Akira Toriyama brought a revolution with his spectacular and groundbreaking manga/anime franchise, Dragon Ball. It is one of those few anime franchises that even non-anime watchers are very much aware of. Dragon Ball's humongous success majorly comes from the unique universe that Toriyama crafted, and the most fascinating part of this universe is the Saiyan race.
Saiyans are an extraterrestrial warrior race that has produced great warriors like Son Goku, Vegeta, Bardock, etc. Saiyans are known throughout the galaxies for being extremely powerful creatures with multiple mind-blowing super abilities. Saiyans are almost equal to the gods of their universe in terms of raw power and strength. But there are weaker and stronger warriors even among the Saiyans. Let's find out who is the strongest Saiyan of them all.
The Face of the Saiyan Race
The most recognizable Saiyans for the fans of the franchise and even the non-fans are Goku and Vegeta. They are the face of the Saiyan race throughout the franchise as the entire story of the franchise revolves around their adventures and crazy fights. They both are immensely strong and pack a lot of heat when it comes to battling things out. Most fans consider Goku to be the stronger one of the two of them. Being the protagonist of a grand anime franchise like Dragon Ball comes with plenty of perks and being one of the strongest characters in your franchise is undoubtedly one of them. Goku is undeniably one of the strongest characters in the Dragon Ball franchise but is he the strongest Saiyan alive?
Goku goes beyond his limits with every battle that he fights in, and he has been at it since the 21st Tenka-Ichi Budōkai tournament. Goku has fought renowned opponents like Frieza who was feared by all the Saiyans. He took on Cell, Majin Buu, Jiren, and other such celebrated warriors who are considered forces to be reckoned with. He learned one of the hardest skills that a mortal being can learn in their life which is the Ultra Instinct not only did he learn it, but he also mastered it in the same battle. Goku is only going to get stronger as the story of Dragon Ball Super moves forward in the manga and the upcoming seasons of anime.
Vegeta is also a good contender for the title of the strongest Saiyan as he is almost as strong as his greatest rival and friend, Goku. Even though the prince of all Saiyans is a good contender for the concerned title, he is still quite not there in the topmost echelon of the Saiyan warrior race. The only thing that keeps Vegeta from ascending to the throne of being the strongest Saiyan is the fact that although he is at par with Goku in terms multiple times since the latter is the protagonist of the franchise he gets an upper hand and new power upgrades.
Vegeta's fans are often left in dismay as he always gets shadowed by Goku because the latter keeps moving a level up in the terms of strength whenever Vegeta reaches his level. Though, Vegeta mastering the Ultra Ego and Spirit Control and winning a sparring match with Goku on Beerus's home planet as shown in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has got the fans of the franchise believing that he has finally outdone Goku.
Ones With Infinite Potential
There are two more Saiyans who have infinite potential and an even higher probability than Goku and Vegeta to claim the title of the strongest Saiyan. These two Saiyans are Goku's son, a prodigy Gohan, and the legendary Super Saiyan of the planet Vegeta, Broly. Both Gohan and Broly have achieved feats that seem almost impossible that too with minimal effort. Gohan was hyped by Toriyama back in Dragon Ball Z and was set to succeed Goku in the Dragon Ball franchise, however, things went south because of factors like poor writing and even worse execution.
Gohan has the potential to become the protagonist that the Dragon Ball franchise needs to maintain its rich glory. Not to forget Toriyama has always given the audience glimpses of Gohan's strength that even surpasses Goku's. He defeated a ferocious and powerful being like Cell who had attained the supreme form, Perfect Cell when he was just a kid. And he did so with a smirk on his face as if it was child's play for him, although technically it was indeed child's play for him. Gohan took a backseat after Goku was resurrected and reclaimed his position as DBZ's protagonist. Fans are finally happy as Gohan was given a power upgrade in DBS: Super Hero and they are speculating he might be playing a bigger role in the future of the franchise. He might be able to surpass his father and Vegeta if he is consistent with his training.
Broly is a character that is considered to be the legendary Super Saiyan even by his contemporaries. Broly strength is astounding, to say the least. This Saiyan was used by his father as a weapon of destruction, and a medium to seek revenge on the remaining Saiyans of the planet Vegeta as Broly and his old man were left to be killed by King Vegeta just before Frieza destroyed planet Vegeta. Broly's phenomenal strength and instincts saved him and his father Paragus. To describe Broly's infinite strength and potential, he gave Goku and Vegeta the beating of a lifetime while remaining in his base form, and they went through several transformation levels in DBS: Broly. He completely thrashed them after going Super Saiyan 1.
He could only be stopped when Goku and Vegeta fused into Gogeta and overwhelmed him. Broly taught seasoned warriors like Goku and Vegeta what pain is, not to forget that his fight with them was his first real fight as he had only fought with a creature on planet Vampa as training. With proper training and more transformations, he might even be able to go toe to toe with the gods of his universe and even become more powerful than them. He was last seen observing Goku and Vegeta as the two were teaching how to spar on planet Beerus. Hence, Goku is the strongest Saiyan in the franchise as of now but given that the story is still going on and Broly has started proper training and Gohan is back at training, Goku might not remain the strongest Saiyan for too long. Therefore, in terms of potential Broly and Gohan can be considered the strongest Saiyans but only the time and Dragon Ball franchise's future would tell this.