All Tenkaichi 3 Characters Missing From Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, Listed

With the final base roster of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero in our hands, fans couldn’t help but notice the absence of certain characters, especially those missing when compared to Tenkaichi 3. Here’s a full list of those that are no longer present.

All Tenkaichi 3 Characters Missing in Sparking Zero

While Sparking! Zero features the largest number of characters ever seen in a Dragon Ball game, some faces from the previous entry in the franchise (Budokai Tenkaichi 3) are nowhere to be seen and haven’t been announced as DLC yet. They come from all three main series that existed before Super, and not including some of them is a curious choice, to say the least. A total of 20 unique characters aren’t returning to the game, excluding a few transformations.

All Tenkaichi 3 Dragon Ball Characters Missing in Sparking Zero

Despite being the very beginning of the series, the original Dragon Ball series is arguably the least popular as most people started with Z. Removing some of its characters to bring newer, flashier ones is a logical choice, but not very popular among some fans.

Android 8

The first Android in the series is nowhere to be found in the new series. Given his role in some of the movies, and that he even had a What-If scenario in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, it’s sad to see him gone for good.

Arale

The crossover character from Dr. Slump is no longer playable, despite even appearing in some Dragon Ball Super episodes. She was added originally as a gag character, being extremely powerful. Maybe that’s why they’re locking her out this time.

Chichi (Kid)

Chichi was playable in her infant form, just like Goku. She wasn’t the best character out there, but it was nice to see something as different as her being playable.

Demon King Piccolo

With such a cool new version of the attack that defeated him, it sucks that he’s not present in the game to be a target for it. Some games introduced this version of Piccolo as an alternative costume for the good character most people are more familiar with, and maybe Sparking! Zero will take that route.

Devilman

Another unique character, Devilman was also the star of a What-If Scenario, where he single-handedly defended Earth from Frieza and his father with his evil-erasing technique, the Devilmite Beam. It would be great to instantly delete characters like Zamasu with it, but it’s not happening for now.

General Blue

Another villain from the classic series that, especially, wasn’t as beloved as some other characters. Many may not even feel his absence, unfortunately.

Mercenary Tao/Cyborg Tao

Tao, on the other hand, was a much bigger menace in the series. But he won’t be as menacing in the newest title, as both his regular and his reconstructed Cyborg form aren’t here anymore.

Grandpa Gohan

Despite having minor screen time, his impact in the series is immeasurable as he’s the reason Goku is the person he become. His inclusion in Tenkaichi Budokai 3 was a nice way to honor this character, but he is ultimately cut from Sparking! Zero.

Nam

Nam was quite different from other characters in the roster, and that’s what made him so interesting. He also had a dedicated Story Mode scenario, which made him stand out even more compared to other characters.

Tambourine

One of Demon King Piccolo’s sons, Tambourine was responsible for killing Krilin, which led Goku to chase and kill him, eventually going after his father.

Related: Is Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Crossplay? Answered

All Tenkaichi 3 Dragon Ball Z Characters Missing in Sparking Zero

Most of the absent characters from the Z series are from movies and fillers, with one major exception. Because of that, they aren’t dealbreakers, though they would certainly make the cast feel a bit more diverse.

Fasha

One of the first female Saiyans to be shown in the series, she was a member of Bardock’s crew that was killed by Frieza’s soldiers. She also had a small role in a What-If scenario in Tenkaichi 3.

Garlic Jr (Base)

The base form of one of the first movie villains. His full-powered self is present in the game as Super Garlic Jr, though, and since he barely fought using his base form in the movie or during his brief saga in the anime, this is arguably the least impactful loss in the whole roster.

King Vegeta

We barely had any chances to see Vegeta’s father actually throwing punches, so this character was pretty much entirely made out of creative liberties. It was a cool extra addition, though.

Pikkon

Present in some anime-only sagas and in the Fusion Reborn movie, Pikkon is another fan-favorite that’s not returning in the game. It feels a bit weird, as he has some cool moments in his appearances and all other characters from the aforementioned movie are back, but that’s just the way it is.

Salza

A secondary villain from the Cooler’s Revenge movie, Salza served as a counterpart to Ginyu. However, he was eventually defeated by a surprise attack by Piccolo.

Supreme Kai/Kibitoshin

The Supreme Kai isn’t really known for being a fighter, but he’s been a consistent presence across many games, always having his fused form with Kibito as a transformation. While these are missing from the playable roster of Sparking! Zero, they will still appear in cutscenes.

Zangya

A member of Bojack’s crew in the Bojack Unbound movie. Gohan was able to quickly dismiss her once he powered up to Super Saiyan 2.

Bonus: All Great Apes (Except Vegeta)

A nice touch in Tenkaichi 3 was adding Great Ape forms to Saiyans that were never shown in this form during the series. We had characters like Bardock, Nappa, and even Raditz as Great Apes, but these extra transformations are missing from Sparking! Zero. I wouldn’t call it a huge loss, as they played very similarly to each other, but a loss is a loss anyway. And yeah, the generic Great Ape (transformed from Kid Goku) is also gone.

Related: All Pre-Order Bonuses & Editions for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero

All Tenkaichi 3 Dragon Ball GT Characters Missing in Sparking Zero

Fortunately, the GT cast has suffered the least and remains mostly intact. However, one of the missing characters has really puzzled fans and has many trying to figure out why they’re absent.

Nuova Shenron

One of the final antagonists in the series, Nuova Shenron was the noblest of the Shadow Dragons and even went as far as helping Goku and Vegeta’s last stand against Omega Shenron. He was decimated by the ultimate Dragon in the end, but not without making his face remembered.

Super 17

This one makes no sense. For one of the best-remembered villains from GT not to be included in the playable cast is a huge disappointment for fans who were eager to see his long, silky hair in HD. Regular Android 17 has also become a much more popular character thanks to Super, making this decision even weirder. This is, by far, the biggest letdown of Sparking! Zero when it comes to the roster.

With all things considered, the final roster is nothing to scoff at. Some questionable decisions were made (or maybe they’re simply the result of resource allocation decision), but we still have very varied faces among the 182 playable fighters in the base game. We know that we’re getting DLC packs based around Dragon Ball Daima and the Super Hero movie, but nothing beyond those.

I can definitely see some missing names such as Super 17 coming in later as paid expansions to the game, which will likely raise the ire of fans. Some will say that this is just how they’re playing their cards, but as long as we still have the main, necessary characters, I’m happy with the results, as there are still tons of them I’m sure I’ll end never playing with.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero releases on October 11.