Big Picture: another blasted list

[Herms]

Currently I’m trying to get this fanart project off the ground, so I guess it’s finally time to finish my silly attempt to split all the characters up into tiers. This is going to be used as a basis for a visual representation of the series’ power scale, showing characters of roughly similar strength grouped together vertically, roughly along these lines. Battle power numbers might be used for reference, but won’t determine the degree to which characters are spaced out. So Character A might be x100 stronger than Character B number-wise, but if there aren’t any other characters that fall between them in terms of strength, then A will be pictured immediately above B rather than leaving an enormous empty space in the picture. That’s my plan, anyway. Here’s my rough draft bare bones list:

Spoiler:

1. Bulma, etc
2. Rabbit Gang thugs, etc
3. Yamcha (start of series)
4. Goku (start of series)
5. Kuririn (21st TB)
6. Jackie Chun, Goku (21st TB)
7. Tao Pai Pai
8. Goku, Tenshinhan (22nd TB)
9. Drum
10. old Piccolo Daimao
11. Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao
12. Mister Popo
13. God Almighty
14. Goku, Piccolo (vs. Raditz)
15. Raditz, Saibaimen
16. Piccolo and co. (vs. Nappa)
17. Nappa
18. Kaio-ken Goku (Saiyan arc)
19. Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
20. Dodoria, Zarbon
21. Vegeta (arriving on Namek)
22. Zarbon (transformed)
23. Recoom
24. Goku (Namek)
25. Ginyu
26. Kaio-ken Goku (Namek)
27. First-Form Freeza
28. Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo
29. Third-Form Freeza
30. Fourth-Form Freeza
31. Freeza 50% Full Power
32. Freeza 100% Full Power
33. Super Saiyan Vegeta
34. No.17, No.18
35. No.16, First-Form Cell
36. Second-Form Cell
37. Super Vegeta
38. Goku (Cell Games)
39. full power Perfect Cell
40. Majin Vegeta, SSj2 Gohan (Cell Games)
41. Majin Boo (fat)
42. Evil Boo
43. Ultimate Gohan
44. Gohan-Boo
45. Super Vegetto

My current mission is to flesh that out by assigning all the major(ish) characters from each story arc to appropriate tiers, creating new ones where need be. In cases like that, I'll number them "2.5" and things like that, but they're not intended as half-tiers or anything. I just want to keep 2 and 3 as referring to the same characters as on the list above, for reference's sake. I'll fully renumber everything at the end. Although maybe half-tiers would be a good idea too, at times. Whatever.

For now at least, I’m only looking at the manga.

Since there’s so many different issues to potentially get bogged down in, I feel like it’s important to move fast on this and come up with something that will make a cool picture rather than serve as a Definitive Guide to Everything. Let’s see how many thorny long-standing strength debates I can blow through here in record time.

[Search for the Dragon Balls+Kame-sennin’s Training]

Bulma: Tier 1, an example of an ordinary, run-of-the-mill Earth person. Maybe include Sea Turtle at her feet? And Oolong?

Bear Bandit: Probably stronger than random Rabbit Gang thugs. Weaker than Yamcha? For now, say he’s 2.5. Let’s say Pteranodon is same level. Because.

Chi-Chi: beats T-Rex, loses to Yamcha. T-Rex’s at least as strong as Bear Bandit. Probably. But if her laser hit Yamcha, she probably would have won. Of course, if Rabbit Gang thugs managed to shoot her she’d probably die, but I still think she counts as stronger than them overall. So…let’s just say overall 3, same as Yamcha.

Goku: 4, with a full stomach.

Gyumao: weaker than Kame-sennin, but probably stronger than anyone else at this point. Taking it on faith that his title of “Kame-sennin’s #2 disciple” means anything, let’s just say he’s up with Namu (5.5).

Kame-sennin: 6

Kuririn: Scared to fight police, but KOs sabertooth tiger. Doesn’t know own strength? Probably not as strong as Yamcha though. 2.5.

Lunch: “nice” form should be 1, “mean” form seems stronger than your average thug. Another 2.5?

Oolong: 1

Oozaru Goku: Official BP of 100. He killed Grandpa Gohan who (as we’ll see) I’m putting at 7. But that’s dead Gohan, who might have trained in the afterlife and grown stronger than before. Still, let’s just put the big monkey here at 7.

Pilaf and co. Pilaf himself is probably a 1, but Shu and Mai are armed and (theoretically) dangerous, so 2?

Puer: 1

Yamcha: gives hungry Goku a tough fight, but full stomach Goku beats him up easily enough. For the picture, maybe show him overlapping with Goku a tiny bit? Like, Tier 3.25 or something?

[21st Tenkaichi Budokai]

Bacterian: weaker than Kuririn. Apparently has quite a reputation, according to Yamcha. So…maybe stronger than Yamcha? Equal? Let’s just say 4 (equal to old!Goku).

Giran: at best strong as Kuririn, but that seems pushing it. Gives trained!Goku enough trouble that old!Goku probably couldn’t have beat him. 4.5.

Goku: 6

Jackie Chun: 6

Kuririn: 5; I’m taking it for granted that trained!Kuririn is way stronger than old!Goku.

Namu: stronger than Kuririn, gives Goku a good fight, but really not a match in the end. 5.5.

Oorin Temple #1: guy who used to tease Kuririn. This may be stretching the definition of “major(ish)”. Stronger than old!Kuririn, so at least 3. Being #1 at a Shaolin Monastery knock-off sounds impressive. Even Goku tells Kuririn it’s OK to use his full power against him. So…I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he’s 4, about on par with old!Goku…and Bacterian. Well, Kuririn did beat both Bacterian and this guy in one kick…

Oozaru Goku: if we go by the BPx10 rule, then this guy could be close to Raditz. Which hardly seems right, somehow. And it’s implied that Jackie Chun’s Max Power Kamehameha could have killed him, if it had been aimed his way. Anyway, even if his BP may be sky-high he’s not exactly a skilled fighter in this state, and has an exploitable weakness. Screw it, I’ll just stick him with Piccolo Daimao up at 11.

Ran-Fan: Way weaker than Namu, but seems to be decent martial artist in her own right. No way is she stronger than old!Goku. I’ll just throw her in with “mean” Lunch. 2.5.

Yamcha: Apparently trained a lot and is stronger than before. Maybe enough to stand up to old!Goku? Yeah, let’s throw him a bone. 4.

[Red Ribbon Army+Uranai Baba]

Android No.8: Goku says his punch is stronger. Also depicted as stronger than Goku in Path to Power, for whatever that’s worth. And he was made by Gero. 7, at least.

Arale: ……………let’s just skip her.

Battle Jacket: seems to hurt Goku, and Goku is very impressed by the destruction its missile causes. Since this is apparently the RR’s final weapon, one could try and argue that it must be stronger than No.8. That’s how things are in Path to Power, but that version of the Battle Jacket was way huger than this one. Overall, it gives post-Karin Goku enough trouble that I’m going to say pre-Karin Goku would’ve had a hard time against it, and put it at 6.

Black: inexplicably thinks he can defeat Goku after Goku takes down Tao Pai Pai and most of the army. Maybe he just assumes Goku must be dead tired at this point? Well, he seems to have some martial arts skills, so maybe another 2.5?

Blue: stronger than Kuririn, weaker than Goku. 5.5, same as Namu.

Bora: immune to bullets, weaker than Tao Pai Pai, failed to climb Karin Tower (so probably weaker than Goku, but climbing skills and overall strength aren’t necessarily always going to correspond). Let’s say 5.5.

Bruce Lee-lookalike: arguably not a major character (arguably). Maybe the same as that other Bruce Lee-lookalike Kuririn beat in the tournament preliminaries, so less than 5. Probably weaker than old!Goku too, so less than 4. Still, he’s Bruce Lee (sort of)! 3 it is then.

Buyon: one of those “gimmicky” characters that are hard to place. His special characteristics make him immune to Goku’s attacks, but also leave him with an exploitable weakness. Still, surely a powerful enough character wouldn’t need to freeze him first. I mean, could he bounce back a Kamehameha from Vegetto? Let’s just say overall he’s a 6, equal to Goku.

Devil Man: stronger than the Mummy, who below I’ve placed at 6. Won the TB twice, but we don’t know what the competition back then was, so this on its own isn’t too helpful. Weaker than Tao Pai Pai (7). So…6.5 then?

Dracula Man: beats Kuririn, but this pretty clearly seems to be a fluke. Loses to Puer and Upa, but they were taking advantage of his weaknesses. Though we don’t see it, presumably he was the one to beat up all those big tough guys who arrive shortly before Goku and co. If those guys are a 2, then probably he should at least be a 3. He’s also supposed to be weaker than the Invisible Man, who lost to Yamcha (4). So 3 is probably as far as he can go.

Goku: at the start, still a 6 (Kuririn says he’s gotten a lot stronger since the tournament, but for the sake of this project it’s probably best to gloss over this). After training with Karin, stronger than Tao Pai Pai but weaker than himself later at 22nd TB, so 7.5.

Grandpa Gohan: I tend to think of this guy as stronger than Tao Pai Pai, but actually going back and re-reading those fights, I’m not sure how justified that is. Certainly, Goku is probably fighting harder in his death-match with Tao Pai Pai than in this comparatively friendly tournament setting. Both fights go on a while, but in the end Goku clearly has the upper hand. Still, Gohan’s definitely stronger than Devil Man, so how about a 7?

Invisible Man: another darn “gimmick” characters. While invisible he gives Yamcha a tough time, but Yamcha beats him immediately the moment he sees him. Supposedly, he’s stronger than Dracula Man…if we assume that’s factoring in his invisibility and not just referring to his pure martial arts skills, we could put him at 4, overall equal to Yamcha. Yamcha couldn’t beat him while he was invisible, so arguably with invisibility he should be 5. God, I hate trying to rank gimmicky characters. Let’s just stick with 4.

Karin: stronger than Goku is at first…and still seems like he might be stronger even when Goku finishes his brief training with him. But when they reunite in Piccolo arc, says Goku’s already surpassed him. Official BP is 190, higher than Goku/Tenshinhan at 22nd TB. Let’s say Piccolo arc Goku has surpassed him but not by much, and put him at 8.

Kuririn: should still be 5.

Metallic: gives Goku quite a tough fight, even surviving a Kamehameha. Kuririn would probably be screwed against this guy. Another 5.5? But somehow Blue seems stronger than this guy, if only because of his cheap psychic powers. And Metallic may be strong, but his short battery life is a big weakness. 5 after all? 5.25?

Mummy: according to Kame-sennin, pre-Karin Goku “probably” wouldn’t have been able to beat this guy. And yet his only big show of strength is beating Yamcha…who he doesn’t defeat nearly as easily as Kame-sennin himself did…the same Kame-sennin (Jackie Chun) who was about on par with pre-Karin Goku. Well, whatever. Taking Kame-sennin’s word for it, let’s say he’s a 6.

Murasaki: based on the logic of Muscle Tower, he should be stronger than Metallic (and he certainly seems confident he can beat Goku, even after watching Goku handle Metallic)…but he really, really doesn’t seem that way. Well, it’s probably safe to say he can’t match Metallic's brute strength and durability, but maybe he makes up for it with speed/agility/trickery/ninjutsu/etc? And yet he still doesn’t seem to give Goku remotely as much trouble as Metallic. 4?

Pilaf Robot: doesn’t seem to give Goku as much trouble as that other big robot in this period, the Battle Jacket. I can’t picture Kuririn beating this thing (proof: none), so 5.5, same as Metallic. Now there would be a cool fight.

Skeleton Robot: Goku and Kuririn fighting together don’t instantly defeat it, and it even gives Goku a certain amount of trouble in a 1-on-1 fight. Kuririn on his own might have had a hard time. 5?

Silver: in the manga, doesn’t do much besides fire a bazooka (seems confident in his fighting skills, though). In the anime, apparently he beats up a load of boxers really easily. Based on that, I’ll just say 3.

Tao Pai Pai: 7

Upa: well, he’s got an axe. 2?

White: eh, 2.

Yamcha: should still be at 4.

Yellow: looks sort of like Bear Bandit. Therefore is as strong as Bear Bandit. Therefore 2.5. Perfect.

[22nd Tenkaichi Budokai]

There’s a surprising amount of room for power inflation here, especially if we’re really strict on avoiding all apparent contradictions and take everything characters say at face value. Thanks to Saiyan arc Kame-sennin being 139 and Goku being 416, it’s easy to fall into the idea that before Raditz shows up none of the characters ever get too much stronger. And maybe that’s strictly true going by whatever it is scouters measure (ki size, presumably), but in terms of overall fighting ability it doesn’t quite hold.

Anyway, first off: where do Yamcha and Kuririn fit? Somehow that seems key. Kuririn says he and Yamcha are about equal now, last time Kuririn was at 5, and since then he’s trained and grown much stronger. Surely they should both be 6 at least? Which puts them about equal with Goku/Jackie Chun at the last tournament. Fair enough. This also means Yamcha still might have trouble beating the Mummy, which seems a tad pathetic. Worse, they’d be weaker than Devil Man (6.5), but Kuririn holds out against new!Goku longer than Devil Man did against old!Goku. Stronger than Devil Man, then? That would put them at 7, equal to Tao Pai Pai. The revealation that Goku defeated Tao Pai Pai is treated as a huge deal, and at first nobody (well, not Tenshinhan/Jackie Chun/Tsuru-sennin anyway) can quite believe Goku managed to do it…even though at this point they’ve already seen Yamcha lose to Tenshinhan. If Yamcha was strong enough to beat Tao Pai Pai, then…well, it’s not exactly a contradiction, but it seems a bit strange.

Between Devil Man and Tao Pai Pai then? Well, Devil Man only lost so badly because his Devilmite Ray didn’t work against Goku, so if we factor that into his overall strength, then maybe it makes sense for him, Yamcha, and Kuririn to all be about on par. Stupid gimmicks. Them still lagging behind old (post-Karin) Goku seems pathetic too, but on the other hand what proof is there that they’ve caught up besides just their confidence? 6.75…?

Chapa: once won the tournament without anyone else even touching him…but we don’t know who else was in that tournament, so who knows how impressive that actually is. Everyone freaks out when Goku beats him so easily, even though three years ago they saw Goku easily beat the Mummy and Devil Man. Is he stronger than those guys? If so, he’d be stronger than 21st TB Goku and Jackie Chun. Which seems a little…well, like I said, if we take everything everyone says at face value, the power inflation can really go through the roof. Screw it, let’s say he’s equal to 21st TB Goku/Chun, at 6. There’s a certain fittingness to Goku starting off the new tournament by beating someone as strong as he was at the last one. And everyone freaks out at just how easily Goku beats the guy, rather than because they’d never seen Goku beat anyone so strong. Yeah, sounds good…

Chiaotzu: at best only equal to Kuririn, arguably a step below him. His psychic powers are yet another annoying gimmick. Hey, Blue (5.5) also had psychic powers, but Chiaotzu can fly and shoot Dodonpas. How about a 6 (equal to 21st TB Goku/Jackie Chun)?

Goku: 8, up from 7.5 last time. Whatever that means.

Jackie Chun: Goku thinks it wouldn’t be strange for him to beat Tenshinhan, but he doesn’t really know Tenshinhan’s true strength at this point. Jackie Chun himself thinks he “might” have lost even if he had held out to the end, and Tenshinhan says the guy never used his full power. BP at this point given as 180 or 139, depending on the source, the former being equal to Tenshinhan. Seems confident he has a shot at beating Goku, but what does he know? Maybe a 7.5 overall?

Kuririn: 6.5, I guess. Definitely weaker than Goku in their match, and Goku at that point isn’t using his full (“battle”) strength that he later uses against Tenshinhan.

Man-Wolf: a 30-Dan black belt (in the real world, 10-Dan is apparently as high as it goes). Probably weaker than Pan-Poot. Bear Bandit and Colonel Yellow were both 2.5 (or so I claimed, based on nothing), so this vaguely similar beast man should probably be higher than that, due to his spiffy karate skills. 3 then (equal to original!Yamcha)?

Pan-Poot: a big deal by normal standards, but seems way weaker than Chapa. He smashes up the tournament wall in much the same way that Goku did last tournament, which at the time caused Giran to surrender, so there’s a line of thought that he must likewise be stronger than Giran. I had Giran at (looks back)…shit, 4.5? Well, Pan-Poot’s 5…which would put him up there with 21st TB Kuririn. Ugh…well, I guess that’s possible?

Tenshinhan: not quite as strong as Goku, but overall they’re on the same level. 8.

Tsuru-sennin: weaker than Jackie Chun, according to Tenshinhan. Official BP: 120. Tenshinhan never said anything about Yamcha being stronger than Tsuru-sennin back when they fought, but that’s hardly conclusive. I get the feeling he’s not as strong as Tao Pai Pai. Somehow. 6.5 then?

Yamcha: 6.5?

[Piccolo Daimao]

Cymbal: weaker than Yajirobe, but gives him some trouble. Piccolo is really surprised that anyone in the modern world could have defeated him. I’m putting Yajirobe at 6.5 (for very spurious reasons), so let’s say this guy’s 6 (equal to 21st TB Goku/Chun).

Drum: beats the crap out of Tenshinhan (8), who still manages to get in a good hit or two. Still, 9 seems fitting.

God of Earth: casually finger-flicks post-Super God Water Goku out of the way. “Much, much greater” than Popo, according to Popo himself. Official BP: 220 (versus post-SGW Goku’s 260), which seems like a mistake, but maybe he relies on skill more than raw power, or something like that? Anyway, I’m ignoring that BP for the sake of this project. If post-SGW Goku’s 11, and Popo’s 12, then taking this at face value, he should be 13…though somehow I feel like maybe that’s jumping around too much. After all, we only really have Popo’s word that God’s way stronger than him. Still, not to get ahead, but I think 23rd TB Tenshinhan’s a 12 yet still not nearly as strong as God/Shen, therefore 13 for God/Shen should be appropriate. There, sorted.

Goku: at first 8, like at the tournament. After drinking the Super God Water, 11. Man, that’s some super water. Like when fighting Tenshinhan, Goku seems to have a clear upper hand against Piccolo (until Piccolo starts fighting dirty), but I’ll still group them in the same overall tier.

Karin: officially weaker than Goku by this point. Like I said earlier, I’ll put him as not that much weaker, so still an 8. Maybe I’m biased towards cats.

King Castle Guard: also not exactly a major character. But for some reason I’m fascinated that this guy oh-so-confidentially challenges someone he knows to be immune to bullets. I’m going to claim he’s on par with Bora (5.5), who was also immune to bullets. I mean, surely the King of Earth should have a really tough bodyguard? Heck, I’m probably never going to convince anyone to bother drawing this guy, so I might as well place him up there with Vegetto.

Mister Popo: casually outclasses post-Super God Water Goku (11). Official BP…screw it, let’s not even get into that. 12. He’s a 12.

Mutaito: couldn’t beat Piccolo back in the day. Kame-sennin makes it sound like Mutaito was stronger than he or Tsuru-sennin were back when they were young. In the anime, he’s inexplicably stronger than post-God Water Goku (you know, the guy who beat Piccolo). Kame-sennin and Tsuru-sennin might not have been as strong back then as they are now, but still…let’s just say this guy’s a 9, equal to Drum. Because he’s cool.

Piano: doesn’t do a darn thing. Still, he’s a demon/Namekian/dinosaur guy, and can fly, so surely he’s stronger than 1. Hm, 3? Yeah, whatever.

Piccolo: when old, beats the pants off Goku (8) despite “not even using half my power”, then supposedly grows far stronger by regaining his youth. Official BP when young: 260. Since Goku’s official BP at this point is 180, that leaves things rather cramped in BP-terms, but let’s just ignore all that for the purposes of this project. Call me biased, but I think old Piccolo must be a step above Drum, especially if we take that “not even using half my power” comment seriously. So old Piccolo at 50% full power could be 9 (same as Drum), at full power a 10 (which could also be where young Piccolo is at first, before busting out his full power against Goku), and full power young Piccolo can be 11.

Tambourine: “many times” stronger than Cymbal, according to Piccolo. Beats up tired Goku, but easily killed by the revived and angry Goku (though he is finished off by a Kamehameha). OK, here goes: Karin’s training was supposed to make Goku “many times” stronger. Above I put Cymbal as on par with pre-Karin training Goku. Tambourine’s “many times” stronger than Cymbal…therefore Tambourine’s on par with post-Karin Goku! I made that all up, but it certainly seems logical. 7.5 it is then.

Yajirobe: puts up a decent fight against Goku, who says he’s never met anyone so “resilient”. Still, when he sees Goku take down Tambourine he says it’s best not to anger him, so apparently he’s weaker than Goku overall. Climbs Karin Tower with Goku on his back, so unless he’s just a really good climber, he should be at least as strong as Goku was back when he climbed it (6). Seems clearly intended as a temporary replacement for Kuririn, so let’s just say the two are equal: 6.5

[23rd Tenkaichi Budokai]

Chapa: pretty confident he can take Goku now. So, is he stronger than 22nd TB Goku? Eh, I don’t buy it. But he used to be 6, and presumably has improved a lot, so 6.5 seems fitting.

Chi-Chi: “quite a master” according to no less an authority than Kame-sennin, but so far behind Kuririn/Yamcha that she can’t even see fast movement that those two have no trouble tracking. Official BP: 130. Lasts way longer against Goku than Chapa (6.5), though Goku’s quite confused at the time. Still, I’ll grant that she’s stronger than Chapa, so…7 then? Which is equal to Tao Pai Pai…eh, why not?

Chiaotzu: weaker than Cyborg Tao Pai Pai. He’s trained at Karin Tower, so maybe he’s as strong as Goku was after he trained there? Which doesn’t really have to be true, but still…I’ll throw him a bone and put him at 7.5

Cyborg Tao Pai Pai: stronger than he used to be (7). Both he and Tsuru-sennin are extremely confident he can take down Goku and Tenshinhan (both at 8 last time Tsuru-sennin saw them). This may be typical villain arrogance, but both Tsuru-sennin and Tao Pai Pai should have a firm grasp on Tenshinhan’s prior strength, so…how about a 9 (on par with Drum)? Official BP is 210, which more or less fits with this.

Goku: equal to Piccolo/Ma Junior, and now way stronger than God/Shen (13). So, 14 then.

Kuririn: way stronger than he was at the last tournament (6.5) and stronger than Kame-sennin (7.5 or so) according to Kame-sennin himself. Thinks that Tenshinhan might be “too strong” after seeing how easily he beats Cyborg Tao Pai Pai (9). Seems a bit pathetic to believe he’s weaker than Cyborg Tao Pai Pai, or even equal to him for that matter. And hey, even Piccolo/Ma Junior is impressed with him. Hmm…10 then, equal to old Piccolo Daimao?

Ma Junior/Piccolo: on par with Goku, and stronger than Shen/God. Claims that even a hundred of God and the others couldn’t stand up to him, though we can probably disregard this as hyperbole. Anyway, like Goku he seems a shoe-in for 14.

Shen/God: apparently he’s weaker in his borrowed human body than he is in his true form, though he doesn’t think this should make enough of a difference for him to lose to Piccolo. So let’s go on the assumption that he hasn’t dropped all the way down to a lower tier, and is still at 13.

Tenshinhan: confident that he can beat Goku because, while Goku seems far stronger than he was three years ago, his speed hasn’t changed that much. So, if nothing else he is apparently faster than post-Super God Water Goku (11). I’m going to accept the idea that he’s stronger than post-SGW Goku overall, and put him at 12, on par with Popo. He should still be weaker than Shen/God, because he’s not supposed to surpass him until his training in the Saiyan arc.

Yajirobe: presumably stronger than before. Actually, is he stronger than before? Well, he’s been hanging out with Karin, though I’m not sure if he ever actually trained. Like with Chiaotzu, let’s assume he’s passed the same benchmark Goku did after training with Karin, and is up there at 7.5 now.

Yamcha: lasts way longer against Shen than Yajirobe, and even manages to impress Shen a bit. At the last tournament he was about on par with Kuririn, and there’s no indication that’s changed, so another 10?

DB Hunt~23rd TB Summary

OK, before moving into the “Z” era I’ll take a break out and sums things up so far:

Spoiler:

1: Bulma, Sea Turtle, Oolong, Puer, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf
2: Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai, Upa, White
2.5: Kuririn (Training Arc), Ran-Fan, "mean" Lunch, Bear Bandit, Pteranodon, Black, Yellow
3: Yamcha (DB Hunt), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Bruce Lee-lookalike, Dracula Man, Silver, Man-Wolf, Piano
4: Goku (DB Hunt), Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Bacterian, Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Murasaki
4.5: Giran
5. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Skeleton Robot
5.5: Namu, Blue, Gyumao, Bora, Pilaf Robot, Metallic, King Castle Guard (trust me)
6: Jackie Chun (21st TB), Goku (21st TB), Kame-sennin (DB Hunt), Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chapa (22nd TB), the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon, Cymbal
6.5: Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Tsuru-sennin, Devil Man, Yajirobe, Chapa (23rd TB)
7: Grandpa Gohan, Tao Pai Pai, Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt), Android No.8, Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
7.5: Goku (post-Karin), Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Yajirobe (23rd TB)
8: Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
9: Drum, Mutaito, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai
10: old Piccolo Daimao, Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
11: Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao, Oozaru Goku (21st TB)
12: Mister Popo, Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
13: God of Earth, Shen
14: Goku (23rd TB), Ma Junior/Piccolo (23rd TB)

First thing that jumps out: Giran ended up as the only character at 4.5, though there’s not necessarily any reason for this. It just sort of happened. Meanwhile, 6 ended up surprisingly crowded. Chapa being the same tier as the Mummy is, in retrospect, odd.

Right, so…any thoughts?

[FoolsGil]

Can't wait for the chart so it'll be easier to understand.

[Herms]

Can't wait for the chart so it'll be easier to understand.

Yeah...That's probably the better format for an approach like this. But before that, I'd better finish this thing.

So, this is the bare-bones setup I came up with for the Saiyan~Freeza arcs:

Spoiler:

14. Goku, Piccolo (vs. Raditz)
15. Raditz, Saibaimen
16. Piccolo and co. (vs. Nappa)
17. Nappa
18. Kaio-ken Goku (Saiyan arc)
19. Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
20. Dodoria, Zarbon
21. Vegeta (arriving on Namek)
22. Zarbon (transformed)
23. Recoom
24. Goku (Namek)
25. Ginyu
26. Kaio-ken Goku (Namek)
27. First-Form Freeza
28. Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo
29. Third-Form Freeza
30. Fourth-Form Freeza
31. Freeza 50% Full Power
32. Freeza 100% Full Power

…Even for a stripped-down approach, I may have gone overboard with the minimalism. Probably a lot of new tiers to add in there, but still I’ll try and keep them limited to what’s needed from a story perspective and not pay too much attention to BPs. Well, here goes…

[Saiyan Arc]

I’m going off the assumption that when Raditz shows up, everyone on Earth is still on the same tier as they were back at the 23rd TB. It seems a bit pathetic to think that everyone’s just spun their wheels for five whole years, but apart from Piccolo’s fancy new Makankosappo, nobody is explicitly portrayed as vastly improved compared to when last we saw them. Even with Piccolo, the Makankosappo is a big feather in his cap, but seems impractical in a 1-on-1 fight. Overall, for the sake of this project there’s no reason to bother splitting off the 23rd TB characters from the “start of Z” characters.

Chiaotzu: The group training up at the temple are told they’ve all surpassed God, so post-training he should be a 13 at bare minimum. Can follow the Saibaimen’s movements, but he never fights any directly, and his psychic powers and self-destruct attack are completely useless against Nappa. Official BP: 610, wa~ay below the Saibaimen. I could make a new tier between Goku/Vegeta (14) and Raditz (15) and stick him in there, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and put him at 15.

Enma Daio: beat dead Raditz…who technically should have been a bodiless spirit and therefore powerless, but everyone treats this as a big impressive feat. Well, Enma’s supposed to have crossed the Serpent Road and trained under Kaio, so it would be pretty weird if he couldn’t beat living!Raditz. Weaker than Kaio (according to God o’ Earth), who’s weaker than Nappa. He might not necessarily be that much weaker than Kaio, but I’ll put him at 16 (on par with Kuririn and co. vs Saibaimen).

Farmer: a 2 (up there with Rabbit Gang thugs)

Goku: after training with Kaio…well, he ends up having trouble against Nappa, but he still seems to have a significant upper hand, so I’ll put regular Goku in a new tier between Nappa (17) and Goku using the Kaio-Ken (18), which I’ll call 17.5 for now. I think I’m pretty much stuck treating Kaio-ken and Kaio-ken x2 as the same thing for the sake of this project. Kaio-ken x3 Goku is above Saiyan arc Vegeta (19) and in BP terms supposed to be 24,000, on par with Vegeta when he arrives on Namek (21). So…21 then? KKx4 is supposed to raise his BP up to 32,000, which is probably in the vicinity of transformed Zarbon (22)…so I guess 22 is fitting for KKx4 Goku as well. This does mean that the number of tiers each level of Kaio-ken raises him up isn’t consistent, but whatever. Best not to get too hung up on things like that for a project like this.

Gohan: At the start, his power varies from that of an ordinary child (1) to on par with Raditz (15)…and there’s also a point where his BP is 710, higher than Goku+Piccolo’s, but way below Raditz. I could gloss over this, but maybe it is best to create a new tier between the two? 14.5 it is then. Post-training, he at first can’t follow the Saibaimen’s movements, and Piccolo has to save him from one of their attacks, so…maybe still 14.5? After Piccolo’s death, he shows off an impressive amount of power but is still no match for Nappa, so let’s go with 16.5.

Kaio: stronger than Enma Daio (who’s theoretically stronger than Raditz), but by his own admission is weaker than both Vegeta and Nappa. Official BP: 3,500, the same as Piccolo’s during the Nappa battle. If Enma Daio is a 16, and Nappa 17, then I’ll go with 16.5. These new tiers are already starting to stack up.

Kuririn: takes down a load of Saibaimen (who are supposed to be on par with Raditz and therefore 15), so 16.

Nappa: at least a 17 (stronger than Kuririn and all those other stronger-than-Raditz guys). Maybe, maybe when he calms down he could be up there with Goku at 17.5, but it’s probably not worth drawing two separate images of Nappa for this project.

Oozaru Gohan: the first time he shows up, he’s clearly stronger than Piccolo (14 at the time). During his second appearance he should naturally be stronger than the first time around, but Vegeta (19) claims if he were in peak condition he could totally handle an Oozaru Gohan or two. There’s the BPx10 rule, but regular Gohan’s BP goes up and down so much that this isn’t too helpful, even as a vague guideline. Screw it, let’s say the first time around Oozaru Gohan is at 17 (on par with Nappa) and the second time at 18 (on par with Kaio-ken Goku).

Oozaru Vegeta: going by the BPx10 rule, he could be up there around 180,000, which is the same BP as Goku using the Kaio-Ken against Ginyu on Namek (26). He’s not in peak condition at that point, and making the artificial moon lowers his ki down, but Goku still says even KKx5 wouldn’t be enough to beat him. But what does KKx5 mean in terms of this project? Well, if KKx4 is at 22, I guess KKx5 must be at least 23 (up there with Recoom), and therefore Oozaru Vegeta at least 24 (on par with Goku when he arrives on Namek), with a max of 26 (on par with Namek arc Kaio-Ken Goku). I’ll split the difference and put him at 25 (with Ginyu).

Piccolo: at least as strong as Kuririn and the other stronger-than-Raditz guys, but I’ll take it on faith that Piccolo is far too cool not to be a step ahead of the pack, and put him at 16.5. This is the same as angry!Gohan, and Piccolo says Gohan’s power is supposed to potentially be greater than his, but I’ll just say that while angry!Gohan might be greater, he’s not greater enough to warrant a separate tier. There, sorted.

Raditz: already established as 15.

Saibaimen: each one is supposed to be on par with Raditz. Technically Raditz’s official BP is a ways higher than theirs, and Toriyama has even said they’re a bit below him, but as far as this project’s concerned they both rank in at 15.

Tenshinhan: 16 along with the other stronger-than-Raditz guys.

Vegeta: pegged as 19, above KKx2 Goku (18).

Yajirobe: said to have surpassed the God of Earth (13), but we don’t see him fight any Saibaimen or anything. Official BP: 970, below Raditz and the Saibaimen. Well, I still put Chiaotzu at 15, so I’ll do the same for him.

Yamcha: another 16. Official BP is 1,480, slightly below Raditz’s, but whatever.

[Namek Arc]

Appule: the random Freeza goons laugh at the Namekians with BPs of 1,000 then get beat up when their BPs go up to 3,000. Overall, let’s just say they’re all with Raditz at 15, and Appule here should be no exception. 16 is probably as far as he could go.

Burta: on par with Recoom, so 23

Dende: according to Kuririn he has a “small” ki, but he can fly around easily enough. Not a fighter, but presumably much stronger than a run-of-the-mill Earth person. I had Piano at 3 for similar reasons, and these two are theoretically members of the same species, so I guess 3 is good. Later he gets his potential drawn out by the Great Elder. Maybe a 4 then (on par with Goku at the start of the series)?

Dodoria: apparently stronger than Saiyan arc Vegeta, although this is never exactly demonstrated. But he does certainly seem to think he’s stronger than old!Vegeta and the equally strong Kewi, so…20 it is.

Freeza: just in his first form, for now. I’ve got him pegged as 27. And by “pegged” I mean “arbitrarily defined as”, but still, that’s the system I’m following here.

Ginyu: stronger than Namek arc Goku (24) until he uses the Kaio-ken (26), so 25. After switching bodies with Goku, his BP shrinks down to 23,000, which is within spitting distance of 24,000 (=Namek arc Vegeta, and Saiyan arc KKx3 Goku, both 21)…but also the exact same as Zarbon’s official BP, and he’s 20 under this system. Well, Gohan and Kuririn beat him up, and I want them strong as possible, so I’ll put Goku-Ginyu at 21. Frog-Ginyu…0.5?

Goku: at 24 when he first arrives, and using the Kaio-ken brings him up to 26. He says he can go higher, but never does, so we’ll gloss over that.

Gohan: BP measured as 1,500 when defeating the reconnaissance team, but I’ll gloss over that as not necessarily reflective of his true power. Generally treated as equal to Kuririn (16 during the Saiyan arc), and probably not up there with Nappa yet. Well, 16 should cover it. After getting his potential drawn out by the Great Elder, his BP is said to surpass 10,000 (officially it’s 14,000). I guess we could treat this as the same as Saiyan arc KKx2 Goku, but I think I’ll instead create another new tier between Nappa and KKx2 Goku…17.75? 17.5+? Well whatever, I’ll renumber everything later so that it’s not quite so stupid. If we want to treat (non-numbered) Kaio-ken and Kaio-ken x2 as separate things after all, we could put Kaio-ken here. After eating a senzu following his bout with Recoom, suddenly Gohan has no trouble tanking attacks from Goku-Ginyu, who I pegged above as 21. So, 22 then, on par with transformed Zarbon? Hey, why not?

Gurd: strongly implied to be physically weaker than “potential unlocked” Gohan and Kuririn (17 and three quarters)…but his stupid psychic powers still make him a tricky opponent, and he almost manages to kill them both before Vegeta intervenes. Vegeta is mad, and seems to think the two could have won if they didn’t get careless. So BP-wise he may be well below the pair, but thanks to his tricky powers I’ll put him overall at likewise 17.75.

Jheese: on par with Recoom, at 23.

Kewi: said to have been on par with Vegeta at some undefined point in the past. Generally this is taken to mean before Vegeta’s big power-up after his battle on Earth, and likewise his official BP is 18,000, same as Saiyan arc Vegeta. Accordingly, 19 should be appropriate.

Kuririn: has been image training with Gohan since the Saiyan arc, but that’s probably not enough to bump him up to a higher tier, so 16 it is. After getting his potential unlocked, he goes on getting grouped together with Gohan and is never clearly portrayed as the weaker of the two, despite the fact that even Kuririn thought Gohan should have far higher potential than him. Official BP post-potential unlock: 13,000 (vs Gohan’s 14,000). So together with Gohan at 17.75. Then later, like Gohan he’s shown to apparently outclass Goku-Ginyu (21). Which didn’t seem so weird with Gohan, who’s a Saiyan and presumably got a near-death power-up after the Recoom fight, but Kuririn shouldn’t have that gift. Later against Freeza, Vegeta says both Gohan and Kuririn’s power keeps rising. A standard fan theory is to assume this is some prolonged after-effect from the Great Elder’s potential unlock. So anyway, I guess he shoots up to 22 with Gohan (on par with transformed Zarbon and Vegeta during the Recoom fight). Hmm…maybe I should take Goku-Ginyu down a notch?

Nail: BP is 42,000, which is probably in the vicinity of Recoom/Jheese/Burta (who are supposed to be somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000). So, 23.

Namekian Trio: true BP of 3,000, and they beat the tar out of the random Freeza goons. That should put them at a minimum of 16, but I’ll throw them a bone and bump them up to 16.5 (equal to Saiyan arc Piccolo).

Reconnaissance Team: the two goons who bust up Bulma and co.’s spaceship. They get killed in one hit by Gohan and Kuririn, whose BP at the time is measured as 1,500. Meanwhile, the other random goons seem unafraid of fighters with BPs of 1,000. So, are these reconnaissance goons weaker than the other goons? Not necessarily, but on the off chance that anyone wants to bother drawing these two, maybe 14.5 would be the right place for them?

Recoom: pegged at 23

Vegeta: when he first arrives on Namek, he takes down Dodoria and ordinary Zarbon (20) easily enough, so 21. Then he loses to transformed Zarbon, powers up again, and beats transformed Zarbon in a rematch. But he uses various tactics to secure the victory, so it doesn’t look like he could overwhelm transformed Zarbon through brute force. Therefore, I put both him and transformed Zarbon at 22. After getting his clock cleaned by Recoom (23), he eats a senzu and later easily defeats Jheese (also 23). So, at that point he should be at least 24, same as Namek arc Goku. Earlier he ran and left Goku and Ginyu to fight each other hoping that they’d just take each other at, so assuming he’s not just being lazy, he’s apparently not strong enough to easily take down Ginyu. So, 24 still seems appropriate. Later though, after simply taking a nap he’s suddenly able to sorta-kinda hold his own against 1st form Freeza. Well, let’s gloss over that for now.

Zarbon: in his ordinary form, on par with Dodoria at 20. In his transformed state, 22 (superior to powered-up Vegeta’s 21).

[Freeza Arc]

Freeza: well, on the bare-bones list I’ve got him pegged as 27 for his first form, 28 for his second, 29 for third, 30 for fourth at first, 31 for him at 50% power, and 32 for 100% full power. Namek arc Kaio-Ken Goku was 27…but BP-wise he was 180,000 while 1st form Freeza is 530,000. It seems that based on BP there should be at least one more tier between the two, maybe several. But really, how many are necessary from a story perspective? I mean, which characters are shown as clearly far stronger than KK Goku and far weaker than 1st form Freeza? Well, theoretically there’s Vegeta when he grapples with 1st-form Freeza, although he doesn’t really accomplish anything that we know for sure KK Goku couldn’t. But the heck with it, let’s assume there’s a tier 26.5. On that note, let’s just move on to the other characters.

Goku: OK so, as far as this project is concerned there’s no way I’m going to set aside separate tiers for KKx2, KKx3, KKx4…etc all the way up to x10, even though for the prior arcs KKx2/3/4 warranted separate tiers. Story-wise, at this point the only distinct levels are regular Goku, KKx10 Goku, KKx20 Goku, and Super Saiyan Goku. Even the split between regular and KKx10 Goku is a bit iffy story-wise, and there’s still debate over exactly when Goku starts using KKx10 against Freeza. Well, if we ignore that distinction (implicitly going with the idea that he’s using x10 from the start), I could put x10 Goku at 30 (with 4th form Freeza), x20 at 31 (with 50% Freeza) and SS at 32 (with 100%)…which could almost work, but…if nothing else, KKx20 should probably be a tier below 50% Freeza. Even if we go with the idea that the two are on par in terms of raw power (the view reflected in their official BPs), the fact that Goku can’t maintain that form for long should probably put it a tier lower overall.

Should SS Goku be the same tier as 100% Freeza or one higher? This is also a matter of debate. Official BPs: 150 million vs 120 million. It’s been argued that none of Freeza’s attacks really do anything against Goku, and the low stamina of his 100% form should maybe drop it down as well, if I use the same logic I did with the KKx20 above. Still, this is getting a bit too much like a see-saw, and I don’t want to create too many tiers that just have one character in them. Maybe I should just ignore the stamina issue for both KKx20 and 100% Freeza? Screw it, I’ll sort this out when dealing with the Android arc. For now, I’m ignoring regular Goku and sticking with 30 for KKx10 Goku/4th form Freeza, 31 for KKx20/50% Freeza, and 32 for SS Goku/100% Freeza.

Gohan: at 22 when last we saw him. When he gets angry against 2nd form Freeza, he seems to surpass Vegeta...though it’s not enough to hurt Freeza much. If Vegeta’s at 26.5, and 2nd form Freeza at 28, then 27 would seem appropriate (on par with 1st form Freeza). After receiving another power-up, he launches an attack that gives 3rd form Freeza some trouble, though he repels it in the end. So, 28 then, with 2nd form Freeza? Later on, he and Kuririn donate their power to Piccolo so that he can go fight 4th form Freeza. Piccolo’s certainly more experienced a fighter, but it’d still be weird for them to do this if Gohan were massively stronger than Piccolo, so…yeah, 28 seems good.

Kuririn: also at 22 last time. Vegeta says his power keeps rising, and his official BP for the Freeza fight is 75,000, amazingly enough. Could this be after Dende heals him, if we keep with the theory that he’s getting pseudo-Saiyan near-death power-ups as a result of the Great Elder unlocking his potential? Well anyway, based solely on his official BP, and because I like him, I’ll put him up at 24 (with Namek arc Goku). Try and stop me.

Piccolo: thanks to his minute and a half over at Kaio’s, he’s apparently already stronger than Nail even before merging with the guy…but for this project I’ll gloss over that “form” and just stick with his post-merge state. He’s at least as strong as 2nd form Freeza, but gets his clock cleaned by 3rd form. 2nd form Freeza himself can control his ki and raises his power a few times…but I think I’m going to consider it all on the same tier. So, 28 for both him and Piccolo.

Vegeta: Seemed to be at about 24 last time, but I’ll start him out at 26.5, below 1st form Freeza, based on their brief grappling bout. That’s quite an upgrade after just a nap, but maybe he had this power all along and just didn’t show it before? Anyway, after getting healed by Dende he’s way stronger than Piccolo, so he should at least be 29, up with 3rd form Freeza. He’s so darn confident he can beat 4th form Freeza that arguably he ought to be way stronger than 3rd form…but we really don’t have any evidence for that besides his confidence. He does seem way, way stronger than Piccolo though. Hmm…whatever, I’ll just keep him at 29.

So, the Z-era results:

Spoiler:

1: Gohan (first appearance)
2: Farmer with Shotgun
3: Dende
4: Dende (potential unlocked)
14: Goku, Piccolo (23rd TB/vs. Raditz)
14.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc, sitting in spaceship), Gohan (vs. Saibaimen), Freeza's reconnaissance team
15: Raditz, Saibaimen, Gohan (vs. Raditz, angry), Chiaotzu (Saiyan arc), Yajirobe (Saiyan arc), Appule
16: Kuririn (Saiyan/Namek arc), Tenshinhan (Saiyan arc), Yamcha (Saiyan arc), Enma Daio, Gohan (Namek arc)
16.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc Masenko), Piccolo (Saiyan arc), Kaio, Namekian trio
17: Nappa, Oozaru Gohan (vs. Piccolo)
17.5: Goku (Saiyan arc)
17.75: Gohan (vs. Gurd), Kuririn (vs. Gurd), Gurd (vs. Gohan and Kuririn)
18: KKx2 Goku (Saiyan arc), Oozaru Gohan (vs. Vegeta)
19: Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
20: Dodoria, Zarbon
21: Vegeta (vs. Kewi/Dodoria/Zarbon), KKx3 Goku (Saiyan arc), Goku-Ginyu
22: Vegeta (vs. Zarbon Round II/Recoom), Zarbon (transformed), KKx4 Goku (Saiyan arc), Gohan (vs. Goku-Ginyu), Kuririn (vs. Goku-Ginyu)
23: Recoom, Jheese, Burta, Nail
24: Goku (Namek arc), Vegeta (vs. Jheese), Kuririn (vs. Freeza)
25: Ginyu, Oozaru Vegeta
26: KK Goku (Namek arc)
26.5: Vegeta (vs. 1st~2nd form Freeza)
27: First-Form Freeza, Gohan (vs. 2nd-Form Freeza)
28: Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo (Freeza arc), Gohan (vs. 3rd-Form Freeza)
29: Third-Form Freeza, Vegeta (vs. 4th-form Freeza)
30: Fourth-Form Freeza, KKx10 Goku
31: Freeza 50% Full Power, KKx20 Goku
32: Super Saiyan Goku, Freeza 100% Full Power

The combined list for the DB Hunt up to Freeza:

Spoiler:

1: Bulma, Sea Turtle, Oolong, Puer, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf, Gohan (first appearance)
2: Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai, Upa, White, Farmer with Shotgun
2.5: Kuririn (Training Arc), Ran-Fan, "mean" Lunch, Bear Bandit, Pteranodon, Black, Yellow
3: Yamcha (DB Hunt), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Bruce Lee-lookalike, Dracula Man, Silver, Man-Wolf, Piano, Dende
4: Goku (DB Hunt), Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Bacterian, Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Murasaki, Dende (potential unlocked)
4.5: Giran
5. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Skeleton Robot
5.5: Namu, Blue, Gyumao, Bora, Pilaf Robot, Metallic, King Castle Guard (trust me)
6: Jackie Chun (21st TB), Goku (21st TB), Kame-sennin (DB Hunt), Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chapa (22nd TB), the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon, Cymbal
6.5: Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Tsuru-sennin, Devil Man, Yajirobe, Chapa (23rd TB)
7: Grandpa Gohan, Tao Pai Pai, Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt), Android No.8, Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
7.5: Goku (post-Karin), Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Yajirobe (23rd TB)
8: Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
9: Drum, Mutaito, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai
10: old Piccolo Daimao, Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
11: Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao, Oozaru Goku (21st TB)
12: Mister Popo, Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
13: God of Earth, Shen
14: Goku (23rd TB/vs. Raditz), Piccolo (23rd TB/vs. Raditz)
14.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc, sitting in spaceship), Gohan (vs. Saibaimen), Freeza's reconnaissance team
15: Raditz, Saibaimen, Gohan (vs. Raditz, angry), Chiaotzu (Saiyan arc), Yajirobe (Saiyan arc), Appule
16: Kuririn (Saiyan/Namek arc), Tenshinhan (Saiyan arc), Yamcha (Saiyan arc), Enma Daio, Gohan (Namek arc)
16.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc Masenko), Piccolo (Saiyan arc), Kaio, Namekian trio
17: Nappa, Oozaru Gohan (vs. Piccolo)
17.5: Goku (Saiyan arc)
17.75: Gohan (vs. Gurd), Kuririn (vs. Gurd), Gurd (vs. Gohan and Kuririn)
18: KKx2 Goku (Saiyan arc), Oozaru Gohan (vs. Vegeta)
19: Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
20: Dodoria, Zarbon
21: Vegeta (vs. Kewi/Dodoria/Zarbon), KKx3 Goku (Saiyan arc), Goku-Ginyu
22: Vegeta (vs. Zarbon Round II/Recoom), Zarbon (transformed), KKx4 Goku (Saiyan arc), Gohan (vs. Goku-Ginyu), Kuririn (vs. Goku-Ginyu)
23: Recoom, Jheese, Burta, Nail
24: Goku (Namek arc), Vegeta (vs. Jheese), Kuririn (vs. Freeza)
25: Ginyu, Oozaru Vegeta
26: KK Goku (Namek arc)
26.5: Vegeta (vs. 1st~2nd form Freeza)
27: First-Form Freeza, Gohan (vs. 2nd-Form Freeza)
28: Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo (Freeza arc), Gohan (vs. 3rd-Form Freeza)
29: Third-Form Freeza, Vegeta (vs. 4th-form Freeza)
30: Fourth-Form Freeza, KKx10 Goku
31: Freeza 50% Full Power, KKx20 Goku
32: Super Saiyan Goku, Freeza 100% Full Power

Shoot, I've already hit 151 distinct characters/forms, which was my estimate for the overall total number up to Boo. Oh well, a lot of those minor characters can be left out. And though for now I'm still sticking with crap like "17.75", in reality there's now a total of 41 distinct tiers.

[Speedster]

Here is my take for the "pre Z" era:
0.5. Sea Turtle
1. Bulma, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf, Upa, Oolong, Puer
1.5. Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai
2. White, Yellow, "mean" Lunch, Pteranodon, Bruce Lee-lookalike, Bacterian
2.5. Bear Bandit, Black, Ran-Fan, Silver
3. Kuririn (start of training arc for the 21TB), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Man-Wolf
3.5: Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Yamcha (DB Hunt)
4. Goku (DB Hunt), Murasaki
4.5. Giran, Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Dracula Man
5. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Blue, Skeleton Robot, Gyumao, Piano
5.5. Namu, Pilaf Robot, Bora, Chapa (22nd TB)
6. Android No.8, Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
6.5. the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon
7. Goku (21st TB), Jackie Chun (21st TB)
7.5. Tao Pai Pai, Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Devil Man, Chapa (23rd TB),
8. Grandpa Gohan, Tsuru-sennin, Cymbal
8.5. Goku (post-Karin), Yajirobe, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt)
9. Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Mutaito
10. Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
10.5. Drum, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai,
11. Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
11.5: old Piccolo Daimao
12. Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao,
12.5. Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
13. Mister Popo
14. Kami (God of Earth), Shen
15. Goku (23rd TB), Ma Junior/Piccolo (23rd TB)
16. Oozaru Goku (21st TB), buff Roshi max Kamehameha

Notes:
a) Chapa did not experience the full power of Goku during the 22nd TB. He mostly thought it was his own fault for losing and that Goku winning was a fluke. Thinking he could beat 22nd TB Goku in the 23rd TB means nothing not only because he couldn’t sense power levels but because he most certainly didn't attend the semi-finals and finals to see what Goku was really capable of during the 22nd TB. Roshi saying in the 22nd TB that Goku could lose to Chapa in the pre-liminaries doesn’t imply that Chapa was stronger than 21st TB Goku either. Roshi’s statement came from his knowledge that Chapa once won a tournament very easily – but this could be due to the opposition in that tournament being weak (similar to the 24th TB where Mr Satan won the title). Same goes for Panpoot.
b) The max Kamehameha of Buff Roshi blowing up the moon is the greatest feat in the entire Dragonball series before the Z era.
c) Oozaru Goku (start of DB) killed grandpa Gohan so he was stronger than him.

[Draconic]

Your reasonings for the tiers are very good and in depth (I don't agree on some but I will probably explain those when I have more time). The list itself is very messy right now and the Cell and Buu arcs are only going to get more so. However, after the tiers are all settled on, it's probably going to be a lot easier to follow.

Great job as always Herms. Your posts are always a blast to read.

[DBZAOTA482]

Here is my take for the "pre Z" era:
0.5. Sea Turtle
1. Bulma, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf, Upa, Oolong, Puer
1.5. Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai
2. White, Yellow, "mean" Lunch, Pteranodon, Bruce Lee-lookalike, Bacterian
2.5. Bear Bandit, Black, Ran-Fan, Silver
3. Kuririn (start of training arc for the 21TB), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Man-Wolf
3.5: Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Yamcha (DB Hunt)
4. Goku (DB Hunt), Murasaki
4.5. Giran, Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Dracula Man
5. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Blue, Skeleton Robot, Gyumao, Piano
5.5. Namu, Pilaf Robot, Bora, Chapa (22nd TB)
6. Android No.8, Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
6.5. the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon
7. Goku (21st TB), Jackie Chun (21st TB)
7.5. Tao Pai Pai, Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Devil Man, Chapa (23rd TB),
8. Grandpa Gohan, Tsuru-sennin, Cymbal
8.5. Goku (post-Karin), Yajirobe, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt)
9. Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Mutaito
10. Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
10.5. Drum, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai,
11. Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
11.5: old Piccolo Daimao
12. Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao,
12.5. Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
13. Mister Popo
14. Kami (God of Earth), Shen
15. Goku (23rd TB), Ma Junior/Piccolo (23rd TB)
16. Oozaru Goku (21st TB), buff Roshi max Kamehameha

Notes:
a) Chapa did not experience the full power of Goku during the 22nd TB. He mostly thought it was his own fault for losing and that Goku winning was a fluke. Thinking he could beat 22nd TB Goku in the 23rd TB means nothing not only because he couldn’t sense power levels but because he most certainly didn't attend the semi-finals and finals to see what Goku was really capable of during the 22nd TB. Roshi saying in the 22nd TB that Goku could lose to Chapa in the pre-liminaries doesn’t imply that Chapa was stronger than 21st TB Goku either. Roshi’s statement came from his knowledge that Chapa once won a tournament very easily - but this could be due to the opposition in that tournament being weak (similar to the 24th TB where Mr Satan won the title). Same goes for Panpoot.
b) The max Kamehameha of Buff Roshi blowing up the moon is the greatest feat in the entire Dragonball series before the Z era.
c) Oozaru Goku (start of DB) killed grandpa Gohan so he was stronger than him.

It's not just reputation. Jackie Chun and Yamcha saw Chappa's movements (like his 8 arms technique) and still couldn't believe Goku won so easily (and when Goku revealed he was holding back, Jackie worried about his chances). As opposed to Pamput who Goku, Krillin, and Jackie all thought would be a strong opponent but all thought lowly off once they saw him in action.

They didn't overestimate Chappa at all. They underestimated Goku.

[Cetra]

c) Oozaru Goku (start of DB) killed grandpa Gohan so he was stronger than him.

I cannot wait where you want to place Sorbet's ring.

[DBZAOTA482]

c) Oozaru Goku (start of DB) killed grandpa Gohan so he was stronger than him.

I cannot wait where you want to place Sorbet's ring.

Sorbet's ring > Blueper Saiyan Goku

[dbgtFO]

Devil Man: stronger than the Mummy, who below I’ve placed at 6. Won the TB twice, but we don’t know what the competition back then was, so this on its own isn’t too helpful. Weaker than Tao Pai Pai (7). So…6.5 then?

6.66 surely.

I agree, that Tao Pai Pai and 22nd TB King Chappa, Krillin and Yamcha are hard to place, especially as defeating Tao was still considered such a big deal. In real life it's only natural, that one would tend to overestimate close acquaintances due to bias, but even so Tenshinhan has no real need to not think to himself that Yamcha surpassed Tao Pai Pai like he did with Kame-sennin and Tsuru-sennin, if that really was the case. That also raises the question, whether or not Tsuru-sennin is stronger than Tao Pai Pai or not. Alternatively even if faced with someone stronger than himself, given his aptitude as a professional killer one might think, that Tsuru-sennin and Tenshinhan thought he should handle that as well.
As DBZAOTA482 posted, King Chappa is still revered as impressive after having demonstrated his ability in front of Kame-sennin, so he could be even stronger than post Karin Goku.. or at least the power Goku was demonstrating in his fight against Gohan, so possibly this:
Grandpa Gohan < Goku(post Karin, holding slightly back) < King Chappa < Tao Pai Pai < Goku(post Karin).

As for Ozaru Goku killing Grandpa Gohan.
Even if Gohan was stronger than Ozaru Goku, he could still be crushed by the great ape's immense weight.

[Herms]

Last time I never quite reached a solid conclusion on how many tiers to allocate to Freeza’s forms and the various characters who fight him, so I guess I’ll have to sort that out now. Here’s the bare-bones list for first-form Freeza up to Cell Games SSj2 Gohan

Spoiler:

27. First-Form Freeza
28. Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo
29. Third-Form Freeza
30. Fourth-Form Freeza
31. Freeza 50% Full Power
32. Freeza 100% Full Power
33. Super Saiyan Vegeta
34. No.17, “Super Namekian” Piccolo
35. No.16, First-Form Cell (powered up)
36. Second-Form Cell
37. Super Vegeta
38. Goku (Cell Games)
39. full power Perfect Cell
40. SS2 Gohan (Cell Games)

Once we hit Android 17, the road from him up to SS2 is relatively clear, but getting from Freeza to 17 is a bit tricky. The first big issue: where do Androids 19 and 20 fit in? They truly are an unusual case. In the manga, Trunks explicitly warns Goku that 19 and 20 are far superior to Freeza…and then this is completely, shamelessly retconned. Trunks later denies having ever even heard of 19 and 20, and instead says the big scary “stronger than Freeza” androids he warned of were 17 and 18. DB has a lot of inconsistences, but this is high up on the list (the anime fixes it so at least Trunks never mentions any numbers when telling Goku about the androids).

So, the main evidence that 19/20 are stronger than Freeza is completely retconned. This doesn’t automatically mean they’re weaker than Freeza, but it obviously makes the case a lot harder to decide. Purely from an aesthetics point of view, 100% full power Freeza is so ludicrously stronger than any other villain who came before (not counting his prior forms) that it’s tempting to have 19/20 be weaker than him just to help fill in that gap a little bit. Plus, Freeza’s way cooler than they are. And Piccolo beats up on 20, so if 20’s stronger than Freeza, Piccolo out to be as well, which would put him in “Super Saiyan” territory even before he merges with God and becomes Super Namekian. Of course, when Piccolo beats up 20, Kuririn does in fact go “wow, he’s so strong! And he’s not even a Super Saiyan”, implying that Piccolo’s up there, so…

What’s more, seeing Vegeta destroy 19 and scare away 20 makes Piccolo think Vegeta may have surpassed Goku. Presumably he means healthy, full power Goku, since he already saw sick Goku get beat by 19, so there shouldn’t be any doubt Vegeta’s stronger than Goku in that state. Full power Goku should obviously be at least as strong as he was back when he defeated Freeza, probably a good chunk stronger after training for three years, so it’d be a little weird for Piccolo to conclude Vegeta’s possibly stronger than Goku if 19/20 weren’t at least pretty close to Freeza. Of course, this is assuming Piccolo has a good grasp on how strong Freeza and SS Goku are.

Next: how does SS Trunks compare to SS Goku on Namek? And how does SS Goku on Namek compare to SS Goku once he returns to Earth? And how does that SS Goku compare to SS Goku in “prime condition” three years later?…which we never really see, due to his illness. I’ve talked before about how Gohan’s line that SS Trunks has “the same ki” as Goku on Namek doesn’t mean SS Trunks=Namek arc SS Goku. Of course, while it doesn’t automatically mean the two are equal, on the flipside this doesn’t automatically mean they aren’t equal. And it would actually be pretty helpful in nailing things down if we went off the assumption they were. But, personally I just don’t buy it. To my mind the entire point of showing Trunks easily kill Mecha Freeza before warning the gang about a new threat is to clearly demonstrate that Freeza’s day is done and that far more powerful enemies are in store. There’s room to argue that Trunks just caught Freeza off-guard or whatever, but I think this is reading against the grain of the story.

OK OK, I said I wouldn’t get bogged down in these sorts of debates. I don’t need to get everything perfect. Frankly, I think many different interpretations are possible. For the sake of this project, I’ll just go off the assumption that SS Trunks is stronger than SS Goku on Namek, and that 19/20 are at least as strong as Mecha Freeza. Now let’s get this over with.

[Trunks Arc (for lack of a better term]

Gohan/Piccolo/Vegeta are probably stronger than on Namek, but I think it’s probably best to leave them out of the chart. Though the temptation to include “Bad Man” Vegeta is strong. If they are included, I’ll just assume they’ve all gone up one tier since last time. So Piccolo’s now on par with 3rd-form Freeza, etc.

Cold: in the anime and apparently some of the video games, he’s said to be stronger than Freeza, but there’s no such line in the manga, and Freeza even identifies himself as the “strongest in the universe” while standing in front of Cold. Daizenshuu 7 also describes Cold as “slightly inferior” to Freeza. Going off that (and the fact that Freeza believes Cold will actually be useful in a fight against SS Goku). This might be stretching the definition of “slightly”, but I’ll say he’s at 31 (on par with 50% Freeza on Namek).

Goku: I’m going to decide right now that SS Goku on Namek was a tier higher than 100% Freeza, and that the new-and-improved Mecha Freeza is on that same tier. So 32.5 for both of them. SS Trunks easily beats Mecha Freeza, and SS Goku is at least as strong as him, so both should be…ugh, let’s say 32.75. Goku will then train for three years and move up to 33, the same tier as SS Vegeta (who Piccolo thinks is “maybe” stronger than him, so probably not by a huge amount). In other words, SS Goku goes up one tier between his time on Namek and upon returning to Earth, and another tier during his three years of training. Sound OK? We’re only explicitly told that Goku trained on Yardrat to become able to turn SS at will and learn how to teleport, but going off the assumption that Mecha Freeza is a tier above his old self and SS Trunks is a tier above that, it seems natural that SS Goku must have also improved in strength a great deal to keep up. This is quite a bit of inflation for what is theoretically a minimalist approach, but I think it works.

Mecha Freeza: confident that he can defeat SS Goku, even without Cold’s help. As outlined above, I’m putting him at 32.5, equal now to Namek arc SS Goku, but behind the curb for Trunks and the new-and-improved SS Goku.

SS Trunks: I’m putting him at 32.75, a tier above Mecha Freeza, on par with new!SS Goku, and below where SS Vegeta will be. Trunks says seeing Goku’s strength gives him hope, which arguably means he considers SS Goku to be far stronger than himself, but I’ll put them on the same overall level and say he feels hopeful because Goku is already this strong and has three years to improve. If worse comes to worse, I could put him a tier below SS Goku after all, have him be about on par with Mecha Freeza, and resort to the “he caught Mecha Freeza off-guard” excuse.

Oh yeah: from now on, I’m pretty much ignoring the “base” Saiyans. In the android/Cell arc they’re basically irrelevant story-wise, and in the Boo arc they’re too controversial to be worth bothering with. Plus, if we take seriously Beerus’ assertion that BoG/Super-era Goku still can’t beat Freeza without going Super Saiyan, then every android/Cell/Boo arc base Saiyan is going to be floating around somewhere above 28 (2nd-form Freeza) but below 32 (100% Freeza), which could get really crowded and confusing. They’re skippable, so let’s skip them.

[Android Arc]

Android 16: holding off on him for now (OK, so he’s at 35).

Android No.17: ….defined as being at 34, below No.16. On par with “Super Namekian” Piccolo, who’s clearly shown as way stronger than SS Vegeta (33), so yeah, 34.

Android No.18: the “android history” title page explains that her power is “suppressed” compared with 17’s, so she should be at least a little weaker than him. Still, outside of that quote they’re often spoken of as a pair and treated as roughly equal. Trunks describes SS Vegeta as fighting “on par” with 18, and 18’s eventual victory is attributed mainly to her infinite stamina. But later Piccolo flatly describes 17+18 as way stronger than Vegeta. Let’s just say that, if only because of the stamina, she’s on a higher tier than SS Vegeta, and also keep her on the same overall tier as 17, even if she’s supposed to be a bit weaker. So, 34 it is.

Android No.19: I’ve already decided to assume he’s at least on par with Freeza, but his strength varies widely depending on how much energy he has, making things extra annoying. Starts out weaker than sick!Goku, but gets the upper hand after absorbing his energy (something both makes 19 stronger and Goku weaker), before being defeated by Vegeta. Vegeta says he doesn’t seem as scary as the rumors made out, but defeating him still takes a lot out of Vegeta, to the point where Piccolo thinks he couldn’t have defeated 20 without healing. 20 considers himself stronger than 19, though he doesn’t say by how much, and this probably depends on how much energy each one has at any given time. Alright, so I’ll say he starts out at 32.5 (on par with Mecha Freeza), then shoots up to 32.75 after absorbing Goku’s energy. Good?

Android No.20: again, considers himself stronger than 19…but it’s probably a lot easier to assume they’re still on the same tier overall, and that 19 gets stronger than him when he absorbs Goku’s energy. So with the same amount of energy, 20 will have a slight upper hand, but not when 19 has way more energy. OK, with that in mind, 20 seems to defeat Piccolo really easily, but this turns out to be a ruse on Piccolo’s part, and later Piccolo beats the crap out of him…even after 20 absorbed his energy first. Still, he thinks absorbing Piccolo’s energy twice would have allowed him to defeat Vegeta, and maybe this is actually true. Is 20 starts out at tier 32.5 the same as 19 did, absorbing Piccolo’s energy probably pushed up to 32.75…unless the energy made him stronger, but not enough to raise him up a tier. Either way, Piccolo being on the same tier as SS Vegeta seems off the table, and I kinda don’t want to add in any more tiers here, so…either A) absorbing Piccolo’s energy once doesn’t actually raise 20’s tier, or B) after absorbing the energy, 20 and Piccolo are on the same tier, but Piccolo is able to beat the crap out of 20 because 20 isn’t expecting Piccolo to be so strong. Screw it, I’ll go with B).

Gohan: really doesn’t do a blasted thing at this point besides catch 20 off-guard and knock him down. Earlier I assumed he must be up to 29 (3rd-form Freeza) by the time Trunks shows up, so after three more years of training, I guess…well, actually I’ll create the new tier 29.5 and say he shares this with regular, non Kaio-ken Goku back on Namek…and/or Vegeta after his last power-up on Namek. Yeah, why not? That’s probably as far as he could go without Kaio-ken or Super Saiyan. Oh yeah…I did say I’d be ignoring base Saiyans from now on, didn’t I?

Goku: Vegeta should be stronger, but I’ll say it’s not by much and put his maximum, healthy power at 33…though we never really see him up there. Instead, against 19 he should just be 32.75 (the same as his max used to be back when he returned from Yardrat). After getting his energy sucked by 19, he goes down to 32.5 (as strong as he was vs. Freeza).

Kuririn: Oh brother, this isn’t getting easier. Alright, so on Namek he was up to 24, so if his training since then has had any significant effect, he should be at least up to 25 (on par with Ginyu). He shouldn’t get massively stronger from now until the Cell Games, and after the Cell Games he gives up martial arts, so whatever I put for him here should be as high as he’ll ever go. And he’s officially stated as being the “strongest Earthling” in more sources than you can shake a pointed stick at. So, no pressure or anything. Right then, call be biased but I don’t see Kuririn as ever being on par with even 1st-form Freeza. So, that puts his limit as 26.5, up there with Vegeta when he grappled with 1st-form Freeza. Well, that’s not bad in the grand scheme of things, right?

Piccolo: though I’m not amazingly fond of it, I think I’m stuck with the idea that Piccolo is already Super Saiyan caliber at this point. Kuririn seems to think so, Piccolo himself says he “doesn’t lack confidence” against the androids, he beats up 20. I’m putting him at 32.75, on par with SS Trunks when he beat Mecha Freeza. Hooray…?

Tenshinhan: doesn’t do much at this point, but knowing what he does later against Cell…alright, I’ll tip my hand and admit I don’t consider the whole Shin-Kikoho thing to be that significant, strength-wise. Officially not the strongest Earthling. Even Mayumi Tanaka says so (but then, she’d be biased). Well, I put Kuririn at 26.5, so I’ll do the same for this guy.

Trunks: it’s not clear how much time has passed for him since last we saw him, so he might not have had much or any time to train. He’s amazed at how strong SS Vegeta is against 18, and the God of Earth clearly states that Vegeta is the stronger one. He could possibly be on the same tier as SS Vegeta…but I think I’ll just assume he’s still at 32.75 like when he first appeared. Which means he and Piccolo are about equal. Well, I guess they are. (Is it too late to start over?)

Vegeta: pegged at 33, as mentioned above. Counting the new tiers I squeezed in there, this means he’s two tiers above SS Goku on Namek, and three tiers above 100% Freeza on Namek. I guess that could be worse, inflation-wise.

Yamcha: not as cool as Kuririn or Tenshinhan. Taking filler as gospel, he should be way stronger than Recoom and co. (23) at least. Like Kuririn, this is as strong as he’ll ever get. Look, I really don’t know. 26 (=Namek arc Kaio-ken Goku)?

[Imperfect Cell Arc]

I’m pretty much resorting to all the old Funi DVD boxset names here. Ignoring all characters who don’t power up substantially during this part of the story.

Android No. 16: above No.17 (34), so 35.

Cell: when he first shows up, he’s supposed to be weaker than Nos 17 and 18 (tier 34), as well as reborn!Piccolo (also 34). Avoids fighting SS Vegeta (33), but when Goku wakes up from his illness he says he “definitely” can’t beat the androids or Cell. Earlier I assumed that SS Vegeta and healthy!SS Goku were overall the same tier…I could change that, but frankly Cell avoiding a fight with SS Vegeta doesn’t prove that much. He might just be worried about Piccolo catching up with him before he could finish Vegeta off. And Vegeta himself describes Cell and Piccolo as both having “absurdly large” battle powers. Alright, so new tier time: Cell is at 33.5 when he first appears, higher than SS Vegeta but below reborn!Piccolo.

Once he absorbs lots of people and powers up though, he outclasses reborn!Piccolo, so tier 35 it is, same as No.16. Absorbing No.17, he easily defeats No.16, so now he’s at 36. Then he absorbs No.18 and surpasses Super Vegeta, so he should at least be at 38, but I’ll save that for later.

Piccolo: re-merging with Old Green puts him on par with No.17 (and therefore a bit stronger than
No.18, but still the same tier as far as I’m concerned), so he’s up at 34.

Tenshinhan: as mentioned earlier, I don’t think anything the Shin-Kikoho does against Cell is enough to prove that Tenshinhan is up above Freeza or whatever. It really doesn’t scratch Cell at all. So, he’ still at 26.5 (a step below 1st-form Freeza). I understand if people disagree, but this is what I’m going with.

Trunks: after leaving the Room of Spirit and Time, Vegeta regards him as almost but not quite as strong as himself. So his SS Grade II form should be up at 37, the same as Super Vegeta. His Grade III form…well, he thinks it makes him stronger than Vegeta, but it doesn’t quite pan out. Still, depicting this on the chart might be tricky. His power goes through the roof but his speed goes way down, so overall he’s not as high as he thinks he is…but does he go down overall compared to Grade II? Is he actually stronger overall, but not by enough to beat Perfect Cell? Is it just a complete wash and he doesn’t overall get stronger or weaker? There’s probably no real way to say for sure, but since story-wise this is supposed to be a “failed” transformed, the best way to convey this visually on the chart would probably be for him to drop down. So, for the sake of this project, I’ll put Grade III below Grade II, in new tier 36.5 (between 2nd form Cell and Super Vegeta).

Vegeta: as outlined above, Super Vegeta (his “Grade II” transformation) is at 37. Trunks is surprised when Vegeta busts out Grade II right from the start, apparently believing even regular SS Vegeta would now be enough to defeat Cell. While there’s probably no need to include post-RoSaT regular SS Vegeta in the picture, I’ll still say he’s at…uh, 36.5, I guess.

[Cell Games]

Again, skipping over characters who haven’t powered up much.

Cell: seems to fight more or less evenly against Goku (38), but he’s really just toying with him, and he doesn’t unleash his full power until fighting Gohan…so, his full power is at 39. Then he gets his clock cleaned by SS2 Gohan, powers up, and give SS2 Gohan trouble. Exactly how Super Perfect Cell and SS2 Gohan relate is another constant debate, but I’ll just put them in the same overall tier, 40. Yippy.

Cell Juniors: on par with Vegeta and Trunks (and maybe Piccolo, but more on that later). Goku only gets beat up by them because he’s worn out from his fight with Cell. A line from Daizenshuu 7’s attack dictionary says they’re as powerful as Cell himself, but I think we can ignore this. On the assumption that Vegeta and Trunks have powered up significantly since last time, I’m putting both them and the Cell Juniors in the new tier 37.5 (between old!Vegeta and Goku).

Gohan: probably stronger than Goku even before going SS2, but I’ll still keep them in the same overall tier, 38. Becoming SS2 leapfrogs him over full-power Cell (39) up to 40.

Goku: as detailed above, he’s at 38. Worn-out Goku is probably, like, at 37 or something, but we can probably gloss over him.

Mister Satan: not terribly impressive. Technically he’s a Tenkiachi Budokai champion, though as we see the tournament’s level has really dropped since Goku and co. were last there. It’s pretty clear Satan’s no match for Jackie Chun or pre-Z Tenshinhan/Goku. Even Devil Man and Chapa could almost certainly take him. What about Pan-Poot, the champion of two non-TB tournaments who’s supposed to be super-impressive by ordinary, non-superhuman standards? Well, I assumed Pan-Poot was stronger than Giran, and I assumed Giran was stronger than Goku was back at the very start of the series, and overall Mister Satan does not seem as impressive as Goku was even right at the start. It’s hard to image Satan taking an axe to the head, or shrugging off bullets the way Goku does when we first meet him. Maybe I need to revise my estimates for Pan-Poot/Giran, but at any rate Satan being below original!Goku seems reasonably sound. The only way he could be stronger is if his martial arts skills make up for his body not being hard enough to tank axes to the head and whatnot. Which…maybe? I mean, if we go by feats then Tao Pai Pai is loads stronger than Boo arc Goku. But then the only reason to put Satan above original!Goku is because of his TB championship, and the whole joke is that the tournament’s level has gone way down. Screw it, I’ll say he’s at 3 (Yamcha at the start of the series) and call it a day.

Piccolo: at 34 when last we saw him. Training in the RoSaT shoots him up to a whole new level according to Goku, so he should at least be 35 now (on par with no.16). Infamously, Cell implies that Vegeta and Trunks aren’t the only ones to be holding out against the Cell Juniors, and Piccolo would seem to be the only candidate (Cell specifically notes that tired!Goku is getting knocked around). We don’t get any good views of Piccolo’s fight with his Cell Junior opponent in the manga, but he is shown still standing in chapter 408’s title page, along with Vegeta and Trunks (the other Z Warriors are on the ground). So…37.5? Even assuming he’s not on the same tier as the current Vegeta and Trunks, anything below 37 (same as Super Vegeta against 2nd form Cell) would probably be pushing it, unless we assume the Cell Junior is just toying with him. Which…well, maybe it is. Of course, ultimately the only reason to doubt that Piccolo’s up there with Vegeta/Trunks/the Cell Juniors is because of what’s coming in the Boo arc (and, these days, RoF). So let’s just settle for 37 for now.

Trunks: as outlined above, I’ll assume his training has pushed him to a new tier: 37.5

Vegeta: likewise.

Summary

Alright, so for the Android/Cell arc (plus revamped Freeza arc):

Spoiler:

3: Mister Satan
26: KK Goku (Namek arc), Yamcha (Android/Cell arc)
26.5: Vegeta (vs. 1st~2nd form Freeza), Kuririn (Android/Cell arc), Tenshinhan (Android/Cell arc)
27: First-Form Freeza, Gohan (vs. 2nd-form Freeza)
28: Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo (Freeza arc), Gohan (vs. 3rd-form Freeza)
29: Third-Form Freeza, Vegeta (vs. 4th-form Freeza)
29.5: Goku (vs. Freeza), Gohan (Android arc)
30: Fourth-Form Freeza, KKx10 Goku
31: Freeza 50% Full Power, Cold
32: Freeza 100% Full Power
32.5: SS Goku (vs. Freeza), Mecha Freeza, No.19, No.20, sick!SS Goku (after getting energy drained)
32.75: SS Trunks (Trunks/Android arc), SS Goku ("Trunks arc"), sick!SS Goku, No.19 (+Goku's energy), No.20 (+Piccolo's energy), Piccolo (Android arc)
33: SS Vegeta (Android arc), healthy!SS Goku (if he ever showed up)
33.5: Cell (initial appearance)
34: No.17, “Super Namekian” Piccolo, No.18
35: No.16, First-Form Cell (powered up)
36: Second-Form Cell
36.5: SS Grade III Trunks (aka "the slow one"), regular SS Vegeta (post-RoSaT)
37: Super Vegeta (SS Grade II), Trunks (likewise), Piccolo (Cell Games)
37.5: Vegeta (Cell Games), Trunks (Cell Games), Cell Juniors
38: SS Gohan (Cell Games), SS Goku (Cell Games), Perfect Cell (vs. Goku)
39: Perfect Cell (full power)
40: SS2 Gohan (Cell Games), Super Perfect Cell

And everything so far:

Spoiler:

1: Bulma, Sea Turtle, Oolong, Puer, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf, Gohan (first appearance)
2: Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai, Upa, White, Farmer with Shotgun
2.5: Kuririn (Training Arc), Ran-Fan, "mean" Lunch, Bear Bandit, Pteranodon, Black, Yellow
3: Yamcha (DB Hunt), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Bruce Lee-lookalike, Dracula Man, Silver, Man-Wolf, Piano, Dende, Mister Satan
4: Goku (DB Hunt), Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Bacterian, Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Murasaki, Dende (potential unlocked)
4.5: Giran
5. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Skeleton Robot
5.5: Namu, Blue, Gyumao, Bora, Pilaf Robot, Metallic, King Castle Guard (trust me)
6: Jackie Chun (21st TB), Goku (21st TB), Kame-sennin (DB Hunt), Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chapa (22nd TB), the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon, Cymbal
6.5: Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Tsuru-sennin, Devil Man, Yajirobe, Chapa (23rd TB)
7: Grandpa Gohan, Tao Pai Pai, Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt), Android No.8, Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
7.5: Goku (post-Karin), Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Yajirobe (23rd TB)
8: Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
9: Drum, Mutaito, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai
10: old Piccolo Daimao, Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
11: Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao, Oozaru Goku (21st TB)
12: Mister Popo, Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
13: God of Earth, Shen
14: Goku (23rd TB/vs. Raditz), Piccolo (23rd TB/vs. Raditz)
14.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc, sitting in spaceship), Gohan (vs. Saibaimen), Freeza's reconnaissance team
15: Raditz, Saibaimen, Gohan (vs. Raditz, angry), Chiaotzu (Saiyan arc), Yajirobe (Saiyan arc), Appule
16: Kuririn (Saiyan/Namek arc), Tenshinhan (Saiyan arc), Yamcha (Saiyan arc), Enma Daio, Gohan (Namek arc)
16.5: Gohan (Saiyan arc Masenko), Piccolo (Saiyan arc), Kaio, Namekian trio
17: Nappa, Oozaru Gohan (vs. Piccolo)
17.5: Goku (Saiyan arc)
17.75: Gohan (vs. Gurd), Kuririn (vs. Gurd), Gurd (vs. Gohan and Kuririn)
18: KKx2 Goku (Saiyan arc), Oozaru Gohan (vs. Vegeta)
19: Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
20: Dodoria, Zarbon
21: Vegeta (vs. Kewi/Dodoria/Zarbon), KKx3 Goku (Saiyan arc), Goku-Ginyu
22: Vegeta (vs. Zarbon Round II/Recoom), Zarbon (transformed), KKx4 Goku (Saiyan arc), Gohan (vs. Goku-Ginyu), Kuririn (vs. Goku-Ginyu)
23: Recoom, Jheese, Burta, Nail
24: Goku (Namek arc), Vegeta (vs. Jheese), Kuririn (vs. Freeza)
25: Ginyu, Oozaru Vegeta
26: KK Goku (Namek arc), Yamcha (Android/Cell arc)
26.5: Vegeta (vs. 1st~2nd form Freeza), Kuririn (Android/Cell arc), Tenshinhan (Android/Cell arc)
27: First-Form Freeza, Gohan (vs. 2nd-form Freeza)
28: Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo (Freeza arc), Gohan (vs. 3rd-form Freeza)
29: Third-Form Freeza, Vegeta (vs. 4th-form Freeza)
29.5: Goku (vs. Freeza), Gohan (Android arc)
30: Fourth-Form Freeza, KKx10 Goku
31: Freeza 50% Full Power, Cold
32: Freeza 100% Full Power
32.5: SS Goku (vs. Freeza), Mecha Freeza, No.19, No.20, sick!SS Goku (after getting energy drained)
32.75: SS Trunks (Trunks/Android arc), SS Goku ("Trunks arc"), sick!SS Goku, No.19 (+Goku's energy), No.20 (+Piccolo's energy), Piccolo (Android arc)
33: SS Vegeta (Android arc), healthy!SS Goku (if he ever showed up)
33.5: Cell (initial appearance)
34: No.17, “Super Namekian” Piccolo, No.18
35: No.16, First-Form Cell (powered up)
36: Second-Form Cell
36.5: SS Grade III Trunks (aka "the slow one"), regular SS Vegeta (post-RoSaT)
37: Super Vegeta (SS Grade II), Trunks (likewise), Piccolo (Cell Games)
37.5: Vegeta (Cell Games), Trunks (Cell Games), Cell Juniors
38: SS Gohan (Cell Games), SS Goku (Cell Games), Perfect Cell (vs. Goku)
39: Perfect Cell (full power)
40: SS2 Gohan (Cell Games), Super Perfect Cell

…This thing is getting really hard to keep track of. I’ll simplify it after I’m done with the Boo arc, I promise!

[Cetra]

I would place a heavily surpressed Perfect Cell as still weaker than Super Vegeta as the fight was meant to be like this. Cell was holding back so much that Vegeta still was stronger but had no chance because of how good Cell was (and of course the entire "strength is not the only important aspect" stuff that came up here.

[SSJ2FutureGohan]

Vegeta: as outlined above, Super Vegeta (his “Grade II” transformation) is at 37. Trunks is surprised when Vegeta busts out Grade II right from the start, apparently believing even regular SS Vegeta would now be enough to defeat Cell.

Cell was suppressed when Vegeta was transforming, so Trunks' shock doesn't indicate that SS Vegeta is stronger than full-power 2nd form Cell, only Cell's suppressed state.

[Cetra]

Cell was suppressed when Vegeta was transforming, so Trunks' shock doesn't indicate that SS Vegeta is stronger than full-power 2nd form Cell, only Cell's suppressed state.

Even 16 says Vegeta is still stronger. Obviously suppressed Cell (and I am talking about the Perfect form is who I am talking about in case your post was meant for me.

[dbgtFO]

Cell was suppressed when Vegeta was transforming, so Trunks' shock doesn't indicate that SS Vegeta is stronger than full-power 2nd form Cell, only Cell's suppressed state.

Even 16 says Vegeta is still stronger. Obviously suppressed Cell (and I am talking about the Perfect form is who I am talking about in case your post was meant for me.

Why'd you think that? SSJ2FutureGohan is clearly quoting Herms and talking about SS Vegeta as compared 2nd form Cell, while you are talking about Perfect Cell as compared to Super Vegeta.

[DBZAOTA482]

Devil Man: stronger than the Mummy, who below I’ve placed at 6. Won the TB twice, but we don’t know what the competition back then was, so this on its own isn’t too helpful. Weaker than Tao Pai Pai (7). So…6.5 then?

6.66 surely.

I agree, that Tao Pai Pai and 22nd TB King Chappa, Krillin and Yamcha are hard to place, especially as defeating Tao was still considered such a big deal. In real life it's only natural, that one would tend to overestimate close acquaintances due to bias, but even so Tenshinhan has no real need to not think to himself that Yamcha surpassed Tao Pai Pai like he did with Kame-sennin and Tsuru-sennin, if that really was the case. That also raises the question, whether or not Tsuru-sennin is stronger than Tao Pai Pai or not. Alternatively even if faced with someone stronger than himself, given his aptitude as a professional killer one might think, that Tsuru-sennin and Tenshinhan thought he should handle that as well.
As DBZAOTA482 posted, King Chappa is still revered as impressive after having demonstrated his ability in front of Kame-sennin, so he could be even stronger than post Karin Goku.. or at least the power Goku was demonstrating in his fight against Gohan, so possibly this:
Grandpa Gohan < Goku(post Karin, holding slightly back) < King Chappa < Tao Pai Pai < Goku(post Karin).

As for Ozaru Goku killing Grandpa Gohan.
Even if Gohan was stronger than Ozaru Goku, he could still be crushed by the great ape's immense weight.

I think Grandpa Gohan is stronger than Tao Pai Pai. Gohan gave Goku a fight of his life while Goku thrashed Tao without too much effort.

Also, I think Jacki Chun was more concerned of facing the Crane School's wrath.

[Cetra]

Cell was suppressed when Vegeta was transforming, so Trunks' shock doesn't indicate that SS Vegeta is stronger than full-power 2nd form Cell, only Cell's suppressed state.

Even 16 says Vegeta is still stronger. Obviously suppressed Cell (and I am talking about the Perfect form is who I am talking about in case your post was meant for me.

Why'd you think that? SSJ2FutureGohan is clearly quoting Herms and talking about SS Vegeta as compared 2nd form Cell, while you are talking about Perfect Cell as compared to Super Vegeta.

Exactly for the stuff you mentioned: We were both talking about the same characters and stuff that showed how powerful they were in certain situations. You may think it is a big difference because they have different forms but I do not know how much someone who wants to talk with me misunderstands me (and therefore then suddenly talks about different forms).

[Speedster]

c) Oozaru Goku (start of DB) killed grandpa Gohan so he was stronger than him.

I cannot wait where you want to place Sorbet's ring.

The Vegeta vs Recoome fight showed us that a difference in power level of 30% is enough to protect you against sneaky attacks (see Vegeta catching Recoome off-guard and blasting him in the face and Recoome being unharmed). We also know that a sneaky attack catching you off guard can harm you but only if your opponent is of comparable power level (or higher) like when Piccolo Jr blasted Goku in the 23rd TB while Goku was celebrating.

Sorbet’s ring harming Goku is a major plohole. If the attack was actually weak then what happened is a direct contradiction to the original manga.
I would like to think that the ring was charged by golden Freeza’s own energy beforehand as a plan B so the emitted ring beam was as powerful as one of those beams that Freeza shoots from his fingers (like the one he used in order to kill Vegeta on Namek). Or some other way that explains how that ring beam was powerful enough to harm an SSJB Goku (an off-guard that is).

I am hopeful that in Super they will provide a reasonable explanation given that they have already fixed the plothole regarding the Dragonballs and from the rumours we gather for episode 22 they will also attempt to explain the crazy powerup of at least one of Freeza’s henchmen by saying they were sparring partners during Freeza’s training (not that it makes much sense for Shishami or Tagoma to become 10,000x stronger in 4 or 6 months but at least we will have a formal explanation – now we have nothing but headcanons).

[Herms]

Well, I’m almost done. All I have left is the Boo arc. What could possibly go wrong?

The bare-bones list:

Spoiler:

40. Majin Vegeta
41. Fat Boo
42. Evil Boo
43. Ultimate Gohan
44. Gohan-Boo
45. Super Vegetto

So bare-bones, it safely avoids any controversy. But I guess I can’t hide behind that forever. There’s so many well-worn debates in this part of the series, it’s hard to know what to say. There’s no way I’m going to get to the bottom of all these issues and settle things to everyone’s satisfaction.

Let’s go backwards: Super Vegetto is the strongest character in the manga, no two ways about it. So that’s convenient. He’s clearly stronger than Gohan-Boo, who personally states that he’s even further powered up than he was back when he had absorbed Gotenks. Gotenks-Boo beats up Ultimate Gohan, who knocked around Evil Boo. So far, none of this should be controversial. Gotenks is where a lot of trouble starts to come in. In his SS3 form he seems to have Boo on the ropes, but later it’s arguably implied that Boo was just screwing around, waiting for Gohan to show up. And that whole argument’s peanuts compared to trying to work out where Gotenks’ lower forms fit in. After training, Trunks thinks even regular, non-SS Gotenks should be equal to Boo, and Piccolo even seems to think he’s got a shot. Which if true would mean that base Gotenks is, at a bare minimum, way stronger than SS2 Vegeta. If you stick to all the official BP multipliers then it can all really get out of hand.

But we’re not bothering with BP numbers here, so the only rule I’ll try and stick with is that when a character reaches a new Super Saiyan form or whatever, it should raise them at least one tier. Otherwise, the transformation is a bit pointless. So at least one tier, and only more if there’s actual characters to fill those tiers with. In other words, maybe it would be “realistic” to have a dozen or so tiers between Vegetto and Gohan-Boo, but since in the manga Vegetto’s the only character stronger than Gohan-Boo, he’ll only be one tier above him. OK, maybe I’ll leave one empty tier for comedy’s sake, but leaving a huge amount of empty space is obviously pointless as far as a picture is concerned.

Speaking of Gohan-Boo…to cut to the chase, I’m putting him as the strongest form of Boo. Getting into the full argument would probably be a waste of time, but I do think if you go only by the manga, that form being strongest creates the least number of contradictions. I get the impression this is the dominant view among the strength debate crowd, while casual fans more often view Pure Boo/Kid Boo as on top (not least because the anime flat-out calls him strongest multiple times, and lots of fans only watch the anime). I suppose I could do two separate images (maybe later make one based directly on the anime, with filler characters included and Pure Boo as strongest), but for now at least I’m backing Gohan-Boo.

With that out of the way, I’ll also accept Goku’s statement that he and Vegeta are no match for Evil Boo at face-value, and say SS3 Goku is stronger than the original fat Boo, but weaker than Evil Boo (ake Super Boo aka whatever). Naturally then, Ultimate Gohan is stronger than SS3 Goku. SS3 Gotenks arguably has the upper hand the entire time against Evil Boo (assuming Boo isn’t letting him win), but I’ll put them on the same tier overall, if only because of SS3 Gotenks’ stiff time limit, and him being such an idiot who spends a lot of time screwing around.

Alright, so Gotenks’ lower forms then. If SS3 Gotenks is on the same tier as Evil Boo, his SS2 form should be at least one tier below that, his SS1 another tier down, and his base form at least another level down. Of course, we never really see his SS2 form unless you count that one panel where he gets all sparky. Could we just ignore it and count SS3 Gotenks as one tier above SS Gotenks, or would that be too blasphemous?

The big problem with trying to peg the power of Gotenks’ various forms is that he gets hyped up a lot, both by himself and others, yet he doesn’t accomplish a single thing until finally busting out the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack and then SS3. Even the SGKA is tricky since it’s a special attack ala the Makankosappo or Genki-Dama, and so doesn’t necessarily directly correlate to the overall strength of his SS form. So, apart from his SS3 form being (probably) at least on par with Evil Boo, everything else is honestly up for grabs. It all depends on how much of an idiot you think Gotenks/Goku/Piccolo were for thinking Form X of Gotenks could stand up against Form Y of Boo.

Still, Goku did think Gotenks could potentially defeat Boo (his degree of certainty on this seems to vary scene to scene), and he didn’t expect Gotenks to gain the SS3 form. And he wasn’t expecting Boo to power up into Evil Boo. So let’s just assume that SS Gotenks against Evil Boo is at least on par with the original Fat Boo. Meanwhile, Goku eventually declares (after a lot of lying) that with his SS3 form he could have defeated Fat Boo. He then goes on to put up a good fight against Pure Boo, who we can probably safely put a tier above Fat Boo. And I want to keep two tiers upon between SS and SS3 Gotenks so that there’s room for that SS2 form of his that we only kinda-sorta see for one second. So if I take Goku’s statement on faith but on the flipside not put much faith in Gotenks, an idea’s forming in my mind:

41: Fat Boo, SS Gotenks
41.5: SS3 Goku, Pure Boo, SS2 Gotenks
42: Evil Boo, SS3 Gotenks
43: Ultimate Gohan
44: Gohan-Boo, Gotenks-Boo (the former’s stronger than the latter, but same overall tier, I say)
44.5: empty space
45: Super Vegetto

Call me a Goku wanker if you must, but so be it. It’s either this or I just ignore SS2 Gotenks entirely and collapse SS Gotenks and SS3 Goku into the same tier. I guess if you try to completely avoid inconsistencies and incorporate all the statements and multipliers then there’s a case for SS or even base Gotenks being way stronger than SS3 Goku, but to me it always rang hollow. Well anyway, I’m not claiming this is the only correct interpretation, it’s just what I’m going with.

What about Gotenks’ SS form from before training in the RoSaT, or his base form at any state, for that matter? Under my “Gotenks is dumb and everyone was foolish to trust in him” policy, they could probably be just about anywhere. Daizenshuu 7 somewhat infamously claims that Gotenks doesn’t surpass Vegeta until training in the RoSaT. I don’t necessarily have to go that far though. But let’s see…the original Fat Boo splits up into the skinny Pure Evil Boo (who, naturally, is completely different than Pure Boo or Evil Boo) and another fat Boo who looks exactly the same as the first but who the narrator explicitly identifies as weaker, due to the fact that the skinny Boo took the majority of his power during the split. This weaker fat Boo (“Mister Boo” from here on out) gets easily defeated by skinny Boo, so it seems logical that he should be at least a tier below the skinny Boo. And if the skinny one has only got “the majority” of the original Fat Boo’s power, then it seems he should likewise be at least a tier below original Fat Boo, putting Mister Boo at least two tiers below. So how do Mister Boo and Vegeta compare? Well, they both fight Pure Boo, and both get their asses handed to them. Vegeta seems to do more damage, but Mister Boo holds out longer. So, ugh, I guess just put them in the same tier, maybe? If only because of Boo’s regeneration.

It seems straightforward that SS2 Goku and Majin Vegeta are equals, and both are said to be superior to Cell Games SS2 Gohan. But are they a tier higher, or another case or “a bit stronger, but in the same overall tier”? I tend to think of them as not much stronger (since they’re only ever said to be “stronger” and not “way stronger”), but let’s see…Vegeta falls under Babidi’s spell because he knows otherwise he can’t beat Goku. And he does this after realizing Goku has also broken through the “Super Saiyan wall” (presumably meaning that he reached SS2). There’s some mixed evidence in the guidebooks, but Daizenshuu 7 does say Vegeta reached SS2 on his own during his seven years of training. This seems consistent with his confidence in the early Boo arc that he’s now surpassed Gohan (if he’s not just full of shit). Which should mean there’s a “regular” SS2 Vegeta a tier below Majin Vegeta…which may or may not be the strength he’s at when he faces Pure Boo.

If Vegeta’s confidence towards Gohan isn’t baseless, then this regular SS2 form of his would then surpass SS2 Gohan…in the Boo arc at least, if not the Cell Games (but maybe both). For that matter, Gohan is of course supposed to be weaker in the Boo arc, but even after Goku sees his weakened SS2 form at the tournament, he still later tells Gohan that if he gets angry then nobody in the world can beat him. Even Vegeta says there’s “no telling” what might happen if Gohan got angry again. And at the Cell Games, SS2 Gohan overwhelmed Cell, then got injured by new-and-improved Cell, but still won in the end after getting even angrier and “making his power explode” and all that jazz. So maybe we could split the difference here: regular SS2 Vegeta could be a bit stronger than regular SS2 Cell Games Gohan, and Majin Vegeta could be a bit stronger than even angrier Cell Games Gohan.

The advantage to this perhaps cumbersome setup: at the tournament, Vegeta sees SS2 Gohan and says Gohan was “way, way” stronger when he killed Cell. Which sounds like Boo arc SS2 Gohan ought to be a tier lower than his Cell Games self, which at this point would result in three separate tiers for SS2 (Boo arc SS2 Gohan < Cell Games SS2 Gohan, SS2 Vegeta < Majin Vegeta, SS2 Goku)…which seems annoying, and might make things even more tricky when it comes to Dabra.

OK, Dabra: originally Goku dubs him “about as strong” as Cell, then later changes his mind and says Dabra’s “way stronger than I thought”. Fighting against Gohan, he seems to have the upper hand, but it’s not conclusive (Goku describes the situation by saying Gohan “isn’t completely losing”). He cuts the fight off himself, but then later confidently declares that there’s “no doubt” he can take Gohan down. Gets beaten by Fat Boo much easier than Majin Vegeta does…and probably easier than Gohan, for that matter. What form is Gohan in when they fight? Ugh…well, in the manga there’s no sparks, as is often said. I guess the anime more inconclusive. Guidebook evidence is also inconclusive.

How about this: when doing the Cell Games, I put SS Goku and Gohan on the same tier. But, how about I change that, so that SS Gohan is the same tier as full power Perfect Cell? Gohan refuses to fight, but could have given a good fight against full power Cell if he had tried, even without going SS2. Let’s run with that idea. Then, Boo arc SS Gohan is weaker than his Cell Games SS self, but not by a lot. The big difference only comes into play in his SS2 form, as outlined above. Under this setup, Perfect Cell, SS Gohan, and Dabra are all in the same tier. This glosses over Goku’s statement about Dabra being “way” stronger than he thought, but whatever. I can’t tack on an extra tier every time somebody says “way”. Still, if we really wanted to, we could stretch and put Dabra a tier above SS Gohan. That way he would indeed be “way” stronger than Perfect Cell, and could theoretically put up an even fight against SS2 Gohan…whether or not you believe he ever actually did.

So then:

39: Perfect Cell (full power), SS Gohan (Cell Games/Boo arc), Dabra
39.5: SS2 Vegeta, SS2 Gohan (Boo arc),
40: Majin Vegeta, SS2 Goku, SS2 Gohan (Cell Games), Mister Boo
40.5: Pure Evil Boo (you know, the skinny one)
41: Fat Boo, SS Gotenks
41.5: SS3 Goku, Pure Boo, SS2 Gotenks
42: Evil Boo, SS3 Gotenks
43: Ultimate Gohan
44: Gohan-Boo, Gotenks-Boo (the former’s stronger than the latter, but same overall tier, I say)
44.5: empty space
45: Super Vegetto

That should just about cover it for the top Boo arc characters. Now I just need to go through everyone else…

[Everyone Else]

Android 18: I still think she’s at 34, like in the Android/Cell arc. The question here is how she stacks up against Goten+Trunks. They fight a long time, but she’s under the assumption the two are an ordinary Earthling, and she wins almost immediately once she discovers their identities. But she wins by exposing the fact that they violated the rules, and she describes Trunks’ energy blast as incredibly fast and powerful… even though Goten told Trunks beforehand to not use his full power. So overall I think she’s weaker than the SS boys, but this is another case where I see it both ways.

Goten: not vastly inferior to Gohan, or so it would appear (naturally, this can’t be true if he actually is weaker than 18, unless 18’s gotten a lot stronger, or Gohan has gotten even weaker than we thought). Daizenshuu 2 even infamously states that the two are equal, but I think I’m going to ignore that. I’ll just put SS Goten at 38 (on par with Cell Games Goku). That’s still crazy strong.

Kaioshin: controversial. Puts the fear of God into Piccolo, but ultimately accomplishes nothing in a fight beyond getting knocked around by Boo. Does manage to paralyze SS2 Gohan with his psychic powers, at least. Says he could have defeated Freeza in a single blow, though he’s also massively wrong about at least half the things he says. Thinks it’s best for everyone to fight together against Pui-Pui and looks nervous when Yakon shows up, but despite what many say, frankly Dabra and Boo are the only two of Babidi’s crew that seem to truly scare him. Apparently has some ki-sensing ability, but seems completely unable to adequately judge anyone’s strength (which probably contributes to his paranoia around Babidi’s fighters, if he has no way of gauging their strength ahead of time). Amazed when base Vegeta easily defeats Pui-Pui…but arguably he’s only amazed that base Vegeta could do this so easily (he already knows about Super Saiyans, after all, so seeing that they’re so strong even without relying on their big power-up might make him uneasy even if he could’ve beat Pui-Pui just as easily). Admits that Goku/Gohan/Vegeta have surpassed him, and makes a big deal about how mere non-gods like them could surpass a Kaioshin like him.

Frankly, you could put him below 1st-form Freeza and justify it, since we barely see him fight anyone and just have statements and implications to go off of to determine his strength. And I’ve ignored statements and implications before (see: Gotenks). Daizenshuu 7 says he’s way stronger than Piccolo, but if you’re not inclined to take a guidebook’s word for it, it’s up in the air. Still, story-wise, Kaioshin is a character who’s (supposedly) way stronger than Freeza, and is terrified of Dabra, a villain said to be on pair with Cell. In other words, he represents the Cell arc as a whole, or rather that level of strength, a level that’s godly in comparison to that of the Freeza arc but which has now been left far behind in the Boo arc. Thinking about it even more philosophically, Kaioshin represents that main cast at the Cell Games (vastly stronger than Freeza but still beneath Cell), while Dabra stands in for Cell himself.

If you think about it this way, the Piccolo thing just about falls into place too. Last we saw, Piccolo seemed to be about on par with Cell Games Trunks and Vegeta. Maybe a bit behind, but not by much. For Kaioshin to be far stronger than him, but still weaker than Dabra/Cell, that should line him up with Cell Games Goku (38). Using the Potara to merge with Kibito would then probably just bump him up to 39 or 39.5 (Boo arc SS or SS2 Gohan), still below SS2 Goku or Majin Vegeta. Under this setup, he’s just being overcautious/paranoid with Pui-Pui and Yakon. I guess I’m just a Kaioshin wanker…in fact, this is probably as strong as anyone could possibly argue for Kaioshin being. But whatever. I understand if you disagree.

Kibito: Gohan thinks he might have trouble beating him in his regular, non-SS form. Presumably weaker than Kaioshin, although that’s never really specified anywhere. Other than that, it’s a complete crapshoot; even Gohan’s nervousness isn’t necessarily that meaningful. I probably shouldn’t even bother with him, especially since I’m not handling the Boo arc base Saiyans, making the Gohan clue useless. Still…um…well…31 (Cold, 50% Freeza). Kaioshin might be way up above Freeza, but I’m going to respect the evil emperor a little and not extend the same privilege to Kaioshin’s lackey.

Mister Satan: still at 3, I’ll say.

Piccolo: well, I’ve already dumped him below Kaioshin, what further indignities do I have in store for the poor guy? Last time I had him at 37 (one tier below Cell Games Trunks/Vegeta), so I guess I can bump him up to 37.5. Congratulations, you’re officially on par with a Cell Junior. And somehow I have the gall to consider myself a Piccolo fan.

Pui-Pui: yet another crapshoot. I’ve already declared my belief that Kaioshin saying they should fight together is just over caution/paranoia on his part (probably enhanced by his inability to judge ahead of time how strong anyone is). Meanwhile Babidi and Dabra were pretty positive Pui-Pui could finish the whole group, but this is hard to rationalize from any perspective (they think Goku/Gohan/Vegeta’s energy will be enough to revive Boo, so…shouldn’t this make Pui-Pui at least as strong as they think Boo will be?). Brags about coming from a planet with gravity ten times that of Earth, and thinks this will give him the edge against Vegeta. This doesn’t make that much sense either. Looks a bit like 3rd-form Freeza. Therefore: 29 (on par with 3rd form Freeza). It’s possible that I’m running out of steam at this point.

Spopovitch: flies easily and can even fire ki blasts, though Videl’s attacks are still enough to damage him (but, thanks to his weird magic nature, he can survive even having his neck broken). Maybe he let himself be damage though? The flight/ki blasts are the sort of thing that doesn’t become standard until the Saiyan arc, but I think it’s not a good way to gauge his overall strength. After all, even Videl can fly, while Goten couldn’t at first. And it goes extra if we stick with the idea that Spopovitch has access to abilities far beyond his ordinary level thanks to Babidi’s magic. I have to assume, by the way, that Yama and Spopovitch get more mileage out of their “Majin” power-ups than Vegeta does, simply because Vegeta was already well-versed in using ki, whereas the two never used those skills before being taken over. Anyway…leaning heavily on the “Videl breaks his neck” evidence…well, I was going to say 6, but there are already a ton of those, so how about 5.5 (Namu)? This is another total crapshoot, really.

Tenkaichi Budokai participants: Videl was worried there wouldn’t be any real competition for her. Jewel gave Satan a tough fight in the finals of the last tournament, so he should be a 3 as well. There might be some others on the same tier as Satan, but the rest should be 2 or 2.5 (same as various other random “strong, but not too strong” Earthlings throughout the series).

Trunks: a bit stronger than Goten, but same tier, so 38. This also means the two of them are the same as Kaioshin. I guess that sounds OK.

Videl: stronger than Satan (3) even before she learns to fly. So 4 by the end (on par with start-of-series Goku). I guess.

Yakon: so much stronger than Pui-Pui that Dabra is shocked Babidi wants to send him out already, even though he just saw Vegeta effortlessly destroy Pui-Pui. A tough fight for base Goku on his own, but two Saiyans could handle him even without going Super Saiyan (or so Gohan claims). But I’ve been ignoring the base Saiyans. Kiri: 800…whatever the hell that means. We do have that official-ish Kiri=BP conversion from that V-Jump issue or whatever it was, based on the assumption that 3,000 Kiri=150,000,000 BP (which in turn is based on the idea that Boo arc SS Goku’s BP is exactly the same as in the Namek arc). So, under this setup Yakon’s BP is 40 million. Whatever. OK, so it occurs to me that so far I haven’t stuck any other characters in tier 32 (100% full power Freeza). Could this make a good home for Yakon? If we buy into BoG’s “base Goku is still weaker than Freeza” idea, then this more or less fits Gohan’s statement. This also means I’ve lined up Pui-Pui and Yakon with two different Freeza forms.

Yamu: I’ll put him at 5.5 with Spopovitch. Thinking about it more, Goku and co.s reactions to Spopovitch are more “this guy is surprisingly good” rather than “how can there possibly be anyone like this on Earth?” ala Kaioshin and Kibito, so if nothing else I think putting the pair at sub-Z level is appropriate.

[In Conclusion

Sad and pathetic though it may be, here’s what I ended up with for the Boo arc:

Spoiler:

2~3: 25th TB participants
4: Videl
5.5: Yamu, Spopovitch
29: Pui-Pui
31: Kibito
32: Yakon
37.5: Piccolo (Boo arc)
38: SS Goten, SS Trunks (Boo arc), Kaioshin
39: Perfect Cell (full power), SS Gohan (Cell Games/Boo arc), Dabra
39.5: SS2 Vegeta, SS2 Gohan (Boo arc), Kibito-shin
40: Majin Vegeta, SS2 Goku, SS2 Gohan (Cell Games), Mister Boo
40.5: Pure Evil Boo (you know, the skinny one)
41: Fat Boo, SS Gotenks
41.5: SS3 Goku, Pure Boo, SS2 Gotenks
42: Evil Boo, SS3 Gotenks
43: Ultimate Gohan
44: Gohan-Boo, Gotenks-Boo
44.5: empty space
45: Super Vegetto

Now with that out of the way, I can finally combine everything together. And you can forget about all the tier numbers I’ve been using so far, because I’m finally renumbering everything from scratch:

Here we go:

Spoiler:

1: Bulma, Sea Turtle, Oolong, Puer, "nice" Lunch, Pilaf, Gohan (first appearance)
2: Rabbit Gang thugs, Shu, Mai, Upa, White, Farmer with Shotgun
3: Kuririn (Training Arc), Ran-Fan, "mean" Lunch, Bear Bandit, Pteranodon, Black, Yellow, various random TB contestants (give or take a tier)
4: Yamcha (DB Hunt), Chi-Chi (DB Hunt), Bruce Lee-lookalike, Dracula Man, Silver, Man-Wolf, Piano, Dende, Mister Satan
5: Goku (DB Hunt), Yamcha (21st TB/RR), Bacterian, Oorin Temple's #1, Invisible Man, Murasaki, Dende (potential unlocked), Videl
6: Giran
7. Kuririn (21st TB/RR), Pan-Poot, Skeleton Robot
8: Namu, Blue, Gyumao, Bora, Pilaf Robot, Metallic, King Castle Guard (trust me), Yamu, Spopovitch
9: Jackie Chun (21st TB), Goku (21st TB), Kame-sennin (DB Hunt), Chiaotzu (22nd TB), Chapa (22nd TB), the Mummy, Battle Jacket, Buyon, Cymbal
10: Kuririn (22nd TB), Yamcha (22nd TB), Tsuru-sennin, Devil Man, Yajirobe, Chapa (23rd TB)
11: Grandpa Gohan, Tao Pai Pai, Oozaru Goku (DB Hunt), Android No.8, Chi-Chi (23rd TB)
12: Goku (post-Karin), Jackie Chun (22nd TB), Tambourine, Chiaotzu (23rd TB), Yajirobe (23rd TB)
13: Goku (22nd TB/Piccolo arc), Tenshinhan (22nd TB), Karin
14: Drum, Mutaito, Cyborg Tao Pai Pai
15: old Piccolo Daimao, Kuririn (23rd TB), Yamcha (23rd TB)
16: Goku (post-Super God Water), young Piccolo Daimao, Oozaru Goku (21st TB)
17: Mister Popo, Tenshinhan (23rd TB)
18: God of Earth, Shen
19: Goku (23rd TB/vs. Raditz), Piccolo (23rd TB/vs. Raditz)
20: Gohan (Saiyan arc, sitting in spaceship), Gohan (vs. Saibaimen), Freeza's reconnaissance team
21: Raditz, Saibaimen, Gohan (vs. Raditz, angry), Chiaotzu (Saiyan arc), Yajirobe (Saiyan arc), Appule
22: Kuririn (Saiyan/Namek arc), Tenshinhan (Saiyan arc), Yamcha (Saiyan arc), Enma Daio, Gohan (Namek arc)
23: Gohan (Saiyan arc Masenko), Piccolo (Saiyan arc), Kaio, Namekian trio
24: Nappa, Oozaru Gohan (vs. Piccolo)
25: Goku (Saiyan arc)
26: Gohan (vs. Gurd), Kuririn (vs. Gurd), Gurd (vs. Gohan and Kuririn)
27: KKx2 Goku (Saiyan arc), Oozaru Gohan (vs. Vegeta)
28: Vegeta (Saiyan arc), Kewi
29: Dodoria, Zarbon
30: Vegeta (vs. Kewi/Dodoria/Zarbon), KKx3 Goku (Saiyan arc), Goku-Ginyu
31: Vegeta (vs. Zarbon Round II/Recoom), Zarbon (transformed), KKx4 Goku (Saiyan arc), Gohan (vs. Goku-Ginyu), Kuririn (vs. Goku-Ginyu)
32: Recoom, Jheese, Burta, Nail
33: Goku (Namek arc), Vegeta (vs. Jheese), Kuririn (vs. Freeza)
34: Ginyu, Oozaru Vegeta
35: KK Goku (Namek arc), Yamcha (Android/Cell/Boo arc)
36: Vegeta (vs. 1st~2nd form Freeza), Kuririn (Android/Cell/Boo arc), Tenshinhan (Android/Cell/Boo arc)
37: First-Form Freeza, Gohan (vs. 2nd-form Freeza)
38: Second-Form Freeza, Piccolo (Freeza arc), Gohan (vs. 3rd-form Freeza)
39: Third-Form Freeza, Vegeta (vs. 4th-form Freeza), Pui-Pui
40: Goku (vs. Freeza), Gohan (Android arc)
41: Fourth-Form Freeza, KKx10 Goku
42: Freeza 50% Full Power, Cold, Kibito
43: Freeza 100% Full Power, Yakon
44: SS Goku (vs. Freeza), Mecha Freeza, No.19, No.20, sick!SS Goku (after getting energy drained)
45: SS Trunks (Trunks/Android arc), SS Goku ("Trunks arc"), sick!SS Goku, No.19 (+Goku's energy), No.20 (+Piccolo's energy), Piccolo (Android arc)
46: SS Vegeta (Android arc), healthy!SS Goku (if he ever showed up)
47: Cell (initial appearance)
48: No.17, “Super Namekian” Piccolo, No.18
49: No.16, First-Form Cell (powered up)
50: Second-Form Cell
51: SS Grade III Trunks (aka "the slow one"), regular SS Vegeta (post-RoSaT)
52: Super Vegeta (SS Grade II), Trunks (likewise), Piccolo (Cell Games)
53: Vegeta (Cell Games), Trunks (Cell Games), Cell Juniors, Piccolo (Boo arc)
54: SS Goku (Cell Games), Perfect Cell (vs. Goku), SS Goten, SS Trunks (Boo arc), Kaioshin
55: Perfect Cell (full power), SS Gohan (Cell Games/Boo arc), Dabra
56: SS2 Vegeta, SS2 Gohan (Boo arc), Kibito-shin
57: Majin Vegeta, SS2 Goku, SS2 Gohan (Cell Games), Super Perfect Cell, Mister Boo
58: Pure Evil Boo (you know, the skinny one)
59: Fat Boo, SS Gotenks
60: SS3 Goku, Pure Boo, SS2 Gotenks
61: Evil Boo, SS3 Gotenks
62: Ultimate Gohan
63: Gohan-Boo, Gotenks-Boo
64: empty space
65: Super Vegetto

[Hugo Boss]

I really apreciate all this stuff. It reminds a older project I participated along with a Portuguese Dragon Ball forum. They even went as far as to create rankbars. How I miss those days..

I would like to see if you can include Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super as well.

[Speedster]

Excellent work - I disagree on a quite a few points especially in the Boo arc but not with the amount of tiers in general. The interesting thing is that we have 65 well distinct tiers. And that is the absolute minimum number of tiers. There would probably be more than 100 tiers if they were not meant to be about significant differences. Anyway even those 65 tiers are enough to show the power scaling in Dragonball.

Even if we very conservatively say that each tier is only 4x stronger than the previous one (it is probably much more as we are talking about actual strength and not about arbitrary power levels) then you have SSJ Vegetto being 4^60=1.3x10^36 times stronger than Goku at the start of Dragonball.

Goku back then could lift a car of mass 1.5tonnes and throw it a distance of 3-5 metres. Even if we lowball Goku’s strength down to 1 tonne (by the way my calculations with the boulder show that back then he could lift at least 12 tonnes but anyway let’s ultra-lowball) it means that SSJ Vegetto can lift at the very least one undecillion tonnes! And SSJG Goku is stronger than that. Hear this … Superman?