Dragon Ball Super introduced us to many concepts of the franchise that have since become mainstays within the universe. These things range from new forms to divine techniques to interesting new characters that may change the trajectory of where the series is headed in the future, but perhaps the most significant addition to the franchise in Dragon Ball Super is the divine hierarchy. This hierarchy breaks down the roles of different kinds of beings in the universe and also looks at how the universe is structured.

The levels that this hierarchy consists of are mortals, Kais, Gods of Destruction, Angels and the highest tier above them all which, so far, only consists of one character. The series breaks down the roles of each of these tiers in terms of what they do for the universe and while some roles act as keepers of balance in the universe, others simply exist to populate it. So, let us break down all the tiers that make up the divine hierarchy of the Dragon Ball universe.

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Mortals

Mortals essentially consist of most of the characters that we have come to know and love within the series. Mortals are the category that are by far the most numerous as they inhabit countless worlds, and they fall under the supervision of the Gods. The way that every universe is governed is by the 'Mortal Level' that it has. What this means is the average quality and development of the mortals within the universe as well as the standards of living that have to be kept at a very high level. The way that a universe achieves a high Mortal Level is by the Kai and God of Destruction doing their job well by fostering and creating prosperous civilizations and eliminating inadequate ones.

The Mortal Level of a universe does not correlate with the strength of the fighters, but rather with how the universe itself is managed. This is seen with Universe 7 which has powerful warriors but a low Mortal Level. Other than this, mortals are spread to every corner of the universe and come in many races, the most famous of which are the Saiyans and Earthlings and the general role of mortals in the hierarchy is to populate the universe and to develop proper civilizations. Examples of mortals are Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Frieza.

Kai

Kais are a race of divine beings that are five in total, with four of them overseeing a certain quadrant of the universe and one that oversees the Kais themselves. The Kais, just like the quadrants of the universe, are divided based on the four cardinal directions and are so named North Kai, South Kai, East Kai and West Kai. Their job essentially includes the guidance and protection of those mortals that reside within their quadrant of the universe.

The most famous of all the Kai is the North Kai, or 'King Kai' as fans know him. As his name suggests, he is the ruler of the North quadrant of the universe and is also the one who trained Goku many times and even taught him some techniques that he still uses to this day. The one that oversees these Kais is called the Grand Kai.

Supreme Kai

Supreme Kais in the universe of Dragon Ball are the direct opposites of the Gods of Destruction as their role within the hierarchy is to create planets and populate the entire universe with life. They work in contrast to these Gods as their job is to foster the advancement of adequate civilizations rather than the destruction of planets and life. This creates the perfect balance for the stability of the universe.

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This balance is also why the lives of the Supreme Kai and the God of Destruction of a particular universe are inextricably linked. If one were to die for whatever reason, this would also lead to the death of the other as the stability of the universe would start to crumble. Though the typical number of Supreme Kais in a universe is usually 3, it has been seen that this is not always the case as Universe 7 had a total of 5 Supreme Kais that were structured much like the regular Kais.

Gods of Destruction

On the other side of the spectrum, we have the terrifying Gods of Destruction. Serving as the exact opposite of the Supreme Kais of a universe, these Gods are usually the most powerful beings in the entire universe and they exist to destroy civilizations or even entire planets with their Hakai technique. While many mistake them as evil villains, their true purpose lies in keeping the balance of the universe which is done through getting rid of universal aspects that are not quite up to the mark.

This keeps the balance of the universe and, in turn, also brings up the overall Mortal Level of the universe. They even protect the universe from threats too great to be managed by anyone else and unlike the Kais and Angels that they work alongside, Gods of Destruction aren't a singular race as all 12 shown in the series vary greatly in species, where only Beerus and Champa were the same race and were both promoted to this rank eventually, starting as mortals. This shows that strength is the greatest factor in determining the position of God of Destruction. This tier includes Beerus, Champa, Belmod and Quitela.

Angels

Of all the divine races of the story, the Angels are by far the most enigmatic and the ones we know the least about. These mysterious beings, like the Supreme Kais, are born divine and are ordained to be the advisors to the Gods of Destruction of the universe that they are assigned to. These beings are born naturally attuned to the legendary Ultra Instinct technique as their natural state of being and they can use it perfectly, though the accuracy and refinement of the technique varies among them.

The Grand Priest is the father of all the Angels that we have seen so far in the series and since these beings are all masters of Ultra Instinct, their strength and power lie far ahead of anything even the Gods of Destruction are capable of. Some Angels in the series include Whis, Vados and Merus.

Grand Zeno

In Dragon Ball Super, Grand Zeno exists at the very top of the list when it comes to the way that the universe is structured and, as far as we know, no one is mightier than him. In terms of sheer power, he outclasses every single character by an extreme margin because no feat even comes close to the strongest thing we have ever seen Zeno do, which is erasing an entire timeline in the blink of an eye. All the Angels, Gods, and Kais are subservient to him including the Grand Priest. In terms of others on his level, the only thing that we can quantify is Zalama, the God that created Super Shenron, though it is only speculation until we see him. So for now, Zeno remains on top.

Dragon Ball Super is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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