Favorite "non-climax" fight

[TheNingen]

When I say non-climax, I mean none of the big tentpole battles of the franchise like Goku vs Frieza, Gohan vs Cell, basically the big battles of the franchise that the arc wasn't building to. And why is this battle a favorite? This doesn't have to be limited to just any of the in-series or canon fights. I just want to bring appreciation to the fights that people may not always talk about.

A personal favorite of mine has always been Future Gohan vs Android's 18 and 17 in The History of Trunks. Just the brutality and sheer desperation as Gohan tries his best to fight a losing battle always made his inevitable defeat and death all the harder to watch. It has always been a fight that has sent shivers down my spine.

Another fight I really liked was Goku vs Nam in the OG Dragon Ball since Nam was always a character for me who was easily understandable and likable.

[JulieYBM]

The boarding of Kuririn versus Piccolo in the comic is utterly gorgeous. It's bold and cleanly drawn with some nice strategies on Kuririn's part.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

Krillin vs Goku at the 22nd Budokai. Great pacing and the way the manga weaves between it and Roshi's conversation with Tenshinhan is perfect. The outcome of the fight is never in question but the way Krillin throws himself at a clearly superior opponent made me a fan for life. Doesn't matter how many times he gets clowned, to me the "real" Krillin will always be that little guy from the 22nd WMAT.

The boarding of Kuririn versus Piccolo in the comic is utterly gorgeous. It's bold and cleanly drawn with some nice strategies on Kuririn's part.

That's a very close second for me.

[CJStriker_CBR]

Kakunsa vs. Android #17!

Dragon Ball Super ~ Episode 102!

What I love most about this fight and made me into a huge fan of Kakunsa's is that she brought a style of fighting I had not seen in the DB Mythos enough and that was Furry/Animal Rage style fighting!

To many fights and fighting styles just seemed to be the same to much in DB over the years, it was refreshing not only seeing this style from a Magical Girl, but one that compliments styles I Love seeing from Comic Book Characters and in Par in Comic Book Video Games as well like Wolverine and X-23 in Marvel vs. Capcom Games that I love!

Android 17 gave a nice compliment to this fight and both 17 and Kakunsa balanced well with each other, a nice back and forth making the fight exciting and not just punch really, really harder to win, by furry and unique styles from both with nice shows of Flash and lighting speed.

Kakunsa brought Berserker Rage to the DB Mythos and I hope to see more of her style again in the future!

[Peach]

17 vs Piccolo

[SupremeKai25]

My favourite is Zamasu vs. Goku from ep. 53. I love this fight because it is one of the very few fights in the franchise that don't feature any kind of ki blast at all. It is a very grounded fight in which the two fighters only use fists and kicks against one another, no giant explosions and flashy attacks. It was a very welcomed breath of fresh air.

[ABED]

Hard to say, but I love Goku and Piccolo vs. Raditz as well as Vegeta vs. Reacoom. Both are amazing.

[Psajdak]

Goku vs Murasaki.

[Koitsukai]

DB:
--Goku vs Son Gohan
--Krilin vs Piccolo
--Krilin vs Chaozu
--Goku vs King Chapa (both)

DBZ:
--Vegeta vs Reecome
--Vegeta vs Zarbon(1st fight)
--17 vs Piccolo
--SS Goku vs 19
--Vegeta vs Pui Pui
--Fat Buu vs Skinny Buu
--Piccolo vs Cooler Kikosentai
--Goku vs Paikuhan

DBS:
--Goku vs 17
--Goku vs Caulifla (before Kale entered)
--Hakaishin Toppo vs 17 and Freeza
--Goku vs Trunks
--Vegeta vs Katopesla
--Vegeta and Roshi vs Frost
--Piccolo vs Frost

DBGT:
--Goku vs Rildo counts?
--Goten vs baby-possessed earthlings
--Goku vs Suu Shenron
--Vegeta vs Nappa

SDBH:
--Golden Metal Cooler vs Cumber
--Jiren vs Zamasu
--SSBE Vegeta vs Kamioren

[FoolsGil]

I really like Yamcha vs Shen/Kami. Ki following techniques is very much a rare technique and no matter the jokes, Yamcha was still the first to show such an ability.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

I really like Yamcha vs Shen/Kami. Ki following techniques is very much a rare technique and no matter the jokes, Yamcha was still the first to show such an ability.

Oh hell yeah.

One of the things I miss about pre-Saiyan Invasion Dragon Ball, is that everyone had their niche. Sure Goku was the best overall, but everyone had something they excelled at. Krillin incredibly resourceful and could somewhat close skill gaps with ingenuity alone. Goku was inhumanely (heh) durable and could wear down an opponent just by outlasting. Tenshinhan was the master a thousand moves. Chaiotzu had his weird psycho-kinetic abilities. And Yamcha (for whatever reason) just seemed to really click with how ki worked. He was the first to really master the kamehameha. The first develop his own ki technique. And the way his ki technique worked has stayed fairly unique throughout the series run.

A disgustingly weeby part of me has always wanted to see how sokidan interacts with other things we learned about ki in the series. Can Yamcha also raise its battle power like Goku could raise the kamemeha during his fight with Raditz? How autonomous is the sokidan? Would he be able to keep multiple sokidans going at one time? Can the sokidan's ki be masked? Can you channel excess ki into it (for example the ki generated by a kaioken)?

Oh well at least there's fanfiction... Or there would be if Yamcha had more than three fans ;_;

[Akyon]

These sort of battles are what cemented Krillin as my favourite character honestly.

Whether it's his tournament showings against Goku, Chiaoutzu, Piccolo and Roshi or even recently with his fight against Yunba in the manga, Krillin's fights tend to be very enjoyable to watch as he is nearly always on the backfoot and watching him keep up and outsmart his foes is something I wish we saw more of in the rest of the series.

Goku occasionally gets some of these outwitting moments(notably vs. Frieza pre super saiyan transformation) but they're far and few between.

The over reliance on pure power is far less thrilling to me than clever usage of limited power to overcome an obstacle. Yamcha also gets a special mention for his fight vs. Shen.

[Lionel]

I also enjoy Krillin's semi-final (quarter-final in the 23rd) tournament fights against one of the two heavy-hitters of the arc. Since he's typically outmatched against his opponent, he forced into relying on improvisational tactics and wit in order to stay in the fight and fight back.

Some others I would include are Jackie Chun vs Tenshinhan and Piccolo vs Frost (anime).

[emperior]

There are so many non-climax fights that I love, it’s difficult to say which is my favorite.

ABED has picked two of my favorites already, so I will go with one that no one has posted yet: Goku vs Tenshinan at the 23rd Budokai.
Like Goku and Piccolo vs Raditz and Vegeta vs Recoome, it’s incredibly well done in both the anime and manga therefore it doesn’t matter which medium I am consuming, I will always look forward to it.

[Akyon]

I completely forgot Buu vs. Basil, which was my favourite non climax battle of Super.

That fight was really creative and fun to watch and served to remind me how entertaining Buu could have been in Super if he wasn't sleeping all the time.

[Dbzfan94]

Goten vs Trunks and Piccolo vs 17

[Mireya]

Likely Piccolo vs #17. The initial portion of the battle had good strategies by Piccolo, while the second featured good choreography from both characters.