream out. " Wake up Rafal! The sky is awake, that means we have to play!".

That done it, Prince Rafal snarled and thrust out his hand sending his brother flying across the room.

Prince Rhian small body hit the ground with full force and he let out a cry.

Tears poured down the youngest Princes eyes as he tried to sit up.

Prince Rafal got out of bed, and walked over to his brother.

His eyes were stormy and didn't seem to hold any true emotions.

" Why. Did. You. Do. That?!" he snarled.

The young prince that was on the floor shivered at his older brother tone and backed away in the corner, he never seen his brother like this.

Where was his Fala?.

" i-i just wanted to play in snow Fala, I wanted you to use your magic" The young prince protest.

The eldest prince Rafal narrowed his eyes as they turned into a glare. " Never do that again?, you understand?".

Prince Rhian nodded as he was shaken up by his brother's recent behavior, their parents would be seen about this.

Prince Rafal then climbed back into his bed and went to sleep.

Prince Rhian on the other hand wasn't done, he stood up and ran out the room with a loud slam that woke his brother up once again.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

When Prince Rhian went into the Ball room, the first thing he did was run into the middle and sit on the floor and wait.

This was something he did often.

He knew his brother would be coming soon.

And he did.

Prince Rafal came in with a scowl on his face, his milky skin seemed to glow under the moonlight glare.

" What is it Rhian? Why must you bother me with your shenanigans?" the eldest prince asked.

But the young prince only giggled and beckoned his brother over.

Finally Prince Rafal had no other choice but to allow his brother play his little schemes, if he didn't then their parents would come knocking at his door.

With a heavy sigh he walked over to his younger brother and sat down near him.

" So what is it? What do you want to do?" the eldest asked.

For a moment there was silence.

And finally the youngest Prince spoke up. " I want to build a snowman?".

Prince Rafal was taken back, did he really just hear his brother asking for a snowman? In the middle of the night? Where he could be warm in his bed and sleeping soundly?.

Ugh, the things he does for love.

" Fine" Prince Rafal snapped. He got on his knees and scots away from his younger brother, but that only made the younger prince move closer to examine the magic that came from within.

He just shakes his head and prepares himself. He held on both of his hand so that they were both on each side of one another and he contracted on making his magic come out.

But nothing worked.

The young prince was starting to get agitated, when he notices nothing was happening.

Prince Rafal closed his eyes as he heard his brother Sniffle.

He knew his brother was emotional but wouldn't't be in a few seconds or minutes.

He heard a gasp and when he opened them ice formed between his palm.

A small smile lifted on his face as he stood up and and begin to wave his hands.

The ice turned to snow as he begin to form a snowman.

Once the snowman was formed, Prince Rhian grabbed a carrot and place it on the spot where the nose will be.

Then a miracle happened.

The snowman didn't move, but something else did. Prince Rafal moved behind it and made the stick where the amrs were supposed to be moved.

" Hey I'm Olaf" he said in a deep voice.

Prince Rhian eyes lit up like it was Christmas, and he ran to embraced the snowman.

" I love you Olaf".

That was a memory that would stick with them forever.

It's too bad happinesses isn't forever.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

It wasn't long before King Xicor and Queen Evanora was notified about Rafal condition. The doctors explained to them that a family had a curse Prince Rafal and he would walk the world a ' Frozen ' heart.

Queen Evanora was in tears, her baby was cursed, he would be forever ruined.

And it was all thanks to those damn Saders family.

She would go out and search for an answer to help her child.

King Xicor placed a hand on his wife as he rubbed her shoulders softly.

" It's okay my love, we'll figure this out".

He kissed her cheek as she leaned her head on his shoulders.

They would fix their child.

They would.

They had to.

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the castle the Princesses triplets, Alpa Bethna and Omeida were discussing importance topics about what was happening at the moment.

Omeida, the quiet one was sipping her tea as she was lost in her thoughts.

While Bethna was arguing with her sister about what they heard.

" I'm telling you it was that girl Marialena, she did! She had it out for our family ever since our cousin Alistair rejected her and now she is angry and we are paying the price for it!" Bethna screeched.

But Alpa could beg the differ, she heard differently.

" No, that not what I've heard, they were cursed by the Saders king and Queen, Mom said something to to them and they cursed our brother" The eldest of the three roared.

Omeida took one last sip and throw the glass to the wall, it shattered and the room went silent.

" Wrong! Those are rumors, Mother knows the truth. Only she can tell us, we need to ask her what happened in her childhood, then we'll know. Until then what you two are saying is just rumors." she sneered at her sisters and walked over to fixed the broken glass and sent one last glare to them as she walked out of the door. " You two make me sick".

And she was gone.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

It all was normal at first, the family was a organize and happy Royal family.

No secrets.

No magic.

And no curse.

But it all came crashing like thunderstorm.

Queen Evanora had her secrets, dark and Deep secrets.

A secret she never told her Husband Xicor. But she knew she had to say something sooner or later.

Or her whole family, kingdom and legacy would come crashing down.

She wiped away a tear as she sat in her bed and looked at a picture of her late parents.

King Michael and Queen Esmeralda.

She haven't seen them in over two decades and she misses them dearly.

She grabbed a napkin and wipes away a tear.

She suddenly felt nauseous and placed the photo on the bed and got out the bed and covered her mouth as she ran to the toilet to puke out her insides.

After a few minutes, she wiped away the liquid from the corner of her mouth and went to the sink as she washed her hands, face and brushed her teeth.

Something was wrong, she just knew it.

She hope she didn't puke because of -

Her stomach turned at that thought.

No, they couldn't -

She shouldn't be-

Shaking her head Queen Evanora walked out of her room and went to the nurse office.

She needed to know a few information before she take the next step.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

Prince Rhian and Prince Rafal were playing in the Snow, both were throwing snow at each other. They were outside enjoying a nice cold day, until Prince Rhian had the thought to make his brother use his magic to make the snow come faster.

" Please " he begged his brother.

Prince Rafal was not on bored, but he knew he needed to please his brother.

And besides he didn't want him upset.

So he agreed.

But he just had this feeling something terrible would happen.

He shook it off, he was just being paranoid as usual.

So he had his brother stand a few feet away from him as he raised his hands to the sky and the ice turned into frost and the snow came down faster.

Both Prince Rhian and Rafal laughed as the eldest swirled his hands around and the snow came down faster and harder.

But something terrible happened, Prince Rafal lost control.

His eyes seemed to glossed over as his smile turned into a frown then an angry look, his whole happy demeanor vanished as something else took control of him.

Prince Rhian who was still laughing, and playing suddenly stop as he notices his brother was no longer playing with him.

He frowned and walked closer to his brother. " Fala? Are you okay? Tell me what's wrong" he asked his brother.

He walked close and stepped back as his brother mouth went downwards and his hands were suddenly raised to the sky.

"Du må dø!" Prince Rafal sneered.

Prince Rhian was trembling all over as he kept stepping back trying to get his brother back in Conrol.

But nothing seemed to work.

Every step Prince Rafal took, Prince Rhian step back.

Finally Prince Rafal had enough of the mind games, he sent a ice blast to his brother.

The ice hit Prince Rhian in the chest, and the prince fell to his knees then finally his whole body hit the floor as he was spread out like a starfish.

His hair turned white, as he let out one last word before he went unconscious.

" Fala"

And darkness.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

Word Count - 2132

[sweetescapeartist]

DRAGON BALL GT INSPIRING THE DRAGON BALL SUPER MANGA

Others and myself have mentioned before how Toyotaro copied events and scenes from the original manga & the DBZ anime. Toyotaro even copies the DBS anime. I've mentioned how he copies scenes from the DBS anime and puts them in his manga, but slightly alters them (links here & here).

And if you look through Toyotaro's DBS manga, you'll notice a lot of DBGT references in it too. The man was a GT fan after all. His GT fan manga even influenced how he wrote Goku Black by giving Black elements of his OC, Xicor.

But, without further ado, here are some DBGT influences/references Toyotaro has put in the DBS manga.

Gohan's Potential Unleashed Power:

In DB CH 496 & DBZ EP 262 (DBK 141 SUB & DBZK EP 148 DUB), the Potential Unleashed power has to be fired up similar to how SSJ works & it IS NOT always active. The Potential Unleashed state of Gohan in DBS anime follows what was said in the original material. However... DBGT and the DBS manga have it written that Gohan is permanently in the Potential Unleashed state in his base & he DOES NOT need to fire up his that power like how he turns into a Super Saiyan.

Potential Unleahsed MUST be activated & Potential Unleashed IS NOT a permanent power-up attached to the base form. We know that there is a slight physical change between Gohan's base form and his Potential Unleashed form by looking at Gohan's hair. In his base form, it looks like Gohan has a fade with a spiked top. In his Potential Unleashed state, all of Gohan's hair is spiked up with the addition of a bang hanging down like SSJ2, but his hair color remains black.

(It will be interesting to see how Toyotaro portrays Gohan's power in his manga adaptation of Super Hero. Will Toyo continue to have Gohan use his Ultimate power without powering up into it? Or will Toyo retcon all of his writing and change it to resemble how the DBS anime correctly handles the Ultimate power? Even Piccolo has to power-up to his Potential Unleashed form. I wonder how Toyo will handle/mishandle this. 🤔)

Granolah's Design & Motive:

Granolah's revenge against the Saiyans is inspired of Baby's revenge against the Saiyans. And since Toyotaro never adapted DBS: Broly & was instead told to skip over it, there's a bit of DBS: Broly's revenge story & the "3 characters fated to meet on the battlefield" plot in the Granolah arc too.

Granolah's design appears to be somewhat inspired of the alien kid that Baby possessed; wild green hair, green eyes/1 green eye, head bandage/eyepatch. Those possessed by Baby sometimes have red eyes, Granolah has 1 red eye and unlocks a second red eye power-up. (As a kid, Granolah had eyes similar to the alien boy from GT. As an adult, Granolah has eyes that are similar to the possessed alien kid when Baby expresses his true intent for revenge against the Saiyans.)

Granolah's design without his jacket closely resembles Super 17 from DBGT. Skin tight shirt, suspenders/overalls. Also, Granolah's scarf/Super 17's ascot. (This one was pointed out to me by @/fazeboysworld.)

Another Set Of Dragon Balls With A New Dragon:

Black Star Dragon Balls & Cerealian Dragon Balls. A new set of Dragon Balls with non-green colored dragons; Ultimate Shenron (a larger dragon) & Toronbo (a smaller dragon).

Both are capable of granting powerful wishes that Earth's & Namek's dragons cannot, but at a dangerous price. And neither Dragon Balls turn to stone and they do not have a cool down period. They can be used right away if found immediately. (The stars in Cerealian Dragon Balls were even colored black in the trailer as a reference to the Black Star Dragon Balls.)

Ultra Ego Vegeta's Design & Behavior:

Ultra Ego's appearance inspired by Super Baby Vegeta 2's design. You could even say that Ultra Ego Vegeta & True Ultra Instinct Goku (which is confirmed to just be UI Sign) are Toyotaro making a parallel to Baby Vegeta & SSJ4 Goku; no eyebrows & different hair color for Vegeta, black hair and different eye color for Goku.

The way UE Vegeta behaves in an villainous way is also inspired by Baby Vegeta (as well as Majin Vegeta who Baby Vegeta is inspired of.)

Ultra Ego Vegeta throwing a Hakai Ball at an awakening Granolah mimics Baby Vegeta throwing a Revenge Death Ball at Goku who just awakened to SSJ4.

Even the battleground is similar; the city ruins of Planet Plant & the city ruins of Planet Cereal.

The Hamburger Trucker & The Hotdog Salesman:

The foodtruck guy in DBS manga Chapter 88 who gives Trunks a hotdog looks almost identical to the trucker GT: A Hero's Legacy who delivers for a hamburger company & steals Goku Jr.'s belongings.

CEO/President Of Capsule Corporation:

Trunks not wanting to be the CEO of Capsule Corp in the DBS manga is ripped right out of DBGT EP 2 where GT Trunks shrugs off his responsibility as President of Capsule Corp (also President is 2nd to CEO.)

GT Trunks snuck away from his job, changed his clothes, & got caught by Vegeta later. Instead, Toyotaro has DBS manga Trunks sneaking into class and gets caught by his teacher.

GT Trunks has his change of clothes in a capsule while DBS manga Trunks has his clothes in a bag that turns into a capsule.

Even Trunks' school uniform resembles the suit he wore in GT. Just take away the vest under the suit jacket and add a hoodie, and change the suit from yellow to a blue school uniform.

Stories of Ghosts Haunting A Mountain & A Saiyan With Fears:

Trunks is told by his schoolmates that there were reports of ghosts on Mount Butterfly that turned out to be a small group of cyborg zombies. Similarly, Goku Jr. was told by his school bullies that there were reports of ghosts on Mount Paozu that turned out to be a small group of demons. (The word used is "bakemono" which can be translated as monsters, ghosts, ect.)

Goku Jr. transforms into a SSJ to save his bear friend when the leader demon holds the bear by the neck, nearly killing her. Trunks transforms into Saiyaman X1 to save his classmate when one of the zombies holds his friend by the neck. A SSJ Goku Jr. defeats the demon leader. A SSJ Trunks in his Saiyaman X1 costume defeats the zombie leader.

It appears that since Goku Jr. was afraid of many things in A Hero's Legacy, Toyotaro gave Trunks a fear of ghosts in DBS manga CH 88. But, it is more than likely that Trunks' fear of ghosts is a reference to Vegeta's fear of worms as shown in the filler portion of DBZ EP 274. (Or possibly Goku's fear of needles from DBZ filler EP 40 that carried over into DBGT EP 23.)

I'm sure there are other examples that I either forgot or haven't noticed yet. If you know of any more examples, feel free to add on to this.