Bulma is the second character to appear in the series, and has been a major character in both DB and DBZ. She created the "Dragon Radar" which can sense the location of the Dragon Balls by the radiation they emit, and was the one who first started the se arch for the Dragon Balls. She is also Trunks' and Bra's mother. She is a major influence on almost all of the major characters and is most notably the only character who was able to "tame" Vejiita.
Mutenroshi was Gokuu's first trainer and was once the strongest person on earth. He founded the "Kamehame-ha" technique which was used A LOT in the series. He's also incredibly perverted; he has a panty fetish and is always trying to find ways to get "peeks " or "feels" of young, beautiful women. However, he has a companion, Umigame, a sea turtle, who tries to curb his "urges." Despite his perverted wishes, Mutenroshi is very old and wise, and has an excellent battle sense. Like many other characters in DB, Mutenroshi played his prime role in the first series.
Oolong was one of the earliest characters to appear in the DB series. He is a small pig with the ability to change his shape to whatever he wants for 5 minutes. Then he has to rest for 1 minute before he can shape-change again. Like Mutenroshi, he is also a pervert with a panty fetish, but he is not nearly as lecherous. Yet another character whose prime importance was in the earlier series.
Pool is a floating blue cat that went to the same shape-changing school as Oolong. He (She?) has somewhat of a rivalry with Oolong left over from kindergarten; Oolong had bullied him before getting kicked out for stealing the teacher's panties. Unlike Oolong, Pool can do "true" change, and does not need to rest every 5 minutes. Pool is also a friend (worshipper?) of Yamcha's. He has always served as somewhat of a minor character in both series, although he has had his high points.
One of the first characters to appear in the series, Yamcha was originally Gokuu's enemy, but soon became friends with him. Yamcha is characterised by a constantly changing hairstyle and an intense fear of women. (at least at the beginning) He was some what of an important character during the first series but less so in the second, being the weakest of all the Z fighters.
Gyuu Maou was Kamesennin's second best student, next to Son Gohan, Gokuu's "Grandfather." (Gokuu named his son after his grandfather, so don't get confused) He is a very large man who is always characterised by wearing a horned helmet. He appeared early in the series, during the first search for the Dragon Balls.
Chichi is Gyuu Maou's daughter, who also first appeared about the same time as he did. After the first time we see Gyuu Maou and Chichi they don't reappear for a long time (in the manga). The next time we see Chichi, she gets married to Gokuu. Therefore, she is also Gohan and Goten's mother. Her distinguishing trait is her temper; she gets mad a LOT. She is a very overprotective mother, which is probably justified in that her son is constantly drawn into fights against some of the toughest people in the universe.
Kuririn is Gokuu's best friend, and has been around since the first series. He is a fighting monk who leaves his temple to find and train with Mutenroshi. He is kind of short, has no nose and throughout most of the series, has no hair either. Kuririn trained with Gokuu under Mutenroshi and afterwards shared many adventures with him. Kuririn has died more times than anyone else in the series. He is one of the weaker fighters, but this is partially due to his low self-confidence. Nevertheless, he has gotten fairly powerful due to all his fights with the really powerful enemies, and I think is the next strongest Z fighter after Piccolo.
A young, naive girl that Gokuu and Kuririn saved to bring to Kamesennin. She stayed at the Kame House during the first series, acting as somewhat of a housekeeper. Normally she is a polite, good-natured girl with dark hair, but whenever she sneezes, her hair turns blond and she becomes a psychotic criminal. When "bad" Lunch sneezes, she changes back.
The first Artificial Human in the Dragon Ball series, AH #8 first appeared during the first series, and bears a resemblance to the Frankenstein Monster. Made by Dr Gero of the Red Ribbon Army, he was supposed to kill Gokuu but would "not do bad things." Gokuu saved his life and became his friend, and AH #8 ("Hatchan") helped Gokuu defeat White of the Red Ribbon Army.
Bora is a big man that guards Karin's tower, and Upa is his son. They have Gokuu's 4-star Dragon Ball, and appear during the Red Ribbon saga. Bora is killed by TaoPiePie, sparking a quest where Upa joins Gokuu to find the Dragon Balls to revive him. After the first series, we don't see Bora and Upa again until the very end of DBZ during the fight with Original Buu.
A very old, wise cat which lives high on the top of Karin Tower. It is there that he grows the Senzu seeds, magic beans that heal and energise whoever ate them, plus each seed is worth 10 days of food when eaten. Karin-sama also has the Choushinsui, a magical but very poisonous tea that grants a large power-up to whoever drinks it and survives.
Uranai-no-Baba is Mutenroshi's older sister, who runs a fortune telling "business." For 10,000,000 zeni (the DB world's money) you can have your fortune told, or else you have to beat 5 of her fighters to have the future told. She also has the power to allow someone to come back from the dead for one day. She does this for Son Gohan (Gokuu's "grandfather") and Gokuu later on.
Sorry if this confuses you, there are 2 Son Gohans in the series. This one is Gokuu's "grandfather" who found Gokuu abandoned in his Saiyan-jin space capsule and took him in. Gokuu squashed Gohan flat when he turned into a giant monkey. Gohan comes back fro m the dead in the series as one of Uranai no Baba's 5 fighters to talk to Gokuu.
Tenshinhan is a 3-eyed man who was a student of Mutenroshi's rival Tsurusennin, from whom he learned a lot of interesting techniques. He can communicate telepathically with his best friend Chaozu, and his master Tsurusennin. Originally he trained to be a n assassin, but eventually realised that being one was not what he wanted. He beat Gokuu to win the 2nd Tenkaichi-budokai, and was fairly powerful during the first series, second only to Gokuu. Recently, though, he has taken a subordinate role in the series like Yamcha. Next to Yamcha, he is probably the weakest Z fighter.
A small, pastel-white floating child, and friend of Tenshinhan. Like Tenshinhan, Chaozu is a student of Tsurusennin, and competed in the second Tenkaichi-Budokai in the series. Chaozu is a fairly good fighter, but is not very good at math; this proves to be his weakness. He is tied with Kuririn for the most number of deaths in the series.
A friend of Gokuu's and a minor character in the series who carried Gokuu up Karin's tower during the time when the old Piccolo was around. For some reason he decided to stay there. He occasionally comes down to supply Senzu seeds. Normally a coward, he occasionally does something brave, like attacking Vejiita and cutting off his tail. He is a fairly good fighter in his own right but not up to the standards of Gokuu and the others.
Mister Popo is a short, jet-black humanoid with a turban who lives up in the Tenkai and is a servant to whoever is the current Kami of earth. He's been there since even before Kami-sama was there, and is fairly strong, though nowhere near as powerful as any of the other Z fighters.
Kami-sama, the god of Earth, created Shen-Lon and the Dragon Balls. He is a Namek like Piccolo. Actually, he is Piccolo; he cast away all his evil into the old Piccolo. Therefore, if Piccolo dies, so does he. Kami-sama lives in the Tenka i, a floating palace high above Karin's tower, where he can look down and see what is happening on earth. He no longer exists, having fused with Piccolo to give him a large power-up so he could fight Cell.
There are two Piccolos in the DB/DBZ series. The one who became a "good guy" was actually the "new" Piccolo, the son of the first. To get info on the new Piccolo, check out the last page.
Enma-sama is a huge man that guards the entrance to the afterworld. He sits at a desk and sends all the spirits that come there to either Tenkoku (heaven) or JiGokuu. (Hell) He plays a fairly minor role in the series but often deals with what happens to dead main characters, allowing them to return to Earth, etc. Note that Enma is actually a figure from Shinto religion, the King of the Afterworld.
One of four Kaios, beings from each corner of the galaxy who monitor activity in their sector of the galaxy. He lives on a ridiculously small planet (ever read "The Little Prince?") at the end of a long road in Heaven. He has a pet monkey Bubbles and in the TV series, a pet insect of some sort, Gregory. The first time Gokuu died, he trained with Kaio-sama and learned the Kaio-ken and Genki-dama. Kaio's planet was destroyed when Cell blew up on it.
Dende is Kami-sama's successor as the god of Earth. Like Piccolo and Kami-sama, he is also a Namek, and is even younger than Gohan. Gohan and Kuririn first met Dende on their trip to Namek to gather the Namek Dragon Balls. He has the power to heal injuries by laying his hands on the injured, and created more powerful Dragon Balls on Earth that can grant three wishes.
A minor character during the Namek episodes, Nail is the bodyguard of Saichoryo, the planet's elder and source of life for the Dragon Balls. He fused with Piccolo to give him a power-up to fight Freezer.
These two Artificial Humans were also created by Dr. Gero to kill Gokuu. They are twin brother and sister, #17 being a man with long black hair, and #18 being a girl with blond hair. In Trunks' future, they are both very much "bad guys," having wiped out most of the population of Earth. However during the altered timeline they are less destructive, focusing just on killing Gokuu. They end up joining the Z fighters to fight Cell, as Cell wanted to absorb both of them. Cell absorbed both, which was the last time we ever see or hear of #17 until the very end of the manga series, but Cell eventually spits out #18. Later on after Cell is killed, #18 marries Kuririn.
AH #16 is a very large robotic man with a red mohawk and green armor. He was made by Dr. Gero to kill Gokuu as revenge for destroying the Red Ribbon Army, but joined the Z fighters to fight Cell. He is normally very quiet and introverted, and possesses a strong love and respect for nature and life. His death at the hands (feet?) of Cell was what triggered Gohan to go Super Saiyajin 2 for the first time.
Used mostly as comic relief, Mr. Satan is the "hero of earth," taking credit for having killed Cell and saving the planet. Among "normal" Earthlings, he is fairly strong, but in reality he is a weakling and a coward. However, he performs the occasional heroic action, and occasionally manages to save the rest of the Z fighters by some minor action. He is also one of the only characters in the Dragon Ball series who has never died.
Beedel is Mr. Satan's daughter, and is the same age as Gohan. While not nearly as strong as any of the other Z fighters, she is a lot better than her father. She is in Gohan's high school class and uncovers his identity of "Great Saiyaman." Eventually she and Gohan get married.
Goten is Gokuu's second son, and a dead ringer for Gokuu when he was a little kid. At the end of the series, Goten was 17 and looked nothing like Gokuu though. Goten is very powerful for someone his age, although he is a little bit naive like his father. He can fuse with Trunks to become Gotenks, one of the most powerful characters in the series.
Maron is Kuririn and #18's daughter with a very round head and pigtails. She plays a very minor role in the series. (in fact, we don't even learn her name until long after she is first introduced) There's not too much more I can think of to say about her.
Kaio-shin is one of four gods of the Kaios. Most of the other Kaio-shins were killed off by Majin-Buu, and one was imprisoned within the Zed Sword. (we actually get to see this one) Kaio-shin then travelled to Earth to stop Babidi from reviving Buu, and enlists the help of the Z fighters. However, his plan to stop the revival backfires...
Kibito is Kaioshin's assistant. He has the power to heal wounds with his hands much like Dende. He plays a fairly minor role in the DBZ series. Eventually using 15-dai-mae Kaio-shin's earrings, he fuses with Kaio-shin permanently.
Majin-Buu was one of the strongest villains in the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z universe, but he eventually became a good guy. He has gone through more different forms than Freezer and Cell combined. The first Buu is fat Buu, a fat, round pink man with a c ape and the mind of a baby, but is very strong. When he got really angry, the smoke that came out of his head changed into Skinny Buu. Fat Buu (who became a good guy around this point) tried to change him into a chocolate, but Skinny Buu blew the blast back at him. Fat Buu turned into a chocolate, Skinny Buu ate him, and turned into Super Buu.
15 Dai-mae Kaio-shin was the Kaio-shin trapped in the Z Sword. When it broke, he was released. Like Mutenroshi, he is a real pervert, but he has an interesting skill; he can give a huge power-up to anyone who can sit through a 25-hour power-up. He uses this skill to make Gohan the most powerful non-fused character in the series.
Using the Fusion, Goten and Trunks can fuse into Gotenks. Gotenks is very powerful, second only to Gohan and Vegitt, and also is the only character other than Gokuu that can change to Super Saiyajin 3. However, he has a huge ego which gets him in trouble . Gotenks is often used as comic relief as well.
When Gokuu and Vejiita fuse, they become Vegitt (Vejiita+Kakarott=Vegitt), the most powerful character in the DBZ world. Like Gotenks, Vegitt has a huge ego. The type of fusion used is the fushion dance.
When Gokuu and Vejiita fuse, they become Gojita (Gokuuu+Vejiita=Gojiita), the most powerful character in the DBZ world. This type of fusion is with the punputto earrings, and is supposed to be permanent.
Pan is Gohan and Beedel's daughter. She first appears in the last two instalments of the manga before it ended. Needless to say, we never get to learn a lot about her before the series ends. She looks just like Beedel did at 16, just a lot smaller. Sh e's pretty tough in a fight for her age and size, and certainly has the potential to become fairly strong.
Bra is Trunks' little sister. She looks like a carbon copy of Bulma when we first see her way back in DB book #1, only much smaller. Like Pan, she only appears in the last two instalments of the manga and only speaks a single line in those instalments so it's tough to say much about her.
Uub is a polite little kid with a mohawk, another character who doesn't appear until the very end of the series. Actually, he is the reincarnation of Original Buu. (Uub=Buu backwards) He is very powerful for a human his age. At the end of the series, Uub goes back to his home town with Gokuu, who is going to train him.
