Dende is a notable yet minor character in the anime Dragon Ball Z. While many Namekians appear in the series, he is one of the few who is actually memorable by name.

During the Namek Saga, he is just a child, and if I recall correctly, every Namekian on the planet except for Guru is his sibling. But he befriends Gohan, constantly heals the team, and serves as the intermediary for making wishes with the Namekian dragon, Porunga.

Nearly every Dragon Ball Z character dies at some point, and Dende is no exception. He is killed by Frieza after Frieza realizes that the little green booger is the reason Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin seem to have endless endurance. Once Frieza understands this, he removes that pesky Z Warrior advantage.

After being revived, Dende stays on Earth briefly before traveling to New Namek. Instead of simply wishing the old planet back and then wishing themselves there, the Namekians relocate. Akira Toriyama never explicitly states that Namekians are particularly smart, but during the Cell Saga, Goku travels to New Namek and asks Dende to become Earth’s new Guardian after Kami fuses with Piccolo. Dende also recreates Shenron, mainly upgrading him to grant more wishes.

He serves as Guardian of the Earth arguably better than Kami did. Later, we are led to believe he is eaten by Super Buu, but Mr. Popo manages to knock him off the Lookout, and somehow the pink demon fails to notice.

And even though this sequence mainly exists to set up the use of the Dragon Balls, Toriyama still allows Kid Buu to destroy Earth. Ironically, this means Dende must ask Porunga to restore the very planet he was protecting, which also brings back the Dragon Balls he technically owns. Without his help, Goku would not have had the power to defeat Kid Buu.