There are a lot of different characters in the franchise who fit that criteria, and either died too soon, or else just continually tease the fans that they're going to do something cool, but don't deliver. Some of these characters could have been incredible fighters, while others would have added really interesting wrinkles into the plot. Alas, what they all have in common is that their big moment never came. Here is Dragon Ball: 15 Characters With The Most Wasted Potential.

15. FAT BUU

Fat Buu might seem like an odd choice to include on this list, given how dominant he got to be against Gohan, Vegeta, and Goku. But we're not talking about Buu when he was a villain; we're talking about after he decided to the Z Fighters. He was useful for a bit by helping to fight back against Kid Buu, but after that, we're left questioning why he was even kept around.

Buu was already reincarnated as Uub, so having Buu too seems weirdly redundant. But then despite how powerful Fat Buu was portrayed as being, he does absolutely nothing noteworthy in Dragon Ball GT or Super. In GT he merges with Uub to take on Baby, but they just get beaten down. And Buu is totally outclassed when he takes on Beerus in Super.

There were already plenty of Z Fighters just sitting around, so why add one more to the bunch? It's not like Fat Buu was some super popular character. Now his presence just makes us constantly question why he's not doing more to help out when he could theoretically just transform any villain into candy and get rid of them.

14. BULLA

There are two recurring problems we're going to see a lot of for this list. One is that the offspring of powerful warriors seldom live up to their breeding, leading to a new generation of characters who have little reason for even existing. And the second problem is women in the Dragon Ball franchise have never truly gotten a chance to shine as fighters. So what happens with Bulla is doubly frustrating because she could have not only been a great female fighter, but a kid who embodied the intelligence of her mother as well as the strength of her father.

Trunks to be a warrior. You'd think he'd want all of his family to achieve great things, but Bulla goes all of GT without a stand-out moment.

13. KING COLD

Unlike most of the characters in this list, it's not that King Cold was ever portrayed as strong and then suddenly got forgotten about. The problem with King Cold is that he was an intriguing character in Dragon Ball Z, but then got killed before he even got to do anything significant. He was obviously someone who was considered powerful. How could someone who fathered Frieza and Cooler not be strong himself? Considering he was a king, he should've been even stronger than Frieza at this time. So it was honestly kind of disappointing that we didn't get to see him do anything.

Even if King Cold wasn't going to be some nagging antagonist for dozens of episodes, it would have been nice to see him hang around a bit longer to flesh out the backstory surrounding Frieza some more. We don't even have an official name for Frieza's race, so there was definitely more potential here to flesh out Frieza's culture and lineage. It doesn't look like King Cold is ever coming back, though, so now we're left with even more questions than before we knew he existed.

12. VIDEL

Videl might seem like an odd choice at first, but she actually did achieve a lot for a human. Considering she lacked so much of the training that other characters had, she learned quite quickly under the tutelage of Gohan. Videl and Goten even learned to fly at the same time as each other. There aren’t many humans who can say they’ve learned to fly, especially not in such a short time. But Videl was clearly interested in becoming a better fighter, which makes it a bit baffling that the plotline just seemed to disappear.

Sure, Videl got beaten down by Spopovich, but every good fighter has lost before. She’s the daughter of Hercule, who despite being comically arrogant, is legitimately one of Earth’s strongest fighters. Videl should have bounced back from her defeat and gotten a chance to prove herself. But she’s one of many characters from the Buu saga who looked poised to be the new generation of heroes, only to have that snatched away.

11. BIO-BROLY

While Broly—Second Coming isn't ed as one of the great Dragon Ball movies, it was still a decent watch and about on par with the rest of the movies. If nothing else, Broly was such a fun character that fans weren't averse to seeing more of him, so that popularity made him the only antagonist to star in three of his own movies. Unfortunately, Bio-Broly wound up being perhaps the worst movie in the entire franchise.

The potential here was so obvious. Fans just wanted to see more of Broly kicking ass. Sure, he did that in two movies already, but Dragon Ball fans are willing to put up with repetitive fights. Just look how long Frieza's fight against Goku lasted, after all. But apparently the writers for this movie feared fan-fatigue and thought they needed to add in a new twist to keep Broly fresh. That twist was terrible, though.

Broly got turned into a generic slime monster instead of his cool Super Saiyan form, and he lost all of his personality. This could have been a great send off for the Broly trilogy, but poor planning led to this hugely tarnishing his character.

10. UUB

The end of Dragon Ball Z was clearly going for a denouement that implied that a new generation of heroes would be the main protectors of the world. Gohan went back to being a studious professional, Vegeta settled for being a gym rat, and Goku was quite content to abandon his family at a moment’s notice to run off and train the newcomer Uub. It didn't seem like Akira Toriyama actually planned to delve any further into that dynamic, though, so it all worked out and we could just imagine Uub would be the Earth’s new hero. Until Dragon Ball GT came along, anyway.

At the beginning of GT, Uub doesn't really seem any more remarkable in his power than Goten or Trunks have become. The only difference is that since Uub is a human, it's impressive that he was able to get even that much strength. Then, during the Baby saga, Uub merged with Fat Buu and got a significant increase in power. Even Goku couldn't beat Baby at this time, so it finally looked like Uub's time to shine. But then Uub lost anyway, and that was pretty much his last significant moment in the franchise. So much for Goku's successor.

9. ANDROID 18

It's hard to believe that out of all the female characters in all of Dragon Ball, pretty much the only one to be treated as a serious threat was Android 18. 18 wasn't someone who got lucky in a fight, or was just strong enough to finish off a minor character. She and 17 were originally intended to be the main antagonists of what would become the Cell saga, so she was able to take on Vegeta in his new Super Saiyan form and totally dominate him. The disappointment sets in when you realize her one fight against the Z Fighters where she broke Vegeta's arm was pretty much the only significant thing she did in the franchise.

Once Cell appeared, 17 and 18 got sidetracked taking a pointless road trip... in a van. They can fly so much faster, but they decided to drive until they maybe found Goku. Cell found them first, and neither android got a good chance to put up a fight against him. They're quickly absorbed, and then after being saved, 18 decides to settle down in a family life with Krillin.

Really the only time 18 ever got another shot to look menacing was in Future Trunks' timeline where they killed off every Z Fighter except Trunks. While 17 at least got to be a villain in GT and nearly kill a Super Saiyan 4 Goku, 18 just quickly lost all of her menace.

8. RADITZ

Raditz is another character who, while not great in of power, had so much more story potential in him at the time he died. Dragon Ball Z came out and flipped so much of what we knew on its head, with Raditz explaining that Goku was actually an alien, and had originally been sent to Earth to destroy it. Even more shocking was that Raditz was Goku's long-lost brother. With Raditz having so much previously unknown information about Goku, it looked like he'd surely be an important character for years. And yet after one short battle, Raditz was killed off and never seen again.

Raditz’s death felt so premature. He could have easily taken on the role Vegeta wound up having; developing an antagonistic relationship with Goku that would eventually transform into respect and friendship. Many fans wished Raditz would have stuck around if for no other reason than to see what he would have looked like as a Super Saiyan 3, since he already had long hair. This was Goku's last chance to hear more about what his parents were like, but Raditz disappeared as suddenly as he arrived.

7. GOTEN

Goten started off pretty strong, becoming the youngest Super Saiyan the franchise had seen at that point. It looked like he was getting built up for big things. The table was perfectly laid out for Goten to be one of the saviors in the Buu saga, with Goku deliberately stepping aside to give his son a shot. Goten and Trunks learned the fusion dance, and instantaneously became one of the show's strongest fighters as Gotenks. After only a few hours in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goten was even able to become a Super Saiyan 3 as Gotenks. How do you screw that up?

The answer is that Goten was still a child, so he treated all of his fights like a game. As Gotenks, Goten and Trunks had ample opportunity to finish off Majin Buu for good. Goten had witnessed this monster kill his own mom, so he should have been eager for revenge. Instead, the two Saiyans goofed around making up names for their attacks and wasted so much time that Buu was able to absorb them and become even more powerful than before. That was Goten's one big contribution to the franchise, really. He wasted his natural talent through his immaturity, and then just became another helpless bystander during fights.

6. KID TRUNKS

What a difference a separate timeline makes. Future Trunks immediately became one of the most powerful characters in DBZ when he first appeared, transforming into the second Super Saiyan we ever saw. Future Trunks was a skilled fighter in DBZ, was able to play a strong part in the battles against Cell, and got the honor of being the first character to truly kill Frieza. Given all that, you'd think Kid Trunks had a powerful legacy to look forward to.

Kid Trunks did impress by becoming a Super Saiyan at a young age, but he never really did much beyond that. Sure, he could become Gotenks and transform into a Super Saiyan 3 while fused, but he never beats anyone with that form. Kid Trunks is too cocky and naive to finish his battles when he can. And then he stops training as he grows older in GT, totally squandering his potential.

Meanwhile Future Trunks comes back in Super and not only single-handedly stops Babidi and Dabura, but even winds up being the one to finish off Zamasu. It's pretty clear that if you're looking for the good version of Trunks, you have to go to the future.