We often forget that Dragon Ball is an anime with some of the strongest non-Saiyan heroes. Since the whole series focuses so much on Saiyan transformations and the history of their race, it can get really exhausting.
So we decided to make a list of 10 of the strongest non-Saiyan heroes in Dragon Ball seen so far. We went far beyond just the main timeline of the show, looking at some of the Dragon Ball movies for non-Saiyan characters.
Non-Saiyan Dragon Ball Heroes Who Are The Strongest
Piccolo
Starting things off with Piccolo. Who is one of the other really strong characters from a different alien race. Namekians have long been a part of Dragon Ball’s history since the beginning of the original manga.
Originating as a villain named Demon King Piccolo, who gave birth to the Piccolo Jr we currently know. His story got expanded further in the Frieza saga when everyone got to learn about the Namekian race. It was further expanded on in the recent Dragon Ball Daima anime.
Piccolo has always been a fan favorite and is considered the strongest non-Saiyan Z warrior of all time. He even got a new transformation recently, which turns him orange and more moreful.
Fat Buu
Fat Buu was originally conceived as an antagonist of the Majin Buu saga. But the storyline slowly led him to separate his evil side from the childlike, friendly Fat Buu side. Eventually, he ended up becoming a part of the roster of heroes.
Buu is an ancient demonic entity and is one of the strongest beings in the universe. He is said to have absorbed a lot of other powerful beings previously, which led him to that state. This part of the character’s history was further explored in the Dragon Ball Super manga.
Fat Buu may still be one of the strongest characters in the universe of this series. But his easy-going, childlike nature makes him useless in situations when he is actually needed. Fat Buu is mostly found sleeping throughout some of the most important fights in the series.
Ubb
The Majin Buu saga was a weird bag of power scaling arcs never seen before in the show. The Evil Buu counterpart continued beating up the Z warriors and slowly absorbing other powerful characters.
It all culminated in a massive fight between Super Buu and Vegito. At the end of the fight, the pure and evil version of Buu was reincarnated as a kid. But taking him on was no issue for Goku.
He made Buu promise to be reincarnated so that they can fight once again. Thus was born Ubb, one of the strongest young non-Saiyan fighters in the series. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball keeps neglecting the character, so we never really get to see him realize his full potential.
Pikkon
A lot of fans might have forgotten about Pikkon, and some may be completely confused, questioning who this is. Just like a lot of old Dragon Ball characters, Pikkon is a really strong non-Saiyan character who is now forgotten.
Pikkon is not a character from the regular world, but he appears in a filler arc in the other world. We see Goku meet him for the first time in a tournament setting, where they go head-to-head against each other.
Pikkon may look like a regular alien character from the universe of Dragon Ball. But he has the capacity to take on and keep up with some of the strongest foes in the show. Quite notably, fending off Janemba when he invades the other world.
Tapion
It’s a shame we will never see Tapion in Dragon Ball ever again, since he appears in a one-off Dragon Ball OVA. Most of the older movies and OVAs show are usually ‘what if?’ story scenarios. Only a few characters, such as Garlic Junior and Super Broly, got the luxury to be retconned as characters in the main show.
Tapion is a resident of the planet Konats, which was destroyed by the monster known as Hirudegarn. This same monster is the centerpiece of the Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon movie.
Together with the Earth’s Z Warriors, Tapion attempts to fend off Hirudegarn from completely destroying Earth. Tapion has a lot of interesting tricks up his sleeve, such as using mystical flutes to hold back the monster. By the end of the movie, he ends up becoming an inspiration for kid Trunks.
Android 17
The androids were originally evil as they were created by Dr. Gero, specially designed to destroy the Z warriors. They were successful to a great extent in a different timeline. If not for Trunks traveling to the canon timeline to assist the heroes.
After getting absorbed by Cell, who is then defeated by the heroes, Android 18 is revived as a human using the Dragon Balls. He then goes on to live the rest of his life very differently from his evil ways, a recurring theme with Dragon Ball.
In Dragon Ball Super, during the Tournament of Power arc, we see him on the front lines again with the Z warriors. This time, he fights alongside the heroes as one of the strongest non-Saiyan warriors.
Android 18
Being the twin sister of Android 17, she was created in the same way as him by Dr. Gero. Together, they decided not to follow orders and instead go rogue by murdering their creator. Android 18 is equally as powerful as 17, and together they make up good tag team partners.
She took a liking to Krillin, who eventually developed a soft spot for Android 18 and decided to save her. Unfortunately, this mistake led to Cell absorbing 18, which allowed him to transform into Perfect Cell.
Android 18 was spat back out during Cell’s fight with Gohan, and eventually turned into a human by using the Dragon Balls. She lives a happily married life with Krillin and their daughter. But had to reappear and show her powerful side once again during the tournament of power arc.
Tien Shinhan
Tien Shinhan is simply known by fans as Tien in the western side of Dragon Ball fandom. He appears in the show, originally as an adversary to Goku during the Budokai Tenkaichi tournament.
His appearance in the show brought forth a new era for the series with a lot of superpowered martial arts maneuvers. This included flying and supernatural techniques, not that the show wasn’t breaking barriers already. But Tien was a different powerhouse compared to all the other human fighters.
He is an integral part to the regular group of non-Saiyan fighters from the show and is a fan favorite for his generational feats. This includes actually being able to hold back Cell using his tri-beam attacks.
Krillin
Krillin may not look too old to many, but for those who haven’t watched the original Dragon Ball. He is pretty much supposed to be the same age as Goku, and together they were students of Master Roshi.
Some may say that the show did a disservice to the character since Krillin never grows in height compared to Goku. But then there is also the fact that Krillin gets constantly paired with young Gohan and other weaker characters.
Making him look like a deadweight among the number of strong characters. It also doesn’t help that he has a severe lack of confidence. But when he pulls his socks up, he can stand above all the non-Saiyan characters and actually turn out to be a good team player.
Master Roshi
Master Roshi is pretty much the oldest human character on the list, and also the one who taught the show’s protagonist how to fight. Kamehameha, the legendary special move the series is known for, literally is a personal creation.
He passed it down to his disciples, such as Krillin and Goku, and it was picked up by other characters and even villains. He is, without a doubt, one of the strongest and most respected non-Saiyan characters in the show.
Except that last part is not always true since he has a problem with perversion, which is his biggest weakness as a character. Dragon Ball Super gave him a chance at redeeming himself as he joins the main roster in the Tournament of Power, keeping up with the younglings.
NOTE! The list is only considering non-Saiyan characters who fought to protect Universe 7 in the current timeline.
