With the release of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO two months away, Dragon Ball fans have been anxiously guessing what characters will fill out the remaining roster slots. After Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s Androids and Cell saga trailer, only 34 slots are left, and Bandai is likely to publish a character trailer for Buu saga characters, and possibly another for Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power. All this is making every Dragon Ball fan wonder: will original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT characters be a part of the base game roster?
Dragon Ball Sparking Zero Roster – Buu Saga
Some of the more notable characters from the Buu saga have already been confirmed for Sparking! ZERO’s roster, like Majin Buu, Majin Vegeta, and Gotenks. With the extremely minor character Spopovich confirmed, no character is too trivial to not be added. Let’s take a look at who’s likely to make it from Dragon Ball Z’s final saga, including some characters who were previously in Budokai Tenkaichi 3:
- Babidi (with Yakon and Pui Pui as moves)
- Ultimate Gohan / Mystic Gohan
- Evil Buu
- Super Buu
- Super Buu (Gotenks absorbed)
- Super Buu (Gohan absorbed)
- Kid Buu
- Supreme Kai / Shin
- Kibitoshin
- Great Saiyaman 2 / Great Saiyawoman
- Uub
Tournament of Power Saga
Sparking! ZERO will cover the story through the climactic clash against Jiren in Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power, so it’s likely we receive a DBS/Tournament of Power character trailer as well. Like with the Buu saga, many notable TOP characters are already confirmed, like Top, Kale, and Caulifla. I don’t think all of the below characters make the base roster, but it’s likely a fair amount are added to create story battles.
- Android 18 (Super)
- Cabba
- SSJ Cabba
- Frost (Final Form)
- Saonel or Pilina
- Magetta
- Botamo
- Basil
- Lavender
- Top (God of Destruction)
Who Takes the Remaining Slots?
Depending on how many Buu and Tournament of Power saga characters get added, we could be looking at anywhere from 13 to 19 remaining roster slots. I also speculate that King Vegeta, Jaco, and Super Saiyan Bardock are likely to be added, but let’s assume they’re not for the moment.
Unless the developers add every Tournament of Power fighter imaginable, it’s somewhat likely at the very least original Dragon Ball characters make their way onto the roster. Conservatively, I think 15 characters would have to be included if Sparking! ZERO wanted to fairly represent original Dragon Ball characters:
- Goku
- Goku (23rd Tenkaichi Budokai)
- Goku (Great Ape)
- Chi-Chi (23rd Tenkaichi Budokai)
- Krillin
- Tien Shinhan
- Yamcha
- Jackie Chun
- Grandpa Gohan
- General Blue
- Mercenary Tao
- Cyborg Tao
- Demon King Piccolo
- Demon Jr.
- Demon Jr. (Giant Form)
This list of course leaves off Demon King Piccolo’s minions and many 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai combatants. I’m also going light on the Red Ribbon Army’s generals and Muscle Tower fighters. Bandai Namco marketing director David Edmundson recently hinted at the Red Ribbon Army having a presence in the game, saying, “Jiren can fight Tao Pai Pai, you can have anyone from the Red Ribbon Army fight against — I don’t want to say Jiren again — Vegeta!” during an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con. His slip-up is far from a direct confirmation, but don’t be surprised if he divulged more than he should have.
Unfortunately, I don’t see any way for Dragon Ball GT characters to make the base roster as at least 20 slots would be needed to cover every Z Fighter, their transformations, and notable villains (remember – Spopovich and King Cold are on the roster, so anything goes).
Dragon Ball games are no stranger to DLC, however, and hopefully Sparking! ZERO is here to last. The first wave of DLC will add Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero characters and new characters from the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima anime. After that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Z movie villains were added in future DLC seasons. Come 2025 or 2026, we could be looking at the first Dragon Ball game to feature every character you could possibly imagine.
Published: Aug 19, 2024 12:06 pm