Dragon Ball Super Every ZWarrior Stronger Than DBZs Goku

At this point in the anime, a handful of the Z-Warriors are now even more powerful than Goku was at the end of Dragon Ball Z. Here's who they are.

A handful of the Z-Warriors in the Dragon Ball anime have managed to surpass the power that Goku had at the end of Dragon Ball Z. In the Buu Saga, the show’s main protagonist reached new heights when he achieved the Super Saiyan 3 form and battled Majin Buu. At the end of the series, he took down the villain with his greatest attack, the Spirit Bomb.

During this time, he was Dragon Ball’s strongest hero. He took back this title from Gohan, who earned it when he unlocked the Super Saiyan 2 transformation to defeat Cell, but lost it when he slacked off on his training. Gohan exceeded Goku’s strength when he was powered up by the Z-Sword, but he was unable to defeat Super Buu. Vegeta, who has long been determined to catch up to his Saiyan rival, accepted an evil upgrade from Babidi to get the edge over Goku, but discovered that his opponent was secretly holding back on him throughout their fight. Goku could have used Super Saiyan 3 against him, but refrained.

Goku’s power continued to climb into Dragon Ball Super. He widened the gap between himself and the other Z-Warriors by participating in a ritual that turned him into a Super Saiyan God. In a rematch with Frieza, Goku reached a new divine state called Super Saiyan Blue. Thanks in large part to his training with Whis, Goku became as powerful as a god when he discovered how to unlock Ultra Instinct during the Tournament of Power, much to the dismay of the Gods of Destruction. He’s come a long way since Dragon Ball Z ended, but he’s far from the only character who has made tremendous gains since the Buu Saga. In fact, there are some Z-Warriors who are now even stronger than Goku was in the anime.

Vegeta

Dragon Ball Super’s Vegeta is several levels above the Buu Saga’s Goku. Though he may be slightly behind Goku, he’s done well to keep in pace with him. He accessed Super Saiyan Blue during the same fight where Goku first pulled it off, despite the fact that he didn’t have the benefit of the Super Saiyan God ritual. Unlike Goku, he had to achieve this power-up entirely through his own means. To keep each other from getting ahead of the other, both characters have trained diligently with Whis. Using divine energy has made them so strong that both Goku and Vegeta could defeat every Dragon Ball Z villain without transforming at all.

During the Tournament of Power, Vegeta diverged a bit from Goku’s path by becoming the first to discover the Super Saiyan Blue Evolved form. He may not be quite as powerful as Ultra Instinct Goku, but Super Saiyan Blue Evolved has kept him from being left behind. With this power, Vegeta demonstrated his most impressive feat yet when he took down Top, who had just become a God of Destruction. What’s notable about that is the fact that just before the tournament, Top – prior to his transformation – stalemated Goku.

Future Trunks

The second Z-Warrior to surpass Dragon Ball Z’s Goku by a wide margin was Future Trunks. When he first showed up in Dragon Ball Super, he was clearly inferior to Goku and Vegeta in power. He was in awe at Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 form and in turn their divine power-ups. Though Trunks may have been stronger than he was when he was last seen in the Cell Saga, he didn’t have enough strength to compete with his new opponents, Goku Black and Zamasu. As a result of continuous fighting for his world’s future, intense training with Vegeta, and the desperate nature of his situation, Trunks became the first character to attain the Super Saiyan Rage form. Based on how well he was able to hold up against Fused Zamasu, it quickly became clear that he was suddenly on par with Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue levels. Goku and Vegeta had to fuse and become Vegito to be a match for the villain, whereas Super Saiyan Rage Trunks was able to destroy his body with his Sword of Hope attack.

Gohan

Gohan didn’t reclaim his position as the strongest Z-Warrior, but he did climb his back way back toward the top after realizing how far he had fallen. Believing that it was necessary for him to become powerful again, Gohan resumed his training with Piccolo, who helped him not only get back the power he once had, but also become stronger than ever. During the preparation for the Tournament of Power, Gohan gave it everything he had against Goku, and managed to push the Saiyan to his limit. Gohan’s fast progress proved significant, as Super Saiyan Blue on its own wasn’t enough for Goku to hold off Ultimate Gohan. He had to combine Super Saiyan Blue with his Kaio-ken technique to finally defeat him. Also, Gohan was shown to be ahead or at least near the power level of Golden Frieza, who couldn’t defeat Universe 11’s Dyspo without help from him. In the Dragon Ball Super manga, Gohan beat Kefla, the fusion of Caulifla and Kale. This was a character that Goku couldn’t beat without Ultra Instinct, which is a testament to Gohan’s power. His victory over her is a clear sign that the distance between him and the top two Z-Warriors has been narrowed considerably.

Android 17

Android 17, who was previously utilized as a villain, joined the ranks of the heroes in Dragon Ball Super. Interestingly, he made a massive leap in power between his final Dragon Ball Z battle and his Dragon Ball Super debut. Before, he was only as strong as the Cell Saga’s Piccolo, but in Dragon Ball Super, it was revealed that spending most of his time protecting an island has been good for him. Clearly, the character has put much time and effort in his training, as he’s now capable of challenging Goku to a great extent. It came as a huge surprise to viewers when Android 17 remained unfazed throughout the fight, even when Goku unleashed Super Saiyan Blue. Following the fight – which didn’t have a winner – it was suggested that both fighters were holding back their full potential. His performance against Top and Jiren in the Tournament of Power confirmed that 17 isn’t as strong as Goku, but he still outclasses most of the Z-Warriors.

Piccolo

Piccolo, who for a very brief time in Dragon Ball Z was its strongest Z-Warrior, stopped being relevant ahead of the Buu Saga. Given that he wasn’t even regarded as a threat to Majin Buu, his role was limited to a guide for Goten and Trunks. For a large portion of Dragon Ball Super, Piccolo’s situation wasn’t much better. That being said, Piccolo did get a major upgrade just in time for the Tournament of Power. As pointed out by Piccolo himself, the character has gotten much stronger in the time that has passed.

Apparently, the character has been training in secret offscreen. He has now transcended Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 form, and possesses enough strength to fight with Ultimate Gohan. He may not be able to win against him in a fair fight, but he was able to keep up with him quite well when the two paired off against the Namekians of Universe 6. Goku acknowledged Piccolo’s remarkable power increase in the manga continuation. All things considered, it seems extremely likely that Piccolo too has eclipsed Dragon Ball Z’s Goku.