Considering just how strong Goku is by the end ꦍof Dragon Ball Super thanks to Mastered Ultrꦕa Instinct, it’s a bit hard to believe he was only a bit stronger than the average Earthling all the way back in Dragon Ball’s very first arc. By the start of Dragon Ball Z, he’s more than two times weaker tꦰhan Raditz. Come the end of Dragon Ball Z, he’s completely eclipsed by his son. Dragon Ball is a franchise where, time and time again, our characters grow st♊ronger only to find themselves facing off against even stronger foes. There’s a clear progression of power from꧅ series to series and it only gets higher.
Take Dragon Ball Super, for example. Just about any random fighter who participated in the Tournament of Power could likely solo the entire original series from Goku meeting Bulma to Goku flying off with Uub. They’re just that strong. With the Universe Survival arc introducing a minimum of 65 new characters ♑to the series, ranking everyone becomes an incredibly difficult task. Although not an impossible one. At first glance, it’s hard to deduce who the thirty strongest fighters in all of Dragon Ball are, and some placements might seဣem outright bizarre, but this is, without a doubt, exactly where characters fall on the ever-growing Dragon Ball totem pole. For the time being at least.
30 The Pride Troopers
The Pride Troopers are stuck in a fairly awkward position when it comes to power. On one hand, they’re hyped up to be the Tournament of Power’s greatest challenge. On the other hand, none of ﷽༒them go on to secure an elimination except for Jiren. Of the nine left behind, only Toppo and Dyspo solidify themselves as genuinely powerful foes. The remaining seven are certainly strong, but not strong enough to do anything meaningful.
Here's hoping they actually contribute in the manga version.
It’s made all the worse when taking into consideration just how easily most of the Troop is taken out. Not a single member outside of the core three gets an episode to truly shine. They all ignore one of the key rules of storytelling: show, don’t tell. We’re told the Pride Troopers are strong, but we’re never shown🌳 why they’re strong. We’ll take Dragon Ball Super’s word o🎐n the matter, but without any actual evidence they, understandably, cannot rank high.
29 Piccolo
It perhaps goes without saying, but, as a whole, Universe 7 was far and away the stron🌳gest overall team present at the Tournament of Power. Not only did every member secure at least one elimination and consistently outperform the majority of the ▨participants, a good chunk of Universe 7 lasted the majority of the Tournament. Piccolo is one such fighter.
Although he’s the fourth weakest member on Universe 7’s team (stronger only than the Earthlings,) Piccolo pulls out the big guns for the Tournament of Power and helps Gohan eliminate Universe 6. He’s a team plaꦐyer through and through with enough power to hold his own up to the second half. It’s nice to see that years after DBZ, Piccol🦋o is still doing relatively well for himself.
28 Android 18
Although by no means the strongest Z-Fighter, Android 18 has one key feature that gives her a leg up on the other main characters: infinite stamina. The greatest gift Dr. Gero could ever give her, Android 18 does not get tired w🗹hen fighting. She can theoretically fight forever. This isn’t to say that she can’t feel pain o💧r take damage, but that she doesn’t need to worry about exerting herself. As an Android, she can really go all out at all times. Coupled with her natural strength, this makes her quite the formidable fighter.
27 Majin Buu
Dragon Ball Z’s final villain🅠, it’s only natural Majin Buu end up on🅘e of Dragon Ball Super’s strongest characters if only due to the massive head start he enters the series with. He may not be as powerful as Super Buu or Kid Buu, but he has enough raw power in his fat form to still pose a threat. He was even chose as one of Universe 7’s five fighters in the Universe 6 Tournament arc, implying he’s much stronger than the majorඣity of the cast. Even if he didn’t get to fight.
It goes without saying that Z's last villain is quite the powerhouse.
When it comes time for Goku to recruit people for the Tournament of Power, the anime shows us a Majin Buu who’s really taken his time to train his body, arguably making him far stronger than even Buuhan. Of course, like with the Universe 6 Tournament arc, he doesn’t end up fighting, but the boo💟st in power is still worth making note of.
26 Super Saiyan 2 Cabba
Cabba’s in a relatively strange position when it comes to power. Despite being introduced as one of Universe 6’s five strongest fighters in the Universe 6 Tournament arc, the Tournament of Power subsequent🍸ly establishes him as weaker than both Caulifla and Kale, at least when the three of them are at full power. He’s by no means a pushover, naturally only a bit weaker than Super Saiyan Vegeta in his base, but his Saiyan par🍎tners do outshine him.
That said, he does show off a sol📖id burst of power when he finally transcends into Super Saiyan 2. His unique leg based fighting styles gives him an edge over most fighters as Dragon Ball tends to be rather fist based. In many ways, he’s almost like the Gohan of Universe 6. He’s just a naturally s🙈tr𒀰ong guy with a lot of hidden potential.
25 Frost
It’s only natural Frieza’s Universe 6 counterpart also be one of the strongest fighters in his universe. While nowhere near as powerful as everyone’s favorite galactic tyrant, Frost isn’t without his fair share of qualities to raise him above the rest. He can boost his final form up to a full power state like Frieza, 𝕴and he seems to be naturally stronger. He likely doesn’t have the same potential to improve like Frieza, evidenced by Frost effectively being locked out from a Golden form equivalent, but he’s dangerous enough to take out nearly a dozen fighters on his own during the manga’s depiction of the Tournament of Power.
24 Ribrianne
Ribrianne was a decisive character, to say the least. Some liked her for her twist on the magical girl archetype, most hated her for generally eating up screen time and outstaying her welcome. The manga version of the Tournament of Power only added more vitriol towards the character with her getting eliminated incredibly early, meaning her prominence in the anime’s depiction of the tournament stemmed solely൲ from Toei trying to force her in.
Hatred towards the character aside, she is quite strong. In the anime adaptation, at least. Not only does she make it more than halfway through the tournament, she does so fighting several ch🐓aracters. Whether you like her or not, she undeniably puts on a good show and goes out in one of the arc’s highlight episodes.
23 Super Saiyan 2 Caulifla
In many respects, Caulifla is Universe 6’s Goku. She’s a hick, she loves fighting, and she’s got a knack for self improvement. They have their differences, of course, as all literary foils do, but, for the most part, she’s supposed to be our Goku surrogate. With that in mind, it’s only fitting Caulifla end up one of the stronger 🌳characters in Dragon Ball Super.
With some more training, Caulifla could rival Goku in no time.
When she finally taps into Super Saiyan 2, she’s able to put up a decent fight against Super Saiyan God Goku with Kale by her side. While she’s not fighting alone, the mere fact she can survive a fight with SSG Goku as a mere SSJ2 shows just how latent Caulifla’s power is. With more training, she could easily end up one of the strongest 𒁃characters in the franchise. Not that she already isn’t.
22 Android 17
Dragon Ball Super was incredibly kind to Android 17. Not only did it give him a God level boost ꦿof power, putting him roughly on par with a Super Saiyan Blue Goku holding back, he actually goes on to win the Tournament of Power. It’s worth noting that Android 17 doesn’t show off any particular amazing feats of strength in Super, but he’s incredibly durable and even manages to damage Jiren at one point. He’s a sneaky, smart fighter with enough raw power to fight long enough to win▨ a multiversa♐l tournament.
21 Ultimate Gohan
Just as Dragon Ball Super ⛄was kind to Android 17, it was unkind to Son Gohan. Despite ending Dragon Ball Z as theꦯ strongest unfused character in the series, Super takes every opportunity to nerf Gohan and show hoꦯw he isn’t all that hot. Beerus one shots him; he st🐓ruggles to turn Super Saiyan in Resurrection F, and he outright retires from fighting inꦦ the Goku Black arc.
Thankfully, the Tournament of Power tries to reverse the damage by instilling some of Gohan’s old charact𒁃er back into his personality. By training with Piccolo, Gohan is able to once again tap into his Ultimate state. He’s not as close to the top as he once was, but he’s strong enough to pose a threat yet again. Here’s hoping it sticks.