Throughout its long history, the Dragon Ball franchise has amassed a long list of powerful fighters. It could be impossible to provide a definitive list of Dragon Ball’s most powerful characters, but we’ll try our best. Let’s also not forget that the franchise also gets regularly updated with new characters and transformations.
Until Dragon Ball Daima comes along, we have a pretty good idea of who are the strongest characters in Dragon Ball, which is why we’ve established a little top tier list. We obviously won’t include the same character more than once, even though he may have a lot of transformations.
S-Tier:
Zeno
Grand Priest
Whis
Goku
Jiren
Vegeta
Beerus
It’s safe to say that Zeno is the most powerful character in all of Dragon Ball. Known as an all-powerful deity and introduced in Dragon Ball Super, Zeno doesn’t even need to fight to prove his power. He can erase entire universes from existence without breaking a sweat, as he did during the Tournament of Power arc. Not even an atom will remain behind after Zeno erases an universe. To add insult to injury, even angels and gods of destruction tremble in the face of Zeno, confirming how powerful he is.
Grand Priest is also a deity introduced in Dragon Ball Super, and he is the second-strongest being after the all-powerful Zeno. The Grand Priest is responsible for creating the angels in the anime. Although we’ve never seen the Grand Priest in a fight, we can safely say that he cannot be beaten by anyone except Zeno.
Whis is an angel, and he has also trained Goku and Vegeta to achieve godly powers. The two beloved Sayians even achieved stronger forms – Ultra Instinct for Goku and Ultra Ego for Vegeta. Although they are not stronger than Whis, both Goku and Vegeta have powers that rival those of the gods.
Beerus is a God of Destruction, and despite his moniker, he isn’t actually evil. He destroys planets and galaxies only to maintain some sort of balance in the Universe.
Jiren, the leader of the Pride Troopers and also a member of Universe 11, was introduced in Dragon Ball Super as a mortal stronger than the gods. He definitely deserves a place in this list.
A-Tier:
Broly (DBS)
Omega Shenron
Gohan
Moro
Broly, the exiled Saiyan who was willing to have his revenge on Vegeta decades later for what his father did to him, was also insanely strong. While in his ultimate form, known as the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly was easily able to beat the Senzu beans out of Goku and Vegeta while those two were using the Super Saiyan Blue transformation. The two beloved Saiyans had to fuse into Gogeta and go Super Saiyan Blue in order to be able to go toe to toe with Broly.
The Dragon Ball Super version of Broly that we’re talking about was introduced during the 2018 movie known as Dragon Ball Super: Broly. We need to keep in mind that this version of Broly is entirely different from the Broly of DBZ who made its debut in some movies from the ‘90s. The new version of Broly was written by Akira Toriyama.
Omega Shenron is a character introduced in Dragon Ball GT, and regardless of how much you may not be a fan of that show, you cannot remain unmoved by the interesting story behind the villain. Ome Shenron was the outcome of the negative energy accumulated in the dragon balls due to their overuse by the Z warriors and Earthlings. As a result, Omega Shenron was extremely evil and powerful. Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan 4 couldn’t stand a chance against Omega Shenron after the villain absorbed the rest of the Shadow Dragons. Goku had to fuse with Vegeta, resulting in Gogeta. Furthermore, Gogeta had to use the Super Saiyan 4 transformation as well to have a chance at defeating Omega Shenron.
Gohan, the son of Goku, achieved new heights in terms of power in the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie from 2022. That’s because Gohan achieved his ‘Beast’ form, a new transformation that granted him silver and longer hair, red eyes, as well as a higher power level than ever before. Gohan Best took place after the son of Goku witnessed how his beloved friend and mentor Piccolo was torn apart by Cell Max.
Moro, also known as Moro the Planet Eater, is a character introduced in the manga version of Dragon Ball Super long after the end of the Tournament of Power arc. Moro had the exceptional ability to absorb the energy from entire planets. He later even proved to steal the powers of other fighters by grabbing their neck. Therefore, Moro gave a lot of headaches to Goku and the gang, proving to rival even the Ultra Instinct transformation.
B-Tier:
Piccolo
Hit
Frieza
Zamasu
Android 17
Toppo
Piccolo achieved the new ‘Orange’ form in the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie from 2022, becoming what we know as Orange Piccolo and stronger than ever before. The famous Namekian achieved this transformation after asking the Eternal Dragon to become stronger in order to have a chance at defeating the new androids created by Dr. Hedo.
Hit the Assassin is a character from Universe 6 who made his debut in Dragon Ball Super. Hit proved to have some truly outstanding fighting techniques that would stop the vast majority of opponents in their tracks. For instance, Hit was able to reverse time by 1 second in order to hit his opponent before he even made a move.
Frieza also became exceptionally strong in Dragon Ball Super, becoming what is known as Golden Frieza. He could even rival Goku and Vegeta while the two beloved Saiyans were using the Super Saiyan Blue form.
Zamasu is one of the main antagonists in Dragon Ball Super, and he has a unique motivation to wreak havoc that has never before been used in the franchise: he is a deity who somehow came to the conclusion that humans are evil and therefore need to be eliminated. One of his arguments was that humans like to manipulate time by using time travel machines as Trunks did several times. At some point, Zamasu became as strong as Vegito Blue, the fused form of Goku and Vegeta that also used the Super Saiyan Blue transformation.
Android 17 has participated in the Tournament of Power arc of Dragon Ball Super, proving to everyone that he was a lot stronger than he was given credit for. Android 17 even managed to go toe to toe with Jiren at some point. Even though he was nowhere seen since the Cell Saga of Dragon Ball Z, Android 17 has proven to be about as strong as Super Saiyan Blue Goku.
Toppo, one of the members of the Pride Troopers during the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super, has been seen without major expectations at first because of his goofy appearance: a big mustache, big hands, a big belly, and small legs. However, he has ignited truly destructive power against Vegeta and Frieza in the Tournament of Power, becoming a God of Destruction. Toppo even managed to mop the floor with Frieza without breaking a sweat.
C-Tier:
Majin Buu
Cell
Baby
Kefla
Majin Buu was the most powerful villain in Dragon Ball Z, and he appeared in numerous forms. However, regardless of his form, Buu had some terrifying abilities. He could easily regenerate himself rapidly after every blow, even if he got obliterated by a Kamehameha attack. Buu was also able to turn anyone into a candy if he hit him with the beam from the top of his head. Majin Buu was known to have some sort of flexible power level, as it would be impossible to say just how strong he really was in the show.
Cell, the diabolical android created by Dr. Gero in Dragon Ball Z, has cells from all the major fighters that have walked on Earth until that point. In other words, he knew all the major moves of fighters such as Frieza, Goku, Vegeta, Tien, Trunks, and more. He was capable of performing all of their techniques with ease.
Baby was one of the main villains in Dragon Ball GT, and he was also known for his exceptional techniques. For instance, Baby was able to infect and possess the body of others. He stole the body of Vegeta and tried to kill Goku with it. Goku had to power up to Super Saiyan 4 level in order to stand a chance.
Kefla is a character introduced in the Tournament of Power arc from Dragon Ball Super, and she also represents the merge between Kale and Caulifa, the two female Super Saiyans from Universe 6. Kefla was exceptionally strong, as she even proved to be able to surpass Goku at Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken level.
The future of Dragon Ball will definitely bring us a lot of surprises, so feel free to keep your eyes on the latest news, as Dragon Ball Daima is coming this fall!