Have side characters been rendered useless? (F Spoilers)

[TJVY]

I could accept that Mr. Buu was sleeping, I could accept that 18 wasn't fighting with the others since Krillin thought that Freeza could be taken care of easily, I could accept that Goten and Trunks were left out of the battle because they're irrational and I could accept that Gohan lost his mystic state due to a lack of training. But I cannot accept that Piccolo has gone from being far above a regular SSJ to having trouble with someone who's on the same level as Zarbon and Dodoria.

You can't give these characters screentime expecting it to please fans if it won't respect those same characters. It seems at this point as though the only characters that have a future is Goku, Vegeta, Beerus and Whis. How do you feel about the way these characters are being treated, specifically in relation to their power level deflation?

[Kamiccolo9]

Piccolo's as interesting as a side character as he is as a fighter, so no problem there. At this point, as far as I'm concerned, the more power level contradictions appear that ruin preconceived notions by fans, the better, so I'm not too concerned about his status in the new movie. Plus, he apparently has a cool moment where he uses his powers as a defibrillator, and that's really cool.

Vegeta's a more interesting character when he loses, so no problems there. The instant he gets what he wants, he becomes an annoying dick, so keeping him firmly in second or third place after Goku is the best thing for him.

I'm very biased against Goten and Trunks, so no comment there.

I love Mr. Buu's explanation for not being in the movie, because it is classic Buu. The only thing I wish is that there would have been a scene of a couple of Freeza's men finding him and having to quietly tiptoe away out of fear of waking him up because Freeza told them to stay away from Buu.

I like Krillin's policeman deal, and apparently he has a nice scene with 18, so good for him.

[SSJ God Gogeta]

I still question why these characters are still around... Poor bastards... Nothing more than cannon fodder.

What I would give to have Piccolo and Yamcha kick some ass again... Sigh

[dbzfan7]

Poorly. They have no reason to really exist no more. Since Dragon Ball refuses to give them any development in or out of fighting purpose, they have nothing. They can't be developed doing ordinary things, and they can't be developed as fighters. You'd think Gohan after nearly dying to Freeza would now realize he almost left his wife and child fatherless/husbandless, because he hasn't attempted to get stronger to protect them. But nope, he won't learn because he's not allowed to be a relevant character. So he'll forever be a dipshit from now on. Goku wasn't around and look what almost happened.

Goten and Trunks have pretty much been ignored, but I guess cause they're not prodigies they aren't allowed to be relevant....oh wait.

Piccolo fighting Shisami would have been great for him and would have been amazing to see him overcome....except he's one of Freeza's men...who shouldn't be anything special since the entire legion was considered weak. Shisami being this good means they wouldn't have needed Freeza at all for their goals. Also Gohan dispatches him easily....so he kinda takes away from Piccolo unfortunately. Though if Piccolo was knocked out like in that trailer...then he probably had no choice but step in.

Going on to non fighting roles, we don't get much beyond tidbits. Krillin could by the next movie be a school teacher and it wouldn't really be a big deal. Doesn't seem like we get much on him being a cop. I still have no idea what the hell Gohan wants to be. He's a scholar...but majoring in what? What career does he want? What subject does he like? I don't know cause they have yet to even go beyond "He's a scholar...that's it". I like Piccolo hanging around and being with Pan, and I hope more comes out of that. Maybe he interests her into fighting, and that's why Pan is a fighter at the end of Z.

[AM Reflection]

Eh. The treatment of the half-Saiyans is more upsetting to me. They've just been totally downplayed, downgraded or ignored.

Everyone else is pretty much useless in any serious battle, but that's consistent with where they were shown to be at the end of the series. I'll have to see the Piccolo scene for myself because I can't imagine that Shisami was literally said to be equal to Zarbon or Dodoria in terms of power level. Even so, it didn't say that was Piccolo was losing. Just that the guy wasn't a total pushover like the other soldiers.

[MajinMan]

I don't get why people want Yamcha to kick ass, he's never kicked ass. I will agree that the half saiyans becoming useless is pretty weird because it was established that they had unimaginable powers. Piccolo basically became a baby sitter starting from the Buu arc so that's his new role.

[TJVY]

I don't get why people want Yamcha to kick ass, he's never kicked ass. I will agree that the half saiyans becoming useless is pretty weird because it was established that they had unimaginable powers. Piccolo basically became a baby sitter starting from the Buu arc so that's his new role.

I don't think that many people care about Yamcha, he's pretty irrelevant at this point and he always has been. Yes, Piccolo has become a baby sitter but the implication this movie has baffled me, he should be one shotting someone as weak as Zarbon by the level he's at. I originally would have even said that he's as strong as SSJ Gohan, but now - no...

[Lord Beerus]

The treatment of the supporting cast has left a lot to be desired. People like Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Chi Chi and #18 have contributed nothing to the plot in God knows how many years. And Lunch and #17 seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. Goten, Trunks and Mr Buu, I'm kinda neutral about. I wouldn't mind if they played a significant role in the plot becasue they can be entertaining on occasions but they can be so annoying at times as well, that I wish they would just disappear. Resurrection F was step in the right direction by giving guys like Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Tien and even Roshi some importance in the plot. Hopefully in the next movie #18, #17 and Yamcha will join in too. And if Goten, Trunks and Mr Buu join in too, then, whatever.

[sintzu]

The last time Piccolo trained that we know of was before the Cell games which was 12 years before the events of FNF so it's not surprising that he's out of shape.

However I have to agree that he and Gohan at this point deserve better so hopefully the next movie will have them as the main focus of the story.

[sbk]

You can't give these characters screentime expecting it to please fans if it won't respect those same characters. It seems at this point as though the only characters that have a future is Goku, Vegeta, Beerus and Whis. How do you feel about the way these characters are being treated, specifically in relation to their power level deflation?

This!! I'd rather not have them appear at all, they're just going to be useless cannon fodder that contribute nothing

[SonEric84]

It's a bit sad to hear that #18 didn't get to do much of anything in the new movie. I was hoping she'd had a chance to do some fighting for once. Maybe someday they'll do a movie that's made up of just the side characters doing something useful, but I won't hold my breath for such a day.

[LordCrumb]

Damn, could have done with a spoiler warning in the main thread title.

[Mac]

They've been useless for years, they shouldn't even bother appearing anymore because they're made complete jokes in front of the glorious Goku and Vegeta.

[The Tori-bot]

Replace "side characters" with "everyone not named Goku or Vegeta" in the thread title and you have a more accurate summation. I've never known a series with such a rich, diverse and colourful cast of characters to marginalise them so badly.

[TJVY]

I've never known a series with such a rich, diverse and colourful cast of characters to marginalise them so badly.

Too true, these are some great characters that are all so different from each other it's a shame to see them so unexplored since the end of DBZ.

[Lord Beerus]

I've never known a series with such a rich, diverse and colourful cast of characters to marginalise them so badly.

Naruto. It's such much worse to be a supporting character in that manga. But Dragon Ball is also quite bad, there is no going around it.

[dbzfan7]

I've never known a series with such a rich, diverse and colourful cast of characters to marginalise them so badly.

Naruto. It's such much worse to be a supporting character in that manga. But Dragon Ball is also quite bad, there is no going around it.

Also Sonic...cause not only do people not named Sonic suck now, but villains also suck because then Sonic wouldn't look good.

[Mystic Tien]

I've never known a series with such a rich, diverse and colourful cast of characters to marginalise them so badly.

Naruto. It's such much worse to be a supporting character in that manga. But Dragon Ball is also quite bad, there is no going around it.

Also Sonic...cause not only do people not named Sonic suck now, but villains also suck because then Sonic wouldn't look good.

Man, don't even start with it What Sonic turned into now is just outright awful and disgusting. It is quite ironic though, because some of the major concepts from Sonic were inspired by DBZ.

[buutenks]

The so called side characters never had screen time even in the manga ^^Tien,krillin yamcha started being less powerful by the freeza saga.Only good role they have is getting the body of vegeta/goku/etc away or keeping the senzu beans and passing them to those that need it.

As for piccolo,i think he hit his limit in the cell games saga.

Piccolo's as interesting as a side character as he is as a fighter, so no problem there. At this point, as far as I'm concerned, the more power level contradictions appear that ruin preconceived notions by fans, the better, so I'm not too concerned about his status in the new movie. Plus, he apparently has a cool moment where he uses his powers as a defibrillator, and that's really cool.

Ah but you see,if and only if sisame is on the level of zarbon then he should pose no threat to piccolo nor be able to harm him ^^

Also its not preconceived notions of fans,its stuff that toriyama showed in his manga.

We know that piccolo>semi perfect cell>imprefect cell>freeza saga freeza>captain ginyu>reccome>zarbon.There is no preconceived fan power level.We know by fact of the manga that piccolo is far above sisame(or w/e his name is) if the is on the level of zarbon is true and thats only if,understand?That is what is mostly bothering people,including me.

If he is not and is truely on piccolo's level,then we have poor writing for not explaining and giving a good explanation why that is.

People only ask for consistency,nothing more,nothing less.

[dbzfan7]

Also Sonic...cause not only do people not named Sonic suck now, but villains also suck because then Sonic wouldn't look good.

Man, don't even start with it What Sonic turned into now is just outright awful and disgusting. It is quite ironic though, because some of the major concepts from Sonic were inspired by DBZ.

Suddenly Dragon Ball side characters don't seem so badly treated once anyone see's how the Sonic ones are handled.