Saiyans

The Saiyans (サイヤ人, Saiyajin; literally meaning "People of the Saiya"), are a race of extraterrestrial creatures in Dragon Ball series. They are a naturally aggressive species who are, purportedly, the strongest warriors in the universe. Saiyans display a wide array of special abilities, possessing incredible natural strength, ki energy manipulation, superhuman agility and reflexes, heightened sensitivity to smell, hearing, and vision. With only the the exception of their monkey-like tails, all Saiyans have an outward appearance identical to humans but with a larger, muscular build.

The Saiyans play a central role in the series after its main protagonist, Goku is revealed to be a Saiyan; his birth name is Kakarot (カカロット, Kakarotto; literally meaning "Cacarrot"), and that he was sent to Earth as a young child. Nearly almost all Saiyans from Universe 7 were killed and obliterated by the galactic tyrant Frieza when he blew up Planet Vegeta. With only a few known survivors, they are functionally extinct.

In Dragon Ball Super it is revealed that the Saiyan people also exist in a parallel universe, Universe 6, which is linked to Universe 7 where the majority of the Dragon Ball series takes place. The Universe 6's Saiyan people, unlike Universe 7, are plentiful in population. In contrast, the Saiyans from Universe 7 are a naturally aggressive warrior race who were supposedly striving to be the strongest in the universe, while the Saiyans from Universe 6 are protectors.

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 * —About the Saiyans.

Name

 * Main article: Origins of character names

The race's name is actually a pun on yajin (野人) which means "wildman", and an anagram of yasai (野菜) which means "vegetable". The suffix -jin means "person". "Saiyan" is the English transliteration of the roman letter term Saiya-jin. In the Japanese language, Saiya-jin (サイヤじん) is pronounced "Sigh-ya-jeen" while in the English dubs, "Saiyan" is pronounced "Sey-uhn".

All full-blooded Saiyans (such as Raditz, Kakarot, Vegeta, Nappa, Paragus, Broly, or Bardock) have names that are a pun on various vegetables.

Physical Appearance, Anatomy and Design
Saiyans are outwardly very identical and similar to human-type earthlings, with the only exception of their monkey-like tails. They are commonly seen to have black spiky hair and black eyes (although the anime has occasionally shown brown, blue and blonde hair and purple eyes). Naturally growing stronger as they mature, they gain a very muscular and well-defined build.

Vegeta states that the hair of a pure-blooded Saiyan does not deviate from its appearance from the day the Saiyan is born. However, it can fall off, as seen with the bald Nappa (he had hair in the TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku). This is somewhat contradicted by a young Vegeta shown with strands of hair hanging in front of his forehead, but later has his characteristic widow's peak. This is not the case with hybrid-Saiyans who are shown to have several different lengths and styles for their hair throughout the series.

Facial hair of pure-blooded Saiyan males can grow. Some examples are Nappa, Vegeta, and Paragus who have all been seen with mustaches, while King Vegeta himself had a beard. While Saiyans can grow beards it apparently takes them a long time, as seen when Goku and Vegeta spent three years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, yet only grew enough facial hair to cover their faces. Given that Saiyans have evolved to have a slowed aging process upon reaching physical maturity in order to fight longer, this is most likely why it takes so long for Saiyans to develop facial hair.

Saiyans usually have dark eyes, though half-breeds do not always share this trait as Vegeta's son, Trunks, and daughter, Bulla, inherited blue irises.

Saiyans, at least as adults, are resistant to extreme temperatures, far more so than humans, as evidenced by Bardock going into outer space to face Frieza for the last time, Broly surviving being frozen in a glacier, and Goku training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and facing Lord Slug and his minions when they used a machine to cause the Earth's climate to get extremly cold. This resistance to cold is likely either a trait gained over time from evolution in harsh climates or due to the energy consumption of Saiyans increasing their ambient body temperature far above a human's, even in a resting state. Even in a functional, calm state, Goku has shown to be unaffected by glacial temperatures on Earth.

Tail
All pure-blooded Saiyans from Universe 7 are born with a brown-furred monkey-like tail. Commonly for adult Saiyans, they will wrap their tail around their hip as a makeshift belt for better convenience. The tail is very prehensile, and can be used to grasp things (much like some new world monkeys do), giving them in a sense an extra hand to fight with.

While as strong and coordinated as any other limb on the Saiyan, the tail is a particularly sensitive area. When grabbed or injured, it causes great pain to the owner, leaving them drained of all strength and effectively immobilizing the whole body. However, the Saiyans can train themselves to overcome this weakness, leaving them unaffected altogether, like Goku did when he preparing for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament or Vegeta and Nappa before coming to Earth. Their monkey-like tails, alongside their turning into Great Apes, is the main reason why those of Saiyan descent are sometimes referred to as "monkeys" or "apes" as a racial slur (especially notable by the Frieza Force's reference to them as such).

The tail also serves to help young Saiyans with balance, as when Goku and Gohan's tails were first removed, they had trouble standing, let alone moving about. However, when Vegeta's tail was cut off, his balance was unaffected, possibly due to the Saiyan prince having adjusted to the balance after years of wearing his tail at the hip.

As noted by Raditz, the tail is the source of a Saiyan's true strength (Great Ape form), enabling them perform to their maximum efficiency. This was supported by Goku who once stated that he feels stronger than without it. The most unique and prominent ability the tail provides Saiyans is to transform into a Great Ape if exposed to the Blutz Waves of a full moon. If the tail is removed, this power is lost, forcing them back into their normal state if transformed at the time. If tail is lost it will often suddenly grow back if the Saiyan is in danger. However once a Saiyan reaches a certain level of strength the Saiyan's body seems to deem the tail as an unnecessary appendage if removed.

It is shown in Dragon Ball GT that the tails also provide a boost in Super Saiyan transformations, as when Goku was shrunk into the size of a child, he had trouble maintaining his transformations until his tail reformed, to the point where he was able to easily activate Super Saiyan 3 and maintain it for a considerable amount of time (along with his tail's fur turning gold).

Gohan is the only half-breed Saiyan seen with a tail in the series. Other half-breeds like Trunks, Goten, and Bulla are not seen with tails. The reason behind this is never explained in the series other than it was hypothesized their tails were removed at birth, but Akira Toriyama has stated that tails are a recessive trait. Despite most deceased warriors who keep possession of their bodies are healed from any injuries or dismemberments (i.e. Tien's severed arm), no Saiyan with a lost tail are shown to have regrown it upon being resurrected.

In Universe 6, Saiyans naturally no longer have tails. This is because of the evolution process they underwent in their universe, presumably enabling them to naturally access maximum capacity without additional training. It is unknown if this permanently voids Universe 6 Saiyans of the Great Ape form or can access it without the need of a tail.

In the Super History Book, released on January 21, 2016 as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Dragon Ball franchise, Toriyama finally explains the reason why he did away with Saiyans' tails. He explains that it was confusing for him how Saiyans dressed themselves with the tail on, and these sorts of minutiae annoyed him to no end, enticing him to get rid of Saiyans' tails.

Universe 7
Ancient Saiyans existed long ago. Aside from time travelers, none of them still exist in the modern time. They possess ki completely different from their modern day counterparts and like them can transform into the Great Ape, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan God forms. Notably one ancient Saiyan displayed the unique "Evil Saiyan" state and as an extension of this, their golden-haired Super Saiyan forms possessed differences to modern Saiyans and they were capable of drawing out the full power of Super Saiyan 3. Good ancient Saiyans are referred to as "the defeated" by the Saiyan in Red.
 * Ancient Saiyans

The Saiyans who eventually joined the Frieza Force were the Saiyans who moved from Planet Sadala to Planet Vegeta, nearly all of them were wiped out by Frieza - leaving only a handful remaining. These Saiyans have displayed the ability to take on any Saiyan form aside from the full power Super Saiyan 3 and those exclusive to the Legendary Saiyan. Modern Saiyans are referred to as "the tainted" by the Saiyan in Red.
 * Modern Saiyans

While the Saiyans who worked under the Frieza Force are near extinct, they have carried on through Saiyan-Earthling hybrids through Goku and Vegeta, with these hybrids being fairly common by Age 1000.
 * Earthling hybrids

Through advanced science, hybrid clones composed of Saiyans along with numerous other races were created from Age 767 on-wards. Bio-Androids like Cell have displayed the ability to use the Super Saiyan forms. The demonic Saiyan Bio-Androids have displayed their own distinct Super Saiyan form.
 * Bio-Androids

Saiyans who are full deities can also exist, though only one ever has as a Supreme Kai candidate. Saiyans who are proper godly beings possess natural god ki, as well as an altered Super Saiyan Blue.
 * Godly beings

Tuffle-Saiyans only existed in Age 789 as a result of Baby and his Tuffle Parasites invading Earth. Fully Tuffleized Saiyans have displayed their own variants of the golden-haired Super Saiyan forms known as the "Strongest Forms".
 * Tuffle hybrids

Universe 6
The Saiyans of Universe 6 differ from their Universe 7 counterparts in that they never left Planet Sadala and are a more heroic species. Additionally, they have evolved so they no longer possess tails and subsequently can't access the Great Ape form through conventional means. They have displayed the ability to achieve the Super Saiyan form, as well as Super Saiyan 2 in the anime.
 * Evolved Saiyans

Tuffle-Saiyans only existed in Age 780 as a result of Oren and Kamin invading Sadala. Fully Tuffleized Saiyans have displayed their own variants of the golden-haired Super Saiyan forms known as the "Strongest Forms".
 * Tuffle hybrids

Legendary
Legendary Saiyans are a unique type of Saiyan that exist in both Universe 7 and Universe 6. An individual Legendary Saiyan is born once every 1,000 years in both universes. These Saiyans are demonic and have massive power levels even upon birth. While not shown to be able to take on any normal Saiyan forms aside from the basic Great Ape, these Saiyans possess their own transformation line based around the Legendary Super Saiyan state.

Homeworld
The homeworld of the Saiyans is Planet Sadala. The planet has a natural gravity that is ten times that of Earth, which helps give Saiyans a greater natural strength than most races. In Universe 7, the Saiyans lived here but their planet got destroyed by internal discord; in Universe 6, the planet still exists. In Universe 7, Planet Plant is conquered by the Saiyans after the defeat of the Tuffles, and they renamed it "Planet Vegeta" after their most powerful warrior and ruler, King Vegeta.

At some point, Planet Vegeta was visited by the God of Destruction Beerus, who ultimately deemed the Saiyans as a savage race with no chance of improving (or more accurately he felt that they were just annoying). He ultimately ordered Frieza to destroy the planet and the entire Saiyan race, who was of a similar mind set as he came to see the Saiyan race as potentially posing a threat to his tyranny. To which, the tyrant went to the planet and completely obliterated them from space, wiping out all but a small group of Saiyans.

Saiyans do not naturally know how to fly, some need to be taught, while others work it out on their own. Training to increase power level is also uncommon, with only a few Saiyan children receiving a short period of special training to acquire a greater power level.

Saiyans do not celebrate any holidays. Instead of playing like Earthling children, Saiyan children fight amongst themselves.

Pride was significant to Saiyans until they were tamed by Frieza's army; causing all of the Saiyans who served Frieza (aside from Bardock) to have lost their pride.

Culture
A baby Saiyan's power level is measured as soon as they are born, if their power level is up to standard they are raised as upper-level warriors and become combatant candidates. If their power level remains low even after a certain amount of time has passed they are classed as low-level warriors and become either engineers or infiltration babies. Infiltration babies are sent off to a planet the Saiyans have selected for take over, and if the baby grows up into a warrior capable of taking over the planet they are allowed to return as a full-fledged combatant. Infiltration babies have a low survival rate.
 * Universe 7

Personality
Saiyans tend to share common personality traits, even at young ages. Being aggressively militant, they share an innate enjoyment for conflict and fighting, choosing violence over peace with other races. Even Goku retained his love to fight after his amnesia, but satisfied that love through competitive sport, rather than barbaric slaughter. Saiyans are typically very aggressive and hard-headed, with short explosive tempers. Saiyans appear inclined to be arrogant at times, leading them to allow enemies to gain advantages in battle just for fun. It appears they have a tendency to let their emotions get the better of them when roused in stimulating situations (as demonstrated by Vegeta, Goku, Nappa, and Bardock), resulting in them at times making rash decisions. Normally, Saiyans do not have much of a notion of romance or marriage, and apart from the royal family of Vegeta, they are not particular about blood-relationships.

They appear to lack sympathetic emotions as though by choice rather than by nature, as shown by their relative lack of fear of death and uncaring attitude towards family members (example being Raditz's brutal beating of his long-lost brother Goku, and Vegeta's seeming indifference to his father's death). Clearly, neither Vegeta nor Nappa showed any signs of sympathy for their fallen comrade Raditz when he was killed. They merely laughed and stated that he was only a "weakling", although Nappa did suggest bringing Raditz back to life with the Dragon Balls. Vegeta and Nappa themselves had a good degree of camaraderie between them, but Vegeta did not hesitate to kill Nappa later on when he displayed weakness after being crippled by Goku. Saiyans value honor for their race above anything else and seemed to have been not only opposed to mating with other races but producing half-breed offspring. This is based on Vegeta's initial disapproval of Nappa's suggestion they conceive children with female Earthlings to recreate the Saiyan race, his disgust at Gohan for possessing unusual powers that surpass a full-blooded Saiyan while being part Saiyan, and his initial refusal to accept his son, Trunks, during the child's early years. Most Saiyans also possess a keen fighting sense and understanding of battle, which allows them to acquire many new skills, such as overcoming the weakness of their tails, learning to detect ki, and achieving new fighting forms and transformations.

Bardock appears to be the exception to the uncaring attitude of Saiyans: he shows some care for his wife Gine and his youngest son Kakarot in Dragon Ball Minus, and he is shocked and saddened at seeing his crew, with his best friend Tora among them, slaughtered by Dodoria in the television special Bardock - The Father of Goku. This also shows that perhaps the uncaring attitude of Saiyans is a choice, rather than natural. Bardock's last words while facing Frieza are "This is for all the people we killed in your name" (he only states this in the Funimation dub, it is never present in the Japanese version), he also states that he was not all evil (also Funimation dub only). After the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Bardock talks to Goku from the other side, saying "I wish I could have held you in my own two arms" (also Funimation dub only).

Even Vegeta himself later has been shown to express emotion, such as when he was dying from his wounds inflicted by Frieza, when Future Trunks was killed by Cell, and when he sacrifices himself to destroy Majin Buu. He later develops a loving relationship with his wife Bulma and has shown genuine affection and care for his children, Trunks and Bulla. Also, Vegeta's brother Tarble lacks the characteristic aggression of Saiyans, which also served as the reason why King Vegeta sent him to another planet. Goku's mother Gine is also noted to lack the characteristic aggression of the Saiyans which apparently made her unfit for life in the army as she often had to be saved by Bardock on missions. Eventually she decided to leave the army and went to work in the meat processing industry and became Bardock's wife developing a genuine loving relationship with him. The existence of the original Super Saiyan God who got his power from five other pure hearted Saiyans in the past also implies that the barbaric and uncaring attitude had been a choice at some point in their history, rather than being an inborn character to all Saiyans.

The Saiyans also seem to believe that death is preferable compared to living with the shame of losing against someone inferior to them in level, which is especially evident with Vegeta and his primary motivation for his rivalry with Goku. However, while he still believes fighting to death is an honorable act of a Saiyan, Vegeta is able to use his rivalry with Goku as a motivation to test his limits and allow them to develop a unique friendship.

In Dragon Ball Super, Vegeta reveals that Saiyan females have strong willed personalities and such characteristics were sought out as mates for male Saiyans, which causes Piccolo to surmise that this is why Saiyan males like Goku and Vegeta chose strong willed human females like Chi-Chi and Bulma as their respective wives.

Kind-hearted Saiyans under the initial influence of the Super Saiyan form will become more barbaric, rash and explosively hot-headed and those who had typical Saiyan traits will had them amplified to a great degree, while in some cases changing their strategic mind to a more brash and impulsive one, these traits can be eliminated through training whatsoever.

Cabba, a Saiyan from Universe 6, explains to Vegeta that the Saiyans from his universe are not as brutal as compared to their Universe 7 counterparts. The Saiyans from Universe 6 are not planet sharks and they are employed to stop evil beings. To which, most Saiyans of Universe 6 appear to have a calmer and kinder nature compared to the majority of their Universe 7 counterparts, regarding the Saiyans with a rare aggressive attitude as "punks". However, they are still a warrior race regardless.

Calm-hearted Saiyans who attained and are under the influence of the Ultra Instinct -Sign- transformation will show a demeanor that generally contradicts their usual impulsive and prideful personality, becoming much calmer, collected, more serious, lacking egoism, as well as more disciplined-like than before as well as more clever minded, as demonstrated by Goku cleverly using the Imperfect Instinct Kamehameha as a last resort to defeat the fused Kefla.

Intelligence
Saiyans are considered for the most part to be comparable in intelligence to humans. Goku's head trauma and sheltered childhood left him unenlightened about anything not concerning martial arts, though he gradually outgrows this as his teachers all stressed the values of brains over brawn. Due to a Saiyan's strength, their level of cunning is generally downplayed, unless their strength is below average, like Raditz. Perhaps as a byproduct of their speed and reflexes, Saiyans are also abnormally quick learners, able to process large amounts of information within a limited amount of time. This can be seen when Goku was able to use the Kamehameha after seeing it just once and Vegeta taught himself how to sense energy despite being reliant on scouters for most of his career. Despite being a race of barbarians, Saiyans have no trouble adapting to new technology. It is unknown if Saiyan aptitudes carry onto their hybrid children, as the intelligence of all Saiyan hybrids has been shown to be products of their upbringing (Gohan was privately tutored, Trunks grew up in a family of scientists etc.). However, a Saiyan's superhuman learning curve is seen time and time again throughout the series, such as Goku learning the Kamehameha Wave after seeing it just once, Vegeta developing the ability to sense energy after learning about it on his first trip to Earth, and Gohan being able to keep up with immense amounts of coursework in his private studies as a child despite his young age.

Saiyans also have very good memories, even from the time they were babies. This was evident when Raditz meets Goku and expects him to remember his brother and his mission only to discover Goku suffered from amnesia due to a severe concussion as an infant.

Appetite
Saiyans are noted for having ravenous, and seemingly insatiable appetites. Due to their enormous strength and intense aura, the Saiyans' energy and nutritional intake requirements are a great deal higher than normal Earthlings. This heightened metabolism also benefits their physique, as despite their gluttonous eating, it is still much harder for Saiyans to grow obese or even suffer indigestion or cramps; in fact, it seems to improve their overall performance. They are often shown eating plate after plate of food, resulting in many dishes piling up. After the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament ended, while only 12 years old, Goku hastily consumed a 50 course meal (57 full-course meals in the English dub) and still wanted dessert. In Daizenshuu 4, it is stated that they have no particular favorite kind of food, although they appear to prefer meat over anything else. Saiyan hybrids can also show a similarly high appetite, although it may appear later in life; Gohan only began showing such an appetite after he became a Super Saiyan. At times, their appetite seems to work against them: in his childhood, when Goku went for too long without something to eat, he became too weak to do much of anything.

Aging, lifespan and growth
According to the Daizenshuu, Saiyan's lifespan is about the same as an average Earthling (75 to 100 years, with longer exceptions), but keep in their peak health, performance, and appearance much longer. However, according to Akira Toriyama, their natural lifespan itself is longer than humans', but as a warrior race many of them die in battle, and by extension their general lifespan. In Dragon Ball Super, Saiyans are still young at the age of 80. As explained by Vegeta near the end of Dragon Ball Z, Saiyans maintain their prime they evolved into a natural warrior race, enabling them to fight longer. This is seen when Nappa, who was Vegeta's attendant when Vegeta was a child, remained in his prime and visibly unchanged (apart from his bald head) long after Vegeta has become an adult, but in actuality, Nappa is roughly 50 years old during his arrival on Earth. Chi-Chi complained of this in Dragon Ball GT when Goku was reduced to a child, pointing out that she was getting older faster than him. This is again demonstrated in the GT finale when Pan is seen one hundred years later. Despite being well over a hundred years old and only quarter Saiyan, she remained strong and relatively healthy, appearing only in her early sixties with only grey hairs and minor wrinkles.

In terms of physical development, this differs by Saiyan as it does with Earthlings. Most full-blooded Saiyans appear to grow in spurt phases, as seen through Goku. Saiyans appear identical to that of a Earthling baby in their early years, although they are born with a full head of hair more often than Earthlings, but also appear to grow at somewhat slower rates. Goku at the age of 12 was actually about the same size as his future son Gohan (who is half-Earthling) would be at the age of 5. Bulma herself believed Goku to be that young when they first met, but was shocked to find out he was actually 12. By the age of 18, Goku had undergone his largest spurt phase; he became significantly taller and more muscular, going from half the size of Yamcha to nearly matching him three years later. General height and built once fully grown can still differ between Saiyans the same as Earthlings as Vegeta, who is five years older than Goku, is noticeably shorter and smaller overall.

Saiyans appear to undergo one final growth spurt between the ages of roughly 20 to 30, when the body seems to finalize its physical maturity. Growth in muscle mass can clearly be seen, with even some height gained. Goku and Vegeta are clear examples of this. Goku appears to have greater depth to the chest, neck, shoulders, and thighs, with other muscles increasing in size and definition after that. This can clearly be seen during the Frieza Saga and Androids Sagas: Goku appears more muscularly built than he did during the Vegeta Saga, as well as taller. Vegeta also makes a transition, appearing to even grow in height, as by the end of Dragon Ball Z, he was shorter than Bulma, but by Dragon Ball Super he was noticeably taller than her. In Dragon Ball Fusions, an elderly pure-blooded female Saiyan named Stabba is introduced. She is quite old as she has visible wrinkles and has long retired from active combat, though she decides to come out of retirement after hearing about the Timespace Tournament, as she couldn't resist the chance to fight against powerful opponents from across time and space. However, despite her aged appearance, Stabba remains energetic and retains her fighting strength. It is unclear if her aged appearance is due to differences in aging between male and female Saiyans or due to simply being a very old Saiyan.

Military force

 * Main article: Saiyan Armies

The Saiyans have possessed a powerful military, the Saiyan Army (which have beennamed only in the Funimation dub). As of 737, the Saiyan Army was under the command of Nappa (also stated only in the Funimation dub), who was its most powerful general and commander. The Saiyan Army was employed under the Frieza Force, in which the tyrant would use the Saiyan warriors to conquer planets for him. Normally only upper level warriors are allowed to become combatants in the Saiyan Army, and they are chosen from birth, the army employs various ranks based on power levels: the only ranks mentioned in the series are "Elites" and "Low-Class", with the series creator Akira Toriyama confirming in an interview that there are also "Mid-Class" warriors; while almost all Saiyans are low-class warriors, there are only about ten mid-class warriors, and only King Vegeta and Prince Vegeta are elite warriors. This rank is determined by an innate latent battle power, but if their battle power rises greatly afterward, they can be promoted. Saiyans who are deemed lower level warriors from birth are usually not able to become combatants, however a lower level warrior who is made an infiltration baby and who returns successful from their mission will be allowed to be a full-fledged combatant. The military force met its final destruction when Frieza committed his Genocide of the Saiyans, with the force's only survivors being Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and Onio.

In Universe 6, the Saiyans try to protect the universe and get rid of evil-doers. Because of this, they are known as Heroes of Justice. They also have their own elite unit in charge in protecting their home planet, called the Sadala Army.

Reproduction
Saiyans have a sexual reproduction system compatible with that of normal Humans, as they are able to produce fertile offspring together. This indicates that despite their vastly enhanced physiology, Saiyans have genes that are similar enough to a Earthling’s to be able to avoid debilitating genetic conditions that come with hybridization, allowing the resulting hybrids to be born perfectly healthy and normal. The mothers of the full-blooded Saiyans were never in the original manga, though there have been some mentions of them. When Raditz tells Goku about the destruction of their home planet in the manga/anime, he mentions that "their parents" died along with it. Their mother Gine was later revealed in Dragon Ball Minus. Also, at least in the anime, Nappa clearly states that he had a mother. Female Saiyans have been seen, including a female Saiyan holding a knife in her mouth shown in a trio of Saiyans when King Kai tells Goku about his ancestry, Bardock's comrade Fasha is a female, and a number of female Saiyans in a bar are shown in Bardock - The Father of Goku.

Based on Vegeta's initial disgust and animosity towards Gohan when he first learns about the half-breed's unusually high power level, it is strongly hinted that Saiyans were adamantly against reproducing with creatures of another race and bearing hybrids. As Vegeta states a hybrid's power would be too dangerous for even a full-blooded Saiyan to combat against, it seems the Saiyans were highly cautious of this and there is no record of any Saiyan procreating outside of the Saiyan race until Goku's marriage to Chi-Chi and the birth of Gohan. It is also possible the Saiyans viewed hybrids as abominations and insults to their race.

Due to being a warrior race, Saiyans prefer to artificially incubate their offspring. Even non-warriors like Gine kept baby Kakarot in an incubation chamber due to its convenience.

Given that their ability to reproduce fertile and stable offspring with humans with few noticeable physical differences between hybrids and full-blooded humans, then Saiyans must possess 23 chromosomes in their DNA.

Family
Saiyan families appear to be far different to that of a traditional Earthling family; apart from the royal family of Vegeta, they are not particular about blood-relationships. Of the few (pure-blooded) Saiyan families seen, only Vegeta and his father have had close relationships, as well Broly and Paragus to some extent. Children are kept in pods as infants and monitored by doctors while their parents are usually occupied on mercenary missions. Even as infants, their natural strength and their Gre​at Ape transformation means that they are capable of conquering planets like Earth single-handedly and so it is unlikely they spend much, if any time, with their parents or siblings. Notably, when Bardock is asked by his comrade Tora if he remembers what day his newborn son was born, he replies "No, but that was a long time ago." Fasha then goes on to say that it was the day before, and that he should go see him.

Saiyans do not have much of a concept of family, but they do tend to have close relationships with their friends and comrades however, with whom they do spend a great deal of time in battle. Bardock has a close relationship with his wife Gine however, which is apparently rare among Saiyans. Goku was able to have a close relationship with his family as a result of being raised as an Earthling since infancy. Also, in Vegeta's case, he was initially uninterested in his family due the comfortable nature on Earth conflicting with his Saiyan nature, but living on Earth for many years enabled him to reconcile with this, and he became more family-oriented. In contrast to the Saiyans of the Universe 7, the Saiyans of the Universe 6 seem to care for their families more, as shown by Cabba, wanting to protect his planet because Vegeta threatened to destroy their planet (though Vegeta was not being serious).

Vegeta explained that all Saiyan men were strong willed and that they were genetically inclined to like strong willed women, which is the reason why they picked Earthling wives that were also strong willed.

Hybrids
Due to their similar physiology, Saiyans and Earthlings are capable of interbreeding. While this was always possible, it became necessary for the survival of the Saiyan race when all the female Saiyans were exterminated. The resulting offspring generally possess the same enhanced strengths of the Saiyans, developing their abilities far more easily than Earthlings, but lack the same drive and instinct for combat. Hybrid Saiyans, due to genetic reasons, can be born without a tail, like Goten or Trunks (Gohan is the only Saiyan-hybrid in the manga/anime that is shown with a Saiyan tail), and if they do, they have an extraordinary potential. Hybrid Saiyans possess a greater potential to become Super Saiyans than pure-blood Saiyans, but it is unclear how many generations removed from their Saiyan ancestor a hybrid can be before the transformation becomes unavailable to them. This is principally called into question because of Pan's supposed inability to transform, yet in the TV special Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy, descendants of Goku and Vegeta are able to turn Super Saiyan, despite their Saiyan heritage being even more diluted than Pan's.

It is unclear if all hybrids possess a naturally greater potential than their Saiyan parents, but shown evidences suggest that they do. In the Japanese version of the Saiyan saga, Nappa suggested to Vegeta that they mate with the female Earthlings to produce a new powerful Saiyan race but Vegeta refused because he feared a half-breed's power would become too dangerous. Gohan repeatedly demonstrated a hidden power that, when harnessed, made him more powerful than even Goku or Vegeta. When he and Goku trained to battle Cell, Gohan not only caught up to his father, but surpassed him even before making his Super Saiyan 2 transformation; he is also noted to be the first youngest Saiyan to reach that form, at the age of 11 (9 in the manga). Also the three, Gohan, Trunks, and Goten were able to make the transformation to Super Saiyan at age 8 and 7 respectively, far younger ages than their fathers and Gohan, with Trunks and Goten showing such ease at obtaining the first form that they treated it almost like a "child's play thing" (as stated by Vegeta in the Funimation dub). Goten and Trunks' fusion as Gotenks shows much, much more ease in obtaining even the final form, entering the Hyperbolic Time Chamber whilst being unable to make the first transformation. In no more than about a week in the room, they emerged as a fused Super Saiyan 3. Vegeta also claimed upon his arrival on Earth with Nappa that Gohan's potential was higher than a normal Saiyan's because of his mixed blood.

A hybrid Saiyan's potential may be held in check by the fact they lack the same desire for combat as pure Saiyans, and thus tend not to train as much, in times of peace, as a pure Saiyan would. For example, Gohan actually became less powerful during the seven years between his battle with Cell and the emergence of Buu, allowing Goku and Vegeta to catch up to and then surpass him, due to him having not trained enough. It is also during this time that both Goku and Vegeta make the transformation to Super Saiyan 2 as Gohan did, with Goku surpassing it to ascend to Super Saiyan 3, the last form displayed in the manga and in the Dragon Ball Z anime.

Further, it is unknown if quarter Saiyans, such as Pan, have a lesser potential than half Saiyans or pure-blooded Saiyans due to their further diluted heritage or if their comparative weakness, exhibited by Pan, is simply the result of lacking the Saiyan drive to train coupled with growing up in peaceful times. But Pan as a quarter Saiyan was able to fly as a baby only a few months old without any special training.

In Dragon Ball Fusions, non-Earthling Saiyan hybrids are introduced such as Mint a female Saiyan hybrid who is 1/4 Offworlder (a classification which includes various races native to other dimensions such as Other World and Demon Realm).

Energy Manipulation
Saiyans have a natural affinity to control Ki energy, allowing them to generate very powerful energy blasts even at young ages. In Dragon Ball GT it is said that Saiyans and half-breeds possess a unique type of energy called "Saiya Power".

Also, any energy lost during a battle, will be completely restored, and, in some cases, multiplied, after a short time of resting.

Ancient Saiyans possess different energy from their present day counterparts, the evil ancient Saiyan Cunber was shown to have a corrupting aura and the ability to create shadow hands.

Flight
Due to their natural ability to control their energy, and the massively increased gravity of their home planet, Saiyans possess the innate ability to fly at hypersonic speeds, with little, to no effort at all. Due to their superior Ki control, they're able to fly much more faster than normal humans, proven by Goten, when he completely outclassed Videl in their first day of flying training.

Pan, Gohan's daughter and Goten's niece, was able to fly as a baby with no formal instruction.

Strength
Saiyans naturally possess vast superhuman strength, far greater than that of Earthlings and other alien races, and are veritable fighting machines. They are capable of easily lifting ten times their own weight (before receiving Master Roshi's training, Goku was already able to lift Bulma's car at age 12).

The naturally high gravity of Planet Vegeta (10x that of Earth) develops their physical strength, making them incredibly strong at young ages. Even weaker Saiyans are capable of conquering most planets alone. Due to their insane levels of physical power, they are easily able to destroy mountains, islands, and potentially entire planets just with pure physical strength, especially in the Super Saiyan states. For example, during Goku's battle with Kid Buu, the planet they were fighting on was warping and contracting with each blow and would have destroyed it if not for the Sacred World of the Kai indestructible nature. God-like Saiyans, possess an astronomical level of physical strength, capable of crumbling apart the entire universe when clashing with another God.

Through tough training, Saiyans are able to reach new levels of power, and the more intense training and fights they go through, the stronger they become. If a Saiyan survives a near-death experience through extreme injury to the body, then, when the body recuperates, the Saiyan grows much stronger than they were previously, their body adapting to compensate for the damage dealt, essentially evolving their power, the more they fight. The duration of recovery does not seem to hinder this ability as Saiyans have healed through natural, technological and mystical means and still gained substantial increases in physical strength.

Saiyans put a heavy emphasis on strength and fighting ability when it comes to importance in their society. In fact, they will excommunicate Saiyans who do not show potential to assist in their violent ways, even alleged "royalty," such as Tarble.

Speed and Agility
Saiyans possess tremendous levels of superhuman speed, easily capable of breaking the sound barrier, even with their basic moves. They also have much faster reflexes than an average Human; reflexes so fast that they can avoid a bullet without any trouble at all, or even catch them with no harm. Their superhuman speed can easily be seen in their fighting skills; their movements occur in fractions of seconds which are not visible to average Human eyes, and even "super" humans, like Krillin, Tien or Yamcha, have trouble following up a Saiyan's speed.

Their agility is also substantial in their battles and training, they can easily perform immensely high jumps or acrobatics far more advanced than those of normal human beings, with no drawback or strain on their bodies. These movements can be improved by training, transformations, and other methods. These natural powers of speed and reflex make nearly all Saiyan hand-to-hand combat very fast. In the anime, the strongest and most powerful of Saiyans (especially those who can turn Super Saiyan), can easily move faster than the speed of light, and even King Kai, who can easily track Attack Ball's traveling at faster-than-light speeds, can't keep up with them.

The Saiyans who have achieved both the Super Saiyan God form and above, such as Goku and Vegeta, can even keep up with a God of Destruction's immense speed, and the likes of Dispo, a being whose speed surpasses sound and light.

Durability and Endurance
Saiyans possess enormous amounts of superhuman durability, and are a remarkably resilient species, who refuse to be physically broken. Even as children, Saiyans are easily capable of taking on bullets, explosions or sharpened objects and come out relatively unharmed, and as even younger infants, are able to survive extreme head-trauma and stunt forces.

However, as fully-developed adults, Saiyans possess immense levels of resistance to nearly all harm, and essentially, no Earthling-made weapon could possibly hurt them, and even most alien weapons cannot either. According to Dr. Gero, at age 24, Goku was already so tough, that even basic nuclear blasts and City-leveling explosions would not manage to kill his enemy, prompting the later to build up planet-destructing bombs on each one of his Androids, hoping that this last-effort method managed to kill Goku, in the case the Androids could not. Stronger or god-like Saiyans can survive this type. Even while unconscious and in their base form, a Saiyan is capable of surviving re-atmospheric reentries with no negative effect to their bodies.

When a Saiyan becomes a Super Saiyan, their durability, as well as their strength, increases massively, becoming tough enough to easily survive powerful energy beams, even to their faces, with no visible harm or scratch, and take most blunt forces against large amount of rock or solid matter, with no discomfort. God-like Saiyans are able to survive universe-clashing forces with essentially no harm, or even take planet-destroying finger-taps from Beerus, a God of Destruction with little issue.

However, they are not invincible, and substantially powerful forces and enemies can overcome a Saiyan's basic durability. But even if they are hurt, Saiyans not only also appear able to heal from injuries at a faster rate than normal human beings, but also have an extremely high tolerance to physical pain, and will only succumb to injuries if a massively high amount of bones are broken, also, they possess remarkable immune systems, making it very hard for them to become sick (in fact the only illness in the series shown to be capable bypassing a Saiyan's immune system is Heart Virus). If a Saiyan lets his guard, the most important part of their durability, gradually down, no matter how powerful, this will cause the Saiyan to become vulnerable to behind surprise attacks, and will take as much damage as a "super-human" could. God-like Saiyans have an even higher durability, and can survive star system-shattering energy attacks like Beerus' Sphere of Destruction, as demonstrated by Goku, but with extreme difficulty.

Great Ape

 * Main article: Great Apes and Wrath States

Their tail also grants a Saiyan special transformations; a great metamorphosis into a giant ape beast with tremendous power when looking at a full moon. The Saiyan grows incredibly in size and tenfold in strength while drastically changing in appearance. If the tail is removed, this ability is lost. In this state, a Saiyan will generally lose most if not all control of themselves, with aggressiveness reaching its peak, causing them to lost all rationality to primal instinct. However, some Saiyans who have advanced enough (i.e. Prince Vegeta) are able to contain this heightened ferocity, allowing them to retain their individuality and rationality to perform in battle as normal.

Though normally a tail is required access the transformation, it is possible for Saiyans to transform even if their tail is removed, however they require the use of a Blutz Wave Generator which will cause them to transform, as well as causing their tail to regrow briefly while in their transformed state, as shown by Vegeta in Dragon Ball GT. As the Saiyans of Universe 6 lost their tails through the process of evolution they are presumably incapable of transforming into Great Apes (it is unknown if they would be capable of transforming via the use of a Blutz Wave Generator like the Saiyans of Universe 7).

By managing to access the power of the Great Ape without taking on the form, a Saiyan takes on the Wrath State.

Super Saiyan

 * Main article: Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, and Super Saiyan 3

The most powerful ability of a normal Saiyan, however, is the ability to drastically augment their speed, strength and energy by transforming into a Super Saiyan. The ability is rare and difficult to achieve normally, but gives the Saiyan unbelievable enhancements to their normal abilities. Saiyans possess several Super Saiyan transformations, each different in appearance and the power they provide. For the majority of the Super Saiyan forms, the Saiyans muscle mass increases slightly, their irises turn bluish-green and their hair turns golden in color. There are additional transformations beyond Super Saiyan, and variations thereon.

There are several forms of Super Saiyan, most notably the Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 forms.

As shown by Cabba's Super Saiyan transformation during his match with Vegeta in the Tournament of Destroyers, the Saiyans of Universe 6 are capable of achieving this form in the same manner as the Saiyans of Universe 7.

When used by a heroic ancient Saiyan, the form is identical to the modern day Super Saiyan - though it possess a golden tail (which is not always portrayed as a trait of a modern Saiyan). The ancient Saiyan Shallot also displayed a unique angered state with black Super Saiyan-like hair and red eyes. When used by an evil ancient Saiyan, the Super Saiyan form exhibits differences from those of a present day Super Saiyan; under Saiyan Cunber's utilization the forms retained his red and black aura and both his pupils and irises were present. Additionally, when utilized by Cunber, the Super Saiyan 3 form did not appear to greatly increase the length of his hair. Additionally Cunber proved to be able to access the full power of Super Saiyan 3.

Super Saiyan God

 * Main article: Super Saiyan Gods and God-like Saiyans

Through several different methods a Saiyan can ascend to godhood and achieve the Super Saiyan God form, the most notable being a sacred ritual involving the transfer of ki from five righteous Saiyans to a sixth Saiyan as host. Attaining these forms is quite difficult and only three Saiyans are known to have ever accomplished it - with only two retaining the power. These forms possess Godly ki.

Retaining the godly power also causes the user's normal forms to become more powerful than before, and also gifts them with the God-like Saiyan form, a form which utilizes the power of Super Saiyan God without a physical change in appearance. A Saiyan can also transform into a Super Saiyan God at will if they retain the godly power.

A Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God who transforms into a Super Saiyan becomes a Super Saiyan Blue.

Hybrid forms
Saiyans are capable of mixing their Super Saiyan forms with their other non-Super Saiyan states in order to achieve powerful hybrid states. This has shown to be possible by mixing Super Saiyan with either Great Ape or Super Saiyan God.

Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan

 * Main article: Super Saiyan Blues and God-like Saiyans

Once a Saiyan masters the divine power of Super Saiyan God, by transforming from a Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God into the Super Saiyan form, they can access a new more powerful transformation called Super Saiyan Blue, more descriptively known as "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan".

When a Saiyan breaks through their normal limits, they can achieve the power beyond Super Saiyan Blues.

A Saiyan who possess actual status as a deity takes on the Super Saiyan Rosé form instead of the ordinary Super Saiyan Blue.

Golden Great Ape

 * Main article: Golden Great Apes and Super Saiyan 4

By combining Great Ape and Super Saiyan, a Saiyan becomes a Golden Great Ape. Their offensive capacities have become much greater, and their rage is even more intense than the standard Great Ape's. While in the Golden Great Ape state, the power and strength of a Saiyan increase extraordinarily.

The Super Saiyan 4 form is a unique transformation attained through control of the Golden Great Ape form. Despite being called a "Super Saiyan" it is not part of the main Super Saiyan line of transformations.

By achieving a power beyond their limits in Super Saiyan 4 form, a Saiyan will be enhanced further into a Ultra-full-power Saiyan 4.

While evil ancient Saiyans have been shown capable of taking on the Golden Great Ape form, they have not displayed the ability to become Super Saiyan 4 after gaining control over their Golden Great Ape form.

Fighting
Saiyans have an inborn need to fight. Most Saiyans will spend their lives training to become stronger so that they can prove themselves in battle. When Frieza hired the Saiyans as his planet pirates, he knew of their amazing fighting skills and used that to his advantage. However, Frieza began to notice how powerful the Saiyans were becoming and began to fear that one day one of them would overwhelm him as the most powerful being in the universe. This eventually lead to Frieza's destruction of Planet Vegeta and all the Saiyans on it. Saiyans like Goku and Vegeta are frequently seen training and improving their fighting skills to keep up with each other's skills and the appearance of new, more powerful foes. After battles, injured Saiyans are placed inside Medical Machines by doctors of the Galactic Frieza Army. The healed soldier can then immediately return to the battlefield.

Many of the Saiyan and Saiyan/Human hybrids that appear throughout the series possess extreme fighting potential. It is also very common for them to develop the ability to transform into Super Saiyans at childhood, thought to be particularly likely when the hybrid's Saiyan parent had achieved the transformation prior to conception.

A Saiyan who achieves a level of power at the level of gods becomes a "God-like Saiyan".

Protection

 * Main article: Battle Armors

As a warrior race, the Saiyans would commonly wear protective armor consisting of a form-fitting body suit and battle armor. It was extremely light yet durable, able to protect from most attacks. At the same time, it is extremely flexible, able to stretch out so far without losing any of its integrity, enabling to remained clothed while turning into a Great Ape, moving about unhindered, and likewise return to normal size once the Saiyan shrinks back to their base form.

As noted by Vegeta, Universe 7 Saiyan Armor originally looked very similar to the Universe 6 Saiyan armor, possessing a gladiator-like design. However, after they were conscripted into the Galactic Frieza Army, like most other members, they began wearing a remodeled version that consists of a body suit with chest-protection. Newer models would have large pads on the shoulders, on the hips, and/or above the pelvic.

Transportation
Saiyans have small space-pods that are only big enough for one person sitting down. When more than one person is sent to a planet, each warrior has a pod to themselves, who fly alongside each other in a group. It is unknown what fuel the space pods use, and there is no visible exhaust area for the fuel's waste to be expelled from (though when they fly they have an energy aura around them). However, the computers operating the pods seem to be very sophisticated, and can even change course in space, despite there being no visible means of doing so (in the real world, spaceships must either slingshot around a large gravity source, such as the Moon, or must have some object to push themselves away from, per the Third Law of Motion, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"). The passenger appears to be in stasis during travel, but upon reaching a destination air is pumped into the pod, reviving the occupant.

In the Namek Saga, Dr. Brief was able to obtain the space pod that Goku arrived at the planet in as a baby, and was able to use reverse-engineering to build a bigger spaceship, so that Goku would have room to train in on his way to Namek. In an interview, Akira Toriyama said that the Space Pods are uncomfortable. In Dragon Ball Minus, it shows Bardock and a comrade flying in an unusually large Space Pod, enough for both to be inside of it.

Healing
Having become a natural-born race of warriors, Saiyans are shown to be very resilient and adaptive. As they continue battling, their minds and bodies continue to adapt and improve from the experience. To which, they instinctively learn from their mistakes and become more accustomed to the adversity before him. Even more, Saiyans are shown able to recover from injuries much faster than humans. Also as their bodies recover and adapt from the injuries, their bodies will grow considerably stronger than before. This power increase is known as Saiyan Power.

Evolution
While the Saiyans from Universe 7 probably didn't evolve further possibly due to being enslaved and eventually destroyed by Frieza, the Saiyans from the Universe 6 evolved further than their counterparts, losing their tails as a physical trait (though they obviously lost them quite a while ago).

Known Saiyans
In addition to the name "Saiyan" being an anagram of the Japanese word for vegetable, most pure-blooded Saiyans in the series also have names with vegetable puns, either in English or Japanese. Furthermore, the Saiyan Royals are keeping in line with this, simply named Vegeta(ble) and (Vege)Tarble.

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Cissito: A young Saiyan kid.
 * Chokly: Girl who dresses like a boy.
 * Gine: Mother of Raditz and Goku and former member of Bardock's Planet Elite Force.
 * Kiclee: Girl who admires Super Saiyans.
 * Lisee: Fast and chic Saiyan.
 * Leganon: Saiyan who works as a businessman on Earth.
 * Nazz: Daughter of Garatz.
 * Plauto: Gentle Saiyan who quit being a soldier.
 * Ruccola: Girl who is obsessed with fashion, especially Earth's, has removed her tail.
 * Sesamy: Believes themselves to be the Legendary Saiyan. Can become a Super Saiyan.
 * Yunaly: Daughter of the CEO of a Saiyan conglomerate on another planet.
 * Zysa: Strong housewife who has tamed her Saiyan husband.

Universe 6 Saiyans

 * Renso: Cabba's former captain and brother of Caulifla.

Partial Saiyans

 * Bulla Brief – 1/2 Saiyan, Daughter of Vegeta
 * Bulma Leigh – Unknown percentage, descendant of Vegeta

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Goku: The main protagonist whose original Saiyan name is Kakarot. He is killed by sacrificing himself to kill Raditz, and years later to defeat Cell. Now training under Whis, he is one of the only currently god-like Saiyans.
 * Vegeta IV: Goku's greatest rival and the prince of all Saiyans, he is killed twice by Frieza and once by sacrificing himself against Majin Buu. Training under Whis, he is one of the only remaining Saiyans to reach the realm of gods, and the only one in the royal bloodline to ever reach that level.

Partial Saiyans

 * Gohan – 1/2 Saiyan, Eldest son of Goku
 * Pan – 1/4 Saiyan, Daughter of Gohan
 * Trunks Brief – 1/2 Saiyan, Eldest Son of Vegeta
 * Goten – 1/2 Saiyan, Youngest son of Goku

Fusions

 * Gogeta (Goku and Vegeta via the Fusion Dance; Name: Goku + Vegeta)
 * Gotenks (Goten and Trunks via the Fusion Dance; Name: Goten + Trunks)
 * Vegenks (Vegeta: Xeno and Trunks: Xeno via the Potara fusion earrings; Name: Vegeta: Xeno + Trunks: Xeno)
 * Vegito (Vegeta and Goku via the Potara fusion earrings; Name: Vegeta + Kakarotto)

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Bardock: Father of Raditz and Goku, his fate remains unknown.
 * Borgos: A large balding member of Bardock's Planet Elite Force, he is killed by Team Dodoria.
 * Fasha: The only female member of Bardock's Planet Elite Force, she is killed by Dodoria's Elite.
 * Huki: Kind hearted support based Saiyan.
 * Kalif: Elite female Saiyan.
 * Kress: Saiyan boxer who lives on Earth.
 * Leek: Bardock's mission partner.
 * Lomen: Kenpo master who is close to retirement.
 * Mibatz: Saiyan with pyrokinetic abilities.
 * Nira: Physically strong female Saiyan.
 * Paprika: Friend of Pinich.
 * Prika: Love training.
 * Racyoh: Samurai trained Saiyan.
 * Rakyo: Old warrior who excels at sword fighting.
 * Shugesh: A big overweight member of Bardock's Planet Elite Force. He is killed by Team Dodoria.
 * Soga: Young Saiyan who lives on Earth.
 * Stabba: Old Saiyan who is skilled at kenpo.
 * Tarble: Vegeta's younger brother who has a lack of fighting spirit.
 * Taro: An old comrade of Bardock's.
 * Tora: A tall masculine member of Bardock's Planet Elite Force, he is killed by Dodoria.
 * Tyber: Galactic Patrolman.
 * Vasabi: Saiyan who possess magical arts.
 * Zukini: Saiyan warrior trainer.

Ancient Saiyans

 * Shallot: A Saiyan from the past that appears as a protagonist in Dragon Ball Legends.
 * Yamoshi: The first ever Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God. He fought to stop evil from controlling his planet.

Universe 6 Saiyans

 * Cabba: A Saiyan from Universe 6.

Partial Saiyans

 * Goku Jr. – 1/64 or 1/16 Saiyan, Son of Gohan and Grandson of Goku.
 * Vegeta Jr. – Unknown percentage, descendant of Vegeta

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, main antagonist of Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
 * Narmis: Arrogant, gets a crush on people who defeat her.
 * King Vegeta III: King of the Saiyans and father of Vegeta and Tarble. He is killed by Frieza.
 * King Vegeta's Majordomo:
 * Zemma: Barbaric Saiyan.

Universe 6 Saiyans

 * Caulifla: A Saiyan from Universe 6 and Renso's sister.
 * Kale: A Legendary Saiyan from Universe 6.

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Bukha: Evil Saiyan who went berserk on some planets.
 * Goku Black: The original present Goku, with the heart, mind and soul of the original present Zamasu, due to the Zamasu from the original, unaltered present timeline switching bodies with Goku using the Super Dragon Balls.
 * Gowry: Saiyan mercenary.
 * Nappa: A large bald Saiyan who was Vegeta's partner and General of the Saiyan army, he is killed twice by Vegeta.
 * Paragus: Father of Broly, he is killed by Frieza in Broly.
 * Raditz: Brother of Goku, he is killed by Piccolo.
 * Rhubub: Saiyan assassin.
 * Sage: Strong low-class Saiyan who has invaded many planets.
 * Scarface: A short balding Saiyan seen only in the pendulum room during filler of the DBZ anime.
 * Shorty: A large muscular Saiyan seen only in the pendulum room during filler of the DBZ anime.
 * Turles: Main antagonist of Dragon Ball Z Movie #3 who looks nearly identical to Goku. Was killed by Goku.
 * Yashimo: Saiyan who seeks the powers of Majin and Demons.

Ancient Saiyans

 * Cunber: A Saiyan who was wished by Fu using the Dragon Balls.
 * Giblet: A mysterious Saiyan who goes around destroying things. He is an antagonist in Dragon Ball Legends.

Partial Saiyans

 * Future Zamasu - Future Zamasu and Goku Black do not defuse properly in the Dragon Ball Super manga, resulting in their cells becoming one, as both possess the same soul. Future Zamasu thus, inherits Black's Saiyan cells and possesses the ability to transform into the Super Saiyan Rosé form upon transforming into Fused Zamasu.

Full-blooded Saiyans

 * Beets: A non-combatant pure-blooded Saiyan in Broly, he was killed by Paragus.
 * Binas: Saiyan who became effeminate due to peer pressure.
 * Biwala: Saiyan who has strained under an Offworlder.
 * Garatz: Hot-blooded Saiyan. Nazz is his daughter.
 * Goyan: Crafty Saiyan.
 * Heiya: Lazy Saiyan.
 * Jagamo: Saiyan guard captain on another planet.
 * Moroko: A male Saiyan scientist in Broly.
 * Nion: A female scientist in Broly.
 * Onio: A fat Saiyan that appears in the self-parody manga, Nekomajin.
 * Quillin: Deceptive Saiyan.
 * Saiyan Army: The military force employed by the Saiyans.
 * Zorn: One of King Vegeta's subjects.
 * Zibar: Saiyan who was forced to attend high school on Earth by his parents.

Ancient Saiyans

 * Skwash: Champion of an ancient Saiyan tournament.

Universe 6 Saiyans

 * King Sadala: The ruler of Sadala.
 * Sadala Army: The military force employed by the Saiyans from Universe 6.

Partial Saiyans

 * Mint - A female Saiyan hybrid who is 1/4 Offworlder.
 * Nenjo - Saiyan who is 1/4 Offworlder.
 * Mint - Saiyan who is 1/4 Offworlder.
 * Shalot - Saiyan who is 1/4 Earthling.

Fusions

 * Gokule (Goku and Hercule via the Potara fusion earrings; Name: Goku + Hercule)

Origins
The Saiyans are a fighting race who, since ancient times, have lived a violent and inhumane lifestyle, where they attack numerous planets to build up wealth and goods. Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files speculates that Saiyans were originally Great Apes who gained intelligence and took on a humanoid form. As noted by Whis, "ancient Saiyans" possess different ki from the ones in the present time. The Original Super Saiyan had first appeared approximately 1,000 years (3,000 in the Ocean Group dubs) prior to the Frieza Saga, approximately 238 Before Age, and is described by Vegeta as a Super Saiyan who could only retain his status in the transformed state. This Saiyan was an individual with a noble heart, and along some of his comrades, tried to stop their evil fellow Saiyans, turning into a Super Saiyan God. However, he couldn't achieve his goal and perished. In the legend, he appeared to have lost control and gave in to his destructive primitive desires, destroying himself with his own power.

A small group of Saiyans eventually found their way to Planet Plant in Age 550, and the history of the Saiyans predating their conflict with the Tuffles was revealed in the anime, where it is discussed heavily during the Vegeta Saga, as well as in the OVA Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. It is also a central theme in the Baby Saga of Dragon Ball GT. GT Perfect Files speculate the launching point of the Saiyan's spaceships as being the Saiyans' true homeland itself.

During the Vegeta Saga of Dragon Ball Z, King Kai describes the Saiyans as a group of barbaric aliens who shared a planet with a race known as the Tuffles. The Saiyans lived in the arid wastelands, while the Tuffles lived in great cities, employing advanced technology. Eventually the Saiyans attacked, vowing to conquer the Tuffle's great cities and extinguish the race. This sparked a ten year long war (described in greater detail below).

It is revealed in Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans that when the Saiyans arrived on Planet Plant, they were welcomed by the Tuffles. The Tuffle survivor, Dr. Lychee, then describes the horrors of the war in a similar fashion to the one King Kai tells. However whilst explaining, Vegeta states the Tuffles used the Saiyan race as slaves.

During the Baby Saga of Dragon Ball GT, Baby described the history of the Saiyans war with the Tuffles in a different manner. He states that the Saiyans first arrived in mysterious space-pods and attacked the Tuffles in cold blood. He states they were led by Vegeta's father, and upon the rising of the full moon, the Saiyans assumed their Great Ape transformations, completely wiping out the Tuffle race in a single night.

War with the Tuffles

 * Main article: Saiyan-Tuffle Wars

King Kai explained the story of the Saiyan race to Goku during the Vegeta Saga. He explains that around Age 720, a civil war broke out. The Saiyan Army tried many times to overthrow the Tuffles but were unsuccessful, sparking a ten-year conflict on the planet. Although the Saiyans were bigger in size and physically far superior, they were fewer in number compared to the Tuffles. The Tuffles had a trump card in the form of their technology to read the power levels of the Saiyans and advanced weaponry such as blasters to hold them off. Then, around Age 730, the Saiyans were able to transform into Great Apes thanks to the full moon that only appeared once every 100 years on the planet; with this, they finally annihilated the Tuffles and renamed the planet Planet Vegeta after their commanding hero, King Vegeta.

Meeting other races
King Kai goes on to explain that after their victory over the Tuffles, the Saiyans were approached by the Arcosians. These aliens had money and technology, but their planet was unsuitable, so they hired a group of Saiyans to take over a planet for them; in return, they would share their technology with them. Over the years, the Saiyans also learned how to use the Tuffles' advanced equipment and became smarter and less barbaric, although they still lusted for fighting and destruction.

Occupation by Frieza

 * Main article: Kanassan Wars, Invasion of Planet Meat, and Genocide of the Saiyans

In Universe 7, according to Akira Toriyama the Saiyans joined the Frieza Force when it was still under the command of King Cold, while according to Daizenshuu 7 around Age 731, about a year following the Saiyan victory over the Tuffles, the planet was conquered or annexed by Frieza's empire and the Saiyans (like many other races) were drafted to serve as soldiers in Frieza's military.

Due to the Saiyans' innate strength and penchant for violence, they were considered to be useful mercenaries and assisted in the conquering of many planets, or if assignment called for, eradication of the planet's population (even Saiyan children were considered powerful enough to conquer some of the weaker planets, such as Earth).

Eventually, seeing how quickly some of the more gifted Saiyan warriors were gaining power through battle, around Age 735, Frieza grew concerned with the potential of the Saiyan race and thought that they would grow strong enough to face him or even become the fabled Super Saiyans, able to defeat him in battle. In Age 737, a Saiyan scientist develops the Saibamen using biotechnology and those creatures make their way into the Galactic Frieza Army through the Saiyans. Soon, in Age 737 as well, the maniacal warlord Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, nearly eradicating the Saiyan race. There were only a few thousand Saiyans on the planet. As a warrior race, it would be difficult to increase their numbers (presumably, though left unsaid, because they would war with each other over superiority). The manga reveals only four pure-blood Saiyans who have survived the destruction: Kakarot (Goku), Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz as they were not on the planet at the time. Once the latter three discovered that their planet was destroyed, Frieza lied to them that an asteroid had hit their world, and offered them continued employment in return for eventual wealth.

Over two decades later, the Saiyans were finally avenged when Goku defeated Frieza on planet Namek. Frieza later met his final end on Earth a year later, when Future Trunks killed him. Hoever, three more Saiyans survived the catastrophe: Turles, Broly, Paragus. In the manga and special Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, Vegeta's brother Tarble is shown an another survivor. In the manga Nekomajin Z Onio appears.

Universe 6
In Universe 6, their history diverged from that of Universe 7, the Saiyans remain to be a thriving race with their original planet intact. They have also come to use their innate capacity for combat productively, fighting evil rather than causing it. Around 220 Before Age, a Legendary Saiyan appeared among the Universe 6 Saiyans.

Universe 6 Saiyans lack tails and can transform into a Super Saiyan with more ease once they obtain the knowledge of the transformation. However the Universe 6 Saiyans were unaware of the existence of the Super Saiyan transformation until they were introduced to it by the Universe 7 Saiyans in Age 779 - with Cabba being the first Saiyan of Universe 6 to achieve the form. The only transformation that the Universe 6 Saiyans were aware of was the demonic Legendary Saiyan, with a Saiyan capable of transforming into it appearing once every 1,000 years.

Universe 6 Saiyans, similar to their counterparts, were employed by the emperor of the universe, Frost, in order to fight in wars on his behalf. In the anime there was the added distinction of Frost starting the wars himself for a profit duping his employees in the process until his exposure as a space pirate.

Survival through Earthlings

 * Main article: Humans

Goku escaped Planet Vegeta's Destruction moments before the event because his parents, Bardock and Gine suspected Frieza was planning to eliminate the planet. Goku, after suffering a head injury as an infant, lost all memory of his mission and past, and was raised as an Earthling. When he did find out about his heritage years later, he still considered Earth as his home. Goku married Chi-Chi, an Earthling who was his childhood sweetheart, and she bore him three half-breed children, Gohan, Pan and Goten. Vegeta would arrive in Earth with the intention of obtaining the Dragon Balls and destroying the planet, however, losing his battle against Goku and the conflict with taking down Frieza served as crucial epiphanies for Vegeta. After this, he ended up settling on Earth initially to wait for his rematch with Goku. Vegeta would later fall in love with and marry Bulma Brief, who bore him two half-breed children, Trunks and Bulla. After more than 100 years since the Saiyans first came to Earth, there were fewer Saiyan descendants left, with Goku Jr., Vegeta Jr., Pan, Goten, and Bulma Leigh being the last survivors of the Saiyans.

Several Saiyan survivors were still around during Age 850, as shown in Dragon Ball Online, these Saiyans had become members of the Time Patrol.

By the time of the events of Dragon Ball Xenoverse, pure blooded Saiyans grew increasingly rare in Universe 7, as the only survivors of the planet Vegeta's destruction were male. However, Goku and Vegeta's families had spread and so many Earthlings possessed hidden Saiyan genes, and thus the traits of the Saiyans, such as the potential to become Super Saiyan, and also to receive Saiyan Power. Many of these Earthlings with Saiyan traits joined the Time Patrol and soon awakened their hidden Saiyan powers.

Universe 6
The two remaining Universe 7 Saiyans meet the Universe 6 Saiyan, Cabba in the Tournament of Destroyers years later after the genocide in Universe 7.

The Saiyans of the twin universes came to fight in combat in the Tournament of Power. When Team Universe 6 lost in the Tournament of Power, the Saiyans were erased with the rest of Universe 6. They were later revived when the erased universes were restored.

Notes & Trivia

 * Frieza stated that Goku could not survive in the vacuum of space. In the anime, most of the series has him wearing a spacesuit when venturing into the vacuum of space. King Kai also notes that Saiyans cannot breathe in space as he instructs the Dragon Team not to revive Goku with the Dragon Balls, because he would appear in space, where he would have died from lack of oxygen. Whis also states that Saiyans cannot survive in space when noting that Vegeta would not have survived the destruction of Earth. Though, there have been several instances where Saiyans have been in airless environments for a very short time with no ill consequences. A plausible explanation is that Saiyans do, indeed, need air to breathe, but, due to their superior cardiovascular conditioning, are able to hold their breath for long periods of time, but still need a source of air to retreat into, after a few minutes, which Goku would not have, after Planet Namek had exploded; this is likely as it was stated by Akira Toriyama that Goku was able to survive in the stratosphere in his fight with Beerus thanks to his powerful lungs. Daizenshuu 7 also states that Saiyans cannot survive in space.
 * Early in the series, Goku takes Monster Carrot to the moon. It is possible that there is somehow Oxygen on the moon in Dragon Ball as Monster Carrot's allies - who are normal Humans - are able to breathe there.
 * In a filler section of the Vegeta Saga, both Vegeta and Nappa are shown outside of their Saiyan pods while Vegeta destroys Arlia.
 * In Bardock - The Father of Goku and a flashback in the Frieza Saga (both in the manga and the anime), Bardock is shown in orbit of Planet Vegeta when confronting Frieza.
 * In a flashback in Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan, both Broly and Paragus are shown in an asteroid field.
 * Broly's bio in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 implies that Broly survived in space after being sent into the Sun.
 * Saiyans are often associated with monkeys due to their "primate" appearance. Goku is called "monkey boy" when he is a kid, and Frieza and his henchmen frequently refer to Saiyans derogatorily as monkeys.
 * It is said by Vegeta that powering up in the middle of battle is a trait derived from the Saiyans.
 * Vegeta mentions in the episode "Saiyans Emerge" that the hair of a pure-blooded Saiyan will never change after one is born. However, as children, Goku and Vegeta's hair changed. In Bardock - The Father of Goku, Vegeta did not have a widow's peak, and in Dragon Ball, Goku's hair covered half of his forehead.
 * Raditz may be the one true exception, as his hair is the length of his body, both as an adult and as a child.
 * Even though Vegeta states that a full-blooded Saiyan's hair stays the same throughout their life, in GT, his hair seems a bit more leveled. But he also could have just trimmed his hair and made it shorter.
 * The French official name for Saiyans is "Space Warrior", this name is used also in the countries that bought the AB Groupe's version of DBZ from France, so almost every European State except Italy and Germany. This includes the infamous "Big Green dub", that also uses the name of Space Warriors for naming the Saiyans.
 * When abbreviating Super Saiyan, people often abbreviate it to SSJ (Super Saiya-Jin) this is actually only correct in Japanese as jin is added as a suffix in Japanese meaning "Person" and is also used when referring to a person or people something that is not practiced in the English language.
 * In the Xenoverse series, if the Future Warrior's selected race is a Saiyan, other Pure and Half-Saiyan characters will be surprised and remark on there being more survivors than what they thought. Other cases will include:
 * Frieza and Cooler will promise to exterminate each and every last Saiyan remaining.
 * Some characters will promise to give everything they got (like Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha), whereas others (such as Goku, Vegeta, and Perfect Cell) will find enjoyment in fighting them.
 * The Androids will be interested in seeing the power of the Saiyans, Android 17 notes Saiyans have "violent looks" in their eyes.
 * In Piccolo's case, he will remark that the Saiyans aren't the only ones trained in the art of combat.
 * Vegeta will likewise retort that his power is on a completely different scale.
 * Demigra (like Freiza and his men) will be derogatory towards Saiyans calling a Saiyan Future Warrior "monkey brute" during their fight in the Crack of Time.
 * While it is said in Super that Pure-Saiyan males prefer strong-minded females, this appears to be a similar case for Saiyan-hybrids (a notable examples being Gohan, who eventually marries the former tomboyish tsundere Videl).