With Dragon Ball Genkidama Matsuri being held on January 25, 2026, this is set to be a big comeback year for Dragon Ball. Between a rumored anime and the manga hopefully coming off hiatus, Dragon Ball Super's long-awaited return has never felt more realistic. The Dragon Ball Super manga went on break following an epilogue to Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero where Goku and Gohan finally got to spar in their new forms, showing off just how powerful they've both become since the start of the series.
Dragon Ball: 6 Anime Moments That Were Better in the Manga
Akira Toriyama understood his characters better than anyone else, and the Dragon Ball manga's paneling and storytelling is frankly on another level.
More importantly, Black Frieza is still at large following his sudden appearance (and disappearance) at the end of the Granolah Saga. When Dragon Ball Super returns, it'll finally be time for the series' main characters to take down the strongest character in the universe in the Black Frieza Saga. Dragon Ball Super's main characters are stronger than ever, and each one has a unique transformation that'll likely be the key to stopping Black Frieza once and for all.
5 Orange Piccolo is Finally on Par With Goku & Vegeta After Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
One of Akira Toriyama's main goals when writing Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was to make Piccolo strong enough to rival Goku and Vegeta again. Despite being Akira Toriyama's favorite character, Piccolo fell off in power during Dragon Ball Z's Cell Saga and was never able to catch up to the Saiyans again thanks to their numerous transformations. This all changes when Shenron gave Piccolo a "bonus" in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Orange Piccolo is the strongest Piccolo has been in literal decades. While Orange Piccolo wasn't powerful enough to beat Cell Max himself, the fact he was able to put up a fight at all is an impressive feat. Although Piccolo is the weakest of Dragon Ball Super's five main characters, Orange Piccolo gives him plenty of room to keep training and grow even stronger. When it comes to Black Frieza, Piccolo's not the obvious choice to beat him, but has good reason considering Frieza's genocide of the Namekian race in Dragon Ball Z.
4 Legendary Super Saiyan Broly Will Be Unstoppable Once He Learns to Control His Full Power
Making Broly canon was one of the best writing decisions in Dragon Ball Super. What was once one of Dragon Ball Z's shallowest villains is now one of Dragon Ball Super's strongest and most compelling heroes. Broly's Power Level in DBS is out of control. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Broly was strong enough to fight off Super Saiyan God Goku in his base form. At full power in his Legendary Super Saiyan form, Broly was so powerful, Goku and Vegeta needed to bust out Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta just to win.
Dragon Ball Z Shuts Down Major Super Saiyan 4 Goku Theory
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot just introduced new information about about Super Saiyan 4 Goku, putting a major Dragon Ball DAIMA theory to rest.
As of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero epilogue, Broly is strong enough where he can keep up with Gohan Beast as a regular Super Saiyan. Once Broly learns how to control his temper and transform into a Legendary Super Saiyan whenever he wants, he could very well skyrocket into the strongest unfused character in Dragon Ball. Frieza personally killed Broly's father, so Broly has plenty of reason to get stronger and take down Black Frieza himself if it comes to it.
3 Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku is Getting Stronger With Each Saga
Contrary to popular belief, Goku is rarely the strongest character in Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball Super is no different. As of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Goku is lagging behind both Vegeta and Gohan. Vegeta canonically beats Goku fair and square at the end of Super Hero (albeit in their base forms), while Gohan Beast was strong enough to knock Goku out of Ultra Instinct during their sparring match. That said, it's only a matter of time before Goku catches up and surpasses the other Saiyans.
5 Dragon Ball Super Characters Stronger Than Ultra Instinct Goku
As of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Ultra Instinct Goku is weaker than his rival, his son, and even the series' next main villain.
Every arc in Dragon Ball Super develops Goku's ability to use Ultra Instinct even further. Goku can now transform into Mastered Ultra Instinct anytime he wants, while being able to mix different Super Saiyan forms with Ultra Instinct, as seen in the Granolah Saga. Goku also learned how to astral project his Ki while using UI during the Moro Saga, so there's no telling what he'll be able to pull off come the Black Frieza Saga. Goku has beaten Frieza twice now, and as Dragon Ball Super's main protagonist, he's the most likely character to finish off Frieza for good.
2 Ultra Ego Vegeta is Stronger Than Goku – For Now
Vegeta finally earned himself a fair and square win against Goku at the end of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and is on a personal hot streak at the moment. In terms of raw power, Ultra Ego is a stronger form than Ultra Instinct, and only gets more powerful the deeper into combat Vegeta gets. The biggest drawback to Ultra Ego is that Vegeta can accidentally exhaust himself, which is exactly what happens during his battle with Gas in the Granolah Saga.
Vegeta's no slouch, even without Ultra Ego, though. In the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero epilogue, Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta is able to spar with Gohan Beast just fine. While their fight isn't as long as Ultra Instinct Goku's, the fact Vegeta can keep up at all is impressive and speaks to Vegeta's current Power Level. Unlike Goku, Vegeta has never gotten the chance to beat or kill Frieza. Frieza personally ruined Vegeta's life and essentially enslaved him as a boy, so he arguably has the best reason out of anyone to be the one to put Black Frieza in the ground.
1 Gohan Beast is the Strongest Main Character in Dragon Ball Super
Ultimate Gohan was the strongest unfused character at the end of Dragon Ball Z, but he lost that title relatively quickly at the start of Dragon Ball Super. With the introduction of God Ki, as well as Gohan slacking off on his training, Gohan quickly fell behind and didn't recover until the Tournament of Power. In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan finally unlocks a new form that puts him right back on top of the totem pole.
Gohan Beast was the only character strong enough to defeat Cell Max himself, and is so powerful, Whis even considers him as a potential successor to Beerus as Universe 7's God of Destruction (though Beerus himself doesn't agree). Gohan fought Frieza back on Namek and wasn't able to stop him during Resurrection F, so he has good reason to redeem himself in the coming Black Frieza Saga. As it stands, Gohan Beast is the Z-Fighters' absolute best chance at defeating Black Frieza. No one but Gohan is currently strong enough to finish the job.
- Release Date
- 2015 - 2018
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Showrunner
- Tatsuya Nagamine
Cast
-
Masakazu MoritaWhis (voice) -
Masako NozawaSon Goku/Goku Black/Son Gohan/Son Goten (voices)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Ryota Nakamura, Masanori Sato, Kenichi Takeshita, Takao Iwai, Hideki Hiroshima, Masato Mitsuka, Kazuya Karasawa, Ayumu Ono, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Nagamine, Kôjiro Kawasaki, Kouji Ogawa
- Writers
- Ryu King, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
- Franchise(s)
- Dragon Ball
