Dragon Ball Z has some of the most well-known battles not only in shounen but in anime period. Be it Goku vs. Frieza or Goku and Vegeta vs. Kid Buu, the series has rarely ever disappointed in terms of impressive battles. At least...eventually.
On the way to those "epic showdowns," there are a lot of not-so-epic ones. Cases where a character thinks they are a better or stronger fighter than they really are, only to learn very quickly that is not the case. With the way the momentum can shift in DBZ's world, sometimes this can actually happen to both characters in the same fight! So let's take a look at some of the worst, most one-sided beatdowns in DBZ history.
10 GOKU VS. VEGETA I
People are going to say this doesn’t fit on the list but the truth is…Goku wasn't really a match for Vegeta in their first fight. He had to spam Kaioken every moment just to come up barely on the losing end. Goku won the beam struggle against Vegeta, but in doing so exhausted every last bit of energy he had, while Vegeta just returned angrier than ever.
Once Vegeta transformed into a Great Oozaru, it was pretty much a wrap. With ten times his usual strength, it was only the timely (and comedic) interference of Yajirobe that saved Goku.
9 PICCOLO VS. FRIEZA
This could have gone both ways, honestly. After Frieza first transformed into his second form, things were looking pretty dire for the good guys. But then Piccolo showed up after absorbing Nail and proved to be more than a match for the much larger, more muscular version of Frieza.
Of course, things went back downhill the moment Frieza got fed up and went to his third form. The villain spent what felt like an entire episode torturing Piccolo with energy beam attacks, and it was only the timely rescue of an angry Gohan that saved Piccolo from a fate similar to Nail himself.
8 SUPER VEGETA VS. SEMI-PERFECT CELL
After Cell managed to absorb Android 17 and achieve his Semi-Perfect Form, things swung firmly as the villain sought to find and absorb Android 18, allowing his perfect form to be achieved. Then, Vegeta exited the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
A year of training with Trunks allowed Vegeta to reach a new level of mastery above Super Saiyan, and it proved more than enough to handle Semi-Perfect Cell. The genetic experiment would’ve been nothing more than a stain on the wall if he hadn’t managed to trick the Prince of All Saiyans into allowing him to achieve his perfect form.
7 GOHAN VS. PERFECT CELL
Gohan fans everywhere rejoiced for this one. After just barely putting up a fight as a Super Saiyan, Gohan was finally pushed over the edge when Cell destroyed a defenseless Android 16’s head. Becoming the first person to reach Super Saiyan 2, Gohan was untouchable for the next several episodes.
The Saiyan effortlessly exploded the Cell Jrs that had been beating up the other Z Fighters and smacked Cell around like it was nothing. Of course, Cell would revive and make things a closer fight in round 2, but that only lead to one of the best moments in the franchise: The Father-Son Kamehameha. This could’ve been the ending of Dragon Ball Z.
6 GOKU VS. RECOOME, JACE, & BURTER
After Goku got a Senzu bean to help him recover from being beaten to nothing by Vegeta, he spent most of the Namek arc flying on a ship to catch up with Gohan and Krillin. By the time he got there, they were about to be wiped out by Recoome of the Ginyu Force; luckily, Goku arrived right on time.
If you were expecting some grand battle after Goku finished training in 100 times Earth’s gravity, you would have been disappointed. Goku lays out Recoome and Burter in all of two moves, with Jace only surviving because he ran away.
5 NAPPA VS. TIEN (& THE Z FIGHTERS)
This looked a lot more even in the original version of DBZ, where Tien tussles with Nappa for what feels like several episodes. In the much faster Dragon Ball Z Kai, however? This fight is an absolute bloodbath. Over the course of a single episode, Vegeta’s sidekick Nappa absolutely crumbles the Z Fighters with absolute ease.
Chiaotzu attempts a kamikaze suicide attack and barely scratches Nappa’s armor, while Tien fights until his heart literally gives out…and none of it matters. There aren’t many shounen anime where the characters spend an entire year training only for it to mean absolutely nothing in the end, but DBZ went there.
4 ANDROID 18 VS. VEGETA
After Vegeta obliterated Android 19 in one of the character's coolest moments, the Androids weren’t looking like too much of a threat. Unfortunately for the heroes, Dr. Gero managed to make it back to his base to unleash his more powerful creations, Androids 17 and 18.
Thinking these would be a breeze as well, Vegeta rushed in with his new Super Saiyan form…and promptly got humbled. 18 snapped his arm with a single kick, then proceeded to embarrass him while her brother stomped out the remaining Z Fighters. Fortunately, they were nicer than Trunks’ Androids and just left them unconscious on the highway.
3 GOHAN VS. BUU
This is another one of those fights that could’ve gone either way. After spending nearly an entire day under the Elder Kai’s special process to raise his power level, Gohan returned to Earth a new man. After an entire arc where Buu had easily defeated nearly anyone who stood in his way, Gohan arrived in his new “Mystic” form and gave the antagonist the beating of a lifetime.
Unfortunately, Gohan was silly enough to allow Gotenks a chance to fight, leading to Buu absorbing the latter and Piccolo. Ultimately, Gohan lost the runback almost as bad as he’d won the first round.
2 ANDROID 19 VS. VEGETA
Vegeta’s first battle as a “good” guy wound up being a complete blow out in his favor. After Trunks spent so much time talking up the Androids as this monstrous threat that had killed the Z Fighters and sent humanity into a panic, they weren’t looking quite so hot here.
Though Goku had allowed himself to fall victim to the heart disease Trunks predicted, Vegeta was more than prepared, transforming into a Super Saiyan for the first time ever. This massive increase in power proved to be too much even for Android 20’s energy-absorbing abilities, and the psychotic clown met an ignominious end at the hands of Vegeta’s Big Bang Attack.
1 VEGITO VS. BUU
This is easily the most savage, one-sided beatdown in Dragon Ball Z history. Whenever Goku and Vegeta fuse, the match is over with. Whether in the series or movies, whether they’re up against legendary Super Saiyans, ancient magical monsters or the gods themselves, none of it matters.
Vegito battled against Super Buu and spent the next several episodes styling on him. Buu tried every technique he could—he even turned Vegito into a piece of candy! The magic of the Potara earrings somehow meant he was a talking candy that retained all of Vegito’s power, and he beat Buu even worse than he did before! By the end, Buu just gave up and transformed him back to normal. After an entire arc of Buu out-powering or out-smarting everyone, this might have been the most satisfying battle in the series.