Bandai Namco Confirms ‘Dragon Ball GT’ Characters For ‘Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’ Roster

Goku (Masako Nozawa) achieves his Super Saiyan 4 form in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
Goku (Masako Nozawa) achieves his Super Saiyan 4 form in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco

In continuing to amaze fans of the late Akira Toriyama’s beloved franchise, Bandai Namco has revealed that a number of Dragon Ball GT characters will be included in the base roster of the upcoming fighting game Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.

Goku (Masako Nozawa) is de-aged in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
Goku (Masako Nozawa) is de-aged in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco

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Bandai Namco shared the news about Dragon Ball Sparking Zero’s updated roster through a surprising trailer, as released on September 11th, which initially teased content from Dragon Ball Super before quickly pivoting to reveal its GT-related surprise.

Following this shift, fans were treated with to the news that the game’s roster will include the following GT fighters:

  • Goku (GT)
  • Pan (GT)
  • Goku (GT), Super Saiyan
  • Baby Vegeta (GT)
  • Goku (GT), Super Saiyan 3
  • Super Baby 1 (GT)
  • Super Baby 2 (GT)
  • Uub (GT)
  • Majuub (GT)
  • Goku (GT), Super Saiyan 4
  • Great Ape Baby (GT)
  • Syn Shenron (GT)
  • Omega Shenron (GT)
  • Vegeta (GT), Super Saiyan 4
  • Gogeta (GT), Super Saiyan 4

And though not every significant GT fighter made the cut, as both Syn and Eis Shenron are missing, the inclusion of these non-canon characters in Sparking! ZERO is still a significant victory for fans who feared these characters might be either left out of the game entirely or relegated to DLC.

Pan (Yuko Minaguchi) follows in her grandfather's footsteps in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
Pan (Yuko Minaguchi) follows in her grandfather’s footsteps in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco

RELATED: ‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama Passes Away At Age 68 From Reported Acute Subdural Hematoma

Often referred to as the black sheep of the franchise due to its lack of involvement from Toriyama, GT follows the adventures of Trunks, Pan, and a de-aged Goku as they travel the universe looking to collect the Dark Star Dragon Balls in service of returning the Saiyan legend to his regular form.

And though the series was, for many years, intended to serve as the ‘ending’ to the overall franchise, the green-lighting and subsequent continued production of Dragon Ball Super cemented the non-canon status of GT, as the events in the former directly contradict those in the latter.

Gogeta (Masako Nozawa/Ryō Horikawa) gathers energy for a Big Bang Kamehameha in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
Gogeta (Masako Nozawa/Ryō Horikawa) gathers energy for a Big Bang Kamehameha in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco

As noted above, in such previous Dragon Ball games as FighterZ and both Xenoverse outings, such GT characters were typically relegated to DLC, thus locking their use by players behind both a pay- and time-wall (as the DLCs released well after their respective base games).

But thanks to Sparking! ZERO bucking this trend, GT‘s dedicated fan base can now battle it out as their favorite characters, from Baby Vegeta to the almighty Super Saiyan 5 Gogeta, without any having to jump through any additional hoops.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero Baby Vegeta (Mike McFarland 2024), Bandai Namco YouTube Screenshot (2024)

In addition to these character reveals, the new trailer also offered a brief glimpse at the game’s lightning-paced combat and large, destructible environments.

And thanks to the power of Unreal Engine 5, this next entry in the beloved Sparking! series (titled Budokai Tenkaichi in English) will ensure that the game has the visual fidelity that players have come to expect from current-gen titles.

Developed by Spike Chunsoft, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is set to release on October 11 – and given the long-overdue spotlight it’s shining on GT, it certainly looks to be shaping up to be both a must-have for fans of the franchise and an overall unbreakable diamond of a game.

Goku (Masako Nozawa) prepares to unleash a Dragon Fist in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
Goku (Masako Nozawa) prepares to unleash a Dragon Fist in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (2024), Bandai Namco
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