Dragon Ball Officially Unveils Our First New Saiyan Since 2018

Ever since Goku's true Saiyan heritage was revealed in Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama has slowly expanded the race over time, introducing several new Saiyans over the years. Originally, Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, Nappa, the legendary Bardock, and the other Universe 6 Saiyans each brought their own distinct flair to the franchise with unique personalities and transformations.

While modern entries continued rolling out new Saiyans pretty regularly throughout the 2010s, introducing the likes of Cabba, Caulifla, Kale, Shallot, and Giblet, surprisingly, there hasn't been much in the way of new Saiyan announcements to the franchise since Dragon Ball Legends in 2018.

Since then, Dragon Ball has largely expanded the existing roster rather than debuting brand-new Saiyan characters. That is until now, with Dragon Ball officially introducing the first new Saiyan in years in a brand-new reveal trailer (via X).

In a recent gameplay reveal trailer for the highly anticipated upcoming release of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, Bandai Namco finally pulled back the curtain on J-Age, the game's brand-new Saiyan protagonist and the first entirely original lead character to headline a major Dragon Ball game in place of Goku.

Designed from concepts by Akira Toriyama, J-Age serves as a rookie member of the Great Saiyan Squad, with the seven-minute showcase trailer following the character through an early mission while highlighting some of the mechanics and features we can expect to see in Xenoverse 3.

Unlike the custom Time Patrollers of the previous Xenoverse games, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 places J-Age at the center of the story as its default protagonist, giving players a defined hero with an established role in the world. Set in the previously unexplored Age 1000 timeline, J-Age is a young Saiyan who balances life as a West City University student with duties as a member of the Great Saiyan Squad, an all-new organization tasked with protecting the era from emerging threats.

The gameplay reveal follows J-Age and three squadmates on an early mission that culminates in a showdown with Broly, while also teasing returning Dragon Ball icons through the new Soul Assist mechanic. Although Bandai Namco has yet to reveal the game's overarching antagonist or central conflict, the footage suggests Xenoverse 3 will focus less on repairing history and more on telling an original story set in a brand-new era, with J-Age serving as players' guide.

The reveal has generated plenty of discussion across social media and within the wider Dragon Ball community, though it's not all positive. Many gamers have expressed concern over what appears to be a new transformation timer, a mechanic that wasn't present in the first two Xenoverse games, though the feature hasn't been officially confirmed.

Even so, fans are largely excited about the new game after getting a glimpse at the various transformations and updated gameplay, with longtime Xenoverse players eager to see how Dimps evolves the series nearly a decade after Xenoverse 2 launched. Whether J-Age can become the franchise's next iconic Saiyan remains to be seen, but there's no doubt fans will be diving in to find out for themselves when Xenoverse 3 releases next year.