Saves From Death

This section will describe all of the saves made by characters during DBZ, with a brief description to accompany it and inform you on what the scenario was, what conditions they were under, who was involved, and exactly what happened. They're listed numerically for convenience.
Note that this is a manga section. Anything that was anime-only will be excluded.

UPDATE: This section has been updated to include saves number 39-68.

Saiyan Saga
1. Goku saves Piccolo
When Raditz arrived on Earth, Piccolo went and got himself into a fight which he had no chance of winning. He attacked to no effect, and was about to be obliterated by his foe - Raditz, when the Saiyan's scouter blinked, revealing Goku, and tempting him into flying off away from the Namek. Goku didn't realize he'd made the save, but if it wasn't for him then Piccolo would be dead.

2. Goku saves Piccolo…again
During the fight between 'The World's Strongest Team' and Raditz, Goku had seemingly been rendered useless, allowing Raditz to advance on the helpless Piccolo with violent intents. He charges up an attack, ready to kill the Namek when suddenly Goku grabs his tail, sending him crashing immediately down to the ground in agony, and saving Piccolo's life for the second time, although this time he did it on purpose.

3. Gohan saves Goku
Raditz had knocked Goku down to the ground hard, before standing on his ribs, pushing down hard and breaking them in many areas. Piccolo was worthless in this particular exchange, as he was too busy charging up an attack to come to Goku's aid. Just when the Earth's biggest hero thought it was over, a small child burst out of a pod and a massive crater. It was Gohan, the son of Goku! He angrily shouted at Raditz to stop hurting his dad, before charging forth and landing a powerful headbutt to the evil Saiyan's ribs. Raditz was knocked backwards off his brother, temporarily giving Goku a rest and allowing him time to recuperate.

4. Piccolo saves Gohan
Before the battle with the two evil, invading Saiyans commenced, Saibamen were sent out to weaken the opposition, and prove their worth. It was an all out rumble, with many of the little green aliens dying, despite fighting valiantly. There was one left to fight Gohan though, but he was so nervous and scared that he couldn't even put up a defense as one charged at him. Had it not been for Piccolo intercepting then killing the little green man, then the son of Goku would have been dead before the battle even properly started.

5. Piccolo saves Gohan…again
This time Piccolo sacrificed his life in order to save his first real friend. Nappa angrily approached Gohan before letting off a blast of epic proportions, with amazing destructive potential, and the strength to wipe out even the strongest of foes. Fortunately for the kid though, Piccolo dived in the way of the beam, using his body to absorb all of the raw intensive, surging power. The attack finishes with Piccolo standing tall having completely blocked the beam from Gohan, with smoke soaring upward from his chest. He then falls to the ground, and after saying his good-byes, he fades away.

6. Goku saves Gohan
For the third time in the battle, Gohan has his life saved, although this time it is by his father, who arrived just in time. Nappa was about to blast the kid into the afterlife, when Nimbus came and quickly shifted him to safety. Goku then revealed himself, having come to his son's aid, prepared to destroy his enemies.

7. Yajirobe saves Goku
Hmm…never thought I'd be writing that subtitle. Vegeta had turned Oozaru after losing to Goku in his humanoid form, and was destroying his counterpart with a crushing grip in between his strong, hairy fingers. Goku screamed out in pain, before a hidden accomplice comes to his aid, chopping off Vegeta's tail. The swordsman then immediately returns to the shadows in the safety of hiding, revealing himself to be none other than Yajirobe. He may be a coward but he risked his life in saving Goku.

8. Krillen saves Gohan
Once again the kid requires rescuing, this time as he fights Vegeta in a surprisingly close battle. As Gohan is angry he is able to keep pace in the fight, but is being forced towards a corner, gradually tiring and losing out. Just as it looks like the final blow is going to be delivered, Krillen throws a spirit bomb he borrowed off Goku, aimed directly for Vegeta's back. The evil Saiyan managed to figure out it was coming though, jumping backwards and dodging it, allowing it to continue its path straight towards Gohan.

9. Goku saves Gohan
After Krillen's save turned out badly, Goku psychically contacted his son, informing him that as long as there's no evil in his heart he can bounce it right towards Vegeta. Gohan obediently did so, hitting his enemy full on, and causing him a massive amount of energy, surviving the original attack purely because of his father's wise advice.

10. Goku saves Vegeta
Krillen stands over a beaten Vegeta with Yajirobe's sword, preparing to deliver the final, fatal blow. Just as he drives the sword down, Goku shouts out for him to stop, making Krillen halt in his tracks. After a brief explanation of his reasoning, he manages to convince his best friend to reluctantly drop the weapon, and allow Vegeta to escape from Earth. Obviously the Saiyan prince didn't appreciate Goku sparing his life, but rather acted callously and cruelly, threatening to come back and kill them all. Now that's gratitude for you!

(That's right you got it we're skipping the anime-only parts, Raiti and Zaacro & Invisible Spaceship)

Freeza Saga
11. Gohan and Krillen save Dende
After watching Dodoria bully a few Nameks for a while, the two warriors from Earth can spectate no longer, and interfere just before the big fat pink bully can attack a youthful Namekian. Dodoria is kicked through the wall of a house whilst Dende is grabbed and taken away with the two mighty Earthlings, temporarily escaping the bullies' wrath.

12. Vegeta saves Gohan and Krillen
The two powerful warriors from Earth were battling Guldo of the Ginyu Force, and winning until he used an amazing technique on them which froze them in place. He then used telekinesis to lift a tree right out of the ground, and shake it so that it was like a sharp, pointed, deadly spear. He then launched it at the frozen duo, with them helpless to escape. A moment before it hits though, the grip is released, allowing them to narrowly dodge the wooden weapon. When examining what happened, Gohan and Krillen can see that Vegeta came to their aid, killing Guldo in one attack.

13. Gohan and Krillen save Vegeta
Repaying the favor for earlier in the fight, the mighty midgets come to their temporary ally's aid, as he is weakened to the extent that he can no longer move. Recoome sets him up for his eraser cannon - A breath blast of sorts, but milliseconds before he fires it, Krillen comes behind him and kicks him to the ground. As Recoome soars aimlessly to the floor, changing the direction of his beam, Gohan slid round and grabbed Vegeta, tossing him to safety. Recoome was injured from the attack from behind that made his own attack backfire, and Vegeta was characteristically very ungrateful for the save.

14. Goku saves Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillen
Recoome has everyone beaten badly, completely defeated. He towers over them all, ready to deliver the final blow, but hesitates foolishly to taunt them. A momentary distraction from behind him in the shape of a ship landing attracts his undivided attention, with a red blur reaching him within seconds. The blur turned out to be Goku who distributed senzu beans to all of his allies, before defeating Recoome in one shot, showing how strong he has become.

15. Goku saves Krillen and Gohan
After Captain Ginyu had swapped bodies with Goku, he had gone straight onto the Saiyan's friends, attacking them ruthlessly with them having no idea he wasn't the real Goku. They didn't attack back because they refused to hurt their friend/dad, resulting in them getting beaten up. After a short while Goku arrived in Ginyu's body, explaining the situation, and pointing out that Ginyu couldn't get to full power in that body. Krillen nailed the impersonator from behind, realizing that it was possible to defeat him. If Goku wouldn't have shown up, then Ginyu would have killed the two of his loved ones.

16. Goku saves Vegeta
Vegeta beats Ginyu up to the extent that he can no longer fight back, knocking him down to the ground, and leaving him in a pool of his own blood, before charging in to destroy him. Ginyu then tries for his famous body exchange trick, only to have it intercepted by Goku, who regains his normal body from the stunt. It is too badly hurt for him to fight though, as he can only watch from on the floor, hoping Vegeta doesn't make another foolish mistake.

17. Goku saves Vegeta again
Vegeta beat up Ginyu (In his proper body) to the point where he could no longer recover, before once more diving in to deliver the final blow. Once again though, the leader of the Ginyu Force used his famous technique, almost managing to successfully do it this time. Almost is the key word though, as Goku interpreted the attack, throwing a frog, which had handily hopped into his open palm, and intercepting the beam with it. The result was that Ginyu went into the frog's body, and was rendered useless as a fighter.

18. Vegeta saves Goku
Whilst this wasn't in a fight, it did count as saving a life, because Goku would have died had he not received immediate medical attention. Vegeta showed him to, and then put him in a rejuvenation tank, allowing him to heal back to full strength.

19. Dende and Gohan save Krillen
After Freeza had delivered a penetrating stab to Krillen's stomach, the bald human fell into the depths of the deep Namekian ocean. Gohan desperately flew in to save him, but to no avail though as Freeza blocks him. This angered the kid and gave him such an uproar of power that he was able to gain an advantage over his opponent, knocking him down to the ground and causing significant pain. This gave Dende time to go fish Krillen out of the water, and heal him back to full health.

20. Krillen and Dende save Gohan
Freeza has Gohan in his clutches, choking the life out of the kid after recovering from the early beating. Just as the young Saiyan begins to fade out of consciousness, Krillen suddenly launches a destructo disc at Freeza, cutting off his tail. This enrages the evil fiend, as he charges after the person he thought he'd killed previously. As Krillen escaped, Dende healed Gohan back to full health.

21. Gohan and Dende save Piccolo
After Piccolo had turned up and forced Freeza to transform into his third form after giving him a massive beating, everyone had lots of hope. This was quickly vanquished though as the third form tyrant was too much to handle. He battered Vegeta's limp torso with a series of short, sharp, speedy energy beams from his fingers. Piccolo is rapidly losing consciousness, and would have died had Gohan not lost his temper and interfered, delivering a massive Masenko to his enemy, sending him crashing down to the ground. Dende quickly heals Piccolo.

22. Dende saves Vegeta
Vegeta demands that Krillen blasts him, finally getting his wish and being sent to the ground as a bloody wreck. Dende eventually agrees to heal the mean warrior, and is kicked onto the floor for his troubles. Vegeta gets up, completely fresh, and completely revived.

23. Vegeta saves Gohan
Just after Freeza had transformed into his final, most powerful form, he aimed a one-finger beam at Dende, killing him outright. He then turned to Gohan and did the same, and would have even achieved a rapid kill had Vegeta not spotted the beam and punched Gohan out of its path. The kid thanked his savior, but Vegeta ignored him arrogantly.

23. Piccolo saves Goku
After Goku had taken a massive beating, he had decided it was time for the Spirit Bomb, but required a long time to charge it up. Piccolo bought this time for him, kicking Freeza to the floor mere milliseconds before he could finish Goku off. The Saiyan managed to get to his feet, and continued to charge up the attack.

24. Gohan and Krillen save Goku and Piccolo
With Piccolo using the last of his energy to save Goku, he and the Saiyan were unable to mount a defense as Freeza advanced. Before the evil tyrant could attack and kill them though, Gohan and Krillen both launched their Kamehameha and Masenko respectively, hitting the fiend on both of his sides, distracting him for long enough to allow Goku to finish his attack.

25. Goku saves Gohan and Krillen
Enraged, Freeza turns to the two Earthlings, ready to crush them, but before he can make an advance on them, Goku fires down his Spirit Bomb, hitting with incredible impact, and saving his friend and son from his enemies' wrath.

26. Piccolo saves Goku
After the Spirit Bomb was used, Goku had virtually no energy, and was unable to even swim in the flooded land he'd created. Luckily though Piccolo managed to pull him out of water and onto land, preventing him from drowning, and thus saving his life.

27. Piccolo saves Goku again
After Krillen had pointed behind Goku, the Saiyan turned around to see the enraged Freeza who had somehow survived the Spirit Bomb, and watched on hopelessly as a beam closed in on him. He was too weak to dodge it after using all of his energy on his attack, but was luckily pushed out of the way by Piccolo, who took the attack for his ally. This almost killed the Namek, but it allowed him to save Goku and let the hope live on.

(that's right no Garlic Jr.)

Android Saga
28. Goku and Krillen save Yamcha
Upon arriving on the scene to see the evil Android #20 sucking energy out of Yamcha, Goku demanded that he stopped, forcing him off his friend. He then ordered Krillen to take him away and feed him a senzu, which the midget obediently did, saving Yamcha's life.

29. Vegeta and Yamcha save Goku
After the heart virus had kicked in, Goku was no match for Android #19, resulting in him getting destroyed on the battlefield, and in the position to be destroyed, until Vegeta came along and saved him. Vegeta then showed he was a Super Saiyan and killed 19 effortlessly. Goku was taken home by Yamcha and fed the heart medicine, allowing the pain to be eased, and the suffering to temporarily stop. This contributed to saving Goku's life, as Vegeta's interference alone wouldn't have done it.

30. Trunks saves Vegeta
Vegeta had gotten too confident after defeating #20 and #19, and went on to fight #18, the female Android. After a long, hard, well-fought battle from both sides, Vegeta had his arm broken, and was rendered helpless, at the Android's mercy. Before she could kill him though, Trunks soared in, attacking #18 only to be beaten up by #17, but taking the attention from his father none the less. Everyone else then dived in and suffered the same fate as the father and son duo.

31. Krillen saves Vegeta, Trunks, Tien and Piccolo
After being too scared to fight, Krillen was allowed the chance to feed his friends and allies senzu beans in order for them to recover from their terrible beatings. He was warned by the Androids that they'd die unless they received one of those special beans.

Cell Saga
32. Krillen saves girl and boy
Cell was chasing a young girl and boy across an airport, and had it not been for Krillen's interference, he would have absorbed them both, killing them. Krillen managed to buy enough time for them to escape, before attempting to make a get away himself.

33. Tien and Piccolo save Krillen
Cell and Krillen battle with one another, with the eventual loser inevitably being Krillen, who was smashed through the side of a plane, and put in a position where he could easily be destroyed. Cell was about to capitalize when he sensed the far stronger powers of Tien and Piccolo approaching, making him flee in fear, sparing Krillen's life. The two warriors arrived on the scene, thoroughly annoyed Cell escaped.

34. #16 saves #17
Just as it seems as though Cell is about to absorb 17, #16 bursts in, beating Cell up for a while, before knocking him way down underground. This saved his fellow Android for a while, but when #17 refused to run on 16's command, his fate was sealed.

35. Tien saves #18 and #16
2nd Form Cell hovered ominously over the two Androids, towering over them, dwarfing them with his intimidating stance. Before he can make his move though, Tien bursts forward and finally makes a move, launching an awesome Tri-Beam (Kikoho) at the evil creature. He unleashed wave after wave of the energy draining attack, putting his life at risk to save the Androids. It worked as well, with him collapsing a long time after the Androids had escaped, although Cell was totally unharmed.

36. Goku saves Piccolo and Tien
After Tien had faded into unconsciousness, Goku teleported onto the scene to take the three-eyed human and Piccolo away, putting both of their lifeless carcasses over his shoulder and threatening Cell that he'll soon be going down. He then teleported away before the evil creature could even lay a hand on him.

37. Vegeta and Trunks save #18 and #16
After Cell had destroyed all of the islands except one in a small cluster, he moved onto the final one, searching for 18 and 16. Had he found them he would have instantly either eliminated or absorbed them. Luckily for the Androids though, Vegeta and Trunks both arrived on the scene in time to fight Cell, in Super Saiyan mode.

38. Trunks saves Vegeta
After seeing his father get rendered unconscious, Trunks quickly stepped in intervened before Vegeta could be killed. He allowed Cell to beat him up just long enough for Krillen to scoop up the proud Saiyan and take him away to be healed. Trunks was then informed by Cell that he'd managed to save Vegeta, annoying the young Super Saiyan massively as the fiend allowed him to let himself get beaten up when he knew he was protecting his father.

39. Krillen saves #16
After Cell had announced his tournament and left, Krillen, Trunks, and Vegeta held a small meeting about what to do next. #16, battered and bruised, crawled out from the rocks begging for repairs. Trunks the android hater was about to kill him, but Krillen saw good in his eyes and asked Trunks to be merciful.

(I'm not going to go through all the little adventures between now and the Cell Games, because no one really cares about that stuff and it's anime-only anyway)

40. Bulma saves #16 and Cell
During the fight with Gohan, #16 had jumped in to finish Cell once and for all by self-destructing, but he couldn't because Bulma had removed his bomb. Cell smashed #16 to pieces after he realized the futility of his efforts.

41. Gohan saves Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Krillen
The Cell Jrs were quickly beating up the Z fighters, and they would have killed them too, if Gohan hadn't turned SSJ2 and defeated them all.

42. Gohan saves #18
Gohan delivers Cell so hard a blow that #18 is spit out. She would definitely have been killed later when Cell self-destructed (like #17 was).

43. Goku saves everyone on Earth
Cell was in the middle of self-destructing to destroy the planet after realizing he had no chance against Gohan. However, Goku stepped in and teleported them to Kaio's planet, saving Earth.

44. Gohan saves Vegeta
A classic save. Vegeta went psycho on Cell for killing his son, but his attack had no effect, and Cell smacked Vegeta into the ground. He was about to kill Vegeta, but Gohan dove in the way of Cell's blast, saving Vegeta but breaking his arm.

45. Vegeta saves Gohan
He returns the favor. Gohan was beginning to lose his Kamehameha battle against Cell, but Vegeta shot a very strong blast at Cell, distracting the monster and enabling Gohan to win.

46. Gohan saves everyone on Earth
Well, he killed Cell, the one that would've destroyed Earth, right?

Buu Saga
47. Gohan saves policemen
Bank robbers were shooting at police, when all the sudden the Golden Fighter Gohan stepped in, stopping the burglars with an amazing feat of strength. He became a city hero thereafter.

48. Saiyaman saves Senior citizens and Videl
Videl beat up the hijackers on the senior citizen bus tour. However, as one of them had been driving and was now unconscious, the bus went over a cliff. Fortunately, Saiyaman was there to save the day.

(OK I'm skipping the Gohan on a date and Red Shark gang episodes because they're anime-only and no one really could care less. And if they could, I couldn't)

49. Gohan saves Videl
The future lovers had a big fight in the city with everyone watching, because Gohan illegally tried to return a kidnapped baby dinosaur, and Videl represented the law. Gohan tried not to hurt her during the fight, but eventually the two parent dinosaurs swooped in and were about to attack Videl when Gohan saved her by knocking them out.

(Nothing happens here for a while, like 25 episodes. During the entire Babidi saga no one is close to death)

50. Kaioshin saves Gohan
Gohan was caught off guard by Buu's blast and would have died as the blast was heading into outer space with him riding it, but Kaioshin used mental energy to end the blast and let Gohan drop into the forest.

51. Vegeta saves Kaioshin
Gohan was supposedly dead and Kaioshin was lying there, unable to move a muscle and vulnerable to Buu's attack. Buu was about to eat him but Vegeta stormed onto the scene, diverting Buu's attention.

52. Vegeta saves Trunks and Goten
The two little Saiyans wanted to help out in the fight against Buu. Vegeta, knowing they would just be killed, knocked them out and let Piccolo carry them away.

53. #18 saves Marron, Yamcha, Bulma, Chi Chi, Ox King, Oolong, Puar, Muten Roshi, and Videl
This whole group was flying towards the battlefield when the high energy levels in the area screwed up the aircar's engines. Thinking fast, #18 jumped out the aircar and caught it in midair, right before it crashed.

54. Goku saves West City
Babidi and Buu were on their rampage destroying Earth's cities and looking for Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo. Someone tipped them off that they might find Trunks in West City so they headed there to destroy it. Goku stopped them, fought Buu, and convinced him he didn't need Babidi anymore (a.k.a. he should kill him). Buu did so and flew off to some other random location.

55. Fat Buu saves Bee
Two snipers spotted Buu, Mr. Satan, and a dog playing (they had recently become friends). They shot the dog (Bee) and attempted to kill Buu with missiles (unsuccessfully of course). Mr. Satan attacked them from behind knocking out both. Buu healed Bee, who was dying from the wound

56. Fat Buu saves Mr. Satan
One of the snipers later came back, and shot Mr. Satan for revenge from earlier (see #55). Buu healed him as he was dying.

57. Fat Buu saves Mr. Satan and Bee
After Thin Buu absorbed Fat Buu to become Super Buu, he spotted Mr. Satan and Bee helpless. He was about to kill them, but stopped at the last second because Fat Buu still had some influence in his mind and told him not to harm Mr. Satan, his friend.

58. Fat Buu saves Marron, Yamcha, Bulma, Chi Chi, Ox King, Oolong, Puar, Muten Roshi, Videl, #18, Krillen, Piccolo, Dende, Mr. Popo, Goten, and Trunks
Super Buu had arrived on the lookout and was ready to kill everyone, but Piccolo pleaded for an hour to prepare the fighter that was promised. Videl also pleaded, and that Fat Buu factor in Super Buu's head listened to her because she was Mr. Satan's daughter.

59. Gohan saves Piccolo, Goten and Trunks
Super Buu was taking advantage of the fact that Gotenks's fusion split, and was about to kill the two boys, when he ended his attack because he felt the approaching presence of Gohan. He would've killed Piccolo also.

60. Fat Buu and Gohan save Mr. Satan and Bee
Talk about good friends. Buu was once again about to kill Mr. Satan and his pet, but he stalled because the Fat Buu in his head told him not to. This allowed enough time for Gohan to blast Buu away, sparing Mr. Satan.

61. Tenshinhan saves Dende, Mr. Satan, and Bee
Buu saw how useful Dende's healing powers were to Gohan so he decided to take out Dende (similar to Freeza) and the nearby Mr. Satan. Tenshinhan's Kikoho stopped Buu's blast before it reached its intended target.

62. Goku saves Dende, Mr. Satan, Bee, Tenshinhan, and Gohan
Buu became pissed off and decided to kill everyone with one blast. Goku, with his new fusion earrings, stepped in and sliced Buu in half right before he followed through.

63. Goku and Vegeta save Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, and Gohan
They rescued the four absorbtion victims from being part of Buu forever (not dying I guess but still pretty bad). If they hadn't done that and beaten buu later they would have stayed in there forever.

64. Vegeta saves Goku
Goku was exhausted after fighting Kid Buu, so Vegeta jumped in and picked up the fight.

65. Goku saves Vegeta
He returns the favor. Vegeta was exhausted after fighting Kid Buu, so Goku jumped in and picked up the fight.

66. ONCE AGAIN Fat Buu saves Mr. Satan
Okay this is getting ridiculous. Mr. Satan stupidly challenged Kid Buu, and would have been killed, but the Fat Buu influence slowed down the attack. After this, Fat Buu was spit out.

67. Goku and Vegeta and Fat Buu save the universe
If not for Goku's genki dama, Vegeta's plan, and Fat Buu stalling his evil twin, Buu would never had been killed.

…AND don't forget Mr. Satan saves the universe
Well, if he hadn't convinced the people of earth to contribute to the genki dama, there would never have been one and everyone would have died.

68. Mr. Satan saves Fat Buu
He returned the favor, it's about time. After the fight was over, Vegeta wanted to destroy any trace of Buu left a.k.a. Fat Buu, but Mr. Satan protected his friend and begged Vegeta not to destroy fat Buu.

THE END

[But first, the most crucial save of all in the most life-threatening of times]
[Garlic Jr Saga]
[Krillen saves Gohan]
[Gohan sneaked away from Chi Chi and his homework to join the others at a party on Roshi's island. Krillen offered to take the blame.]