Well, it always feels weird to have a no-harem story in Dragon Ball. Even though I’ve read plenty of them, they still seem like a big contradiction to me. Maybe it’s because the MC is usually too powerful in these fanfictions, so not having a harem just doesn’t make sense in that context. That being said, even if I enjoyed reading some of them, I still can’t shake off the feeling that something is off. It’s like they go against the natural flow of how things should be in a world as extreme as Dragon Ball realisticly

What do you mean? Just because he’s strong he has to have a harem? Nobody in dragon ball has a harem, they’re all in monogamous relationships so I’m genuinely confused by what you mean

What I’m trying to explain isn’t that Dragon Ball should have harems. It’s much deeper than that. It’s a reflection on internal consistency, the coherence between the nature of the characters and how they experience emotional relationships. In our human reality, we live in a monogamous society. People fall in love multiple times in their lives, sometimes even with several people at once. It’s not always rational, and often not even under our control. But we end up choosing, because we don’t have the mental, emotional, or social capacity to maintain multiple intimate relationships at the same time. Our biological, social, and cultural limits push us toward monogamy, even if our heart or instincts suggest otherwise. But in fiction, especially when a character becomes extraordinarily powerful, these human limits no longer apply. Their strength, emotional detachment, self-control, and freedom from social norms, all of this lifts the constraints that justify monogamy in our world. And the more powerful and self-aware a character is, the more they should be able to understand this dynamic. They should realize that exclusive love isn’t a universal rule, it’s a form of conditioning. That it’s possible to love multiple people sincerely, without inner conflict or drama, simply because they have the emotional capacity to do so. That’s why I think there’s an inconsistency in Dragon Ball. Saiyans aren’t humans. They’re biologically different, culturally more instinct-driven, shaped by a mindset of power, battle, and constant growth. They’re warriors, not modern, bourgeois humans. Yet they’re depicted in rigid, monogamous relationships, strictly modeled after our own human social norms. It doesn’t add up. This isn’t about ‘wanting a harem’, it’s a logical analysis. When a character is stronger than any normal being, and lives outside normal frameworks, it makes sense that they’d reach this kind of understanding. And in fanfiction, where an OC is often even more powerful and more independent, the absence of this emotional plurality actually feels like the real inconsistency, not the other way around

First, we don't live in a monogamous society. There are plenty of places in the world that practice polygamy. The reason polygamy isn't as widespread throughout the west more is because there are laws against polygamy. If there weren't laws against it, there would be waaaaaaay more Harem style relationships. Throught all of history Polygamy was the natural form of relationships. One man multiple wives. Women would rather share one rich or strong man than have a weak or poor one. It wasn't until Christianity spread that polygamy started to end and rhe One man One wife model became more prevalent. I don't know where you are getting this idea that humans are monogamous like it is preset inclination in all of us. People cheat on each other all the time. Some even maintain 2 3 or even 4 partners in at the same time. Go live life by meeting and talking to more people. Second, considering the equal strength distribution of Saiyans where the women are just as strong as and even might be stronger than the men, I think the preset model of relationships would be Monogamy.

You’re making a fundamental mistake in interpretation. I never claimed that our current society is perfectly monogamous. What I specifically said is that we live in a mostly monogamous framework, shaped by cultural, social, religious, and emotional norms. It’s not a biological or natural truth, but rather an internalized social constraint. That’s very different from saying it’s a universal or biological standard. Second, I never mentioned historical or religious polygamy. My argument was strictly about fiction: in a universe like Dragon Ball, where characters far surpass human limits, keeping the same emotional patterns as in our reality becomes logically incoherent. You’re responding by bringing up historical and religious examples of polygamy, but that has nothing to do with the fictional logic I’m analyzing. We’re simply not talking about the same subject. You also bring up cheating, open relationships, and modern libertinism… but again, that’s absolutely not what I was talking about. In well-written harems in fiction, there is no lying, no cheating, no betrayal. It’s a stable and consensual relationship model, built on superior emotional capacity. Nothing to do with unstable or toxic situations like the ones you describe. Honestly, even if we were talking about real life, your argument wouldn’t stand. Maybe you imagine or wish that most people have multiple partners at the same time, but that’s simply not the case for the majority. Most people still live within classic relationship models: monogamous, simple, and stable. What you describe as the norm (having 3 or 4 partners at once) is actually the exception, not the rule. Claiming otherwise is just projecting a disconnected view of what most people experience. As for your point about women sharing a rich or powerful man, you’re completely missing the core of my argument. I never talked about power dynamics or submission. My analysis was purely psychological and narrative: I simply stated that superhuman characters, whether male or female, should logically be able to overcome classic human emotional limitations like jealousy or possessiveness, because of their superior emotional maturity. It has nothing to do with dominance or wealth. Your argument about the Saiyans, saying monogamy makes sense because men and women are equally strong, also misses the point. Their physical equality changes nothing about what I’m saying: I’m talking about psychological and emotional evolution. My entire point is that their immense strength and evolution should naturally allow them to transcend basic human emotional constraints. Once again, you’re misinterpreting. In short, you didn’t understand what I was trying to express. You projected your own biases and ideas onto my argument. I never defended cheating, religious polygamy, or modern libertinism. What I analyzed was a logical inconsistency within a fictional world: in Dragon Ball, characters reach a level of strength and evolution so high that they should naturally break free from human emotional limits. Yet the authors kept them stuck in human-like emotional patterns, and that’s precisely the incoherence I was pointing out. That’s all.