Dragon Ball 5 Characters Every Fan Loves (& 5 That Get Too Much Hate)

Dragon Ball has had many characters over the years. Some were well received by fans, while others unjustifiably disliked. Here are five of each.

Over the years, Dragon Ball has given us a multitude of characters, but not all are equal in the eyes of the fans. While some characters receive nothing but support, others are detested (and even protested)! As if the constant memes, forum posts, and YouTube reviews don't make it obvious, many fans wish that Toriyama never conceptualized some of these characters in the first place.

While we're not here to tell you which characters you should love or hate, we can definitely tell you some of the ones who've experienced their fair share of each over the years.

10 Love: Future Trunks

Future Trunks is one of the most admired characters in all of Dragon Ball, and why shouldn't he be? He's received a ton of praise from the community for his reputation of getting things done, unlike every other Saiyan warrior.

Instead of giving his enemies a chance to power up, he'd rather defeat them while he has the advantage, given that he knows what a world where the villains have their way l0oks like. After returning back to his own timeline, he defeated Cell and the Androids without drawing out their battles over several episodes. Our attention spans will be forever grateful.

9 Hate: Hercule

With the Z-Fighters so preoccupied with the Saiyans and Namek, Hercule, otherwise known as Mr. Satan, was able to rise to prominence in the martial arts world with the absence of ki-wielding humans strong enough to defeat him. Unfortunately, many fans just can't forgive this liar for taking all of the credit for Cell's defeat.

Trunks did what many fans wish they could've done when he gave Hercule a nice punch during the World Tournament, a reminder that he's living the life he has now because Earth's stronger fighters are perfectly fine with it. The minute they decide their not, it's all over for him.

8 Love: Frieza

While most Dragon Ball villains just seek to cause mindless destruction, Frieza was the first villain in the series who could bend entire solar systems to his will. Not only did he mold Vegeta into the heartless killer that he used to be, but he single-handedly destroyed Planet Vegeta, nearly wiping out the entirety of the Saiyan race. Despite all of the atrocities he's committed, he served as the final ingredient Goku needed to transform into a Super Saiyan.

His battle against Goku is one of the longest and most legendary fights in all of anime and truly redefined the series. Frieza is so popular that he was brought back twice in Dragon Ball Super, and even played a key role in Universe 7's victory during the Tournament of Power. Whether he's fighting to help Goku or destroy him, we'll always be satisfied whenever he's on the screen.

7 Hate: Jiren

To many fans, Jiren represents a major problem in Shonen anime: he's extremely strong just for the sake of it. Without a compelling enough backstory, this seems forced, and Jiren's backstory is shallow at best. Many fans even felt like Jiren had been "nerfed" since it seemed like he was on a different level entirely during Episodes 108 and 109 than subsequent episodes.

For what it's worth, he did give us some of Dragon Ball Super's most stunning moments, but a lot of fans just feel like the inconsistencies with his strength and his poor backstory just ruin what could've otherwise been a great addition to the Dragon Ball roster.

6 Love: Bulma

Despite being the only non-warrior on this list, Bulma is one of the most venerated characters in all of Dragon Ball. We've watched her mature from an immature teenage girl obsessed with boys to a fearless scientist, mother, and wife so confident that she'd rightly slap a God of Destruction.

If it wasn't for her deciding the investigate the legend of the Dragon Balls, she and Goku would've never met, and Goku's journey would've never begun. Even if other characters have begun making fun of her increasing age and the changes in her appearance that have come with it, true fans respect her way too much to stoop so low.

5 Hate: Gohan

Fans have made no attempt to hide their disappointment with Gohan's current lifestyle. In the Buu Saga, Vegeta voiced what we'd all started to notice: Gohan had been neglecting his training, and it was showing in his technique. For the majority of Dragon Ball Super, he lost muscle mass, his gi, and his ability to turn into a Super Saiyan. He started wearing glasses, more evidence that he'd fully given up on being a warrior and was completely diving into the role of a scholar.

He briefly regained a few ounces of respect during the Tournament of Power, but we have yet to see if he'll just regress back into a spineless, soft-serve sucking wimp in due time.

4 Love: Vegeta

Vegeta is often regarded as one of the most developed characters in all of Dragon Ball due to his constant growth and complicated history. We've seen him go from one of Goku's most terrifying foes to a valuable addition to the Z-Fighters, and fans have sympathized with him over the years after watching him continuously trail behind Goku. For most of the series, Vegeta's constantly been in Goku's shadow, attaining every transformation only after Goku achieved it.

Thankfully, Dragon Ball Super decided to give Vegeta his own unique Super Saiyan Blue Evolved form, finally setting him apart from Goku. We love the fact that Vegeta is more of a dedicated father than Goku will ever be, and that he's learned to use his Saiyan pride as a motivator to push himself. If you can't love such a dynamic character in a series that normally focuses more on physical growth than emotional growth, you must not be watching the same Dragon Ball we've been watching.

3 Hate: Ribrianne

Given the amount of backlash Ribrianne got, we're certain fans would want to boycott any episodes that take place in Universe 2. Ribrianne was the leader of the three-woman squad known as the Kamikaze Fireballs, a team reminiscent of Sailor Moon and other heroines in the magical girl genre.

Though she did shake up the Tournament of Power, it didn't take long for fans to feel like she'd overstayed her welcome. Many felt like her power was inconsistent and that her monologues were annoying. After defeating her, Android 18 garnered so much respect in the eyes of fans (and Tournament of Power participants) everywhere.

2 Love: Goku

For the most part, every fan is so entrenched in this series because of the legendary Saiyan warrior himself, Goku. We've watched him grow up before our eyes from a young boy to a grown man, never failing to be inspired by his desire to push himself to even greater heights. When he died at the hands of Cell, fans were so unhappy that he was brought back for the fight against Majin Buu, reclaiming his spot as the main character that he will continue to hold as long as Dragon Ball continues.

What another anime character (that isn't a cute yellow electric mouse Pokemon) do you know who can secure his own balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade two years in a row? We'll wait...

1 Hate: Tien

Back in the days of Dragon Ball, Tien used to be one of the strongest fighters out there, defeating both Goku and Master Roshi during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Since his colossal loss to Nappa, he's lost this reputation after other warriors began leaving him and the other human Z-Fighters in the dust.

During the practice match before the Tournament of Power against Gohan and Piccolo, fans couldn't believe how useless he was, as well as how easily Master Roshi defeated him after being possessed by Yurin's powerful magic. We honestly can't decide who's become more of a joke now: Tien or Yamcha.