I played the latest Dragon Ball FighterZ at Anime Expo a few weeks back, and I loved every moment with it. With Evo just passing, FighterZ appears to have settled itself as one of the most highly anticipated fighting games for 2018. As a lifelong fan of the Dragon Ball franchise, it warms my heart to see the series produce a high-quality video game again. With graphics that look like they have been directly taken from the anime and super addicting gameplay, FighterZ has proven to be worthy of the hype.
Since we are still months away from the games release, it is time for some fun speculation. With the roster size currently unknown, I decided I will be talking about the characters that I think should be in the game. Though I don’t have any really obscure characters’ in my wish list, I will also not be talking about any of the obvious major characters in the series that have appeared commonly in the past fighting games. So no talking about fan favorites Tien or Captain Ginyu, even if their place in the roster is kind of dubious. With that said, onward to the list!
Honorable Mention – Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan
Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan, is one of the most infamous villains in the mega-franchise. His design is iconic, and is the most recurring villain to originate from the movie series. It may seem odd to have a such iconic character on the list of characters that I hope will be in FighterZ, but his inclusion in this list is mostly due to the fact that it is unknown if the game will have any non-canon characters in the roster. Despite his popularity from fans, none of the first thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies are canon with the DB mythos. If the game decides to take characters from other portions of the franchise, than Broly is a shoe-in. Until then, he is on this list as an honorable mention.
My thoughts on Cooler, Frieza’s brother from the movies, are the same and I also want him to be in the game.
Bojack
No I’m not talking about the anamorphic horse from the popular Netflix series, even though that would also be evidently awesome. The Bojack I am talking about is the main villain from the ninth Dragon Ball Z film, Bojack Unbound. One of the more entertaining movies in the franchise, Bojack is a space pirate that sought out universal domination. He fights the Z-Fighters during an Earth tournament, which culminates in Gohan going Super Saiyan 2 to defeat him. Bojack may not be the most interesting villain from the films; nevertheless his movie and fight scenes are definitely some of the most memorable in the entire franchise. What differentiates him from Broly and Cooler is that he is less likely to join FighterZ as he is a little bit more obscure. Let’s hope the developers have a soft spot for this one-off villain, and add him to the roster with the other movie villains.
Bardock
One of the few (if not, the only) movie-only character that proved popular enough that he made his way into Dragon Ball canon, Bardock is one of the most important characters in the franchise now. The father of Goku, the Saiyan Bardock was aware of Frieza’s intention of destroying the Saiyans and tries to stop him. He fails, giving Dragon Ball one of its most tragic yet poignant stories. His movie, which has since been labeled as a special to separate itself from the movies, proved to be so popular, that the manga author decided to incorporate Bardock in the story. While he may be canon now, and has even appeared prominently in many video games, his status in FighterZ is questionable. Will the game have room for a character like Bardock, who has no role in any of the major storylines in the anime besides his own special? It is up to the developers.
Goku Black
With FighterZ being the title, it feels safe to assume that the game will center on the story and characters from Dragon Ball Z. There is some evidence that the game will take parts that were established from other parts of the franchise; for instance, Frieza can turn into Gold Frieza from the Resurrection F movie and Super. The game however has more of a Dragon Ball Z feel to it, with the settings and aesthetics matching in tone with the original anime. With some exceptions, it will probably follow the Z side of the mythos rather than the other shows.
So I do not expect Omega Shenron from GT to appear in the game, or Monster Carrot from the original Dragon Ball. Elements from Super are the most likely going to show up in the game, as Super is still airing as this game is in development. If the developers are going to incorporate any character from Super, not including Beerus, it should be Goku Black. The main villain of the series’ fourth major arc, Goku Black was a villain from Future Trunk’s timeline that looked just like Goku. For months fans wondered who was Goku Black, and the character’s overall menacing appearance has made him a fan favorite among viewers of Dragon Ball Super. With his popularity set, he feels like a natural inclusion in FighterZ’s roster.
Hit
Other than Beerus and Goku Black, the only other character from Dragon Ball Super to make an appearance in FighterZ would be Hit. Hit is a fighter from Universe 6 (the main Dragon Ball Universe is Universe 7) who fights against Goku in the third major arc of Super. He has time manipulation, which enables him to match Goku blow-by-blow. Proving to be another popular addition to the Dragon Ball mythos from Super; if FighterZ choses to incorporate several characters from Super, Hit will certainly be somewhere on top of that list.
Side-Note: Cabba, a Saiyan from Universe 6, is also a prominent character from Super who could fit in FighterZ. I personally just want Hit (and Goku Black) in the game more so than the kind hearted Saiyan.
Caulifla
There is a lot of pipe-dream characters that I would love to see in the game which does include some more obscure characters. I want to see General Tao, Turles, all the Ginyu Force members, Omega Shenron, and many more in the game. I am also worried that some of the canonically weaker characters, like Tien and Yamcha, will not make it in the roster. I did not include any of these characters as I wanted my list to be fairly reasonable. Yet my biggest pipe dream is one of the newest characters that were just introduced in Super, and her name is Caulifla.
To give a better context of Caulifla, you need to know that Goku first became a Super Saiyan in the manga in 1991. For twenty-six years we have had different kinds of Saiyans become Super Saiyans – none of them have been women. Ignoring the possible (or, more accurately, probable) sexism indicating that women cannot become Super Saiyans, having a female Super Saiyan was long overdue. Super decided to not only introduce one female Super Saiyan, but two! One of them even turns into a Broly-like monstrosity, and it is kind of awesome. But my vote goes to Caulifla, who is the first canonical female Super Saiyan in the series. She has a more fun personality, being more vulgar and active than most of the other female characters in the series. Since she is still a very new character, only time will tell if she will be worthy to be a constant part of the mythos. She has already won many fans hearts, and I think the series needs more female representation.
