Dragon Ball has been a cultural mainstay since the 90s, one of the most prominent anime around, up there with big names like One Piece and Naruto. With the recent news of the all-new Dragon Ball Daima series, it looks like Dragon Ball is definitely here to stay! Read below to see how we feel about our favorite characters, how they compare to each other in terms of strength, usefulness, their transformations, and more. So get comfortable and dive in!
#11 Pan
Dragon Ball Super Hero Pan Super Hero Ichiban Statue
Pan is the quarter-Saiyan daughter of Gohan and Videl. While throughout most of the series Pan is a baby, it isn’t until Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero that the little girl starts to clearly show her potential. Much like her father, Pan is supposed to have great fighting power. It’s shown that Piccolo is helping to train her, and she has a lot of interest in fighting! While her role in the movie is mostly just to help Gohan reach his anger and power, for 3 years old, Pan seems to have some insane power!
#10 Goten & #9 Trunks
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Trunks DXF Statue
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Son Goten DXF Statue
The youngest saiyans around, Trunks and Goten are the little kids of the group. Goten is the youngest son of Goku and Chi Chi and Trunks (the present version) is the son of Bulma and Vegeta. Goten’s innocent and childish attitude makes him a great pair with Trunks, who thinks he knows everything and loves to make big decisions for the two. Goten and Trunks were the youngest and fastest to achieve the Super Saiyan transformation and the youngest to do the Fusion Dance, creating the even more annoying (but lovable) Gotenks. Gotenks is able to go Super Saiyan 3, making him the only one to do so, other than Goku. While the children are clearly supposed to be strong for their years, their power levels seem to be stagnant beyond their fusion. The two do step in in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, but their fusion goes awry and the two aren’t much help. Although it’s clear the boys have power, it’s clearly not being used correctly!
#8 Buu
Dragon Ball Z Majin Buu Vs Omnibus Beast Ichibansho Statue
Dragon Ball Z Buu Plush
One of the most terrifying villains of the entire series (and also just a piece of gum personified), Buu has got a lot of strength under his belt. Luckily, the Buu we have now is mostly a nice guy since he ate the Grand Supreme Kai, becoming an innocent, though still temperamental, version of his original self. Since the Buu Saga, where Goku and the Z Fighters had to contain all of the terrifying Buu versions or get eaten themselves, Buu has lived a peaceful life with Mr. Satan and the rest of the crew. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his moments. Annoyed by the lack of pudding at the party, Buu is the first to attempt to fight Beerus when he arrives at Bulma’s birthday party. Basically, it’s pretty nice we have Buu on the good side now!
#7 Future Trunks
Dragon Ball Z Trunks Super Warriors Battle Retsuden III Vol. 2 Statue
Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Trunks Solid Edge Works Vol. 11 Statue
Future Trunks is one of the coolest characters to ever grace our anime-frenzied screens. Having arrived during the Android Saga, Future Trunks comes from a world that has been absolutely ravaged by the Androids and Dr. Gero. In Dragon Ball Z, the warrior helps to take down the terrible Androids, stays to help defeat Cell, and then returns to his own timeline to kill Babidi and Dabura, and ensure the safety of his timeline. It isn’t until Dragon Ball Super that we see this alternate version of Trunks again, this time to help defeat a Goku Black, better known as Zamasu. In order to take down the villain, Trunks achieves the Super Saiyan Rage form, the first to do so! Trunks is able to take down Zamasu, and (even though his universe is destroyed in the process) the day is saved!
#5 Android 17 & #6 Android 18
Dragon Ball Z Android Fear Android No. 17 Ichiban Statue – Previews Exclusive
Dragon Ball Z Android Fear Android No. 18 Ichiban Statue – Previews Exclusive
The Android siblings have come quite far since their debut, initially wreaking havoc on the innocent citizens, their entire motivation in life to destroy. After the Cell Saga, both siblings seemingly go on to live a life of peace, 18 with Krillin and their daughter Marron, and 17 with his wife and 3 kids. In Super, we get to see both siblings again, and they both take part in saving the world a few times. Android 18 steps up to the plate immediately with the introduction of Beerus, showing that she’s kept her strength and her bravery. Android 17, having lived a life of peace since the events of the Buu Saga, joins up with the Z fighters to help them protect Universe 7 in the Tournament of Power. Both Androids prove themselves to be quite the powerful forces, and great additions to the Universe 7 team.
#4 Piccolo
Dragon Ball Piccolo Jr. Fierce Fighting!! World Tournament Ichibansho Statue
Dragon Ball Super Orange Piccolo Vs Omnibus Brave Ichibansho Statue
Piccolo is almost has important to the story of Dragon Ball as Goku is, though it might not be as easy to tell. Piccolo started off as the worst villain Goku had ever faced in the original Dragon Ball series, having never truly been defeated. At the beginning of Z, Piccolo joins forces reluctantly with the Goku in order to take down an even bigger threat, and that became the beginning of their lifelong friendship and Piccolo’s journey into good-guy territory. Throughout the stories run, Piccolo has become a father figure to both Gohan, and his daughter, Pan. But, it also wasn’t until Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero that Piccolo’s strength seemingly caught up with our top fighters. In the a moment of desperation, Piccolo transformed, becoming huge, hulk-like, and orange. What has now been dubbed as Orange Piccolo, the transformation was enough to help take down the terrifying Cell Max.
#3 Gohan
Dragon Ball Z Son Gohan Ball Battle on Planet Namek Ichibansho Statue
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Son Gohan Beast Solid Edge Works Vol. 14 Statue
Gohan has always been the assumed successor, the Dragon Ball Z series building up the young half-saiyan as the strongest fighter the world had seen since Goku himself. But in his adulthood Gohan has always fallen a little short, especially since Gohan definitely found solace in his textbooks and studies. Gohan would’ve ended up a lot lower on this had it not been for his recent part in the Dragon Ball Super movie, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Fans of the series had desperately been waiting for Gohan to have his own amazing transformation, and this movie definitely delivered. In a last-ditch attempt to defeat the powerful Cell Max, Gohan transforms into the Beast form. Much like previous times that Gohan has whipped out some insane power, this transformation was dependent on his emotions and anger. This is the strongest the half-saiyan has ever been, and it’s definitely noticeable!
#2 Vegeta
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Vegeta Match Makers Statue
Dragon Ball Z Majin Vegeta Clearise Statue
The Saiyan Prince, Vegeta is one of the most interesting characters of the entire series, starting from his introduction during the Saiyan Saga of DBZ. Vegeta was one of the strongest villains our hero Goku had ever faced. Back then, Vegeta would have defeated him if it hadn’t been for Goku’s friend Yajirobe stepping in. Vegeta’s strength has always been just one step behind Goku’s, but these days he seems to be catching up! In a fight against the supervillain Moro, Vegeta’s use of Forced Spirit Fission was able to hold him off better than Goku ever did! Sadly, I still have to list Vegeta second, but maybe one day he’ll surpass him for good.
#1 Goku
Dragon Ball Goku Version 3 G x Materia Statue
Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Goku Legendary Super Saiyan S.H.Figuarts Action Figure
Goku’s our main boy! How could anyone else be at the top of this list? While you might say that other characters have proven to be stronger than Goku at times (*cough* Beerus *cough cough*), Goku always ends up on top. The Saiyan Warrior is always training, and always looking to increase his own power, while maintaining a good natured and righteous attitude. Not to mention, Goku always has the Z Fighters on his side, a particularly human quality of his. Most recently, Goku achieved an even more powerful version of Ultra Instinct that works with his emotions to make him ultra-powerful. If you’re planning on invading Earth sometime soon, I’d make sure that Goku is looong gone, or else you’re in for defeat!
