What Happened To Every Z-Warrior After Dragon Ball Z Ended

For Goku and the Z-Warriors, several years have been passed since Kid Buu was defeated by the Spirit Bomb at the end of Dragon Ball Z. What came next for Goku, Vegeta, and all the others was explored in the sequel series, Dragon Ball Super, which was set four years later.

Prior to the show’s debut, the fates of the main characters were quite different. Dragon Ball GT jumped much further into the future and featured a teenage Pan and an adult Trunks. The series also added a brand-new transformation for Goku and Vegeta called Super Saiyan 4. However, the events of the show were effectively retconned with the launch of Dragon Ball Super, which took place before Dragon Ball GT. The series went in new directions for most of the characters.

Though Dragon Ball Super doesn’t cover as much ground as Dragon Ball Z – which spanned over a decade – it took the Z-Warriors through several challenging ordeals and encompassed five new story arcs: the Battle of Gods, Golden Frieza, Universe 6, Future Trunks, and Universe Survival Sagas. It began with a fierce battle with a God of Destruction and ended with the Tournament of Power, a contest between the strongest fighters across eight universes.

Goku

At Chi-Chi’s insistence, Goku was forced to put his training on the backburner and actually work for a living. The arrival of Beerus, who was looking for a Super Saiyan God, put some back excitement back into Goku’s life by finally giving him a new opponent. After fighting the God of Destruction and training with Beerus’ companion, Whis, Goku reached impressive new levels of power like Super Saiyan Blue and Ultra Instinct through his battles with a resurrected Frieza and warriors from other universes.

Vegeta

After the world was saved from Kid Buu, Vegeta became a better father and husband and started spending more time with Bulma and Trunks. Spurred on by his long-held ambition to surpass Goku, Vegeta kicked up his training when he learned that his rival was practicing again. Determined to become as powerful as possible, Vegeta convinced Whis to train him, and for the first time ever, Goku and Vegeta found themselves as students of the same master. Later, Vegeta had to take a break from his training with Whis when it came time for Bulma to give birth to his second child, Bulla. Though his family now takes priority, Vegeta has remained a warrior at heart. Due to his devotion to his training, Vegeta finally split away from following Goku’s path and became the first and only character to access the Super Saiyan Blue Evolved form.

Gohan

Gohan’s story picked up where Dragon Ball Z left with off, with him pursuing a normal life over being a fighter. Having abandoned his training, Gohan married Videl, received a teaching position, and became the father of Pan. After the return of Frieza made Gohan come to the realization that giving up on his training was his biggest mistake, he worked hard and managed to regain his Ultimate form and lead Goku’s team of heroes in the Tournament of Power. Gohan successfully redeemed himself and climbed his way back up until he became the third strongest Z-Warrior after Goku and Vegeta.

Krillin

Like Gohan, Krillin stepped away from being a warrior and became more focused on being a family man. He even got a job as a police officer. Later on, Krillin became disgusted with himself for letting himself become weak. After resuming his training, Krillin joined Goku’s Tournament of Power team, but was unfortunately the first team member to go down.

Future Trunks

After going back to his timeline at the end of the Cell Saga, Future Trunks used his newfound strength to destroy the evil versions of Android 17 and Android 18. He became the self-appointed protector of the Earth and succeeded in preventing the rise of Majin Buu. Once his world was threatened by a new evil in the form of Zamasu, Trunks teamed up with a band of rebels and returned to the past to acquire help. In the end, his foes were defeated.

Tien & Chiaotzu

Tien, whose interests in fighting never waned, kept up with his training and founded a new dojo, where he began teaching his style of martial arts to others. As always, his sidekick Chiaotzu remained at his side. Toward the end of Dragon Ball Super, Tien was recruited by Goku to assist him in the Tournament of Power. Tien didn’t last for very long, but did make a few contributions to their victory before getting knocked out of the ring.

Master Roshi

Dragon Ball Super offered a big change in the status quo for Master Roshi. It was revealed that at an unspecified point in the Dragon Ball timeline, the Turtle Hermit secretly trained and became powerful enough to fight alongside the other heroes again. With his immense strength, he outperformed both Tien and Krillin in the Tournament of Power.

Android 18

Android 18’s peaceful life with Krillin and Maron continued until she decided to get back into action for the Tournament of Power. During this time, she reunited with a reformed Android 17, who was a villain in Dragon Ball Z but is now working as a park ranger. Together, the two proved to be a formidable duo in the tournament.

Yamcha

Yamcha was no longer relevant by the time of the Buu Saga, and his situation only worsened in the years that followed. When Frieza came back to life and returned to Earth with a new army, Yamcha was excluded from the big fight by Tien, who didn’t think he could handle it. Much to his disappointment, he was similarly left out when Goku was picking his team for the Tournament of Power. Though Master Roshi, Tien, and Krillin were all able to participate, Yamcha was left behind. While Yamcha still isn’t being taken seriously as a hero, it does seem that he has regained his interest in fighting, as indicated by his eagerness to take part in the tournament.

Goten & Trunks

Very little has changed for Goten and Trunks, who are still troublesome young Saiyans. Though both were shown to be quite strong for their age in the Buu Saga, neither were of much help in the battles that took place in Dragon Ball Super. In fact, their power has been eclipsed by most of the Z-Warriors.

Piccolo

Piccolo became the only Z-Warrior to die in Dragon Ball Super when he sacrificed himself to save Gohan from Frieza. However, he was revived by the Dragon Balls shortly after. True to form, he still spends most of his time meditating and training. While Piccolo was never able to get back on the level of Goku and Vegeta, his strength is well beyond what it was in Dragon Ball Z. He was easily able to pull his own weight in the Tournament of Power and has also resumed his role as Gohan’s teacher. In his spare time, he acts as a babysitter to Pan.

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