10 Best Dragon Ball Fights of All Time, Ranked

Throughout every era of Dragon Ball canon, there are always a number of awesome fights that take place. Since this is a series about planet-traveling conquerors, internationally-recognized martial artists, and even literal gods trained in combat by angels, the fact that there are no shortages of fight scenes throughout shouldn’t be a surprise. However, not all fights are measured equally, as some are unarguably better than others.

The true measure of an iconic fight in Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball isn’t simply the level of power brought to the ring by the fighters themselves, but also the wider in-lore significance, as well as the impact any given fight has on the fandom at large. And so, here are 10 best Dragon Ball fights of all time, ranked.

10 Goku vs King Piccolo

This fight is perhaps the first real exhibition of Goku’s strength in Dragon Ball canon. During classic Dragon Ball’s King Piccolo Saga, the demonically villainous King Piccolo successfully takes over the world, and has thrown humanity into an age of chaos. Before his reign could truly take hold, however, Goku challenged the Demon King, and found the strength to kill him and save the world.

While Piccolo would later be reincarnated as a hero (the Piccolo fans know and love today), he was originally a world-ending villain, as well as Goku’s ultimate arch enemy at the time.

9 Goku vs Vegeta

Just as King Piccolo nearly decimated the world, so too did Vegeta when he came to Earth in Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan Saga (specifically, Saiyan Saga part 2: Vegeta Saga). So, naturally, Goku had to step in and save the day. However, while the fight with King Piccolo was the first time Goku truly reached a level of unparalleled power, his fight with Vegeta proved that there are fighters even he can’t beat.

Vegeta effectively won his first fight against Goku, making this a monumental moment for both Vegeta as a newly introduced character who’d go on to play a major role in the series, and for Goku as the main character who learned he’s not as unbeatable as he perhaps thought.

8 Goku vs Lord Beerus

In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods, the God of Destruction Lord Beerus comes to Earth in search of a Super Saiyan God. With the guidance of the Eternal Dragon Shenron, Goku unlocks this seemingly mythical transformation, and channels it to battle Lord Beerus, saving the world while doing so.

Not only is this one of the most visually stunning fights on this list, but it also introduced Goku and Vegeta to an entirely new avenue of power, which altered the landscape of the Dragon Ball mythos from that point forward – making this fight as canonically impactful as it was aesthetically awesome.

7 Goku vs Jiren

Just like so many before it, the fight between Goku and Jiren during Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power forced Goku to face an opponent he couldn’t easily beat while simultaneously opening him up to a level of power he hadn’t tapped into before. Jiren is one of the most terrifyingly powerful foes the Z-Fighters have ever faced, and given the fact they had to defeat him in order to save their entire universe (more or less), the stakes couldn’t have been higher surrounding this jaw-dropping fight.

It was during the fight with Jiren that Goku first unlocked the now-iconic Ultra Instinct, meaning this battle had an impact that went far beyond this story arc alone.

6 Beast Gohan vs Cell Max

If Goku’s fight with Lord Beerus is one of the most visually stunning battles, then this one is without a doubt the most visually stunning. Taking place in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the fight between Gohan and Cell Max is one of epic proportions for a number of reasons. Not only did it decide the fate of the entire world, but it also put Gohan in the role of the main character for the first time since early DBZ. Plus, it gave Gohan a long-awaited god-tier transformation in the form of Beast Gohan.

After this fight, Gohan went from a fairly disappointing and underwhelming member of the Z-Fighters in the Super era, to a warrior who is arguably even stronger than Goku and Vegeta.

5 Goku & Vegeta vs Black Frieza

The importance of this battle isn’t found in how visually striking or heroically triumphant it is, but rather the exact opposite of both of those two points. In Dragon Ball Super chapter 87, after Goku and Vegeta unleashed Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego, respectively, in their fight against a seemingly unstoppable Gas, Frieza shows up and kills Gas with a single attack. Then, Frieza transforms into Black Frieza, unleashing a new transformation that makes Goku and Vegeta look weak.

Indeed, Black Frieza quite literally took out Goku and Vegeta with a single shot – not each, together. A level of power that can surpass that of angels and gods to such an insane degree is one that demands fans’ collective attention, making this fight one for the Dragon Ball history books (even if it was incredibly short).

4 Gogeta vs Broly

Before he one-shotted Vegeta and Goku in their most powerful forms, Frieza recruited the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly to take out his Saiyan enemies on his behalf in the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. In that movie (which is the canonical first appearance of Broly in the current Dragon Ball continuity), Broly takes on both Goku and Vegeta while the two were in their Super Saiyan Blue forms, and he’s absolutely demolishing them. It isn’t until Goku and Vegeta fuse into Gogeta (which is also the first canonical time that happens) that they’re able to actually put up a fight against Broly.

This battle brings some of the most beloved non-canonical aspects of Dragon Ball into the main series lore, while also proving to be one of the most jaw-dropping fights of all time.

3 Gohan vs Cell

Gohan’s battle against Cell not only introduced fans to the transformation of Super Saiyan 2 – as Gohan was the first Saiyan to reach that level – but it also proved someone other than Goku could take down a main villain. This battle was truly one for the ages, as it represented the official passing of the torch from Goku to Gohan in terms of the ultimate Dragon Ball powerhouse, which is something that wouldn’t be totally realized until Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero – thereby confirming the legacy of this particular battle.

While everything this fight set up and established was effectively erased upon the Majin Buu Saga (when Goku quickly became the only person who could defeat the ‘final boss’ once again), the remnants of its impact can still be felt to this day in the Dragon Ball Super era.

2 Goku vs Majin Vegeta

There are few fights more iconic than Goku vs Majin Vegeta – or, more accurately, there are few fights more badass than Goku vs Majin Vegeta. While the impact of this one isn’t as great as some of the others, and the exhibitions of power were really nothing fans hadn’t seen before, the epic visuals and heartbreaking undertones of this fight are things no DBZ fan will soon forget. Majin Vegeta gave DBZ fans the original ‘villainous Vegeta’ back in truly sinister fashion, while Goku is fighting with a literal halo over his head. The good vs evil imagery is obvious, and in many ways, this fight is something of a retelling of their first, though infinitely more intense.

Beyond what this battle may or may not have represented, Goku and Vegeta fighting each other will almost always be the coolest spectacle a Dragon Ball fan can hope to see, and this one is the most badass of all their many conflicts.

1 Goku vs Frieza

This one is unarguably the most iconic, most impactful, and most epic battle across every era of the Dragon Ball mythos. Goku faced off against Frieza on Planet Namek during Dragon Ball Z’s Frieza Saga. At the time of its publication, this storyline successfully did the following: introduced fans to Super Saiyan, revealed the history of the Saiyan race that was established at the start of DBZ, and painted Goku not only as a hero of Earth, but as the Saiyan who avenged his entire species by eliminating the very evil that controlled and murdered them.

Goku vs Frieza is the most important fight in Dragon Ball history, and no amount of increased power-scaling or upgraded anime graphics will ever change that.

Every single one of these fights is a visual spectacle that had an immense impact on the world around them, with some simply being more impactful than others. After taking those factors into consideration, it can be confidently asserted that these are the Top 10 best Dragon Ball fights of all time, ranked.

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