Dragon Ball is all about the fights. The franchise might have started out as a comedic, adventurous take on Journey to the West, but as time went on, it developed into a martial-arts-focused manga in which the stakes got higher and higher as the battles became more and more exciting. Suffice it to say, both the latter half of Dragon Ball and the entirety of Dragon Ball Z were almost solely focused on the epic fights that would last multiple episodes and showed just how strong our favorite character had become. Dragon Ball Super continued this tradition, pulling out all the animation stops when it came to some of the most important and epic battles.

There are a ton of iconic fights in the series, and even the lesser-known ones have their merits. Both in Toriyama's original manga and in the anime adaptations, the fight scenes are always expertly executed, even the ones that might not make everyone's top 10. This is to say that even though every fight in the franchise is great in its own way, there are 25 that stand amongst the rest. These 25 fights are the coolest, the most explosive and the most epic in all of Dragon Ball. We're taking into consideration fights from Dragon Ball, DBZ and Super to find and rank the best battles from the greatest action anime in history.

25 GOKU VS. KING PICCOLO

Bringing up the rear at number 25 is Goku's fight against King Piccolo. This epic fight ended with Goku doing what he does best, being creative in a fight. By using a Kamehameha as propulsion, Goku was able to shoot himself through King Piccolo, head-butting a hole in the villain's abdomen.

This was certainly an epic moment in the series, one of the best fights hands down, but in the larger scale of the franchise, it is not quite as exciting as some of the fights from DBZ.

24 PICCOLO AND GOHAN VS. SAONEL AND PIRINA

While we're on the subject of Namekians, this fight between Piccolo and the Namekians of Universe 6, Saonel and Pirina, earns a spot in the top 25 for having a really interesting and creative plot behind it.

Knowing the Tournament of Power was going to be tough, Saonel and Pirina absorbed their entire village between the two of them to gain enough power to help in the tournament, a great callback to Namekian fusion and a cool backstory to add to the fight. The fight was also well-executed and showed the strong relationship between Gohan and Piccolo.

23 GOTEN VS. TRUNKS

While high-stakes battles are epic and exciting, sometimes a battle can be, well... fun. This is exactly what we got in the fight between Goten and Trunks at the World Martial Arts Tournament. It was like watching Goku and Vegeta fight, but with the added effect of two playful and relatively silly kids being involved.

The fight meets the standards of any epic Dragon Ball fight while still being an entertaining (and somewhat comedic) breath of fresh air, something that helped ease into the Buu saga and part of the reason why it makes our top 25.

22 GOKU AND PICCOLO VS. RADITZ

The fight that Dragon Ball Z opened with is also one of its best. Following the exposition of the Saiyans and Goku's origins was an epic fight between brothers that could only come to an end when Goku sacrificed himself to defeat Raditz.

Piccolo also had a hand in the fight, providing both the Special Beam Cannon and the final blow that would end Raditz' life. It might not be the most exciting of Dragon Ball fights, but it is one of the franchise's most important.

21 TOPPO VS. UNIVERSE 7

We wanted to rank this fight higher, since it is one of the most epic battles in the Tournament of Power and all of Dragon Ball Super, but because it was between so many different combatants, it sort of loses points, since Dragon Ball fights tend to be at their best when they are between two fighters.

Regardless, when Toppo relinquished his mortal morals and gained the power of a God of Destruction, the epic clash that ensued between him and various members of Team Universe 7 was amazing, exciting and had us on the edge of our seats.

20 VEGETA VS. ANDROID 19

Next up is a fight that marks Vegeta's first Super Saiyan transformation, his battle with Android 19. Android 19 might not be the greatest villain, but he served his purpose in his fight against Vegeta, showing just how strong the character had become with his Super Saiyan transformation.

That aside, the fight is also exciting, Vegeta taunts Android 19 and pretty much annihilates him, the pinnacle of the fight coming when he rips the android's arms right off. It was definitely one of the Android Saga's most memorable moments.

19 GOKU AND VEGETA VS. FRIEZA

As epic as Resurrection F and the Dragon Ball Super version of the plot were, the fight itself is somewhat underwhelming. It's still more than enough to make the top 20, don't get us wrong, but the casual way the fight was handled and the resulting low stakes kind of made the return of such a big villain feel a bit underwhelming.

That said, the high points of both Vegeta and Goku's fights against Golden Frieza definitely hit hard, which is why we rank the battle at number 19.

18 GOKU VS. KEFLA

Fusions always make for a great fight, and the fusion of Caulifla and Kale in the Tournament of Power is no different. In fact, it was one of the highlights of the tournament, since their combined power was enough to give Goku one tough fight.

But, in the end, Goku was able to win using his newly acquired Ultra Instinct technique, which allowed him to dodge every one of Kefla's attacks before firing a point-blank Kamehameha at her, bringing an end to one of the coolest battles in Dragon Ball Super.

17 GOKU VS. PICCOLO

The final big battle of the original Dragon Ball is also one of its best: the match between Piccolo Jr. and Goku. Perhaps the greatest part of the fight was how it escalated, starting slow and picking up into an all-out brawl with nothing held back.

Piccolo's defeat came when Goku revealed he had mastered the power of flight, which allowed him to dodge attacks and go in for the final blow, an epic Kamehameha that pushed Piccolo into a literal and figurative crater of defeat.

16 GOTENKS VS. SUPER BUU

Forgive us for putting this above the epic clash of Goku Vs. Piccolo, but like we mentioned earlier, Goten and Trunks bring a lot of fun to a fight that Dragon Ball sometimes lacks. When the two fought Super Buu as Gotenks, their fight was, in a word, interesting.

Gotenks' crazy unique attacks and the comedy that resulted from their surprising effectiveness on Buu made for a great, fun fight that wonderfully combined humor and action, an always welcome combination in Dragon Ball.

15 PICCOLO VS. ANDROID 17

Now we get into the top 15, starting with a somewhat underrated battle, the fight between Piccolo and Android 17. This fight was exciting because it was essentially a draw, the two fighters being relatively evenly matched. That is, it was to the point that their fight went on for so long, neither of them could gain the upper hand.

The fact that the fight was so drawn-out is actually what made it one of the series' best. Their brawl spanned across several terrains as they knocked each other around through cities, fields, mountains and bodies of water.

14 VEGETA VS. ANDROID 18

As cool as Piccolo and Android 17's fight was, Android 18's battle against Vegeta was even better. It's not too crazy to think that Android 18 is more popular than her brother, and part of that popularity might come from this particular fight, where we got to see what she is really made of.

This fight wins a lot of points for the aforementioned showcasing of one of the series' best characters and for the above attack where Android 18 basically indented Vegeta's shoulder, crumpling his arm with a bone-breaking kick that became one of the franchise' most iconic moments.

13 VEGETA VS. BEERUS

In both Battle of Gods and its Super equivalent exists one of the best scenes of modern Dragon Ball: the famous "My Bulma!" moment. After Beerus slaps Bulma, Vegeta loses it, something that fans loved both because it showed his character growth in his love for Bulma and because of the awesome fight that ensued.

Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta might not have been enough to take on a fully-powered Beerus, but his rage-induced power made for a short, but great clash between the Saiyan and the Destroyer, standing as one of Vegeta's best character moments as well.

12 GOKU VS. BEERUS

Vegeta's fight against Beerus was great, but the main event was the Battle of Gods itself. The fight between Super Saiyan God Goku and Beerus, as well as the plot surrounding it, succeed at doing what any good Dragon Ball fight does: setting high stakes and having fun.

Wether or not Beerus actually wanted to destroy the Earth, the threat was real enough to give the fight stakes, and within the fight, both Goku and Beerus were having fun facing each other, making for an exciting and entertaining battle that took things to a whole new godly level.

11 GOKU VS. HIT

Dragon Ball Super, especially the Universe 7 arc, has had mixed reactions. However, if there's one cool thing about the saga, it's Hit, the time-jumping assassin whose fight with Goku stole the show. There are a couple of reasons why this fight almost makes it into our top 10, starting with how different and unique Hit's powers were.

Another great thing about this fight is that we got to see two things rarely shown in other Dragon Ball fights: Goku's creativity in battle and Goku losing, since both show the depth of his character.

10 TRUNKS VS. FRIEZA AND KING COLD

Bringing us into the top 10 is easily one of the best fights from one of the best episodes of Dragon Ball Z. Marking the arrival of Future Trunks and the premier of the franchise's second Super Saiyan, this fight showed just how weak Frieza and his father actually were in the larger scale of the series.

Future Trunks completely annihilated both Frieza and his father, slicing up the galactic tyrant and piercing a hole in his father, making for a quick, decisive and exciting fight.

9 VEGITO BLUE VS. FUSED ZAMASU

It was great that Dragon Ball Super brought Vegito back for the Goku Black saga. And what a comeback it was! His fight against Fused Zamasu was easily one of the best in all of Super, both in terms of excitement and the quality of the animation.

In fact, the animation plays a big part in why this one made our top five, since the sudden spike in quality was a huge surprise to fans. This fight definitely got people up and out of their seats, cheering on Vegito as he took on the corrupted god.

8 VEGITO VS. SUPER BUU

As awesome as Vegito's return was, it's hard to beat his original appearance. Both the scenes leading up to Goku and Vegeta's fusion and the fight that came after act as some of the highlights of the Buu saga. This fight in particular made the top 10 because of how much Vegito completely annihilated Super Buu.

Not only was Vegito able to give Buu a brutal beating, he was also strong enough to fight while turned into candy -- just one of the things that made this fight as fun as it was exciting.

7 GOHAN VS. SUPER BUU

Before Vegito had a chance to take on Super Buu, Gohan showed up to the fight to completely dominate the villain in battle. After having his power unlocked by the Old Kai, Gohan was stronger than ever, and his fight against Super Buu proved that.

Gohan is just the coolest in this fight -- he kicks Buu's butt without breaking a sweat, some of his most awesome moments being when he passively blocks or fatally attacks the villain as though it were nothing.

6 GOKU VS. KID BUU

There were three things that made the finale battle of Dragon Ball Z amazing: the relentless fighting tactics of Kid Buu, Goku's unwavering determination to stop said attacks and the gigantic spirit bomb made from the energy of everyone on Earth.

There's really no other way to describe how great this final fight was than to break it down to its elements. Goku got to use his Super Saiyan 3 form again in a ruthless final brawl, Buu's sadistic Kid form was a fitting final enemy and the spirit bomb was the perfect way to defeat him.