Dragon Ball GT’s Greatest Hero is the Last Z-Fighter You’d Expect

While Dragon Ball GT is a direct sequel to Dragon Ball Z and features all the heroes of the original series–with extra focus on Goku and Trunks in GT’s earlier episodes–none of the Z-Fighters who previously appeared in Dragon Ball qualify as GT’s greatest hero, as there is a newcomer who proves with one life-saving mission that he’s truly the best among them–and he’s literally the last Z-Fighter fans would expect.

Dragon Ball GT picks up five years after Dragon Ball Z’s ten-year time jump, and within the first few minutes of the debut episode, Goku is transformed into a child after Emperor Pilaf accidentally wishes for that bizarre transformation with the Black Star Dragon Balls.

By the end of the episode, it is revealed that the Black Star Dragon Balls are scattered across the universe after a wish is granted (accidental or otherwise), and if they aren’t collected and brought back to Earth within a year, the entire Earth will be destroyed. Goku sets off in a spaceship across the universe with Trunks and Pan to find these Dragon Balls and save the planet.

Gill is Dragon Ball GT’s Greatest Hero, Not Goku or Trunks

As they travel through space, Goku and his companions run into a number of wacky friends and foes–including a little robot named Gill. Gill is a small, circular android that consumed the Dragon Radar early in the series before merging with it and becoming the Z-Fighters’ Dragon Radar himself. Gill’s introduction was seemingly a way for the showrunners to make the Dragon Radar a legitimate character in the universe’s canon–though Gill proved to be far more than just the Dragon Radar with a personality.

In Dragon Ball GT season 1, episode 15, Pan, Gill, Trunks, and Goku land on a desert planet as Gill alerts them to the fact that a Black Star Dragon Ball is located on this world. When they get there, their ship starts to break down, so Goku and Trunks get to work fixing the ship without giving Pan a task as well, making her feel like an invaluable member of the team. So, Pan sets off to find the Dragon Ball alone–though she quickly finds herself getting dizzy from heat exhaustion, causing her to collapse in the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, this planet has giant sandworms hiding underneath the ocean of sand. Pan, who is completely defenseless at his point, is a prime target for the worms–and the one who saves her is none other than Gill.

Gill tracks Pan down after she goes missing on this planet before Goku and Trunks even realize she is gone–and when he finds her, Gill fights one of the sandworms, saving Pan’s life in the process. Earlier in the episode, Goku fights a sandworm and has trouble taking it down–so if Gill can defeat an enemy that Goku struggled to beat, it is clear that Gill’s strength is significant. The thing that really pushes Gill’s heroism over the top, though, is that he put his life on the line to save Pan even though she had been nothing but mean and abusive towards him since he first became a part of the crew (something that Pan even comments on as Gill is saving her). Then, to top it all off, Gill even finds the Dragon Ball they are looking for on this planet–single-handedly saving Pan, killing a powerful enemy, and accomplishing their Earth-saving mission without even breaking a sweat.

While Gill was introduced as a fun, lighthearted addition to the team who was assuredly meant to be the comedic relief, this episode reveals he is far more than that as Gill proves to be the greatest (and most unexpected) hero in Dragon Ball GT.

Watch On Crunchyroll