The Dragon Ball series is one that is most well-known for its battles and contributions to the anime and manga shonen genre. However, the one thing that probably outshines the love of the battles featured in the series is the avid love of the diverse cast of characters that are actually in these battles.
Throughout the years these characters have interacted with one another and created some of the most iconic relationships in anime and manga history. However, while some of these relationships are well-loved others completely fall flat. Both of these sides of the coin will be looked at through this list.
10 BEHIND: BROLY AND CHEELAI
The relationship between the new canon version of the Legendary Super Saiyan and Frieza's now-former subordinate Cheelai is one of the newest in the Dragon Ball universe. Being new you wouldn't expect it to pick up so much steam so early but both of these characters were done so well in the new Broly film that fans were instantly on board.
The relationship between these two has the same charm that Dragon Ball originated on with Goku and Bulma's friendship. This relationship, however, has fans hoping it becomes something more.
9 REJECTED: BIO-BROLY AND BROLY
If you haven't seen the Dragon Ball film Bio-Broly first of all, congratulations! Secondly, you're probably not aware of the fact that Bio-Broly isn't simply Broly in a new form. Heck, you may not be aware that Bio-Broly is a thing at all. No one would blame you due to the fact that Bio-Broly is one of the most fan-fic concepts in official Dragon Ball history.
However, Bio-Broly is simply a Broly clone that fans wish wasn't associated with Broly's image at all. In fact, most Dragon Ball fans wish that Bio-Broly wasn't a thing in the first place.
8 BEHIND: GOKU AND PICCOLO
While many nowadays recognize Goku and Vegeta as the all-star rival duo of the Dragon Ball series, back in the day before the Z era it was supposed to be Goku and Piccolo. In fact, once the original arcs of the first series were over fans were left thinking that Goku's next big threat would be a stronger Piccolo set on revenge for himself and his father.
However, once circumstances changed the two teamed up, leading to Piccolo being one of Goku's closest allies and friends. The two even attempted to get their licenses together, leaving fans wishing they'd get more moments together.
7 REJECTED: GOKU AND JIREN
In the gigantic arc of the new Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball Super, Goku was confronted with a new rival that completely shadowed his strength. That new rival was, of course, Jiren the Gray, who was constantly teased as the final boss of the Tournament of Power arc. However, not every fan was on board with this new foe for a couple of reasons.
Many weren't down with Jiren's characterization, motives, or design leading to them not caring for him as a real rival of Goku. While just as many enjoyed him as a total character, others simply thought of him as another obstacle for Goku to overcome.
6 BEHIND: CELL AND FRIEZA
Cell and Frieza may have never interacted with each other in official canon besides some Dragon Ball Z filler in Hell, but when they do their relationship is nothing short of one of the best in the series. Frieza and Cell have one of the most love-hate bromances in all of Dragon Ball both admiring the fact that they each have it out for Goku and just about every other Saiyan on Earth but always at the throat of one another due to their losses.
After being teased with this relationship in multiple pieces of non-canon lore, fans eagerly await the day they meet in canon material.
5 REJECTED: 17 AND HELL 17
If there's one thing that Dragon Ball GT did, it's that it created some of the oddest villains in Dragon Ball history that managed to be completely original while being so utterly stupid that no one would think of them at the same time. One of these cases is the infamous character that is Hell Fighter 17 who isn't Android 17, but a clone of him created by Gero and Dr. Myuu in Hell.
He comes to Earth and brainwashes Android 17 into being his ally so they can fuse into Super 17. So of course instead of some epic clone fight, we get your usual brainwashing and a fusion into a terrible villain.
4 BEHIND: TIEN AND YAMCHA
Tien and Yamcha have a friendship that is now one of the most iconic in Dragon Ball lore. They started off as enemies and very obviously hated each other. Tien even broke the guys during their battle in the World Tournament. However, since then, they've grown to be the best of friends, having each other's back in any situation
This relationship has spawned some great moments both in canon lore and in non-canon lore. Them jumping in the battle with Cell to back up Gohan during their final beam struggle and their Tiencha fusion are two things they've created that have stood the test of time.
3 REJECTED: GOKU, TRUNKS, PAN, AND GIRU
Dragon Ball GT was a series that had a lot of missed opportunities due to the plot that it was trying to go for. In the first arc of the show GT tried to go back to the original Dragon Ball basics of being a show all about an adventure with the goal of collecting the Dragon Balls before going back to a show about battles.
The tease of getting Goten and Trunks as teens on a journey with Goku to further grow the two characters and get a peek at a (at the time) canon teen Gotenks only to get fooled and replaced by a now annoying Pan was so bad that it caused fans to completely disregard this team. Thanks Pan.
2 BEHIND: HERCULE AND BUU
The relationship between Hercule/Mr. Satan and Majin Buu is one of the purest in Dragon Ball. These two characters perfectly complement each other and fans were completely in love with the fact that Majin Buu was basically just a bad child that just needed a loving friend instead of his evil master Babidi.
Hercule and his buddy Majin Buu have since then been living together in a relationship based on friendship, protection, and of course the promise of a lifetime supply of candy.
1 REJECTED: BARDOCK AND GINE
The mother and father of Goku are actually one of the most disliked couples in Dragon Ball after how the two were used in the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film. The reason behind this is the fact that this relationship resulted in a degraded version of Bardock's epic story.
To fit in the fact that Goku's loving mother needed spotlight, Bardock was changed from a once borderline evil warrior that paid for his sins by being cursed with visions of the future and the truth of Frieza's betrayal to a rather basic character that had a lot less impact than his original version. Many disregard this change and still take the original Bardock OVA as canon instead because of it.