Although Dragon Ball has gained a reputation for using its supporting cast poorly with time, the fact of the matter is that Akira Toriyama managed to craft a cast of dozens upon dozens of character, almost all of whom have their own identity, voice, and arc. That’s an impressive feat, but what’s more impressive is how Toriyama doles out character development.

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Fighting starts taking the series’ focus completely around halfway through the Freeza arc, but Toriyama never lets this hurt Dragon Ball or its characters. Rather, the main characters have always been developed through the action. Some of the biggest moments of character development stem directly from heroes losing and needing to grow. Naturally, fights where the villains win end up being some of the more impactful (and exciting) in the franchise. Here are 10 of the best.

10 Son Goku Versus Tao Pai Pai

Goku vs Tao Pai Pai

This isn’t Goku’s first loss by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s the first one that ends up leaving a serious lasting impact on how Dragon Ball is told moving forward. Tao Pai Pai’s introduction involves an allied character dying for the first time and Goku nearly dying. Tao Pai Pai not only tanks the Kamehameha, he blasts his own Dodonpa into Goku.

Considering Goku just spent the majority of the arc essentially winning every battle and solving every crisis himself, him ultimately losing to Tao Pai Pai serves as an incredibly humbling moment, not just for Goku, but the audience as well. It’s an opportunity to recognize how Dragon Ball is growing alongside Goku.

9 Yamcha Versus Tenshinhan

Anime Yamcha vs Tien

The opening match of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai is arguably Yamcha’s best showing in the entire franchise. Not just that, this is the rare fight where a villain wins that uses an established character’s loss to develop the villain. Tenshinhan goes from a mean rival to a full blown supervillain intent on actually hurting the Turtle School students.

It’s shocking, and seeing Yamcha fight so hard only to fall (after being telegraphed as Tenshinhan’s rival of all things), Ten snaps Yamcha’s leg in half, sending him to the hospital for the rest of the tournament. It’s an absolutely vicious turn of events, but it’s one that sets up Tenshinhan’s character perfectly.

8 Jackie Chun Versus Tenshinhan

Only for Jackie Chun to put him in his place. Not in terms of combat– Jackie Chun actually ends up forfeiting their match before they can get too serious– in terms of the path Tenshinhan walks in life. As a student of the Crane School, Tenshinhan is an assassin, not a proper martial artist, but Muten Roshi offers him a path out.

Tenshinhan naturally rejects the offer, but this battle shakes him to his moral core. For the rest of the tournament, Tenshinhan lingers on what it means to be a martial artist until his match against Goku finally awakens genuine pride within him– and it all stems from a single fight.

7 Son Goku Versus Demon King Piccolo

Demon King Piccolo grows frustrated in Dragon Ball.

Goku’s defeat at the hands of Demon King Piccolo ends up lifting several key beats from his defeat at the hands of Tao Pai Pai, but it does still work. For starters, Piccolo Daimao actually does succeed in killing Goku, albeit briefly. Goku’s heart straight up stops and doesn’t start back up again until after Piccolo leaves.

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It’s a bit contrived, but the fight itself is intense, shows off the full might of the Demon King’s power, and illustrates perfectly just how much Piccolo Daimao towers not just over Goku, but all of the martial artists currently alive. That Goku drinks a literal power-up only to become as strong as Piccolo is quite telling.

6 Krillin Versus Majunior

No one fighting Piccolo, aka Majunior, in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai was going to have a good time, especially Krillin. Demon King Piccolo’s demons killed him before the last arc even began, leaving Krillin out of the action. He predictably loses to Majunior, but it’s one of his best fights in the entire series, if not his best.

Krillin almost wins by ring-out, busts out a bunch of new Ki techniques, cements himself as the first Turtle School student to fly, and actually makes Piccolo doubt how easy it would be to take over the Earth. Krillin isn’t satisfied by his loss, but he goes out as an absolute high.

5 Goku Versus Vegeta

Considering Goku’s first fight against Vegeta ends up spilling into a group battle where Krillin, Gohan, & Yajirobe all try to fend off the Saiyan, it can be easy to overlook the fact that Goku very definitively loses his fight with Vegeta. He wins their beam struggle and wounds Vegeta’s pride immensely, but the Saiyan Elite is by no means dead or done fighting.

The worst part of it all? Vegeta didn’t even need to turn into an Oozaru. Transforming actually saves Goku’s life as Vegeta ends up wasting energy in the long run. If he just waited and analyzed the situation, he would’ve realized that Goku couldn’t fight back. That said, Goku was still strong enough to dodge and use (some) Ki so who can say how that fight would’ve turned out?

4 Vegeta Versus Reacoom

Vegeta vs Recoome from the DBZ manga

Vegeta is (rightfully) terrified to his britches over the prospect of fighting the Ginyu Force. While Gurd ends up giving both Krillin and Gohan a run for their money, Vegeta manages to exploit an opening and keep them alive. It inspires a bit of hope in the audience, but Reacoom crushes any chance of the heroes winning without Goku almost immediately.

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Despite Vegeta throwing Reacoom all around Namek in one of Akira Toriyama’s best choreographed fights, Reacoom brushes it all off and returns the favor, pummeling Vegeta into the ground. If that wasn’t enough, Reacoom then goes on to target both Krillin and Gohan, effectively rendering everyone close to death before Goku arrives.

3 Everyone Versus Freeza

The fight against Freeza is incredibly long in both the manga and the anime, but the former’s pacing ensures that it stays one of the most engrossing fights in the franchise. An endurance match unlike any other, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, Dende, and Piccolo all desperately try to stay alive against Freeza, trading the spotlight between one another.

It’s one of the best fights against an arc villain if only because it gives everyone still active in the main plot something to do and a chance to develop. Gohan and Krillin show the fruits of all their growth, Vegeta breaks down completely, and Piccolo stands up as a Namekian for the first time in his life. There’s some great character work between the amazing action.

2 Vegeta Versus Android 18

The early Cell arc is genuinely one of the most fascinating periods in Dragon Ball history, both in and out of universe. Out of universe, Toriyama was building up to Goku passing the torch to Gohan– whether unknowingly or not– and in-universe, Artificial Humans that destroyed a future timeline are endangering the Earth.

Vegeta re-enters this arc a Super Saiyan even stronger than Goku, but Android 18 teaches him an important lesson in humility. Although Vegeta fights well, 18 seemingly takes no damage. Worse yet, Vegeta keeps tiring himself out as 18’s infinite stamina ensures she’ll always have more than enough energy to finish Vegeta off– or just break his arm.

1 Son Goku Versus Cell

Just because Toriyama didn’t end up committing to writing Goku out doesn’t mean he did a bad job writing Goku out. Honestly, the reason Goku taking the main character spot from Gohan stings so much is because of how well Toriyama pull off the build up to Goku’s death. The first fight of the Cell Games, in particular, is a great match for Goku to go out on.

Had Goku stayed dead after this point, he’d have went out on one of the best fights of his career. He fights like a true martial artist, using his surrounding and strategizing on the fly. It’s amazing to see Goku so in the zone, especially since he ends up losing at the end. Not by Cell defeating him, but by gracefully forfeiting.

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