For as long as there's manga and anime, fans will have heated debate after debate about who reigns supreme in the world of super-powered protagonists. Today, it's a showdown between two of the most popular franchises worldwide: Dragon Ball vs Naruto. From some seriously strong Saiyans to the element bending ninjas of Hidden Leaf Village, no amount of power can save these characters from the online assault of memes. Before the battle begins, let's take a look at the history of each of these franchises. The Dragon Ball series spans over a number of different instalments, the first being the original Dragon Ball manga created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The series has been adapted to multiple TV series such as Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT and most recently, Dragon Ball Super. 

Naruto also started as a manga in 1999, written by Masashi Kishimoto, and debuted as an anime series in 2002. Both series have also had multiple canon and non-canon movies. So it's safe to say they are both wildly successful, but this doesn't stop fans from trying to prove that 'their' series is the best. Prepare yourself for a verbal smackdown of epic proportions, as these memes prove that the pen can be mightier than the sword...or the Ka-me-ha-me-ha.

22 SHOTS FIRED

Free spirited Goku starts off this verbal bout by laying down one of the fundamentals we've come to understand throughout the Dragon Ball series. Pretty much every main character and villain has enough power to destroy the earth... if they wanted to. How do they refrain from doing so? Good aim basically. Like when Goku fights Cell, he charges up an airborne Ka-me-ha-me-ha, which sends the audience of the fight into fits as Goku was in position to disintegrate the earth with a flick of his wrists. Luckily, he uses instant transmission and instead separates Cell's torso from his legs.

On the flip side, Naruto's special move, the Rasengan, doesn't pack quite as much of a punch. Sure, we've seen the Rasen-Shuriken level large boulders, or cause another flesh and bone ninja to be subject to some blunt force trauma. But through and through, the attacks in Naruto don't quite have the destructive capabilities we see in Dragon Ball. We suppose it's all relative, as we're talking about a superior alien race vs human ninjas, but knowing that the good guy has enough power to level a planet definitely leaves us excited to see what happens when he actually gets mad at someone.

21 SHOTS FIRED BACK

Naruto is not amused by the accusation that he lacks power. So, he puts forward a very good observation. What’s the point of having tremendous power, like the iconic spirit bomb, if it takes a series of episodes to charge up? Sure, the Rasengan and Chidori may be underwhelming when compared to the scale of some Dragon Ball attacks, but they can be charged up in a matter of seconds, so the audience isn’t left twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of the attack being launched. In fact, Dragon Ball Kai, a stripped down English version of the Dragon Ball Z series, eliminated a lot of the yelling and powering up filler, as audiences were getting tired of hearing Goku screaming for three episodes in a row.

For example, in the anime during the Majin Buu arc, Goku takes five minutes to transform into Super Saiyan 3 for the first time. During that time, surely, someone as powerful as Majin Buu could have easily blasted him to smithereens, but there seems to be an unspoken rule in the Dragon Ball universe that when someone is powering up, the battle must be paused. We're not advocating for dirty fights, but someone like Sasuke would definitely use the opportunity to Chidori their opponent to smithereens.

20 DISPARITY

The facial expression of Naruto says it all. Regardless of arguments of powerup times, there is a clear and marked disparity between the power levels of Dragon Ball and Naruto characters. Now, some die hard fans of Naruto may say, “Well when he uses Bijuu Sage Mode he could put up a fight”. That’s cute to think, but we dare say there’s really nothing he could do against Super Saiyan Blue Goku. Now if we’re talking about a Yamcha or Tien type than sure, give Naruto a shot. That gives us a chance to weed out some of the underperformers in the franchise. But fighting the two of them would surely just incur the wrath of Goku who is in a class of his own.

Relatively speaking, each character has gone through tremendous personal growth, and can be in consideration for the strongest in each of their respective franchises. But the gap was too wide in the beginning to ever be closed. As a teenager, Goku was defeating the strongest fighters in the world at martial arts tournaments and Naruto was shovelling ramen into his face and spray painting the Naruto equivalent of Mt. Rushmore. Goku also the advantage of being from one of the most powerful alien races in existence, the Saiyans, while Naruto is just a souped-up human.

19 STAY DOWN... SERIOUSLY

No please. For the sake of your series, just stay down. Across Naruto’s face is a look that screams, “Just you wait till I get up”. But sometimes you just have to take the L. Hypothetically, even if Naruto and Sasuke, one of the most iconic duos in anime history, team up, it just doubles the amount of people who are going to get their faces smashed in by Goku. Two angsty teenagers against the universe’s most powerful fighter; just the kind of pay-per-view event we’d tune into.

Goku’s threat of using Kaioken is also a little bit of an underhanded insult. He’s essentially saying “Don’t make me use my most basic and underwhelming power up on you”. If the pride of these two ninjas wasn’t hurt before, it should be now. Goku doesn’t even use plain Kaioken anymore. He used it exclusively in the Saiyan and Frieza arc of Dragon Ball Z, and in Dragon Ball Super, it’s used to increase the power of his Super Saiyan Blue from. Even Krillin, the bald headed, no-nosed, child-sized, butt of the joke Krillin, forced Goku to turn Super Saiyan Blue during a sparring match in Dragon Ball Super. That should tell you a little something.

18 SUPER SPEED FATHERS

Minato is clearly not okay with the treatment of his son at the hands of Goku, so he steps in to start a battle of the super speed fathers. Minato’s Space-Time Ninjitsu was clearly shown to be one of the most powerful techniques in the Naruto franchise, allowing him to instantly transport to any location, be it person or object, that he tags with a special seal. He used this ability to injure the virtually invincible Tobi, secretly Obito Uchiha, who is regarded as one of the strongest characters to ever be in the franchise. This iconic technique gained him the moniker of ‘Konoha’s Yellow Flash’.

Hmm. If only there was a version of this technique that were similar, but better in every -- oh wait. Yeah, that would be Goku’s instant transmission technique he learned on the Planet Yardrat after the Frieza Saga. Although not without its limitations, it plays off the technique of ki detection in the Dragon Ball Universe. Goku can instantly teleport over vast distances if he can detect the ki of the person he wants to transport to. In a fight of teleportation, Minato is at a disadvantage as he needs to place seals, whereas Goku can simply teleport circles around him once he’s locked onto his ki.

17 BRAINS VS BRAWN

Okay, so we’ve established that in terms of destructive power, the Dragon Ball fighters will come out on top 99% of the time. However, strength isn’t everything. Goku isn’t dumb but he is notoriously naïve. Anything that doesn’t involve bashing things in with his fists usually results in some sort of confusion. He has a tendency to test out the abilities of his opponents -- even if they are threatening to destroy everything he holds dear -- instead of just finishing off the threat right away. His love of fighting and finding strong opponents is often his undoing.

In the world of Naruto, no one can match Goku in terms of raw strength, so they would have to resort to techniques of the mind. Of the most powerful of these is the Sharigan technique of the Uchiha clan, specifically Uchiha Itachi’s Tsukuyomi. It is said to be one of the most powerful forms of Genjutsu; techniques that target the mind causing illusions. In this case, if Itachi makes eye contact with his opponent he can trap them in an illusion world that is completely under his control. Within the illusion world, he has full control to torture his powerless opponent and distort time to make a few seconds seem like days. It’s like the Uchiha version of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but meant specifically for mental torture. No amount of muscles can protect the mind.

16 THE PERPETUAL LONER

The reason why is very simple. If Naruto wasn’t such a desperate loner, his character never would have developed. Sure, Goku has his share of enemies, but he is generally liked by the people he meets. He’s kind, free spirited and strong enough that he can protect people from whatever comes his way. In fact, this is the case for a lot of manga/anime protagonists, like Luffy and Toriko who are also pictured with the iconic teeth exposed smile. While misunderstood and quirky, people still like them. People don’t like Naruto. He’s a nuisance, a bother, a miscreant, but above all else, unlike Goku, he’s kind of a failure in the beginning. No one wants to hang around a loser.

As heartless as that may sound, it’s an integral part of Naruto’s story which is necessary for his character development. Whereas Goku gets stronger so he can protect his friends, Naruto doesn’t have friends to get stronger for in the beginning. He does it for himself, to prove to the people around him that he’s not as useless as they make him out to be. This is a completely different kind of drive than the one we see in Goku, and Naruto’s loner status was a huge part of what turned him into the ninja he is today.

15 I'MA LET YOU FINISH

Even Super Saiyan 4, at one time the mightiest of all Saiyan transformations, is no match for the Kanye West’s super ability to make any situation infinitely more awkward. Super Saiyan 4 requires the user to transform into a Golden Great Ape, a super version of the original Saiyan ape, and regain conscious control of the power. This is an incredibly difficult technique, as it requires that a Saiyan be exposed to Blutz Waves, energy source emitted from celestial bodies like a full moon, which was destroyed by Piccolo in the Saiyan saga. Even after all of this, Goku looks powerless in the face of Kanye’s awkward social graces.

But he does have a point. In terms of a classic hero, Naruto is a prime example. Probably more so than Goku. He was born into adversity, having the destructive Nine-Tailed Beast living within him, which alienated people before they even knew him. From his conception, Naruto has faced and overcome a number of obstacles that have added to his growth as a hero. He used to be selfish, weak and hated by everyone. But he began to make friends, develop his powers and ended up becoming the savior of the entire ninja world in his battle against Uchiha Madara. Even if you like Dragon Ball more, we think that Naruto more embodies that classic hero archetype.

14 EMBARRASSING DEATHS

The battle of fathers continues, and Goku has yet another point to shut down Minato. Both characters have died, and both have come back, albeit Minato as a zombie-esque ninja. Now to say that Minato dies against an ‘animal’ is a bit of an understatement. He died against Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Beast. An embodiment of chakra itself, who possess the power to create tsunamis with just the swipe of his tail and can create energy blasts to level mountains. So, animal may not be the right term, but yes, Minato died against a very powerful, very angry, fox-like monster. But he did so to protect his family and friends which Goku should respect as the same thing has happened to him…TWICE!

The first time Goku dies, he sacrifices himself in the battle with Raditz, restraining him so they both take Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon right to the chest. We would argue that this death is more embarrassing than Minato’s, as it took Goku and Piccolo to defeat the weakest villain of the Dragon Ball Z series. The second time Goku dies is when he teleports Cell and himself to King Kai’s planet, so earth won’t explode. Just as noble as when Minato saves the world, so for this one, we think Goku should keep his mouth shut.

13 SUPER POWERS, SUPER APPETITES

We guess saving the world makes you hungry, because it seems that almost every single manga/anime hero has an insatiable appetite. Clearly, they have incredible metabolism, as a mountain of food doesn’t ever seem to make it to their hips. The eating abilities of manga/anime heroes have long been the envy of foodies everywhere. We’ve mentioned the vast power differential so far between Dragon Ball and Naruto characters, but this may be one of the only situations where Naruto has a chance. Rage, for a long time, was the key to unlocking Naruto’s hidden power. And what better way to incite his rage than to steal the last bowl of his favourite food?

Personally, we've gotten into some pretty heated hangry fights with siblings over a piece of bread, and those have ended poorly. Hangry, to be hungry and angry at the same time, is a well documented emotion for causing outbursts of rage. When a normal human is hangry, steer clear. When you combine mountain leveling powers with a severe case of being hangry, get out of there. Fast! Getting in between an anime hero and their food is like getting between a mother bear and her cub. You just don’t do it. Ever.

12 THE MOMENT YOU REALIZE YOU'RE OUTCLASSED

There comes a moment in every martial arts movie or super powered fight where one of the opponents realizes that it’s the end. Despite their best efforts, one of the fighters is outclassed and ultimately loses the battle. In Naruto’s case, we could show him a slide show of signature moves that would surely deter him from ever messing with the Z fighters. Let’s look at a few fear inducing signature attacks from the Dragon Ball series that would surely send Naruto running with his Kunai tucked between his legs.

Even some of the more underwhelming characters have attacks that would send any ninja into a fit of panic. There’s Krillin’s Destructo Disc (the OG Rasen-Shuriken), Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon, Gotenks’s Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack and then the big guns like Vegeta’s Galick Gun, the Ka-me-ha-me-ha and the ever powerful, destroyer of all bad guys, the Spirit Bomb. Imagine Naruto, summoning all of his power into a Rasengan, only to be faced with a blast of energy from a god-like Saiyan that could wipe out an entire planet. It would be like trying to put out a raging forest with a squirt gun from the dollar store. Knowing your own strength is a virtue, and some fights are just better to run away from.

11 A WISH TOO GREAT FOR SHENRON

Shenron is the magical, all mighty, wish granting Dragon God of the Dragon Ball series, who only appears when someone has gathered all seven Dragon Balls from earth. He can grant virtually any wish, save for granting the same wish twice or killing a living being that could not be killed by his creator (Kami or Dende) but after that it’s fair game. After a wish is granted, the Dragon Balls are scattered across the earth and are unusable for a whole year. So Shenron is basically a reusable, uber powerful genie. However, his power is still not enough to grant us insight to one of the most well-kept secrets in manga/anime history: Just what in god’s name does Kakashi’s face look like!?

As the fearless leader of team 7, Kakashi has a long history in the Naruto franchise, but until Episode 469 of the Shippuden series, we never get to see his face. This led us to question just why he wears a mask. Is it a horrible facial disfigurement a la Phantom of the Opera? An unshapely nose? A propensity to wear bright red lipstick? The answer is more likely than not is that’s he’s a ninja and wants to remain mysterious. Needless to say it was the area of speculation for many fans and a secret that not even a super powered dragon god had the ability to reveal.

10 NAPPA, THE DUMBEST SAIYAN

Oh Nappa, you absolute fool. Personally, the Saiyan saga (aka "When Vegeta and Nappa come to Earth") is one of my favorites, as we see a lot of the main characters’ power levels rise drastically in a short period of time. Gohan gets trained by Piccolo and Goku unlocks the power of Kaioken prior to the evil Saiyans’ arrival on earth. Unfortunately, when compared to the combat knowledge of Goku and the cunning of Vegeta, Nappa just comes off as a big dumb brute. Upon arriving on Earth, his first request is that he be allowed to destroy an innocent town, showing that he really just looks for anyway to flex his power.

0But remember when Nappa fought Krillin? As much as we were rooting for Krillin, it was clear that Nappa was far stronger. But his dull nature shined through when he arrogantly stood in front of Krillin’s Destructo Disc, preparing to take it head on. If it weren’t for Vegeta telling him to duck, he very likely would have been sliced in half right there. However, after he lost to Goku, we were treated to the image of him being disintegrated by Vegeta, who figured that when it comes to people like Nappa, one brain is better than two.

9 THE SECOND BANANA

Every hero needs a rival. Someone who continually pushes them to get stronger. In the case of Goku there’s Vegeta, the former prince of Saiyans. For Naruto, there’s Sasuke, a member of incredibly powerful Uchiha clan. For each of the free-spirited heroes, there is a prideful, moody, dark haired man, who came from nobility and carries a huge chip on their shoulder. At various times throughout Dragon Ball and Naruto, Vegeta and Sasuke have been antagonists and occasionally, they have proved to be stronger than their respective heroes. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. They always end up in second place.

It’s a cursed fate to be the second best. They often train harder, have terribly depressing backstories when compared to the hero and yet somehow, they’re always overshadowed by a care free simpleton. What’s that Sasuke? A new technique? Shame that Naruto has a monster living inside of him that will eventually eclipse any amount of training you do. A new form Vegeta? Same for Goku. His just happens to be an extremely rare one that even gods have trouble attaining. Although they eventually team up with the hero and save the world (multiple times), they never seem to get as much credit.

8 MAN UP

Vegeta could teach Sasuke a thing or two about being a villain. The prince of Saiyans has a perpetually stern look on his face, likely do to the fact that his home planet, and almost every Saiyan, was killed by the warlord Frieza while he was on an off-planet mission. Does Vegeta spend his time sulking, crying and blubbering over the destruction of his race? No! Like any good antagonist, he uses that tragedy to fuel his hatred and takes out his anger on innocent alien planets, like Earth. Of course, he wants his revenge against Frieza, but he seems almost entire unfazed by the whole event. Less competition for him we guess?

Sasuke had a similar tragedy in which his entire clan, the Uchiha, were slaughtered by his brother Itachi in an event known as the Uchiha Clan Downfall. This is what sculpted Sasuke’s goth-like, brooding exterior and general distaste for people. But whereas Vegeta overcame his tragedy and eventually became one of the good guys, Sasuke let his pain fester over the years which eventually led him down the path of an antagonist. He allowed the hatred of his brother and desire for revenge twist him into something evil. So, the lesson that Vegeta can impart to Sasuke is ‘Man up and take it on the chin’.

7 IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY

We would be pretty upset too, if the characters in another manga could easily replicate my signature moves, some of them with drastic improvements. Especially someone like Krillin, who we all love, but know is more of a comic relief than a serious fighter. Naruto had an incredibly difficult time learning even the basic Rasengan. It took him a little over a week of constant work, aided by the help of 100 of his shadow clones, to learn the jutsu. But the power of Saiyans shines through as with just a sway of the finger, Bardock can create one of his own. And then there’s the Rasen-Shuriken, an incredibly difficult technique that requires the already A level Jutsu of Rasengan, to be infused with Naruto’s wind nature. Nice looking attack, but Krillin started using that a long time ago.

We're not here to disparage Naruto’s attacks. The Rasengan has bested just as many bad guys, if not more, than the Ka-me-ha-me-ha. But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and we're sure that Naruto has taken some inspiration in terms of energy blasts and spheres from the Dragon Ball series. Dragon Ball is kind of the king when it comes to screaming and firing energy out of your hands.

6 YAMCHA THE POWERFUL

It’s true, Dragon Ball characters have a little bit of an unfair advantage in fights in the sense that they can be brought back to life one time by the Dragon Balls. And yes, Goku has died and been brought back. But we're going to posit an idea that may seem dirty, underhanded and distasteful, but bear with us. Yamcha could have taken out the Uchiha clan. Yes, underwhelming, plain old human Yamcha, who despite just being a martial artist, could probably kick the living daylights out of a lot of the Naruto antagonists. In the original Dragon Ball series he was a very well regarded fighter.

This is someone, who for a little while, was near the level of Goku. Of course, now, he’s light years away, but to be close to the same tier as the strongest fighter on the planet is an indication that at one time, Yamcha was quite strong. To give reference, when he was training with King Kai, he spars against and easily defeats Recoome, whose power was over 40,000 during the Frieza Saga. When Vegeta arrived on Earth for the first time, at a power level max of around 21,000, he had enough power to destroy the earth. Therefore, Yamcha has enough power to destroy the earth, and subsequently more than enough to defeat some masquerading ninjas.

5 SAKURA VS YAMCHA

This one isn’t a shot at Yamcha, but rather a direct barrage towards the most kind-hearted ninja to ever grace the screens, Sakura Haruno. When compared to Naruto fighters, sure, Yamcha is powerful. But everything is relative. In his respective universe, Yamcha is little more than a fleshy punching bag for heroes and villains alike. Seriously, with his amount of losses, it’s no wonder he eventually quit martial arts. He lost to Jackie Chun, Tien, got blown up by a Saibaman and had a hole punched through him by Android 20. He always seems to be on the receiving side of punishment. But despite all his downfalls, losses and deaths, he still seems to get more done that Sakura.

In the later chapters of Naruto Sakura takes a much bigger role, becoming the disciple to Tsunade and developing her healing skills. But during the beginning, she was a hindrance more than anything else. Always relying on either Naruto or Sasuke to come to the rescue, while she cowered in fear. Her big break should have been during the Chunin exam where she got to throw down with long time rival Yamanaka Ino. Unfortunately, all we got was a sloppy slugfest, where there was almost no trace of any real ninja skills, proving once again, that Sakura needs some work.

4 NOT EVEN A CHALLENGE

We all love a good transformation from our main characters. They can be triggered by training, rage or being in a tight spot, but it’s always a treat to see the protagonist unlock a new level of power. Luckily, these two series have a long history of characters evolving and powering up. We’re all well aware of the incessant screaming that coincides with a power up in Dragon Ball. Whether it was Goku using Kaioken x3 against Vegeta for the first time, or finally mastering Ultra Instinct in his battle against Jiren, screaming and getting stronger is just par for the course in Dragon Ball.

Thankfully, the transformations in Naruto are a little quieter, and blend into the narrative much better than power ups in Dragon Ball do. Naruto’s power is connected to the nine-tailed beast that lives inside of him, which is as important for the narrative as it is for the fighting. Sasuke can also transform, but his transformation is due to a curse put on him Orochimaru; it wasn’t the result of a hyperbolic time chamber and hours of screaming. But once again, the power rests with the Z fighters when it comes to transforming. If Naruto, in his most powerful form, is no match for Super Saiyan 4 Goku, then he should be glad that Goku doesn’t power up to Super Saiyan Blue and send him rocketing towards the mantle of the earth with a little push.

3 THE TABLES TURN

Everyone loves a comeback story. When Naruto fans learned they were getting a new series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, it’s needless to say they were primed and ready for the return of some of their favourite characters. The classic trio -- Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura -- all returned with some seriously amped up powers and we were introduced to their children who are the next generation of ninjas. Naruto fans finally had something to look forward too, as previously, they had to wander around in the shadow of Dragon Ball Super for almost a year with no sign of their hero returning.

For Dragon Ball fans, the release of a new Naruto series meant nothing. But to Naruto fans it was everything! Finally, the debate could continue as to which hero reigns supreme. The prospect of seeing a whole new host of characters and powers injected life back into the fans, who could escape the surly bonds of no weekly releases, and finally see their heroes flex their ninja powers once again. So of course, when there was no prospect of returning ninjas, but an entire new series for the screaming Saiyans, Naruto fans were a little bit perturbed. How will Naruto ever catch up to that alien freak if he doesn’t have a show!?