Summary
- Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero boasts a massive 182 character roster, but is missing fighters like Super 17 and Demon King Piccolo.
- MondoMega discovered unused character data suggesting potential DLC additions, including forms and characters from Dragon Ball Super.
- The leak suggests a Martial Arts Pack for Sparking Zero, but fans should await official confirmation from Spike Chunsoft and Bandai Namco.
Fans have found some recent clues in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero that pointed towards a much bigger character roster, igniting the potential idea of the missing fighters from Budokai Tenkaichi 3 being added as DLC. After much anticipation and hype, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is finally out for all gamers, earning positive reviews from fans and critics. The roster of Sparking Zero is one of the largest in fighting game history, carrying on the tradition set by the original Budokai Tenkaichi games, which also had large character rosters.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has a whopping 182 characters in its roster to choose from when counting the individual forms of characters, like Goku and Vegeta and their various Super Saiyan transformations, as individual characters. Despite the incredible roster size, beating out the previous entry, Sparking Zero is still missing quite a few characters from Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Many fans were shocked at the exclusions of characters like Videl's Great Saiyaman 2 alter ego, Demon King Piccolo, or even Super 17, a major villain from Dragon Ball GT. Based on some recent findings, these characters were originally planned for Sparking Zero at one point, before it had to be scaled back.
How to Unlock Every Character in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
There are 47 unlockable characters in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, most of whom can be acquired in a number of different ways.
In a thread posted by MondoMega on BlueSky, she found leftover data that pointed to various characters being cut from the base game. MondoMega noted that, while references to Sparking Zero's upcoming Super Hero and Daima DLC were scrubbed, there were various internal character IDs associated with a list of names that refer to various characters who are currently not playable in the game. These include characters who were originally in Budokai Tenakichi 3's roster, but were cut for some reason, with the data left intact.
Every Missing Fighter and Form Mentioned in Sparking Zero's Internal Data
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Supreme Kai
- Kibito Kai
- Pikkon
- Grandpa Gohan
- Nam
- Android 8
- Chi-Chi
- King Vegeta
- Fasha
- Appule
- Salza
- Zangya
- Mercenary Tao
- General Blue
- Spike the Devil Man
- Pilaf Machine
- Tambourine
- Yamu
- Demon King Piccolo
- Jaco
- Zen-Oh
- Grand Minister
- Mai
- Tagoma
- Zen-Oh's Assistant
- Champa
- Vados
- Lavender
- Basil
- Videl (Great Saiyaman 2)
- Super 17
- Other Shadow Dragons from Dragon Ball GT
- Great Ape Kid Goku
- Super Saiyan 1 Caulifla
- Base Form Garlic Jr.
- Base Form Ribrianne
- Base Form Kakunsa
- Base Form Roasie
Some of the missing fighters from Budokai Tenkaichi 3 include the Supreme Kai, Pikkon, Demon King Piccolo, and Super 17, among others. MondoMega speculates that some of these alternate characters will be added as DLC later down the road. She also found strong evidence of other transformations having been scrapped, such as Great Ape Kid Goku, as well as the base forms of characters like Garlic Jr., Kakunsa, and Ribrianne, with the versions currently available to play being internally treated as "first form" transformations rather than a base form. A number of new characters from Dragon Ball Super were also listed, such as Champa, Tagoma, Future Mai, and many others.
This theory may have some credence, as a Martial Arts pack for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero was leaked fairly recently as well, though the contents of the Martial Arts Pack haven't been revealed yet. Fans should still keep their expectations in check, and wait until Spike Chunsoft and Bandai Namco give more official information.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 86%
- Released
- October 11, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Spike Chunsoft
- Publisher(s)
- Namco Bandai








The fourth mainline entry of the Budokai Tenkachi series, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is an arena fighter developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco that features a whopping 182 character roster.
- Engine
- proprietary engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Dragon Ball
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Action