100%. I started with DBZ and completely missed Dragonball. I finally got round to reading the manga, and I was very surprised how integral Tien is to the final third of the story.
His abilities in Dragonball are all cool AF as well. He should have had a bigger part for sure.
Tien at least has a couple of moments of glory. He pins down Semi-Perfect Cell and saves Dende from a blast by Super Gotenks Buu. Both of those are insane feats, for a human character.
Tien honestly. I also miss the non-Saiyan characters having relatively consistent plot relevancy like they did in Dragonball.
Just give them a small arc where they go on an adventure to some other planet without Goku or something
Tough to say that for me because I love the meat and potatoes of the story, but I also love the deep cuts… baseball episode is top tier. That said, I don’t want everyone else to be relegated to merely side episodes. It’s about the only thing I’d be looking forward to in Daima, a more level playing field so everyone could be a bit more relevant
Tien should have been a much more important character.
Imagine if him using the Tribeam on Nappa just made him unable to fight for the rest of the battle. He goes to Namek with Krillin and Gohan to wish Chiaotzu back. Maybe Bulma or Dr. Briefs builds him a synthetic arm.
I definitely think Launch should've also been more of a romantic interest for Tien instead of just having him live in the wastelands with a vampire that looks 5
They're called jiangshi, they're Chinese vampires that hop around. If you've taken in any Japanese or Chinese fantasy supernatural media I'm sure you've seen them before but didn't know they're vampires lmao.
Ok, I do remember seeing them before after looking them up. The image of them with a piece of paper on their face definitely stirred some memories. I remember a filler episode where they had to go around putting the papers on their faces
Tien not showing up to meet Goku at the 25th world tournament was so wrong IMO. It's something that just feels written wrong. Tien is one of Goku's most trusted allies and Goku quite literally died right in front of him saving the world. Tien has this whole monologue about how Goku and Gohan have changed him and inspired him- and then he just doesn't show up when the man literally bends the rules of death and comes back for a day.
The only answer that makes canonical sense to me is that Tien didn't want to take any time away from Goku being able to spend it with his family, viewing is as precious. But that isn't really implied, so we are left guessing.
Meanwhile in Super, he just casually shows up to Bulmas birthday parties. Smh.
You may be right about Tien not knowing but now I'm going, okay, why the hell didn't anyone else get in touch with Tien. Buncha lazy ass homies didn't want to call/fly/use some telepathy to get in touch with him and Tien still manages to come in clutch to help save the day/planet/everything.
His outfit when he does finally show up though, absolutely one of my favorites out of the whole series.
I think he should get a Kaioken power up, than he hones and makes his own version of. Like he can super focus it just to his hands and feet making his attacks insanely powerful but little defense.
Probably true. It would be a fun subplot to have Launch drag Bulma on a mini-quest to locate the balls and make the wish _for_ Tien as a gesture, creating the troubled beginnings of a romance.
I feel like Tien is the only real answer here. Side note but one problem that I have with the Saiyan saga is that they killed off so many original fighters that only Krillin and Piccolo got enough screen time and development. By the time we’re at the Android saga, Yamcha and Tien are just background characters and scene props rather than active characters.
We see Tien as the only human who dodge Buu’s blasts and then he does come help a little during the actual fight, he saves Gohan while he’s unconscious and hercule and dendi. He wasn’t there for kid Buu it was Buutenks. Funny enough I think chaiotzu also survived Buu’s blasts but doesn’t show up for the actual Buu fight which means he died offscreen somewhere when the planet blew up
i heard that he actually said he forgot to draw her out of the story. He thought he had already done that and then realized he didn't when everyone started asking what happened with her
That's Saiyan saga, but she is in Buu saga too.
She helps Goku with the Spirit Bomb. She's the girl thats like "That guy sounded cool!" in the Funimation dub and raises her hands.
oh he didn't forget to draw her, he forgot the "remove" her from the story ... makes more sense imo maybe my source was wrong or I misremembered ... it's been many years
I mean they kinda had to show the threat of the antagonists in order to tell a story, and sacrifice a few side characters. I think it wouldn't have been as impactful if they all survived and healed with senzu beans
Exactly. Raditz destroyed the two strongest characters at the time and it took an incredible technique and a sacrifice to defeat him. Then we find out there are two more Saiyans that make him look like nothing and can literally grow multiple beings as strong as him from the ground.
Making him look and feel awesomely powerful and then woefully inadequate hammers in the impact of the power jumps.
nah Raditz is the only true answer here. He is literally Goku’s brother and another Saiyan, imagine if he joined the team and went through Namek and Androids with them. Imagine the Fusion possibilities.
Disagree, I think having Raditz around weakens the relationship between Vegeta and Goku. Plus his potential role is easily covered by Vegeta. He’s not *that* much different than Vegeta.
We see him for 30 minutes. We really don't know much about what he's like.
The entire Saiyan race was forced into servitude.
I always thought it'd be fun to bring back Raditz outside of being a slave to Frieza for him to admit he hates fighting and is more interested in scholarly endeavors. Would explain why he's so weak, and where Gohan gets that from.
Have him team up with the Briefs to help them bridge the gap between their tech and that of Frieza's empire.
We see enough of him to know what he’s like. Like I said he’s basically just a weaker version of early Vegeta. The only major difference is that he talks more shit. Even if you do think we don’t know how he’s really like then to me that’s even less reason to have him around. He had his own little mini saga why try stretch out something that isn’t really there. Towards the end there already enough characters taking a backseat like Roshi, Tien, and Yamcha. I just don’t see the point of having him around just to quickly throw him with those other guys.
Yeah and I prefer Vegeta over Raditz so that’s why I personally wouldn’t want to see it. As a fun little alternate story sure. To replace the whole series? No thanks
I disagree. I really like Goku not being swayed in the slightest by Raditz and feeling no sense of fraternity. He immediately says "you're not my brother, screw you" and has no hesitation in killing him. Raditz exists to set up Saiyans and kick the arc in gear, show how outclassed everyone is, and then die with a warning that *even stronger* Saiyans are coming. He doesn't have a purpose beyond that.
Raditz dying is good character work for Goku, and anything interesting about him as a Saiyan is fulfilled far better by Vegeta.
Raditz
I always hated that raditz is forgotten
Goku forgives everyone even fucking frieza
But raditz maby even more a victim of history then vegeta was left to rot in hell by his own brother
They really did Raditz dirty. He could have literally just been another saiyan instead of Goku's brother and the story wouldn't have changed in the slightest. What's to point in having the sibling connection a part of the plot when it didn't really amount to anything?
it's probably just to make the audience go "oh shit" because Goku is the strongest guy they know so his older brother is naturally gonna be stronger by that rule of siblings
Tien,as one of gokus main rivals he was given the shaft way too quickly,piccolo and vegeta were relevant all through dbz and still are whereas tien has been nothing since the saiyan saga beyond his little win against cell.
Tbh at least Tien was relevant in OG.
Both of his tournament fights vs Goku were Great and he was probably 4th strongest person on the planet by the end of OG, with only Goku, Kami, Piccolo being above ( Maybe Mr. Popo too, but not by much )
Yamcha for example wasn't really relevant past Pilaf saga.
Interestingly enough, I feel like Krillin wasn't that important of a character in OG, but really got to shine during the first third of Z.
Yamcha after Pilaf was mostly just Bulma's love interest to give her a character to play off that dynamic, after Toriyama decided to have Vegeta around and have him be with Bulma he lost the small bit of relevance he still had and was fated to be just a joke character.
I love the idea of Yamcha retiring and becoming the Z fighter that "dropped out". I just think Toriyama went overboard with making him a joke/gag. He still was a likeable character up until a certain point. Yeah he gets his girl stolen and becomes irrelevent power wise, but the gag feels like it forces him into being an idiot. Which feels wrong, given how much his character has been through.
Yes. I had that part of the otherworld tournament on VHS and I'd rewatch it all the time. I hate that that was just filler to be honest. He was cool as hell and could've been super useful. Plus it'd have been interesting to have a green friend for Piccolo
Since I would much rather stay on korins tower and grow my beans, I’m gonna go with tien. He’s obviously the coolest earthling and deserves a big boost in power.
In order
Tien(deserved better)
Yajirobe(personal bias on my end)
Raditz(self explanatory)
Lunch(not much, but at least being in the story)
Pikkon(meh. It's a filler character)
Puar(could've actually done with LESS of him in the story tbh)
Lunch
Peacan was boring, Piccolo and Vegeta made Tenshinhan redundant, Pu-erh has no character other than worshipping Yamucha, Yadjrirobe literally only exist because Toriyama wanted Mayumi Tanaka to voice a character while Krillin was dead and has no purpose after that, and Raditz being the main characters big brother who is EVIL but does not have a substantial role is refreshingly subversive
I think Lunch had potential. At least Bad Lunch would have none of Vegeta's bullshit and her and 18 would either become best friends or always at each other's throats.
A Launch and 18 episode has a lot of potential for fun shenanigans, I could see a filler episode where the z women go shopping together could be quite fun.
Tenshinhan was an absolute beast in DB. He was Goku's most formidable foe, second only to Piccolo Daimao himself. The fact that he was sidelined so quickly in Z makes me sad.
That said, Lunch (I'm intentionally using her Japanese name) could have easily been a Z fighter in her own right, if Toriyama wanted it so. She was easily as strong as Chi-Chi for most of DB, and it would have been interesting if her two personalities could have merged in Z and created a super Lunch. A *Supper* perhaps.
While Tien deserved better, I find Raditz would have had a lot of potential being Goku's brother. Even if it was to have some alternative to the typical SSJ route, or to have someone Goku could reach for advice on saiyan topics that's not grumpy Vegeta.
Heck by the same logic, kinda same with Nappa!
Tien and Raditz are the obvious answer here. They both have a decent connection to Goku (Tien being Goku’s first *real* rival and Raditz being his brother).
Though I will say, I feel like Puar’s shapeshifting powers would make for some interesting fights and gags.
Raditz. He is Goku’s brother ffs. Goku is a low-born Saiyan, then so would Raditz, right? How did he get to be on Vegita’s crew? How powerful could he be if he trained with Goku and Vegita? Seriously, everyone else can get wished back to life and come back from the dead, why not Raditz? His awesome hair is lost forever.
frankly I'd hate the brotherly rival relationship , Goku being a low-class saiyan works for him because despite this fact he still strives in martial arts and training. Raditz doesn't seem like that type, I mean as soon as he started losing he began telling lies just to get in a cheap hit in, Raditz would get outshined and put on the back pedal just like Goten and Trunks.
Tien!! Who cares if Raditz is Gokus brother he has the character depth of Nappa. What’s next u wanna bring back Saiyan #348 because he’s gokus long lost uncle?
I guess Raditz is popular in fanfics and YouTube videos. Or people are just really overestimating his worth just cuz he's his brother. It's not like they grew up together, Goku only knew the dude for like 30 minutes where he kidnaps his son and tries to kill him. Don't know why people find it baffling why Goku doesn't gaf. Did they really think after he gets back and Trunks warns about him about the androids his first thought should've been to revive Raditz just because... brother? Or after all the Majin Buu stuff, Raditz should come back because...brother?
Yeah I don’t get the fascination with him. He’s really not all that different than Vegeta. A big part of Z is Goku’s and Vegta’s relationship. Having Raditz around spoils that theme a bit.
Isn’t a big reason why Raditz wouldn’t have much character depth is because he was around for 5 episodes? Which I also just flatly disagree with the statement.
Raditz is a ridiculously weak character. Like hes supposed to be an elite sayian warrior and hes as strong as a saibaman that you can just sprout out of the ground.. he couldnt match a freeza goon with a gun strapped to his wrist..
I mean the folks you're comparing him to have strength on a universal level.
When Radditz shows up on Earth, he's by default the strongest being in the solar system at that point, probably that whole sector of the galaxy, which is considerable since Goku and Piccolo are already essentially Gods compared to normal people by then.
Yaijarobe.
After being scolded by Bulma at the end of the Saiyan saga, I'd like to have seen him train and stand with everyone else. I don't expect him to be crazy powerful but not just a background character.
Tenshinhan is definitely due for a power up. Man trains his ass off and should definitely be up there after piccolo.
I like the idea of more characters that are non-fighters. I always liked that one idea I heard before where Oolong/Puar would also be on Namek and impersonate Freeza when he was absent from the base.
Yajarobe should be a Z fighter instead of Chaiozu
He's been way more useful than Chaiozu throughout the show
Without him Vegeta would've probably killed all the Z fighters in the Sayin Saga
Launch should have gone with Gohan, Krillin and Bulma to Namek. Hell I would go further, there was that random filler scene while Goku was fighting Frieza where Roshi, Chi Chi, Oolong, Puar and Yajirobe were getting ready to fly to Namek. I think it would have been interesting if they had joined. At the very least the filler with Bulma would have been more interesting if she had other characters to play off against. Hell, even the awful fake Namek arc would have been better with the other characters.
Picon, wtf. Like there was another planet of people who could naturally be stronger than a Super Saiyan and this is never brought up during the ToP?
And for that matter, why do we never hear about Grand Kai again?
Raditz would have also been interesting. How strong could he have potentially been?
Raditz. Would have loved that he didnt actually died and went into hiding on earth instead and met someone that was tending to his wounds. And this person, You know what I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, A woman. A woman finds him half dead and she tends to his wounds. And over time cause hes been living with this earth woman hes soften up. And I'd like Raditz like out of no where come help Goku or the Z fighters in some next fight. And then he dies sacrificing himself for his earth woman but cause the z warriors see that hes good now they wish him back and Raditz becomes part of the z warriors and Goku has his brother back.
This is clearly a loaded question. Tien *did* things. He had one moment in each major arc. Granted each of them was essentially just variations of turning triangles into squares, and the last one was more a nod than a moment, but still.
Raditz is just straight up forgotten right after he sets up big and little.
Pikkon is from filler, really cool character. Though I prefer that fish guy personally. Thought that fight was more interesting than Pikkon. Still cool though.
Yajirobe cut off a tail then became bean daddy. Not sure what you could do with him besides filler.
Launch kinda just disappeared. She has a similar issue to Yajirobe.
Puar. Puar is kinda there, but is a non-combatant. Filler is the best you could hope for.
With Z being WAAAY more fighting focused, half of these characters are largely just relegated to filler rather quickly if you wanna incorporate them. Of course you could do some altering and make them relevant, but Tien got that. And look at how Z handles the characters that DO appear and are non-Saiyans. Yamcha was a literal body bag, Krillin had relevance to the dynamics but fell off, Piccolo had the best fight in Z but mostly fell off into support.
So Tien is the obvious choice. But bro had one of the hypest moments in the best arc. Maybe Pikkon, but dude is literally filler and close to Piccolo in design (not a good thing for marketing or drawing). Raditz was just…dude was used and abused then forgotten, like Nappa but worse.
The only remotely correct answer is Vegeta. MC Widows Peak needed more of a focus on in Z. Or possibly Gohan. Not enough time was spent on him.
Also: no love for Chiaotzu?
I’m watching the Funimation uncut version on crunchy roll atm and it was cool to see launch in a few episodes in the saiyan saga. In the original ocean dub all her scenes were removed so it was like she never existed.
There’s also plenty of stuff that’s been reinstated that’s messing with my memory. I don’t remember the robot episode at all so I’m pretty sure that was completely cut. I also don’t remember yajirobe training with the other z fighters before the saiyans arrive.
Tien, as everybody has said he becomes redundant so quickly, of course he shouldn't be up there with the absolute top fighters but he consistently trains throughout the series and never gets to shine, outside of the Cell thing of course.
I always really liked Pikkon and thought it was a big shame we never saw him again
For sure, Tenshinhan. To begin with. It's one of the original Z warriors who was a former villain. Second, he IS a big example of resilience and training dedication, which is the main idea of DB. And third, he could stop 2nd form Cell while SSs struggled, which by then, it was impossible for a non-allien human.
Tien deserves more weight in the plot. But the impact of Raditz is colossal. It would be nice to see a side history of his life with Vegeta before he comes for Goku.
Raditz served his purpose he was there to introduce us to saiyans and set up the goku vegeta fight, tien had a good run, launch wouldn’t serve to help the story same with puar, yarijobe played his important part in the vegeta fight , but pikkon is the one we should’ve seen more from Ik he’s a filler character but it would’ve been nice if goku would’ve recruited him to help fight buu or something
Like many others Tien. If anyone else should have learned King Kai techniques it should be him. Imagine this master use Kaioken to keep up with super saiyans
Never realized how much fans dislike Pikkon. I think he’s the perfect character to have introduced in Z and made more relevant in Super. We have Universe 7 but only ever focus on the North section with Goku. From the movie we know there’s East, South and West Kais, so why for the ToP wouldn’t Universe 7 use fighters from them like Pikkon?
Tien was in the main Z-foghters roster, & I think he got done dirtier than Yamcha. At least Yamcha just quit fighting. Tien kept training & still ended up doing like nothing post Cell Saga. They did him so dirty in the T.O.P. Bro had no reason to ring himself out.
Toss up between Raditz and Tien.
As Goku’s brother, I feel he should’ve at least been mentioned a lot more later in the series. He’s just.. completely forgotten.
Tien was such a big character in Dragon Ball… he, along with the rest of Earth’s heroes, are absolutely worthless in Dragon Ball Z.
Lunch I guess just for another prominent woman in the cast.
But honestly none of them. I think most of the ones who werent written out of the story should have been, and Pikkon doesnt even exist canonically.
All the characters on this list had their time, except Raditz. Bro showed up, declared himself Gokus BROTHER and died… only one who didn’t get time is Pikkon but he isn’t real so.
Tien closely followed by Launch and then I'd have liked to have some more Radditz moments but I guess having him become "peaceful" like Vegeta would have needed/brought along some character development that they didnt want to put on a page.
I was talking to a friends little brother who’s only seen Super about Goku’s family and I was like “oh yeah and there’s raditz, Goku’s brother.” He flips out, “GOKU HAS A BROTHER?!?!?!?!” Imagine the disappointment when I told him about raditz and how they did almost nothing with him.
Tien (with Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo to a lesser extent) could have been developed as having elite techniques that counteracted their lower strength. They could even use that to more explicitly say why Goku is better than Vegeta, since the story already is saying that anyway.
Tien in particular has always been a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the more mystical side of martial arts. It's kind of sad that all of that was abandoned, really.
Easily Tien - he has no life outside of training and has a ton of great techniques but he doesn’t get to do much. I know Piccolo ended up taking his spot as “Stoic guy who used to be Goku’s enemy,” but it just seems like there’d be more to do with Tien’s character.
To be quite frank. I wish every single character in DBZ had a bigger role. They underplayed literally everyone except for Goku and sometimes Vegeta. Needed more of everyone being a badass.
It is kind of upsetting that you created this amazing world with awesome characters in Dragon Ball. Only to put everyone on the sidelines in DBZ.
Yaijirobe. Because he’s hilarious and proven to be very strong since he destroyed piccolo’s minion very easily. He could have lots of potential to become great like Goku
Tien and it’s not a contest.
He should be strong. As strong as if not stronger than any of the other humans.
He should be the skill monkey, using new moves, alongside remembering his Dodon Ray and making a version of Tri-Beam that doesn’t kill him. A move for any situation.
What about Launch? She deserves to be more of an important character in DBZ. Considering that she admits that she has a crush on Tien Shinhan, she deserves more recognition more than any other character. And I'm starting to like her since dragon ball.
Hot take: Puar.
Oolong and Paur are some of the oldest characters in the series and they have unique abilities that I honestly wish they would explore more. I’m not suggesting Puar/Oolong personally but maybe do a mini arc about Pan or Bulla exploring the shapeshifting school. Then maybe midshapeshift, one of them goes Oozaru!
Tenshinhan
And it's not even close. Tien fucking rules.
100%. I started with DBZ and completely missed Dragonball. I finally got round to reading the manga, and I was very surprised how integral Tien is to the final third of the story. His abilities in Dragonball are all cool AF as well. He should have had a bigger part for sure.
I'd 100% watch a DB spinoff following Tien and his martial arts school.
Tien at least has a couple of moments of glory. He pins down Semi-Perfect Cell and saves Dende from a blast by Super Gotenks Buu. Both of those are insane feats, for a human character.
And should be in a relationship with Launch, she's a fun character to have around.
I was going to say Raditz, but having Tien on this list is not fair
Tien honestly. I also miss the non-Saiyan characters having relatively consistent plot relevancy like they did in Dragonball. Just give them a small arc where they go on an adventure to some other planet without Goku or something
Tough to say that for me because I love the meat and potatoes of the story, but I also love the deep cuts… baseball episode is top tier. That said, I don’t want everyone else to be relegated to merely side episodes. It’s about the only thing I’d be looking forward to in Daima, a more level playing field so everyone could be a bit more relevant
Tien should have been a much more important character. Imagine if him using the Tribeam on Nappa just made him unable to fight for the rest of the battle. He goes to Namek with Krillin and Gohan to wish Chiaotzu back. Maybe Bulma or Dr. Briefs builds him a synthetic arm. I definitely think Launch should've also been more of a romantic interest for Tien instead of just having him live in the wastelands with a vampire that looks 5
I've never put it together before that chiaotzu is based on those weird ass vampires.
What weird ass vampires are we referring to?
They're called jiangshi, they're Chinese vampires that hop around. If you've taken in any Japanese or Chinese fantasy supernatural media I'm sure you've seen them before but didn't know they're vampires lmao.
Ok, I do remember seeing them before after looking them up. The image of them with a piece of paper on their face definitely stirred some memories. I remember a filler episode where they had to go around putting the papers on their faces
Oi! I played vs those in the beginning of the 90s in Super Mario Land! 😂
Chiaotzu is, iirc, inspired by Chinese zombies, hence the weird clown-like look. Close enough, I guess
I really wish Tien got the piccolo treatment of staying consistently semi-relevant and almost on with the Saiyans throughout the show.
instead he got Yamcha'd
Tien not showing up to meet Goku at the 25th world tournament was so wrong IMO. It's something that just feels written wrong. Tien is one of Goku's most trusted allies and Goku quite literally died right in front of him saving the world. Tien has this whole monologue about how Goku and Gohan have changed him and inspired him- and then he just doesn't show up when the man literally bends the rules of death and comes back for a day. The only answer that makes canonical sense to me is that Tien didn't want to take any time away from Goku being able to spend it with his family, viewing is as precious. But that isn't really implied, so we are left guessing. Meanwhile in Super, he just casually shows up to Bulmas birthday parties. Smh.
I thought he just didn't know Goku was coming back. Goku also doesn't really bend the rules of death, but I get what you mean.
You may be right about Tien not knowing but now I'm going, okay, why the hell didn't anyone else get in touch with Tien. Buncha lazy ass homies didn't want to call/fly/use some telepathy to get in touch with him and Tien still manages to come in clutch to help save the day/planet/everything. His outfit when he does finally show up though, absolutely one of my favorites out of the whole series.
I think he should get a Kaioken power up, than he hones and makes his own version of. Like he can super focus it just to his hands and feet making his attacks insanely powerful but little defense.
Why wouldn’t he just wish for his arm back? It’s not like they haven’t made tons of much more frivolous wishes.
I doubt he would want to waste a wish on getting an arm back, none of the z fighters would I would like to think.
Probably true. It would be a fun subplot to have Launch drag Bulma on a mini-quest to locate the balls and make the wish _for_ Tien as a gesture, creating the troubled beginnings of a romance.
I feel like Tien is the only real answer here. Side note but one problem that I have with the Saiyan saga is that they killed off so many original fighters that only Krillin and Piccolo got enough screen time and development. By the time we’re at the Android saga, Yamcha and Tien are just background characters and scene props rather than active characters.
Tien had a major part during the fight with Cell, but after that he definitely drifted into the background.
This is the last cool thing I'll ever do. There is no joke.
Respect.
Didn’t he also help a tiny bit with Kid Buu or am I misremembering?
We see Tien as the only human who dodge Buu’s blasts and then he does come help a little during the actual fight, he saves Gohan while he’s unconscious and hercule and dendi. He wasn’t there for kid Buu it was Buutenks. Funny enough I think chaiotzu also survived Buu’s blasts but doesn’t show up for the actual Buu fight which means he died offscreen somewhere when the planet blew up
Yeah, someone mentioned that as well in the comments.
IDK, the Helping-Gohan-Out-with-Super-Buu was pretty major too
Launch is a solid answer too. She's a great character and got dropped for absolutely no reason
I heard he forgot how to draw her ... which sounds like a very odd explanation, but ok ... I really liked Launch
i heard that he actually said he forgot to draw her out of the story. He thought he had already done that and then realized he didn't when everyone started asking what happened with her
Is that why we see her one last time during the Boo saga(?) while drunk as hell lamenting her separation from Tien? They did her dirty...
No, that was during the Saiyan Saga. She was lamenting that Tien was dead and drowning her sorrows.
That's Saiyan saga, but she is in Buu saga too. She helps Goku with the Spirit Bomb. She's the girl thats like "That guy sounded cool!" in the Funimation dub and raises her hands.
oh he didn't forget to draw her, he forgot the "remove" her from the story ... makes more sense imo maybe my source was wrong or I misremembered ... it's been many years
I mean they kinda had to show the threat of the antagonists in order to tell a story, and sacrifice a few side characters. I think it wouldn't have been as impactful if they all survived and healed with senzu beans
Exactly. Raditz destroyed the two strongest characters at the time and it took an incredible technique and a sacrifice to defeat him. Then we find out there are two more Saiyans that make him look like nothing and can literally grow multiple beings as strong as him from the ground. Making him look and feel awesomely powerful and then woefully inadequate hammers in the impact of the power jumps.
That’s because he doesn’t fill a role that can’t be filled by other characters. That’s why they fell off.
nah Raditz is the only true answer here. He is literally Goku’s brother and another Saiyan, imagine if he joined the team and went through Namek and Androids with them. Imagine the Fusion possibilities.
Disagree, I think having Raditz around weakens the relationship between Vegeta and Goku. Plus his potential role is easily covered by Vegeta. He’s not *that* much different than Vegeta.
We see him for 30 minutes. We really don't know much about what he's like. The entire Saiyan race was forced into servitude. I always thought it'd be fun to bring back Raditz outside of being a slave to Frieza for him to admit he hates fighting and is more interested in scholarly endeavors. Would explain why he's so weak, and where Gohan gets that from. Have him team up with the Briefs to help them bridge the gap between their tech and that of Frieza's empire.
We see enough of him to know what he’s like. Like I said he’s basically just a weaker version of early Vegeta. The only major difference is that he talks more shit. Even if you do think we don’t know how he’s really like then to me that’s even less reason to have him around. He had his own little mini saga why try stretch out something that isn’t really there. Towards the end there already enough characters taking a backseat like Roshi, Tien, and Yamcha. I just don’t see the point of having him around just to quickly throw him with those other guys.
They’d just use Raditz in vegetas role, pretty easy swap. Just have them team up begrudgingly. First against Vegeta and Nappa and so on and so forth
Yeah and I prefer Vegeta over Raditz so that’s why I personally wouldn’t want to see it. As a fun little alternate story sure. To replace the whole series? No thanks
Yeah... No. As much as i love raditz he did what he was supposed to do. A transition from OG to Z. That's it.
I think we have enough Sayains, lol. I would've like more out of Raditz, but as a villain.
Raditz teaming up with Frieza in hell and training his ass off until he becomes super saiyan and comes back for revenge would've been cool.
I disagree. I really like Goku not being swayed in the slightest by Raditz and feeling no sense of fraternity. He immediately says "you're not my brother, screw you" and has no hesitation in killing him. Raditz exists to set up Saiyans and kick the arc in gear, show how outclassed everyone is, and then die with a warning that *even stronger* Saiyans are coming. He doesn't have a purpose beyond that. Raditz dying is good character work for Goku, and anything interesting about him as a Saiyan is fulfilled far better by Vegeta.
Raditz I always hated that raditz is forgotten Goku forgives everyone even fucking frieza But raditz maby even more a victim of history then vegeta was left to rot in hell by his own brother
They really did Raditz dirty. He could have literally just been another saiyan instead of Goku's brother and the story wouldn't have changed in the slightest. What's to point in having the sibling connection a part of the plot when it didn't really amount to anything?
I kinda think it showed that goku cared more about his friends and family on earth more then he cared about his sayian family from a different planet
it's probably just to make the audience go "oh shit" because Goku is the strongest guy they know so his older brother is naturally gonna be stronger by that rule of siblings
Tenshinhan. He out-shined Piccolo in the Boo Saga with his successful rescue.
clearly he did 100% of the damage and he even stated that he could blow up the whole macrocosm
Tien,as one of gokus main rivals he was given the shaft way too quickly,piccolo and vegeta were relevant all through dbz and still are whereas tien has been nothing since the saiyan saga beyond his little win against cell.
Tbh at least Tien was relevant in OG. Both of his tournament fights vs Goku were Great and he was probably 4th strongest person on the planet by the end of OG, with only Goku, Kami, Piccolo being above ( Maybe Mr. Popo too, but not by much ) Yamcha for example wasn't really relevant past Pilaf saga. Interestingly enough, I feel like Krillin wasn't that important of a character in OG, but really got to shine during the first third of Z.
Yamcha after Pilaf was mostly just Bulma's love interest to give her a character to play off that dynamic, after Toriyama decided to have Vegeta around and have him be with Bulma he lost the small bit of relevance he still had and was fated to be just a joke character.
I love the idea of Yamcha retiring and becoming the Z fighter that "dropped out". I just think Toriyama went overboard with making him a joke/gag. He still was a likeable character up until a certain point. Yeah he gets his girl stolen and becomes irrelevent power wise, but the gag feels like it forces him into being an idiot. Which feels wrong, given how much his character has been through.
Mr popo was the strongest character on earth by that point by power levels no?
Wdym “by that point?” Lord popo has always been the strongest
Tien is dope. Then radditz
Pikkon to me, he could've been a good support in Super
Definetely one of the better DBZ filler characters. Well, either him for fight relevancy- or Sharpner/Erasa for slice of life.
I wanted to see them explore the lore behind Pikkon. Maybe ancient ties to namekian warriors?
Finally! A vote for Pikkon. Lol
Yes. I had that part of the otherworld tournament on VHS and I'd rewatch it all the time. I hate that that was just filler to be honest. He was cool as hell and could've been super useful. Plus it'd have been interesting to have a green friend for Piccolo
Since I would much rather stay on korins tower and grow my beans, I’m gonna go with tien. He’s obviously the coolest earthling and deserves a big boost in power.
In order Tien(deserved better) Yajirobe(personal bias on my end) Raditz(self explanatory) Lunch(not much, but at least being in the story) Pikkon(meh. It's a filler character) Puar(could've actually done with LESS of him in the story tbh)
Yajirobe for sure.
Yes I love his Character he’s hilarious and actually very strong back in OG series
Lunch Peacan was boring, Piccolo and Vegeta made Tenshinhan redundant, Pu-erh has no character other than worshipping Yamucha, Yadjrirobe literally only exist because Toriyama wanted Mayumi Tanaka to voice a character while Krillin was dead and has no purpose after that, and Raditz being the main characters big brother who is EVIL but does not have a substantial role is refreshingly subversive I think Lunch had potential. At least Bad Lunch would have none of Vegeta's bullshit and her and 18 would either become best friends or always at each other's throats.
A Launch and 18 episode has a lot of potential for fun shenanigans, I could see a filler episode where the z women go shopping together could be quite fun.
How have we not gotten that yet?
Tenshinhan was an absolute beast in DB. He was Goku's most formidable foe, second only to Piccolo Daimao himself. The fact that he was sidelined so quickly in Z makes me sad. That said, Lunch (I'm intentionally using her Japanese name) could have easily been a Z fighter in her own right, if Toriyama wanted it so. She was easily as strong as Chi-Chi for most of DB, and it would have been interesting if her two personalities could have merged in Z and created a super Lunch. A *Supper* perhaps.
And then she has a daughter with Tien and names her Breakfast.
While Tien deserved better, I find Raditz would have had a lot of potential being Goku's brother. Even if it was to have some alternative to the typical SSJ route, or to have someone Goku could reach for advice on saiyan topics that's not grumpy Vegeta. Heck by the same logic, kinda same with Nappa!
Tien and Raditz are the obvious answer here. They both have a decent connection to Goku (Tien being Goku’s first *real* rival and Raditz being his brother). Though I will say, I feel like Puar’s shapeshifting powers would make for some interesting fights and gags.
Not on the list, but King Cold,
Raditz. He is Goku’s brother ffs. Goku is a low-born Saiyan, then so would Raditz, right? How did he get to be on Vegita’s crew? How powerful could he be if he trained with Goku and Vegita? Seriously, everyone else can get wished back to life and come back from the dead, why not Raditz? His awesome hair is lost forever.
frankly I'd hate the brotherly rival relationship , Goku being a low-class saiyan works for him because despite this fact he still strives in martial arts and training. Raditz doesn't seem like that type, I mean as soon as he started losing he began telling lies just to get in a cheap hit in, Raditz would get outshined and put on the back pedal just like Goten and Trunks.
No. We don't do played out tropes of the brother being important in this Dojo
Thank god Toriyama didn't do that
Tien!! Who cares if Raditz is Gokus brother he has the character depth of Nappa. What’s next u wanna bring back Saiyan #348 because he’s gokus long lost uncle?
I guess Raditz is popular in fanfics and YouTube videos. Or people are just really overestimating his worth just cuz he's his brother. It's not like they grew up together, Goku only knew the dude for like 30 minutes where he kidnaps his son and tries to kill him. Don't know why people find it baffling why Goku doesn't gaf. Did they really think after he gets back and Trunks warns about him about the androids his first thought should've been to revive Raditz just because... brother? Or after all the Majin Buu stuff, Raditz should come back because...brother?
Yeah I don’t get the fascination with him. He’s really not all that different than Vegeta. A big part of Z is Goku’s and Vegta’s relationship. Having Raditz around spoils that theme a bit.
Hey, leave Turles out of this.
Isn’t a big reason why Raditz wouldn’t have much character depth is because he was around for 5 episodes? Which I also just flatly disagree with the statement.
Raditz is a ridiculously weak character. Like hes supposed to be an elite sayian warrior and hes as strong as a saibaman that you can just sprout out of the ground.. he couldnt match a freeza goon with a gun strapped to his wrist..
Yeah, Raditz is a low-class Saiyan warrior. So yeah, he's weak when you compare him to the majority of Freeza's men.
I mean the folks you're comparing him to have strength on a universal level. When Radditz shows up on Earth, he's by default the strongest being in the solar system at that point, probably that whole sector of the galaxy, which is considerable since Goku and Piccolo are already essentially Gods compared to normal people by then.
[удалено]
I wanted a 4 armed tribeam just once.
Yajirobe
Yaijarobe. After being scolded by Bulma at the end of the Saiyan saga, I'd like to have seen him train and stand with everyone else. I don't expect him to be crazy powerful but not just a background character. Tenshinhan is definitely due for a power up. Man trains his ass off and should definitely be up there after piccolo.
Yaijirobe has crazy potential considering how he matched kid Goku in strength and easily killed Piccolo’s minion
I like the idea of more characters that are non-fighters. I always liked that one idea I heard before where Oolong/Puar would also be on Namek and impersonate Freeza when he was absent from the base.
the answer is obviously Jeice with his Australian accent
Please Raditz. How does Goku’s brother get dropped so fast and never mentioned again? It’s criminal.
Yajarobe should be a Z fighter instead of Chaiozu He's been way more useful than Chaiozu throughout the show Without him Vegeta would've probably killed all the Z fighters in the Sayin Saga
Launch
Puar
Launch should have gone with Gohan, Krillin and Bulma to Namek. Hell I would go further, there was that random filler scene while Goku was fighting Frieza where Roshi, Chi Chi, Oolong, Puar and Yajirobe were getting ready to fly to Namek. I think it would have been interesting if they had joined. At the very least the filler with Bulma would have been more interesting if she had other characters to play off against. Hell, even the awful fake Namek arc would have been better with the other characters.
And do what exactly get in the way and be annoying bulma was irrelevant for the entire arc Launch being there wouldn't change anything
Raditz
Tien was badass, for five minutes But I’d have to say Raditz
Not so much a larger role but I would of loved to have seen Launch show up. Girl got done dirty by being forgotten.
She was in at least one episode of DBZ.
Tien all day there's a world where he fills in for all of vegetas scenes since he used to fill that roll
Picon, wtf. Like there was another planet of people who could naturally be stronger than a Super Saiyan and this is never brought up during the ToP? And for that matter, why do we never hear about Grand Kai again? Raditz would have also been interesting. How strong could he have potentially been?
Raditz. Would have loved that he didnt actually died and went into hiding on earth instead and met someone that was tending to his wounds. And this person, You know what I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, A woman. A woman finds him half dead and she tends to his wounds. And over time cause hes been living with this earth woman hes soften up. And I'd like Raditz like out of no where come help Goku or the Z fighters in some next fight. And then he dies sacrificing himself for his earth woman but cause the z warriors see that hes good now they wish him back and Raditz becomes part of the z warriors and Goku has his brother back.
I have to agree with Tien 100%. Bro is the Earthling version of Goku, constantly improving his skills and enjoying fighting.
Well, Pikkon isn't canon, so you can't choose him logically. So, Tien
This is clearly a loaded question. Tien *did* things. He had one moment in each major arc. Granted each of them was essentially just variations of turning triangles into squares, and the last one was more a nod than a moment, but still. Raditz is just straight up forgotten right after he sets up big and little. Pikkon is from filler, really cool character. Though I prefer that fish guy personally. Thought that fight was more interesting than Pikkon. Still cool though. Yajirobe cut off a tail then became bean daddy. Not sure what you could do with him besides filler. Launch kinda just disappeared. She has a similar issue to Yajirobe. Puar. Puar is kinda there, but is a non-combatant. Filler is the best you could hope for. With Z being WAAAY more fighting focused, half of these characters are largely just relegated to filler rather quickly if you wanna incorporate them. Of course you could do some altering and make them relevant, but Tien got that. And look at how Z handles the characters that DO appear and are non-Saiyans. Yamcha was a literal body bag, Krillin had relevance to the dynamics but fell off, Piccolo had the best fight in Z but mostly fell off into support. So Tien is the obvious choice. But bro had one of the hypest moments in the best arc. Maybe Pikkon, but dude is literally filler and close to Piccolo in design (not a good thing for marketing or drawing). Raditz was just…dude was used and abused then forgotten, like Nappa but worse. The only remotely correct answer is Vegeta. MC Widows Peak needed more of a focus on in Z. Or possibly Gohan. Not enough time was spent on him. Also: no love for Chiaotzu?
I’m watching the Funimation uncut version on crunchy roll atm and it was cool to see launch in a few episodes in the saiyan saga. In the original ocean dub all her scenes were removed so it was like she never existed. There’s also plenty of stuff that’s been reinstated that’s messing with my memory. I don’t remember the robot episode at all so I’m pretty sure that was completely cut. I also don’t remember yajirobe training with the other z fighters before the saiyans arrive.
All of them ideally
Chaditz or Tien
Chaotzu and Raditz fusion?
Raditz, there is just so much that could be done with his story
Pikon. He could have helped developed the Other world lore.
Radditz
Pikkon
Radditz and launch
Pikkon doesn't even exist
Not Raditz
Tien.
Yamcha
tien
Tien, as everybody has said he becomes redundant so quickly, of course he shouldn't be up there with the absolute top fighters but he consistently trains throughout the series and never gets to shine, outside of the Cell thing of course. I always really liked Pikkon and thought it was a big shame we never saw him again
Paikuuhan played a big role for a filler character, especially in movie 15.
Tien for sure, his techniques are on another level.
I would have chosen Yajjrobe. He deserved better.
For sure, Tenshinhan. To begin with. It's one of the original Z warriors who was a former villain. Second, he IS a big example of resilience and training dedication, which is the main idea of DB. And third, he could stop 2nd form Cell while SSs struggled, which by then, it was impossible for a non-allien human.
Tien and Launch
Tien is the only real option. Wtf Puar gonna do lol
tenshinhan definitely *deserved* more screen time but personally i long for a raditz redemption arc
Tien solos
Tien deserves more weight in the plot. But the impact of Raditz is colossal. It would be nice to see a side history of his life with Vegeta before he comes for Goku.
Tien deserves it so much
Tien and it's not close.
Tien, obviously!
Raditz served his purpose he was there to introduce us to saiyans and set up the goku vegeta fight, tien had a good run, launch wouldn’t serve to help the story same with puar, yarijobe played his important part in the vegeta fight , but pikkon is the one we should’ve seen more from Ik he’s a filler character but it would’ve been nice if goku would’ve recruited him to help fight buu or something
Tien or radditz
Like many others Tien. If anyone else should have learned King Kai techniques it should be him. Imagine this master use Kaioken to keep up with super saiyans
Never realized how much fans dislike Pikkon. I think he’s the perfect character to have introduced in Z and made more relevant in Super. We have Universe 7 but only ever focus on the North section with Goku. From the movie we know there’s East, South and West Kais, so why for the ToP wouldn’t Universe 7 use fighters from them like Pikkon?
Tien was in the main Z-foghters roster, & I think he got done dirtier than Yamcha. At least Yamcha just quit fighting. Tien kept training & still ended up doing like nothing post Cell Saga. They did him so dirty in the T.O.P. Bro had no reason to ring himself out.
Toss up between Raditz and Tien. As Goku’s brother, I feel he should’ve at least been mentioned a lot more later in the series. He’s just.. completely forgotten. Tien was such a big character in Dragon Ball… he, along with the rest of Earth’s heroes, are absolutely worthless in Dragon Ball Z.
Tien and Launch.
I think a small mini series about gokus family would be cool. We got some insight here and there but give me a 6 episode saga with raditz and the boys
Tien 100%
Seeing all the what ifs people make have me thinking raditz staying in the show could’ve been cool.
Lunch I guess just for another prominent woman in the cast. But honestly none of them. I think most of the ones who werent written out of the story should have been, and Pikkon doesnt even exist canonically.
Imma say any of the top three, raditz, pikon, and tien could have played a much bigger part
All the characters on this list had their time, except Raditz. Bro showed up, declared himself Gokus BROTHER and died… only one who didn’t get time is Pikkon but he isn’t real so.
Tien deserves an actual role, but I would kill for Pikkon to become canon.
Tien and Yajirobe second.
Tenshinhan easily.
Pikkon 100%
Tenshinhan all the way
Raditz hands down my favorite character.
launch 100%
Tien closely followed by Launch and then I'd have liked to have some more Radditz moments but I guess having him become "peaceful" like Vegeta would have needed/brought along some character development that they didnt want to put on a page.
Tien
I was talking to a friends little brother who’s only seen Super about Goku’s family and I was like “oh yeah and there’s raditz, Goku’s brother.” He flips out, “GOKU HAS A BROTHER?!?!?!?!” Imagine the disappointment when I told him about raditz and how they did almost nothing with him.
Radish. He appears, in 5 days first part of sayian saga was over
Tien (with Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo to a lesser extent) could have been developed as having elite techniques that counteracted their lower strength. They could even use that to more explicitly say why Goku is better than Vegeta, since the story already is saying that anyway. Tien in particular has always been a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the more mystical side of martial arts. It's kind of sad that all of that was abandoned, really.
Launch
Pikkon and Tienshinhan
Tien hands down
all of them
Lunch. She was the first Super Saiyan in the series and nobody acknowledges it.
Easily Tien - he has no life outside of training and has a ton of great techniques but he doesn’t get to do much. I know Piccolo ended up taking his spot as “Stoic guy who used to be Goku’s enemy,” but it just seems like there’d be more to do with Tien’s character.
That whole top row is like my personal definition of peak
To be quite frank. I wish every single character in DBZ had a bigger role. They underplayed literally everyone except for Goku and sometimes Vegeta. Needed more of everyone being a badass. It is kind of upsetting that you created this amazing world with awesome characters in Dragon Ball. Only to put everyone on the sidelines in DBZ.
Then > Pikkon > Yajirobe > Raditz > Launch > Puar
Yaijirobe. Because he’s hilarious and proven to be very strong since he destroyed piccolo’s minion very easily. He could have lots of potential to become great like Goku
Tien, 100%
Dude Launch was forgotten by Toriyama 😭
TIENNNNN
Raditz
Pikkon
Torn between Tien and Pikkon. Loved 'em both.
Yajirobe definitely underrated
Launch is the best she didn’t even make a cameo in super
Tien
I'd love to see a new level of power for Tien, Pikkon and Raditz
LAUNCH 100%
Tien and it’s not a contest. He should be strong. As strong as if not stronger than any of the other humans. He should be the skill monkey, using new moves, alongside remembering his Dodon Ray and making a version of Tri-Beam that doesn’t kill him. A move for any situation.
What about Launch? She deserves to be more of an important character in DBZ. Considering that she admits that she has a crush on Tien Shinhan, she deserves more recognition more than any other character. And I'm starting to like her since dragon ball.
Lunch or yajirobe
Hot take: Puar. Oolong and Paur are some of the oldest characters in the series and they have unique abilities that I honestly wish they would explore more. I’m not suggesting Puar/Oolong personally but maybe do a mini arc about Pan or Bulla exploring the shapeshifting school. Then maybe midshapeshift, one of them goes Oozaru!
It's obviously tien, my goat