8 Dragon Ball Characters Who Wasted All Their Potential, Ranked

One of the most frustrating things about Dragon Ball is how often the series introduces promising characters only to either do nothing of value with them, or let them completely fall off in future story arcs. More than once, Dragon Ball goes out of its way to introduce a very powerful character, give them a great character arc, and then just retire them by fading them into the background with next to no fanfare.

The humans from the original Dragon Ball anime get a raw deal, but even DBZ and Dragon Ball Super feature once promising characters who just cannot live up to their full potential in any capacity. Later Dragon Ball Super arcs do a better job at making use of the whole cast, but if your name isn't Goku or Vegeta, chances are you'll never live up to your potential – especially if you're these unlucky characters.

8 Yajirobe Unironically Has More Potential Than Any Human Z-Fighter

Yajirobe's raw potential is honestly incredible. When Yajirobe was introduced in the Demon King Piccolo Saga, Goku commented that he's never met anyone so powerful before. This is especially impressive since Goku just fought and lost to Tien Shinhan in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. This means that Yajirobe was stronger than Tien and could have beaten him in the World Tournament – all without never training a day in his life.

Yajirobe is so strong, he's one of two characters who can kill Piccolo's demons, the other being Goku. Even Tien fails to defeats Drum at the end of the story arc. Unfortunately, Yajirobe is very lazy and hates training. The last thing of note he does in Dragon Ball is cut off Vegeta's tail. After that, he spends the whole series delivering Senzu Beans and living with Korin, never so much as getting in another fight despite his insane potential.

7 Yamcha Was Once So Strong, God Praised His Natural Talent

Yamcha has become a meme in modern Dragon Ball, but he was once one of the most impressive martial artists in the world. Yamcha doesn't win most of his battles, but he always tries his best and puts up a great fight each time (at least until he dies in the Saiyan Saga). It's honestly sad to see Yamcha retire and basically become a joke by Dragon Ball Super, especially since he had a deep love and knowledge of martial arts in the original Dragon Ball.

Yamcha is unlucky enough to fight Kami in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, but he puts up a truly great fight that humbles him in the end. Yamcha fights so well, Kami compliments Yamcha's prowess and potential as a martial artist. This should have been the start of Yamcha building towards something greater, but instead, it's the apex of Yamcha's career and after dying in the Saiyan Saga, he more or less stops fighting until the Moro Saga.

6 Chi-Chi Was One Of The Strongest Martial Artists In The World Before Getting Married

Most Dragon Ball Z fans don't think of Chi-Chi as a fighter, but she was one of the eight strongest martial artists in the world at the end of the original Dragon Ball. The fact Chi-Chi makes it into the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is extremely impressive, especially since she's more or less self-trained and doesn't have the same combat experience as Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, or Piccolo.

Chi-Chi is easily defeated by Goku, but the fact she's able to keep up with him at all is saying something. Unfortunately, Chi-Chi starts Dragon Ball's unfortunate trend of once powerful women becoming passive housewives and mothers after getting married, never fighting again outside of filler or movies.

5 Tien Shinhan Used To Be The Strongest Human On Earth Until Falling Off

Tien was Goku's main rival and right-hand man from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai up to the end of the original Dragon Ball. Even at the start of Dragon Ball Z, Tien remains slightly stronger than Krillin. Unfortunately, dying while fighting Nappa was more or less the beginning of the end for Tien. He gets great moments in the Cell and Buu Sagas, but never contributes like he once did.

Once Krillin gets his potential unlocked on Namek, Tien simply never catches up again. What makes this even sadder is how hard Tien trains on his own. Even that isn't enough, keeping him firmly on the backburner for the rest of DBZ. Dragon Ball Super treats Tien even worse, knocking him out pitifully early in the Tournament of Power and giving him a horrible fight in the Moro Saga.

4 Videl Wasted All Her Potential After Being Defeated By Spopovich

Akira Toriyama does not write women well in Dragon Ball Z. Despite being introduced with so much promise and potential, Videl quickly regressed into the same fate as Chi-Chi after getting throttled by Spopovich in the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. What makes this so much more frustrating is how much time Dragon Ball Z spends fleshing out Gohan and Videl's relationship, and showing how innately skilled Videl is.

As of Dragon Ball Super, Videl is yet another housewife and mother who exists primarily to support her husband. Later chapters of Dragon Ball Super do show that she keeps up with martial arts, but nowhere near at the level she should be. Videl is stronger than her father Mr. Satan, but you'd never know it based on her lack of feats.

3 Gotenks Went From Strong Enough To Kill Super Buu To Borderline Useless

It's frankly depressing what's happened to Gotenks since the end of Dragon Ball Z. Goten and Trunks fall into the exact same trap Gohan often does, failing to train and keep themselves sharp during times of peace. By Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, they can't even fuse into Gotenks correctly anymore, basically throwing out the one reason they're still useful.

Gotenks is considered such a liability, Goku doesn't even consider him a viable candidate for the Tournament of Power. Gotenks even makes a fool of himself in Dragon Ball Super's Copy-Vegeta filler arc. It's hard to believe Gotenks was once one of Dragon Ball Z's strongest characters considering his frankly embarrassing track record these days.

2 Majin Buu Could Be Unstoppable If He Actually Tried

Majin Buu is one of the strongest Dragon Ball characters of all time – so much so, the series goes out of its way to make sure he can never actually be of value. Buu has mysterious powers, can heal himself & others, and is near invulnerable thanks to his regeneration abilities. The Moro Saga even reveals that Buu has residual God Ki, putting him in the same tier as Goku and Vegeta. Unfortunately, his need for sleep means he's never around when he needs to be.

He outright flunks out of the Universe 6 Tournament and sleeps through the Tournament of Power. The Dragon Ball Super anime outright shows what Buu is capable of when he trains. After becoming fit, Buu gives Goku an excellent fight and would have been an incredible asset in the battle against Jiren. If Buu actually tried and put effort into his training, he could likely surpass Goku and Vegeta, but he never will.

1 Gohan Is The Poster Boy For Wasted Potential

For what it's worth, Gohan is definitely on an upswing after unlocking Gohan Beast and killing Cell Max at the end of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. He's once again the strongest Z-Fighter in the series, and the main cast's best show at actually defeating Black Frieza. But here's the thing, Akira Toriyama had to be convinced to give Gohan a role in Super Hero – originally, the film was just going to start Piccolo as the main character.

And in typical Dragon Ball fashion, it's only a matter of time before Gohan stops training and falls off again. No matter what happens, the End of Z still features Gohan not participating in the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai. Dragon Ball Super also treated Gohan pretty poorly up to Super Hero, making him an absolute joke in Resurrection F, and failing to utilize him properly in both the Tournament of Power and Moro Saga. Gohan was born with so much potential, but he very rarely lives up to it.