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Dragon Ball’s Saiyans are a race offearsome warriors, nearly wiped out when the evil emperorFrieza destroyed their homeworld, Planet Vegeta. Emphasis onnearly. As Frieza will eventually regret discovering, a few Saiyans managed to survive the destruction of their planet and would live on to become some of the strongest beings in the universe. You probably know about Goku and Vegeta, but there are a few more that just barely escaped extinction.
This article is split into two sections: one for the Saiyans who canonically survived and one for those who survivedin non-canon materials and stories.Dragon Ballhas a ton of content, and some of it, like the early movies and specials, are considered non-canon even though Toei Animation also published them. They are still worth mentioning though, because there’s a chance that they might get into the canon someday, like what happened with Broly. However, the non-canon list will only include the Saiyans from movies and OVAs, because there are way too many surviving Saiyansfrom the non-canon gamesandSuper Dragon Ball Heroesto mention here.
The Canon Saiyans
Goku
Earth’s strongest protector, Kakarot, John Dragonball, whatever you want to call him, Son Goku is the main face of the franchise, and it’s all thanks to him surviving thedestruction of Planet Vegeta. So, how did he do it? Initially, Goku was thought to have been sent to Earth as a baby to conquer it, and was lucky enough for it to have happened just before Frieza’s genocide. Saiyans are incredibly powerful beings, so much so that they send their young ones to claim the planets they deem weak. This was the explanationRaditz, Goku’s older brother, gave inDragon Ball Zepisode 1, “The Arrival of Raditz”.
However, that explanation has since been retconned, and theDragon Ball Super: Brolymovie provided the true story. In it, Goku’s parents, Bardock and Gine, steal a space pod to put him in and send him to a distant planet. Bardock had been suspecting that Frieza was planning to wipe out all the Saiyans and wanted to at least save his son. Gine even wanted her and Bardock to come with Goku, but they would have risked being detected by scouters and so had to stay.Bardock didn’t pick Earthbecause he wanted Goku to conquer it in the name of the Saiyans, but simply because he believed its inhabitants were too weak to harm his son. The retcon doesn’t necessarily change the past though, as Raditz just didn’t know that his parents sent Goku away exclusively to save him rather than to invade Earth.
Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz
These three are all be grouped into one since they were all together during Planet Vegeta’s destruction. Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were part of an invasion force sent to conquer an unnamed planet.When Frieza sent the messagecommanding all Saiyans to return to Planet Vegeta, Vegeta (the prince) ignored his orders. Little did they know, that little act of rebellion saved their lives, as the reason Frieza wanted all the Saiyans assembled was so he could wipe out their entire race in one strike.
Additionally, two other unnamed Saiyans were with Vegeta’s crew, as shown in theDragon Ball Super: Brolymovie. Their fate is unknown, but since they’ve never been mentioned or seen from again, they likely died sometime beforeRaditz came to get Goku on Earth.
Broly and Paragus
Though initially non-canon, Broly has been brought to the canon world ofDragon Ballthrough theDragon Ball Super: Brolymovie. In both the non-canon and canon iterations, both Broly and Paragus survive the destruction of their homeworld, though in different ways.
In the non-canon version, Broly and Paragus were actuallyonPlanet Vegeta when Frieza destroyed it. They survived through sheer power by baby Broly creating a Ki bubble to shield him and his father from the blast and survive until they found a planet to land on.
In the new canon adaptation, King Vegeta exiled young Broly to a frontier planet because he feared the child’s incredible power and didn’t want him to overshadow his son, Prince Vegeta. Paragus forced another Saiyan named Beets to go with him to the planet Broly was on, where they stayed, and that’s how they survived Planet Vegeta’s doom. As for Beets, he was unfortunately killed by Paragus to preserve the limited food supply on the frontier planet.
The Non-Canon Saiyans
Turles
He may look like Goku, but Turles isn’t actually related to him in any way. He just coincidentally looks like him. You can thank Saiyan genetics for that, but who do you thank for him surviving Planet Vegeta’s destruction? Weirdly enough, his past wasn’t really explained inDragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, the movie he starred in. However,Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2shed some light on it, pointing out that Turles was supposedly on a secret mission somewhere in the past.
Ever the troublemaker though, he ditched his missionand deserted Frieza’s armyaltogether to form his own group, the Crusher Corps. It’s unknown what exactly his secret mission could have been, but by the time Frieza blew up Planet Vegeta, Turles had likely already left the Saiyans and was nowhere near the planet.
Bardock (Kind of)
Everyone knows that Goku’s father,Bardock died at the hands of Friezaalong with Planet Vegeta, but there’s a what-if OVA calledDragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, where he did survive… in a way. Instead of dying and going to the afterlife, Frieza’s Supernova mysteriously sends Bardock to the past instead. The ambitious OVA hoped to establish how the legend of the Super Saiyan started, and it’s all thanks to Bardock magically surviving the blast.
Tarble
No, this isn’t Cabba. Tarble is Vegeta’s long-lost little brother. He appears in an OVA calledDragon Ball: The Return of Son Goku and Friends!looking for Vegeta and asking for his help.
Despite only appearingin a non-canon OVA, Tarble is a real character in the canon, though it’s unknown if he actually survived Frieza’s Supernova, or if he did, no one knows where he is now. InDragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Bulma mentions Vegeta having a brother when they needed another Saiyan to perform the Super Saiyan God ritual. Vegeta confirms his existence but claims he has no means of contacting him. InDragon Ball Super: Broly, Tarble was mentioned once more in a flashback by Nappa, who wondered whether he had survived.
