Dragon Ball has some of the most well-known techniques in anime. It's not just the Kamehameha, either. Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, Frieza's Death Beam, the list goes on and on. All of these attacks have catchy names to go along with powerful effects. But what about the techniques that fall flat?

There are tons of cool-sounding techniques in the series that, when you think about it, just aren't all that good. The names might make them sound strong, but when you compare them to some of the most effective attacks in the series, these interesting techniques just fall flat.

Dragon Ball: 7 Techniques Stronger Than Vegeta's Final Flash

Vegeta's Final Flash is insanely strong, but these techniques are stronger.

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By Adriano Valente

Devilmite Beam

Maybe if a character like Piccolo had come up with this move, it would've been stronger than it was. Ultimately, Spike the Devil Man's Devilmite Beam sounds menacing, but comes with a massive caveat that made it useless the one time we saw it in the series.

Spike is one of Fortuneteller Baba's fighters and faces Goku when he and the gang set out to defeat Baba's fighters to learn the location of a Dragon Ball in the original series. The Devilmite Beam is supposed to use an opponent's negative thoughts and emotions against them, but when used against pure-hearted or well-balanced characters like Goku, it's rendered completely ineffective.

Flame Bullet

The Saiyans might've been a warrior race, but compared to other characters introduced throughout the series, the majority of them weren't anything all that special. Sure, they could handle most of their targets when invading planets, but the average Saiyan has long since been passed over in power, even by characters like Krillin and Tien.

Tora's Flame Bullet has a cool name, and while it was enough to burn and defeat an already damaged Toolo, you have to imagine that a fairly unremarkable energy wave from a low-class Saiyan wouldn't do much damage against most competent fighters, especially other members of the Frieza Force.

Crash Launcher

Spopovich might've looked menacing, but that was about it. He was never truly a threat or challenge to any of the Z-Fighters, only able to subdue Gohan thanks to Supreme Kai's intervention. Even with Babidi's magic allowing him to greatly push through his limits, he's nothing more than a grunt-level fighter.

TheBestWarGames Quiz

Thanks to Babidi's magic, Spopovich is able to use ki blasts and uses a technique called Crash Launcher against Videl in the anime. While it's effective against someone who isn't used to fighting with energy waves, it's ultimately just a regular energy wave.

Mystic Flasher

Nail was the strongest native Namekian during the Frieza Saga, and while he was shown to be a brave, resilient fighter, his luck ran out when his and Frieza's paths crossed. Though skilled in his own right, Nail was just way too weak to really take on Frieza seriously, with there being a massive discrepancy in both their powerlevels.

Nail used his Mystic Flasher against Frieza to stall for time while Dende set out to give Gohan and Krillin the Namekian Dragon Balls' password. Though he tried to surprise Frieza with the blast, it didn't even leave a scratch on the space tyrant. Maybe it would've worked better on one of the Frieza Force grunts, but from what we saw, it just didn't make any impact.

Double Sunday

Some fans still wonder about what could've been with Raditz. As Goku's brother, there are those who believe that he could be brought back into the story somehow, yet the series has long since passed him by. He did seem like a challenging villain during his encounter with Goku and Piccolo on Earth, but we quickly learned that he waspretty weak, even for an early Z antagonist.

Double Sunday is a catchy enough name for an attack, and while it did do some damage to Piccolo during their battle, it's not really anything special compared to other Saiyan techniques. Maybe Raditz could've improved it had he lived on and trained more, but as it stands, Double Sunday is just another energy wave that didn't do much.

Wolf Fang Fist

Yamcha had one of the worst drop-offs in Dragon Ball, going from a useful ally to a minor support character, and later on being made completely irrelevant when it came to fighting. Yamcha has some interesting moves, but the one that's always stood out is his Wolf Fang Fist.

It was actually pretty effective in the early series, but looking at it now, it's nowhere near close enough to do much damage to the series' villains from Z onward. Melee attacks often get overshadowed by the more powerful ki-based attacks like energy waves and spheres. The Wolf Fang Fist definitely has one of the coolest names in the series, but it's safe top say that it's not going to win anyone any battles.

Maximum Buster

As one of Frieza's right-hand men, Dodoria was one of the biggest obstacles Krillin, Gohan, and Vegeta faced early on in the Frieza Saga. He might've started out as an intimidating villain, but it didn't take long for him to get outclassed and defeated by Vegeta.

Dodoria's Maximum Buster is a massive energy wave that seems like it would deal a lot of damage. But when he used it against Dende, Gohan, and Krillin, the trio was able to dodge it. He used it again against Vegeta with the same result. It might deal some damage wherever it lands, but Dodoria can't seem to land a hit with it.

Dragon Ball Z

TV-14

Release Date: 1989 - 1996
Network: Fuji TV
Directors: Daisuke Nishio, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Osamu Kasai
Writers: Akira Toriyama, Neil Bligh, Hiroshi Toda, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Aya Matsui, Keiji Terui, Reiko Yoshida, Toshiki Inoue

Cast

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Masako Nozawa

Son Goku / Son Gohan / Son Goten (voice)
Ryo Horikawa

Vegeta (voice)

Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime series produced by Toei Animation and a sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball series. It continues the adventures of Son Goku as an adult while also paralleling the life of his son Gohan. Son Goku typically defends the Earth from villains like Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu. The series is followed by Dragon Ball GT and then Dragon Ball Super.

Based On: Manga
Creator: Akira Toriyama
Number of Episodes: 291
Streaming Service(s): Crunchyroll
MyAnimeList Score: 8.19