Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has grown into one of the most iconic anime series of all time, and it’s incredible how its popularity in recent years seems to dwarf its massive success in the ‘90s. Dragon Ball continues to tell the same story, but it’s slowly allowed changes and for the scope of the characters and series to grow much bigger.
Dragon Ball begins grounded on Earth, but it increasingly heads to the recesses of outer space in pursuit of treasures and obstacles on new planets. It’s been exciting for Dragon Ball’s characters to experience the wonders of the galaxy and even explore alternate universes. Unfortunately, these planets can also be popular destinations for devastating turmoil and sometimes even destruction.
10 Arlia Faces The Full Wrath Of Vegeta & Nappa
Arlia is an anime-only planet that helps establish Vegeta and Nappa's strength early on in the series. Arlia only appears in one episode, but it’s become a very memorable and popular destination in Dragon Ball Z. Arlia is inhabited by an insect-like race, and the planet is already largely in ruins. Vegeta and Nappa liberate it, seemingly for capture to hand over to the Frieza Force, but they ultimately decide it's too shoddy of a planet and just blow it and its moon up instead as they continue on to Earth.
9 Namek & Its Successor Are Both Destroyed By Tyrants Hungry For More Power
Planet Namek's destruction by Frieza’s hasty hand is one of Dragon Ball Z's biggest moments since Goku and Frieza fight it out on the exploding planet during its final minutes. King Kai locates a comparable planet that then becomes New Namek. New Namek sometimes faces conflict because of its Dragon Balls. Moro drains the entire planet and its population of their energy and merges together with it, only for them all to die from Goku's overwhelming Ultra Instinct energy. After two months as a dead planet, Vegeta is able to restore it to health through Forced Spirit Fission.
8 King Kai's Planet Faces The Wrath Of A God Of Destruction & A Perfect Life Form
King Kai lives on a small and exceptionally quaint planet, but it's a vital destination in the series. Conceivably, Cell's self-destruction on the planet takes it out along with King Kai and its limited population.
There's a chapter in Dragon Ball Super's manga where King Kai contemplates wishing for a bigger planet before Goku steals his wish and makes sure the planet stays the same. However, it's also revealed that King Kai's planet was initially much bigger and it's only so small because the God of Destruction loses to King Kai at a game and loses his temper.
7 Sadala Is The Original Saiyan Home Before They Use It Up & Move On
Planet Vegeta gets the credit for being the homeland for the Saiyans, but a piece of their history that’s often overlooked is that it’s not their place of origin. The Saiyans were actually on Planet Sadala first, but the Saiyans ruined a good thing on their first home. Internal conflict and war destroy Sadala, so the Saiyans head to Planet Plant, overthrow it, and turn it into Planet Vegeta. Curiously, Universe 6’s Planet Sadala still exists because of the more docile nature of their Saiyans, and Cabba even comes from there.
6 The Makyo Star Is The Power Source Of Demons That Can’t Survive A Saiyan’s Wrath
The Mayo Star is also known as the Planet of Evil Demons, and it’s a haven for darkness. It’s also the home of the Makyans, like Garlic Jr., who draw their power from the planet’s proximity, which gives them a serious upgrade in strength. The Makyo Star is a rogue planet since it moves around, and it gets dangerously close to earth during the events of the Garlic Jr. Saga. Gohan destroys the Makyo Star with a Red Energy Blast, which leaves Garlic Jr. drained and susceptible to get sucked back into the Dead Zone.
5 Planet Cereal Becomes Collateral Damage For The Frieza Force & Fuels Granolah’s Rage
The destruction of Planet Cereal becomes the driving force behind Granolah’s revenge in Dragon Ball Super’s manga. The Frieza Force, along with the use of Saiyans in their Great Ape forms, invade and decimate the majority of Cereal’s population. It’s not blown up, but it’s left in ruins and largely considered uninhabitable.
Cereal’s ruin leads to a brokerage between the Heeters and the Sugarians, but it’s still a wasteland when it’s revisited. Cereal seems destined to be left in worse shape because of the battle that breaks out there between Cereal, Goku, and Vegeta. The remaining ruins are already decimated.
4 The Big Gete Star Is A Sentient Mass That Messes With The Wrong Saiyans
The Big Sete Star is a large planet-sized mass of artificially intelligent technology that started as a microchip that progressively absorbs machines, debris, and matter to become a planetary mass. It eventually comes in contact with the remains of Cooler and also restores his consciousness in the process and mass produces him as Meta-Cooler. Goku and Vegeta eventually also get absorbed by the Big Gete Star and manage to destroy it by overloading its core with their excessive Super Saiyan energy. They overload and destroy the planet, and Vegeta crushes the initial microchip to make sure its return is impossible.
3 Both Versions Of Planet Vegeta Meet Untimely Ends & Are Housed In Lies
Planet Vegeta is the home of the Saiyans that had Vegeta and his family as royalty. It's ultimately Frieza's manipulation and betrayal of the loyal Saiyans that results in Frieza blowing up the planet and killing most of the Saiyans with it. Alternatively, New Planet Vegeta is the home of the Shamoians that gets taken over by Paragus and Broly as a ruse for Goku and company. The planet is set to be on a collision course with Comet Camori, which eventually destroys it, but Goku Instant Transmissions the survivors away.
2 Zoon Is Pui Pui’s Planet & It Explains Why Moro Is Named The Planet-Eater
Zoon is the desolate planet that the race of Babidi's minion Pui Pui lives on. Zoon has ten times the gravity of Earth, and it seems ideal for lowly creatures like Pui Pui. Vegeta virtually fights Pui Pui there on Babidi's spaceship, but it surprisingly returns during Moro's introduction. Moro and his team land on Zoon, steal its treasure, and Moro proceeds to completely drain the planet's energy, which results in its destruction. Notably, Zoon does return after the Dragon Balls are used to restore the lives and planets lost by Moro’s actions.
1 Frieza Actually Briefly Succeeds In Earth’s Destruction
One of the biggest surprises to take place in Dragon Ball is that Frieza’s grand return and the debut of his Golden form culminate in Earth’s explosion. Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta has Frieza at his mercy, but his ego gets in the way, and Frieza uses this opportunity to overload the planet with energy and succeed in its destruction. It’s a gripping sequence that only lasts for a few seconds before Universe 7’s Angel, Whis, makes a brief intervention and performs a Temporal Do-Over to rewind time to before the planet’s destruction. Goku doesn’t allow Frieza to succeed twice.