Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

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Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Luke Groundwalker » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:37 pm

A lot of people have a debate over this but to me there are only two that top for me, but for different reasons I'll be explaining. I'll be speaking from a manga standpoint but will also be considering the elements of the anime as well.

King Piccolo - A lot of Z fans miss out on King Piccolo because of the popularity of Dragonball Z overshadowing the original anime series all across the world, but in many ways the Piccolo arc was really the first time Dragonball really delved into serious territory. The previous arcs were largely gag-based, and right before it was a standard tournament arc where nothing terrible happened even though there was a slight looming threat of the assassin-trained Tenshihan and Chaotzu, who turned good in the end after Roshi talked him into it.

One thing that makes King Piccolo one of the greatest villains in the series, is simply because of the fact that he's a being of pure evil. This is exemplified by the fact when you take in consideration his backstory, in which he was once one with Kami but split off from him. Basically Piccolo is pure evil through-and-through, which explains why after declaring himself as king of the world all he had interest in was pain and destruction rather than having dominion over territory like people such as Freeza. Piccolo's ONLY ambition is to maliciously destroy everything around him, making him a being of pure evil.

THEORY TIME I have a theory on King Piccolo, maybe the Daizenshuu denies this but I feel like when Dragonball calls him a Demon, he literally is. Something like splitting apart is never seen in Namekian culture, which suggests to me that it was the splitting of the spirit itself since everyone has a good and bad side to them, and Kami literally split himself ridding himself of his evil nature. Perhaps this is why King Piccolo couldn't create Namekian children until his very last moment, which is also stated to not only be his child but his literal reincarnation. Perhaps Piccolo Jr. is a real Namekian, hence having a good side to him, while King Piccolo is purely demon with only traces of his Namekian heritage because he's purely a being of pure evil. Afterall the "Demon race" is many forms of media is merely an umbrella name for beings of great evil, which King Piccolo fits right under even though he may not be someone like Dabura as we see later on in the Boo arc. Which is funny, cause it seems like to me that King Piccolo is much-much-MUCH more evil than Dabura was.

Special mention: Boo
I feel like I should mention that I think Boo is one of the best for similar reasons, HOWEVER I feel he's kind of a rehash of the concept of a pure evil being even though TECHNICALLY he's committed more violent acts than King Piccolo did. I also dislike how Boo was largely mindless, which King Piccolo obviously wasn't. This is what King Piccolo has over Boo I feel, but I feel like I should mention that the two are actually pretty similar in nature.
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Freeza - Now we have Freeza, who I genuinely feel is the greatest villain in the entire series and could've easily been the final one since his demise brought closure to Goku's character as a whole. Freeza may not be as pure evil as Boo or King Piccolo, but he ranks up there for how personal he is against the Saiyan race. He committed a violent act against Goku's people and massacred his entire race, which makes him the perfect villain for the central character of the series. It ends a story on a high note, and also Freeza plays the role of a guy you want to see Goku beat like no one else in the series does.

Plus the whole story of Freeza's relations with the Saiyans are great, including filler material like the Bardock special which is still till this day some of the best Dragonball Z anime products ever made with a great story. Then to top it off with Vegeta's tragedy of defeat at Freeza's hands with his arc...yeah, it's safe to say Freeza in general is just THE best straight up villain in the entire series.

Special mention: Cell
Cell's ambitions to me are rather lacking. His sole purpose is to get more powerful than everything on the planet basically...and that's it. He isn't mindless, however he's programmed for one goal which is fine but isn't quite as enduring as the previous villains. HOWEVER, I feel like what Freeza is to Goku, Cell is to Gohan. Even though Cell didn't do as much damage to Gohan as Freeza did to Goku thematically, it still represents the uphill battle of becoming the strongest and Gohan had to overcome Cell to become the strongest and replace his father. Too bad that concept was thrown away by Boo arc...anyway.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:50 pm

Luke Groundwalker wrote:
THEORY TIME I have a theory on King Piccolo, maybe the Daizenshuu denies this but I feel like when Dragonball calls him a Demon, he literally is. Something like splitting apart is never seen in Namekian culture, which suggests to me that it was the splitting of the spirit itself since everyone has a good and bad side to them, and Kami literally split himself ridding himself of his evil nature. Perhaps this is why King Piccolo couldn't create Namekian children until his very last moment, which is also stated to not only be his child but his literal reincarnation. Perhaps Piccolo Jr. is a real Namekian, hence having a good side to him, while King Piccolo is purely demon with only traces of his Namekian heritage because he's purely a being of pure evil. Afterall the "Demon race" is many forms of media is merely an umbrella name for beings of great evil, which King Piccolo fits right under even though he may not be someone like Dabura as we see later on in the Boo arc. Which is funny, cause it seems like to me that King Piccolo is much-much-MUCH more evil than Dabura was.
He is a demon, and pretty much everything confirms that he is. So your theory is right :P
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by DarkPrince_92 » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:55 pm

Never thought of Piccolo like that before reading this. Piccolo probably wins this one, with Freeza in second. I'd say Freeza before Buu, despite being a pure evil being himself, because a mindless killing machine isn't that interesting to me.

Also, I think Cell is just written poorly. He had Saiyan cells, and Freeza's cells. He wanted to gain more power, but that was it. Pretty lame... still love him though.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Retan » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:59 pm

I feel Freeza is the greatest Villian, everything in DBZ connects to him, even after he's dead, and he's still the character people are compared to to see if there weak or strong much of the time. He ruled the Universe with an iron fist.


Piccolo, just becomes Ma Junior.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Luke Groundwalker » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:04 pm

Retan wrote:I feel Freeza is the greatest Villian, everything in DBZ connects to him, even after he's dead, and he's still the character people are compared to to see if there weak or strong much of the time. He ruled the Universe with an iron fist.


Piccolo, just becomes Ma Junior.
Technically he does but I feel his original form, the form of a ruthless demon, reigns as one of the best villains in the entire series. Especially since he was pretty much the first truly evil villain in the entire series, which Vegeta followed up afterwards as did Freeza and so-on.

Obviously he reincarnates into Ma Junior, but at the same time Ma Junior also has good qualities to him, which makes him separate from the original King Piccolo. Ma Junior was both his son, and his reincarnation as strange as that sounds. To me that element makes it obvious Ma Junior is very different from King Piccolo, who was a being of pure evil since any good he had in him only exists in Kami.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:06 pm

Luke Groundwalker wrote:
Retan wrote:I feel Freeza is the greatest Villian, everything in DBZ connects to him, even after he's dead, and he's still the character people are compared to to see if there weak or strong much of the time. He ruled the Universe with an iron fist.


Piccolo, just becomes Ma Junior.
Technically he does but I feel his original form, the form of a ruthless demon, reigns as one of the best villains in the entire series. Especially since he was pretty much the first truly evil villain in the entire series, which Vegeta followed up afterwards as did Freeza and so-on.
Red was willing to kill people in a quest to get taller. I'd say that's pretty evil. And Tao wasn't exactly the nicest guy on Earth either.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Luke Groundwalker » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:12 pm

Kamiccolo9 wrote:Red was willing to kill people in a quest to get taller. I'd say that's pretty evil. And Tao wasn't exactly the nicest guy on Earth either.
Red was evil, true. But his goal wasn't really malicious. Tao is just a hired assassin which really falls under a neutral territory for me in terms of good and evil, even though he's obviously antagonistic in nature.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by shinmaru » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:22 pm

For me it's Cellu and the Androids.
because they brought so much drama with them.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by FortuneSSJ » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:29 pm

Freeza-sama takes the gold easily. Until today I stil didn't saw a better villain than him.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Black_Anime_Fan » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:42 pm

Oh geez, this is a tough one. Choosing between Piccolo and Frieza is like choosing between Scorpion and Sub Zero to me. Both Piccolo and Frieza just strike me as true villains, and were probably the only ones in my opinion that weren't either cheesy, ridiculous, or just uninspiring (not counting Pilaf of course :mrgreen: ). I'll do as all pussies do, and settle it as a draw.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:01 pm

I'm gonna be the odd one out and say Buu. No, not Super Buu or Pure Buu, but Fat Buu, when he first appeared. The innocent man-child villain who killed people for fun because he didn't know any better is a much more interesting villain to me than any of the others in the series.

I'd rate Freeza second.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by sintzu » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:11 pm

Vegeta because he's the only villian that beat Goku and got away with it
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by trick007z » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:27 pm

Okay I'll cheat a bit. As a pure villain, from the top down I think Freeza is tops. He has that imperial god complex down to a tee, he's unapologetically malevolent, he's menacing and ferocious, he strikes fear into the hearts of anyone who might face him, he did the transforming thing the best, his fight with Goku was imo the series best climactic one on one battle (followed closely by Goku vs Piccolo Jr). He has a great alien look that was unlike anything we've ever seen before. He's just a classical villain.

But far and away the best executed one's are the Saiyan's. I don't think Toriyama's pacing was ever better than the Saiyan arc. Raditz, the weakest villain in DBZ, was a monster when he first came. The idea that there were two guys stronger was frightening. Then it felt like all of the powers that be were going all in to protect the world. Kami letting the humans train with him all at once, Goku getting a deal to keep his body in other world to train Kaio, and Piccolo being desperate enough to train a boy who he acknowledged could be his enemy someday. Then the weaker of the two absolutely steam rolls over everyone. Up to that point Nappa's assault did more devastation to the heroes than any other villain up to that point (and imo wasn't matched until Buu killed everyone).

Then lets talk Vegeta. Guy was a tank. Goku's new technique fails, he has to push himself beyond his limits and thrash his body to do any damage. Goku decimates himself and takes him out of commission just to win a beam struggle, which he tanks. Goku's done after that. He tanks the Genki Dama. They through everything at the guy and he kept coming back. It took everything and some luck to get him to leave.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by sintzu » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:37 pm

trick007z wrote:It took everything and some luck to get him to leave.
It was mostly luck cause if he planned his attack and got out of gohan's way... :cry:

The androids are also on top of the list cause at the time one ssj was a big deal let alone 2 and they beat them like they were nothing
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Black_Anime_Fan » Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:24 pm

Never thought of it that way trick007z, that was a good one.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Sin » Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:53 pm

I honestly think it has to go to Freeza, everything about his buildup and his whole character just conveys everything a great villain should. He has a huge, universal presence as a tyrant, and his natural power was amazing compared to anything we'd seen up until that point. To me I'd say that Cell and Boo didn't know better than to be evil, it was what they were created for. True evil is knowing better but doing worse, and for me Freeza wasn't created for some evil purpose (debatable), he is that way because he chooses to be and that makes him far worse than the other villains.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by RandomGuy96 » Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:11 am

I'd say Buu. I loved his constant personality switches and abilities. All of his forms were unique in personality, had great designs, and were likable in their own ways. It didn't matter if he was playful and childish, malicious and devious, or just outright insane; he was always awesome and tons of fun to watch. I also like how he had to rely on his wits and abilities rather than his power numerous times, especially Super Buu, and never used that stupid fucking "this was only 37% of my true power level, now I will use 24% more to instantly win this battle!" trick that Daimao, Vegeta, Cell, and especially Freeza all relied on. It was okay the first few times, where it served as a shock to the characters and audience ("Holy shit, this guy is even stronger!? It's all hopeless!") but it got old really fast. The closest equivalent was Fat Buu powering up twice after he got pissed off from Dabra and Vegeta's insults, and I don't consider those the same thing really, as he didn't intentionally pretend to be weak and waste our time on pointless cookie-cutter fights. It was more like a rage boost. Speaking of his fights, they're usually pretty good due to his cool abilities, whether he's kicking ass, holding his own, or getting his ass kicked.

After him would be Piccolo Daimao, then Vegeta, then Freeza, then Cell. I tend to think both Freeza and Cell are vastly overrated. Both rely on "I'm not really left-handed!" way too much, both are dumb in ways that feel frustrating and boring rather than interesting, both for the most part have lame, uncreative battles (exceptions being their fights with Goku) and boring curb stomps, and both often have their importance in the grand scheme of things significantly exaggerated by their fans. Freeza in particular, as he was nothing more than an arrogant brutish thieving pirate/thug who was born with a high power level and killed one of Goku's friends along with a bunch of assholes he didn't know or care about. He was someone who Goku didn't even know and had no interaction with until their overly long battle, and who instantly became irrelevant trash the minute Goku turned Super Saiyan.
Red was evil, true. But his goal wasn't really malicious. Tao is just a hired assassin which really falls under a neutral territory for me in terms of good and evil, even though he's obviously antagonistic in nature.
I don't think Tao needed to kill half the people he killed.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by Vijay » Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:42 am

Majin Boo. Kid Boo specifically.

Such great nemesis. While I found Frieza was average as villain, & Cell as great, Boo was downright creepy.

Seemingly unstoppable form of wrath & destruction, mould into one. Single-dimensional, funny & badass.

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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by InfernalVegito » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:07 am

I like them all for different and their own reasons thus I can't really say I like one over the other.
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Re: Who is the greatest villain in the entire series?

Post by SaiyanZ » Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:19 am

I think they're all good as each other tbh, throw Vegeta in that mix. Freeza would probably be the consensus among fandom imo or the most iconic, kinda like Dio Brando from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
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