Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has endured for more than 30 years and become one of the most popular and recognizable anime properties of its generation. The fandom that surrounds Dragon Ball has never been stronger and the franchise has carefully found ways to evolve its characters and storytelling while still staying true to its roots. A staple of the Dragon Ball franchise are the chaotic clashes of combat that highlight who is the strongest.
These battles frequently become showcases for powerful techniques and unbelievable transformations. The characters in Dragon Ball have their signature attacks that they’ll always bring forward, but there are also some fascinating techniques that only show up once and then are never seen again.
10 Krillin's Inflated Balloon Technique Helps Him Take To The Skies
The original Dragon Ball features plenty of action, especially later on in its run, but its comedic impulses are certainly front and center more than they are in any other Dragon Ball series. The World Martial Arts Tournament becomes a great place for characters to debut some bizarre maneuvers that they effectively forget afterwards.
The 22nd installment of this tournament pits a young Krillin against Goku. One of Krillin’s strategies is to inflate himself like a balloon, which ultimately throws off Goku’s timing and causes him to struggle with his attacks. This ability is novel at the time since neither character knows how to fly yet, but it’s easy to see why it’s later dropped.
9 Goku Exhibits Spontaneous Telepathy To Connect With His Friends
There are so many powerful techniques that are specific to Dragon Ball, but the series also trades in some of the more generic special powers that show up in action series, such as telepathy and telekinesis. Goku never explicitly learns how to read people’s minds, but it’s a technique that he oddly exhibits during his arduous fight against Vegeta.
Goku demonstrates telepathy to read Krillin’s mind and to mentally communicate with Gohan and Krillin during their fight. This skill seems to represent Goku’s enhanced strength after training under King Kai, but it doesn’t become a regular part of his repertoire.
8 Vegeta's Final Crash Doesn’t Have The Desired Effect On The Ginyu Force’s Finest
Frieza poses the main conflict on Planet Namek, but before he’s willing to get his hands dirty he forces the heroes to jump through hoops by taking on his prestigious mercenaries, the Ginyu Force. Recoome is a burly brawler who beats down on Vegeta and is stronger than these three heroes combined.
Vegeta unleashes a two-handed energy release called the Final Crash that he’s confident will annihilate Recoome, but in reality it barely singes him. This move looks impressive, but it’s likely that it doesn’t show up again because Vegeta’s Final Flash is the improved version of this technique.
7 Roshi's Thunder Shock Surprise Electrifies The Competition
Master Roshi recedes into the background as a supporting player in Dragon Ball Z, but he’s one of the strongest and most important players throughout its predecessor. The showdown between Goku and Roshi in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament is one of the most satisfying encounters from the entire series.
Goku and Roshi both turn to some creative tactics to overwhelm their enemy, which for Roshi includes his Thunder Shock Surprise. This technique inexplicably turns the target’s energy into 20,000 volts of electricity, leaving them petrified by the pain. This technique is too dangerous for its own good and it makes sense why it hasn’t come back.
6 Goku’s Spirit Bomb Absorption Turns A Projectile Into A Fuel Source
The Dragon Ball feature films take some serious liberties when it comes to how Goku’s established techniques and transformations operate. Goku executes so many random abilities in the final acts of these movies that are either never returned to or only reappear briefly in Dragon Ball GT.
The finale of Super Android 13! has Goku surpass his limits by producing a Spirit Bomb, while he’s a Super Saiyan, and then absorbing its energy rather than releasing it as a physical attack. It’s a creative use of Goku’s signature technique, but it doesn’t become a regular occurrence.
5 Super Buu's Human Extinction Attack Decimates The Planet’s Population
Most of the villains in Dragon Ball don’t have the luxury of sticking around so it stands to reason that many of their techniques don’t become mainstays of the series. However, Majin Buu does find a way to remain in the picture and he’s even able to contribute to combat in Dragon Ball Super.
One of the scariest moments in the franchise is when a bored Super Buu executes his Human Extinction Attack and takes out the majority of the Earth’s population in the process. Granted, it’s a relief that this technique has only been used once in Dragon Ball, but it’s chilling to know that it’s still a possibility from Buu.
4 Yamcha's Spirit Ball Is A Versatile Ability That’s Only As Strong As Its User
The original Dragon Ball gets experimental with its early uses of ki energy, which results in some generic, but creative techniques that don’t become permanent presences in the series. Diminishing returns on Yamcha begin not longer after the start of Dragon Ball Z, but he might have been able to stay in the picture for longer if he continued to develop his Spirit Ball technique.
The Spirit Ball is a small sphere of energy that the user can manipulate and launch at targets. It’s a simple technique that works well for Yamcha, but he’s still just too far behind everyone else.
3 Tien's Multi-Arm Technique Feel Like A Trademark Of The Character Despite Their Rare Use
Tien is a fascinating Dragon Ball figure who feels like he never properly gets his due. Tien’s strength surpasses Goku's in the original Dragon Ball, which results in an extremely exciting final match in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Tien improves upon his capacities with a handy Multi-Arm ability that gives him four arms for battle.
This is such a striking image that becomes emblematic of Tien, but it’s surprisingly not a strategy that he routinely utilizes. Admittedly, it does return in the Tournament of Power, but it’s for an extremely short period of time, and he doesn’t even get to fight with it.
2 Vegeta’s Photon Bomber Gets Lost In The Shuffle Of The Many Deadly Energy Maneuvers
There’s typically a method to the superpowered madness of Dragon Ball, but there are definitely occasions where it feels like characters are just shouting out random words and creating new techniques in the moment. Vegeta’s Galick Gun, Big Bang Attack, and Final Flash can typically handle whatever is necessary, but he debuts his Photon Bomber attack during the hunt for Dr. Gero.
Vegeta does turn to this ability once more during Broly’s first appearance, but it’s ineffective against him. Strangely, Krillin also seems to know this technique and uses it to destroy Dr. Gero’s lab, but it’s promptly forgotten by him, too.
1 Piccolo's Clothes Beam Has A Very Specific Purpose That’s Not Helpful In Battle
Piccolo enters Dragon Ball as a vengeful product of destruction, which makes his development into one of the series’ most complex and empathetic characters so beautiful. Piccolo and Gohan forge a powerful relationship during their wilderness training. Gohan goes through a lot of wear and tear during this ruthless period.
Piccolo opts to aid Gohan and patch up his clothes with his convenient “Clothes Beam.” This fashion-based technique is often treated more like a joke than a legitimate skill, but Piccolo’s Mouth Beam is another useful technique of his that is equally neglected by the Namekian.