When fans list the great fighters of Dragon Ball Super, the conversation usually revolves around Goku’s Ultra Instinct, Vegeta’s pride, Jiren’s strength and Frieza’s golden comeback. Yet the warrior who actually won the Tournament of Power was none of them. It was Android 17, a park ranger with no transformations, no divine training and almost no build-up. He spent years in the background of the franchise, then quietly became one of the strongest beings in Universe 7. Why is Android 17 so underrated, and how good is he really? Let’s take a closer look.
From Villain to Park Ranger
In Dragon Ball Z, 17 is introduced as one of Dr. Gero’s deadliest creations: a cool, cocky android who toys with the Z Fighters before Cell absorbs him. In Future Trunks’s timeline, he and his sister are the monsters who wiped out Earth’s heroes. After the Cell Games, he simply disappears from the story, apart from a brief moment lending energy to the Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu.
Dragon Ball Super reveals what he has been doing. Dende tells Goku that 17 is a changed man and much stronger than before. He now works as a ranger on a remote island nature reserve, protecting endangered animals and chasing off poachers, and he has a wife, one child of his own and two adopted children. The cold killer of the Android saga has become a quiet guardian of life.
The Spar That Shocked Everyone
When Goku comes to recruit him for the Tournament of Power, he cannot resist testing 17’s strength. Super Saiyan is not enough; Goku has to go Super Saiyan Blue, and 17 blocks his God Kamehameha with a barrier before the two trade blows evenly. Both admit afterwards that they were holding back, and the fight ends only because 17 does not want to endanger the dolphins in the bay.
For many viewers, this was the moment that redefined 17. An android who had been absorbed by Cell was suddenly keeping pace with a Saiyan god form. In the anime he agrees to join after Goku helps him save the island’s animals from galactic poachers; in the manga, he joins because he feels he owes a debt to Krillin, whose wish once removed the bombs from inside him and his sister.
Why Did He Get So Strong?
The series never gives a single explanation, but fans have pieced together several convincing reasons:
- Untapped potential: 17 was always said to have huge potential that he never unlocked, partly because Cell absorbed him so early. Around ten years of training alongside his ranger work finally let him access it.
- Infinite energy: As one of Gero’s infinite-energy models, he never runs out of ki and does not tire like organic fighters. In a long battle royale where everyone else is slowly drained, that advantage grows by the minute.
- Dangerous neighbours: In a bonus chapter of the manga, he is even shown living with tamed Cell Juniors on his island, the same creatures who once overwhelmed the Z Fighters.
- Machine and human at once: The twins were humans modified by Gero, not pure robots, so their bodies can still grow stronger through training. Even Shenron, in the original manga, could not undo their modifications.
The Tournament of Power MVP
Once the tournament begins, 17 is everywhere. He reminds his sister to use their infinite energy wisely, rescues Goku from the Pride Troopers, eliminates fighters such as Kakunsa and Bikal, finds the invisible Damom by sound alone after Piccolo is knocked out, and spots the energy reactor that helps Universe 7 bring down the giant Anilaza.
Facing Toppo and Jiren
Against Toppo, the God of Destruction candidate, 17 refuses to give up even with a dislocated shoulder, and later survives the onslaught of Toppo’s Destroyer form. When Jiren unleashes his full power and floors an exhausted Goku and Vegeta, it is 17 who stands alone against him and lands a sneak attack that seriously hurts Jiren’s back, revealing the weakness the others needed.
The Barrier of Hope
In Episode 127, with Goku and Vegeta helpless, 17 surrounds them with a barrier and leaps into Jiren’s attack to stop it, giving up his own wish so that they can recover. He remarks that sacrificing himself for others is a very human thing to do, and that he rather likes it. Many fans count it among the most moving moments of the entire series.
He later emerges from the rubble alive, traps himself and Jiren inside a full-power explosion that leaves Jiren vomiting on his knees, and survives to the very end. When Goku and Frieza take Jiren out of the ring together, 17 is the last fighter standing. In the final episode, he uses the Super Dragon Balls to restore every universe that had been erased, and the Grand Minister reveals that a selfish wish would have doomed everything.
Why He Is Still Underrated
- No transformation: Dragon Ball trains its fans to measure power by forms. 17 has no golden hair or divine aura, so his strength is easy to overlook even when he is matching fighters who do.
- Little screen time: He vanished for most of Dragon Ball Z and returns to the background after the tournament. In the manga’s Moro arc, he and 18 help save Goku but are quickly overpowered.
- His modest goals: When asked about his own wish, he talks about taking his family on a cruise. A hero who cares more about his forest than about being the strongest does not fit the Saiyan mould.
- He wins quietly: His biggest victory comes from patience, intelligence and endurance rather than a flashy final blow, the kind of win that is easy to forget.
Some fans even complain that his power-up was too sudden. But his strengths, infinite stamina, sharp tactics and a calm head, are exactly what a survival tournament rewards.
Conclusion
Android 17 is the most underrated fighter in Dragon Ball Super because he proves that you do not need a new hair colour to save the universe. He went toe to toe with Super Saiyan Blue Goku, wounded Jiren, survived Toppo, sacrificed himself for his rivals and still walked away as the champion who restored the multiverse. Not bad for a part-time villain turned full-time park ranger.
Should Android 17 be considered one of the true top-tier fighters of Universe 7 – or was his Tournament of Power run a one-time miracle?
