Goku, Vegeta, And Other Heroes With Great Character Arcs

Most people assume that Dragon Ball is mostly about the epic fights, with storytelling taking a backseat. This may be true at times, but the fact is that the best battles in Dragon Ball are the ones that are built up brilliantly, with the characters and writing ensuring that the major threats that the Z Warriors must deal with are compelling in their own right.

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Given Dragon Ball’s incredible run, it’s easy to see why the characters needed to grow instead of just being stoic throughout the series. This is especially true in case of the heroes who had to overcome immense odds and grow into the personalities people know and love today.

8

Son Goku

A Headstrong Hero Who Sticks To His Guns At All Times

Debut: The Secret of the Dragon Balls (Episode 1 of Dragon Ball)

As compelling as Goku is as a protagonist, he also has one of the simplest character arcs in the series. From the moment Bulma meets him in the neck of the woods, Goku’s simple and endearing personality makes him an easy character to like for many.

Heroism comes naturally to him and he goes out of his way to help anyone in need, even though they may be strangers. When it comes to his training, he maintains a sense of discipline and hardwork that helps him overcome numerous threats time and time again, turning him into a reliable (and somewhat goofy) person everyone can rely on when the going gets tough.

7

Vegeta

The Prince Of All Saiyans Eventually Learns The Importance Of Compassion

Debut: Gohan’s Rage (Episode 5 of Dragon Ball Z)

Prince Vegeta is one of the most fascinating antagonists when he’s introduced in Dragon Ball Z. It’s clear that his pride and ego are valuable to him, which is why the thought of losing to a member of a lowly warrior class irked him greatly.

Eventually, as he settles into life on Earth, he starts developing feelings of love and adoration for the planet, especially when it comes to his wife and child. This causes him to go through a midlife crisis of sorts when he lets Babidi take over his mind to unlock his strength, although he eventually gets over himself and even acknowledges Kakarot’s strength as No. 1 near the end of the Buu Saga. This revised character is largely unchanged in Dragon Ball Super, with Vegeta’s pride and ego dominating fights despite boasting a softer edge when it comes to his children.

6

Piccolo

A Villain Who Turns Over A New Leaf After Seeing How Kind Gohan Was To Him

Debut: Lost and Found (Episode 123 of Dragon Ball)

Piccolo is yet another hero who initially appeared as an antagonist in the final arc of Dragon Ball, hatching out of King Piccolo’s egg and engaging adult Goku in a battle for the ages. The Demon King is as villainous as they come, but he’s forced to team up with Goku when Raditz lands on the planet and shows just how strong he is.

The fight that follows results in Goku’s death, and Piccolo decides to abduct and train Gohan after seeing a ton of potential in him. What he didn’t expect was for Gohan to treat him like a person instead of a demon, which causes his heart to soften and cements his heroic attitude when he sacrifices himself to save his pupil in one of the most beautiful moments of character development in the series.

5

Son Gohan

Overcomes His Gentle Demeanor To Become A Powerful Warrior During The Cell Games

Debut: The New Threat (Episode 1 of Dragon Ball Z)

Seeing Goku with a child was jarring for fans of the original Dragon Ball, and Gohan took little to no time to endear himself to fans. He’s a gentler and smarter version of Goku who boasts a ton of power, but his gentle nature prevents him from reaching these heights.

All of this changes after a passionate speech from Android 16 that makes it clear to Gohan that he must let loose and tap into his anger if he wants to save the planet. All of this culminated in an iconic transformation that served as the very peak of Gohan’s character arc, allowing Goku’s kid to use his Ascended Super Saiyan power to tear Cell apart, even when the villain comes back stronger than ever.

4

Broly

The Movie Does A Great Job Of Fleshing Out This Gentle Giant’s Character

Debut: Dragon Ball Super: Broly (canon appearance)

As entertaining as the non-canon DBZ movies featuring Broly are, there’s no denying that this character’s motivations for hating Goku were beyond inane. The canon version of this character needed a better reason for being angry than having his sleep disturbed as an infant by the wails of another newborn.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly was excellent in this department and humanized Broly’s character, making it clear that Paragus was a horrid character who controlled Broly with fear and manipulated him to serve his will. Seeing the Legendary Super Saiyan let loose against the heroes is a blast, and it speaks volumes when it comes to Broly’s strength that Goku and Vegeta needed to fuse and take on this foe.

3

Future Trunks

The Ordeals He Underwent In His Timeline Were Nothing Short Of Heartbreaking

Debut: The Mysterious Youth (Episode 119 of Dragon Ball Z)

Dragon Ball Z may have its fair share of deaths and dark moments, but the series on a whole is pretty jovial and the existence of the Dragon Balls means that even a person who has died can be brought back. This is why Future Trunks is such a riveting character, since he comes from a timeline where the Dragon Balls don’t exist.

The History of Trunks shows how Gohan takes him on as a student and trains him in the hopes of helping him achieve a Super Saiyan transformation. However, the threat of the Androids looms over them time and time again, culminating in Gohan heading to fight the Androids on his own after deciding that Trunks wasn’t ready. He dies in one of the most brutal death scenes in the show, and the sight of his disgraced corpse is what spurs Trunks to become a Super Saiyan in one of the best transformation scenes DBZ has to offer. Most people already liked Future Trunks ever since his debut in the show, but it’s the OVA that cements him as one of the greatest characters in the show.

2

Tien Shinhan

Realizes The Errors Of His Master’s Ways And Joins The Z Warriors Not Long After

Debut: The Rampage of InoShikaCho (Episode 82 of Dragon Ball)

The best Dragon Ball Z characters usually appear as villains first before turning into heroes. This is the case with Tien Shinhan, who represents the Crane School when he’s introduced and wants to take revenge on Goku for what he did to Mercenary Tao.

However, Roshi helps this misguided student see the light, and he eventually makes amends with the heroes. This leads to him joining the Z Warriors as a compelling fighter who’s as strong as they come, with the way he debilitated Cell with his Tri-Beam making it clear why fans love how badass this character is despite his limitations as a human.

1

Android 16

His Love For The Planet Compels Him To Fight For Earth

Debut: Goku’s Assassin (Episode 134 of Dragon Ball Z)

Android 16 was a bit of an oddball, with this robot being far more mechanical than his bio-Android siblings. His mission is to defeat Goku, but the “malfunction” that plagued him caused him to develop a sense of love and adoration for Earth and its beauty.

This leads to him fighting against Cell, who didn’t care about the world and wanted to tear it apart in his quest to become stronger. His heroism is cemented when Android 16 uses his last words to show Gohan just how much beauty there is in the world, and why Cell must be stopped before he ruins all of it for good.