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 Dragon BallIt’s quite substantial, and a major 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 the Dragon Ballof the cosmic hierarchy, and now its origins are finally being revealed.

The Kai were first introduced with King Kai, whom Goku sought out to learn techniques such as 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 managing the entire universe. Dragon Ball Super would reveal that each universe has its own Supreme Kai, whose destiny is tied to that universe’s God of Destruction.

Dragon Ball Daima reveals where the Kai originate

The Kai are natives of 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 left. This strongly suggests that the Supreme Kai, as well as his predecessors and assistants such as Kibito, are actually a race of demons, which their pointy ears seem to confirm. Glorio speaks of the Glind as if they were relatively wealthy in the Second Demon World compared to the inhabitants of the Third Demon World.

Much of the pre-existing lore regarding Kais comes from databooks, non-canon video games, and other supplemental sources, rather than from the Dragon Ball series itself. Previously, they were called “Core People” as they were said to originate from the Core World, a planet somewhere within Universe 7. which resembles the world of the Kais, where Goku had his final confrontation 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 even send “evil” members of their race back to the Demon Realm.

This fits in relatively well with what’s been seen in the Demon Realm so far; If Supreme Kai was selected to be a Core People Kai but his brothers were considered evil, that would explain how they ended up in the Demon Realm in the first place, something that Daima hasn’t responded yet. After all, Degesu didn’t seem surprised to find out that his brother was the Supreme Kai of Universe 7, so their separation must have occurred 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 guarantees that he will have to reveal more of his past. Dragon Ball Daima is being pretty free with the new lore, and it looks like fans will have a totally different understanding Dragon Ballworld when this series ends.