Going against the normal convention that the strongest characters should be the largest in terms of

physical size, he designed many of Dragon Ball's most powerful characters, including Goku, with small
statures.[31] Toriyama explained that he had Goku grow up so that drawing fight scenes would be
easier, even though Torishima was against it initially because it was rare to have the main character of a
manga series change drastically.[21] Torishima later referred to this as his own biggest crisis during the
series, with Toriyama threatening to end it if Goku could not grow up. The editor said his concerns were
unfounded, as readers accepted the change without complaint.[4]

Having created Piccolo Daimao as the first truly evil villain, he said that his part of the series was the
most interesting to draw.[5] Freeza was created around the time of the Japanese economic bubble and
inspired by real estate speculators, who Toriyama called the "worst kind of people".[5] Yū Kondō,
Toriyama's second editor, from the Saiyan arc until the appearance of Perfect Cell, and Fuyuto Takeda,
his third editor from Perfect Cell until the end of the series, said that Dragon Ball hit its peak in
popularity during the Freeza arc. In a one-thousand ballot popularity poll held in Weekly Shōnen Jump,
Dragon Ball received 815 votes.[32] Finding the escalating enemies difficult, Toriyama created the Ginyu
Force to add more balance to the manga.[5]

When Toriyama created the Super Saiyan transformation during the Freeza arc, he gave Goku blond hair
because it was easier to draw for Toriyama's assistant, who spent a lot of time blacking in Goku's hair.
He also gave him piercing eyes, based on Bruce Lee's paralyzing glare.[33