After the Saiyans, the most prominent alien race inDragon Ballis undoubtedly the Namekians. Some of the most prominent heroes and villains in the series have been Namekians, and as the creators of the Dragon Balls, it’s safe to say there would be noDragon Ballif it weren’t for the Namekians.
Few alien races inDragon Ballshow up as often asthe Namekians, and they often have the power to back it up. Fighters of the Warrior Clan are one thing, but even those of the Dragon Clan are impressive because of their magical abilities, and overall,the physical and magical abilities of the Namekians have long since made them one of the strongest races in all ofDragon Ball. Naturally, the power of a few of those Namekians particularly stand out, and they’re all worth highlighting as some of the strongest members of their race, to date.
10Grand Elder Guru
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Chapter 264 & Dragon Ball Z Episode 53
Grand Elder Guru, often shortened to simply “Guru”, was the original guardian of Namek. For 500 years, Guru helped raise the Namek race from the brink of destruction following a natural disaster, but after the stress of Frieza’s invasion worsened his already failing health, he passed the role of guardianship onto Moori before finally passing away.
Grand Elder Guru is probably the weakest of the Namekians due to his advanced age, and it was to the point that he couldn’t even leave his home when the Frieza Force invaded Namek. That being said, the Namekian Dragon Balls are some of the strongest Dragon Balls in the series thanks to always yielding three wishes and for their ability to bring people back to life multiple times, and with his signature ability to unlock someone’s hidden potential,Grand Elder Guru is still a highly notable Namekian thanks to his incredible magical powers.
9Kami
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Chapter 164 & Episode 125
Kami was the guardian of Earth and the creator of Earth’s Dragon Balls. Centuries ago, Kami expelled the evil in his heart to become the guardian of Earth, with said evil becoming Piccolo, and while he would usually leave everything to the Z Warriors, the emergence of Cell was too great an evil for him to ignore, and Kami fused back with Piccolo to help give the world a fighting chance.
While Earth’s Dragon Balls are held back by their inability to revive someone from the dead more than once, that’s more than made up for in their ability to revive multiple people with a single wish, something the Namekian Dragon Balls lacked before the Majin Buu saga. Add in how Kami was a capable fighter by the standards of earlyDragon Ball, andKami’s physical and magical abilities leave him as a powerful Namekian in his own right.
8King Piccolo
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Chapter 135 & Episode 102
King Piccolo was the evil half of Kami who once sought to take over the world as a Demon King. After being freed from his imprisonment by the Pilaf Gang, King Piccolo and his minions killed Goku’s friends one after another until he was finally defeated by Goku, but with his last breath, he spawned a reincarnation to avenge him, although Piccolo would ultimately become one of Goku’s greatest allies.
Even before regaining his youth, King Piccolo vastly outclassed Goku and even Master Roshi, and while Goku gained a last-minute power boost with help from Korin,King Piccolo with his youth restored gave Goku one of the toughest fights of his life and only lost due to his carelessness and arrogance. King Piccolo marked the point whereDragon Ballbegan its transition into a full-fledged action series, and his immense power perfectly justifies that turning point.
7Nail
Nail was the bodyguard to Grand Elder Guru and the strongest of Namek’s warriors by the time of the Namek saga. Nail sacrificed himself to stall Frieza long enough for Dende to help Gohan and Krillin use the Dragon Balls to revive their friends, but before he succumbed to his wounds, he fused with Piccolo to give him a power boost that allowed him to hold his own against Frieza in his second form.
The fact that Nail wasn’t immediately killed by Frieza is commendable on its own, even if Frieza wasn’t taking their fight seriously, andNail’s explicit power level of 42 thousand even puts him on par with some of Frieza’s strongest soldiers at the time. None of that was any help in his sole fight, of course, but it still leaves Nail as one of the strongest Namekian fighters, regardless.
6Slug
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
Slug is the main antagonist of theDragon Ball ZfilmDragon Ball Z: Lord Slug. Slug was sent away from Namek as a baby in the wake of the great cataclysm that nearly destroyed Namek, and as he grew up, evil took hold in his heart, and he founded an army that went around the galaxy conquering and terra-freezing any planet they could find.
As a Super Namekian, Slug gave Goku an incredible fight from start to finish, and with whereLord Slugis roughly fitted intoDragon Ball’s timeline,Slug is a villain strong enough to hold his own against Goku as he was on the cusp of obtaining Super Saiyan. Slug might be one ofDragon Ball’s many non-canon villains, but that doesn’t make him any less of a powerful Namekian fighter, overall.
5Monaito
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Super Chapter 69
Monaito is an elderly Namekian who lives on Planet Cereal, having moved there whenNamekians left the Demon Realm. Monaito became Granolah’s guardian after his mother was killed by the Heeters, although Granolah mistakenly blamed the Saiyans, and he helped support everyone when Granolah’s quest for revenge almost led to Goku and Vegeta being killed by Granolah and, later, Gas.
Not only does Monaito have incredible healing abilities that can fully heal fighters like Goku and Vegeta in an instant, butMonaito’s Dragon Balls are some of the strongest in the franchise due to their lack of a hibernation period and how they can grant esoteric wishes like making someone the strongest in the universe. Monaito might be a fairly new character, but in terms of magic, he’s undoubtedly the strongest Namekian living in the mortal realm.
4Pilina
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Super Chapter 33 & Episode 96
Pilina is one of two Namekian warriors who fought for Universe 6 in the Tournament of Power. With their entire universe on the line, half of the Namekians of Universe 6 fused with Pilina to boost his power to an incredible degree, although even that wasn’t enough to save Universe 6 from temporarily being erased from existence.
Overall, Pilina didn’t have much presence in the Universe Survival saga, and fighting Gohan and Piccolo alongside Saonel was his only notable contribution to the arc, but even so,Pilina proved himself to be a powerful fighter for how well he held his own against Gohan and Piccolo. The battle ultimately ended in his loss, but he was nonetheless a powerful fighter for all the effort he put into the Tournament of Power right up to the end.
3Saonel
Saonel is one of two Namekian warriors who fought for Universe 6 in the Tournament of Power. As was the case with Pilina, the other Namekian warrior of Universe 6, half of the Namekians of Universe 6 fused with Saonel to boost his power to an incredible degree, although even that wasn’t enough to save Universe 6 from temporarily being erased from existence.
Much like Pilina, Saonel didn’t have much presence in the Universe Survival saga, and fighting Gohan and Piccolo alongside Pilina was his only notable contribution to the arc, but even so,Saonel, much like Pilina, proved himself to be a powerful fighter for how well he held his own against Gohan and Piccolo. The battle ultimately ended in his loss, but he was nonetheless a powerful fighter for all the effort he put into the Tournament of Power right up to the end.
2Piccolo
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Chapter 161 & Episode 123
Piccolo is one of the main characters ofDragon Balland the simultaneous reincarnation and son of King Piccolo. While Piccolo initially sought to continue his father’s work, the threat of the Saiyans forced him into an alliance with the Z Warriors, and after bonding with Gohan, Piccolo had a change of heart and became one of Earth’s strongest defenders.
As one of Earth’s most seasoned warriors, Piccolo has always been on the upper end of power among the Z Warriors, although he was never able to consistently compete with Goku, Vegeta, and other Saiyans. That all changed withDragon Ball Super: Super Hero, however, asPiccolo’s new form, Orange Piccolo, officially puts him on the same level as Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta, allowing him to finally reclaim his place as one ofDragon Ball’s strongest characters.
1Neva
First Appearance: Dragon Ball Daima Episode 1
Neva is a legendary Namekian and the sole Namekian not to leave the Demon Realm in their mass exodus. While Neva helped Gomah turn everyone into children, that was simply part of his ongoing act of obedience, and when he met Goku while by himself, he quickly abandoned the act and joined Goku’s group in their quest for the Demon Realm Dragon Balls.
Not only did Neva create the Demon Realm Dragon Balls and the powerful Tamagamis, butDragon Ball Daimarepeatedly had Neva show off incredible feats of magic like destroying the barrier between the three worlds of the Demon Realm and, most notably, giving Goku the power boost he needed to gain a handle onSuper Saiyan 4. Neva was painted as a legendary figure from day one, and at least in terms of magic, there’s no better candidate for thestrongest Namekian inDragon Ball.
