I had someone try to argue with me when I said that I think Bulma is a powerful character in Dragon Ball. They tried to argue and say she’s not a fighter, has weak chi, etc. so therefore she’s not powerful. And I was just thinking; are they not aware that power comes in many different forms?
Power isn’t just based by one’s strength, it can also be determined by the person’s intelligence/knowledge, mastery in certain skills, influence, wealth, social status/ranking, connections, position in politics, etc. and Bulma has many of these characteristics:
Bulma is INFLUENTIAL
She is apart of a very influential family, the Capsule Corporation family! She’s the heiress of her father’s business, a business that creates a device that can shrink any object into small capsules. A device we see EVERYONE in the series use.
Not to mention her own existence influencing the story. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have Dragon Ball. She’s the one who built the dragon radar, she’s the one who found Goku and convinced him to join her on her adventure. Without her, Goku wouldn’t have left his house and met characters like Roshi, Krillin and his own wife, Chichi.
And of course, her influence on Vegeta. Bulma played a big part in Vegeta’s character development in DBZ, with him starting as a villainous irredeemable planet destroyer, and turning him into a hero/protector of earth and a loving husband/father. She took one good look at him, thought “I can fix him” AND DID. Her influence and even love for him made him a better person.
I can go on and on about how big of a role Bulma plays in Vegeta’s arc but I assume yall already know the story. 
Bulma is RICH
First off, look how freaking huge her house is! Capsule Corp is a multi milllion (possibly billion) dollar company. 
She’s so rich she has used her own money to fulfill her friends wishes that it got Shenron himself sweating. When promised prize money for everyone if they win the Tournament of Power, it was Bulma that provided the cash to anyone who wants it.
For her birthday party she took everyone her own cruise ship and hosted a Bingo game where the prizes consisted of: a brand new car, a jet, a giant diamond and a literal castle.
AND THOSE WERE JUST 2ND AND 3RD PLACE PRIZES!!!
Bulma has CONNECTIONS
She has frequent lunches with Whis who’s a literal Angel, made Beerus the God of Destruction her FREE babysitter and she’s close friends with Jaco the Galactic Patrolmen thanks to her sister, Tights.
And not to mention the that she’s married to the Vegeta the Saiyan Prince, giving her a royal status, and is also childhood friends with Goku, another Saiyan. And her two children are also Half Saiyans!
Bulma is SMART
I’m just going to go over a list of things she’s invented/done throughout the series:
- The Dragon Radar and the Super Dragon Radar
- A device that can make herself shrink and grow at her own will
- She fixed Radtiz’s scouter, and even rewired it to be in a non alien language so she can properly read it
- Helped her dad rebuild the Namekien space ship that got her, Krillin and Gohan to Namek
- An translator for Ginyu when he was trapped in a Namekian frog body (an animal that she did not know the biology of mind you)
- Helped her dad fix Android 16’s damages
- Saiyan armor, she was able to find a way to perfectly duplicate the material that Saiyans/the Frieza force use. Reminder that all armor Vegeta wears from Android saga and onward was made by her.
- A freaking Time Machine!! (Yes I know that was her future self who built it but it still says so much as to what Bulma is capable of creating)
In conclusion, Bulma may not be a fighter like the others, but she has so many other qualities that make her powerful. She’s strong willed character, a helpful ally to Goku and friends, and an important member of the team thanks to her influence, connections, wealth and intelligence.
Bulma is POWERFUL because of who she is and what she does!
