Yesterday was International Women's Day, and since the whole month is dedicated to Women's History, now seems like a great time to delve into the history of women in gaming, particularly in Dragon Ball Z games, particularly the strong ones, both in terms of power level and tenacity. Although the franchise has been criticized for having very few capable female characters compared to the slew of male characters, in recent years there have been steps taken to alleviate that problem. They may not be enough yet, but they are certainly taking the franchise in the right direction, so who are the strongest female characters?
For those unaware, Dragon Ball Z games are notorious for having massive rosters. Older Dragon Ball Z games like the Budokai or Tenkaichi series have an utterly ridiculous amount of playable characters, like Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 3, which has a total of 96 unique characters and 161 different forms of characters. More recent games like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball FighterZ have stuck to relatively small rosters, but have taken steps to either introduce new female characters or empower the ones already in the franchise. Many of these female characters are well worth celebrating, whether they be villains or heroes.
Android 18
 The most obvious character that comes to mind in terms of powerful female Dragon Ball characters is easily Android 18. This part machine, part human menace proved to be a real powerhouse when she was first introduced to Dragon Ball Z as a villain, handling the likes of Super Saiyan Vegeta with ease, a shattering the prince of Saiyan's pride along with his arm. In gaming, Android 18 has appeared in most Dragon Ball games, including the most recent Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball FighterZ, although she is relegated as a support character in the former.
Chi-Chi
Chi-Chi is admittedly one of Dragon Ball's less popular characters due to the way she raises Gohan and treats Goku and his training. While the way she seems to undervalue training and the accomplishments of both her son and husband is somewhat cartoonish, her desire for a normal life and for her son to be successful and safe is not far-fetched. She has not appeared in many Dragon Ball games, as even the ones which retell the story of Dragon Ball Z don't tend to go too deep into the family life of characters, but Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has painted her in a much better and more realistic light, as well as calling back to Chi-Chi's fighting days.
Bulma
Another character which doesn't appear in video game adaptations of Dragon Ball too often is Bulma, and this is truly a shame. Although she isn't capable of fighting like Android 18 (heck, even Chi-Chi has more martial arts experience than her), Bulma's accomplishments literally cannot be overstated. She is a multi-millionaire, owns an extremely successful company which has revolutionized the entire world, and built and flown spaceships. Bulma even invents time travel, like the time machine coming to Dragon Ball Z :Kakarot soon.
Android 21
Although there is much to decry about Dragon Ball FighterZ' story, one thing most fans can agree on is that Android 21 is pretty darn cool. Just like Android 16 is modeled after Dr. Gero's son, Android 21 is made in the image of the scientist's wife. She is similar to Cell in that she is made up of the cells of many powerful warriors, and as such is both extremely powerful and intelligent. Eventually, the cells from Majin Buu inside her take over and cause her to turn evil for a time, and in this form her power is almost unrivaled.
Towa
Towa played an important role in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse franchise and acts as part of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's secret boss. She is an incredibly ambitious woman from the demon realm with incredible powers, capable of greatly boosting the power of a fighter by latching onto the evil in their heart and of travelling between time periods and timelines with ease. Although she has primarily only been seen as a villain, and she tends to let her creation, Mira do the fighting, it is very cool to see such a powerful female villain in Dragon Ball since there all the major villains from the anime series are male.
Mai
Although Mai has appeared in Dragon Ball games in the past, she is almost never a playable character. It isn't hard to see why, as she can't fly or harness ki or anything like that, and until Dragon Ball Super she was mostly a gag character anyway. That said, the Future Trunks arc of Dragon Ball Super shows her as an extremely capable leader and tactician, to the point where she has led the entire resistance against Goku Black. There is a possibility, albeit a slim one, that fans may see Mai in Dragon Ball FighterZ season 3.
Kefla (Kale and Caulifla)
Kefla, the fusion of the saiyans from Universe 6, Kale and Caulifla, is an extremely powerful warrior. Both the individuals that make up this fusion are also both capable, with Caulifla being the first canon female Super Saiyan and Kale unlocking the power of the Legendary Super Saiyan before even Broly's canon appearance. She even is responsible for pushing Goku over the edge and into Ultra Instinct again in a fight which she only loses because of the insane power up the Saiyan receives. Lucky for fans of the fused warrior, Kefla was added to Dragon Ball FighterZ just last month.
Other Women in Dragon Ball Z Games
There are many women in other Dragon Ball Z games who deserve just as much attention as these, such as Videl, Pan, Zangya, Launch, and Fasha, all of whom are powerful characters in their own right, but these are the most prevalent. With International Women's Day passed and Women's History month only just beginning, fans should continue to push for more female representation in Dragon Ball, both in the animes and mangas as well as video game adaptations.
Dragon Ball Z games like Kakarot and FighterZ are available now.
