My top 25 Dragon Ball characters

And so, everyone, this is something I really needed to do. About four years ago, I did a list of my top 10 Dragon Ball characters. And then after that, I did a list of some of my other favourites. But now, I decided to make an all time definitive version with me talking about my top 25 characters in the whole franchise. Given how Dragon Ball is full of some of the most memorable characters in all of anime, I decided to make this list a really huge one. And, especially now that I've watched everything Dragon Ball related that's canon. I finished Dragon Ball Super back in May and did a review of it and recently, I watched the entire original Dragon Ball series. So I'm gonna be counting characters from everything. Well, everything that's canon anyway, so no characters from filler episodes or the non-canon movies. But, yeah, this is gonna be super long. So, let's get into it and I hope you all like this.

25. Kami:

Starting us off is the original guardian of the Earth, Kami. While we don't know his real name, Kami is a character who's been around since the start of the series. Originally a Namkian who came to Earth to survive a deadly weather change on Namek, he later became Earth's guardian. Before that however, he had to separate the evil inside him which later became Demon King Piccolo. As Kami, he did everything he could to protect the world. He was even the creator of the original Dragon Balls. He would then later on do so many things to save the world like training Goku to fight Piccolo, bring Goku to Other World to be trained by King Kai when he died and later fused with Piccolo again to become the original Namekian he was to give Piccolo the strength he needed. He may be gone now, but his time among everyone was worth it.

24. Eighter:

Next up is the first of the Red Ribbon Army's androids, Android 8, or, as Goku called him, Eighter. Originally just a Frankenstein looking android the Red Ribbon Army wanted to use to kill Goku, he was shown to not want to fight or kill anyone. This made it easy to befriend Goku when he was looking for the Dragon Balls. Eighter even helped Goku defeat the head of the Red Ribbon Army who was around that area and Goku helped him stay somewhere with some friends of his. While we don't really see him anymore, it was still cool when we first saw him.

23. Bulma:

While Bulma may be a pretty popular character amongst the Dragon Ball fanbase, I don't really like her the same way everyone else does. A lot of the time, she'll annoy me by doing something selfish or just acting selfish and acting like she doesn't a have a care for anyone else like when she was trying to get the Dragon Ball off Goku when they first met and trying to trick him out of it or constantly whining during the events on Namek and talking as if she was willing to leave Goku behind and just a lot of other examples like that. But, still, there are a lot of moments where I do really like her like constantly supporting her friends, being the genius to create a lot of the gadgets they use like the Dragon Radar and the Time Machine, or just being a good friend to everyone in general. In moments like that, I like her, it's just in moments of acting selfish and being whiny is where I don't. Plus, it's pretty cool still having her be around and being as big a character as she is considering she's the second character we ever meet in the series and being the one to introduce Goku to the world.

22. Dende:

At number 22, we have the current guardian of the Earth, Dende. Originally just a regular Namekian child, during the Frieza Saga, he played a huge role in stopping Frieza and helping Gohan and the others. After Gohan and Krillin saved him from being killed by Frieza and his henchmen, he helped them with gathering the Namekian Dragon Balls to help them bring the others back to life. He even helped them in regards to saving them too due to his healing abilities. He may have been killed by Frieza but he was thankfully brought back and afterwards, he took the role of Earth's guardian after Kami fused with Piccolo. And what I like most about him is just his friendship with everyone, especially with Gohan.

21. Caulifla:

The first of a new character from Dragon Ball Super is at number 21, the Saiyan from Universe 6, Caulifla. Like I said in my list of my top 5 characters from Dragon Ball Super, I just like Caulifla as a character because of her fun personality and tough attitude. While it may have gotten annoying a little bit in my opinion, it never really got the point where it made her unlikeable. And, plus, she as a character is just fun with her desire to get stronger and protect Kale. Not to mention that I said I thought her relationship with Kale was pretty sweet and it was cool when we got to see her fight Goku in the Tournament Of Power. Especially the part where her and Kale fused into Kefla while Goku was using Ultra Instinct. I would also just like to see her back again some day. Maybe if we see her, Kale and Cabba team up with Goku and the others for something.

20. Zamasu:

Easily the best new real villain to come out of Dragon Ball Super, Zamasu was another Kai serving under the Supreme Kai of Universe 10, Gowasu, and didn't understand what the purpose of mortals was all about. He then set himself a mission to rule over everything and eliminate every living being in existence. This led to him killing his master, taking Goku's body, wishing for an immortal body, teaming up with another version of himself from another timeline, exterminating all life and almost wiping out all the main characters. Plus, while beyond irredeemable, Zamasu tended to be a bit more complex than some of the other villains in the series who generally consist of characters who are evil just because they're evil.

19. Korin:

Another character who's been around since the original Dragon Ball series, Korin is centuries old and has a tower below Kami's lookout tower. While he may seem like a helpless cat like creature, he's actually a professional martial arts teacher who even trained Master Roshi when he was young. He then later helped train Goku when he was trying to fight Tao Pai Pai and then helped him after his fight with Demon King Piccolo. Plus, he's just a fun character with having fun teasing Goku when he was trying to get the divine water from him. He even helped out a bit in Dragon Ball Super when Master Roshi went back to him for a little bit of training for the Tournament Of Power.

18. Goten:

At number 18 is the second son of Goku and Chi-Chi, Goten. After Goku died in the Cell explosion and after Gohan defeated Cell, Goten was born and had to spend the first seven years of his life never once meeting his dad. However, around the time of the Majin Buu Saga when Goku came back, he finally got the chance. And, even before that, he had already become best friends with Trunks and was already a super strong character. Not only surprising Gohan with just how powerful he was, but also becoming a Super Saiyan at a very young age. And, really, unlike younger Trunks who I don't really like because, like I may have said before, I always found him kinda annoying, I really like Goten and his really sweet and innocent attitude.

17. Whis:

The only angel on this list is Beerus's teacher, Whis. When he was first introduced, a lot of people thought he was just Beerus's servant until it was revealed that he's actually Beerus's teacher and is far stronger than him. Having a super sassy attitude and loving whatever food he tries, and when we put him with Beerus, Whis comes across as the easier one to get along with. After first meeting Goku and Vegeta, he later became their teacher for a while to help them get even stronger. In fact, it's thanks to him that both of them achieved the Super Saiyan Blue transformation. Not to mention his powers are insane. He may not look it, but his strength is huge with easily overpowering Goku and Vegeta, not to mention being able to knock out Beerus with just a tap to his neck. He can also heal anyone instantly, bring someone back to life like Frieza or even help deliver a yet to be born baby like he did with Bulla.

16. Beerus:

Speaking of Universe 7's God Of Destruction, here he is at number 16. The reason I put him higher than Whis is because I find him more enjoyable. Loving nothing more than eating and sleeping, this purple cat was originally set on blowing Earth up unless he could be satisfied with a fight from a Super Saiyan God. Goku eventually managed to transform into one but it wasn't enough to beat him. However, whether it was either seeing potential in Goku or just wanting to have food from the planet, he spared Earth from destruction. And his time with Goku and the others had led to them having loads of adventures with them like competing them in his brother Champa's tournament, helping them with the Zamasu and Goku Black incident, helping train Goku and Vegeta and telling them everything about the multiverse with Whis. He was also there during the Tournament Of Power hoping Universe 7 would win, mainly just because he himself didn't want to be erased. But he's still a fun character nonetheless.

15. Future Trunks:

Next up is Vegeta and Bulma's son from the future, Trunks. Like Bulma, I don't like Trunks the same way everyone else does. I certainly do like him and I clearly like him a lot more than Bulma, but, I don't know, there's something about him that doesn't make me like him all that much. I know that probably sounds kinda vague, but I think it's worth mentioning. Still though, there's no denying just how cool this guy is. Being the second Super Saiyan we ever see in the series, Trunks is able to use this power to immediately dispense with Frieza, his dad and his army with nothing more than a sword. While he may have been side-lined after that, it was really awesome when he was brought back in Dragon Ball Super where I honestly liked he a lot more. Especially when he got a lot of moments to shine like helping fight Goku Black and Zamasu with Goku and Vegeta, teaming up with Vegeta with a Father-Son Galick Gun and using the energy of everyone to defeat him. I wish that's where that part ended, but it was still awesome when he got to defeat him.

14. Jiren:

Now, this might be a controversial pick because, like what I said before, I know Jiren is a character who's divided in the fanbase, but, another thing I've said before, is that I really like him and think he's really cool. Not only is he beyond powerful to outclass Goku and Vegeta combined, but he's also pretty tragic given his past and his inability to trust anyone. After a monster killed his family and when his fellow students refused to stand with him to fight it, he gave up trusting anyone ever again. And so, ever since then, he's only ever trained to become strong and cut himself off from everyone. This has led to him unlocking immense power and incomparable strength. He made it to remain as calm and strong in the Tournament Of Power just to do the fighting he needed to do and nothing else. Eventually, he was pushed to his limit when Goku unlocked Ultra Instinct. But I think what I like the most about him is his arc at the end when he and Goku show signs of respect for each other and Jiren even says in his head that he'd like to see Goku again one day. And I think it would be so awesome to see him again, especially, again, I probably said this before too, but I'd love to see him and Goku team up against someone and make it so that they're proper friends.

13. King Kai:

Honestly, I think King Kai is really underrated character in the series. Not that people say bad things about him, they just don't talk about him a lot. But I really like him. He's really funny, really likeable and it's awesome how he's the one who trains a lot of the main characters, especially Goku. He even taught Goku all about the Saiyans as well. But, in terms of techniques that he's taught Goku, he's taught him some of his most iconic like the Kaio-Ken and the Spirit Bomb. And, it was technically thanks to him training Goku that Goku was able to achieve Super Saiyan 3. But, just as a character by himself, I just find him super enjoyable.

12. Android 17:

Another android on this list is 17. Just like every other android in the series, he was created by the Red Ribbon Army to be a killing machine. When first introduced, he was just set on killing Goku and nothing more. However, after Cell arrived, he did everything he could just to survive and to not be absorbed. After he was, he was able to escape after Gohan's fight with Cell. Afterwards, he kinda disappeared for a while until we saw him briefly to help give some spirit energy to Goku for the Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu. But, the part that made me like him the most was his role in Dragon Ball Super where he was chosen as another participant in the Tournament Of Power for Universe 7. And in the tournament, he got a lot of really awesome moments. My favourite being when he, Goku and Frieza had to team up against Jiren. And it was really cool how he was technically the only winner of the tournament too.

11. Gohan:

Goku's first born son is at number 11, Gohan. I'm really only just talking about Gohan from when he was introduced to the end of the Cell Games Saga. 'Cause, again, pretty much everything about him after that I really hate. But still, the fact that Goku had a son was really awesome. And the fact that Gohan was being built up as a character who was possibly even stronger than everyone else at the time was really exciting. While originally a scared little child, Gohan evolved into an incredible warrior, easily surpassing most everyone else around him, even Goku for a little bit. And it culminated in his amazing fight against Cell with him unlocking Super Saiyan 2. But, yeah, it all pretty much just went downhill from there with him becoming an annoying loser after that with him becoming an adult and adopting that stupid Great Saiyaman thing. Honestly, yeah, everything after the Cell Saga was just a failure with him. Thankfully, he did get a bit better during the Tournament Of Power, but nowhere near as good as he was when he was a teenager fighting Cell.

10. Zeno:

Okay, now we're getting into the top 10. And at number 10 is the Omni-King over all of existence, Zeno. While having appearance and personality of a naïve child, Zeno is easily the most powerful being in all of existence. Having the power to wipe out any and all life if he so pleases, Zeno first feels like nothing but a creature who loved to watch fights. And after seeing the Beerus and Champa tournament, he decided to do one himself with the Tournament Of Power. And, one of the biggest things I love about him the most is his relationship with Goku. After just one interaction with him, he immediately just said he likes Goku and they formed a friendship. And they were super enjoyable together.

9. Android 18:

My favourite female character in the whole series is Krillin's wife, Android 18. The final of the androids created by Dr. Gero on this list is 18. While originally a human like her brother, Gero modelled her to be a killing android. By far the android seen the most, 18 was a pretty cool villain when she first appeared, even going so far as to kick Vegeta so hard his arm broke. However, after the Cell incident, and especially after meeting Krillin, she had a change of heart that later led her to become a good guy. She even ended up marrying Krillin and having a daughter with him. She may not have done much since then, that is until she was also a candidate to fight in the Tournament Of Power where she got a lot of cool moments and even sacrificed herself getting eliminated so 17 would stay in the ring.

8. Tien:

Another one of Goku's original friends, Tien was a student of the Crane school, the rival school to Master Roshi's Turtle school, and learned to be a strong fighter along side his friend Chiaotzu under Master Shen. When he first debuted, he just wanted to show off how much better than everyone he was. But especially after his fight against when he was a kid, Roshi taught him how to better himself. This led to him disobeying Shen when he wanted Tien to kill Goku and he formed a friendship with Goku and the others. He would later go on to become one of Goku's most trusted allies like when he helped fight Vegeta and Nappa, held off Cell by himself, gave Goku energy for the Spirit Bomb against Buu and was yet another person Goku went to to be a candidate for the Tournament Of Power. Nowadays, he's even started a dojo himself and teaching students of his own about martial arts.

7. Broly:

At number 7 is the rebooted version of the legendary Super Saiyan, Broly. While he may have appeared in the original Dragon Ball Z movies, there's no denying his rebooted version in the 2018 Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie is far superior. While in the original movies, he was nothing more than a raging monster with no real personality, his updated version is a fully fleshed out and sympathetic character. After King Vegeta saw Broly's power eclipsed many other Saiyan's power when he was a baby, even more than actual Vegeta, he exiled him to the planet Vampa where his dad followed him to and raised him there to grow as powerful as he could to take revenge. While there, Broly also made friends with a creature there who he named Ba but his dad, Paragus, didn't like that so he cut off its ear which Broly would then wear around his waist. After so much training, Broly grew to become, possibly, the strongest Saiyan ever. And we got treated to an amazing fight scene between him vs. Goku and Vegeta with a lot moments and we also feel for him because he's still under so much pain. But, thankfully, at the end, when he was sent back to Vampa, Goku went to see him and we see that he and Goku could be meet up again soon and hopefully we'll get a team up with him and the other Z-Warriors.

6. Krillin:

At number 6 is Goku's best friend, Krillin. First shown coming to Master Roshi for training to make himself popular with girls, he eventually came to be one of the most reliable heroes on Earth. In fact, he's said to be the strongest human on Earth. Krillin may be known to be the character who's killed a whole bunch of times, but that can't go take away just how big his relevance to the story really is. While he may have hated Goku at the beginning and jealous of his abilities, he quickly came to admire it about him and would rely on Goku for every time a threat would come. But Krillin himself still remains as brave as he can be and has helped through some of the biggest threats that have come to the planet. And, thankfully, being around Goku has helped shape Krillin into a kinder and more caring person. This has led to him wanting to save Android 18 which led to their eventual marriage and birth of their daughter. And, even in Dragon Ball Super, he was in a lot of it like 

5. Master Roshi:

Goku's very first proper martial arts master is at number 5, Master Roshi. Being over 300 years old, this wise martial artist is one of most skilled fighters ever. Learning from Master Mutaito, Roshi was skilled in bunch of amazing fighting styles. He even created one himself to help teach others with his Turtle Style. And after eating Paradise Grass, he became an immortal. He would later go on to become the teacher for Goku's grandfather Gohan and Chi-Chi's dad, the Ox King and become the master to both Goku and Krillin. He would even dedicate fifty years of his life to create and perfect the Kamehameha, which most of the other characters would learn at some point in their lives. And that's not even mentioning his hilarious perverted actions which pretty much inspired every single other anime pervert. But, while he is hilarious, I still like him the most when he's being serious and while he didn't have much screen time in Dragon Ball Z or the start of Dragon Ball Super, but he was brought back to be in the Tournament Of Power, which was a perfect chance to make a comeback after a long time. And he was awesome in it. He was able to eliminate Decori and Ganos in spectacular style.

4. Frieza:

100% the greatest villain in the entire Dragon Ball franchise, Frieza is one of the most enjoyable, charismatic and fun anime villains ever. He may be completely evil with no real redeemable aspects about him, and while that doesn't work for some other Dragon Ball villains who're just evil for no reason like Buu, Frieza's personality and fun aspects makes him constantly entertaining. Loving nothing more than to play with his victims and making them suffer as much as possible before slaughtering them, Frieza wishes for nothing more than to be the ruler of everything in existence. While nowhere near as powerful as most of the main characters anymore, he's still just as fun to watch as he was originally. In fact, in my opinion, I think he was even more enjoyable in Dragon Ball Super. Though, honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with Christopher Ayres's performance. I know he also voiced Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai, but I think just the way his performance was in Super was just more fun to watch. However, Frieza's got a lot of other great aspects about him too like joining Team Universe 7 to fight in the Tournament Of Power, which was probably my favourite thing about him. Yeah, he was doing it to save himself, but it was still cool to see him fighting along side Goku and the others. But I can't wait to see what he does next. Especially now that his plan to use Broly to try to kill Goku and Vegeta failed.

3. Piccolo:

Always one of the most popular characters in the whole franchise and Akira Toriyama's personal favourite, Piccolo is the reincarnation of Demon King Piccolo after Goku first killed him. While originally the same as his dad and wanting nothing more than to kill Goku and rule the whole world, Piccolo had a change of heart after he met Gohan and formed an unlikely friendship with him as he trained him. And, in that relationship, Piccolo is more of a dad to Gohan than Goku. After being changed by Gohan, Piccolo would be there anytime a new villain would appear and be one of the most reliable friends Goku ever had. He sacrificed his life to save Gohan from Nappa, took on Frieza by himself on Namek, saved Goku from getting killed by Frieza, helped against the Androids and Cell, helped teach Goten and Trunks the Fusion technique, fought alongside the others against Beerus until Goku showed up, same with when he fought Frieza's army when he was resurrected and played a major role with in the tournament, especially when he and Gohan teamed up against some of the other universes.

2. Vegeta:

Coming in close to number 1 is Prince Of Saiyans himself, Vegeta. Always one of the most popular anime characters of all time, Vegeta never gets old to watch. Introduced as a regular arrogant villain, Vegeta's character arc has been consistently interesting to watch. While raised on Planet Vegeta to be a proud prince, he was later kept as Frieza's personal servant. Many years later, after the destruction of the planet and the extinction of most of the Saiyan race, he decided to plot a coup against Frieza when he heard about the Dragon Balls to try to become an immortal. But after his crushing defeat by Goku and the others on Earth, everything changed. He became determined to get stronger and become the strongest being in existence. This has led to him training relentlessly to surpass Goku, even if he can never do it. But he's also shown to have other good qualities like when he married Bulma and had Trunks with her. He may have still been self-obsessed when this happened, but this was when he stopped trying to kill the heroes and showed he had signs of changing. Plus, he's just an entertaining character period with his arrogance that never once makes him unlikeable and desire to protect his family and home. Plus, even if he never wants to admit it, he does still consider Goku and the other Z-Fighters as friends. And there's really his obsession with surpassing Goku which has helped him obtain some really amazing powers and transformations like many Super Saiyan transformations and being the only one to unlock Super Saiyan Blue Evolution. I doubt he'll ever be able to be the strongest being in the universe, but his dedication to the goal is always entertaining.

And my number 1 favourite Dragon Ball character is... Goku:

And finally at number 1 is the loveable, optimistic, food loving Saiyan himself, Goku. I mean, come on, how could not be Goku? No matter what the series, Goku is always the best part of it. Loving almost nothing more than fighting and eating, this Saiyan raised on Earth has been the old loveable protagonist since the very beginning of series. Being sent to Earth by his parents to save him from the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Goku was found by an old man named Gohan who did all could to raise him, but he couldn't control Goku's crazy and uncontrollable nature as a Saiyan. That is until Goku hit his head as a child which gave him amnesia about everything and turned him into the cheery and fun-loving person. After Gohan died, Goku spent many years by himself until he met Bulma and his life was forever changed with him exploring the world, meeting new friends, learning different martial arts techniques and protecting the planet from anyone who would try to conquer it. He's also the only character in the series capable of turning almost any of his enemies into a friend. There's a reason why so many people have faith in him and that's his amazing fighting genius with being one of the greatest martial artists of all time. And his journey has also been really interesting and fun to watch. At the very beginning, he was a naive boy who knew nothing about the world, but nowadays, yeah, he's still as dumb as he was originally, but he's really grown and is at least somewhat more knowledgeable about things. And, as his character as been pushed more and more, he's found more and more interests in fight and gaining more strength. Always wanting to better himself no matter what, Goku is always looking to surpass his limits. And that's not even mentioning his desire to always fight stronger opponents to test his mettle. And it doesn't matter who his enemy is, he'll do whatever it takes to protect his friends, family and home. All while having the optimistic and fun-loving attitude we all love about him. And I would honestly put him alongside Naruto and Luffy as one my favourite anime protagonists. In fact, the three of them are my three all time favourites ever. And all that is why Goku is my favourite Dragon Ball character of all time. And so, everyone, those are my picks for my top 25 Dragon Ball characters. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.