The Galactic Patrol Prisoner saga of Dragon Ball Super is the first major story arc in the manga that has yet to be adapted to anime, which is a shame, because it also established a way of doing things that let other characters besides Goku and Vegeta play a role in protecting the Earth.

In the Galactic Patrol Prisoner saga, a villain named Moro breaks out of confinement by the Galactic Patrol, and begins a quest to regain his power by devouring the life forces of any planet he finds along his way. Like most Dragon Ball villains, Moro's goals are extremely selfish, and he's unconcerned with the billions of lives he's extinguishing in the pursuit of power. Eventually, of course, Moro's sights are set on Earth, and he dispatches a few henchmen to feel out the area. Goku and Vegeta aren't on Earth at the time, however, meaning it's up to the rest of the Z-Fighters to protect the planet until one or both of them return.

Moro's Assault Offered Lower-Tier Characters a Way to Help Out

Moro had under his control an army of bandits who he'd broken out of prison alongside him, which meant there were plenty of opponents to be had when the assault on Earth began in earnest. In chapter 56, the bandits began by pillaging various areas on Earth, forcing the Z-Fighters to split up and each handle a small group of enemies by themselves. This gave characters like Tien and Yamcha, who haven't really had an opportunity to do much of anything in Dragon Ball Super, a chance to flex their muscles for the first time in ages, as they faced off against opponents that were more on their power level.

This even applied to stronger characters like Gohan and Piccolo, who were tasked with facing off against an alien android with copy abilities known as Seven-Three. While Goku and Vegeta do eventually make their appearances on Earth when the time comes to fight Moro directly, that doesn't change the fact that there were a few chapters focused exclusively on the "lesser" characters in the Dragon Ball Super roster. It's almost surprising that this doesn't happen more often, as most villains do have plenty of henchmen running around. Characters like the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball Z would be a perfect fit for this kind of role now, and ideally future arcs will continue the trend.

The entire Galactic Patrol Prisoner saga is one of the best arcs in Dragon Ball Super, and finding ways to make use of beloved buy outclassed characters like this is just one of the many reasons why. The current Super Hero-adapted arc echoes this aspect of Moro's story with its focus on Gohan and Piccolo over Goku and Vegeta, which hopefully is a good sign that this will continue. Dragon Ball Super has plenty more story left ahead, after all, and fans will no doubt be thrilled to see old favorites finally get to contribute once more.