Who Else Has the Potential to Turn 'Good'?

[Wilderness]

A well-known trend in the Dragon Ball franchise is seeing characters that are, for their own reasons, deemed 'the bad guy' joining the Z Fighters and co. - from Yamcha and Oolong for general low life antics, to Piccolo, Vegeta, Androids 17 & 18, and Buu.

Who do you think has the potential to have been good under any different circumstances?
I think characters like Frieza (and his force), Nappa, Cell, Kid Buu, and maybe some others are beyond help, however I feel Radditz could have eventually gone done a somewhat similar path to Vegeta - maybe less of a rivalry with Goku but perhaps a good guy who is a biiiitttt of a dick?

What are your thoughts? Does anyone come to mind?

[Kokonoe]

Honestly Nappa could he just listens to his leader. If Vegeta started leading him the right path he would.

[emperior]

Freeza has been stated to be perpetually evil as he will never repent, as a contrast to Goku always being good no matter what - to the point no one ever doubted in-universe that Goku Black may have been any kind of Son Goku whatsoever, beyond looks of course.

All the evil Saiyans shown have the possibility of turning a new leaf. It seems like their evil ways were more of a result of their society and work under Freeza’s army than their true nature, and U6 proves it by having a society of good Saiyans.
I would compare Saiyans to humans. As we know society affects our behaviour, which is why some countries have an higher rate of criminality. We also developed out of our more brutal past due to developments in technologies, which is why nowadays it’s much more rare to see violence as opposed to how much there was just 1000, but also 100 years ago.

Cell is a wild card, in that he has cells of Freeza’s family but he probably had way more cells from other races. Maybe in-universe he fully repented. Although, if they wanted to bring him back they still could.
I personally think he could have potential to turn good, or neutral at best.

Zamasu is a pure-hearted individual whose evil is in his actions and ideals and not his heart. I think he would have the potential to turn good, although it would be difficult as that would require him to completely change how he views the world.

The original Majin Buu (Kid Buu) was just 100% pure evil and seemed to lack intelligence, which is why he got reincarnated so fast. He’s basically sort of like an untameable lion.

Moro is so evil he spent million of years in a cage and never had a change of heart. He could spend the rest of eternity in hell without repenting like Freeza.

[Lionel]

The Red Ribbon Army might be easier depending on the individual motives of the people involved. No doubt many chose to submerge themselves in the murky depths of criminality and badness for personal gain. It's also possible that some may have chosen to fight for the RRA due to forced induction or disagreements with the current Earth government.

Someone like Staff Officer Black seemed negotiable. It would have been interesting to hear why he signed up for the RRA.

[theherodjl]

Anyone in DB can become good-enough if they're exposed to Goku's infectious naivety for too long. Just look at Freeza, he went from a total psychopath that randomly kills his minions whenever he feels like it to tolerating a minor degree of disrespect from others. The old Freeza never would've allowed someone to remotely badmouth him(unless it was Beerus) or helped a group of do-gooders that had already killed him twice, he'd of rather disappeared into non-existence simply to get the last laugh.
If someone like Freeza can change for the better, even by a minor amount, then anyone can.

[Scientist Fu]

Hard to say... Saiyans in general and maybe Cell.

[ZombieVito]

Present Zamasu should have been turned good.

[SupremeKai25]

Agreed with Present Zamasu, I would also add Future Zamasu (before meeting Black). Future Zamasu was always bothered by mortals, but lacked the strength to act. Without Black pushing him down a dark path, he would have continued to remain passive. Eventually he would complete his training and become Supreme Kai of U10. Beyond that, who knows. As Supreme Kai he would have interacted with the Angel of U10, who perhaps could have tried to turn him into a better person.

[Dragon Ball Gus]

Definitely Raditz.

[blacksymbiote]

Nappa and Raditz could be with the whole planet trade deal being defunct and enough heroes being stronger than them.

[Peach]

I think Super Buu had the potential to turn good. If he absorbed enough people (like Goku), he might have had them influence his personality.

Dabura too. He had Babidi turn against him. He could have had a really cool redemption arc if he wasn't turned into a cookie right away.

[Doctor.]

Nappa wanted to revive Raditz. If Vegeta could change, then so could both of them. Honestly, if Vegeta changed, then so can any other villain in the series (barring insane creatures like Boo and Janemba), though that doesn't necessarily mean I would like to see it. Perhaps not Freeza, since modern Dragon Ball has repeatedly shown that he cannot, in fact, be redeemed, and he's being set up as the main villain for the future. I can see Cell in a reluctant ally kind of role much like Piccolo.

[Peach]

Nappa wanted to revive Raditz. If Vegeta could change, then so could both of them. Honestly, if Vegeta changed, then so can any other villain in the series (barring insane creatures like Boo and Janemba), though that doesn't necessarily mean I would like to see it. Perhaps not Freeza, since modern Dragon Ball has repeatedly shown that he cannot, in fact, be redeemed, and he's being set up as the main villain for the future. I can see Cell in a reluctant ally kind of role much like Piccolo.

I have my doubts about Cell. He doesn't have a concept of self preservation like Frieza. He tried killing himself when he thought he was going to lose.

[Doctor.]

Nappa wanted to revive Raditz. If Vegeta could change, then so could both of them. Honestly, if Vegeta changed, then so can any other villain in the series (barring insane creatures like Boo and Janemba), though that doesn't necessarily mean I would like to see it. Perhaps not Freeza, since modern Dragon Ball has repeatedly shown that he cannot, in fact, be redeemed, and he's being set up as the main villain for the future. I can see Cell in a reluctant ally kind of role much like Piccolo.

I have my doubts about Cell. He doesn't have a concept of self preservation like Frieza. He tried killing himself when he thought he was going to lose.

Fair enough, but he also has a drive for self-improvement.

[sunsetshimmer]

I believe Baby could've been turned good, as he is the only DB villain with real motive for doing evil things. That means he became evil for a reason. I wouldn't expect him to start loving saiyans (or vice versa, especially Vegeta), but instead of being killed he could've simply returned to planet M2 and rule it in peace. And if it was DBZ Goku, then probably he would let him escape, just like he wanted to spare Frieza despite all the ugly things he has done and him not having any excuse for his actions. That could also be good opportunity to make him share his energy with Goku during universal genki dama just like all the other characters met in space did, including bad person like Don Kee. Afterall, entire universe was in danger so Goku was fighting for them as well.

[Peach]

Nappa wanted to revive Raditz. If Vegeta could change, then so could both of them. Honestly, if Vegeta changed, then so can any other villain in the series (barring insane creatures like Boo and Janemba), though that doesn't necessarily mean I would like to see it. Perhaps not Freeza, since modern Dragon Ball has repeatedly shown that he cannot, in fact, be redeemed, and he's being set up as the main villain for the future. I can see Cell in a reluctant ally kind of role much like Piccolo.

I have my doubts about Cell. He doesn't have a concept of self preservation like Frieza. He tried killing himself when he thought he was going to lose.

Fair enough, but he also has a drive for self-improvement.

He does? Seems like he has issues with complacency. And when someone threatens his place in the pecking order, he rages.

[Doctor.]

I have my doubts about Cell. He doesn't have a concept of self preservation like Frieza. He tried killing himself when he thought he was going to lose.

Fair enough, but he also has a drive for self-improvement.

He does? Seems like he has issues with complacency. And when someone threatens his place in the pecking order, he rages.

He definitely had enough of a drive to become perfect. If he convinces himself his perfect form isn't actually perfect or complete and he can tap into his DNA to acquire new forms, then what's stopping him from improving?

[Thanos]

Any of the Ginyu guys, really. Ginyu himself, Jheece and Butta never really struck me as being bad characters. Circumstances and loyalty to Freeza put them against Goku & co., but otherwise they seem relatively "normal" and not psychopathic or anything.

Dabura too. He had Babidi turn against him. He could have had a really cool redemption arc if he wasn't turned into a cookie right away.

Was it ever confirmed in canon that Dabra was, in fact, a villain without Babidi's control? If Vegeta can be an anti-hero and be turned, that could be Dabra's case at minimum, as well. Given the series' lighthearted take on the concepts of good and evil, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Dabra's true personality was as it is portrayed in Heaven in filler. And, for whatever reason, his lines in the video games portray him as being borderline pacifistic. Hmm..

[Peach]

Any of the Ginyu guys, really. Ginyu himself, Jheece and Butta never really struck me as being bad characters. Circumstances and loyalty to Freeza put them against Goku & co., but otherwise they seem relatively "normal" and not psychopathic or anything.

Dabura too. He had Babidi turn against him. He could have had a really cool redemption arc if he wasn't turned into a cookie right away.

Was it ever confirmed in canon that Dabra was, in fact, a villain without Babidi's control? If Vegeta can be an anti-hero and be turned, that could be Dabra's case at minimum, as well. Given the series' lighthearted take on the concepts of good and evil, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Dabra's true personality was as it is portrayed in Heaven in filler. And, for whatever reason, his lines in the video games portray him as being borderline pacifistic. Hmm..

At the very least, he wasn't truly subservient to Babidi, even if it meant fighting Buu or disobeying his master at his own detriment. So the majin spell didn't have have full control over him.

He seemed as if he wanted to protect Babidi out of loyalty and genuine concern. That shows me that there's partial bit of good in him. Maybe that good could have been awakened if he survived that encounter and lived to have a common enemy in the war against Buu.

[Peach]

Any of the Ginyu guys, really. Ginyu himself, Jheece and Butta never really struck me as being bad characters. Circumstances and loyalty to Freeza put them against Goku & co., but otherwise they seem relatively "normal" and not psychopathic or anything.

I agree with you on the Ginyu Force. If a good person was leading the Frieza Force instead of King Cold or Frieza, they would have been just like the Pride Troopers. Ginyu in particular had a sense of patriotism and thought of Frieza like a commander would of our own president in the military.