I have been on a real Dragonball Z kick recently. It owes a lot to the fact that I’m currently a master fighter in the new video game Dragonball Xenoverse! The game is a fast-paced, energy-blasting, butt-whooping battle game featuring not only a wealth of DBZ characters, but also my own original create-a-character! I love create-a-character modes in video games, especially unique games like Xenoverse.

The excitement of going Super Saiyan with my own original character is pretty awesome.

One of these things

Of course, playing a DBZ video game got me back into watching the DBZ cartoon, because I haven’t actually seen the whole thing. My brother got me into DBZ back in high school, and I started watching week days after school during the Cell Saga. Since then, I’ve gone back and watched all of the earlier episodes, but until this month, I had never seen a single episode of the show’s climactic Buu Saga! Consider that rectified!

To celebrate my utterly random re-interest in Dragonball Z, I decided to make this week’s List of Six about all of my favorite characters! And feel free to bask in the nostalgia and share some of your own in the comments!

6. Yamcha

He tries so hard

I have a soft spot for all of the weaker Z-fighters, as you’ll soon see, and Yamcha makes the cut. In a show about aliens and gods and Earth-shaking fights, Yamcha is one of the lone humans who just can’t match the power levels of the main characters, but still gets to tag along to help because his heart is in the right place. I’ve never seen the original Dragonball cartoon, when Yamcha was more important. But at least he’s a nice guy in Dragonball Z. That’s got to count of something.

5. Android 18

Do not look for pictures of her on the Internet

Like pretty much every other action cartoon back in the day, women didn’t really get much to do in Dragonball Z. There were some solid female characters, like Bulma and Chi Chi, but neither one of them was a fighter by the time Dragonball Z rolled around. There were also never any prominent female Saiyans, which meant no female Super Saiyans, the show’s signature mark of badassery. There weren’t even any major female villains – just a minor one.

When the show did introduce a badass female warrior, we got Android 18, and she’s pretty awesome. Introduced during the appropriately named Android Saga, Android 18 is a dry, sarcastic, take-no-prisoners asskicker who put up a good fight against the good guys, and then against the even more villainous Cell when he went after her. She’s usually partnered with her twin brother, Android 17, who really kind of sucks.

What makes Android 18 even cooler is that she’s one of the few villains who actively reformed and joined the good guys. Of course, when that happened, Dragonball domesticated her and turned her into a mother, but she still got to kick a little bit of butt and engage in some rewarding blackmail, so at least she had that going for her in the end.

4. Videl

Her either, just to be safe

Videl is only a minor character in Dragonball Z, and doesn’t even debut until the end in the Buu Saga, but she makes a pretty strong impression when she starts out. Videl is the human daughter of Hercule, the show’s resident blowhard side character, so she’s not part of the DBZ inner circle when she debuts. But after meeting the heroic Gohan, Videl soon starts training to be a high-flying, energy-blasting warrior, and it’s a pretty cool journey. By the time Videl is introduced, all of our favorite characters are so strong and so powerful that they can fly like Superman and destroy entire buildings with energy blasts. But for Videl, it’s all new, and it’s fun to watch her learn to fly and harness her inner energy. It really helps us connect with her as a character.

Of course, it’s not too long before the evil Majin Buu threatens to destroy the world, so a beginner like Videl is forced to the sidelines just when she’s starting to take off. That was pretty disappointing, but she’s still pretty darn cool.

3. Android 16

He’s probably safe

Android 16 looks ridiculous. There’s no getting around that. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and he’s got heart and soul and spades — for a robot. Just like Android 18, Android 16 debuted ahead of the Cell Saga as part of an evil force created by the villainous Dr. Gero. Android 16 was designed as the ultimate destruction machine, and he tagged along with Androids 17 and 18 on their cross-country road trip of death and evil. But when Cell showed up, when the chips were down and the poop was hitting the fan, Android 16 revealed himself as a true hero with only peace and beauty in his heart. Android 16 was the mysterious strong and silent type, and when he finally opened his mouth, he spoke of the beauty of the planet Earth, and how he would give his life to defend it from evil.

Which he did, providing that last bit of motivation to push the heroes over the edge to defeat Cell and save the world. Speaking of Cell…

2. Cell

More purple eyeliner than a goth high schooler

Yep, Cell is my favorite Dragonball Z villain. It definitely helps that I started watching the show during the Cell Saga. Cell not only has an awesome look, but he’s also creepy as hell, especially in the beginning. He’s this creepy, confident bug monster that comes out of nowhere and lives to be evil. He’s an android created alongside androids 16, 17 and 18. But Cell is synthetic perfection, created from the cells of the world’s greatest fighters. And while the heroes spend the Android Saga worried about the androids, Cell is skulking around in the background, killing people and causing terror wherever he goes.

Then when he absorbs Androids 17 and 18, he becomes the perfect monster, and battles our heroes in an epic series of duels. Personally, I think Cell pausing his destruction to host a fighting tournament called the Cell Games is a little silly, but he’s still a badass monster.

1. Tien

The third one doesn’t get an eyebrow

I don’t remember why, but Tien is my favorite Dragonball Z character. He’s only on the B-list, never really gets to participate in any of the big fights, and mostly gets his butt whooped whenever he does step in. But Tien is still awesome because he’s still willing to fight, no matter how out-classed he might be. I don’t remember how I first encountered the character or why I glommed onto him, but Tien is my all-time favorite Z-fighter.

Tien is a human warrior who started out as an enemy in the original Dragonball series, but eventually came around and became a friend and ally with the young Goku. Then when Dragonball Z took off, Tien was part of the team, and even though he was one of the weaker warriors, he was still willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all the aliens and gods who fight for the Earth. Tien never gives up, never gives in. He’s a lone, badass warrior who fights for the Earth against insurmountable odds. And that’s pretty cool.

He’s also got three eyes, which is a thing that doesn’t get brought up very often, but is cool nonetheless.

So even though he doesn’t get to do much in Dragonball Z, and even though he’s usually getting his butt kicked when he does take a stand, Tien is still my favorite character. Badassery like his doesn’t come from magical glowing hair.

—————-

I know there must be some DBZ fans out there with fond memories of that crazy show. Who are your favorite characters? And is there anybody else enjoying Dragonball Xenoverse? Let me know in the comments!

—————-