WThe Dragon Ball manga series features an ensemble cast of characters created by Akira Toriyama. The series takes place in a fictional universe, the same world as Toriyama's previous series Dr. Slump, and follows the adventures of Son Goku. The series commenced with Goku's boyhood years as he trains in martial arts and explores a fantastical version of Earth in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls that are used to summon a wish-granting dragon. The tone of the series becomes more action oriented and less comedic when Goku reaches adulthood, as he and his allies would find themselves defending Earth against various threats, overcoming seemingly insurmountable opponents and eventually emerging victorious against progressively more powerful foes.
WAndroid 17 , born as Lapis is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, initially introduced as an antagonist alongside his sister and compatriot Android 18, but after being consumed by Cell and then expelled, later appearing as a supporting character in the sequel series Dragon Ball Super, prominently in the Universal Survival arc. Android 17 makes his debut in chapter #349 The Androids Awake!, first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 12, 1991.
WAndroid 18 , born as Lazuli is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Android 18 makes her debut in chapter #349 The Androids Awake!, first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 12, 1991.
WAndroid 21 , is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball media franchise. Created as part of a collaborative process between Arc System Works and Akira Toriyama, Android 21 makes her debut appearance in the 2018 fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, where she serves as its main antagonist. The character has since appeared in other Dragon Ball video games.
WBardock , Burdock in Viz Media's English manga translation, is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball media franchise. Created by Toei Animation based on series protagonist Goku's visual design by franchise creator Akira Toriyama, he first appears in the animated television special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku as its morally ambiguous protagonist. Bardock has few overall manga and anime appearances within the series, though he plays a pivotal part as Goku's father in setting up the backstory of his son, originally known by the name Kakarot, as one of the last survivors of the Saiyan genocide by the intergalactic tyrant Frieza.
WBeerus, God of Destruction is a character in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Beerus made his first appearance in the 2013 feature film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods as the main antagonist and returned as a supporting character in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', as well as one of the main characters in Dragon Ball Super. He is a purple God seen wearing traditional Egyptian clothing and ornaments since he is a God and not a cat, whose occupation is to maintain balance by destroying planets, in contrast to the Supreme Kais who create and preserve them.
WBroly is a fictional character within the Dragon Ball series. Two versions of the character exist: the original Broly, a major villain who appeared in a trilogy of '90s Dragon Ball Z anime films, Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993), Broly – Second Coming (1994), and Bio-Broly (1994); along with a CGI animated film in 2017 called Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D at Super Tenkaichi Budokai, followed by a new version that debuted in the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), and once again served as the primary antagonist and major anti-hero in the film.
WBulma is a character featured in the Dragon Ball franchise, first appearing in the manga series created by Akira Toriyama. She debuted in the first chapter Bulma and Son Goku , published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on June 19, 1984 issue 51, meeting Goku and recruiting him as her bodyguard to travel and find the wish-granting Dragon Balls. Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Brief, the founder of the Capsule Corporation, a company that creates special small capsules that shrink and hold objects of various sizes for easy storage. Being the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Bulma is also a scientific genius, as well as an inventor and engineer. Along with creating the Dragon Radar, a device that detects the energy signal emitted by a Dragon Ball, Bulma's role as an inventor becomes important at several points in the series; including the time machine that brings her future son Trunks to the past.
WCell is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in chapter #361 The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!! , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on 16 February 1992. Cell is an evil artificial life form, created using cells from several of the main characters, who travels back in time so he can become the perfect being. In order to reach this goal, he must absorb Androids #17 and #18.
WChi-Chi is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball media franchise. Created by Akira Toriyama, she first appeared in Chapter #11 of the Dragon Ball manga entitled "...And into the Fire!"
WFrieza , also known as Freeza in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character and villain in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Frieza makes his debut in Chapter #247: Dark Clouds Swirl Over Planet Namek , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on October 24, 1989, as a galactic tyrant feared as the most powerful being in the universe.
WSon Gohan is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series, created by Akira Toriyama. Gohan is introduced as the first son of the protagonist Goku, and his wife Chi-Chi, in chapter #196 Kakarrot , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on October 8, 1988. Chi-Chi is a strict and protective mother to Gohan, forcing him to focus on his studies and forbidding him from practicing martial arts. However, due to the various threats to the Earth, she reluctantly allows him to fight, with him ultimately becoming one of the strongest characters in the series. Gohan has been well received by both fans and critics, the latter usually citing the character's growth from his initial appearance to his defeat of Cell.
WSon Goku is a fictional character and main protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong, a main character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. His origin story also shares some similarities with that of Superman. Goku first made his debut in the first Dragon Ball chapter, Bulma and Son Goku, originally published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on June 19, 1984. Born Kakarot, Goku is introduced as an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength. He meets Bulma and joins her on a journey to find the magical seven Dragon Balls that can grant the user one wish. Along the way, he finds new friends who follow him on his journey to become a stronger fighter. As Goku grows up, he becomes the Earth's mightiest warrior and battles a wide variety of villains with the help of his friends and family, while also gaining new allies in the process.
WJiren (ジレン), also known as Jiren the Grey , is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball media franchise by Akira Toriyama. Within the series, Jiren hails from Universe 11, a parallel universe to Universe 7 which is the primary setting of Dragon Ball. He is a member of the Pride Troopers, a heroic organization who are organized around defending their universe from evildoers. Jiren is the primary antagonist of the Universal Survival Saga of Dragon Ball Super, where eight 10-person teams compete in the multiverse-oriented Tournament of Power to ensure the survival of their respective universes. Jiren is considered to be the strongest among the participating competitors, as his power is said to rival or even surpass those of the universes' deities; his goal is to be given access to the Super Dragon Balls by winning the tournament. He quickly establishes a rivalry with series protagonist Goku, the two of them engaging in a series of intense battles that eventually leads to Goku developing a new ability. Jiren first appears in Episode 85 of the Dragon Ball Super anime, whereas his debut appearance for the Dragon Ball Super manga is in Chapter 30. Jiren is voiced by Eiji Hanawa in Japanese, and by Patrick Seitz in the English localization by Funimation.
WKrillin , known as Kuririn in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, and Kulilin in Japanese merchandise English translations, is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is introduced in chapter #25 A Rival? Arrival!! , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on May 21, 1985, as Goku's fellow martial arts student under Kame-Sen'nin. As the series progresses, Krillin becomes Goku's closest ally and best friend as he fights every villain along with Goku or before him and is often depicted as the comic relief due to his baldness.
WMajin Buu , generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is a fictional character and the final antagonist in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the release of Dragon Ball Super. He is introduced in chapter #460 Majin Boo Appears?! first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on March 1, 1994. Majin Buu is a genie-like magical life form awoken by the evil warlock Bibidi that terrorized galaxies by destroying entire planets, millions of years before the events of Dragon Ball take place. He was temporarily sealed away and brought to Earth; however, Bibidi was killed and Buu remained hidden. During the events of Dragon Ball, he is revived by Bibidi's son Babidi in order to carry on his father's plan to conquer the entire universe.
WArale Norimaki is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Dr. Slump manga series, created by Akira Toriyama. She is a robot built by Senbei Norimaki who looks like a young girl. She is known for her naïveté, energetic personality, lack of common sense, and amazing strength. Senbei tries to convince the other citizens of Penguin Village that she is just a normal human girl, and it seems to work, despite her superhuman athletic ability. Among her strengths, she can use abilities that range from the terrain splitting Chikyūwari to the beam-like N'chahō . However, she is nearsighted and needs to wear glasses. The character also makes appearances in various other media, most notably in the Dragon Ball media franchise.
WPiccolo is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball media franchise created by Akira Toriyama. He is first seen as the reincarnation of the evil Piccolo Daimaō in chapter #161 Son Goku Wins!! , published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on February 9, 1988, and is positioned as the demonic archrival of the protagonist Son Goku. However, it is later revealed that he is in fact a member of an extraterrestrial humanoid species called Namekians, those able to create the series' eponymous wish-granting Dragon Balls. After losing to Goku, Piccolo decides to team up with him and his friends in order to defeat newer, more dangerous threats, such as Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. He also trains Goku's first child Gohan in martial arts, with the two forming a strong bond.
WMaster Roshi, commonly referred to in the original Japanese as Kame Sennin and also known as Muten Rōshi , is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball series created by Akira Toriyama.
WTien Shinhan , known as Tenshinhan in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is introduced in chapter #113 The 22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on February 24, 1987, entering the martial arts tournament to kill Son Goku and his fellow-students. However, he later teams up with them to defeat Piccolo Daimaō, accompanied by his friend Chaozu. Tien becomes Goku's rival for a period and is notable for being the first person in the series to fly using Bukū-jutsu and to use the Taiyōken technique.
WTrunks is a character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Within the series, he is the half-Saiyan half-Human son of Vegeta and Bulma and has at least two noteworthy incarnations. Trunks makes his debut appearance in chapter #331 The Young Boy of Mystery , first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on July 2, 1991, as an unidentified young man who traveled back in time to warn series protagonist Goku and his allies of a deadly new enemy, the Androids of the Red Ribbon Army. This alternate future timeline incarnation of Trunks, who is usually referred to as "Future Trunks" in media to distinguish him from his present-timeline counterpart, is one of the Dragon Ball series' most popular characters and has been praised for his unique role within the series.
WVegeta , also known as Prince Vegeta or alternatively styled as Vegeta IV is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appears in chapter #204 Sayonara, Son Goku , published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on November 7, 1988, seeking the wish-granting Dragon Balls to gain immortality.
WYamcha is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is first introduced as a desert bandit and an antagonist of Son Goku in chapter #7 Yamcha and Pu'ar , published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on September 11, 1984, alongside his constant companion Pu'ar. He is eventually depicted as being reformed, becoming an ally of Goku's.
WZamasu (ザマス), spelled Zamas in Viz Media's English localization of the Dragon Ball Super manga, is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball series. He is introduced as Goku Black in the forty-seventh episode of Toei Animation's Dragon Ball Super anime series which first aired on June 12, 2016 and in chapter #14 An SOS from the Future!! from the manga.