Of course, for a character to rank among Dragon Ball’s strongest, they have to possess more than raw power. Strength in Dragon Ball is all about a character’s fighting spirit, their training, and their mastery of martial arts.
Ultimately, strength in Dragon Ball is as much about a character’s dedication to self-improvement as it is about innate talent.
15
Fused Zamasu
Debut: Chapter #42 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga, Episode #64 of the Dragon Ball Super Anime
Fans of Dragon Ball were stunned when Super introduced Goku Black, an evil version of the Saiyan protagonist who was wreaking havoc on Future Trunks’ timeline.
Eventually, it was revealed that Goku Black was actually an alternate version of the Kai Zamasu. Once Goku Black and normal Zamasu fused, they turned into the incredibly powerful being known as Fused Zamasu, and once that happened, Goku and Vegeta’s fight against him was basically over.
Possessing all the powers of a Saiyan and all the powers of a Kai, Zamasu is incredibly powerful in his own right. Goku and Vegeta’s only hope against him was a fusion of their own, and though that proved to be enough to ‘beat’ Fused Zamasu, a quirk in his powers led him to multiply endlessly, creating a massive army of Fused Zamasus.
Goku and Vegeta couldn’t compete against the horde of Zamasus, leading them to call on Zeno for support.
14
Moro
Debut: Chapter #43 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga
Known as ‘Planet-Eater Moro’, Moro is an ancient sorcerer who was designed as a being of pure evil. Starting off as rather weak, Moro’s power initially seems to be a mixed bag. Buu is even able to restrain him with ease at first.
Unfortunately for the people of Earth, Moro would only grow stronger as his powers slowly returned to him. Eventually, Moro is said to be so powerful that Vegeta could never train hard enough to match him.
At his strongest, Moro uses the energy from the many planets he’s consumed to become an absolute powerhouse. Even Goku is ultimately impressed with Moro in his final form and remarks that Moro was the toughest villain he had faced at the time, and could have been even stronger if he had just focused on training himself. That’s a high compliment coming from Goku, cementing Moro’s status as a deadly foe.
13
Goku
Debut: Chapter #1 of the Dragon Ball Manga, Episode #1 of the Dragon Ball Anime
Being one of the world’s most popular characters, Goku needs little introduction. His accomplishments over the franchise’s history include saving Earth on multiple occasions, often with the help of his allies and the techniques he’s learned from several powerful masters.
During the Saiyan’s battles in DBZ, foes like Frieza and Cell have remarked how many of Goku’s attacks are more than capable of destroying planets, and he’s gotten a lot stronger during his training in DBS. So strong that his energy almost broke the fabric of the universe while battling Beerus, the God of Destruction.
Just as Vegeta has unlocked Ultra Ego by channeling Destroyer energy, so, too, has Goku unlocked power normally reserved for divine beings: Ultra Instinct. Ultra Instinct is an angelic state that allows one’s body to move autonomously, making the warrior wielding it nearly untouchable.
Goku learned it from the Angel Whis, just as Lord Beerus helped Vegeta with Ultra Ego. However, Goku is far better with Ultra Instinct than Vegeta is with Ultra Ego. Though beyond that, the two are remarkably close in terms of power-scaling – perhaps the closest they’ve ever been.
12
Gohan
Debut: Chapter #2 of the Dragon Ball Z Manga, Episode #1 of the Dragon Ball Z Anime
Custom Image by Ana Nieves
Like Piccolo, Gohan got a significant upgrade in the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero in the form of Beast Gohan. According to creator Akira Toriyama, Beast Gohan is stronger than Goku and Vegeta. After unlocking the new form in the Super Hero arc, Gohan easily tanked Cell Max’s devastating punches that made short work of Orange Piccolo.
Despite having little time to shine, Gohan has proven capable of incredible feats when his inner strength is unleashed throughout the franchise.
Despite Gohan’s incredible power, though, it’s unclear how he ranks among the series’ strongest fighters. Beast Gohan had an excellent showing against Cell Max, but hasn’t had too many times to really show off his full power against other threats. A recent sparring match between Gohan and Broly suggests the two are on a similar level, but that match didn’t bring out the kind of rage that makes the Legendary Super Saiyan such a monster in battle.
11
Broly
Debut: Chapter #42 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga, Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan Movie (1993)
While Goku and Vegeta explore alternate avenues of power beyond their Saiyan heritage, Broly quite literally surges with the power of his people. As the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly has access to primal Saiyan power. Goku and Vegeta do not, and that power makes him practically unstoppable. Not even Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta were strong enough to beat Broly. It had to be Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta to finally take Broly down, as shown in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
Broly is so powerful that Lord Beerus has been reluctant to let him train on his world for fear of the damage he’d do. While later arcs of the Dragon Ball Super manga have seen the rehabilitated Saiyan training on the Destroyer’s world with Goku and Vegeta, the fact that a literal Destroyer God is nervous around Broly is perhaps the most telling aspect of his strength.
10
Jiren
Debut: Chapter #30 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga, Episode #85 of the Dragon Ball Super Anime
Custom Image by Ana Nieves
The final hurdle that awaited Goku and his friends at the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime was the strongest warrior from Universe 11, Jiren the Grey. While the sequel series struggled to connect many of its arcs meaningfully to set up compelling villains, Jiren was a character who met all the hype he received during and even before the Tournament of Power began.
Very few fighters forced the strongest Pride Trooper to take them seriously, and even Ultra Instinct Goku failed to knock Jiren out of bounds. It took a lot of teamwork for Goku’s team to finally triumph over Jiren, a foe the series failed to provide much backstory for. The source of Jiren’s outrageous strength is also not clarified, but it’s a strength that is rumored to be beyond some Gods of Destruction.
9
Granolah
Debut: Chapter #67 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga 
With the help of many training arcs and the wisdom of incredible teachers, characters like Goku attained astonishing strength. The same can not be said for Granolah, who wished on a pair of Dragon Balls to be the universe’s strongest warrior. While the wish ultimately came true, it came with a drastic downside: the revenge-hungry orphan’s life span would be reduced to three more years.
Such a wish was made to avenge his Cerealian people from the Galactic Tyrant Frieza, but he’d ultimately be manipulated to face off against Ultra Instinct Goku and Vegeta’s newest destroyer form, Ultra Ego.
With his new powers and special eyes that grant him incredible ki-sniping abilities, Granolah defeated Goku and Vegeta with their godly forms. He eventually became a valuable ally against another foe who’d take advantage of Dragon Balls for an even bigger power boost.
8
Gas
Debut: Chapter #68 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga
Gas served as the ultimate antagonist during Dragon Ball Super‘s Granola arc and proved strong enough to fight Saiyans like Goku’s father, Bardock, from a very young age. Still, his already impressive level of power grew considerably after his own family wished with Dragon Balls that he’d become stronger than Granolah. However, the improved power boost was given at the price of an even shorter life span for Gas.
The warrior’s wide range of abilities includes the power to materialize seemingly any object or weapon Gas can think of, telekinesis, and unbelievable durability. Much like Broly, Gas seems to harbor some sort of primal rage power-up that he’d struggled to control throughout his life.
Even after being healed and reaching new levels of strength, Goku and Vegeta struggled against Gas’s new power. By teaming up with Granolah, Gas was eventually defeated, but he was finally reduced to dust with a single blow from one of the franchise’s best characters.
7
Frieza
Debut: Chapter #247 of the Dragon Ball Manga, Episode #44 of the Dragon Ball Z Anime
A relatively new transformation for the classic DBZ big-bad, Frieza debuted his ‘Black Frieza’ form in Dragon Ball Super chapter #87 and immediately proved his superiority. In this chapter, Black Frieza one-shotted both Goku and Vegeta when they were in the divine states of Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego.
Respectively, not even Broly could pull something like that off. In fact, the whole reason Goku, Vegeta, and Broly are currently training on Beerus’ world is to get strong enough to challenge Black Frieza, and based on the events of this chapter, it’s uncertain if they will achieve this form by training in a time-displaced pocket dimension akin to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for ten years.
After arriving on the battlefield at the end of the Granolah arc, he destroyed a mangled Gas with a single blow, then surprisingly spared Goku and Vegeta. What Frieza hopes to achieve with his newfound power currently needs to be clarified. Unless the Saiyans train similarly or find a new way to increase their strength, they may never surpass Black Frieza.
6
Vegito
Debut: Chapter #504 of the Dragon Ball Manga, Episode #268 of the Dragon Ball Z Anime
Fans got their first satisfying introduction to Goku and Vegeta’s Potara Earrings fusion during Dragon Ball Z‘s Buu Arc. Buu had absorbed Gohan and Gotenks, and all seemed lost until fans’ dreams came true in a fusion of fan-favorite characters, Goku and Vegeta. Once Vegito appeared, the unstoppable Super Buu was quickly proven to be out of his league. The powerful fusion would return in Dragon Ball Super when it was required to take down an evil god.
While the transformation is active, the fused warrior has been nearly untouchable, even against overwhelming foes like Super Buu and the Fused Zamasu.
The two fused warriors’ strength is combined, making Vegito easily one of the franchise’s strongest characters; it’s a fusion that can not be achieved unless a pair of the Kai’s Potara Earrings are available. Plus, both times Goku and Vegeta have used the Potara earrings, it has failed to last long enough to defeat their opponents definitively.