Dragon Ball Super: Broly was a fantastic film that added to and built up the lore of Dragon Ball's unique world and story. In being a great achievement of animation and storytelling, the film has redeemed the character of Broly, who had previously only existed in non-canon Dragon Ball Z films that were sub-par at best. Dragon Ball Super: Broly turned a previously popular-but-poorly-written character into a well-developed, interesting character who we hope to see more of in the future. Dragon Ball Super: Broly has shown that some of the non-canon Dragon Ball characters are worthy of being rebooted, and if done right, they can make for awesome additions to the franchise's main timeline and lore.
Nearly every sub-par, non-canon Dragon Ball character still has some form of potential or cool idea behind their development and/or depiction, thus there is a great wealth of reboot material to pull from. In this list, we've pointed out a couple of potential characters from movies and non-canon series as well as video-game-original characters that we think deserve the Dragon Ball Super: Broly treatment. Everyone from Frieza's long-lost brother to Android 21, there are some neat characters that deserve a second chance in the main canon of the series. We don't suggest bringing back all of these characters, nor do we want more than three or four at once, since that would be overkill and would over-inflate the already huge Dragon Ball universe. That said, these 20 non-canon Dragon Ball characters have a lot of canon reboot potential.
20 COOLER
Let's start off with a character who is close in popularity to Broly, which is part of why we think he'd be perfect for an in-canon reboot, Cooler. Known as Frieza's brother, Cooler came after Goku and Vegeta to get revenge for his brother's death in Cooler's Revenge, returning for its sequel, The Return of Cooler.
Though the character didn't have much, well, character, there is still potential in rebooting him and placing him in the main Dragon Ball universe in an interesting way. Perhaps he could have been amassing his own planetary empire and is seeking to display his superiority, or maybe he could be the benevolent brother, helping to revive the worlds and species that Frieza has destroyed.
19 SALZA
If Cooler gets rebooted, then he wouldn't be complete without his right-hand-man, Salza. If we're being honest, our main reason for wanting to see Salza rebooted into Dragon Ball's main canon is because he's got a freaking awesome character design, but we also think he has a fair amount of story potential.
Every villain needs a right-hand henchman, so right away there'd be a call for Salza if Cooler was rebooted, but there's also potential in Salza's past as second-best to the likes of Captain Ginyu. We're just throwing out ideas here, but making Salza one of many "second bests" that Cooler has collected into his army out of sympathy from his own ranking against Frieza could make for an interesting version of the character.
18 LORD SLUG
Lord Slug is a somewhat divisive film amongst Dragon Ball fans; it's got some pretty great moments and a cool fight with Goku's pseudo-Super Saiyan form, but it doesn't often make people's top ten. That said, the titular villain, Lord Slug, an evil Namekian, definitely has some reboot potential.
The character's original interpretation was pretty bland, but a reboot could do him good. We're not sure how exactly to reboot his character, but we're certain there's a way to give him more depth, and it would be great to give Piccolo a Namekian nemesis, one that could possible become an ally.
17 LORD SLUG'S CLAN
Like Salza, Lord Slug's Clan, consisting of the villain's henchmen, are a must if his character gets rebooted, since a supporting cast is always helpful for a villain, especially in Dragon Ball. Specifically, if Lord Slug retains his desire to conquer words in a potential reboot, then he needs an army to help him do so.
Perhaps Lord Slug could have been a Namekian who joined Frieza's army, only to defect and bring other rebels with him as a means to starting his own empire. Either way, these interesting aliens and demons go great with the character, so why break them up?
16 GRAND KAI (AND OTHER KAIS)
The Grand Kai has yet to appear in the main canon of the Dragon Ball franchise, but he, as well as the rest of the Universe 7 Kais should definitely make an appearance sometime soon. Thus far, only King Kai, who is known as the North Kai, and the South Kai have appeared in Dragon Ball canon, leaving the East and West Kais, as well as the leader of all Kais, out of the main timeline.
Dragon Ball usually makes it a point to show the hierarchy of gods and deities, so it's strange that the Grand, East and West Kais never got a rebooted appearance in Dragon Ball Super, though with more episodes possibly on the way, that could change.
15 SHALLOT
Though Dragon Ball Legends might not be the most popular Dragon Ball game, the protagonist, Shallot has a lot of interesting potential as a main canon character, though perhaps not exactly as he is now. For context, Shallot is a Saiyan from the species' early history, one who was transported to present day without any of his memories.
The time traveling and amnesiac elements might have to be removed for a canon version of Shallot, but portraying the history of the Saiyans before they conquered Planet Plant would be a great way to bring Shallot into the lore of Dragon Ball, even if it was for some brief flashback.
14 HIRUDEGARN
Wrath of the Dragon had a lot of neat ideas going on, mainly the creature known as Hirudegarn. The monster was a demon that existed in two halves that were sealed within Tapion and his brother, Minotia. Though the finer details of the character's origins could be done away with in a canon reboot or, the monster would make for a cool short saga villain.
If the monster is trimmed down to his bare character essentials, he could make for a great Dragon Ball Super antagonist, since Goku and friends rarely, if ever fight giant monsters, and with such an interesting and tragic backstory, Hirudegarn has great reboot potential.
13 TAPION
If Hirudegarn gets rebooted, his connection to Tapion (and by extension, Minotia) is an element that should be kept in a reimagining of the monster. The fact that the monster is sealed within him and Minotia is easily the coolest and most tragic part of the story, and Tapion himself is a cool character that deserves an in-canon reboot.
Tapion provides some potential for developing Kids Trunks' character, who has been sidelined alongside Goten in Dragon Ball Super. If there's one thing that was cool about Wrath of the Dragon, it was that it ended with Tapion given Trunks his sword, showing us where Future Trunks got his signature weapon, and it would be awesome if this happened in the main canon as well.
12 ANDROID 21
The story mode of Dragon Ball FighterZ feels like it could fit in the main canon of Dragon Ball, but because of a few elements, one might have to reboot a some thing in order for it to work as a full-on anime saga. Regardless of wether or not the full story ever makes it into a potential future Dragon Ball Super saga, one thing's for sure, Android 21 should be added to the franchise's main canon.
Perhaps the only thing that would need to be rebooted is her Majin-Buu-esque form and later fission into two beings, since these elements of the character are not as interesting as her first form and it's origins, being the android version of Dr. Gero's wife.
11 SHADOW DRAGONS
We know that Dragon Ball GT was pretty terrible in practically every way, but if there's one thing about the series that deserves praise it's the initial ideas. While most good ideas for the series were executed terribly, the initial elements are rife with reboot material. One such example of this is the Shadow Dragons.
The Shadow Dragons were evil demonic dragons created out of negative energy that built up in Earth's Dragon Balls as a result of overuse. The dragons themselves were poorly designed and kind of weird overall, but this concept, the idea that Earth's overuse of the Dragon Balls having adverse effects is a very cool one that could do well as a rebooted movie plot or saga.
10 PIKKON
Pikkon showed up in the Otherworld Tournament filler Saga, also making an appearance in Fusion Reborn, but otherwise the character has never been part of the main Dragon Ball canon. This is somewhat reasonable considering he is mostly a stand-in for Piccolo, but we still think he's cool enough to make a main canon appearance, with some revisions, of course.
Instead of being a Piccolo clone, we think Pikkon can work in the main canon as some kind of Otherworld enforcer, perhaps a great warrior in life who was assigned a soul-police-like role in death, though that's just one idea for the character.
9 CRUSHER CORPS
Listen, Turles is a really dumb character, a really, really dumb character; an evil Saiyan that happens to look like Goku because all lower-class Saiyans look the same. It's just a lazy idea that was done much better with Goku Black in Super, and we just don't think that Turles can be rebooted in a significantly interesting way.
His Crusher Corps. on the other hand? The have a lot of interesting reboot material. A group of pirates that once belonged to the Frieza Force, the Crusher Corps. defected to form their own force that sought enough power to overthrow Frieza. This setup is really cool and, with a few tweaks, could still work in modern Dragon Ball.
8 BABY
Baby is another villain from Dragon Ball GT that, if properly tweaked and reimagined, serves as a great antagonist for a new Super saga or film. The villain would need some heavy edits, but the basic idea of Baby (oof, even the name needs changing) is a cool idea.
The character is essentially the representation of the Tuffle race and their destruction at the hands of the Saiyans, and were this idea filtered through a modern Dragon Ball lens, it could make for an interesting exploration of the legacy of the Sayian race. Specifically the concept of Goku and Vegeta, who now represent the opposite of the Saiyan culture that destroyed the Tuffles, clashing with the incarnation of their wrath, is very, very interesting.
7 CHRONOA (AND THE TIME PATROL)
There's one other Kai we forgot to mention when talking about the Grand Kai, the Kai of Time, Chronoa. This character plays a significant role in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games, ruling over time and leading the Time Patrol to prevent rogue timelines and timeline changes from happening. Confusing as that sounds, Chronoa and the Time Patrol would make good additions to the main canon of Dragon Ball.
If we had to propose a way to bring them into the main canon, we'd say that Trunks and Mai's shift from their own timeline to another timeline in which they already existed could alert Chronoa to their time traveling antics, leading her to punish the two by making them Time Patrollers in a possible Super film.
6 DR. WHEELO
Everyone loves a good mad scientist, though Dr. Wheelo of World's Strongest wasn't as developed as he could have been, there is some potential for him as a rebooted character in the main canon. We're not sure how a reimagined Dr. Wheelo would work, though he'd definitely have to be different from how Dr. Gero, another brain in a robot, was depicted.
Regardless, there is definitely some potential in a world-conquering robot with the brain of a mad scientist, especially if a rebooted version of the character were to change robot bodies depending on his combat or tactical situation, entering a giant body when facing off against Goku or whoever a reboot would pit him against.
5 GARLIC JR. (AND/OR GARLIC)
Garlic Jr. has something of an interesting origin, at least to the point that it could serve as the basis for a reboot of the character. Garlic Jr. is the son of, you guessed it, Garlic, an alien that was competing with Kami to be Earth's guardian, eventually losing to him due to the evil in his heart. After an attempt at a hostile takeover, Garlic was sealed away, leading his son to seek revenge and power in his wake.
Though Garlic Jr. himself is kind of a confusing and boring character, his father has potential to be a cool villain. Perhaps instead of being sealed away, Garlic could return seeking the Kami's power in a saga that gives Dende some time in the spotlight.
4 BOJACK
Bojack is another character that we want to see make a canon appearance based primarily on how cool he looks. Come on, just look at that design! He's an awesome-looking space pirate with a fiery mane of hair, what's not to love!? Aside from his cool design, however, Bojack also has some reboot potential were he a blank slate.
This is to say that his entire story should be done away with, since it's yet another background and motivation involving wanting to take over the universe. A potential reboot of the character should instead depict Bojack as an actual space pirate, an anti-hero character that can both fight against and side with Gohan depending on the situation.
3 JANEMBA
Janemba was mostly a mindless villain with no agenda and no motivations, which is what makes him super underdeveloped. However, there are a few interesting pieces of Janemba's character that could work if rebooted properly. The character's origin and backstory are kind of convoluted, which is why some streamlining would be necessary.
Perhaps a rebooted Janemba could be the bare essentials of his depiction in Fusion Reborn, he could literally be the manifestation of concentrated evil souls, souls that perhaps consorted with each other to combine into one being in order to escape hell. Though, that's just one idea, and the character's background has potential for a number of different reboot ideas.
2 MAJINS
Majin Buu is canon, there's no denying that, but what isn't quite canon is the race of Majins that were introduced in Dragon Ball Online. In Online, it is stated that Buu created an entire race of creatures like himself, and frankly this idea could have some potential in the main canon of the series.
It would have to be more limited than the Dragon Ball Online version, but the Majin race might be an interesting way to bring Majin Buu back into the spotlight, since he's been sideline throughout most of Dragon Ball Super. Perhaps a saga could focus on the chaos caused by Buu creating a race of Majins on a whim.
1 ANDROID 13 (AND ALLIES)
One of the coolest parts about the Androids saga is that it brought back a story element from early Dragon Ball, the Red Ribbon Army. Prior to said saga, we were only aware of a few Androids created by the Red Ribbon Army, so when Androids 16 through 120 were introduced it was both a cool callback and an interesting story choice.
However, we never knew what happened to the other Androids in the Red Ribbon Army until the Super Android 13 film, which was both sub-par and non-canon. But, Androids continue to have lots of Dragon Ball story potential, and we'd love to see a rebooted, in-canon version of Android 13.