Dragon Ball: character analysis

[Keedounan]

So, the rules are pretty much the same as the arc rating/review, except it's on characters.

- Characters are rated on a scale of 1 to 10
- An analysis must be provided alongside them. The length is flexible, though it must be enough to show a concise opinion.
- Manga versions of the characters, though if you have enough of a differing opinion of the character in each medium, you can also add a secondary review/score for their anime counterparts.

Once the first day of a character has passed, I'll tally up the scores to find the Zeta average score and then move on to the next character. If there are new reviews on the character afterwards, the score will be updated as soon as possible.

First on the list is Goku (of course).

EDIT: Tally of the characters' average scores (rounded down to 0,1)

Krillin: 6,8/10
Piccolo: 6,5/10
Freeza: 6,33/10
Vegeta: 6/10
Muten Roshi: 5,6/10
Bulma: 5,5/10
Gohan: 5,25/10
M. Satan: 5,25/10
Goku: 4,3/10
Oolong: 4/10
Trunks: 3/10
Yamcha: 2,2/10
#17: 2/10
#18: 2/10
Cell: 2/10
Tien: 1,5/10
Chi-Chi: 1/10
Launch: 1/10
Videl: 1/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Goku was a pretty entertaining character as a child, his naivete due to his upbringing being more endearing than the blatant stupidity of the protagonists he inspired (eg. Naruto and Luffy), with his innocence being an excellent foil to the selfish nature of most of his peers in the first two arcs. It was also during his childhood we saw the most genuine emotion out of him, such as his happiness in being reunited with Gohan and the rage for his friends' deaths in the Piccolo Daimao Arc being far more gripping than later arcs in which the Dragon Balls would be cheaper plot devices.
For his adult self, his appearance at the 23rd TB was consistent and realistic, though his development was little. The Saiyan Arc is where his character peaked, as he had to face his inner demons in the form of his race and some subtle glimpses of conflict, such as actually sparing Raditz at first due to their blood ties.
However, after the Saiyan Arc, his character takes a drop in quality. I would heavily disagree with the notion of the Freeza Arc being where his character peaked. Throughout most of it, Goku isn't given his own adventures to gain some inner experience and reflection like in previous arcs. Here, he was only part of the plot if the other characters faced a wall they couldn't overcome with Goku otherwise being kept in a confined space waiting for the plot to include him again, becoming more of a plot device than a character. Him taking on Vegeta's Saiyan pride was also a mixed bag. His notion of the Saiyans having already payed for their sins was the most realistic portrayal of it and something I liked. However, that is ruined once he becomes a Super Saiyan and starts declaring himself to be one, despite not knowing entirely what it was beforehand, making it seem very artificial. On the note of his Saiyan traits, the emphasis on them in this arc also tainted his character somewhat, as all his traits such as wanting to fight strong enemies were cheapened to just being regular Saiyan traits.
Still, his changes in the Freeza Arc were still far more acceptable than in the Cell and Boo Arcs. Unlike previous arcs in which he had a genuine connection to the villain that made their battle far more engaging, such as them killing his friends, there isn't any of that with Cell or Boo. In fact, he wasn't even fighting to defeat either of them, which brings out another unnecessary flaw to his character. The losses within these arcs were mainly down to his own idiocy, such as not at least wearing Cell down for Gohan and being proven wrong by Piccolo in regards to his expectations of Gohan, whilst him not killing Fat Boo when he had the chance resulted in the destruction of Earth and a dragged out plot. Here, he was no longer the naive boy of Part 1 to excuse this, but just a general idiot. It doesn't help that the already mentioned Saiyan traits ruin his character even more with him having little care for his family compared to training.

BoDB to Saiyan Arc Goku - 6/10
Freeza Arc Goku - 4.5/10
Cell/Boo Arc Goku - 2/10

So overall, about a 4/10 for Galu.

 

[Keedounan]

CC more or less covered what I think about Goku, though I would actually add something else.

It seems like Goku was aware that the other protagonits tends to depend too much on him. Just look at how many times the others were getting pessimistic because he wasn't around. In fact, Bulma sent Trunks in the past mainly to save Goku, because she thought he could actually do something against the androids. As such, he insisted to pass the role of protector of the world to someone else. However, both times backfired, resulting first in his own death. The second time caused the destruction of the world. And in the end, he saves the day again.

The problem with Goku's character is that he didn't change much, making quite bland when compared to, say, Piccolo and Vegeta. What was endearing and cute when he was a kid become infruriating and annoying as an adult, especially for his Anime counterparts, who tend to flanderize his character even more.

5/10 for Goku.

 

[SSJ2]

I find it hard to add anything to what CC said.

I thought Goku was decent in part 1. He was a lot more ruthless, had no trouble killing people who killed his friends, and was generally entertaining due to his stupidity.

I thought in Part 2, he was okay until he turned Super Saiyan. After that he became hellbent on finding strong opponents and lusted for battle so much. It made him come across as a douchebag who'd let the world get destroyed because "he wouldn't be there to protect it forever". Nigga please, if you can save the mother-fucking planet, then do it. That whole gamble bullshit in the Boo arc made me despise his character. I recall getting pissed when he spared Freeza too. You just raged the fuck out and discovered Super Saiyan after he killed your best friend and assaulted your friends (Pikkoro and Gohands, Vegeta too I suppose), yet you wanted to spare his life because he was nearly as powerful as you. That's some whack ass shit.

4/10 as a whole.

 

[Keedounan]

Goku: 4.3333333333/10.

Next up is Bulma.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

^ Fixed the , to a . It's probably also best just to round it up to 1 or 2 digits after the decimal point for simplicity as well (so either 4.3 or 4.33).

Anyway, onto Bulma's analysis.

Bulma is sort of a mixed bag as a character. Her selfish and somewhat narcissistic nature worked well in the first arc, as it helped portray it's theme of being a satire of selfless, heroic bands. However, after this arc, it just made her a general bitch. She was constantly thinking about dumping Yamcha for better looking guys, which even taking into account her age, makes her seem like a slut. However, this aspect thankfully starts to fade away as time goes on. She seems to act far more mature in regard to reflection on her relationship from the 23rd TB and onwards and, after hooking up with Vegeta and becoming a mother, her personality seemed to have become far less irrational due to her duties as a mother.
As for her scientific genius, it is a good trait that makes her seem intelligent and constantly have a more active role in the plot than all the other female characters combined. However, this would be far better if she was a smart character written by a smart person. With Toriyama seeming to not like writing smart characters or put in the effort to make them genuinely geniuses, Bulma falls more into the common trap in writing an intelligent character by making them seem more like a wizard/witch due to creating fantastic things, but with vague explanations (if at all) on how they're built. Of course, you can't exactly write a Time Machine's creation with real world science, but applying some in-Universe laws would've gone a long way in making Bulma feel like less of a plot device at times.

5/10

 

[SSJ2]

Seeing that review made me miss when regular characters were actually relevant/in the plot. Device or not, at least it wasn't all Goku time back then.

I'll post my score later.

 

[Keedounan]

Seeing that review made me miss when regular characters were actually relevant/in the plot. Device or not, at least it wasn't all Goku time back then.

I'll post my score later.

I should really re-read Part I.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Bulma is one of those typical annoying bitch from the anime but played a huge role in Goku's life and Vegeta's as well. She managed to help the future time line thanks for inventing a time machine. She helped the Z warriors to go on planet Namek, helped to make a device to turn off the Androids, and most importantly the DB radar which everything started from it. That's just her role as a supporting character. Her character started to slow down in Boo arc but made a resurrection on Super as she's playing a major role again.

3/5 I can't translate that to 1/10 scale.

 

[Keedounan]

Bulma is one of those typical annoying bitch from the anime but played a huge role in Goku's life and Vegeta's as well. She managed to help the future time line thanks for inventing a time machine. She helped the Z warriors to go on planet Namek, helped to make a device to turn off the Androids, and most importantly the DB radar which everything started from it. That's just her role as a supporting character. Her character started to slow down in Boo arc but made a resurrection on Super as she's playing a major role again.

3/5 I can't translate that to 1/10 scale.

3/5 is pretty much 6/10 on a 1/10 scale.

 

[Keedounan]

Well, looks like it's my turn.

As the first major character to appear besides Goku, she works very well as a contrast to our hero. Goku is self-less, Bulma is selfish. Goku is innocent, Bulma is promiscuous. Goku is strong, but kind of stupid, while Bulma is physically weak, but smart and so on. They couldn't be more different even if they tried. Yet as the series goes on, Bulma will become one of Goku's closest friends. Aside from that, Part I Bulma, despite her usefulness, is almost unlikeable for reasons already stated by CC, as well as being kind of a hypocrite, being a clingy jealous girlfriend to Yamcha, yet has no problem flirting with pretty boys (to the point I wonder why AT had Yamcha cheat on Bulma, instead of the opposite).
In Part II, while she's kind of a jerk, it looks like mothering a kid made her gain in maturity, thankfully. In addition, Bulma is one of the rare characters to be able to remain relevant outside of the Saiyans, as well as the most proactive female character in the main cast (despite being the weakest by a fair margin), which is definitely a good thing.

I hesitate between a 5 and a 6, so I'll go with a 5.5/10.

 

[Keedounan]

So it's a score of 5.5/10 for Bulma.

Muten Roshi is next.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Pervert but an incredible master in terms of techniques, skills, movesets etc., His KHH is still used to this day by Goku himself. He did his best to pass the torch to the new generations of martial arts in 22nd Budokai and it took him for some time to return fighting again in the current arc and did what we expected him to do by using his incredible techniques and managed to eliminate other jobbers in the tournament.

3.5/5

 

[Captain Cadaver]

3.5/5

The scale's one of 1 to 10, so just put 7.

Muten Roshi is an entertaining character, though one who's depth has limits. He was great to see in the earlier arcs where he'd go from pervert to badass and had some layers to him with his goals in the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. However, like most mentor figures, this role was still limited to him guiding the next generation and passing the torch on to them. The Piccolo Daimao Arc was his last opportunity to be part of the plot and whilst I can't complain about his failure with the Mafuba, I have a lot to complain about the CIS of him telling Daimao where he'd buried the Dragon Balls. There was no point in burying them if he was going to tell him anyway, so that was a major blow to his character.
After this, he basically became a background character for the rest of the manga. His role of now making jokes wasn't good either when considering that became the only role he was reduced to.

5.5/10

 

[Keedounan]

Well, what can I say ? Muten Roshi is a peverted mentor who become the most badass old man in the universe when shit comes to worst. A pretty entertaining character who also introduces us to the fighting part of the series, who both plays the role of the mentor who pass the torch to the next generation as Kame Sennin and the wall that the heroes has to surpass as Jackie Chun. Having him defeat Goku is also refreshing in that most would expect the protagonist to win.

Unfortunately, as CC pointed out, he doesn't have much depth besides his role, and is all, but neglected by Toriyama in Part II.

5/10.

 

[SSJ2]

I really enjoyed Roshi in part 1. He was a complete badass as Jackie Chun in the Budokais and did his job to advance the plot/making the heroes stronger. As mentioned prior, after the Piccolo Daimao arc, he pretty well gets shafted to the sidelines and has no purpose aside from adding the odd "intelligent" comment here and there. The way Super haxed him has made me hate him more as it contradicts the entire manga, but I won't let that factor into my score.

5/10

 

[Keedounan]

Roshi's score: 5.625/10.

Now, it's Yamcha's turn.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

The Yamcha memes say it all about the character.

Yamcha started off entertaining due to his phobia and role as Goku's rival, though after overcoming his fear and becoming a regular good guy, he became gradually less interesting. It also doesn't help that unlike most other later rivals like Piccolo or Vegeta, nobody ever brings up how he was likely spending his life killing and robbing people in the desert. For this arc though, he was a stand out not only for his role, but his friendship with Pu-erh being an interesting opposition to Bulma manipulation Goku and Oolong for her personal gain, especially when Yamcha was to be percieved as the villain at this point.
His role at the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, while the start of something bad due to getting stomped, was still likeable due to him being the only character intelligent enough to piece together that Jackie Chun was Roshi. Later on with the events with Baba, it was also nice to see him get an actual win against Suke-san, and even his loss to the Mummy was commendable. However, it was at this point that his character became far more bland than before. Other than wanting to be strong like Kuririn and Goku, he didn't seem to have any sort of personal goal, at least not one that could help represent his character. In the first arc, he made mention about wanting to get married, yet you wouldn't think so with the way his relationship with Bulma went. His popularity with the ladies and acceptance of it was also too much of a 180 change from his initial self, especially when whatever development caused it happened off-screen.
From the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and onward though, Yamcha's character in general just becomes a joke. His role is reduced to being stomped by a new character to show how strong they are, which whilst working for the 21st TB with Roshi, just makes Yamcha look pathetic overall. His personality and character even became forgettable, since Toriyama decided to just give most of Yamcha's traits to Kuririn starting with the Saiyan Arc (Kuririn mentioning several times his desire to get married) and practically made him a background character for both the Freeza and Boo Arcs. This is made even more damaging for his character when he could've learnt the Kaioken to stay somewhat relevant, yet Toriyama didn't care enough to have him gain such an obvious benefit of Kaio's training. It also doesn't help that Vegeta cucked him hard by taking Bulma. This could've actually been good since we hear Yamcha's girlfriend mentioned twice, yet never see her or learn about Yamcha's thoughts on his current life to give his character some katharsis. Instead, it just makes him seem pathetic.
With a bland personality, long list of epic fails and no real resolution to his character arc, Yamcha is overall a poorly written and handled character.

3/10

 

[SSJ2]

I can't stand Yamcha. The only time I actually wanted to see Yamcha do well was in the 22nd due to how arrogant Tien Shinhan was - and we all saw how well that went.

Spoiler

Anyway, I found his character to be annoyingly arrogant most of the time. Acting cocky towards Tenshinhan without knowing anything about him, letting his guard down vs Kami in the 23rd because he looked weak, the unneeded arrogance vs the Saibamen that got him killed... the list goes on. He was in over his head too often and never learned from his mistakes.

2/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

There's nothing to talk about Yamcha other than him as a loser and a bitch especially the way he was terrified by #20's absorbing him, sure that was for them to get hyped but Yamcha is such a bitch. At least TFS made him relevant though.

1/10