Who, to you, are the main villains of Dragonball?

[Grimlock]

The writers at TOEI, Toriyama when he's at is worst creativity level due to laziness, and THE FANS!

...oh, and DBE

Pretty much this.

In-universe speaking, Dragon Ball doesn't have a main villain... For now. It might have if a threat from somewhere else appears (it'd be just like a current storyline going on in Marvel Comics, and it'd be fantastic).

[KBABZ]

While he isn't an over-arching villain, I'd like to make a case for Tao on a minor level, as he was the first opponent that Goku had personal beef with after he kills Bora for really no reason at all, in a way that surpasses Blue. As well, it's the first case where Goku has to perform a sort of power-up to defeat him, as well as the trope of "Oh an even badder opponent shows up and kicks the old one to the curb!".

As stated earlier, Dragon Ball doesn't really have a singular villain, rather a series of ever-stronger opponents to challenge the main characters. The closest it has to a Lex Luthor or Robotnik would probably be Frieza on account of the personal connections, but he's still an Arc villain at the end of the day.

[funrush]

Pilaf
Mercenary Tao
Tenshinhan
King Piccolo

Piccolo
Vegeta
Freeza
Dr. Gero
Cell
Buu

Beerus
Zamasu


Tenshinhan isn't really like an aspiration-filled villain, but he was a massive piece of shit in his arc so he earns a spot in my book. Dr. Gero earns his spot by both being a murderer and creating the androids/Cell.

Freeza is bolded because he's by far the most important antagonist in the entire franchise. He killed Goku and Vegeta's families, is featured in at least 3 arcs, and is one of the only recurring antagonists in Dragon Ball, aside from Tao at the 23rd TB and Vegeta on Namek/Majin Vegeta. He's responsible for Goku being shipped off to Earth and not being found again, essentially allowing this entire story to exist.

[8000 Saiyan]

DB: Pilaf, Commander Red, King Piccolo
DBZ: Frieza, Cell, Buu
DBGT: Baby and Shadow Dragons
DBS: Zamasu and Goku Black

[ABED]

DB: Pilaf, Commander Red, King Piccolo
DBZ: Frieza, Cell, Buu
DBGT: Baby and Shadow Dragons
DBS: Zamasu and Goku Black

DBZ: You forgot Vegeta.

In DB, I would include The Crane Hermit as the villain of the Tenshinhan arc. I'd say The Red Ribbon Army as a whole is the villain. Yes, Red is at the helm, but Black kills him and takes over at the end.

[KBABZ]

I'd say The Red Ribbon Army as a whole is the villain. Yes, Red is at the helm, but Black kills him and takes over at the end.

I would agree there, although Blue does a lot more in a direct fashion to stand out on his own. Not to mention Tao (despite being a hired hand. ...tongue?). Silver doesn't do anything of importance in the manga but a case can be made for the anime, and while White isn't really a nice guy, he doesn't do quite enough to be remembered as a mini-arc villain.

If you were to take it as a whole, I'd say that the main villains are Piccolo, Frieza, Cell and Buu, with Vegeta as a part-timer alongside Raditz and Nappa. I do feel though that, be it GT or Super, the Pilaf Gang appears often enough that they should be considered a part of the group, even if it is through frequency than actual evil-ness. After all, without them King Piccolo wouldn't have been brought back!

[ABED]

Vegeta is clearly a villain. Ultimately he has a redemption arc, but her was the villain of that arc. I know there are those that feel that arc falls under the umbrella of the Freeza arc, but I don't believe that at all.

[Duo]

Huge amounts of the fanbase, filler, the orange bricks, people who don't appreciate the vocal talent of Masako Nozawa, and that one really awful song from the DBS soundtrack.

[Toxin45]

Frieza became a major recurring villain now.

[VegettoEX]

Frieza became a major recurring villain now.

While it is wonderful that you have an interest in Freeza and his return, all of your posts thus far have been in old threads (one of which happened to be eight years old). Please be sure to take note of where you are responding and what you are responding to.

[Toxin45]

Okay I will be next time.

[Ryuji-Otogi]

Red Ribbon Army, Freeza, Cell, Boo.

[Logania]

Goku. That filthy ningen keeps attracting bad guys and endangered multiple universes.

Not to mention he could stop bad guys and events multiple times he just don't feel like it.

[JulieYBM]

Dragon Ball doesn't have a main villain. Each arc is mostly standalone with no running threads that really qualify as a long-running foe.

Perhaps the main foe is always the next challenge?

[Pirina_Fusee]

Technically speaking Frieza is the main villain because he caused the problem that began the series.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Wouldnt it be Beerus?

I'm kind of joking but if you consider... he had Planet Vegeta destroyed. And thus all the plot happened thanks to him.

[ABED]

But it's not all building towards Freeza. He's not the mastermind of the events in the entire story.

What do you mean when you say main villains? Are you talking about the big bads of each arc? If so, the main villains are:
Pilaf (moreso in the anime than manga)
The Red Ribbon Army
Piccolo Daimao
Piccolo
Vegeta
Freeza
Cell
Buu

[sintzu]

Technically speaking Frieza is the main villain because he caused the problem that began the series.

But it's not all building towards Freeza. He's not the mastermind of the events in the entire story.

Goku was sent to earth before Freeza destroyed Planet Vegeta (within the context of the original story) so even if Freeza left them alone the story up till the end of the 23rd Tenkaichi would've played out the same.

[sunsetshimmer]

Main-main villains:
-Pilaf
-Frieza
-Shadow Dragons

I'd say Baby (as a Tuffle) and Beerus can also be considered "secondary-main" villains.

[ABED]

What about Cell, Buu, Baby, either Piccolo?