As the very last arc in the original series, the Majin Boo arc brought Dragon Ball to a very unique close. Where the Cell arc primarily focused on transformations in its second half, the back-half of the Boo arc dedicated itself towards fusions— for better and for worse. It’s an arc that’s chaotic from start to finish, but that’s why it’s so memorable.
The Boo arc is Akira Toriyama unhinged, working on the series with a gusto and disregard that manages to tie itself all up in a surprisingly neat bow when all is said and done. The Majin Boo arc escalates Dragon Ball’s power scaling to its extreme, ending the franchise with a strange ranking, but one that makes sense.
10 Dabra
Exactly as strong as Perfect Cell was during the Cell Games, Dabra is the Boo arc’s benchmark. He’s meant to represent how far the main characters have come since Cell. Or, in Gohan’s case, how far they’ve fallen. Either way, Dabra’s a rather interesting villain if only because it’s not often DB introduces a character just as strong as another.
It’s genuinely a plot point and ends up tying into Gohan’s character arc for the Majin Boo saga. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for Dabra to be dealt with. He’s killed almost as soon as Fat Boo ends up hatching out of his egg. There’s just no room for someone as weak as Cell when Boo’s around.
9 Vegeta
Poor Vegeta trains like a madman, but he’s totally outclassed by the time Majin Boo awakens. Even with his Majin powers, Vegeta simply cannot compare to what Boo is capable of. That said, Vegeta’s arc in the Boo saga is one of the franchise’s best and he does manage to get in some good fights nonetheless.
Vegeta being so comparatively weak to everyone else is also quite important since a major part of his character arc ends up revolving around him finally accepting Goku’s superiority as a martial artist. Dragon Ball Super ends up backtracking on this sloppily, but Akira Toriyama does bring Vegeta’s arc to its natural conclusion.
8 Fat Boo
The sweetest of the Majin Boos, Fat Boo ends up befriending Mr. Satan over the course of the arc, redeeming himself to the point where he gets to join the main cast for the very end of the series. He’s the single strongest villains the main characters have faced up to that point, and Fat Boo is horrifically only the weakest version.
He has enough strength to keep up with Pure Boo, but Fat Boo is simply too docile for his own good. Dragon Ball Super indicates that he can train himself to get stronger, but he isn’t around long enough in the original Dragon Ball to train or allow himself to get any stronger. Not that he needs it.
7 Pure Boo
The original version of Majin Boo, Pure Boo is far from the strongest, but he’s consistently considered the most dangerous. As a mindless being, Pure Boo simply destroys for the sake of destruction. He’s completely antithetical towards Goku, fighting not for pleasure but for carnage. Pure Boo ends up being quite the interesting final enemy as a result.
His seemingly endless stamina and insanity make him incredibly difficult to fight as well. It’s implied that Goku is technically stronger than Pure Boo through dialogue, but Super Saiyan 3 just doesn’t have the stamina to take out Pure Boo in a straight up melee.
6 Son Goku
Goku doesn’t get to even make it into the top five this time around, but the Boo arc’s penchant for fusion does admittedly make it difficult for non-fused characters to keep up. If nothing else, Goku is clearly very strong thanks to Super Saiyan 3. Being alive brings with it some serious stamina issues, but he trained a lot in the afterlife.
Even if he can’t defeat Pure Boo in a fist fight, Goku’s strong enough to muster up a big enough Genki Dama to kill Boo. It’s also Goku’s strength that ends up pushing the Genki Dama into Pure Boo and finishing the job. By the time Oob shows up, it’s no doubt Goku would have gotten stronger— even without God Ki!
5 Evil Boo
The Majin Boo made up of Fat Boo’s malicious energy, Evil Boo (Super Buu in the Funimation dub) is a monster in a league of his own. This is a villain who manages to kill 90% of both the Earth and the supporting cast. That latter bit is especially noteworthy as, up to this point, the supporting cast managed to get by with few casualties.
Evil Boo makes things far too real, threatening the universe on a level not even Freeza could muster. While he’s not as strong as Gotenks or Gohan, he was smart enough to devise an entire plan that landed him both Gotenks’ and Gohan’s abilities.
4 Gotenks
The fusion of Goten and Trunks, Gotenks just barely misses his spot in the top three. Even having Super Saiyan 3 isn’t enough to close the gap between him and Ultimate Gohan. That said, he’s still quite an impressive fighter. What he lacks in experience, he makes up for in creativity.
His techniques are some of the most novel in the franchise, and the choreography between Gotenks & Evil Boo is probably the Majin Boo arc’s best when it comes down to it. Gotenks is raw power personified. Unfortunately, he’s a kid who barely knows how to use his power, but that’s what makes him interesting.
3 Son Gohan
Just edging out the top three is none other than the single strongest non-fused fighter at the end of the original Dragon Ball, Son Gohan. Having his potential unlocked by the Rou Kaioshin gives Gohan a truly unprecedented level of power. He doesn’t end up finishing off Boo, but he comes into his own as a proper martial artist.
Ultimate Gohan is not a force to be taken lightly even if both Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super ultimately chose to downplay his power. It’s a shame Ultimate Gohan doesn’t get to do more in the Boo arc, but it’s nice that Toriyama allowed Gohan to end the series on top— a fitting fate.
2 Bootenks/han
It doesn’t really matter if this entry specifically refers to either Bootenks or Boohan because they’re more or less the same character. They’re simply a smarter, stronger version of Evil Boo with a wider vocabulary thanks to Piccolo. He’s actually a morbid character conceptually, but he makes a nice enough supervillain.
Of course, for as strong as Boohan is, his main claim to fame is getting manhandled by Vegetto. It’s not his fault Goku and Vegeta would naturally turn into such a powerful fused fighter, but it is cathartic to watch justice being served as Boohan finally gets a taste of his own medicine.
1 Vegetto
Speaking of Vegetto, no one else in the original series even comes close to reaching a fraction of Vegetto’s power. Boohan never manages to give Vegetto an even fight, even when the former turns the latter into a piece of candy. In the original canon where Potara fusions lasted forever, Vegetto was unbeatable.
Even now, though, he could have killed Boohan easily had he wanted to. Vegetto simply has enough intelligence to strategize and devise plans. Interestingly, the anime’s filler surrounding the character makes Vegetto out to be a more Gotenks-esque character (though the two already share traits in the manga.)