A term referring to the practice in media (notably in shounen manga/anime) of powering up side characters off screen to bring them up to par, or surpassing, the protagonist. These powerups happen regardless of sense, often with little
explanation. Named for
Dragonball creator Akira Toriyama due to how often it happens in the Dragonball media.
Coined by youtube user PlagueofGripes in his video on the treatment of the character Tien from Dragonball,
highlighting how everyone in-series gets a Toriyama Handjob except Tien.
"This is after a long series of episodes about how
Krillin had given up
fighting and was so weak that bullets were now a serious danger to him, so he got a shit-licious
power up. That is a Toriyama Handjob." - PlagueofGripes