Both the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga tell the same story based on Akira Toriyama’s notes and outline, but they handle the material in very different ways. Toyotarou’s Dragon Ball Super manga generally does a better job with power-scaling. There are definitely characters who are much stronger in the Dragon Ball Super manga, but for the most part, the manga keeps things stable. On the other hand, the Dragon Ball Super anime loves going wild by making characters more powerful.
In the Dragon Ball Super anime, it’s not unusual for the Earthlings to keep up with God Ki even when they realistically shouldn’t. Just about every opponent is buffed to give Goku and Vegeta a better fight. The Tournament of Power, especially, makes just about everybody (with the exception of Jiren) much more powerful than their manga counterparts. Toei has always had a habit of making Dragon Ball characters stronger in the anime, but Dragon Ball Super feels like the zenith of their power-buffing.
12 Strongest God-Tier Dragon Ball Super Characters, Ranked
The strongest characters in Dragon Ball Super aren’t just God-Tier, they’re now literal gods thanks to their staggering Power Levels.
10
Android 17 is Somehow God-Tier in the Dragon Ball Super Anime
Android 17’s Power Level doesn’t make much sense in either the manga or the anime, but things at least make a bit more sense in the Dragon Ball Super manga. In the manga, Android 17 is about as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku, which is an extreme jump considering he was weaker than Imperfect Cell in Dragon Ball Z. In the Dragon Ball Super anime, however, Android 17 is somehow God-Tier.
It’s implied Android 17 is about as strong as Super Saiyan Blue Goku, and he has one of the best showings in the Tournament of Power. Due to how much weaker he is in the manga, Toyotarou understandably does not have Android 17 play a major role beating Jiren in the manga. This is completely different from the anime, where Android 17 actually plays a significant part in helping Goku and Frieza defeat Jiren in the Tournament of Power’s final battle.
9
Cabba Only Unlocks Super Saiyan 2 in the Anime
Like most of Universe 6, Cabba is a lot weaker in the Dragon Ball Super manga compared to the anime. He’s strong enough to take on Vegeta in base, but struggles fighting Super Saiyan Vegeta. In both the anime and the manga, Vegeta pushes Cabba to unlock Super Saiyan, but he’s powerless to the might of Super Saiyan Blue.
The biggest difference in Cabba’s Power Level comes during the Tournament of Power. In the manga, Cabba is eliminated without much fanfare. In the anime’s version of the tournament, Cabba actually unlocks Super Saiyan 2. He’s still eliminated in the end, but SSJ2 Cabba is obviously much stronger than his manga counterpart.
8
Caulifla Keeps Up With Super Saiyan God Goku in the Anime’s Tournament of Power
Caulifla is a prodigy in both the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga, but like Cabba, she only unlocks Super Saiyan 2 in the anime. More importantly, Caulifla is just significantly more impressive in the manga compared to the manga. Anime Caulifla unlocks both Super Saiyan Grade 2 and Super Saiyan 2 like it’s absolutely nothing.
Super Saiyan 2 Caulifla is strong enough to fight Super Saiyan God Goku with Kale’s help. Cabba couldn’t even keep up with a God-Tier fighter in the Universe 6 Tournament, while Caulifla gives Goku an amazing fight. She’s obviously not strong enough to beat SSG Goku, but with enough training, she could realistically unlock Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan God.
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7
Hit Successfully Kills Goku in the Anime
Hit in the Dragon Ball Super manga is nothing special. He’s a multiversal fighter, but Goku is able to brute force his Time Skip just by using Super Saiyan Blue. If Vegeta hadn’t wasted Super Saiyan Blue in his fight with Cabba, he would have defeated Hit himself. Hit in the Dragon Ball Super is so powerful, Goku needed to use Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken just to keep up with him – and it’s strongly implied he was still weaker since Hit wasn’t fighting with killing intent.
The Dragon Ball Super anime actually follows up on this plot thread between the Goku Black and Universe Survival Sagas. Goku hires Hit to assassinate him, and much to Gohan & Goten’s shock, Hit actually succeeds. Hit kills Goku and stops his heart. Goku being the fighting genius he is, however, uses a delayed Ki blast to restart his heart after death. Manga Hit is weaker than Super Saiyan Blue Goku. Anime Hit is strong enough to kill him.
6
Goku Black is Significantly More Dangerous in the Dragon Ball Super Anime
It’s almost shocking how much weaker Goku Black is in the Dragon Ball Super manga. Vegeta constantly humiliates him in their battles, he acts subservient to Future Zamasu, and he never even fights Goku. In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Base Goku Black is strong enough to force Goku to use Super Saiyan 2 in their first fight.
Once Goku Black unlocks Super Saiyan Rosé, he becomes an outright monster. Super Saiyan Rosé Goku Black dominates Future Trunks and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta. Most of Fused Zamasu’s Power Level in the anime comes from Goku Black being such a powerhouse. Comparatively, Manga Goku Black is a joke who needs constant Zenkai Boosts just to be a credible threat.
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5
Fused Zamasu is a Vegito Level Threat in the Anime
In the Dragon Ball Super manga, Mastered Super Saiyan Blue Goku is strong enough to overpower Fused Zamasu during the arc’s final battle. Goku even comes close to killing Zamasu when he pulls out a Hakai and nearly erases him on the spot. The only thing that saves Zamasu is his quick thinking to use Mai as a hostage. Fused Zamasu in the Dragon Ball Super anime is much stronger, and Goku & Vegeta basically stood no chance. Similarly, Vegito curb-stomps Fused Zamasu in the manga.
While Anime Vegito puts up a good fight, Fused Zamasu is in much better shape at the end of their battle in the Dragon Ball Super anime. Anime Zamasu is so freakishly powerful, he literally fuses himself with the entire multiverse to avoid dying. In the manga, he just makes Meta-Cooler style clones of himself. Future Trunks has to pull a random power-up out of nowhere and use a Spirit Bomb-charged attack just to beat him. Even then, Fused Zamasu doesn’t really lose thanks to his immortality.
4
Future Trunks Only Unlocks Super Saiyan Rage in the Dragon Ball Super Anime
The Dragon Ball Super manga ends up putting Future Trunks firmly in a support role when he comes back for the Goku Black Saga. By training with the Supreme Kai, Trunks gains access to the same healing abilities Dende had, basically making him the team’s healer for the final battle. Beyond that, he’s only about as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku power-wise – which is still impressive, but nowhere near as strong as he becomes in the anime.
In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Future Trunks is strong enough to fight Goku Black multiple times. By training with Vegeta in the present, he somehow absorbs God Ki and unlocks Super Saiyan Rage during the final battle with Fused Zamasu. Super Saiyan Rage Future Trunks is so strong and fast, he effortlessly dodges Fused Zamasu’s attacks and then slices him in half. If Zamasu weren’t immortal, Turue Trunks would have actually killed him, something not even Vegito could do.
3
Toppo’s Destroyer Form is More Impressive in the Anime
Toppo is by no means weak in the Dragon Ball Super manga, but the rushed nature of Toyotarou’s Tournament of Power means he just doesn’t stand out nearly as much as his anime counterpart. In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Destroyer Form Toppo is a downright beast. He’s one of the strongest fighters in the Tournament of Power by a mile.
Toppo was destroying Vegeta before the Prince of All Saiyans unlocked Super Saiyan Blue Evolved. Toppo has all the power of a God of Destruction on his side. His mastery of Hakai is even more impressive in the Dragon Ball Super anime versus the manga. Even after Vegeta unlocks Super Saiyan Blue Evolved, he has to push himself to near-death levels just to ring Toppo out. In a straight up life or death battle, Toppo probably likely could have killed Vegeta.
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2
Kefla is Ultra Instinct-Tier in the Dragon Ball Super Anime
Kefla is nothing special in the Dragon Ball Super manga. She’s only about as strong as Ultimate Gohan and is basically eliminated off-screen in the Tournament of Power. Kefla in the Dragon Ball Super anime is one of the strongest characters in the entire series. Kefla in the only character who can turn Legendary Super Saiyan 2, and she would have defeated Goku if he hadn’t re-triggered Ultra Instinct Sign.
Even then, Ultra Instinct Sign Goku isn’t so much stronger than Kefla. Goku defeats her not through brute force, but by simply being a more skilled fighter and it takes himw two whole episodes just to beat her. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Goku reflects on Kefla in the same tier as Jiren. Except for Kale, the Universe 6 Saiyans are much stronger in the anime compared to the manga, so Kefla gets a massive boost from just how strong Anime Caulifla is.
1
Gogeta Only Shows What He’s Fully Capable of in Dragon Ball Super: Broly
By virtue of the Dragon Ball Super manga skipping Dragon Ball Super: Broly almost entirely, Gogeta is much stronger in the anime continuity. For what it’s worth, the manga does include a few short flashbacks to Gogeta and Broly’s battle, but barely shows any of it. All that’s really known about Gogeta’s Power Level in the Dragon Ball Super manga is that he was strong enough to defeat Broly.
Gogeta in Dragon Ball Super: Broly is absolutely insane, and the series’ strongest Fusion by a mile. Even though he needs to turn Super Saiyan Blue to ultimately defeat Broly, he never breaks a sweat during the fight or shows any sign of struggle. At most, Gogeta transforms to make sure he always has an edge over Broly. Gogeta is so strong, he causes a literal dimension break and is implied to be as strong, if not even stronger, than Beerus.
- Release Date
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2015 – 2018
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Showrunner
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Tatsuya Nagamine
- Directors
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Ryota Nakamura, Masanori Sato, Kenichi Takeshita, Takao Iwai, Hideki Hiroshima, Masato Mitsuka, Kazuya Karasawa, Ayumu Ono, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Nagamine, Kôjiro Kawasaki, Kouji Ogawa
- Writers
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Ryu King, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
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Masakazu Morita
Whis (voice)
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Masako Nozawa
Son Goku/Goku Black/Son Gohan/Son Goten (voices)
