FANON POST
Dragonball is one of those long, old series in the old style of manga, where anything not related directly to the plot tended to be skipped over and ignored. Unlike most other series', Dragonball really ignores them, happily skipping years of time at a stretch between fights. Because of this, even though Pan is one of two or three main characters in DBGT, she, like nearly all of the gigantic cast, is rarely seen in a context that isn't battle related- nor do these battles tend to do much to illuminate her background. Because of this, a certain amount of headcanon is expected, and because the series has a large cast and larger timespan, posting and organizing it here was the logical next step, especially in the (optimistic) chance of future castmates!
✪ ｎａｍｅ
First off, Pan has a long 'a'- Pahn, kind of. But more importantly than that: family names. In Dragonball it's noted that surnames/family names are very rare- Videl once comments that they're unusual "nowadays," and is able to connect Son Gohan to Son Goku simply because they both have (the same) one. Goku, Gohan, and Goten are all introduced and labelled in the story with both names. Pan, and really all other characters, are not (also somewhat worth noting is that they're the only ones in the series to have surnames). During the 28th World's Strongest tournament, in fact, Goku's entry is Son Goku, Goten's Son Goten, and Pan's… Pan.
I don't really know if that means that surnames are only inherited by men in this world or what, if Pan doesn't have one because she's not an old fashioned person like the men in her family, I don't know. Fandom has adopted surnames in general- slapping Brief/Briefs (Bulma's father's name) on Bulma's family, attaching Son to the women in Goku's, etc. Since I want to go both ways on this: Pan does not legally have a surname because that's just how the world works. However, now and then she will appropriate Son for herself when she wants to have an impressive legacy- "look who I'm related to!"
✪ ｄｕｂ ｖ．ｓｕｂ
Quite honestly, I've never seen the dub for DBGT because FUNImation did such a special job on it at first. (I have seen DBZ dubbed though) A few things, mostly speech pattern related, are therefore based on the original version of DBGT- mainly Pan's habit of sometimes referring to herself in third person, and a few terms of address- I don't know if she calls Vegeta "uncle" in the dub, but she does in Japanese and it's hilarious to me. That said, with very few exceptions, I'll use dub names- Krillen vs. Kuririn etc.- only. The exceptions are 'Hercule' for Mr. Satan, and 'Bulla' for Bra. I just. Bulla is so stupid, guys. :( (If we ever get an apper for her, I'll use whichever they prefer!) As of now I'm also not using Japanese honorifics, although I've yet to make up my mind on them- it's not like Pan really is polite enough to use them anyway, but "Pan-chan" is such an ubiquitous nickname in the series…
Terms will also be English: Saiyan versus 'Saiya-jin', World's Strongest tournament vs. Tenkaiichi Bodoukai, etc.
✪ ｆａｍｉｌｙ ｍａｔｔｅｒｓ
There aren't a ton of interactions between Pan and her (immediate) family, although there are a fair amount- she's obviously very close to both her parents, calling them 'Papa' and 'Mama' rather childishly, and is spoiled rotten by Mr Satan, her grandfather. As a small child she was incredibly close to Goku: I believe that one of the reasons she is so tsuntsun towards him in GT is because she's also a bit angry at him just running off and abandoning her. (She also genuinely finds him exasperating) However she possibly loves him just as much as her Papa, which is saying something!
In my head, she is not very close to her grandmother, although they don't not get along: I just think Pan's stubbornness and Chi-Chi's nagging would clash, in many ways they are alike. Ultimately she loves and respects and is terrified of her grandmother, just like the rest of her family. Chi-Chi despairs of Pan's rough attitude and would love a cute little granddaughter; Pan is at the age where she's just like "don't tell me what to do!!" all the time.
Pan and Goten seem to have an interesting relationship. They are only about 12-13 years apart, and Pan seems to call him "Goten" as much as "uncle." The little we see them interact, they argue and snipe at one another- Pan making fun of him for his crazy dating habits, Goten calling her a little kid. To me, it seems more like a sibling relationship than 'uncle and niece:' not super close best friends, but bickering and so on and ultimately family.
Pan considers Piccolo to be an uncle, of course. How could she not? It's worth noting that in DBGT she uses Piccolo's masenko attack several times, having probably learned it from her father.
She's stated to be friends with Bra, although we never really see them interact much, and is comfortable enough wandering all over Capsule Corp. on her own. As a small child, Pan called Vegeta "uncle," so presumably she's on good terms with the entire family. She and Trunks do not seem to have known one another well before their space adventure- since Trunks asks her straight off to call him 'Trunks-san' (which she refuses). However by this point in the series, they've spent a year in one another's hair and are much closer. Despite the age difference, Pan thinks of him as an equal to her, and doesn't admire or look up to him in the slightest. SORRY TRUNKS. (Well, okay, she respects him at least. A little. Maybe.)
As far as I can recall, she never interacts with Krillen's family. I imagine she'd think of Krillen as an uncle, and Marron- a young woman only a few years older than her- as something like a cousin, although she isn't close to any of them. As for the rest of the group, she's mostly neutral. She knows who they are, that they're allies, and all the old war stories, but… she really doesn't know them well personally.
✪ ｃｕｔｅｎｅｓｓ
AKA, "why does Pan keep using third person?" Every now and then in DBGT, Pan will randomly switch to third person speech. She doesn't do it all the time, and I personally can't see much of a pattern in it. Because in Japanese, third person speech is considered to be cute, and because Pan is just so questionable when she tries to be cute, I've decided that it's an intentional verbal tic of hers- she is literally speaking in third person to sound cute, wanting to sound cute as she says this thing. For this reason, Pan will mostly use it either when trying to be charming or trying to play up her "I am a lady" routine- "Pan would never lie!" etc.
In other words, it is a forced method that she believes makes her seem more cute and therefore more appealing.
Despite Pan's tomyboyish exterior, it's pretty clear in DBGT that Pan is very much into girlish things- she has gone on multiple dates with multiple boys, she likes romantic movies, she does the aforementioned 'cute' speech, the contents of her backpack are pink, she likes dressing up, etc. I think that she's tomboyish partially out of practicality- short hair held back is less of a liability in martial arts, as is sturdy pants- but also possibly to seem more grown up. Don't get her wrong- she'll never be as girly as Bra or Marron- but I can see her intentionally trying to appear more 'tough' than she is to make a better impression. Of course at the end of the day, she still wants to be cute, dammit!
Pan can turn on the charm at times- as mentioned, multiple dates with multiple boys- but it never lasts: in the end she always reveals her true self (that is, the self that can beat up any boy, is impatient and casual and doesn't try to fake being moe-moe) and they lose interest. Or run away. She's at a slightly awkward crossroads- part of her wants to be likable and cute, but the other part wants to be tough and respected- and she doesn't know how to reconcile the two.
✪ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ
Dragonball does not take place on Earth: here is a map of it. Pan and her family live in the section marked 4B: what would be China in the real world. In addition, the architecture, scenery, and clothing styles are all vaguely Chinese. Everyone is shown to eat a mixture of Chinese and Japanese foods, and while it's up for debate if they're speaking Japanese, Japanese is at least known enough for names (for example, Gohan, and that it means rice, is pointed out in-universe). The world totally lacks the Americas, and most of the Africa/Europe sections are sparse and if not uninhabited, not paid attention to in the series.
I've decided to go with a general hodge-podge of eastern Asia, instead of making Pan "Japanese" or "Chinese." Chinese has the biggest influence, as the series clearly bases itself in China the most, but she will be familiar with foods and clothing from east and south-east Asia, with again Chinese being 'weighed' the heaviest. Of course she won't know what any of these countries are since they do not exist in her world- really this mostly applies to food. Which is very important for a growing quarter-Saiyan!
✪ ａｐｐｅａｒａｎｃｅHAIR: black
EYES: dark gray
HEIGHT: 5'0"/150 cm (in shoes)
BRA SIZE: flat
ASSOCIATED COLOR: red