Are the Saiyans from Dragon Ball based on the Aryan race?
There a number of key similarities between the Saiyans and Aryans
1. Appearance
The Yamnaya who first appeared on the Eurasian steppe in modern day Russian and Ukraine in early 3000 BC were tall with mostly brown eyes and light skin but somewhat darker than modern slavic populations. The Yamnaya had mostly brown hair with red hair also being common. The fact that red hair is common in populations where Yamnaya DNA is the highest ( Eastern and Northern Europe) and that the ethnicity with the highest proportion of redheads in the world, Udmurts ( over 10%) also have the highest amount of Yamnaya DNA is further proof that red hair was common amongst the Yamnaya.
The Saiyans similarly to the Yamnaya are mostly tall, have dark eyes and hair with light to tanned skin. With some Saiyans having fairer skin and hair including some redheads.
2. Culture
The Yamnaya were an incredibly violent warrior people who preferred roaming conquest and raiding to a settled existence. Yamnaya society was patriarchal and hierarchical with elite warrior men at the top of the social ladder. The Yamnaya spread west dominating the local populations they came in contact with such as the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker, spreading as far as Britain and Portugal. Their vast genetic impact on the people they came in contact with suggests their genocidal nature. Kristiansen said, “the collision of these populations was not a friendly one, not an equal one, but one where the males from outside were displacing local males and did so almost completely. I’ve become increasingly convinced there must have been a kind of genocide”. Yamnaya men were fond of taking local wives, Kristiansen notes when looking at the DNA of Iberian Bell Beakers who the Yamnaya conquered, Kristiansen notes, “all the men have Y chromosomes characteristic of the Yamnaya, suggesting only Yamnaya men had children”.
Saiyan culture is an aristocratic culture with hierarchies based on both bloodlines and fighting ability. Saiyans were assigned a caste at birth (elite, mid, low) based on their power level which measured their warrior potential. A Saiyan with a high power level is raised as part of the warrior elite. Whereas a lower power level Saiyan is assigned a lowly position such as an engineer or infiltration baby. Infiltration babies are forcibly sent to planets the Saiyans view as potential conquests, if the baby grows up into a warrior capable of taking over the planet they are allowed to return as a high caste warrior. Saiyans like the Yamnaya are an incredibly violent people whose highest expression is conquest and violence. This is why Frieza chose to fill the ranks of his army with Saiyans as their fighting ability and love of war was unmatched, resulting in Frieza conquering numerous planets. Saiyans were also fond of taking local wives with Goku and Vegeta both marrying humans from Earth.
3. Conquest of the Tuffles
The Saiyan conquest of the Tuffles appears to resemble the Yamnaya conquest of the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker. The Tuffles were described as being small and not very war-like however they were advanced technologically. The Tuffles lived peacefully in large cities. In contrast the Saiyans were described as being much taller, stronger and more violent than the Tuffles. The Saiyans lived a nomadic existence where they lived in small clans in the desert. The Saiyans love of violence and technological inferiority prevented them forming cities. King Vegeta led his Saiyan warriors in a great war against the Tuffles, who were eventually defeated and then genocided by the ultra violent Saiyans.
4. Adaptation to new Homeland
As the Yamnaya male warriors expanded throughout Western and Northern Europe and conquered the settled local stone age people they ended up marrying local women, establishing a permanent residency in their new lands, adopting their wives customs and an agrarian lifestyle. Kristiansen said, “Yamnaya switched identity from Yamnaya to Corded Ware, and then switched again from Corded Ware to Bell Beaker”.
Vegeta takes a similar path when he moves to Earth, initially planning to destroy and conquer the people. After settling on earth he proceeds to marry a local woman, Bulma. Bulma is known for being strong willed and domineering resulting in Vegeta softening and adopting many earthly customs to appease his wife. Goku, like the Yamnaya men, abandons his raiding instinct and becomes a farmer, something that is at odds with Saiyan culture. Vegeta and Goku while living on Earth were both successful in switching cultures and assimilating into their new homelands just like the Yamnaya were.
