

In the anime version of Dragon Ball Super we can clearly see how every single
universe is mad at Goku for being the one that with his proposal to Zeno
brought forth the Tournament of Power, and with it the risk for _**every
single creature in 7 whole universes**_ (8 universe took part in the
tournament but the winner one would be saved) to simply _**be erased from
existence**_.

Yet, despite Goku apparently triggering the **biggest genocide in Dragon Ball
history** no one seems to really think of a way to save everyone, only
focusing on their own universe survival. Later we actually discover that out
of sheer luck the Tournament actually worked in favor of the 8 Universes
because Zeno was planning to erase all of them anyway but initially no one was
aware of that detail.  
For this reason, I always wondered if someone actually realized the simple
opt-out loophole in the rules. No universe needed to win to save themselves -
they simply needed to fight at their best (since refusing to battle would make
Zeno angry and result in immediate deletion) while working to ensure that the
winner had at least a bit of ... moral? ethics? to actually use their wish for
the the only decent thing to do and save everyone else. And apparently at
least in the anime that was what Zeno expected since it is afterwards pointed
out that had a selfish wish been made instead, he would have erased the winner
too.

In the end, 17 wins and uses the wish to restore all the other universes that
were erased during the tournament. Before that during the battle Vegeta had
also pointed out that he intended to wish back at least the Saiyan race from
Universe 6 (he promised that to Cabba). But.... had anyone else planned
anything similar?  
It seems something pretty basic to realize, and I am kinda baffled that at
least the likes of "Maiden of Love" Ribrianne or "Warrior of Justice" Toppo
wouldn't have that figured out...

Is there any indication that anyone in the tournament had planned _**in
advance**_ to use the wish to save all the universes?  
It is worth noticing that even Frieza apparently handwaves that the wish could
be used to bring back someone from another universe when he tricks Frost into
a fake alliance (at least in the anime version he offers his alliance to other
universes if they use the prize to wish him back afterward). Yet it should
also be mentioned that in the manga 17 only uses the wishes to save the other
universes in order to spite Zeno and their rule, unlike the anime version
where he does that out of compassion showing a personal growth as a result of
his new life.


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dragon-ball-super
In the Tournament of Power had anyone planned in advance to use the wish to restore the other universes?


In the anime version of Dragon Ball Super, it's not explicitly stated whether
any of the participating fighters had planned to use the wish from the Super
Dragon Balls to save all the universes. However, it's possible that some of
the fighters may have had this in mind as a possibility.

Vegeta does mention that he intended to wish for the restoration of the Saiyan
race from Universe 6, but it's not clear if he had any plans to extend this
wish to include the other universes as well. It's also possible that some of
the other fighters may have had similar thoughts, but it's not mentioned in
the anime.

Ultimately, it's up to interpretation whether any of the fighters had
considered using the wish from the Super Dragon Balls to save all the
universes. However, it seems that the ultimate outcome, with 17 using the wish
to restore all the universes, was not something that was planned or expected
by any of the fighters. It was more of a fortunate coincidence that resulted
from Zeno's decision to spare the winning universe.


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## Does Anyone Contemplate Using the Wish to Save All the Universes?

Neither the anime, nor the manga show any of the fighters contemplate using
the wish to save all of the rest of the universes, nor is there any sort of
collaboration to this end. There are a few instances of the wish being
discussed. Most notably, this one in volume 7 of the manga comes closest:

[![Wolf guy begs for mercy from Piccolo but Frieza kicks him
off](https://i.stack.imgur.com/j3grs.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/j3grs.png)

It's very telling that the wolf guy says they need to figure out a way
everyone can survive. This suggests that he does not currently know a way all
the universes can survive. Even though it may seem obvious to us to use the
wish from the Super Dragon Balls, it evidently is not to this guy. Piccolo
does not have a response either.

There are several other times when a wish is discussed. 17 for instance, wants
a yacht. And it is confirmed in the manga that Jiren would wish for the
revival of his master. In exchange for his cooperation in fighting for
Universe 6, Frieza asks Frost to use the wish to revive him (this is later
shown to be a deception). In the anime, Vegeta suggests that he will use the
wish for Universe 6.

Nobody says anything about saving all the universes.

There are four plausible conclusions here: either the fighters cannot even
conceive of the idea of using the wish to save all the universes, the fighters
cannot think of using the wish to save all the universes as a _good_ idea, the
fighters don't care about any universe but their own, or the narrative of
_Dragon Ball Super_ simply refuses to show us any fighters thinking about
saving all the universes.

## Thesis

Having established no one was shown to contemplate using the wish to save all
the universes, it makes sense to try and determine why. As I will soon show,
using the wish to undo the destruction of the universes is not as obvious as
we might think.

There are many reasons why:

Out of Universe

  1. The narrative does not show anyone thinking this, even though some people might be thinking it, in order to retain tension during this story arc.

In Universe

  2. Making this wish would mean opposing the will of Grand Zeno, who wishes to reduce the number of universes.
  3. The majority of fighters are unfamiliar with the Dragon Balls, so they might not be capable of thinking to use them to restore all the universes.
  4. There is no trust amongst the universes and the fighters.

## Out of Universe Explanation

A lot of the tension in this arc hinges on the fact that the universes are
being culled. Up until the first one is completely obliterated, we wonder if
Zeno is actually going to do it... and then he does.

As far as suspense goes, _Dragon Ball Super_ inherited a very big narrative
problem in the Dragon Balls. Time after time, the heroes have used their
wishes to undo all the damage done by the bad guys. If that's the case, why
should the audience worry about anything? The Dragon Balls make suspense very
difficult. But the writers shouldn't totally give up on suspense, right? Thus,
does it make sense to show any character contemplating wishing to restore all
the universes ahead of time?

The answer is **no**. Once the audience is cued in that this is a possibility,
the main source of tension is gone. The audience might wonder about it
themselves, of course, which will make it frustrating to watch the tournament
when the writers are deliberately avoiding talking about it at all. Still,
whether or not it is truly a shock, the writers have to at least try to make
17's wish a surprise.

## In Universe Explanations

## Respect/Fear of the Gods

As the question points out, this whole situation doesn't seem make sense. With
some reasoning and examination of the story, I will try to provide a framework
where this situation makes sense. Perhaps this is just my opinion, but I
believe we should try to believe a story makes sense until the author blunders
and contradicts themselves so badly it cannot be rectified and is undoubtedly
a plot hole. Thus, if there are frameworks where a story makes sense and
frameworks where the story does not, then we must reject the frameworks where
the story does not.

Thus, what it comes down to is this: while it would seem that a wish to
restore all the universes should be obvious, under close scrutiny, **it is
not.**

Zeno is the highest level god in the _Dragon Ball_ multiverse. He is so
powerful that all of the Destroyer Gods are afraid of him. And if Zeno truly
is a being of which no greater can exist, then what he says is absolute and
infallible. Whether or not this is actually true is not important. What is
important is that many of the combatants will believe this.

The head angel (speaking on Zeno's behalf) states many times that the
universes are going to be culled, that it is necessary, and that it is Zeno's
will. Now, what does making a wish to undo Zeno's will amount to? It amounts
to a rejection of his words and actions. Isn't that clearly the wrong thing to
do? And if Zeno is the being who decides what is right and wrong, wouldn't it
be immoral?

Consider the real world Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism,
etc), for instance. According to the tenets in these religions, there are no
circumstances under which it is acceptable to defy the Abrahamic God. In their
stories, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son to him. The correct answer is
not to say, "Hey, this is wrong, I'm not doing that." Rather, the correct
answer is to comply, and in the end God will say, "Okay, you can stop; I was
just testing you."

Apply this logic to the _Dragon Ball_ multiverse. These two cases offer
answers that are exact opposites. So Zeno wants the winner to openly go
against his will to destroy all but one universe? How can he expect that when
even the Destroyers are afraid to speak out against him? And how can that
possibly be what's right when Zeno is an infallible deity? The angels stated
multiple times that Zeno wished to cull the universes because there were too
many. Honestly, if I were in the position to make that wish, **I would simply
assume if I used the wish to restore the universes, Zeno would just blow up
every single one all over again, and this time the winning universe would be
included.**

I don't think it's an exaggeration to call Zeno a being of whose will is
absolute. He can blow up an entire universe in an instant, so what else could
he be, at least in the eyes of the mortals? Some or maybe even the majority of
the fighters from the universes must think of him as an unstoppable and
immutable force that shouldn't be tested. In fact, this very idea is stated
over and over again in the manga and anime.

It is not unreasonable to think most of the fighters would think restoring the
universes with the Super Dragon Balls was a bad idea. Over and over again, the
deity characters state that Zeno is insurmountable. Going against Zeno is thus
futile. And in the manga, we get this conversation between Whis and Goku from
volume 6, page 68:

> **Goku** : Yeah... Maybe I'll ask the Lord of Everything to call off this
> whole erasure thing.
>
> **Whis** : I wouldn't do that if I were you. The Lord of Everything and the
> Grand Priest decided this. If you offend them, you'll just be erased.

What else do we know about Grand Zeno? Namely, that he thinks managing so many
universes is a pain, and the endeavor seems pointless especially on account of
their mortal levels not going up; thus, Zeno wants to get rid of some of the
universes. This is shown directly in the manga between a conversation between
him and the Grand Minister.

All this gives us these assumptions:

  1. Zeno wants to see a fighting tournament.
  2. Zeno wants less universes.
  3. Zeno cannot be opposed.
  4. If Goku suggests stopping the tournament or the erasure of universes, Zeno will be offended and destroy him.

From these, I would extrapolate this conclusion:

  5. If you undo the destruction of the universes, Zeno will be offended and destroy them all again, because as stated in 2, he does not want to manage so many universes.

At the very least, it is not unreasonable to think that the fighters are
worried about this enough to think restoring the universes is not a viable
option, or too risky. We should also question whether the fighters care enough
about the other universes to risk their own in the event of their victory.

At best, Zeno's challenge is a riddle. To figure out what the correct wish is,
one would have to put together the pieces: first, that perhaps the reason Zeno
isn't the one saying anything is because the angels are not actually stating
Zeno's will. And two, the reason that there are no restrictions on the wish is
to use it to defy the destruction of every universe. But considering the
destruction is in the first place being caused by the top-level god, who is
supposed to determine what is good and moral, I don't think the answer to the
riddle is obvious at all.

So to answer the question, I believe it is exceedingly likely that the
majority of fighters did not plan on making a wish to restore all the
universes if they won. Unless they have zero respect or fear for the gods
(like Goku and 17), it would have been a difficult idea to even conceive of.

## Evidence

I will preface with the following: fiction is a reflection of reality. Author
and reader alike make default assumptions about a fictional world. Thus,
ideas, even religious ones, will inevitably creep in. And indeed, though I
started from a place of comparing _Dragon Ball Super_ to real religions, I
found plenty of the specific ideas I examined present in the work itself.
Toriyama and Toyotarou's own views on the gods in their work can also be
gleamed from this interview at the end of volume 4.

[![interview](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MbH1h.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MbH1h.png)

It's notable that they write the deities are just. This view would likely be
reflected in their writing as well.

Since it has been rightfully questioned whether the people in the multiverse
of _Dragon Ball_ hold the proper reverence for their deities, I will try to
examine the matter.

What I have is this: whether it's King Kai, Supreme Kai, or Beerus, the
deities are constantly shocked at Goku's lack of respect. When Goku talks to
Grand Zeno casually like they're buddies, Beerus has a total flip-out. This
constant shock can only lead one to conclude that Goku's behavior is
completely aberrant. The majority of the people in the multiverse would
understand not to question gods.

Consider Vegeta and King Vegeta as well. When Beerus shows up, they both
become groveling cowards to the point of becoming comic relief.

Another example comes from the manga in volume 9. We see the Namekians praying
to their Dragon Ball, saying

> It is thanks to the protection of the gods that we may live in peace. We
> mustn't forget to be grateful.

A quote from volume 8, just before Universe 10 gets obliterated:

> Lord Gowas! I'm satisfied just to be carrying out the will of Universe 10's
> gods.

This all seems like a general adherence to the gods to me.

And here's a quote from Zamasu I found on
<https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Zamasu>

> "You give corruption far too much credit, evil does not inform good. It
> sullies it, like how the Babari sullied their world with violence, or how
> that arrogant Goku sullied this sacred ground by swinging his fists at a
> God. Mortals receive the divine gift of intellect, the potential for wisdom,
> but they misuse it to destroy the beauty of creation. Mortals do not succumb
> to evil, they are the evil. They create it, and spread it with minds they
> shouldn't possess. How can we call ourselves gods if we watch this plight
> and do nothing to stop it?"

Here's a similar quote from chapter 19 of the manga (volume 3, page 152):

> **Zamasu/Goku Black** : "In this universe right now... I reign supreme!
> Draaah!!!"
>
> **Vegeta** : "We don't need a god who forces his own twisted sense of
> justice on us."
>
> **Zamasu/Goku Black** : "Silence, you filthy mortal!! My reign is absolute!
> Every action that I, the supreme god, make... is justice!"

And from volume 4:

[![Zamasu
angry](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3JqLT.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3JqLT.png)

[![Zamasu: Know that defying gods is a
sin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hNapr.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hNapr.png)

Zamasu is a bad guy, but these quotes and Zamasu's disgust with Goku shows
that the idea that mortals are bad, and thus that gods are good and determine
good, is not foreign to the world of _Dragon Ball_.

Additionally, in volume 4, the Supreme Kai gives some indication towards
thinking it's a particularly egregious crime to kill a god:

[![Supreme Kai angry over Gowasu
death](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QQuZu.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QQuZu.png)

Now, consider the fighters at the Tournament of Power. The most fervent
believers in justice and love, such as Ribrianne and Toppo, have been
questioned for seemingly not thinking of restoring all the universes with the
wish. But oftentimes, the ones most dedicated to justice can be the ones most
susceptible to blind obedience to higher authorities, including gods and
angels, so I don't see this as contradictory. If Zeno is approving of what's
happening, they might see the tournament as just, or they might simply see
opposing Zeno as futile. Such thoughts will lead them away from contemplating
this kind of wish.

We can see a bit of their trepidation in these panels from volume 7, so we
know that their gods have told them enough about Grand Zeno.

[![trepidation of the
fighters](https://i.stack.imgur.com/20Z2O.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/20Z2O.png)

Examining the final episode of the anime, Krillan and some others were shocked
by 17's wish. It isn't really explained why, but we can assume either it was a
surprising wish (nobody else could even conceive of it) or it was a dangerous
wish (Grand Zeno might get mad).

Perhaps further evidence is the reason 17 makes the wish in the manga. As per
volume 9, page 83:

> Mostly, I just didn't want those little imps to have their way with things.

17 changes his wish to spite the two Grand Zenos. We see none of the "good"
and "just" fighters even think of saving all the universes. The one person who
actually makes the wish to restore all the universes is one with no fear or
respect for the gods. And the Grand Priest bumps up Universe 7's mortal
ranking for this, so evidently it is a good thing.

## First Time Seeing Dragon Balls

We have to consider that for many of the fighters, this is their first time
being told they can get a wish. Without the years of experience with Dragon
Balls that Universe 7's heroes have, it might be difficult to even think of
what that wish can be used for. I don't really have much to say about this
reason, and the evidence is just that nobody seems to think of saving all the
universes (see the picture at the beginning with the wolf guy).

The tournament also goes by pretty fast and is chaotic (at least in the manga,
we get this impression), so a lot of the fighters might not even have a chance
to stop and think. The spectators are enthralled in the match as well due to
the fate of their universe being on the line.

One last point though: it is stated that there is no limitation on the wish,
but there actually is _one_. It will be filtered through the Grand Priest,
since it needs to be spoken in the language of the gods to Super Shenron. This
is just another reason to be cautious with any wish. Did you want to wish Zeno
destroyed to stop this from happening again? Whoops. Now you're in trouble.

## Distrust Amongst the Universes

Another thing to consider is the level of trust between the universes. The
gods and destroyers are all squabbling for survival, and not cooperating at
all. It doesn't follow that the mortals would trust anyone from another
universe to use the wish to restore theirs. Their distrust may even extend so
far as to make them not want to restore any other universe. Regardless, there
would be no cooperation; even someone contemplating making the wish, would not
trust anyone else, and they would fight all the harder to make sure it's them
who gets the prize.

We see Frieza making deals, but that's just him playing mind games, and it
ends in backstabbing; that's because in the end, Frieza isn't going to trust
his survival to the chance another universe would follow through on using the
wish to revive him. It would be so easy not to once he's gone, after all. And
that's true for any kind of deal regarding saving all the universes.

Some Frieza quotes from the manga:

> Entrusting the fate of your universe to another? I've never heard something
> quite so pathetic.

> Oh of course. In the heat of the battle, I forgot to mention some key
> advice. Never trust anyone!

> Why even hesitate? This is a survival game, and our very existence is on the
> line. It seems I'm the only one here with a clear idea of how this is
> supposed to work.

The last one continues from the picture I included of Piccolo and the wolf
guy. It just goes to show that even if some of the participants are willing to
work together, it only takes one Frieza on the team for things to end in
betrayal.

And a quote from Vegeta too:

> Need me to hold your hands, child? Don't forget--in this arena, we're
> **foes** , so don't look to other universes for aid!


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In my opinion and going by the Dragon Ball story, if any of the universes
would've planned to revive other universes using super Dragon Balls, they
wouldn't fight for their survival, making the tournament boring, whereas Zeno
started the tournament for entertainment.

Also, multiple characters would've disagreed, like Goku who gave the idea to
Zeno for the Tournament of Power, and would participate to fight everyone at
their strongest as if their survival is at stake, and would've disagreed with
this proposal. I am not sure about Vegeta or other people having pride though,
if they'd choose their pride over survival.

Also, there were a few people who would've used the wish to save a few like
Vegeta and Frieza to revive Universe 6 (for having soft spots for their races
in Universe 6), and there would've been other fighters from other universes
too (For example Cabba, Toppo, Jiren, etc.), but their stories weren't focused
in detail. I highly doubt Toppo would've revived other universes, especially
Universe 7, where Goku exists who started the whole idea, because of his sense
of justice and thinks of him as evil, whereas Jiren's wish would've been
debatable.

But 17 wished to revive all erased universe because of his _humane_ side as he
was not a fighter and has moved on from his past, whereas most of the other
participants were seasoned fighters.

There are a lot more things to be noted about Tournament of Power rules
though.

  * Zeno and Grand Priest told universes with low mortality rates would be wiped out, yet they _allowed dead fighters to participate_ e.g. Frieza. So, universes could've brought out their best fighters from any timeline, which would deviate from its original purpose.
  * There were rules regarding a few forms of fighting styles, like weapon-based fighting and Ki attacks using nature's energy.
  * _Killing was not allowed_ ; Zenos wanted fighters to kill anyone with a few exceptions, which is absolute nonsense when it's a battle for survival, and the fate of their respective universes is at stake.
  * _Each fighter will fight at their native gravity level_ , so if a person lives on a planet with a million times more gravity, they should defeat others fighting on low gravity, this is very confusing though, trying to explain this with an example here, when Vegeta and Nappa first came to earth, they were powerhouses because they lived and trained in 10 times more gravity and going to a planet with low gravity made them exceptionally faster and in turn stronger. So, fighters who would've been strong became weak due to this.
  * Since the Dragon Ball verse makes no sense due to the existence of Dragon Balls, Universe 7 could've simply _wished Shenron to wake up Buu_ , as Buu was considered one of the strongest in the universe, 2nd only to Beerus.

And there are a few events in the tournament itself as well.

  * Caway from Universe 4 seduces Roshi and later he groped her, which was considered fine. (Episode 105)
  * Roshi used a bottle for Evil Containment Wave, whereas weapons weren't allowed, but Zenos thought it was cool.
  * Goku used Spirit Bomb, but Ki attacks using nature's energy weren't allowed.
  * Zenos said if the winner would've made any wish other than to revive other universes they would've wiped all universes, yet they let them live because of the wish. So, there wasn't any point of mortality rate or multiversal balance here, for which they started the tournament.

Other than this, possibly due to plot armor, no other race except Saiyan
showed any growth, Goku took a spirit bomb and unlocked a new form, which
would've killed most of the others.

So, in my opinion, it is most likely poor plot writing, where everything is
about fighting and battles, not common sense.


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