Saiyans are extremely important in the Dragon Ball universe. Even though these folks were originally evil and nothing but space pirates doing dirty work for Frieza, a few good characters have emerged from their race. Of course, we are first considering Goku, who first found out about his true origin as a Saiyan in early Dragon Ball Z. Even though Goku was sent to Earth to kill all of its inhabitants and animals, he became a protector of the planet in the face of aliens, androids, and other evil fighters.
For today, we’ve established a top-tier list of Saiyans, and we won’t prioritize the good guys. What makes a character decisive in a show is not necessarily its positive side, if he has one. Saiyans such as Raditz, who was evil, can be as important in Dragon Ball as Goku, in some situations.
S Tier:
Goku
Vegeta
King Vegeta
Trunks
Gohan
Goku and Vegeta don’t need any presentation anymore, as they are the pride and joy of the Dragon Ball series. While Goku is everyone’s favorite Saiyan, Vegeta is the Saiyan Prince who has slowly but surely become one of the good guys and trusted protectors of the Earth.
King Vegeta is the father of Prince Vegeta. The king has only appeared retrospectively in Dragon Ball, and he has proven to be an important character who made important decisions. However, his pride and huge ego made him willing to make mistakes as well. For instance, King Vegeta has decided to exile Broly to another planet when the latter was just a baby for the simple fact that Broly had a higher power level than Prince Vegeta. King Vegeta couldn’t stand the fact that his son was surpassed in power by someone else, even though both Prince Vegeta and Broly were only babies at that point.
Trunks and Gohan are not full Saiyans but only Earthling-Saiyan hybrids. However, they are the sons of Goku and Vegeta, and they have both proven to be extremely important for the Dragon Ball universe. Gohan, the son of Goku and Chi Chi, defeated Cell when he was just an 11-year-old Super Saiyan, saving the Earth from the strongest villain the Z warriors ever had to face until that point. As for Trunks, the son of Vegeta and Bulma, his most iconic moment was probably when he defeated Frieza back in the Cell Saga. Trunks barely broke a sweat in that battle.
A-Tier:
Bardock
Broly
Raditz
Nappa
Bardock is the father of Goku and also the Saiyan who had the courage to confront Frieza when he realized that the evil intergalactic tyrant had made the decision to eradicate the entire Saiyan race. Bardock was known as a mercenary who had some trace of good inside him, and he only appeared retrospectively in Dragon Ball Z and Super.
Broly is the exiled Saiyan whose power level was too much for King Vegeta to accept. While Broly has been sent to a remote planet far from planet Vegeta, he has decided to have his revenge decades later. Thus, he went after Goku in Dragon Ball Z and after Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super, proving tteno them that there is a Super Saiyan out there stronger than both.
Raditz was the brother of Goku and also one of the sons of Bardock and Gine. Raditz was the one who disclosed to Goku the truth about the beloved character’s true origin as a member of the Saiyan race. While Raditz couldn’t convince Goku to join him in his quest to conquer planets and kill life forms, the evil Saiyan tried to kill his own brother. However, Goku teamed up with Piccolo, his fierce rival at that point, in order to have a chance at defeating Raditz.
Nappa was also an interesting Saiyan, as he was, actually, a general in the Saiyan army and also the henchman of Prince Vegeta. These two were traveling from one planet to another in order to destroy all of their lifeforms and sell those planets to the highest bidder. Nappa was easily able to defeat a few of the Z warriors when he came to Earth, but it was Goku who completely ruined his plans.
B-Tier:
Goten
Tarble
Cabba
Goten is the last and younger son of Goku and Chi Chi, while he is obviously also the brother of Gohan. Goten has rarely been involved in any fights, but he impressed everyone back in the Majin Buu Saga of Dragon Ball Z when he was able to go Super Saiyan at the age of only 7 years old. Another important aspect of Goten is that he looked just like his father Goku when he was a child.
Tarble is the younger brother of Vegeta, and he made his debut in the special “Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!” However, Tarble has a pretty different personality than his brother, as he is gentle and lacks the usual thirst for battles that Saiyans have.
Cabba is a Saiyan from a different universe than the one Goku and the gang are from. Cabba belongs to Universe 6, and he was introduced in Dragon Ball Super. While Cabba was initially a rival to Vegeta, the two later formed a bond.
C-Tier:
Kale
Caulifa
Gine
Kale and Caulifa are two female Saiyans who also belong to Universe 6. They were introduced in Dragon Ball Super and fought fiercely in the Tournament of Power against Goku in order to protect their own universe from getting erased by Zeno.
Gine is the mother of Goku and the wife of Bardock, and she has only appeared briefly and retrospectively in Dragon Ball.
While Saiyans play a huge role in the Dragon Ball franchise, stay tuned to learn more about the Earthlings’ contribution to the series in a future article!