The Dragon Ball roster is the best argument for the series - decades of transformations, villains, aliens and heroes give every game far more material than any other franchise can offer. It is also the source of the games' biggest balance problem, since almost every character has a unique gimmick rather than a moveset drawn from a shared pool.
FighterZ launched with 21 base fighters plus three unlockables. The launch roster covered the fundamentals of the franchise - Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Android 17 and 18, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Master Roshi from the original line-up, alongside Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, Captain Ginyu, Beerus, Broly, Jiren, Hit, Tura and Zamasu in their modern incarnations, plus unlockable additions such as Cooler, Turles, Android 16 and Bojack.
DLC brought the roster to roughly 44-45 characters. Notable additions include the Dragon Ball GT versions of Goku and Vegeta, Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks, Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, Vegito Blue, Bardock, the fused Zamasu, Ultra Instinct - Sign of the Gods, and Goku from DAIMA. Android 21 is the standout: designed by the late Akira Toriyama, she is one of the few characters created specifically for the game and looks the part.
The most recent FighterZ release added Goku (Super Saiyan 4, DAIMA) on April 22, 2026, with a new technique called Wild Dash. It is a reminder that Bandai Namco is still actively supporting a game eight years old - which has kept the competitive scene alive in a way most eight-year-old fighters are not.
Sparking! ZERO launched with an oversized roster relative to FighterZ, and the Super Limit-Breaking NEO expansion added 33 more on July 30, 2026: Champa, Super Saiyan Bardock, Grandpa Gohan, Mercenary Tao, Zangya, Pikkon, HF17, Nuova Shenron and others, several of them making their Budokai Tenkaichi series debut. That import rate is the point - the NEO roster is effectively where the arena fighting game's deeper character pool is being consolidated.
FighterZ's roster is smaller and each character is a tightly designed 2.5D fighter with a distinct silhouette and limited moveset. Sparking! ZERO's roster is larger and more uniform in structure, so a new fighter slots into the meta more easily. If you are a character loyalist, check which game actually has the fighter you want before committing - the two games do not overlap completely, and neither one is going to get the roster it wants soon.