For some characters, winning just doesn't get the point across. They need to do more than just beat someone down physically, they also have to go off on them verbally as well. Rather than be stoic or preferring to avoid fighting at all, there are some characters that just need to tear down whoever they're in a match against.
Depending on how powerful the character is, this can go well or exceedingly poorly, as they attempt to battle someone that's above their level and get humbled. But that's part of the whole point of fighting--it's impossible to know who's truly superior until the battle's underway, but either way, these characters have big mouths and dare anyone to try and shut them up.
10 Yusuke Urameshi Is A Street-Smart Kid Who Loves Smack Talk (Yu Yu Hakusho)
A large portion of the battle shonen protagonists fans see today take after Goku: a well-intentioned guy who’s not all that smart. But the street-smart Yusuke Urameshi of Yu Yu Hakusho was nothing like Goku, and in effect created his own lane that only a handful of protagonists have gone down since.
Yusuke was always quick with the smack talk, using it both as a means to throw his opponent off his game as well as a means to calm himself down during fights. Spending most of his life as a street punk meant he always had some kind of quip to put an opponent down, no matter how dangerous they were.
9 Seto Kaiba Insults Every Person He's Ever Dueled Against (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Seto Kaiba was always a distant second to Yugi Mutou, but that didn’t mean he didn’t trash talk like he was a top-tier Yu-Gi-Oh! duelist. Admittedly, some of this is the English dub, which features dialogue like him telling Yugi “stop saving the world and get a hobby” and pointing out that as a business owner he “crushes the souls of the innocent daily.” His most savage moments come when he’s up against Joey Wheeler though—he just can’t stop finding new ways to insult Yugi’s best friend.
8 Mereoleona Will Mock Any Enemy Not On Her Level (Black Clover)
What part of “Uncrowned, Undefeated Lioness” sounds like she doesn’t enjoy a little smack talk? Mereoleona doesn’t get to fight much in Black Clover, mostly because the series spreads it’s fights out a bunch. But her battle against Raia clearly displayed a woman who loves getting on her opponent’s nerves.
She smashes through all his best attacks, watching as he displays a power no other mage could ever have and humiliating him by demanding to see what else he can do, dismissively calling out “Next” over and over. She’s so cocky because her natural talent and desire to train have combined to make her impossible to actually defeat.
7 Yuno Can't Help Making Fun Of His Rival Asta (Black Clover)
Yuno certainly loves his trash talk when it comes to Asta. Generally, he’s a quiet sort who doesn’t really talk very much. Occasionally he’ll gloat over his opponents, pointing out how they never stood a chance, but even that isn’t as frequent as one might expect. But when it comes to competing with Asta, he just can’t help trying to get every advantage he can. He has nothing but the utmost respect for Asta, but he also thinks one can’t be “too friendly” with their rivals, and both of them are chasing the power to become the Wizard King.
6 Byakuya Kuchiki Looks Down On All His Enemies (Bleach)
“Shall I tell you about the difference between you and me?” The truth is, Byakuya Kuchiki isn’t what most people would think about when they think of a typical trash talker. But Byakuya is fully aware of just how powerful he is, and he can’t help telling every single opponent he faces about it.
The quote is Byakuya speaking to Renji, where he related the story of a monkey trying to capture the reflection of the moon in the ocean. Those were the lines he delivered to a man that was trying to save Byakuya’s own sister. Imagine what he says to people he actually recognizes as an enemy.
5 Vegeta Can't Help Making Fun Of His Opponents When He's Winning (Dragon Ball Z)
Part of what makes Vegeta such a fascinating character is how much trash he talks. The rest of them are all about being humble in their pursuit of becoming stronger martial artists. But Vegeta can’t enter a single battle without calling his opponent worthless. Perhaps the most legendary moment was his battle against Android 19—he found more ways to be offensive to machines than any speculative fiction about AI rights ever could.
It got so bad he even mocked Android 19 after he ripped both his arms off before blowing him to bits. At times it feels like Vegeta gets strong just so he can back up all the trash talk he spews.
4 Edward Elric Fires Insults Back When People Make Fun Of His Height (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Edward Elric is another protagonist that’s outside the usual “Goku” mold, so it’s unsurprising he’s not afraid to talk some trash. He’s often eager to show up the people around him, but it also doesn’t help that he’s short. The fact that his height isn’t what is expected of someone of his reputation has given him a bit of a complex. Though some of his Fullmetal Alchemist opponents might set him off, he’s also not afraid to fire back to make people realize he’s not the one to tease for being a shortstack.
3 Bakugou Insults People So Much He Can't Seem To Stop (My Hero Academia)
Bakugou’s biggest problem is he likes trash talk a little too much. Blame it on how quickly his powers developed, or the fact that his mom is literally just like him, but he’s a loudmouth who can’t help bragging when he feels he’s in control of a situation. And he gets even worse when he’s not in control of the situation, becoming more belligerent and more insulting.
Bakugou sometimes feels more like a villain than he does a hero, but he's already made it clear he’s not going down that path ever, because of how much he looks up to All Might. So he’s just a hero who will likely insult someone for having to save them in the first place.
2 Hiei Looks Down On Enemies And Allies Alike (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Hiei is a more low-key character than a lot of the people who like trash talk in that he doesn’t speak much before or after a battle. The trash talk comes more from a sense of superiority and a pure disdain for anyone he happens to be fighting.
Hiei once had the nerve to cut an opponent’s arm off and make fun of him for not noticing he’d moved so fast to do it. He mocked Zeru even though he wasn’t powerful enough to beat him without the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and all of that is to say nothing of how he treats Kuwabara. Though he’s helped Kuwabara train, he also continuously points out how useless Kuwabara is.
1 Frieza Spent Half Of His Time Calling Saiyans Monkeys (Dragon Ball Z)
Frieza is truly irredeemable even for Dragon Ball, and his trash talk is part of it. As someone who’s destroyed countless planets and empires, he doesn’t have even the slightest inkling of respect for whoever he’s harmed in his past. He calls the Saiyans “monkeys” so often it feels like a hate crime. But even that can’t compare to how confident he gets when he knows he’s concretely stronger than his opponent. He even tried to mock Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super when he didn’t realize Vegeta was capable of going Super Saiyan, despite only barely beating Goku.