How far the human Z-Warriors have come raise questions about their current power levels in the Dragon Ball franchise. Of course, Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, and Master Roshi can’t compare to the strengths of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, or even Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Super. However, all three possess a tremendous amount of power and are regarded as the most powerful Earthlings in the anime.
As humans, all four characters are unfortunately limited in terms of how much they can progress in their training. For this reason, there’s only so much they can do at this point in Dragon Ball’s story. The gaps between them and the top Z-Warriors are so significant that they couldn’t have made a difference against any of Dragon Ball Super’s villains. It was only because the Tournament of Power boasted a wide range of opponents with varying power levels that the anime was only able to get Krillin, Tien, and Master Roshi involved in the action. Yamcha, on the other hand, seemingly wasn’t strong enough to be invited to join Goku’s team.
While it’s true that Dragon Ball’s human Z-Warriors are incredibly weak in comparison to Goku, evidence in the anime shows that they’re much stronger than they’re often given credit for. In fact, they appear to be above the level of power needed for one to become a Super Saiyan. In Dragon Ball Z, Tien battled Semi-Perfect Cell, and though he couldn’t win, the fact that he was able to make any sort of impact speaks volumes about his physical capabilities. In a Buu Saga filler episode, Yamcha easily bested Olibu, an Other World warrior believed to be stronger than even Perfect Cell. And as for Krillin, he kept up with Android 18 well enough in the Tournament of Power to indicate that he’s not that far behind her.
Based on these feats, Tien and Krillin are more powerful than Goku was when he first became Super Saiyan and beat Frieza on Namek. After all, Semi-Perfect Cell was levels above Frieza, as is Dragon Ball Super’s Android 18. And if Yamcha’s victory over Olibu in the filler is an accurate depiction of his level, then he too was Super Saiyan-level during this time. Whether or not he still has this power, though, remains to be seen, as he apparently took a step back from training years ago.
As things stand, it’s highly likely that the human Z-Warriors are between the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 power levels. However, that’s not to say that any of them would stand a chance against Goku or Vegeta in their Super Saiyan forms, as both are so powerful now that they could take down Kid Buu without accessing any Super Saiyan state. That being said, Tien, Krillin, and possibly Yamcha have reached points in their own Dragon Ball journeys where they could breeze through many of the threats that once pushed the heroes to their limits.
