Yamcha is one of the less notable Z Fighters in the Dragon Ball Z anime, and his reputation in the series gets worse and worse as time goes on. He was once strong enough to fight Goku and even managed to defeat him once, but his luck becomes comically bad with every new saga.

During the Saiyan Saga, Yamcha dies in one of the most infamous moments in the series. He becomes the very first warrior to fall, not to Vegeta and not even to Nappa, but to a Saibaman. He lets his guard down, and the small green creature self-destructs in a kamikaze-style exit to the afterlife.

Along with Tien, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo, Yamcha makes it to King Kai’s planet after his death. There, he trains in the afterlife while waiting for the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive him. His power level increases, but not enough to truly matter in later battles.

Poor Yamcha spends all that time waiting to return to life so he can reunite with his girlfriend, Bulma, only for their relationship to end soon after. Bulma leaves Yamcha for Vegeta, which must have been especially humiliating since Vegeta was certainly responsible for the outcome that led to Yamcha’s death.

As if that was not bad enough, Yamcha becomes the first major casualty of the Android Saga when Dr. Gero impales him. The others manage to save his life by feeding him a Senzu Bean, which feels a bit absurd considering he had a massive hole in his chest.

By the time of the Majin Buu Saga, Yamcha is essentially retired and largely irrelevant in combat. He makes the mistake of staying at the Lookout and ends up being turned into candy by Majin Buu. He might have survived the Human Extinction Attack like Tien and Chiaotzu, but Kid Buu later destroys the entire Earth anyway, so he would have died regardless.

Eventually, Yamcha is revived by the Dragon Balls and is still around during the final moments of the series. By the end, he feels like a forgotten warrior who never really found anyone special in his life. His loyal companion Puar is arguably the closest thing he has to wife, which is both funny and a little sad.