Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has always featured powerful heroes and villains, with the bar being raised continually throughout the story. With each arc, new challenges would appear, and it forced Goku and company to continually push themselves beyond their limits. What started out as a simple martial arts manga became something more.
With the introduction of multiverses in Super fans once again saw the bar raised to ridiculous levels. With the revelation of there being 12 different universes also came the realization that stronger fighters existed outside of Goku and friends. Universe 7 is still made up of some of the strongest fighters out there. Between Saiyan’s, Human’s Namekian’s and whatever else – there’s a lot of strength going around. Here are the 10 strongest fighters in Universe 7, ranked.
10 Krillin
It may be a surprise to some, but Krillin definitely deserves to kick things off here. Some may consider Tien Shinhan the superior fighter, but it was Krillin who was part of the group chosen to represent Universe 7 in the Tournament of Power.
Though Krillin hasn’t been a threat to any major villain in a long time, he remains one of the strongest humans out there. Despite having given up on fighting prior to the Tournament of Power, Krillin is able to get back into fighting shape and contribute against some of the strongest fighters in the multiverse.
9 Android 18
Considerably stronger than her husband, Android 18 is a capable fighter who’s taken on her fair share of tough opponents and come up on top in many of those cases. She would qualify for the title of strongest earthling, but her Android modifications put her in a sort of weird in-between.
17 is a competent close range fighter who’s quick and able to hold her own most of the time. She seems to favor ki blast barrages over special moves but her Infinity Bullet is a pretty nasty spread shot attack that she seems to favor.
8 Good Buu
Joining the long list of former villains turned ally, Good Buu’s transition from evil is one of the more convoluted in the series. Starting off as one entity, Good Buu is a product of Majin Buu splitting into two halves; one good and one bad.
Good Buu is an incredibly capable fighter that may seem aloof most of the time but can turn the switch when he needs to. Buu possesses a wide array of abilities and techniques that can easily give him the upper hand in battle if underestimated by his opponent.
7 Piccolo
Alongside Goku and Krillin, Piccolo is one of the few fighters on this list introduced prior to the Saiyan Saga. Piccolo was once one of the strongest villains in the series, and would’ve likely continued to be had Raditz not landed on earth and forced him and Goku to team up.
Piccolo has served as more of a mentor recently, but he’s still a capable fighter. He’s the strongest of his species and is always there when a big battle needs to be fought. His experience is just as much an asset as his strength.
6 Gohan
Following his defeat of Cell, it seemed as though Gohan was meant to supersede his Father and become the next great defender of Earth. But things didn’t work out that way and Gohan reverted back to his pacifistic nature as he got older, only fighting when he has no other choice.
It’s been established that Gohan has the potential to surpass both his Father and Vegeta in terms of power. But training has always been secondary to him. Even at that he remains one of Universe 7’s strongest fighters.
5 Android 17
Android 17 came out as the unlikely winner of the Tournament of Power, thanks in part to his ability as a fighter and his quick thinking. Initially introduced as a villain alongside his sister, Android 17 turned things around in a rather anticlimactic way, simply choosing to live a peaceful life following the events of the Cell Saga.
Though not involved in the events of the Buu Saga, 17 still trained and got considerably stronger leading up to the Tournament of Power. Android 17 has shown to not only rely on his strength in battle and is a cunning fighter who can outmatch his enemy both physically and mentally.
4 Frieza
When fans think of Dragon Ball villains, they often think of Frieza. Established as a dominant force since his introduction, Frieza is hands down one of the strongest fighters Universe 7 has to offer. Frieza is the only fighter on this list who has cemented himself as a series villain. Given his strength, that could make for some good writing going forward.
After achieving his Gold Form, it is revealed that Frieza never before felt the need to train prior to his most recent transformation. During the Frieza Saga, Frieza is established as the most powerful and feared beings in the universe. With consistent training he can prove to be a legitimate threat to Earth’s heroes for a long time.
3 Vegeta
Initially starting out as a bad guy, Vegeta has gone through the most character development of anyone in Dragon Ball. But it’s not only his character that’s gone through major changes. Vegeta has always been one step behind Goku, using their rivalry as motivation to push beyond his limits.
Though the two are sometimes on par with one another, Vegeta remains the second strongest fighter on Earth. Still, that’s an incredible feat. He’s among the most powerful beings in his universe. While he can defeat his opponents easily with raw strength, Vegeta has become a stronger fighter as he’s gotten older – not letting his emotions and pride get the best of him as often as they once did.
2 Broly
The retconned Broly introduced in DBS: Broly was an improvement over the original in many ways. His motivations didn’t seem so shallow while the character was made to be sympathizable, opening the possibility for a return later on.
Broly is a prodigy, able to face off with both Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan God forms while he himself remained in his base form. Once he powers up to his Legendary Super Saiyan form, Broly is nearly unbeatable. Though he lacks control over his power, he could very well surpass Goku with enough training and self-control.
1 Goku
Goku has proven himself time and time again to be the strongest fighter in the universe – or at least his universe. It’s not only the plethora of transformations he’s achieved and subsequently ascended, but his fighting spirit and willingness to face any challenge head on, all of which contribute to his strength.
While Broly (along with Frieza and Vegeta) could give him a run for his money, Goku’s Ultra Instinct ultimately puts him ahead of all of them. Once mastered, it’ll propel Goku into a class of his own. Then again, knowing Goku he’ll manage to get even stronger than that.