To be a powerful warrior, one has to be at the top of their game. And most of the time, there's little room for the old when it comes to a showdown between the best of the best, except to hand things off to the next generation. But in a world like Dragon Ball Z, age is often nothing but a number.

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There are plenty of characters from the world of Dragon Ball Z who don't look anything like what their "real" age would suggest. For some of them there's an easy explanation, while for others it takes just a little bit of mischief to maintain the same appearances fans have seen them in since their introduction.

10 Piccolo Is Only Three Years Old During The 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament

Piccolo

Here's something to think about: when Piccolo is raising Gohan during the Saiyan Saga, he’s only eight years old.  That means he was only three years older than Gohan. It’s not as bad in Dragon Ball, but when Piccolo was introduced he absolutely didn’t look his age. He made his first appearance at the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament, meant to be the wrath of Piccolo re-incarnated. Perhaps because Akira Toriyama intended to grow Goku up is why in only three short years the new Piccolo was already an adult.

9 Android 18 Is In Her Late 20s And Hasn't Aged A Day

Anime android 18

Android 18 is “older” than her brother Android 17, but not by much. They were born at the same time, after all. After causing a bit of trouble when she first awoke, Android 18 calmed down after Cell showed them both there were vastly more powerful people out there. She gets married by the time of the Buu Saga and even has a child, but she still doesn’t look any older than she did during her first appearance. The supposed reason for this is that she’s an Android, which also explains her infinite energy reserves.

8 Goku Is Supposed To Be 43 Years Old But Hasn't Aged Since The Start Of DBZ.

Goku and Goten

Goku has always had problems looking his age, dating back to Dragon Ball. When he’s introduced, he’s a boy of only twelve, but he looks like he’s around eight or nine at the oldest. Three years later, the character is fifteen and doesn’t look like he’s aged at all.

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He experiences a growth spurt from 15 to 18 and becomes the height one expects of an adult, but then there’s another issue. Though Goku’s supposed to be 43, the character has been dead for about eight years, which means he’s really only around 35. Comparatively he doesn’t look that much older than Gohan.

7 Vegeta Is 50 Years Old Thanks To His Time In The Hyperbolic Time Chamber

Vegeta goes to hold Bulla in Dragon Ball Super

The Saiyan Prince is doing pretty well for someone who’s 50 years old. Vegeta was thirty years old when he landed on Earth, having spent most of his adult life in Frieza’s army enslaving planets. Between the natural flow of time in Dragon Ball Z and the years he spent training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Vegeta aged another 20 years, but he doesn’t look any older because Saiyans apparently don’t begin to show their age until they’re 80 years old. Effectively, this means he’ll look like a twenty- or thirty-something for another thirty years.

6 Zen-Oh Is As Old As Time Itself

Goku Zen-Oh

The creator of all existence looks like an eight year old. But it isn’t just his appearance—Zen-Oh behaves like an eight year old as well. His two versions spend their time playing and having fun throughout the day, and like Goku because he’s fun to play with. The Grand Priest actually does most of the day-to-day work, at the whim of Zen-Oh.

5 Bulma Is Close To 50 Years Old But Keeps Having Her Age Reduced

Vegeta and Bulma Looking At Each Other

Born only a year after her husband Vegeta, Bulma should be pushing 50 by now. And it’s true, she certainly does look older than she did when Dragon Ball began. But she still resembles a woman in her late twenties at the oldest. Unlike most of the people who could be mentioned though, there’s an in-universe reason for this.

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Bulma refuses to look any older than she does, and so she’s been using the Dragon Balls periodically to have the Dragon reduce her age by five years. Who knows how frequently she’s done this, but it explains why she doesn’t seem to have aged much even compared to Chi Chi, who’s four years younger than her.

4 Android 17 Is In His Late 20's But Doesn't Look Any Older Than When He First Appeared

Android 17 in Dragon Ball Super

No one actually knows how old the Androids are. The two characters were introduced in the Android Saga and they were seemingly teenagers. Android 17 was the key troublemaker in the group, but since then he's chosen to live a peaceful life, even getting married. Most recently he was seen during the Tournament of Power, and he operated as one of the most important characters in Universe 7 by saving the team and winning the tournament. Nonetheless, Android 17 hasn’t aged one bit since his first appearance.

3 Mai Is Over 50 Years Old But Had Her Age Reduced By The Dragon Balls

Anime Dragon Ball Super Young Mai Diamond

Mai is one of the oldest characters in the Dragon Ball series, as she was a grown woman by the time the first arc began. She worked with Emperor Pilaf and aimed to help him figure out how to take over the world. But once they were defeated, they were relegated to being comedy characters instead. Despite this, they found their way to getting the Dragon Balls and chose to wish for youth instead. Shenron turns them into children, which allows them to get into shenanigans with Goten and Trunks.

2 Krillin Is Supposed To Be Over 40 But Looks The Same As He Did During The Saiyan Saga

Anime Goku & Krillin, Dragon Ball Super

Krillin was one of Goku’s earliest allies, often training right alongside him throughout much of early Dragon Ball. The two were born at the same time, but despite this Krillin doesn’t look any different. This is particularly strange because there’s no reason for it. He’s over 40 but has no sign of gray hair or even any physical changes. Supposedly, by Dragon Ball GT he grows older, having both gray hair and a mustache, but that might not even be canon anymore.

1 Master Roshi Is Over 300 Years Old But Is Supposedly Immortal

Dragon Ball Z Master Roshi 1

Master Roshi is old, but he doesn’t look anywhere close to his age. He's 350 years old, which is a bit much even for Dragon Ball's universe. Roshi has supposedly achieved immortality through having a pet phoenix, though an episode of Dragon Ball Super claims he's been consuming a Paradise Plant which extends his life by hundreds of years. Because of this, Roshi has been able to enjoy life and even maintain a large amount of his strength. He’s even powerful enough to fight in the Tournament of Power, defeating several warriors using both his strength and intelligence.

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