User:KidVegeta/Favorite characters

Top Twenty Favorite Characters
Characters with a * by their name are characters whom I have not written about in any significant context. Characters with ** are characters I have featured prominently in a story, but that I want to feature in additional stories that I haven't started yet. Characters without a * by their name are characters I featured prominently in one or more of my stories. Eventually, I hope to have featured all of my top 20 characters significantly in at least one story.

20. Malaka *

Malaka was great in that he wasn't like most other Frieza Soldiers. He was non-violent, and much nicer to the Saiyans than the regular grunts. He took care of both Bardock (making him one of the last soldiers to get off of Planet Vegeta before it was destroyed) and Prince Vegeta after his horrific battle on Earth. His later appearance on King Cold's ship shows that he was likely one of the best and/or highest ranking doctors in the empire. It was too bad he was killed by Future Trunks, because he seemed like a decent guy, and not evil at all. I suppose that though he helped people all throughout his life, he never gained the strength to adequately defend himself, which is sad.

19. Nappa

Nappa being an elite Saiyan always fascinated me. It isn't exactly explained how he survived the Genocide, though it was likely due to him overseeing everything young Vegeta did. His ruthless personality is a measure for all Saiyans, and his fights against Tien, Chiaotzu, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, and Goku were awesome. He killed so many main characters (or in the case of Chiaotzu, caused them to commit useless suicide). He was so badass as he tore apart Earth's defenses. Where Vegeta was smart, calculated, restrained, Nappa was the opposite, and it worked very well to pair the two together. Vegeta killing him, after all their years together, was a nice twist, and showed just how evil the prince was at the time.

18. Krillin

I mainly liked Krillin in the Saiyan and Namek Sagas. He was genuinely useful here, especially when he cut off Frieza's tail. I liked how he survived through so much just to die by Frieza's hand at the end - even if his death triggering Goku's Super Saiyan state was nonsensical. I also liked how he married Android 18, as that was somewhat of an unexpected twist. It was nice that he finally found love. His last endearing moment was when he participated in the tournament right before the Buu Sagas. Though he looks terrible with hair, he still looked cool when he lowered his head, and walked out with his fist in the air, almost mocking himself. Clearly, he doesn't expect to win the tournament, but still takes part in it, and that is something to be praised for.

17. Alligator

Alligator was a random guy living on Roshi's island in episode 3 of the original Dragon Ball. He just liked to relax, and sit out in the sun, which was great. Then Pilaf came and threatened him with a knife, so Alligator was put through untold grief. It's sad he never reappeared. Maybe Pilaf abducted him or he ran away. Regardless, his short stint was very entertaining.

16. Orlen (Appule II) *

He's an orange Appule with fangs! Awesome design. And he killed that almost dead Namekian, which must've been pretty tough. That entire scene with him interrogating the Namekian was well-written, and is pretty much what made me enjoy this character. Too bad he was killed by Frieza. I would have liked to see a scene with him and Appule or him fighting some healthy Namekians.

15. Cell Jrs.

These guys are as strong as Cell, smaller, light blue, and crazy. Whereas Cell lacks any personality, the Cell Jrs' insanity was almost like a precursor to the best villain ever, Kid Buu. The way they fought with the Z Fighters, and particularly Gohan was great, and one of the few interesting bits of the Cell Games. They just toyed around with everyone, as they clearly were stronger, and had boatloads of fun doing it. It strikes me as odd that they would be so much better than the guy who they came out of, but at least, for a few short episodes, they showcased what could have made Cell a stronger, more memorable villain.

14. Cui

Cui was basically as strong as Vegeta was during the Namek Sagas, and the two had a great rivalry. He was basically the most elite Frieza Soldier outside of Zarbon and Dodoria, thus making him very high ranking. His fight with Vegeta was really great, and it ended in him being pathetic and cowardly. As he finally shows his true colors, Vegeta kills him in disgrace. He was definitely a cool villain for Vegeta to fight; and his death started the entire arc where Vegeta's character shined the most.

13. Appule *

How he survived through everything he did, I will never know. But it was awesome, nonetheless. He was only mildly strong, but in his few scenes, Appule proves to be one of the most useful soldiers that Frieza had. I liked how Toriyama gave certain Frieza denizens important roles, and Appule was one of those. He even outdid Cui and Dodoria in terms of usefulness, though he was much weaker. I thought his death at the hand of a healing Vegeta in the tank was very appropriate. I really liked how he died by Vegeta's hand. That fate suited him nicely.

12. Colonel Silver

Colonel Silver is, in my opinion, a great intro into the Red Ribbon Army. He had a tenacity, a ferocity, a brutality that was, up to this point, unmatched. He had no problem with actually killing people. In this story, which had a very naive vibe around that, Colonel Silver brought in the real world in a very sudden way. He never had the grandiose feeling about him that White or Blue did, and I think that worked well for his actual character. And his "death" or lack thereof is one of the most fascinating things that nobody ever speculates about. Well I did, I guess.

11. King Cold **

I think I like King Cold mostly for what he could have been, not for what he actually was. In his second form, he was as strong as Frieza's fourth. He ruled over everything in the galaxy. Frieza just had a small portion, which still reported to King Cold himself. And then King Cold wasn't all too arrogant himself. He was more of a hedonist, and it appeared he only commanded a small elite force of his own, letting his sons manage all the boringness of everything else. Yet still he held all the power and all the respect. We never truly got to see his potential in DBZ, and I think that was one of the biggest mistakes that Toriyama ever made. At the very least, show us a special about his origins. He's just too interesting and has too much potential to be wasted as he was.

10. Bardock

Bardock accomplished more in one special, emotionally, than any other Saiyan accomplished ever. I always liked how he was a genuine skilled fighter. He was relegated to the low class, but he fought so hard that his power level rose of its own accord, so that he was (behind the King and the Prince) the third strongest Saiyan of his time. His fight with Dodoria's elite, his fruitless but necessary attempt against Frieza, he just had so many good moments in such a short time, that he remains far more memorable than characters who were featured ten, twenty, thirty times as long as he was. Bardock's special was like Frieza's sagas, in that it had moderately and properly strong enemies that were quite hard and menacing, but were not impossible to beat. There was never any reliance on a SS transformation, and there was a huge network of the PTO organization in place. The rebellion of Bardock in this time period, with these factors around him made him all the more enjoyable character.

9. General Blue

What Colonel Silver lacked in resources and presentation, what General White lacked in personality and ability, General Blue had inherently. Not only was he the strongest Red Ribbon Army fighter (he even had a rudimentary ki-based ability for crying out loud), he had one of the most intriguing personalities I have ever seen. I particularly liked how unrelenting he was. Even after losing the Dragon Balls and Goku, he pursued the boy through all those god-awful Penguin Village filler episodes. I liked how brutal he was, how alike to a Nazi he was, how he would and could just easily kill any of his men for the smallest error. You take out him being so prissy and finicky and gay, and he would have been the perfect villain in DB.

8. Tournament Announcer Guy

This guy was the consistency between all tournaments. While he called the tournaments, he was a generally funny guy, slightly incompetent, yet highly respectful of all fighters. I loved how he helped Goku after Krillin was killed by Piccolo's minions, and it really showed him outside of his role as the announcer. I liked how in the Goku vs Piccolo fight, that he remained there to call it, despite the danger. It really showed honor on his part not to run. Later, in Z, he clearly is acquainted with the Z fighters, though probably not quite a friend, and he knows Mr. Satan isn't the actual hero of Earth. He is quite smart and he doesn't show it off. I particularly like that. In addition, his appearances near the end of Z bring about a great deal of nostalgia from the early Dragon Ball tournaments, and I was very glad to see he was still commentating at the time. He's just a really cool guy.

7. Korin **

Korin is one of the smartest characters in the series, and the most sarcastic. However, he doesn't tend to show off, even as he likes to point out flaws in other characters. I really liked how he trained Goku, and his backstory with training Master Roshi. Though only in the anime, his interaction with Tao was a very memorable scene, especially showcasing his vast intellect. His strength is quite impressive, considering his age, and his wisdom in fighting is legendary. I really liked after Yajirobe moved in with him, and the two bantered like an old married couple. Their dialogue was often hilarious, and Korin was usually quite witty. And he's a cat, so that makes him even more awesome.

6. Cooler **

What Frieza wasn't, Cooler was. He was sleek, badass, collected. He was every bit the older brother, but he far surpassed Frieza in terms of character. I particularly like the irony of his life and death. He did not care about Frieza, yet just had to watch him destroy Planet Vegeta, and he let Goku live - which ultimately proved to be his death. He really had no one else to blame. But Cooler's arrogance and elegance and chivalry was what I like most in a villain. It's the 'I'm-so-strong-and-I-know-it" confidence that I think is the best type for a villain. Frieza was too womanlike, both in Voice Actor and appearance. Cooler was every bit the monster that Goku should have fought. I can only compare them in the way of music - imagining Frieza to be a light piano waltz, and Cooler to be a heavy metal song.

5. Master Roshi

Roshi was one of the most memorable characters, not only in Dragon Ball, but in all of anime. He had such a complex character. In fact, he could have had the most complex personality of any person in all of Dragon Ball. On the one hand, he can be an insufferable, perverted old man who just wants to leer at women all day. On the other, he is a genius fighter and a brilliant master. He can be serious when he needs to, yet he can also offer genuinely funny comic relief (in contrast to Mr. Satan's un-funniness). My favorite moments in Dragon Ball were all Master Roshi moments. His fight with Goku in the first tournament, his fight with Tien in the second, and his ultimate and often forgotten sacrifice against Piccolo. He had such a noble character that people forget, and it only makes me appreciate him more. When he did sacrifice himself against Piccolo, I don't think that level of emotion has ever been reached again in the DB universe. It is, without a doubt, my favorite scene ever.

4. Tarble **

Tarble is the second best Saiyan ever made by official canon. This is due to his unconvential character. Not only was he weak as a boy, but he never felt like fighting. He never achieved Super Saiyan. He never died. He never had one of those embarrassingly clichéd moments. I quite liked the atmosphere around Tarble and his older brother, and I only wish we could have seen some of that earlier, like when Vegeta was a boy. Tarble is like the misfit, and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I also like playing as him in Raging Blast 2, a lot.

3. Yajirobe

Yajirobe is another genius character introduced. His level of anti-socialness coupled with his great natural strength is something I like quite a bit. In Dragon Ball, at least, he was as strong, if not stronger, than anybody else. His fat figure and lust for food hid his swordsmanship, and finesse in combat. He had the brains to not get himself involved with fights time and time again, yet when he was needed, he did provide extraordinary help, in contrast to the needless and pointless characters like Chiaotzu. When placing Yajirobe above other characters, I can only compare him to an upcoming character in that he has both the brains and the ability while not having overconfidence or annoying arrogance. Once he was surpassed, he did not care. He did not hold grudge. He simply went off and did what he wanted. And that is something that really no other character ever does, and it is quite admirable.

2. Kid Buu **

Best villain hands down is Kid Buu. His mindless insanity was something previously undone up to this point. I think it was a great change of pace to avoid repetitiveness. His immaturity and uncaringness about everything was quite fun to watch. I loved how he would fight half-heartedly almost like he was playing, even when against Goku. Of course, he had always been a slave his life, and had been bred into hatred, so I cannot fully blame him for all that he went through. In his saga, he was finally free, and seeing him going from planet to planet destroying them reminded me of a child realizing they could talk. And then they do nothing but test that out. Kid Buu was a bit different in that he used his powers to kill trillions of enemies. But he had a sort of naivety around him that I could not fully blame him on. Even in his death, I think Kid Buu was not completely aware of what was going on. His death was one of the most tragic in the series, in my opinion.

1. Kid Vegeta **

Easily, my favorite character is Kid Vegeta. I find it remarkable, too, because Kid Vegeta had only 5 minutes of airtime ever. That is quite a bit less than any other significant character. But what he manages to do (well, to me) in five minutes, no other character manages to do in all their countless episodes. He's five years old. He's the strongest Saiyan in existence. He knows it. Frieza knows it. He makes Zarbon feel jealous of a little kid getting attention from Frieza. He is not afraid of Frieza. And let's face it, Frieza saw something in him. Frieza felt threatened enough by the Saiyan race to kill them all, yet he specifically put into place a plan to keep Vegeta alive during this period. I find child prodigies to be quite extraordinary, and Kid Vegeta tops nearly all competition. His confidence and his arrogance, at his age, is just so funny to me. It's like he does not exactly realize what he's doing, or how special he is. But he is not naive. He wants to kill Frieza. He simply goes about it with a child's mind. I can't really describe how cool that is to me. His closing scene, where he learns of his planet's destruction is written perfectly, both scene-wise and dialogue-wise. The way he just bottles up his emotions and denies any sort of mental pain is really great buildup to Vegeta's great death scene in the Frieza saga, where he lets everything out that he went through as a kid. The way his character was written just blew me away, and without it, I would have never come here, and I would have never written any fan fictions to begin with. So I do also appreciate his character for having such an inspirational role.

Top Ten Least Favorite Characters
10. Cell

I don't hate Cell, as he is up at number ten, but I do think he was by far the weakest of the three main villains in terms of enjoyment received. The Android sagas were quite bad, simply because Toriyama told us that a simple scientist could just make an army of Androids - each one at least as powerful as Frieza. It completely makes everything before it insignificant. All the training, all the Super Saiyan forms achieved, all the great fights mean nothing when a scientist can just make something better. Cell was a very lazy concept within the Android idea. He was just a combination of other fighters' blood and skills and all that, and he was better than them. He had very little originality to him because of this. I also did not think the concept of the Cell Games even made sense. An enemy wouldn't just take time to have a tournament where he systematically fought every Z fighter.

9. Vegeta (adult)

It sucks, really, what happened to Vegeta. He was a genuinely interesting character up to the Trunks Saga. But then he just went to hell, by becoming a one dimensional character. I no longer enjoyed him once he reached Super Saiyan and became as lame and clichéd as the other Z fighters. And the bit with him getting together with Bulma never made much sense either. I also absolutely hated that he could never even compare to Goku. He was a prince, he trained harder than Goku, and there was no logical reason for him not to be at least as strong. But Toriyama playing favorites is a major problem within the universe anyway. Clearly, Vegeta should have been stronger, he should have probably been the one to go Super Saiyan against Frieza, and he should have not softened up with the earthlings like they did. Comparing Vegeta from the beginning of DBZ to its end, we see that he falls quickly out of character. His character does not grow - it does that fully in the Frieza Sagas - but afterwards, it gets erased, and he comes back as someone completely different. And that new Vegeta was never quite as good as the old one.

8. Piccolo

There are two things about Piccolo that I dislike. And I dislike these two bits so much, that he reached my top ten list solely from them. The first one is that Piccolo thinks he's some badass. He's always growling and keeping his eyes closed and folding his arms like some douchebag. It's really great, too, because none of it can be backed up. Piccolo has never beat anyone of significance other than Babidi. That's right. The old frail wizard (and no, Raditz does not count). Piccolo beat him. OMG NOW HE'S SO BADASS. Not hardly. The second bit about Piccolo that is terrible is the way he thinks he's some martial arts master and tries to teach everyone. First off, when you can't even win a battle of your own except against Babidi or some insignificant lackeys, I don't see how that equates to you actually being a martial arts master, and someone every person should respect. And more importantly, Piccolo was made irrelevant by the writer of Dragon Ball Z. It's not like Piccolo couldn't have had some sweet victories or actual meaningful abilities, it's just he was written to be not useful, yet reaps all the rewards of being some battle-hardened master.

7. Dr. Gero

Same reason for disliking Cell, however I dislike Gero more. He was just wildly forced upon us. I simply hated the concept of him making the Androids. If he was that smart, he would have found a more ingenious way to kill Goku than try to beat him to death. He would have tried poison or something. I also didn't like how Gero was just able to make the Androids in time for Goku and Co. to fight them. And it also didn't make sense how the lower the Android number, the stronger they got. So, putting this all together, Gero made increasingly weaker Androids over the course of years and labeled the weakest ones as successes. I don't see how that equates to logic or intellect. Surely not enough to make him a scientist able to make Androids like that. His inconsistent character is perplexing because never is he shown to have the intellect and wit to match his creations. Ultimately, Toriyama failed in this portrayal.

6. Tien

I admit, I have liked parts of him in Dragon Ball, but in Dragon Ball Z, he was an annoying useless character who just said terrible dialogue and died. He lost any purpose after he beat Goku in the tournament. I also don't like Toriyama's forced inclusion of him in the Buu Saga. He could not have had the power to do anything to Buu at that point (as not even super strong people like Goku or Vegeta could do anything). It was horrid writing, and just made this character suffer.

5. Gotenks

I dislike how the Super Saiyan forms have been, by this point, simply wasted. Super Saiyan used to mean something, and once Goten and Trunks got it, it was as illogical as it was bad. Gotenks is worse because not only is he cocky (make-you-wanna-throw-your-remote-at-the-tv-he's-that-annoying), but he got SS3, as if it was nothing. As well, Gotenks was forced. Goku was brought back, just happened to learn a fusion, and just wanted Goten and Trunks to use it to kill Majin Buu. That doesn't make sense, because, of course, Goku said he had the power to kill fat buu, but didn't. And then Gotenks didn't even kill Buu. Goku had to come back and fix that. So that whole plot bit was utterly pointless.

4. Yamcha

Useless, annoying, terrible dialogue. The series would be no worse if he was never in it. Especially in Z. What did he do in Z? He died twice, that's what he did. Toriyama should have either taken him out completely or actually given him a half-decent role. Just having him there serves no purpose.

3. Upa

Any episode with Upa was a bad episode. For one, nothing ever happened. Upa and his dad would just run around laughing and smiling and making awkward poses and faces and Goku would be there too. I hated it. He literally served no purpose in the story. Take him out, and what changes? Nothing. He also has, by far, the worst dialogue of any character in the universe. Everything he said made me cringe at its poor, awkward, baseless writing. I'm glad he wasn't in Z.

2. Gohan (teen and adult)

Now a lot of people like Gohan. I don't. He is perhaps the biggest load of crap in the entire DB universe. He is the definition of a Gary Stu. For no reason whatsoever, he just has this inherent power that makes him as strong, if not stronger than anyone by doing nothing. That is absolute garbage. When he got his power unlocked by Elder Kai, it was a slap in the face, really. It showed that training, that trying, that actually making yourself stronger through discipline meant nothing. Gohan could just sit around, never train, and just magically get his power unlocked to be stronger than anyone else in the series. Worst plot idea ever. Now, I did not include kid Gohan in this, because even though he has most of these faults, he was never relied upon, and it was never a big deal. Kid Gohan actually served a purpose, actually had good dialogue, and actually was someone who had relevance.

1. Chiaotzu

Chiaotzu has never done anything. His only fight he ever won was in filler, and therefore never even happened. He died, what, three times? I found his sacrifice to be the most hilarious thing in all of Z. How he just blows himself up and Nappa doesn't even feel it. That's when you know you have a stupid character. He literally had no purpose. Nothing in the plot relied upon him. He never won a fight. He never changed a fight. He never did anything. Instead of introducing all of these pointless characters, the already established ones should have gotten character development. Chiaotzu is the worst offender because in his airtime, he never did one thing worth mentioning. Not one.