Oolong saved the day in the very first DB arc. After that he got the
Yajirobe started off catching bodies in the King Piccolo saga but he got the

after Vegeta
Roshi and the Pilaf gang got the

after DBZ started.
Toriyama forgot about Launch
You thought Raditz would have been important since he was Goku's brother but
Then Yamcha got the

after he wound up getting got by that saibaman
Chiaotzu
The Ginyu Force was piff but they all got ethered and that was it
We were expecting Mecha Frieza and King Cold to come back blasting but they got the
Krillin, Piccolo, and Tien were all

status compared to the Saiyans by the time Cell went perfect.
Future Trunks went back to his own time
Present timeline Trunks grew up to be a lame
Bulma and her inventions were important up until Cell. After that she got the
18 went from sonning Vegeta to

status after Cell
Gohan became a lame in the Buu saga
The Supreme Kai was useless
Goten and Trunks fused into Gotenks only to get absorbed
The Pilaf gang came back in Battle of the Gods just to get turned into little kids
Fat Buu got the

in that move as well
We already knew Vegeta was next in line for the

I love this series but it's a crime how many characters were wasted.
They should have given Goku the permanent

after Cell and let the rest of the cast get some shine. (Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Vegeta, 18, etc.)