Dragon Ball is one of the most unique IPs in the world; what other franchise has not only survived but thrived on the strength of its lore and iconography? While Dragon Ball has several famous anime series under its belt, the franchise has also used other lanes to introduce other members of the Saiyan race that Goku and company face in battle, ally with, or both. And, in the tradition of Dragon Ball, some of these same Saiyan characters have gained passionate fan followings, even though they’ve never actually appeared in an official canonized manga or anime.
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For a long time, Broly was the poster child for Dragon Ball‘s beloved-but-unofficial Saiyan roster. But ever since the Saiyan berserker got canonized in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, his days as an underground legend have been over. Meanwhile, there have been several other “unofficial” Saiyan characters who popped up in Dragon Ball – and some of them have been around as long as Broly. These are the 5 Dragon Ball Saiyan characters that we think would be good to add to the official Dragon Ball canon.
Cumber
Cumber is an “ancient, evil Saiyan” who first appeared in Dragon Ball Heroes, the unofficial promotional anime series that is a tie-in to the Dragon Ball arcade/card game Super Dragon Ball Heroes. He was plucked out of the ancient past by the villain Fu, who brought him to the present to do battle with Goku, Vegeta, and the Z-Fighters.
Cumber has only been used for the promo anime, but even there, we get interesting brushstrokes of his character and power potential. His title of the “Evil Saiyan” comes from the “dark aura” that surrounds him, which Cumber can use to corrupt other Saiyans; that same power works in tandem with his traditional Saiyan abilities, making Super Saiyan Cumber a match for Vegito Blue, while other non-canon stories have set SSJ3 Cumber on a similiar power level to Super Full Power Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker Broly. That’s a power that should definitely be added to the Dragon Ball Super official roster.
More to the point: Cumber has an unusual amount of depth for a promo anime character. His initial appearance (locked in prison-like restraints that limited his massive powers) felt like a story that needed to be told; same for the way he initially reacts to seeing Goku go Super Saiyan God: like there’s a deeper story there about “good” Saiyans battling “evil” Saiyans in the ancient world. Finally, the fact that Cumber has already made the jump from antagonist to ally only further proves that he is in lock-step with everything that a canonized Dragon Ball character should be.
Turles
Turles has been lurking in the peripheries of the Dragon Ball franchise since the 1990s, when he was the antagonist of the non-canon movie Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990). After that debut, the Freeza Force defector (who is one of several characters to share Goku’s face), Turles, largely sat on the shelf unused until the Dragon Ball Xenoverse video game series, and Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime.
DBH brought Turles back as a major henchman of Fu in the “Universe Creation Saga”, and even let him go a few rounds with Cumber, as Turles pitted his own “Evil Saiyan” state against the ancient Saiyan’s power. However, like Cumber, Turles ultimately decided to act as an ally to Vegeta and Goku rather than a foe, sacrificing himself to give them a pivotal three-star Dragon Ball to defeat the Crimson-Masked Saiyan (a Goku Black variant).
Turles is interesting in that his appearance and backstory make him like a version of Goku (or his father, Bardock), who broke bad after escaping Freeza’s shadow, acting as a planetary conqueror instead of a protector or savior. He could easily fill the void left by Vegeta as he’s fully transitioned to the heroic side. The perfect bad-boy type who could land Goku in a fun canonized story about mistaken identity.
Shallot & Gimlet
Shallot and his twin brother, Gimlet, have been two major faces of the Dragon Ball Legends mobile games that launched in the 2010s, and were designed by Akira Toriyama himself. The brothers come from the world of Ancient Saiyans (like Cumber), where they fought on the side of good against the evil Saiyans. It was Giblet who sold his brother on their potential to unlock the power of the Super Saiyan God, which would help them win the war. However, the brothers are plucked from their era to fight in the Tournament of Time; a villain wipes their memories, setting them on a collision course as the mobile game begins.
Even though they fought on the heroic side, Shallot and Gimlet are both rough and aggressive ancient Saiyan warriors. Shallot mastered the SSJ 1-3 forms, but Gimlet (like Vegeta) seems to eke more power out of his transformations, even if he unlocks them at a slower pace than Shallot does. In the end, both brothers unlock Super Saiyan God form, and with additional training, Giblet is shown to be strong enough to take on Golden Freeza.
Shallot and Gimlet represent the other side of the Ancient Saiyan coin than Cumber. If the “Evil Saiyan” has a place in canon, gaming icons like Shallot and Gimlet (and all that SSJG lore that still needs sorting out) should definitely be imported into canon, right along with him.
Beat & Note
Going back to Dragon Ball Heroes, that promo game/anime has its own pair of Saiyan protagonists: Beat and Note. Two of the most unique characters in all of Dragon Ball, the young boy and girl, started as regular Earthlings, who are granted the power to become Saiyans (or create Saiyan avatars of themselves), which is a galvanizing part of the arcade game’s storyline. Throughout the games, Beat and Note level up through SSJ 1-4, achieve SSJG, and even break limits to unlock Goku’s new “Ultra Instinct” ability.
Obviously, there would need to be discussions about how much of the game lore could be refitted into official Dragon Ball canon. Maybe they wouldn’t keep the premise of Earthlings creating Saiyan avatars to enter a game world – but then again, why not? Dragon Ball could arguably stand to do a canon arc that reflects the modern world, using digital technology as its threat. We kind of took a step in that direction with the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, introducing a new generation of android tech; imagine the fun of watching Goku and Vegeta struggling to adjust to piloting digital avatars of themselves, while kids like Beat and Note would take to it like fish in water. Hilarious.
Crimson-Masked Saiyan
The Crimson-Masked Saiyan is custom-built to be a major Dragon Ball canon villain: he’s a variant of Goku Black/Zamasu, who was plucked from time by Fu for the New Space-Time War. To avoid his own tragic fate, Crimson took on the mission of killing Goku variants across multiverse timelines to increase his own power and secure his eventual victory. More than that, though, Crimson had a plan called “Project Zero Mortals,” which endeavored to eliminate all mortals from the multiverse, including The Z-Fighters’ home, Universe 7.
The “Future Trunks Saga” is arguably the darkest and densest Dragon Ball Super story arc there is; the effect it’s had on the series is undeniable. Goku Black has become an icon, so much so that “Crimson’s” debut and identity reveal came with bigger hype than anyone expected from a promo anime. Why not lean into that impressive momentum and make Crimson (or rather, a Goku Black sequel arc) a canonized reality?
You can watch (or play) all of these various characters in various Dragon Ball media. What other unofficial Dragon Ball characters would you like to see become canon? Let us know in the comments and on the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
