No matter how bad things get, Dragon Ball holds onto one universal truth: Son Goku can, and will, save the day. Even when he isn’t there to physically defeat the arc villain like in the Cell arc, it’s Goku who inspires others to save the world – even if he’s just trying to live his best life by fighting the strongest martial artists alive.
Dragon Ball being Dragon Ball, Goku’s opponents progressively get stronger over the course of the series, even coming dangerously close to winning in some cases. One of the earliest lessons Goku learns in Dragon Ball is that martial arts isn’t about winning, but there are some fights he just can’t afford to lose.
9 Piccolo
For as strong as Piccolo is during the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, he doesn’t come anywhere close to achieving his goals. Defeating Goku? Sure. Taking over the world? Not a chance. Even if Piccolo somehow managed to beat Goku at the tournament, Tenshinhan, Krillin, Yamcha, and God would have immediately jumped in to put an end to Piccolo. At worst, Kami could just force one of the Earthlings to kill him, taking Piccolo with him.
8 Commander Red
For what it’s worth, Commander Red does manage to assemble the largest army on the planet through (implied) charisma alone. Red is a man who commands respect, someone who can execute any of soldiers on a whim – a threat that looms large over his subordinates over the course of the Red Ribbon Army arc. But he’s also foiled by Goku time and time again. By the time Goku’s finished training with Karin, the Red Ribbon Army stands no chance. Red isn’t even bested by the boy, but betrayed by his second-in-command, Adjutant Black.
7 Cell
Cell drinks quite a lot of people and even takes Goku out with him, but the main characters were more ready for the Cell Games than they thought. For one, Gohan alone could have defeated Cell as a Super Saiyan 1 (and probably would have if Goku just took the time to explain his plan.)
By the time Gohan turns Super Saiyan 2, Cell stands no chance. Even when Cell comes back as Super Perfect Cell and cripples Gohan’s arm, SSJ2 Gohan is strong enough to kill a fully healed Cell with a one armed Kamehameha. Gohan’s entire struggle fighting Cell is an internal one – he could have won the fight anytime.
6 Pilaf
Pilaf isn’t a powerhouse by any means, but he comes extremely close to getting exactly what he wanted. Pilaf gathers all seven Dragon Balls, imprisons the main cast, summons Shenlong, and manages to get his entire wish out before Oolong steals his wish right out from under him. Had Oolong hesitated in the face of danger, Pilaf would have become king of the world. Even then, Pilaf gets his revenge by nearly killing the main characters. In retaliation, Goku & friends are imprisoned in a cage that’ll cook them alive when the sun rises. Only through chance does the full moon transform Goku into an Oozaru and set them free.
5 Vegeta
Vegeta actually would have won if he took a second to realize that Goku exhausted all of his energy in their beam struggle instead of immediately tossing most of his Ki into creating an artificial moon. Worse is that Vegeta squanders his opportunity to kill Goku, torturing him long enough for Gohan, Krillin, & Yajirobe to show up.
For what it’s worth, Vegeta survives an incredibly long time. After getting his tail cut off, he manages to hold his own in combat against Gohan, takes a full slash across the back from Yajirobe, eats a Genki Dama to the face courtesy of Krillin, and is crushed by a Great Ape Gohan. Vegeta has always been his own undoing.
4 Demon King Piccolo
Demon King Piccolo is Dragon Ball’s first real supervillain and he makes quite a grand entrance. Even in his older form, Piccolo is strong enough to beat Goku to near-death. Piccolo is directly responsible for both Master Roshi & Chaozu’s deaths, and personally kills Shenlong himself so no one can use the Dragon Balls once he’s wished for his youth. King Piccolo takes over the Earth and fights Goku to a stalemate, only losing because he fails to break all of Goku’s limbs.
3 Frieza
Goku turning Super Saiyan is quite literally the only thing that allowed the main characters to defeat Frieza on Namek. Without that one transformation, it would have all been lost. Frieza was stronger than every single character throughout the entire final back. Goku does his all fighting at 20 x Kaioken and is immediately discouraged when he finds out Frieza was fighting at 50% power. Even though Frieza loses to Goku, he doesn’t die and Namek explodes in the process. Frieza doesn’t get his wish for immortality, but everyone he wanted dead still died by his hands.
2 Majin Buu
Plenty of villains threaten to blow up planet Earth (with Vegeta being the first,) but Majin Buu is the first to actually go through with the act. The moment Pure Buu wakes up to the world around him, he blows it up. Goku & Vegeta only survive because Kibitoshin shows up to teleport them back to the Kaioshin’s Realm.
Up to this point, Majin Buu has killed every surviving member of the main cast (save for Mr. Satan) and he even follows Goku to the Kaioshin Planet. The final battle doesn’t fare much better. Super Saiyan 3 has little use with a mortal body and Buu has seemingly endless stamina. It takes a globally charged Genki Dama sponsored by Satan to save the universe.
1 Tenshinhan
Tenshinhan doesn’t win how he wanted, but he does win the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and become a tournament champion. More importantly, Tenshinhan comes out of his fight with Goku a better martial artist. Muten Roshi manages to instill important philosophies in Tenshinhan that help him walk away from the Crane School. Tenshinhan might not end the arc the villain he entered it is, but that just lets him grasp a greater victory.
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