Dragon Ball and its entire franchise form one of the most beloved and watched shounen anime of all time! Being a work full of memorable fights, unforgettable heroes, incredible transformations and evil villains who want to put an end to the Earth, Akira Toriyama's original manga has established itself in the large otaku market. But do you know who the best Dragon Ball villains are?
The plot presents us with a huge variety of villains throughout its Sagas and seasons, some being more remembered and loved by the public than others. Today we'll talk about the antagonists that occupy the position of "best villains" and have a guaranteed place in the affective memory of the fans! Let's find out what the 10 best Dragon Ball villains are and what they really did against the Z Warriors?
Dr. Gero
This character may not be remembered by some, but Dr. Gero played a key role in the Android Saga (and also in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero). Gero is one of the founding members of Red Ribbon, a kind of organization that has been present in the franchise since its classic anime.
Besides being the founder of RR, he is also the responsible and creator of all the Androids we know in Dragon Ball Z. These Androids, along with their creator, were the main cause of the destruction of planet Earth in the Future Trunks timeline (that's why the character goes to the main timeline). In other words: he is the creator of the iconic brothers, Android 17 and 18.
Not only did he create Androids, he transformed himself into Android 20, a new version of himself that isn't afraid of anything and has acquired new physical and combat abilities. Even though he is not the strongest among his creations, he could not be left out of Dragon Ball's Best Villains, since he created beings that caused chaos in the franchise.
Babidi
Babidi himself is not a powerful villain. But he is ahead of Dr. Gero for the evil creature he assisted. Weak, small, but with enormous arrogance, Babidi appeared in Dragon Ball Z and gave us memorable scenes/characters such as: Majin Boo and Majin Vegeta!
Who doesn't remember Vegeta in his even darker version, with an M on his forehead? Or worse... Who doesn't remember the breaking of the cocoon of one of the strongest beings in the entire universe: Majin Boo! All this was provided by Babidi, and even if he is not even close to the other villains when it comes to his own power levels, he delivered to the fans one of the most remembered Sagas of the entire series.
Vegeta
Despite being on the Z Warriors' side these days, Vegeta couldn't be left off our list, right? The Prince of Saiyajins had a triumphant entrance as an antagonist in the Saiyajin Saga and became Goku's eternal rival.
His main characteristics of that time are kept until today: he is extremely arrogant, overbearing, self-confident, sadistic... But at least now he cares about his allies' lives, unlike the time when he was a villain, where he himself killed the companions he considered weak. He faced Goku in one of the first Dragon Ball Z fights that marked the public, also fighting Kuririn, Gohan and Yajirobe (defeating all 3, obviously).
A curiosity about the character is that Vegeta was initially going to be a villain who would only be part of one arc and then disappear, but his popularity at the time was such that Akira Toriyama could not get rid of him and made him a fixed character in the franchise.
Piccolo Daimaoh
Piccolo Daimaoh was a fundamental villain for the history of Dragon Ball, since it was from him that we had the beginning of the dynamic between "stronger villain and hero having to overcome his limits". With him, countless innocents ended up becoming new victims and characters beloved by the public (but secondary in the plot) were being killed, only to be brought back with the help of the Dragon Balls.
He is the personification of evil, of cruelty, being ruthless and the first antagonist in the franchise who showed an interest in destroying planet Earth. Defeating him was not an easy task for Goku.
Androids 17 and 18
We come to the Android brothers created by Dr. Gero, whom we have mentioned before. Androids 17 and 18 are some of Dragon Ball's Best Villains because they were the first antagonists who managed to achieve the main goal of most: the complete destruction of humanity!
As said before, in Trunks' timeline, the two became such a threat that the boy had to travel to another timeline to warn the Z Warriors of this danger, before the same happened to them. The brothers were extremely powerful, giving a lot of trouble to the entire Z Warriors team, including Goku and Vegeta, who even got beaten by Android 18, even when he was transformed into a Super Saiyajin.
However, nowadays the two have switched sides and help the good guys from time to time against new threats.
Cell
Cell is one of the most hated characters by Akira Toriyama, who revealed that he disliked the alien because he was difficult to draw, since he has numerous details along his body. However, he is remembered by many fans as one of the main antagonists of the series.
It was while fighting Cell that we saw the powerful transformation, previously unseen in the franchise: the Super Sayajin 2! Gohan reached this new level of power to be able to face his opponent. Cell, in turn, possessed the ability to create small clones of himself, which were even capable of absorbing the Z Warriors. In addition, he presented different forms that evolved his abilities, until he reached his Perfect Form.
Zamasu
A villain straight out of Dragon Ball Super, the new phase of the franchise, could not be left out. Zamasu was a divine being who decided to be as powerful as Goku after watching his performance in the Tournament of Power, and became a very dangerous villain.
He established a new level of threat among the Z Warriors, forcing the group to increase their power and skill levels again to be able to deal with him and Goku Black.
He was the second character in the entire franchise to completely destroy the timeline for Future Trunks, who again had to travel between universes to get help and defeat the new threat. If not for Trunks again, the Earth would have been destroyed once more.
Broly
Broly is simply the Legendary Super Saiyajin, a warrior who appears every thousand years and becomes the most powerful of his race. How not to find this character one of the best villains in Dragon Ball? Even without having control over his potential and abilities, he has wreaked havoc on the franchise due to his level of power.
He was able not only to face Goku, Vegeta and Golden Cell, but to do so practically at the same time. Detail: he has a mortal hatred of Goku due to some traumas he had when he was born and uses all his power, even if without control, to face the Saiyajin. Well, even being the most powerful of his race, he ends up being used by other characters, not having a development at the level of what he has become, but he has been getting new arcs that can improve this point.
He is currently on Planet Bills training alongside Goku and Vegeta in an attempt to develop his power to the extreme without losing control as before.
Boo
Boo doesn't just have one form - like many Dragon Ball characters - having several transformations that drastically increase his power level and threat! Regardless of his form, Boo offered danger to all characters who dared to face him, delivering one of the most remembered sagas of all!
He is certainly one of Dragon Ball's Best Villains, turning people into chocolate to devour them, destroying cities for fun, absorbing other warriors and gaining new forms in addition to his power, and finally becoming the dreaded Kid Boo.
Kid Boo was evil itself incarnate, caring for nothing and no one, having a desire for destruction never seen before in the franchise. No wonder Goku needed a Genki Dama strengthened by all the humans on planet Earth to be able to put an end to one of the worst villains ever to appear in the series.
Freeza
Freeza has become one of the most prominent villains in the entire franchise, and also one of the most recurring. Of course, other villains mentioned in the list also appear in the anime from time to time, but they have all gone over to the "good guys' side," while Freeza remains the Evil Emperor.
He was responsible not only for enslaving the Saiyajins, but also for causing the extinction of (almost) this entire race. He caused anger in the characters and also in the audience by being one of the most cruel and indifferent beings in the whole series, making even Goku mad:
"I am the Saiyajin who came from Earth to finish you off, Freeza. I have a kind heart, but now I am the legendary warrior who has awakened with fury."
But it is worth remembering the importance of Freeza to the plot, since it was his presence that led Goku to identify with his Saiyajin people, giving more depth to the protagonist's past and a new goal: revenge! Aside from the fact that he carries the title of Dragon Ball's greatest fight, with a total of 19 chapters to conclude his confrontation against Goku. Thus, Freeza occupies the top of our list of Dragon Ball's Best Villains.
The Best Dragon Ball Villains
And these were the top 10 villains of Dragon Ball of all time, which presented great threats to the public's beloved characters and put all of humanity at risk. But since we haven't had any updates from this franchise for some time, how about taking a look at our list of the Most Expected Animes of the Year?
And if you want to know more about the villains of Dragon Ball, check out the following video:
