Highlights
- The Saiyan Army is divided into 3 tiers: lower, mid, elite, based on power level and inherent strength.
- Lower-class warriors like Bardock and Raditz have power levels of 1500-5000, weaker than mid-class.
- Elite-class Saiyans, like Vegeta and King Vegeta, have power levels over 10000, showing incredible strength and ruling family status.
The Saiyans became known far and wide as the ultimate warrior race, whose mere mention struck fear into the hearts of anyone who heard of their arrival. This was done for many reasons, chief among them being the Saiyan Army's fearsome reputation for being powerful and destructive fighters hell-bent on causing as much suffering as possible.
When working under Frieza, the Saiyans became an integral part of the tyrant's galactic business, where they would go and destroy a planet in order for it to be sold to someone else later on. The reason that they became so adept at this job was not only because of their violent nature but also because the Saiyan Army was structured brilliantly, so let's see how this structure worked and the various Saiyan warrior classes in Dragon Ball.
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Basic Overview Of The Army
The Saiyan Army was broken up into 3 main tiers, although 2 have been seen in the franchise. Despite this, series creator Akira Toriyama confirmed that a second level of Saiyan warriors does exist, even though their confirmation within the series came later on. Those Saiyans with a power level below 1000 are considered to be failures who don't belong in any class.
These tiers are the lower-class, mid-class, and elite-class, into which every single Saiyan is classified, and the primary determining factor is the latent power level that each fighter is born with. The higher the power level, the higher the ranking of the Saiyan as well, and though the series would later confirm that power levels can be increased once the person gets stronger, the inherent power that they're born with is generally the main factor in determining the class.
Lower-Class Warriors
Power Level | 1500-5000 |
|---|---|
Notable Warriors | Bardock, Raditz |
The lower-class Saiyan warriors are what make up the bulk of the entire Army. Boasting power levels of about 1500 to 5000, they are far stronger than the average human, but their actual strength is nothing compared to even the strongest fighters of their race, who reside in the elite-class tier. These fighters are also far weaker than mid-class warriors, but they still represent the average Saiyan and make up most of the Saiyan Army.
Maybe it's because I'm constantly fighting, destroying, that I'd actually like to save something for once. Especially someone who is judged to be a lower-class warrior... like my Kakarot.
Bardock was confirmed by Akira Toriyama to be a lower-class warrior, but was at the stronger end of this category. This was also remarked by Vegeta when he says to Goku that despite being a lower-class warrior, his father was a brilliant scientist, hinting that Saiyans do care about things other than strength, though not to the same degree. Raditz was also a lower-class warrior but was far stronger than Goku initially, only being beaten because of Goku's team-up with Piccolo.
Mid-Class Warriors
Power Level | 5000-8000 |
|---|---|
Notable Warriors | Nappa |
Though classified as mid-class, the power that these Saiyans had was incredible. Despite not much being shown about them, Nappa was confirmed to be the strongest general of them all and, when amped up, his power level was raised to a staggering 8000, making him far more powerful than everyone else at the time. Although he was later beaten by Goku, the power he showed was tremendous, as he completely destroyed all of East City with a single attack in his normal state.
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Elite-Class Saiyans/Royalty
Power Level | 10000+ |
|---|---|
Notable Warriors | Vegeta, King Vegeta |
So far, only 2 Saiyans have been given the categorization of being elite-class warriors; Vegeta and his father, King Vegeta. This gives some semblance to the idea that this class is exclusive to the ruling family and that their bloodline is one with exceptionally high battle power. Their strength is so great that before landing on Earth, Vegeta was shown to destroy an entire planet with minimal effort.
On this planet, we know that even the lowest-born can outdo the elite if they work hard enough.
However, Vegeta met his match in Goku, who proved to be just as strong despite being from a common Saiyan family. Their battle cemented the two of them as not only the strongest fighters of the Saiyan race, but also some of the strongest characters in the entire universe. Though at that stage, they were mere ants compared to what they are now, it truly does show the power of the various Saiyan classes.
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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Dragon Ball Super
- Release Date
- July 5, 2015
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Akira Toriyama
- Number of Episodes
- 131
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll , Funimation
