The Earthlings
Earths defenders
- Adaptational Badass: A given, the earthlings are all a lot stronger than they where in the manga at the start of Z, having received Korin's training earlier and having trained under Popo gives Tien a power level of 406, Krillin 388 and Yamcha 365. Master Roshi is also stronger due to Krillin keeping him training as a sparring partner, with a power level of 315, he has actually surpassed Popo. They also fought King Piccolo head on and in general have a much more self-reliant attitude without Goku around.
- The Ace: Granted at one point they all where this in Dragonball, but given that they eventually get invited to the multiverse tournament by the Vargas, who only pick the strongest people in the universe, they actually managed to become this outside of Earth as well. By the start of Z they have become the protectors of earth and Tien in particular has already surpassed Kami, making him the World's Strongest Man Krillin being very close to Kami's power level.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Yamcha and Krillin knew each other for a while, but they met Tien in the middle of his death match against a revitalized King Piccolo. They later fought against Piccolo's children together. Saving the world in the progress, by buying enough time for Popo to come down and take Piccolo's container.
Krillin
Once you get used to it, it's not that bad master.
- Bring It: His response when Raditz loudly proclaims he'll kill him first. It leads to Raditz getting blasted in the face when Krillin distracts him.
Yamcha
For my master... and for Krillin...
- Action Dad: He has a son with Bulma and he hasn't stopped training. While his son is barely 5 years old he's saving the earth against an alien invasion and is at one point the strongest living human on the planet.
- Adaptational Badass: He does quite a bit better here than he did when Goku was around. He is trained by Gohan, puts up a good enough fight against "Jackie Chan", that the latter compliments him for it. (as opposed to u18 where he got blown out of the ring right away), actually fights against Piccolo's children (unlike u18, where he had a broken leg), trains under Korin, Popo and Kami way earlier, manages to defeat his masters killer (whereas u18 Yamcha lost at the time) and fight Raditz head on, surviving the whole battle and dealing him one of the deciding blows in the fight. By the time of the Vegeta Saga, he's more than three times stronger than he was in u18. (power level 4000) and is, for a while, the strongest being on earth.
- Big Damn Heroes: He shows up on his motorbike just in time to save Tien from certain death against Raditz. He also regains consciousness at a critical point in the fight to help finish Raditz.
- Determinator: Goes after Raditz the moment he realizes Tien is in danger, catches up in time to save Tien, plans to sacrifice himself after Tien's death so Grandpa Gohan can escape, vows to kill Raditz after Gohan sacrifices himself, recovers from being knocked out just in time to drive his sword through Raditz. This guy did not stop fighting to protect the Earth and his friends.
- Happily Married: He has a son with Bulma and they look verry happy together. He's seen training his son to be a warrior like a loving father. Unlike in DBZ Elsewhere, where he moved on from her and got together with Kyomi.
Tien
Goodbye, my best friend...
- The Ace: He hunted down the majority of Piccolo's children and killed them all. Only one actually forced him to fall back on Chiaotzu's technique. A year later, he manages to defeat Haarp and Banjo. Despite both of them being stronger than him. He blasts Banjo out of the ring with a Kikoho, sending him flying off in the distance and uses the Mafuben to force Haarp to fall outside the ring. Despite only seeing Master Roshi doing it once before. He goes down the quickest of all the fighters against a disguised Kami, but after training for 3 years on Kami's lookout under Popo, he actually surpassed Kami and is the World's Strongest Man. He comes within a hairs breath of actually overpowering Raditz with his Kikoho and is the first along with Krillin to reach King Kai's planet.
Chiaotzu
Dodon Ray!
- Can't Catch Up: It's less pronounced than in u18. But it's still present. While he is immensely more powerful here, he still falls a bit short: he dies against Piccolo, along with Gohan and Master Roshi, missing out on the rest of the fight. He is the only one who doesn't surpass Mr. Popo in the timeskip. Later when he dies again against Raditz. He's not strong enough to get to King Kai's planet on time to actually learn the kaioken and due to having already died twice, is left behind on King Kai's planet.
Master Roshi
Until yesterday I thought my fighting days where over... Today I thank Krillin for keeping me active all these years and in shape...
- Cool Old Guy: Just look at that cover.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Mafuba, unlike in universe 18, he actually succeeds in sealing king Piccolo because Gohan is around to hold the cooker for him. He ends up surviving it too, thanks to Krillins intervention. Unlike in universe 18 where he died after failing to seal king Piccolo. As of now, in universe 9, Piccolo is still sealed in that cooker and it's unlikely he'll get out anytime soon.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Narrowly averted twice. The first time he uses the Mafuba to seal a young king Piccolo back into a container at the cost of his life force, Krillin gives him a senzu bean while he's in the process of dying and he recovers just in time to not die... Only to die immediately afterwards against Piccolo's children. The second time he considers sacrificing his life briefly to seal Raditz, arguing his life is not that important, but decides to trust in Krillin to finish off Raditz for the sake of future generations. The resulting fight leads to the death of Krillin, but Roshi's follow up attack freezes Raditz long enough for Yamcha and Kami to finish Raditz off. Roshi collapses from exhaustion just before the end of the fight but he recovers.
- Retired Badass: Averted, unlike universe 18, he actually comes out of retirement and resumes training. First as a sparring partner for Krillin, but then fully after the fight with Raditz. As of now he's fully active as a Z-fighter and training his ass off.
- Super Mode: His bulked up form is still something that has to be seen to be believed. He's somehow capable of perfectly controlling the size of his muscles. And he'll adjust them depending on who he's fighting.
- Training from Hell: Played for laughs: Krillin gives him a "gift" but it's weighted training gi that weigh about a 100 killo's. Roshi states that's not a "gift for your master" and that he can hardly move in them. Subverted after the time skip though, he has trained in them and has surpassed Mr Popo on his own by acting as a sparing partner for Krillin. Making him strong enough to stand his ground in the team battle against Raditz.
- World's Strongest Man: He was this in the past (among the humans), he has since lost this title, but he has kept up his training again and is far stronger than he was before.
Bulma
His name is Trunks
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Definitely where her attraction with Yamcha comes from, at least as far as physical powers and "bad boy looks" go.
- Happily Married: To Yamcha, they have a son together.
- Teen Genius: Just like in universe 18.
Villains:
King Piccolo:
It's that fucking electric rice cooker
- Enemy Mine: With Kami in universe 3; realizing he's about to be killed if he doesn't fuse with Kami. They combine and become the nameless Namekian. Despite them both loathing each other. He only agreed to it if he where the dominant side of the fusion though.
- Fate Worse than Death: He spends 300 years locked up in a rice cooker, unable to move, see, hear, or feel, he's an old man when he finally gets out, at the end of his lifespan, he then manages to wish for eternal youth, regaining his previous power and appearance and gets to reign for a year... before promptly getting sealed up again in a different rice cooker. And he can't hope to die from old age to end his missery. As long as Kami lives, he'll never die in there.
- Irony: King Piccolo considered his son Haarp a disappointment for wanting to rule as a dictator instead of just destroying everything and terrorizing the populace. And urged him to be more like Xilophon. Another elite demon he spawned who layed waste to the southern capital. Xilophon would be dead 2 years later. Getting killed offscreen by Tien and Chiaotzu. While Haarp would go on to not only become the strongest of Piccolo's children, but take the lead in an attempt to free his father. Actually survive said attempt, decide to retire to his dictatorship, casually killing heroes and being surrounded by the hottest women in the are for the next 5 years. He then gets killed by Raditz but makes a comeback when at the gates of judgment, using his wits and women to con Enma into letting him avoid Hell and go training on King Kai's planet. Learning the kaioken, one of the most powerful and useful techniques ever created and surpassing his father in power. He then gets wished back to life. For bonus points, he called a god a fat animal to his face. King Piccolo's disappointment has by far achieved the most out of all his children and is still around enjoying life while Piccolo sits inside a container waiting for Kami to die off old age.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: He might not realize it, but fusing with Kami has affected his way of thinking. He's still bloodthirsty and a sadist. But he prioritizes training for the threat of the Saiyans over terrorizing the populace, years later, he boasts to Gast that he hates humans, but Gast points out he has killed far less people than he originally planned and is actually growing fond of watching humans grow. It's a slow process but Kami's influence is definitely there.
Haarp
Your cowardice is shameful human
- Refuge in Audacity: At the gates of heaven and hell, about to receive judgement on his soul, does he beg for forgiveness? Does he scream in anger? Does he attempt to escape? No. He cons Enma by remaking his harem's bodies. Using them to seduce Enma by using his harem to seduce Yenma into giving him a "trial period" to redeem himself. Effectively escaping hell, getting a free trip to King Kai's planet, becoming far stronger than his father ever would have dreamed and essentially bribing his way back into the main plot and cast to become a main character. He later insults the god who taught him to his face, calling him a "fat animal" and then gets resurrected. Haarp is all around winning at life. And everything he does is just so crazy awesome he gets away with it.
- Irony: King Piccolo considered his son Haarp a disappointment for wanting to rule as a dictator instead of just destroying everything and terrorizing the populace. And urged him to be more like Xilophon. Another elite demon he spawned who laid waste to the southern capital. Xilophon would be dead 2 years later. Getting killed offscreen by Tien and Chiaotzu. While Haarp would go on to not only become the strongest of Piccolo's children, but take the lead in an attempt to free his father. Actually survive said attempt, decide to retire to his dictatorship, casually killing heroes and being surrounded by the hottest women in the are for the next 5 years. He then gets killed by Raditz but makes a comeback when at the gates of judgment, using his wits and women to con Enma into letting him avoid Hell and go training on King Kai's planet. Learning the kaioken, one of the most powerful and useful techniques ever created and surpassing his father in power. He then gets wished back to life. For bonus points, he called a god a fat animal to his face. King Piccolo's disappointment has by far achieved the most out of all his children and is still around enjoying life while Piccolo sits inside a container waiting for Kami to die off old age.
- The Dog Bites Back: Piccolo constantly telling him he's a disappointment and not acknowledging his accomplishments leads to Haarp deciding to let bygones be bygones instead of fighting all of Earths warriors at
- Weak, but Skilled: Weak may be stretching it, but he mentions at the world martial arts tournament that while he lacks the raw power of his predecessor (Piccolo) his techniques are far superior, allowing him to become the strongest by far of Piccolo's children. After training with King Kai, one can't even call him weak anymore and he's more Strong and Skilled. once. This leads to Haarps survival and thriving future while Piccolo stays stuck inside his rice cooker.
Vegeta
I'll reduce this whole planet to ashes
- Adaptational Badass: U9 Vegeta outperforms his counterpart to an amazing degree. While u18 Vegeta got a zenkai after the battle on Earth, here he manages to get 2 zenkais in the middle of the fight. The resulting powerboost along with the full moon has him take on and completely anihilate the Z-fighters and Gero's androids at the same time. Anyone short of Freeza would probably be toast against him when the full moon is out.
- Victory by Endurance: What he's going for after Kiwi leaves him near death just to drag out his suffering. He stubornly clings to life, knowing that his last chance is lasting untill the full moon is out.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Vegeta doesn't kill Nappa in this reality, making him come off like less of a dick than u18. Although this only happens because he's busy dying when Nappa is defeated and thus isn't around to off him.
- Godzilla Threshold: Haarp, realizing they can't defeat the androids, healed Vegeta intending to use him as a decoy to die while he and Krillin made their escape. Instead of serving as a decoy, Vegeta becomes a much bigger threat to everyone, Gero's androids included.
- Awesome by Analysis: Like his counterpart, he learns to sense energy mid battle just by watching the Z fighters do it. He also quickly realizes he's fighting against androids when he can't sense their energy.
