For a relatively minor character, Chi-Chi is very memorable in the Dragon Ball Z anime series by Akira Toriyama. When the series begins, she is still fairly new to being both a wife and a mother. I sometimes wonder whether Goku ever regretted marrying her, because she often comes across as extremely harsh and downright bitchy.

She is known for her fiery personality and ill temper, which makes moments like Krillin having to tell her bad news especially uncomfortable. Learning that Goku is dead and that Gohan has been kidnapped by Piccolo are both incredibly hard things for him to say to her.

At times, it almost feels like she does not care about Goku anymore the way she did in the original Dragon Ball. She is clearly a good mother, though an extremely strict one with Gohan. In fact, it often seems like Gohan is all she truly cares about, rather than her husband.

That perspective shifts somewhat after Goku dies. And we didn’t know that Chi-Chi is already pregnant with Goten very early on, which makes Goku dying worse.

She was noticeably less strict with Goten than she ever was with Gohan. She even trained him to fight, something she never encouraged with her older son. Still, she becomes upset once again when Goten manages to turn Super Saiyan so easily.

One of the saddest moments in the series is when Chi-Chi confronts Super Buu after believing he killed Gohan, which turns out not to be true. Super Buu transforms her into an egg and crushes her right in front of Goten, a moment that almost completely derails everything.

Thankfully, she is revived with the Dragon Balls, allowing the family to be whole again once Goku returns to life. It is a little strange to think about her being portrayed as somewhat old by the end of Dragon Ball Z, considering that the original Dragon Ball series aired not that many years earlier and showed her as a child.