History Characters / DragonBallMajorSupportingCast

* DeusAngstMachina: Yamcha and Bulma's breakup was never explained, though this was mostly due to Toriyama's disinterest in romance and romantic relationships. Toriyama later claimed that it was due to Yamcha being a cheater, which is an OutOfCharacterMoment, InformedAttribute, and formerly DubText at the very best- or blatant assassination of his character at the worst.

* InformedAttribute: Toriyama's statement is that he's a cheater, with Trunks even mentioning how Yamcha was unfaithful to Bulma. However, what we see on-screen is that Bulma tends to be the one who flirts with multiple villains while Yamcha was never once shown to be seriously unfaithful and in a later interview, Toriyama even mentioned how Yamcha got fired from a bouncer job because of his fear of women, making it difficult to view Yamcha as the philandering playboy he's made out to be and even late into the series, Yamcha is still shown to be single and without anyone in his life resembling a significant other.

* AnArmAndALeg: Nappa starts off his fight against Tien by removing his arm within seconds. Jarringly, it's not sliced off, but it is literally ''punched'' off as Tien attempts to defend himself. This weakens Tien so much that he can't do much of anything until his SenselessSacrifice.

* {{Flanderization}}: Tien ''was'' known for his wide variety of techniques, both moves he could copy, moves he learned from the Crane Hermit, and moves he invented on his own, all of which made him a tricky opponent for the likes of Goku, Yamcha and Roshi with his now signature Tri-beam being just one move in his arsenal. However, come ''Z'' and ''Super'' Tien is '''only''' shown using the Tri-Beam against opponents as it's become his go-to technique even against enemies weaker than him, with other fighters using his techniques such as the Solar Flare and Multi-Form more than him.

->'''Voiced by (Japanese):''' Creator/YukoMinaguchi (''Z'', ''GT''), Creator/ShinoKakinuma (''Kai'')\\

* MoralMyopia: When he was the Crane Hermit's student, he is angry at Goku for killing Mercenary Tao. This is despite Tao being a renowned assassin and Goku tells him that he was only defending himself.

* FailureHero: In ''Z'' Yamcha seldom wins clear victories outside of fillers (and never important ones). Though he's had his moments in filler.

* RedemptionDemotion: Yamcha generally remained useful in ''Dragon Ball'' and in the first arc, where he and Puar actually saved everyone from Great Ape Goku. In ''Z'' Yamcha was really only useful for distracting villains or taking care of wounded characters.
* RetiredBadass: After the Cell Games. However, in the anime OVA special, he reveals that he still wears his fighting gi under his suit, suggesting that he still misses fighting.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: In Episode 70 of ''Super'', when Champa challenges Beerus to a baseball match, Yamcha is the only one who has any idea what the hell he's doing, since he spent the time-skip between ''Dragon Ball'' and ''Z'' playing in the pros.

** In the original manga canon he holds one important victory against the Invisible Man during Baba's Tournament.

* TookALevelInBadass: In {{Filler}}, at least, Yamcha sometimes does better. He defeated Recoome, a guy who beat ''Vegeta'' to within an inch of his life while training on King Kai's planet. While training in the Other World along with Krillin, he also defeated some of the top fighters in the tournament that Goku had won while he was there.

** Save for Vegeta, no other character got hit with this more. Yamcha suffers from this as early as ''Dragon Ball'', always losing in his first round in the three world tournaments he participates in to show how powerful Jackie Chun, Tenshinhan, and Hero/Shen/Kami are, despite his training. Even in Baba's tournament does he suffer this, beating See-through only to get brutally beat down by Bandages. By the time ''Z'' came around, Yamcha was the first to fall in the Saiyan Arc and again in the Android Saga.

* HeroicLineage: She comes from ''two'' heroic lineages. Her grandfather, Goku, is a warrior who saved the Earth countless times and her father saved the world from Cell and was critical to everyone's survival during the Saiyan Invasion and Namek. Her other grandfather, Mr. Satan, is a BadassNormal who in a world of {{Super Weight}}s is relegated to FakeUltimateHero; he is seen as the world's savior but really did help save the world from Cell, though he played a small but key role in the last stand against Buu ([[CombinedEnergyAttack yes, really!]]). Her mother is a BadassNormal who used to help the police fight crime on a regular basis without any Ki or superpowers.

* CombatPragmatist: What he becomes ''by necessity'' in ''Super''. He's absolutely ancient by human standards and even with the arena specifically designed to prevent Ki-based flight abilities and balancing the SuperWeight that [[{{Heavyworlder}} heavyworlders (or those who train like them)]] gain when fighting on an optimal field, he relies on trickery, esoteric techniques, and wisdom to defeat opponents who outclass him by power alone. This goes so far as Roshi ''[[{{Determinator}} specifically seeking out]]'' warriors he knows will trip up his stronger, but less canny, students. The no-flight clause is played to his advantage, as Roshi never actually learned the ability to fly without assistance.

* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: In the ''Z'' era at least, the Z-Fighters as a whole would [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome rarely hang out unless the world was in danger and could go for years without even seeing each other, either due to their other responsibilities or simply living too far away from each other and losing contact]]. This is mostly averted in ''Super'' where they are more close-knit, often having parties and get-togethers at Bulma's place.

->'''Voiced by (French):''' Gilbert Levy (''Super'')

** Like the other canonically-weaker characters, he can fight leagues beyond his weight class in video games. In ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'', his fast-paced playstyle has made him the memetic badass of the game. [[ButtMonkey This does not stop Cell, Nappa, Frieza, AND GOKU from making fun of him for being too weak to be affected by the waves.]]

* CharacterExaggeration: While Yamcha was always a bit of a ButtMonkey in Dragon Ball's run, videogames and later media play it up so badly you'd be surprised if he ever accomplished anything in the series. It's true t

* DemotedToExtra: Cell Saga, Buu Saga, ''GT'' and ''Super''.

* {{Determinator}}: Yamcha's pretty eager to fight most of the time, he eagerly volunteered to fight King Piccolo when his leg was broken. Until he goes down against #20, at which point [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he calls it quits]] (he still tags along with the others at the Cell Games, but only sits at the sidelines).
* DeusAngstMachina: Yamcha and Bulma's breakup was never explained, though this was mostly due to Toriyama's disinterest in romance and romantic relationships.

* ReallyGetsAround: According to Future Trunks, this is the reason Bulma eventually left him for Vegeta in that timeline. What's ironic is that Yamcha was initially extremely shy around girls at the start of the series and said he wanted to get married.

** Yamcha's Spirit Ball is the first fully controllable ki attack shown in the series. While Yamcha was beaten handily by the powerful Shen in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he managed to show his combat smarts by, after failing to hit Shen with his Spirit Ball, he made the energy ball travel underground and erupt under Shen's chin, catching him off guard. Shen even complimented Yamcha on his skills after the battle. Yamcha is

** Save for Vegeta, no other character got hit with this more. Yamcha suffers from this as early as ''Dragon Ball'', always losing in his first round in the three world tournaments he participates in to show how powerful Jackie Chun, Tenshinhan, and Hero/Shen/Kami are, despite his training. By the time ''Z'' came around, Yamcha was the first to fall in the Saiyan Arc and again in the Android Saga.

'''10-year-old Pan voiced by (English):''' Creator/EliseBaughman (Creator/FUNimation dub); Creator/CaitlynneMedrek (Blue Water dub); Lia Sargent (''GT'' - ''Final Bout'')\\

* TeensAreShort: She is listed as 1.57 meters (5'2), just a little taller than Krillin.

* WeakButSkilled:
** Yamcha's Spirit Ball is the first fully controllable ki attack shown in the series. While Yamcha was beaten handily by the powerful Shen in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he managed to show his combat smarts by, after failing to hit Shen with his Spirit Ball, he made the energy ball travel underground and erupt under Shen's chin, catching him off guard. Shen even complimented Yamcha on his skills after the battle.

* WouldHitAGirl: Zigzagged. In ''Dragon Ball'', he is forced to knock out Kid Chi-Chi when she attacks him. On the other hand, Yamcha seems unable to strike a beautiful girl in ''The Legend of Shen Long.''

* AdaptationalBadass: Slightly, combined with ThrowTheDogABone. Chaozu in the manga never becomes anything close to important again after his SenselessSacrifice against Nappa. In the anime, he at least gets to show off his training under King Kai by mopping the floor with Guldo.
* AdvertisedExtra: Chaozu is often billed as one of the main Z-Fighters, but he never does anything of any real consequence to the plot. His main role is being a SatelliteCharacter to Tenshinhan.

* BookDumb: He has trouble with basic math and can't tell left from right without pausing to think which hand he holds chopsticks in. Apparently, unlike Roshi, Shen doesn't bother providing his students with basic schooling.

* TookALevelInBadass: Shown best in his battle with Guldo, who nearly killed Gohan and Krillin. Chiaotzu managed to mop the floor with him in under a minute.

** He becomes the first Z-Fighter to participate in a World Martial Arts and not make it past the preliminary elimination rounds (alongside Yajirobe, who fought unbeknownst to the others due to disguising himself with a mask). This was done to show that Mercenary Tao had returned (now as a cyborg) and was seeking revenge on Goku and Tien.