Goku and the Z-Warriors have been competing in martial arts tournaments throughout the history of the Dragon Ball Super.
Tournaments have always been a central part of the anime. That’s largely due to Goku’s ambitious goals, as the character has long been determined to become stronger than everyone else. In the first Tournament of Power, the Z-Warriors had to fight for the fate of their entire world.
At this point, every member of the Z-Warriors has fought in at least one tournament, but only a few have taken home the glory. Some, like Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Krillin, have never even made it to the final round. Here are all the Z-Warriors who have earned the title of champion in a martial arts tournament.
Master Roshi
Master Roshi has won two tournaments in the Dragon Ball franchise. The first happened off-screen, several years before the series even started. His second victory happened in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, which was the anime’s first version of the event. Disguised as “Jackie Chun”, Master Roshi entered the contest as a way of keeping the Z-Warriors from winning and becoming complacent with their skills. After getting wins over both Yamcha and Krillin, Roshi battled and outlasted Goku in the finals. Roshi brought back his “Jackie Chun” alter ego for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, but willingly forfeited in the fight against Tien, having coming to the conclusion that the latter would be a more interesting challenge for Krillin, Yamcha, and Goku. After that, Roshi seemingly retired, but it was revealed in Dragon Ball Super that he’s been training in secret. He returned to competitive fighting with an impressive performance against the Universe 4 team in the Tournament of Power, but he eventually fell to Frost.
Tien
Before becoming a hero, Tien served as an antagonist to Goku in Dragon Ball. As students of Master Shen, he and Chiaotzu entered the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. The two battled their way to the semifinals, with Chiaotzu falling to Krillin and Tien getting a hard-fought win over Yamcha. In the final round, Tien squared off against Goku, with the two fighters appearing to be evenly matched. Master Shen tried to fix the match in Tien’s favor, but his efforts were thwarted, thus allowing Goku and Tien to battle it out in a fair fight. In the end, the two were knocked into the air by a Kamehameha from Goku. Both landed outside the ring, but Goku happened to touch down first. For this reason, Tien was declared the winner. As the defending champion, Tien returned in the next year’s tournament, but lost in a rematch with Goku.
Goku
Goku, who has participated in more tournaments than any other Dragon Ball character, has only won one. After losing both the 21st and the 22nd, the Saiyan got his first and only championship in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament by fighting his way through King Chappa, Chi-Chi, Tien, and finally, Piccolo. After an intense fight, Goku finished off Piccolo with a headbutt.
Goku almost got a second tournament win in Other World. Years after being killed by Cell, Goku ed a contest of dead fighters in Universe 7’s afterlife. For the most part, the event was a breeze, as Goku faced minimal difficulties in the path to the finals. That changed when he was pushed into going Super Saiyan by Pikkon. Eventually, Goku beat Pikkon, but was denied the title of winner by Grand Kai, who said that both fighters disqualified themselves when they touched the ceiling. Later on, Goku came close to beating Hit and Jiren in the Universe 6 contest and the Tournament of Power respectively, but fell short on both occasions.
Gohan
The Cell Games was a special kind of tournament put together by Perfect Cell in Super Saiyan 2. Held back by his own inhibitions, Gohan struggled to unlock his full power during the fight with Cell. Future Trunks, Android 16, and Goku all died before Gohan was able to finish off the villain. In the aftermath of Gohan winning the Cell Games, the public was fooled into believing that Mr. Satan was the hero who saved them.
Kid Trunks
Goten and Kid Trunks weren’t old enough to Gohan, Piccolo, Goku, and Vegeta at the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, but they did qualify for the event’s Junior Division. As the only characters with powers, getting to the final round was no problem for either of them. The two half-Saiyans engaged in a tough fight that resulted in both going Super Saiyan. For Vegeta, it was important to him that his son beat Goku’s. Ultimately, he got what he wanted when Kid Trunks knocked Goten out of the ring and won the Junior Division. Still disappointed about not being able to compete in the main event, the two disguised themselves as one adult fighter until their ruse was exposed by Android 18.
Android 17
The Tournament of Power, a battle between teams of ten across eight universes, called for Goku to unite the strongest of the Z-Warriors to save their world from being erased. Faced with numerous challengers of great power, the Universe 7 team was whittled down to just a handful of fighters in its final minutes. Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Gohan, and Android 17 survived up until the final battle with Universe 11’s last three competitors, Jiren, Dyspo, and Top. Remarkably, 17 persevered even when Vegeta and Gohan went down, and fought side-by-side with Frieza and a depleted Goku against Jiren. Seeing that there was no other way to win, Goku and Frieza knocked both themselves and Jiren off the ring, leaving Android 17 as the last man standing. As the sole winner of the Tournament of Power, 17 was awarded the Super Dragon Balls, which he then used to resurrect the restore the seven erased universes. 17's role in the story essentially made him the breakout star of the Universal Survival Saga.