Who would you say are the 5 main characters in Dragon Ball?

[floofychan333]

It changes quite a bit.
Pilaf saga: Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, Puar
21st tourney: Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Kuririn, Muten Roshi
Piccolo Daimao: Goku, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Muten Roshi, Bulma
Piccolo Jr: Goku, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Chaozu
Saiyajin arc: Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Kuririn, Yajirobe
Freeza arc: Goku, Gohan, Kuririn, Vegeta, Piccolo
Cell arc: Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, Piccolo
Buu arc: Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten

Pretty much, although you could replace Chaozu and Yajirobe with Piccolo in the Piccolo Jr and Saiyan arc respectivly. Although Yajirobe could stay since he has been more useful then Chaozu ever has.

Piccolo's already in the Saiyajin arc and since he was a villain in the Jr saga he can't be on the list.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

My bad, i misread it, Chaozu just doesn't seem to contribute much to be considered apart of the main 5 in the Piccolo Jr. arc.

[TenshinFan]

Pan, Uub, and Trunks have "hero" qualities, where you could easily make spinoffs of them and they go off on their own adventures with their own perspectives.

[Robo4900]

Across the franchise: Goku, Krillin, Bulma, Piccolo, Vegeta.

Original series: Goku, Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, Roshi.
DBZ: Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, Bulma.
GT: Goku, Pan, Gill, Trunks, Vegeta.
Super: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Beerus, Bulma.

It makes me happy that Bulma is a main character in almost every part of the series. She's one of the constants throughout Dragon Ball; she's the reason things get started in the original series, she's the reason the Namek and Androids arcs were able to happen, and she's still a major player in Super now with a lot of influence over Beerus and Whis.

[Shinda Forever]

Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo and Future Trunks.

[Gyt Kaliba]

To the franchise as a whole? Hmm...definitely I think I'd have to go with these five, in no particular order.

1) Goku - It goes without saying, he's the main character after all. He's also, with very few instances (losing a few tournaments, the Pilaf arc in a way, Cell arc, Bojack, etc.) the 'main hero' and the one who stands as the 'strongest' at the end of any particular story. Without him, at least in all stories we've had up to now, there is no Dragon Ball.
2) Gohan - While he might not have ended up being his father's successor in the way Toriyama originally intended, Gohan definitely becomes a major focus character almost as soon as he's introduced. He's often the character through which we're meant to view things whenever his father's sidelined in the Z portion of the series, and he's also the only other character to get a 'main villain' defeat under his belt, so that speaks for quite a bit I'd say.
3) Kuririn - As a character, he starts off being there or not there in the earlier portions of the series, but as soon as the 'Z' material rolls around, he's pretty consistently on the front lines, even when he's dreadfully outclassed by others in power. Hell, there's entire portions of the Freeza arc alone that just wouldn't have worked the same way without his presence.
4) Master Roshi - This one I admit I may be stretching for a bit, but I'd still say it's valid. He's the first 'amazingly strong' guy we're introduced to other than Goku, and even shown as someone Goku couldn't beat no matter how hard he tries at first. He then becomes Goku's mentor and trains not only him, but Kuririn and Yamcha, as well as having direct connections to Tenshinhan and Chaozu via their master. He's even got a connection to Piccolo as well via Daimao's whole backstory. He takes an immediate backseat once Z rolls around, but he's often shown giving words of wisdom about various situations via his wisdom, making him a go to character for exposition a lot of the time. Like with Kuririn, while he might be outclassed pretty quickly overall, the series still wouldn't work quite the same way without him.
5) Bulma - Everything I've said about the series not working the same way without Kuririn/Roshi even though they're a lot weaker than everyone else? Take all of that and double - no, triple - no, maybe even QUADRUPLE it, and apply it to Bulma. Without ever lifting a finger in a single fight as she's not a fighter, Bulma is easily one of the most important characters in the franchise, bar none. She kickstarts the whole franchise (more than Goku does really), and sticks around in at least one important way in practically every story arc. Hell, I'd daresay that giving birth to Trunks is one of her least important contributions, when compared to things like the Dragon Radar, going to Namek, the time machine, etc. Without Bulma, not a single thing in the series happens, not even Goku.

[DanielSSJ]

To be honest, I'd say that the main main five characters are constantly changing from one arc to the next, so I might as well address each main story arc:

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Bulma
3. Oolong
4. Yamcha
5. Pu'er

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Muten Roshi/Jackie Chun
3. Kuririn
4. Yamcha
5. Lunch

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Kuririn
3. Bulma
4. Yamcha
5. Upa

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Tenshinhan (even if he's an antagonist, the story's more about him)
3. Muten Roshi/Jackie Chun
4. Kuririn
5. Chiaotzu (by default)

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Tenshinhan
3. Muten Roshi
4. Yajirobe
5. Karin

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Kami-sama
3. Tenshinhan
4. Kuririn
5. Yamcha

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Son Gohan
3. Piccolo
4. Kuririn
5. Yajirobe

Spoiler:

1. Son Gohan
2. Kuririn
3. Vegeta
4. Son Goku
5. Piccolo

Spoiler:

1. Son Gohan
2. Son Goku
3. Vegeta
4. Future Trunks
5. Piccolo

Spoiler:

1. Son Goku
2. Vegeta
3. Son Gohan
4. Son Goten/Trunks (they might as well be the same character)
5. Piccolo

[TheGreatness25]

Consistently throughout Dragon Ball, it was Goku, Bulma, Kuririn, Muten Roshi, and Yamucha. Consistently throughout Dragon Ball Z, it has been Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, and Kuririn. If you're looking at the series as a whole, it would have to be DBZ's main characters because that story kind of engulfs Dragon Ball in terms of size.