As the codifier for modern Shonen anime and manga, it goes without saying that Dragon Ball has its fair share of plot armor, contrivances, conveniences, and coincidences to justify the Z-Fighters winning against seemingly impossible odds. Although Akira Toriyama is better at power-scaling than he's given credit for (especially as far as the Dragon Ball manga is concerned), Goku's villains have a bad habit of squandering what should be easy wins.
Dragon Ball: 7 Strongest Villain Techniques
Dragon Ball's villains are tough to beat, and these overpowered techniques don't make things any easier.
Across the original Dragon Ball, DBZ, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super, Goku fights, survives, and even wins against characters who frankly should have won & beaten him. Most of the time, this is done to make the story more compelling and resolve a narrative theme or character arc, but that doesn't stop Dragon Ball from demanding a certain suspension of disbelief to pull these beats off.
1 King Piccolo Literally Stops Goku's Heart in the Original Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama was infamously sick while writing and drawing the Demon King Piccolo Saga in the Dragon Ball manga. It's a testament to his skills as a writer and artist where the story arc is regularly heralded as the moment Dragon Ball becomes truly amazing, but for keen readers, it's obvious Toriyama wasn't firing on all cylinders. Case in point? King Piccolo literally kills Goku at the start of the arc. During their first battle, Piccolo stops Goku's heart, checks to make sure he's dead, and then leaves with the Dragon Ball once it's confirmed Goku's done for.
Goku's heart then stops beating again out of nowhere in the next chapter. Never before or again has Dragon Ball so shamelessly defeated its main character only to bring him back from a clear defeat. Dragon Ball Super tries to retcon things by having Bardock's wish in the Granolah Saga keep his sons safe and alive, but the fact of the matter is that King Piccolo did win and would have gone on to conquer the entire world if Goku's heart hadn't miraculously restarted.
2 Vegeta Would Have Beaten Goku If He Didn't Turn Into a Great Ape
Outside of Goku using Kaioken x 4, Vegeta's Power Level was higher than Goku's during the Saiyan Saga, and to a tremendous degree once he turned into a Great Ape. Here's the thing, though: Vegeta didn't need to turn into a Great Ape. By creating an Artificial Moon and transforming, Vegeta sapped a massive amount of his Ki. By the time Yajirobe cuts off his tail, Vegeta is weak enough where Gohan and Krillin are able to subdue him with Goku's support.
Dragon Ball: 7 Strongest Saiyan Techniques
Saiyans don't mess around in battle. These techniques can take almost anyone out.
If Vegeta hadn't transformed, he actually would have been able to beat Goku fair and square. Goku used up almost all of his energy during their beam struggle, just having enough Ki to use a few more bursts of Kaioken, fire off a Ki blast, and charge off a heavily weakened Spirit Bomb. By keeping his cool, Vegeta could and would have easily killed Goku. Worse, Gohan and Krillin would never have come back to help, as they only turn around once Vegeta creates his fake moon.
3 Frieza Only Loses Because Goku Turns Super Saiyan
In a Dragon Ball without Super Saiyan forms, Goku would have lost and died to Frieza on Namek. Even with Kaioken x 20, Goku is only strong enough to battle a Frieza who's only using half of his full power. The reveal that Frieza has been toying with Goku all along makes it clear just how utterly outclassed the Z-Fighters are. Even the Spirit Bomb isn't enough to kill Frieza for good. Like Vegeta before him, Frieza makes one big error that costs him the rest of the fight.
If Frieza had just gone after Goku right away instead of killing Krillin, wounding Piccolo, and threatening Gohan, he actually would have won. Goku was defenseless and off guard after firing off his Spirit Bomb. Frieza had a perfect opportunity to win, but wasted it to emotionally torture Goku. Story-wise, this was obviously the better move for Dragon Ball Z as Goku turning Super Saiyan is one of the most satisfying moments in his character arc and series.
4 Legendary Super Saiyan Broly Basically Won His Fight With Goku
Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan is one of the most frustrating movies in the franchise. Filled with amazing animation, fantastic music, and exceptional fight choreography, the DBZ Movie 8 peters out with a shockingly limp ending. After spending the whole movie trying and failing to subdue Broly, Goku's brilliant plan to defeat the Legendary Super Saiyan... Is to punch him really hard. Granted, Gohan, Piccolo, Vegeta, and Future Trunks all donate their Ki so Goku has more power, but it just feels unearned.
Dragon Ball Officially Reveals Top 21 Most Popular Characters in Franchise
As Dragon Ball The One moves into its final round, only 21 out of 212 characters remain.
By all metrics, Broly won the battle. He kept growing stronger throughout the fight and was powerful enough to fight off multiple Super Saiyans and a Super Namekian all at once. The only reason Broly loses is because a Dragon Ball Z movie obviously cannot end with all the main characters dying to the villain. More than Goku's miracle punch, it's bad writing that ultimately beats Broly.
5 Super Buu Should Have Killed Goku in Seconds (Anime Only)
In the Dragon Ball manga, Goku refused to fight Super Buu at all. It's made very clear that Super Saiyan 3 Goku is only marginally stronger than Fat Buu and on the same level as Kid Buu. Super Buu is simply too powerful for Goku to handle, even at his absolute strongest. In order to pad for time and scale Goku back up to the strongest character in the series, the Dragon Ball Z anime actually has SSJ3 Goku briefly fight Buutenks while Ultimate Gohan searches for the Potara earring.
Goku doesn't land any major, damage-dealing hits, but he successfully dodges several of Buutenks' blows, tanks a hit, and stalls for Gohan. This filler fight completely destroys the Buu Saga's power-scaling. Buutenks was strong enough to make short work of Ultimate Gohan like he was nothing. Buutenks is strong and fast enough to kill Super Saiyan 3 Goku with a single hit. There's a reason Akira Toriyama never has Goku fight Super Buu in the manga.
6 Omega Shenron May Have Actually Killed Goku at the End of Dragon Ball GT
Dragon Ball GT's ending is as beautiful as it is confusing. After defeating Omega Shenron, Goku flies off on Shenron with the Dragon Balls, seemingly ascending to a new plane of existence. What happened to Goku has been a subject of debate with Dragon Ball fans for years now, especially since Omega Shenron appears to kill Goku on-screen in Dragon Ball GT Episode 63 with his Negative Energy Ball.
When Goku returns for the final battle, he has a new aura and nothing can hurt him. Once the battle is over, Goku mysteriously leaves Earth and only returns as an apparition in the series' final scene. While Dragon Ball GT's writers intentionally left Goku's fate vague, it's clear that Omega Shenron did manage to kill Goku for real, only for something to bring Goku back – and not even necessarily to life.
7 Jiren Was the Strongest Fighter in the Tournament of Power
In terms of raw power, Jiren was far and away the strongest fighter in the Tournament of Power. Not even Ultra Instinct was enough for Goku to ring out and defeat Jiren himself. In both the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga, Goku & Frieza are forced to team up in order to eliminate Jiren, with Universe 7 only winning because Android 17 hid himself on the stage after seemingly self-destructing. Jiren loses not because he's weak, but because Goku has allies.
It's a good story beat and theme for the Universe Survival Saga to end on, but it doesn't change the fact Jiren could have easily beaten Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 himself at multiple different points. Realistically, Jiren should have been able to ring out Goku earlier, even when he was using Ultra Instinct. The Dragon Ball Super anime alone gives Jiren plenty of opportunities to end things.
- Created by
- Akira Toriyama
- First TV Show
- Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show
- Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
- Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First Episode Air Date
- February 26, 1986
- TV Show(s)
- Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA