Every Dragon Ball Main Character's Greatest Weakness (2024)

The Dragon Ball franchise is home to some of the most powerful characters in popular fiction. Great heroes like Vegeta, Piccolo, and, of course, Goku, are well-known for their planet-busting powers, but even warriors as strong as them have weaknesses.An interesting aspect of Dragon Ball is in how the main cast learns to live with and even embrace their weaknesses instead of merely overcoming them.

Each character tends to have a fatal flaw, but instead of working out how to do away with that weakness, they will actually grow in tandem with that weakness – becoming a better version of the person they always were, but never fundamentally changing. Dragon Ball's main characters just wouldn’t be who they are if it weren't for their weaknesses.

Piccolo's Only Weakness is His Beloved Student

Weakness: Gohan

The Super Namekian Warrior Piccolo is known for his stoic demeanor and unique combat abilities. It's hard to imagine a fighter who can regenerate his lost limbs having any real weakness, but even Piccolo's new Orange Piccolo transformation can't make up for his one great weakness: Gohan.

Gohan has proven to be Piccolo's greatest weakness since the earliest days of DBZ, when he first gave his life to protect the boy from Nappa’s deadly ki blast. Since then, Piccolo has stuck his neck out for Gohan several other times. Perhaps even more shocking than Piccolo's willingness to give his life for Gohan is his willingness to babysit his daughter – something that no one could have ever imagined seeing the offspring of the Demon King do in the original Dragon Ball series.

Gohan is the Greatest Fighter Who Hates Fighting

Weakness: He's a Pacifist

Gohan is the one fighter with the greatest potential in the entire franchise. Because of his mixed saiyan and human genetics, Gohan has a unique propensity for power, as shown when he became the first to reach the Super Saiyan 2 form at the tender age of eleven. Even with all that untapped potential, Gohan has always had trouble actually drawing on the power. That's because, above all, Gohan is a pacifist who hates fighting.

Gohan would love nothing more than to work out every conflict with words rather than violence. This is likely a trait he got from his mother, who always pushed him to attend schooling and stay away from training with his father. It also didn't help that Gohan was forced to fight terrifying extraterrestrial beings like Raditz and Frieza when he was still only a toddler -- an experience which definitely left him more than a bit traumatized. As a result, it takes a lot to get Gohan angry enough to go all out, but when he does, it never goes well for the villain.

Yamcha's Greatest Fear is a Relationship

Weakness: Women

See Also

Why is goku stronger than vegeta?How old is Goku in the Dragon Ball series?Every Important Dragon Ball Transformation, Power-Up, and Fusion So Far - IGNTurles

Yamcha's weakness isn't as relevant anymore, considering he doesn't fight with the Z Warriors as much as he used to. Nevertheless, it's well documented that Yamcha's greatest weakness has always been women.

From his earliest introduction in the original Dragon Ball series when he was still a desert bandit, Yamcha couldn't seem to overcome Goku entirely due to his paralyzing shyness around Bulma. While Yamcha has become more comfortable around the opposite sex since then, he has sadly still never found love, even despite him being a world-renowned professional baseball player.

Krillin Will Always Fight For Love

Weakness: Love

Ever since the Cell Saga, it was more than apparent that Krillin's biggest weakness was love. After all, Android 18 is the reason he put aside the well-being of the entire earth. Similarly, when Buu attacked, Krillin stepped in to protect his family; a noble act that nevertheless resulted in his death.

Now that Krillin has found love and has a family, training and fighting have taken a backseat to working his job to provide for them as a police officer. Krillin is beyond qualified for that position considering his supernatural strength, but there's no denying that he could likely be putting those incredible powers to better use if he were to train harder and more frequently to grow in strength alongside the rest of the Z Fighters. The fact is, Krillin is content with his life as a family man, because love has always been what drives him forward.

Tien's Power Seems to Have Limits

Weakness: His Physical Limitations

Unlike Yamcha and Krillin who have fallen out of favor due to their lack of training, the same can’t really be said for Tien. Tien continues fighting and training throughout his life, long after he retains relevance as a someone who could potentially save the world from the increasingly powerful enemies that attack in Dragon Ball Super. Instead of laziness being his weakness, it seems to be that Tien is just unable to grow any stronger than he is.

Considering how devoted to martial arts Tien is, if there were any possibility for him to get stronger than he is, he certainly would be. If Tien is unable to keep up with the likes of Goku and Vegeta, it can't be due to a lack of effort, but merely a lack of the potential to match them.

Bulma Would Save Her Own Skin Over The World

Weakness: Vanity

Bulma is a genius scientist and extremely successful inventor. In fact, she could even be just as intelligent as characters like Dr Gero and Dr Hedo if she truly set her mind to it, but there is definitely something holding her back from creating an Android as powerful as Cell Max to protect the planet instead of destroying it, and that's her vanity.

Bulma cares more about beauty products than defending the world, and she has made that clear time and time again. Not only does she consistently use the dragon balls to wish for cosmetic upgrades instead of more important things, but she also hired Dr Hedo because of his knowledge of skin modification technology rather than because of his incredibly powerful androids. At this point in her life, it's clear Bulma's priorities will never be in order, and fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Chi-Chi's Greatest Weakness Has Always Been Her Husband

Weakness: Goku

From the time she met Goku when she was a child, Chi-Chi was completely enamored with the boy. In some ways, Goku was her strength, because he pushed her to train and get stronger at martial arts to defeat him. However, Goku has always been the main source of Chi-Chi's stress, though her love for him is far too solid to ever leave her husband behind.

Chi-Chi is known for being extremely strong-willed, sometimes to a fault, but that’s really only because she loves her family more than anything. She will do anything to protect Gohan and Goten, though there's not much she can do to protect them from their father, who always seems to get them into dangerous situations.

Master Roshi's Perversion Prevents Him From Enlightenment

Weakness: Perversion

Master Roshi was once the most sought after martial artist in the world, and a true master of combat in every sense of the word. Even though he’s not as strong physically as Goku, Master Roshi's wisdom from having lived for hundreds of years gives him insights that still give Goku something to learn from him even after all this time. However, if there’s one thing that keeps Roshi from being the respectable and wise martial arts master that he could be, it’s his lecherous attitude toward women.

Roshi’s view of women is the single most disappointing thing about him that keeps him from being seen as the enlightened old warrior he could be. There’s no denying that Master Roshi is infinitely knowledgeable in the way of the fist, but he still has a lot to learn in the ways of the heart.

Gotenks' Immaturity is His Biggest Downfall

Weakness: Immaturity/ Naivety

Goten and Trunks, and their famous fused form Gotenks, have the potential to be Earth's greatest warriors. Gotenks was only the second saiyan to reach the SSJ3 form after Goku, making them even stronger than Vegeta during the Buu Saga. What’s more incredible about that fact is that the boys were only pre-teens at the time.

Sadly, their immense potential went to waste due to their naivety and immaturity – both understandable traits considering their age at the time. However, at least some of that immaturity has seemed to follow the boys into their teenage years as seen during the Super Hero arc of Dragon Ball Super. In a way, it's great to see the boys living their lives as quasi-normal kids; something neither Goku nor Gohan got to do in their youth. However, their gullibility gets them into some extremely questionable circ*mstances, and their rash over-confidence has been their downfall more than once.

Vegeta's Pride Has Put Everyone At Risk More Than Once

Weakness: Pride and Ego

As the Prince of all Saiyans and one of the last of a nearly extinct race of warriors, it's understandable that Vegeta would have great pride in his heritage. However, it's also well documented how detrimental that pride can be to him. Vegeta's pride has put the fate of the entire world at risk a number of times, as when he allowed Cell to become Perfect, or when he voluntarily was brainwashed by Babidi to become a Majin.

One of the best aspects of Vegeta's growth in Super has been his coming to terms with his pride and using it to his advantage with his new Ultra Ego transformation. Vegeta was always far too proud to give up, no matter who he fought, but Ultra Ego actually rewards that behavior by giving him a power boost the longer he fights. This is a true full circle moment for his character as he was humbled by his friendship with Goku and seeks to find himself in a way as a maturer person.

Goku Always Sees the Best in Everyone

Weakness: Unconditional Mercy

Goku's greatest strength also happens to be his greatest weakness. Namely, that he always sees the best in people, no matter who they are or what they've done. This is Goku's greatest strength because it has led to almost all the best friendships he has in his life. Piccolo would never be friends with Goku had he not shown him mercy after the world tournament in Dragon Ball, and the same can be said for Vegeta in DBZ's Saiyan Saga.

On the other hand, some of Goku's closest calls have come as a result of his insistence to show mercy to everyone, and take even the worst villains on their word. Goku has no qualms about extending a hand to the most evil of villains, like Frieza and Cell, and even Raditz got one over on Goku during their relatively brief fight. Still, despite the horrible situations Goku's hopeless optimism puts him in, it's an inseparable part of him that should never change.

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

Created by

Akira Toriyama

First Film

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

Latest Film

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

First TV Show

Dragon Ball (1986)

Latest TV Show

Dragon Ball Super

First Episode Air Date

April 26, 1989

Cast

Sean Schemmel , Laura Bailey , Brian Drummond , Christopher Sabat , Scott McNeil

Current Series

Dragon Ball Super

Summary

Dragon Ball is the labor of writer/illustrator Akira Toriyama, beginning with Dragon Ball back in 1984. The series originally started as a serialized manga back in Weekly Shonen Jump for nearly a decade until it expanded into the anime franchises it is most known for today. Dragon Ball was later adapted into two animes, with one being Dragon Ball Z, the most universally known series in the entire Dragon Ball canon. The franchise has continued to expand lore via films, video games, and additional sequel TV series, such as the more recent Dragon Ball Super and Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Dragon Ball centers mostly around Son Goku, a being known as a Saiyan, and his friends as they face off against intergalactic threats and seek out the titular dragon balls. When all seven of these balls are collected, they can be used to summon a legendary dragon that can grant the wishes of whoever so gathers them. The Dragon Ball franchise continues to be one of the most well-known and beloved animes of all time, with over forty different countries airing it, and has had a tremendous impact on Western culture as a whole.