What characters do you think are underutilized?

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What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by DBFanTalk » Tue Jan 21, 2020 2:49 pm

Dragon Ball has introduced many characters with storytelling potential, and possibilities worth exploring. These characters however, aren't being used at their maximum capacity, and thus warrant a moment of redemption. Let's speculate.

I argue Supreme Kai. Shin has direct access to the entire universe, including the deities/beings below him, e.g. King Kai and Magic Users. Is it really beyond his ability to learn a Sealing technique as a precaution against Majin Buu, or any other villain that justifies his intervention?

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Matches Malone » Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:00 pm

I would've liked to see more done with the other galaxies in the 7th universe. North galaxy gave us King Piccolo, Freeza, and Buu so I'd like to see other characters from the West, East, and South galaxies. I feel like there was more that could've been explored instead of jumping the gun and introducing 11 other universes.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Lord Beerus » Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:29 pm

Characters in Dragon Ball are used the fullest of their extent without feeling as though they're being in the plot in an inorganic fashion. I mean, yeah, I wish guys like Krillin, Tenshihan and Yamcha could have been use more than just glorified props after the Freeza arc, but the circumstances of the narrative made it natural for them to fade in the background. It was the same deal with Roshi. Toriyama realised he couldn't find a way to effortlessly weave into the the plot after the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and made it clear he was going to effectively retire the character.

This is why when there are scenarios where the Earthlings team up for token scrap fights against random generic evil mooks I get nothing out of it because it doesn't do anything to enrich the characters in any sense and is usually a narrative scenario that only exists to stall the plot. It's just fan-service for the sake of it. If characters aren't going do anything to movie the plot forward or further develop their characters, then don't include them.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips » Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:02 pm

Lord Beerus wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:29 pm This is why when there are scenarios where the Earthlings team up for token scrap fights against random generic evil mooks I get nothing out of it because it doesn't do anything to enrich the characters in any sense and is usually a narrative scenario that only exists to stall the plot. It's just fan-service for the sake of it. If characters aren't going do anything to movie the plot forward or further develop their characters, then don't include them.
Yeah, the sad reality of it is that DB has long established that the non-saiyan characters are completely useless and with the exception of 17/18 it doesn't make sense for them to be in combat. They really should have just been allowed to retire from martial arts when it became obvious the gulf between them and the villains got to be insurmountable.

Honestly that's a fine story in of itself. The journeymen who pushed themselves as far as they could but never managed to reach they heights they'd dreamed of. I think there's more dramatic potential in seeing how the fighters cope with that than there is in constantly throwing mooks at them. Look at the history of real life boxing coach Freddie Roach. He was an above average boxer (40 wins. 13 losses) who never tasted gold and had to leave the sport he loved because of health complications. But that's where his real story starts. Roach takes all that frustration, all his defeats, and channels them into a new generation of boxers training some of the biggest names of the last 30 years. Now there's a story!

So while I'm enough of a mark that'll pop whenever Yamcha or Tenshinhan or Chiaotzu get a chance to look cool, I do wish they'd get an exit like Roshi did back during the 22nd WMAT
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Alruneia » Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:13 pm

Supreme Kai is a good choice. It's a shame, too, looking back at how he was first introduced in the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament and then seeing how he ended up.
As far as Super goes, I have to nominate Goten and Trunks. They're not allowed to participate in anything, since they're "inexperienced"... even though that inexperience can set them apart from the other fighters and make them interesting. Instead they've just been put into a loop of "no work without experience, no experience without work". (No wonder they're not really interested in fighting by the time EoZ happens.) I hope Toriyama/Toyotaro realises this at some point, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:16 pm

Definitely Supreme Kai. He has a great design and an intersting backstory in my opinion, sadly nowadays he is just relegated to serving as a narrator who helps the audience understand what the fuck is going on on the screen.

The Kais in general are somewhat of a let-down, because they are supposed to be deities, they are meant to be the ultimate authority in their universes, who answer only to Zeno... and yet they hardly do nothing at all. The only exception was Zamasu, and... well, we all know what happened to him.

Hopefully Shin can do something against Moro? I'm not really following the manga that much, but doesn't Moro eat planet and shit? I think it'd be cool to see Shin fight against him, since his duty is to nurture life across worlds.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Dbzfan94 » Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:52 pm

Goten. And Trunks. Namely Goten.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Grimlock » Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:03 pm

• Uub
• Goten
• All gods and angels.
• King Vegeta.
• Gine.
• Raditz.
• Tarble.
• Majin Buu.
• Piccolo.

Dishonorable mentions: Characters who aren't even utilized at all.

• Makaios and Makaioshins.
• Zarama.

So much can be done here... :(
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Lionel » Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:27 pm

I think I've laid out my sentiments regarding the humans and Piccolo for some time now. The duopoly we have right now seems to be born out of a desire for ease of narrational use and convenient marketing usability. If the fundamental reason for this "leaving of the stage" device by almost all of the original cast had to do with an organic and fluid progression of stakes without any compromise or u-turning then this pseudo-doctrinal build-up and handing of the reigns to next generation figureheads like Gohan wouldn't have been abandoned for a hasty retreat back into the familiar yet, in my opinion, stale trappings of Goku who now happens to be saddled with a indefinite deuteragonist who has yet to follow tradition in being phased out for a succeeding rival.

Besides those characters, Uub seems to be more of an afterthought than a remarkable prospect of a character. We know he's intended to be taken under Goku's wing as a worthy challengeable fighter but it's yet to go anywhere and the one effort to bring him to the fore was handled in a lacklustre way.

Some other names to mention would include Shin, the Namekians with their fabled magical abilities, most of the Hakaishin, and others. I wouldn't mind having more development allocated to them.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by sunsetshimmer » Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:13 pm

Uub. Obviously nothing except for GT could do anything more with him, but if we look at his character, we see him 5 years after Z training with Goku, being older and more experienced. That was a good start. Then we move to universe traveling so we don't see him and he's back to fight Baby Vegeta, getting cool fusion accompanied with one of the most touchy farewells in DB. But after that? He does nothing. He gets stomped by Super 17 like nothing already being completely outmatched by base Vegeta and Goku in a year. He doesn't even help against Omega as he ran away when everyone else returned to aid Vegeta and avenge Goku, but somehow he didn't care about his teacher until he saw genki dama. They obviously had no idea what to do with his character after Baby saga.

I also think characters like Pikkon and Ledgic were just too interesting to be completely ignored later. Especially Ledgic who was meant to had a second round with Goku in a future and could've actually helped against shadow dragons.

I also believe Raditz was VERY underutilized character. For someone who reveals such a major plot point and someone who is a brother of main character, he was completely erased from people's minds.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by ABED » Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:56 pm

I don't think Raditz was erased from fans' minds. He left a HUGE impression.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Koitsukai » Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:11 pm

Chaozu's abilities could've been an interesting addition to the cast, if he would've evolved in that regard. I guess the power level was getting far too great for his skills to work on the new foes, but if 20 years later Roshi could dodge Jiren, then they could've fitted Chaozu somewhere down the line.

Yamcha, Tenshinhan, well most of the guys, they all relied on strenght (Tenshihan on technique too) while Chaozu did not, so when they all became obsolete, he could've lasted a little longer in Usefulville with his unique skillset. So, maybe not Chaozu himself but what he brought to the table is what I find underutilized.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by MajinMan » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:41 am

If we’re talking the current state of Dragon Ball, it is most definitely Goten and Trunks. They do literally nothing in any of the new story arcs. Even someone like Gohan, who I wish was used more, has roles in some of the arcs. Goten and Trunks get nothing.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by DestructoDisc » Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:56 am

Majin Buu. One of the strongest characters in the universe and all he does is sleep and eat.

Videl. If they kept her training instead of turning her into a generic housewise, she could've gotten strong enough to fight against Moro's weaker minions right now.

Goten and Marron. If you don't want to use them, at least give them a personality that isn't "generic cute kid".

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Gligarman » Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:53 am

Yajirobe is still one of my favorite characters. I’m talking top 3! I would have loved to see him return in the DBS manga or the new movies. Also Black should have been revealed to be Goten. That would have explained the huge missed opportunity of not having Goten interact with Future Trunks for the vast majority of that arc.

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Bebi Hatchiyack » Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:36 pm

Grimlock wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:03 pmsnip
And I add all the earthling, Goten and Marron.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Grimlock » Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:07 pm

Apart from depicting Marron like a proper 9-year-old girl, there's not much to do with her, honestly. I mean, yeah, both of her parents fight but that doesn't mean she has to fight too. It's okay to have one or two regular person around.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by Mad Swami » Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:33 pm

Uub. I love Uub conceptually and want to see him get to do stuff. I hope when Super returns we get to see Uub

Aside from Uub Tien 100%
Tien is an alien, yet he has not gotten like a b plot where he explores his alien heritage and becomes stronger because of it. However it's not crazy why he's underused because his plot kind of finished. Still would be awesome to see him get more love

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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by emperior » Fri Jan 24, 2020 6:44 am

I too want to see more of Uub.

But right now the most underutilized characters are undoubtedly Goten and Trunks. They are the most talented of the bunch, yet they are treated like stupid kids even though a 5 year old Gohan already fought against Saiyans, Freeza and his henchmen and saved the world when he was 9.

Why wouldn’t they exploit the immense talent of the kids? Is that just because EoZ had Goten being untrained and scared of fighting Mr Buu in the tournament?

That’s a damn shame.
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Re: What characters do you think are underutilized?

Post by DBFanTalk » Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:33 pm

Babidi was an underutilized villain. It would be interesting to fully explore his magical powers and backstory. What other monsters can he create? Does he have rivals? Can he design a magical transformation/spell to gain a combat body?

This would also be an opportunity to provide an explanation on magic and its use. How does Babidi' magic differ from Shenron's?

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