Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z is full of remarkable heroes who have gone down in history as some of the most iconic anime characters of all time. The Z-Fighters’ members have changed over time, but they’re always determined and ready to fight alongside Goku in order to save the Earth.
The Z-Fighters haved saved the Earth on multiple occasions and they’re truly in a league of their own. That being said, this privileged position isn’t without many setbacks and liabilities that highlight the harsher side of going into battle alongside Goku. Dragon Ball’s Z-Fighters would never complain, but it’s important to acknowledge the many ways in which their lives are made more difficult.
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The Saiyans Always Hog the Spotlight
Dragon Ball Z Made it Borderline Impossible For Humans to Stand Out
Saiyans have absolutely dominated Dragon Ball’s storytelling and battles to the point it’s hard to believe there was ever a time they weren’t making up the majority of the cast. Every single one of Dragon Ball Z’s heroes has accomplished incredible things as Earth’s strongest warriors. Sadly, powerful and important Z-Fighters like Krillin, Tien, and Master Roshi struggle to make waves, becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Some characters, like Yamcha and Chiaotzu, straight up cut their losses and just take a step back from martial arts & heroics. The advent of Super Saiyan forms gives them a greater capacity for improvement than the rest of the Z-Fighters. Heroes like Tien, Krillin, and Android 18 want to be on the frontlines, yet more often than not, Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan get the most to do and save the day. It must be a big demoralizing for the other Z-Fighters.
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Death & Resurrection Are Par for the Course
Every Single Z-Fighter Dies Once By the End of DBZ
Dragon Ball’s Z-Fighters are willing to defend the planet when push comes to shove, but many of them just have a genuine passion for martial arts and self-improvement. They participate in martial arts tournaments and are driven by a love for the craft, rather than the belief they’ll need to put their lives on the line in battle. Death is necessary in a franchise like Dragon Ball so a proper sense of stakes is felt.
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This means many beloved Z-Fighters perish in battle as a way to progress the narrative and heighten the melodrama. Additionally, the Dragon Balls are able to revive people who have died in battle, which has proven to be beneficial for most of Dragon Ball’s heroes, including Goku. It’s certainly draining to die multiple times.
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Peace is Only Ever Temporary
A New Evil is Always Right Around the Corner
Dragon Ball’s Z-Fighters have faced their share of villains over the years. Naturally, there’s always some stronger villain who comes out of the shadows, which leads to a deadly formula that fills Dragon Ball with endless combat. One would hope that the death of Frieza, Cell, or Buu would mean that the Z-Fighters can actually relax and lead a life where they’re not always worried that some new threat can emerge and ruin everything.
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The heroes never feel stronger than when they’ve defeated a villain, but these victories feel increasingly pointless when they’re undercut by someone new. The longest stretches of peace in Dragon Ball are the seven years which follow Cell’s destruction and the decade after Kid Buu’s defeat, although the latter of these has been retconned through Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball DAIMA’s placement in the timeline. The bottom line is that there’s always going to be a new opportunistic villain who strikes.
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Villains Are Always Going After the Dragon Balls
Dragon Ball’s Greatest Treasures Only Pose Problems
Goku’s grand Dragon Ball adventure is put into motion over a playful hunt for the Dragon Balls. This incredible treasure has only become more advantageous over time and there are now multiple Dragon Ball sets that have unique powers and limitations. One of the reasons that Earth is frequently under attack is that it’s the home to a set of Dragon Balls.
The Z-Fighters have consistently used the Dragon Balls to solve problems and reverse tragedies, but many of these problems wouldn’t have happened in the first place if the Dragon Balls didn’t exist. The Z-Fighters don’t want to get rid of the Dragon Balls, but their existence becomes a liability in itself. The Z-Fighters always have to worry that some opportunistic villain might learn about the Dragon Balls and use them to give themselves incredible power or to change the world’s balance in some selfish manner.
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Z-Fighters Have to Forgive & Fight Alongside the Same People Who Tried to Murder Them (& Sometimes Did)
Dragon Ball is All About Redemption
The Z-Fighters are a close-knit group of heroes who have overcome remarkable obstacles and grown as a team. Some of these characters, like Goku, have always been heroic in nature. That being said, Dragon Ball loves a good redemption arc and this means that many of the Z-Fighters – Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, Vegeta, Android 18, Buu – were former villains. Many of these reformed Z-Fighters have proven their loyalty, but this doesn’t erase their pasts and the complicated history that they share with other characters.
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Vegeta has tried to kill most of the Z-Fighters, Android 18 broke Vegeta’s arm, Tien breaks Yamcha’s leg, and Beerus slaps Bulma. Additionally, Frieza becomes a temporary ally during the Tournament of Power, which isn’t easy for Z-Fighters like Vegeta and Krillin to accept, considering they were previously killed by him. It’s an understandably difficult hurdle for some Z-Fighters to clear.
5
Friends & Family Will Be Collateral Damage
Innocent Loved Ones Are Often Casualties
The Z-Fighters are committed to taking on malevolent forces and protecting the planet. They’re willing to put their lives on the line if it means a safer future for their families. A difficult reality that the Z-Fighters have to face is that their loved ones are sometimes threatened and put in harm’s way in order to make a grander point. Dragon Ball’s heroes will intentionally keep their families away from conflict and off the battlefield, but this doesn’t stop villains from tracking them down.
It’s horrifying to see innocent people get executed in order to hurt the Z-Fighters and make a point. Raditz threatens Gohan’s life to get through to Goku, while Frieza stoops to similar theatrics. Zamasu even kills his timeline’s Chi-Chi and Goten after he successfully steals Goku’s body. Majin Buu is especially malicious in this regard. The Z-Fighters have to watch their loved ones get turned into candy and foods that are either eaten or destroyed. The apex of this is when Super Buu’s Human Extinction Attack wipes out the majority of Earth’s population.
4
Z-Fighters Often Need To Give Their Lives To Save the Day
The Z-Fighters Must Put Their Lives On The Line For The Greater Good
There are plenty of occasions where Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and the rest of Earth’s greatest heroes are strong enough to defeat the challenge at hand. Alternatively, there are some scenarios where the enemy is just too strong to defeat by conventional means and a tragic sacrifice for the greater good needs to be made. The Z-Fighters never stop being heroes, which means that they’ll take their own lives if it can help in the enemy’s defeat. Goku is willing to sacrifice himself against Raditz so that Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon connects with its target.
He once again sacrifices himself when Cell triggers a self-destruct sequence. Chiaotzu resorts to similar tactics against Nappa, while Vegeta’s Final Explosion attack is designed to take Buu out with him. These are bittersweet sacrifices under the best of circumstances, but there are many occasions where these sacrifices are all for naught and the enemy still survives.
3
Balancing Training With a Normal Domestic Life is Basically Impossible
Many Z-Fighters Are Forced to Retire
One of Dragon Ball’s more beautiful details is that the franchise plays out over the course of multiple decades that depict the entire lives of certain characters. Individuals like Goku, Krillin, and Bulma begin Dragon Ball as children or young adults, but proceed to start families of their own. Goku and Vegeta manage fairly well when it comes to rigorous training schedules and downtime with their families. That being said, other characters struggle more on this front. Krillin embraces a domestic life with Android 18 and he adopts a more laid-back approach to martial arts as a result.
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The same is true for Gohan, whose abilities seriously regress after he starts a family. Other individuals, such as Yamcha, find themselves pulled in other directions that take precedence over martial arts. It may not be a hardened, steadfast rule, but the Z-Fighters do have to really put some thought into whether they want to start a family and how this will affect their fighting career. Many of the strongest characters are those who lack other distractions.
2
Staying Dead Too Long Means Reincarnating & Losing Your Boss
Most Z-Fighters Will Eventually Become New People Entirely
Death is something that many of Dragon Ball’s Z-Fighters have grown numb towards because of the Dragon Balls’ restorative properties. Admittedly, most characters who get killed are eventually revived with the Dragon Balls. However, Dragon Ball also believes in reincarnation, which presents a dangerous risk for anyone who dies.
Reincarnation means that any Z-Fighter who dies also has to worry that their soul may get cleansed and reincarnated into someone new and that a Dragon Ball resurrection isn’t possible. Death is troubling enough of an experience without individuals also having to be afraid that they might not get an afterlife because of reincarnation. Vegeta seriously worries about this possibility when he prepares to sacrifice himself against Majin Buu.
1
The Z-Fighters Cannot Keep Up With the Gods
Keeping Up With the Saiyans Was Bad Enough, But Gods?
It’s one thing for Z-Fighters to get consistently overwhelmed by powerful villains. However, the scope and severity of this threat becomes more existentially disheartening when literal Gods are throwing their weight around. As strong as the Z-Fighters become, there are still certain limitations in place that can’t be overcome.
Goku and Vegeta could unlock unprecedented power and new transformations, but they still won’t be able to casually erase an entire universe on a whim, like Omni-King Zeno. The Z-Fighters have met more Gods over the years, which is exciting, but it also reinforces everyone’s insignificance and that they’re really just pawns at the end of the day. It’s a tough reality for many characters to accept.
