Some of Dragon Ball's greatest characters are villains, from Broly to Majin Buu.
Every Dragon Ball fan loves the intense, unfathomably powerful confrontations for which the series is known, but none of it would be nearly possible without great villains. In fact, perhaps even more than most series, villains are important to Dragon Ball. After all, some of DB's greatest characters are villains, and the villain-turned-hero theme that runs throughout the series has turned some of these villains into anime's most beloved heroes.
With so many incredible villains, choosing the best of the best would be a difficult decision for any fan of the franchise. However, some villains stand out from the crowd in terms of impact, influence and narrative significance. From King Piccolo to Freezer, the best Dragon Ball villains have had a lasting effect, not only on Dragon Ball fans, but also on the history of anime as an art form.
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10/ The mercenary Tao
Tao was the first truly unbeatable threat in Dragon Ball , so he's part of the story. Without Tao paving the way for Goku's training arcs to become strong enough to defeat impending doom, the Saiyan, Frieza and Cell sagas wouldn't have had as much impact.
Tao wasn't the first villain Goku faced, but he was the most fundamental in terms of shonen fighting tropes that the series would later refine with future villains and eventually master with DBZ. His re-emergence as a cyborg also paved the way for future cyborg characters such as Cyborg Frieza and Meta-Cooler.
9/ Granolah
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What makes Granolah a great villain is his ethical stance compared to the other villains in the series. While most have no reason to attack Goku and Earth other than their desire for power or their evil goals, Granolah naturally seeks revenge for the injustice done to his people by the conquering Saiyan race.
This makes Granolah unique in the Dragon Ball series, as he forces Vegeta to answer for the mistakes of the people he so proudly claimed as his prince. There have been many ups and downs when it comes to Super for fans. Yet Granolah is definitely a highlight not only of Super but of the entire Dragon Ball franchise. Although he's not as well known as most of Dragon Ball's other iconic villains because he's exclusively manga, Granolah will surely emerge as a fan-favorite character in the franchise and will be more widely recognized as one of the best written villains when Dragon Ball Super Part 2 is finally adapted into anime form.
8/ Broly
Broly is the perfect villain to counter the greatest warrior race in the universe: the Saiyans. As the ultimate legendary Super Saiyan, Broly has so much power he can't even control it himself.
Although originally created as a non-canonical character in the DBZ movie, Broly was so beloved by fans that he was integrated into the canonical storyline with Dragon Ball Super: Super Broly . Now that Broly has joined the main group of heroes, the next villain the Z Warriors face will have to be endowed with totally unprecedented power in order to challenge Broly.
7/ C-17 AND C-18
- Androids 17 and 18 were born as human twins whose real names were Lapis and Lazuli.
What makes Androids 17 and 18 interesting as villains is their approach to artificial intelligence and the later use of time travel in their story arc. Fans often criticize Toriyama for his writing, but he had a stroke of genius in his treatment of time travel - a notoriously difficult concept to tackle in science fiction media.
6/ Omega Shenron
Dragon Ball GT received a lot of criticism from the Dragon Ball fandom, but it introduced some redeeming concepts that made the series interesting. One of the best was the concept of Shadow Dragons and Omega Shenron.
Omega Shenron was really a reminder of the kind of classic villain that fans have come to love in Dragon Ball and DBZ . Not only was he the most powerful villain imaginable at the time, but he was also perfectly linked to the concept of granting Dragon Balls' wishes that lies at the heart of the entire series. Many fans have expressed concern that Daima has reused the idea of turning Goku back into a child, which made GT so infamous. However, any series that assembles a final villain as great as Omega Shenron is well worth the effort.
5/ Majin Buu
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As DBZ's final boss, Akira Toriyama was bound to come out swinging, and that's certainly what happened with Majin Buu. Although he lacks much of the narrative significance carried by villains like Cell and Frieza, Majin Buu makes up for this with his design and powers, which really suit his status as the world's most purely evil entity.
Buu can do just about anything his predecessors could, and more. He can absorb his enemies to acquire their power like Cell, he can use magical abilities like King Piccolo and he was born with unrivalled brute strength like Freezer.
4/ King Piccolo
- After being killed by Goku, King Piccolo used his last breath to spit out an egg containing the incarnation of Piccolo, who now fights alongside Goku and his friends.
Piccolo was a truly ruthless demon and the first villain to hint at the planetary scale of the threats that would make DBZ such an exciting series. King Piccolo also had one of the most interesting backstories, as he was the evil half of Kami, Earth's overseer. This really brought a greater level of knowledge to Dragon Ball , allowing it to expand to even greater intergalactic heights long before the introduction of the multiverse in Dragon Ball Super .
3/ Vegeta
Vegeta is a much better hero than he was a villain. However, his stint as a villain in DBZ was nothing short of iconic. Even after Vegeta began to switch sides, it was always clear that he would much rather conquer the universe than fight alongside the heroes.
Vegeta's ultimate test came during the Buu Saga, when - even after starting a family with Bulma and building a life on Earth - Vegeta allowed himself to be placed under Babidi's mental control to become a villain again just to gain power. Vegeta's slow growth over time was by far the most effective villain-to-hero story ever written by Akira Toriyama, making Vegeta not only one of Dragon Ball's best heroes but also one of its best villains.
2/ Cell
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Cell isn't just one of Dragon Ball's greatest villains, he's one of the greatest villains in shonen anime history. Between his overwhelming power, distinctive design and complete backstory, Cell has had a lasting impact on fans the world over.
The root of Cell's power was made up of the cells of all the most powerful warriors Dragon Ball had introduced to date, giving Cell a sense of finality as the culmination of all the battles fans had witnessed throughout the series. Not only was Cell a great villain in his own right, but he also led to one of Dragon Ball's most iconic arcs, itself full of memorable moments for fans. From Gohan's father-son Kamehameha to Goku's sacrifice, the Cell Saga is arguably the best Dragon Ball has to offer, and it all stems from the incredible villain that was Cell.
1/ Freezer
- Akira Toriyama was inspired to create Frieza by his disgust for the real estate speculators who profited from the Japanese economic bubble of the 1980s. Toriyama reportedly called them "the worst kind of people".
Freezer was behind Goku's dispatch to Earth, and is thus distinctly linked to the hero from the very first moments of his life. This makes it all the more poetic that he is the person against whom Goku attained his legendary Super Saiyan form. Freezer inadvertently created the conditions that would lead to his own demise, all because of his wanton destruction of countless planets in the past. A truly fitting end to the series would see Freezer finally get his own redemption arc, along with Piccolo, Vegeta and Majin Buu, as Freezer is unquestionably Dragon Ball's greatest villain.
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