The Eternal Dragons Shenron and Porunga are perhaps Dragon Ball's most important non-combatant heroes. Through their wish-granting magic, they can perform all sorts of feats not possible for even the strongest fighters; they can resurrect the dead, restore one's youth and even rebuild destroyed celestial bodies. Their only real limits are their creators' power and the imagination of the wish-makers. For all the things that Shenron and Porunga do throughout Dragon Ball, one can't help but compare the two.
It's natural to wonder whether Shenron or Porunga is the better dragon. Each of them has received various upgrades and changes to their abilities that make them better suited for granting wishes. Figuring out which is the superior dragon requires a look at their capabilities and how they've changed over time.
How Shenron's Powers Evolved in Dragon Ball
Shenron's powers haven't so much as evolved as much as they've been expanded upon. Whenever most wishes were made on him, there was no telling whether they would actually work. This exploration is how the Z Fighters went from reviving one human to reviving multiple victims of the same villain to doing the same thing on another planet. The only real limit was that he couldn't revive the same person more than once. Besides resurrection, Shenron has been used to bestow panties, restore youth, reconstruct the moon, remove explosives, erase memories and grant the knowledge of how to become a Super Saiyan God.
There are also some big wishes Shenron is implied to be able to grant but never does. The first is Pilaf's wish to become ruler of the world. The second is to grant immortality to the Saiyans. Narratively speaking, the only way these villains can remain credible threats is if Shenron can in fact grant these wishes, so it's a safe bet that he can.
With that said, there have been some modifications to Shenron's wish-granting abilities. When Dende recreated the Eternal Dragon and breathed new life into the Dragon Balls, he was asked to make them more like the Namekian Dragon Balls. To this end, he made Shenron capable of granting two wishes instead of one once the Balls were gathered. Additionally, he shortened the wait-time between when a wish was granted and when the Balls' power returned down to about four months. Other than this, however, Shenron has roughly the same powers and limits as his previous incarnation.
One notable difference is made to Shenron's resurrection abilities. Before, he could only bring back those who had been killed within the last year. In Resurrection F, however, he is able to bring Frieza back to life years after his death (albeit in pieces).
How Porunga's Powers Evolved in Dragon Ball
Porunga gets a significant upgrade to his abilities in Dragon Ball Z. When the Z Fighters first gather the Namekian Dragon Balls, Porunga is able to grant three wishes. He can even bring someone back multiple times, but he can only bring back one person per wish. This was a real inconvenience at the time, as many had fallen not just to the Saiyans but also Frieza and his men.
Porunga was given a much-needed upgrade to his resurrection abilities. In order to prevent another extinction-level event like Frieza, the Namekians made their Dragon Balls capable of bringing back multiple people per wish just like Shenron. Besides resurrection, Porunga has been used to rebuild the Earth, replenish stamina, transport people from one planet to another and restore youth.
Shenron vs. Porunga: Which Eternal Dragon Is Superior?
While the Eternal Dragons seem fairly even in terms of powers and abilities, Porunga beats out Shenron by a small margin. There are two contributing factors to Porunga coming out on top: first, Porunga's ability to grant up to three wishes instead of two; and second, not only can Porunga revive people more than once but he can now do so for multiple people with the same wish, which was the one edge Shenron had over him.
The dragons can be assumed to be about equal in other regards. While the Earth is nearly four times larger than the moon, Shenron has never really had the occasion to rebuild the former; for all anyone knows, the two are equal in this department. Other than this, the Dragons seem to have similar powers and abilities. Porunga wins, but both Dragons should be respected for what they can do.
