It comes as no surprise that the Dragon Ball franchise features some pretty iconic dragons. Collecting the seven mystical Dragon Balls leads to the epic arrival of an eternal dragon, capable of granting any wish the user desires. Over time, the Dragon Ball franchise has introduced numerous of these mythical creatures, each with differing looks and personalities.

Ranking all the dragons in Dragon Ball by coolness requires various factors to be taken into consideration, including memorability, iconicity, and most importantly, how much these entities inspire viewers. That said, their raw wish-granting abilities have no role to play when it comes to overall coolness.

Updated by Alan A. Mehanna, on March 8, 2024: Although there are numerous dragons in Dragon Ball, the only ones who can grant wishes are the eternal dragons. These entities each have access to a unique set of seven Dragon Balls. Fans have long debated about which Dragon Ball dragon is the coolest — an admittedly uphill task that we've managed to streamline with solid arguments. This list has been updated to adhere to CBR's most recent standards for formatting.

8 Mr. Poko Poko Is an Eternal Dragon From the Xenoverse

Dragon Ball Online

For those who didn't play Dragon Ball Online, this enigmatic dragon created by the Dark Namekians might not have fallen under their radar. Mr. Poko Poko resembles Porunga, but unlike his iconic counterpart, this bipedal dragon has both legs and arms. Strangely, this makes him less intimidating and mystical, making him feel more grounded. He's a powerful threat, but a far cry from the other dragons. Mr. Poko Poko spends most of his time refining kiri, a measurement unit that has special properties in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games. Despite his seemingly inconsequential existence, Mr. Poko Poko can at least access the Giant Form.

7 Toronbo Celebrates the Peaceful Sugarian Race

Dragon Ball Super

The most recent addition to the collection of eternal dragons, Toronbo hails from Planet Cereal and appears in Dragon Ball Super's manga. Toronbo resembles an amphibian, existing only to celebrate heroic champions of the peaceful Sugarian race. This dragon was created to grant generally benevolent wishes and never to be summoned for selfish intent. So naturally, Toronbo is summoned by Granolah to become the strongest fighter in Universe 7. This is where his limits are tested, however, as this dragon can unlock a fighter's own greatest potential, but no further. On the other hand, Toronbo requires only two marble-sized Dragon Balls to be summoned as opposed to seven, so that's pretty cool at least.

6 Porunga The Dragon of Dreams

Dragon Ball Z

Porunga is the second eternal dragon encountered in Dragon Ball Z. Although his name means "Dragon of Dreams" in Namekian, he is also strangely underwhelming after the awe of his age and sheer size wears off. Interestingly, Porunga has displayed ethical concerns with taking the lives of morally good individuals, and also acknowledges Goku when the latter requests him to disregard any wishes pertaining to him. Porunga grants three wishes as opposed to the usual one, but they come with limits. While the Namekians remove those limitations after Frieza blows up planet Namek, they set a strange initial precedence. Porunga is mighty and awe-inspiring, yet overall less cool than his younger counterparts.

5 The Seven Shadow Dragons Almost Become a World-Ending Threat

Dragon Ball GT

The Shadow Dragons are a cool concept but executed awkwardly. In Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Balls are filled with negative energy for each wish. The Shadow Dragons are the consequence of that energy building up over many years, each one being a wish manifested into a living entity. The seven Shadow Dragons include Naturon Shenron, Eis Shenron, Syn Shenron, Rage Shenron, Nuova Shenron, Haze Shenron, and Oceanus Shenron. However, none of them are ever as interesting as the concept might indicate. That said, Omega Shenron — a combination of all seven — is the closest the Shadow Dragons come to a true, world-ending threat.

4 Super Shenron is Beyond Cosmic

Dragon Ball Super

Super Shenron is basically regular Shenron, except expanded to a cosmic horror scale. The dragon conjured by the Super Dragon Balls, Super Shenron is the size of an entire galaxy, maybe even larger, making him effectively omnipresent. Further, he can conjure and materialize complete universes, so there are no limits to his power. Arguably, only the power of Grand Zeno surpasses that of Super Shenron. It's an entity that boggles the mind in terms of sheer ability and scale. If only this serpent-like Dragon looked unique or distinct beyond radiating gold energy.

3 Ultimate Shenron Carries an Aura of Malevolence

Dragon Ball GT

Ultimate Shenron is summoned from the Black Star Dragon Balls in GT. In essence, this dragon is a palette-altered Shenron, capable of granting wishes without any limitations. On the surface, a mere color swap sounds underwhelming, even if this Shenron carries an aura of malevolence. However, summoning Ultimate Shenron comes with one massive downside. If the Black Star Dragon Balls — scattered across the whole galaxy, not just Earth — are not collected within one year's time after making the wish, the planet will explode. That makes the Black Dragon Balls and Ultimate Shenron highly dangerous and unbelievably cool forces of nature.

2 Black Smoke Shenron is One of The Most Unique

Dragon Ball GT

Black Smoke Shenron is one of the most unique dragons in the entire Dragon Ball continuity. When the Dragon Balls fill with overwhelming negative energy, they become corrupt, resulting in an entity that has ultimately only appeared once. This highly unique version of Shenron smokes cigars and exudes evil energy. He is the only Shenron who can summon wishes but simply chooses not to. Ultimately, for being so rare and hyperbolically wicked, he stands out as one of the coolest and most interesting iterations of Shenron in Dragon Ball, even if he is from GT.

1 Original Shenron May Not The Strongest, But He is Iconic

Dragon Ball

The original cannot really be beaten. Shenron isn't the strongest of the eternal dragons, but he's seen most often throughout the Dragon Ball franchise. That doesn't change the fact that whenever he appears, something incredible inevitably follows. When Shenron dies or is broken — which happens when King Piccolo kills him, later when Piccolo is killed by Nappa, and again when Kami fuses with Piccolo — a genuine sense of doom pervades the world. It's as though without Shenron's presence, the Earth is immediately a far bleaker place. Hope can only be extinguished when the most awe-inspiring dragon dies, a token of Shenron's incredible might.