Dragon Ball Retrospective: The Heroes

Dragon Ball Makes Its Journey to the West

Dragon Ball is the world’s most famous anime. Its sequel series Dragon Ball Z was a vanguard that popularized the genre in the 90s, introducing western audiences to a new animation style.

Dragon Ball began as an adaptation of Journey to the West and grew into a space opera. Dense storylines and ever-skyrocketing power levels can make it difficult to initially enjoy Dragon Ball, but we’ve got you covered. So who are the main characters? Why are people so gaga about the show? Did some poor dragon lose his balls? Let’s find out.

Glossary

Dragon Balls: Seven orange crystal balls with stars. Collecting all seven summons the Eternal Dragon Shenron, who will grant a wish. Dragon Balls have a one year cooling off period. They can’t resurrect someone who has died multiple times, though that can be cheated with blanket resurrections. (Bring everyone killed by [X] back to life!)

Ki: An internal energy source that gives martial artists superpowers. They gain standard superpowers, can fire ki blasts, fly, and sense another’s ki.

Saiyan: A nearly-extinct warrior race obsessed with overcoming challenges. They have tails and transform into giant monkeys during a full moon. Saiyans have the Zenkai ability, which strengthens them after surviving near death and is convenient for skipping training montages.

A powerful Saiyan can transform into a fifty times stronger Super Saiyan if they experience intense emotion. Each of the many subsequent forms multiply that power. Every remaining Saiyan can transform into a Super Saiyan.

Namekian: An alien race of green-skinned humanoid slugs. They can transform into humanoid giants and perform magic. Namekian sages created the Dragon Balls, which stop working if their creator dies.

Son Goku

Voiced By: Masako Nozawa, Sean Schemmel, Lawrence Simpson
Name Pun: Carrots (Kakarot) Japanese name of Sun Wukong (Son Goku)

Dragon Ball’s main character has grown from a weird, super strong kid into a warrior able to fight with gods.

A Saiyan named Kakarot was born on planet Vegeta. Deemed a weakling, he was sent to conquer Earth or die. Kakarot was found by a kindly martial artist named Son Gohan and renamed Goku. A timely fall caused Goku to suffer brain damage and changed his personality to that of a kind, easygoing child instead of a conqueror.

Goku unknowingly killed Gohan while in his giant monkey form. A young woman named Bulma found his home and discovered that he had a Dragon Ball. She convinced Goku that he could keep it if he joined her quest to unite all seven. Goku protected Bulma from many threats, including incompetent despot Pilaf and the Nazi-esque Red Ribbon Army.

Goku made many friends out of villains trying to kill him or steal the Dragon Balls. He married a princess named Chi-Chi and raised a son named Gohan after his grandfather. Goku learned he was a Saiyan from his evil brother Raditz, leading to more deadly battles as Goku fought evil across the universe.

Martial arts are Goku’s life and he has studied under multiple gods. His signature moves are a laser called the Kamehameha and the Spirit Bomb, which channels ki from nature into a deadly blast. Goku has mastered every level of Super Saiyan and also learned the divine Ultra Instinct technique, allowing him to fight without consciously choosing his next move.

Goku’s heart is pure. He always gives enemies a chance to quit mid-fight and embraces any foe who redeems themselves. Goku fixates on fighting, food, and his family. More kind than smart, Goku always lets villains use their trump card and can be painfully blunt. The English dub played up similarities between Goku and Superman to make his flaws palatable.

Dragon Ball: Bulma Briefs

Voiced By: Hiromi Tsuru, Aya Hisakawa, Tiffany Vollmer, Corrine Sudberg
Name Pun: Bloomers and underwear

Goku is the star, but Dragon Ball would not have begun without this brilliant scientist.

Bulma Briefs was a teenage genius and heiress who discovered a Dragon Ball. She went on a quest to collect all seven and wish for the perfect boyfriend. Goku became her bodyguard and rescued her many times. Bulma abandoned her wish after falling in love with a reformed desert bandit named Yamcha.

Bulma stayed on the sidelines after the first wish was made on the Dragon Balls. She served as Goku’s guide to civilization and a friendly voice of reason. Bulma dumped Yamcha for cheating on her, but found lasting love in another reformed villain named Vegeta. Bulma has since fallen into the Jimmy Olsen role of a supporting character that does little, but is too iconic to drop from the cast.

Don’t expect Bulma to fight off villains, because she has no combat training and can’t use ki. Bulma designs devices to help her allies or uses her cartoonish wealth to solve problems. She is fearless despite her physical weakness, even slapping the God of Destruction for being rude. Twice.

Vegeta

Voiced By: Ryo Horikawa, Christopher Sabat, Nick Landis
Name Pun: Vegetable

Goku defined the stock anime hero, but this Dragon Ball character personifies the arrogant rival archetype.

Vegeta is the son of King Vegeta from the planet Vegeta. That isn’t confusing at all. He was deemed a “super elite” warrior and raised to inherit the throne. His life changed when the Saiyan’s patron Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, killing most of the species. Vegeta was forced into Frieza’s army as a mercenary and unspoken living trophy.

Vegeta learned about the Dragon Balls and invaded Earth with the remaining Saiyans to wish for immortality. He barely escaped from his fight with Goku and Earth’s defenders, which sparked a lifelong grudge. Vegeta reluctantly worked with them to keep Frieza from getting the Dragon Balls and matured over many seasons from an arrogant space pirate to an aloof warrior prince.

Energy blasts are Vegeta’s forte. He fires dozens of lasers to vaporize opponents, from the small Big Bang Attack to his signature Final Flash. Realizing that he would never best Goku, Vegeta sought his own path to power and discovered Ultra Ego, a divine form that strengthens Vegeta as he embraces his bloodlust. As a last resort, Vegeta can unleash all of his energy to devastate an area with Final Explosion.

Dragon Ball: Krillin

Voice Actors: Mayumi Tanaka, Sonny Strait, Nick Landis
Name Pun: Japanese word for chestnut mixed with Shaolin (Kuririn)

Humans were outgunned a long time ago in Dragon Ball. How can they keep up with aliens and gods? But no matter the threat, there’s one human always willing to do what he can.

Krillin was a Shaolin monk who left his temple to escape from bullies. He sought out a legendary teacher named Master Roshi and arrived at the same time as Goku. Krillin bullied his fellow student, but eventually became Goku’s friend.

As an adult, Krillin was always on the front lines, distracting stronger villains and bailing out his allies. He died twice while protecting his friends, then retired from fighting. As a karmic reward, he found love in reformed villain Android 18 after saving her life.

Krillin specializes in support tactics. He blinds enemies with the Solar Flare technique and is entrusted with Senzu Beans, which magically heal all wounds and replenish the eater’s energy. Krillin’s Destructo Disc is a spinning blade of ki that can cut through significantly stronger enemies. So naturally, he never uses it on the Big Bad unless it wouldn’t work.

Son Gohan

Voice Actors: Masako Nozawa, Kyle Herbert, Lawrence Simpson
Name Pun: Japanese word for cooked rice

Dragon Ball was always Goku’s story, but he was almost replaced. Those plans fell through because of fan backlash, but it still made his son one of the most developed characters.

Son Gohan was four years old when his lifetime of battle began. He was kidnapped by his uncle Raditz, watched Goku die, then was kidnapped by Namekian villain Piccolo, all in about an hour. Piccolo forced Gohan to survive in the wilderness for one year with minimal help to grow stronger.

Gohan battled Vegeta’s invasion, witnessed a Namekian genocide, and was forced to fight against the bio-android Cell. The trauma eventually overwhelmed him and he became the Super Saiyan 2. As an adult, Gohan avoided fight training to become an entomologist and parent, moonlighting as the superhero parody Great Saiyaman.

Gohan lacks signature moves and specialties. A god unlocked his potential, allowing Gohan to fight at full strength without transforming. When pushed to save his daughter from a monster, Gohan tapped into a new form dubbed Beast. This form hasn’t seen a major fight yet and its quirks remain unrevealed.

Dragon Ball: Piccolo

Voice Actors: Toshio Furukawa, Christopher Sabat, Nick Landis
Name Pun: the woodwind instrument

Many of Goku’s allies started out as villains. This Namekian was the first Dragon Ball Big Bad to bury the hatchet.

Piccolo is the reincarnation of the Demon King Piccolo. He grew up with a single-minded obsession to kill Goku for murdering his predecessor and succeeded when Goku trapped Raditz in place for one of his blasts. Piccolo then kidnapped Gohan to train as a weapon.

Gohan’s childish innocence slowly encouraged Piccolo to care for others. He later died saving Gohan during Vegeta’s invasion. The heroes resurrected him on his home planet, Namek. Now firmly a hero, Piccolo became a mentor and father figure to Gohan. Hooray for redemptive Stockholm Syndrome!

Piccolo is a strategist and interceptor who specializes in controlling the battlefield. His Special Beam Cannon can kill much stronger foes, but requires five minutes to charge. Piccolo can use the Hellzone Grenade to trap enemies by telekinetically stopping ki blasts in mid-air before hitting his foe from every angle.

Trunks

Voiced By: Takeshi Kusao, Eric Vale, Scott Frerichs
Name Pun: Underwear

Dragon Ball’s tone varies drastically with each season. Some are light-hearted adventures, but others are dark as night. Batten down the hatches when this purple-haired swordsman shows up.

Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma. When he was a child, two androids devastated the world and killed every hero except Gohan. Trunks and Gohan fought a losing war against the androids for a decade until they murdered Gohan. 

Bulma created a time machine and sent Trunks back in time to stop the androids like an anime version of Terminator 2. Ripples in the timestream prevented the modern androids from turning evil. Vegeta helped his son become strong enough to kill them in Trunk’s future timeline.

Trunks’ sword is deadlier than his fists, but has a nasty tendency to break if villains get the upper hand. He relies on the Burning Attack and Heat Dome to incinerate enemies. Trunks later learned to channel a Spirit Bomb through his blade to create the Sword of Hope.

Androids 17 and 18

17 Voice Actors: Shigeru Nakahara, Chuck Hubert, Marc Soskin
18 Voice Actors: Miki Ito, Meredith McCoy, Amber Lee Connors
Name Pun: Gemstones (Lapis-Lazuli)

A thin line separates heroism from villainy. It’s easy to fall to the dark side without someone to remind you of the light. Viewers have seen these teenage techno terrors embrace both sides.

Lapis and Lazuli were rebellious teen siblings kidnapped by the mad Dr. Gero. He experimented to make them weapons capable of killing Goku. They became cyborgs dubbed 17 (Lapis) and 18 (Lazuli.) The siblings turned against Gero and killed him.

17 and 18 wreaked havoc through the world, killing people for fun. Trunks’ time travel changed the past, resulting in the gentle Android 16 also being activated. He prevented the siblings from turning evil long enough for them to calm their demons and join the heroes. 17 became a park ranger and occasional ally while 18 married Krillin and became a mother.

17 and 18 have perpetual motion engines granting them infinite stamina. As a tradeoff, they can’t sense ki like other characters can. 17 has an indestructible force field while 18 learned her husband’s Destructo Disc technique. The siblings are unstoppable when fighting as a team.

Dragon Ball: Beerus

Voiced By: Koichi Yamadera, Jason Douglas
Name Pun: Alcohol

Most of Dragon Ball’s characters have been flying around since the 90s. A new fighter greatly expanded the universe in 2013, but is this feline a friend or foe?

Beerus is a God of Destruction charged with promoting new life by destroying the old. He’s also the laziest god in the universe, more interested in catnaps and delicious food than his job. His angelic retainer Whis has his hands full pushing Beerus to do anything.

Beerus learned that Goku was prophesied to become a Super Saiyan God, one of the few beings that could challenge him. He pushed Goku until the Saiyan transformed and fought him, threatening to destroy Earth if Goku lost or would not fight.

Despite Goku’s best efforts, Beerus defeated him and fulfilled his promise by blasting a chunk of dirt, thus destroying earth. He spared the planet because Goku was a worthwhile rival and potential pupil, but more importantly, the local food was delicious.

Beerus’ fighting style focuses on precision and nerve strikes, though he’ll switch to brawling when angry. His Hakai channels destructive energy capable of destroying anything, even souls. Beerus knows the Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego techniques, but rarely uses them. He’s too lazy and arrogant to master Ultra Instinct and his raw strength makes Ultra Ego unnecessary.

Didya Get All That?

An alien hero and his army of foes turned family.

Image: Copyright Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation. Courtesy Toei Animation.

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.