-THE SAIYANS-
 Brolly
A Saiyan who was born on the same day as Goku. He seemed to have a natural hatred towards Goku. He was sentanced to be executed by Vegeta who feared Brolly's potential power, but somehow he survived.Brolly was supposed to be the legendary Super Saiyan. Many years later Brolly meets up with Goku and defeats most of the Dragon Ball team but is later subdued by Goku. Brolly makes his appearences in DBZ movies 8, 10, and 11. His original self appears in movie 8 while the others he comes back as a clone.

 Bardock
Bardock is Goku's real father. He was cursed by an alien race whose planet he helped destroy. He foresaw the destruction of his planet by Freeza. He tried to save it, but was no match for him and was killed by Freeza.

 

Son Goku


Son Goku is the primary hero of the Dragon Ball series. The series started out with Goku as a child of age 12. Once he grew up and his son was born, the TV series' name changed from Dragonball to Dragonball Z. At the end of the series, Goku was roughly 45 years old.

Goku is a Saiya-jin whose native world is the planet Vegeta. He was sent to Earth in a space capsule right after he was born so he could conquer the planet. However, he hit his head and lost his "programming," thus becoming the kinder, gentler Goku we see in the series. Goku was raised as a human on Earth, and did not learn of his true nature until his brother Raditz came to Earth...

Later, when Goku's rage was awakened by witnessing the death of his friend Kuririn(Krillin), his Super Saiyajin power was awakened. When he goes Super Saiya-jin his eyes turn green and his hair gold. Goku can go to the 3rd stage of Super Saiya-jin power in DBZ, and in DBGT he can go to level 4. Level 4 causes him to have a red fur coat, black hair again, and a tail. In GT Goku surpasses the powers of any other fighter in the universe.

 

 Son Gohan


Son Gohan is Goku's first son. At the end of the series he was 26 years old. For a short while after the second time Goku died in the series, Gohan became the primary character. Gohan is the one of the most powerful non-fused character in the DBZ world, but lacks the love of fighting his father has and thus rarely uses his full strength.

Gohan is a very good-natured boy and unlike his father, his main focus isn't fighting, although for a while he was more powerful. He is very polite towards just about everyone except to his enemies, and when he's pissed off. Gohan is very bright and studies very hard, although this is somewhat due to the wishes of his very strict mother...

Gohan is the first character in the series to have gone Super Saiya-jin 2, during the Cell Game; the power of his anger was kindled by watching his friends get beaten up, and the death of Android #16 sent him over the edge. It was roughly at this time that the series switched main characters from Goku to Gohan.

 

Son Goten
The second child of Goku already showed his talent at a young age. He was able to turn Super Saiyajin at the age of six completely surprising his older brother. In a Fusion with Trunks, (Gotenks) they were even able to become Super Saiyajin 3.
Unfortunately, due to his lack of discipline, he did not maintain his ability and had to be "forced" to join the Budokai by his father.

 

Nappa
Vegeta's partner who accompanied him to earth to find the dragon balls so that they could become immortal. He kills Chauzu, Yamcha, and Piccolo. Nappa is betrayed and killed by Vegeta after Goku easily defeats him. He is killed again later in Dragonball GT after escaping Hell with Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu.

 

Raditz
Goku's older evil brother who came to earth searching for him to return to the Saiyans. He is disappointed when he finds out that Goku is good and does not want to return. So, he kidnapps Gohan and forces Goku and Piccolo to team up and fight him. Raditz is later killed by Piccolo's Makenkosapo while Goku sacrifices himself in order to hold Raditz.

 

Trunks


Trunks is Vegeta's son. In his future, all of the Z fighters were killed by the Androids, except for Goku, who died of heart disease. Trunks travels 20 years back in time to give medicine to Goku so he can survive this disease and defeat the Artificial Humans. Trunks' returning in time alters the past in other ways which can be seen later.After giving the medicine to Goku, Trunks goes back to his own time, but returns again three years later to help the Z fighters battle the Artificial humans. During this time, he becomes extremely powerful and surpasses every other one of the Z fighters except for Gohan and (maybe) Goku.

The Trunks here, "Future Trunks" and the "current Trunks" are radically different characters. "Future Trunks" is very polite like Gohan and has very strong values, but the current "Chibi Trunks" has a bad attitude and is somewhat like his father. Chibi Trunks never truly reaches the power level of his future counterpart; possibly because he lived through mostly peaceful times, whereas Future Trunks did not.

 

Vegeta


Vegeta is the "bad guy among the good guys." He first made his appearance back when Gohan was 4. Although he fights along side the other Z fighters, he is still decidedly evil. As the prince of the Saiyajins, he is very proud, has a huge ego, and is constantly trying to prove that he is the best fighter in the universe. Vegita has a continual rivalry with Goku, or "Kakarott," (Goku's Saiya-jin name) and is obsessed with beating him in combat just to show that he is the stronger. This obsession with trying to be stronger than Goku proves to be a fairly large weakness as well.

Despite his efforts to show otherwise, Vegeta has changed and has developed a conscience, and deep down cares about his friends. Furthermore, he is also somewhat emotional at heart. He demonstrates this when dealing with his son Trunks, most notably just before he died trying to kill Majin-Buu. Although he pretends to hate Goku with a passion in reality he respects his power and maybe even likes him a bit.

-THE NAMEKS-

Daimao (Piccolo Sr)
When Kami seperated the evil from his body, it created his opposite, Piccolo Daimao. Daimao, being pure evil had a plan to overtake the world and destroy anything in his path. Daimao is later killed by Goku, but with his last bit of strength he manages to spit out an egg, containing Piccolo Jr. Piccolo Jr is the Piccolo that has turned good, and later returns with Kami again.

 

Dende
Dende is the young Namek who the Z team met when they first reached Namek. He was saved by Gohan and they became really good friends. He later became the new guardian of the Earth when Kami fused with Piccolo. As guardian of the dragonballs, Shenlong can grant him 3 wishes instead of 1. He also has the power to heal.

 

Guru
Guru is the eldest of the Namek. During the Freeza saga he helped Kuririn and Gohan discover their hidden powers. He also gives Dende his power to heal. He dies of old age before Vegeta could make a wish to Porunga, and Porunga dies along with him. He is brought back to life with the Earth's dragon, and Porunga is restored. Porunga is then used for the final wish to transport everyone back to Earth. While on Earth, he later dies of old age again.
Kami
Originally from Namek. Kami is the good half of Daimao and Guardian of the Earth. He watches over the Earth in his floating palace above Karin Tower. He's the one who created the dragon balls on earth. He trains the Z team in the Saiya-jin saga. In the Cell saga he fuses permanently with Piccolo. Dende then takes his place.

 

Neil
The best warrior on Namek. He is of aid to the Z warriors, and even tries to take on Freeza, even though he is of no match. He is beaten badly, and left for dead by Freeza. He fuses permanently with Piccolo to add his stregth to him, because he knows he will die anyways.

 

Piccolo
The evil son of Daimao. Piccolo was once imprisoned by Master Roshi's master Mutaito-sama but was released by Pilaf. He originally wanted the dragon balls to regain his youth. Piccolo entered the Tenkaichi Boudoukai tournament against Goku to avenge his father, but was defeated. Years later he allies with Goku to defeat Raditz. He helps the Z team in the fight against Nappa and Vegeta also. He grows a fondness for Gohan and trains him. Piccolo was killed by Nappa but was brought back to life with the dragon balls. By this time his heart has softened, and he becomes good again. Later he fuses permanently with Kami and Nail.

 

Slug
An evil Namek conquerer who terrorizes earth in search of the dragon balls in order to regain his youth. He becomes young again, when his wish is granted by the dragonballs. He has the ability to increase his size and muscle mass, kind of like giant were-monkeys. He is later killed by Goku.

 

-THE KAIOS-
Dai Kaio
This is the head Kaio of all the Kaios on the 4 sides of the galaxy. He is only shown in movie 12. He likes to listen to rock music and boasts about his strength, even though most of the Z warriors' power out match his.

 

East Kaio
This is one of the four Kaios on the sides of the galaxy. She is the only female Kaio, and her students don't do well in tournaments. Although she doesn't have any great students, she claims to be the fastest hover bike rider in the galaxy.

 

North Kaio
This is the first of Kaois that we se in the series. This Kaio lives above the earth, on a tiny planet at the end of snake way. He taught Goku his Kaio-ken and genki-dama(spirit bomb) techniques. Although he can get a little carried away with jokes he is a very good martial arts teacher. He produces some of the finest students, being Goku, for the tournaments in the heavens.

 

South Kaio
This Kaio has a rivalry with the North Kaio. He likes to brag about how strong his students are, but his best student is easily beaten by Goku.

 

West Kaio
This Kaoi, like the South Kiao also likes to brag about how great his students are. Unlike the South Kaio, he actually produces some great students, and his best student Paikuhan is almost as strong as Goku.

 

-THE ANDROIDS-

Android 8
An android created by Dr. Gero as a guard for the crime syndicate Red Ribbon to destroy Goku, but Android 8 became friends with Goku and later helps him with energy against the last fight with Buu.

 

Android 13
Android 13 was one of the androids Dr. Gero worked on before Android 17 killed him. Android 13 tries to destroy Goku by fusing with the parts of Androids 14 and 15 to become a bigger android. He is later destroyed by a genki dama from Goku.

 

Android 14
Android 14 was created along with Androids 13 and 15 by Dr Gero. This android is later destroyed by Future Trunks.

 

Android 15
Android 15 was created along with Androids 14 and 15. This android is later destroyed by Vegeta.

 

Android 16
Android 16 is another android created by Dr. Gero but was never used by him. Android was stolen by Android 17 and 18 to fight against Cell. Android 16 fought in a battle with Cell and was destroyed. He later was repaired and reprogrammed into a Z warrior by Bulma. In the second battle, Android 16 was killed yet again, but his death made it possible for Gohan to reach SSJ2 mode for the first time.

 

Android 17
Android 17 is yet another android created by Dr. Gero. In Trunk's future, #17 and 18 both terrorize Earth, and destroy everyone before travelling to the past to kill Vegeta and the rest of the dragon ball team. He is consumed by Cell in a later battle. However he is later revived by Shenlon, and later goes on to become an outback hunter and trapper.

 

Android 18
Android 18 is #17's sister or companion however you want to look at it. #17 and #18 terrorize Earth as you already know. In the battle with Cell she is also consumed but later gets spit back out, and becomes slightly less evil. Strangely enough she settles down with Kuririn(Krillin) and have a baby Marron. How can androids reproduce?, you might ask. Well, this is explained because the androids have half human qualities, which enables them to have offspring.

 

Android 19
The fat android with with a whit face, constructed by Dr. Gero. Just like Dr. Gero he has power absorbers on the palms of his hands, giving him the ability to absorb the attack and vital energy from an enemy. He is later killed by Vegeta.

 

Android 20 AKA Dr.Gero
Android #20, also known as Dr. Gero is an evil engineer who works for the Red Ribbon. He developed a hatred towards Goku for defeating the Red Ribbon. He devoted the rest of his life trying to destroy Goku by creating a number of androids to do the job. He turned himself into an android, in attemp to have everlasting life, but was laer betrayed and killed by his creation, Android 17. In hell, he allied with Dr. Myuu to create Artificial 17. #17 betrays and killed him once again.

 

Cell
Cell was a powerful being created by Dr. Gero. He is also known as Android 21, although he is more of an artificial being. He was completed in Future Trunk's time. Cell kills Trunks and steals his time machine and travels back in time to absorb #17 and #18 to reach perfect form. He manages to absorb #17 first, and then #18, who is later spit out. During this time he goes through 3 stages, each stage progressing to a more human-like form until he reaches perfect form(which is the 3rd and final stage).

The Z warriors manage to defeat him. He kills himself by setting off the bombs in his body as a last attempt to win the battle. Before Cell can explode Goku teleports him to Kaio-sama's(King-kai) planet to prevent the Earth from blowing up with him. Cell manages to regenerate from a brain cell that survived after he died.

He later is killed by Gohan. Cell allies with Freeza in hell in an attempt to take it over. They of course are stopped by Goku and Paiku-Han. Later he is rebuilt and upgraded by Dr. Gero and defeated one last time by Goku.
Cell Jr's
Cell wanted to make Gohan mad, so he created seven little blue clones of himself. They attack and injure Gohan's friends pretty bad. This really pisses Gohan off which is has a part in helping him to turn Super Saiyajin 2. He quickly deals with the cell clones, and in fact he kills all of them in one hit!