Happy Dragon Ball Day! For those that don’t know, Dragon Ball Day is the unofficial holiday Dragon Ball fans celebrate whenever a new game releases. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is one of the most hyped video games of the year and for good reason. It is the follow-up to one of the greatest games in the entire Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 that was released nearly 20 years ago in 2007. The 17-year wait built the hype to unprecedented levels, so much so that all three versions of the game had more preorders for the PlayStation 5 than the newest Call of Duty game, Black Ops 6. Today, Dragon Ball: Sparkling Zero released to everyone who preordered it. Those that didn’t will have to wait till Friday, but the reviews from the game are outstanding already and it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours.
To celebrate the release of the newest game, rolling out is sharing our list of the best characters from the iconic Dragon Ball Z series.
Trunks
You thought we were going to start with Goku? Nope, that would be too easy. Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, and his storyline might be the most interesting of any Dragon Ball Z character. He appears at the beginning of the Cell saga with a crazy warning from the future. He warns that a new enemy so strong is about to be birthed and he will destroy the world. His future was already ruined, but Trunks went back in time via a time machine to warn Goku and the others, and that’s our intro to Vegeta’s son, and best believe Vegeta was as surprised as everyone else was. Trunks takes the cake as the coolest character, from his story to his outfits to his personality and fighting style.
Cell
That monster that Trunks warned everybody about? Yes, it is Cell. The monster that was created in a lab by the evil Dr. Gero. Cell was the second villain in the Dragon Ball Z franchise, but he is arguably the strongest and definitely the most sinister. Frieza was just too weak to really scare anyone and Majin Buu was too playful (imagine the Joker as super sweet and cuddly), but Cell was the perfect combo of strength, arrogance, and personality. How many villains are so confident in their abilities that they literally set up a Tekken-style tournament to see if anyone could defeat them before they go on their world-destroying binge? Arrogance at its finest.
Piccolo
If any Dragon Ball character was actually Black, it would be Piccolo. A fan favorite, Piccolo first appeared in the original Dragon Ball series as an enemy of Kid Goku. After Goku defeats him as a child, years later in Dragon Ball Z he returns as an ally to Goku and friends. He is a Namekian, the race which created the all-important Dragon Balls, and in Dragon Ball Z he becomes a mentor to Gohan, Goku’s son. He helps train Gohan up, making him strong enough to eventually defeat Perfect Cell, something Piccolo himself failed to do.
Vegeta
Vegeta, the Saiyan prince, is easily one of the most lovable yet complex characters in the Dragon Ball Z series. When people say they want character development from a main star, look no further than Vegeta. He first appears in Dragon Ball Z as a ruthless warrior and killer, destroying anyone who dares to step to him. But when he runs into Goku and loses their initial fight, he ditches his job working for the evil Frieza and decides he wants to stay on Earth to get strong enough to beat Goku. During his journey, he would fight and train alongside Goku and eventually develop a heart where he falls in love and his main focus is to defend his family. As any great villain turned hero, he has his moments where he almost goes back to the dark side in pursuit of power (Majin Buu saga), but with some help from Goku, he overcomes it.
