Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
Esfír Dedragón wrote: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).
• We help! ... Hmm. Always get Autobots out of messes they get into. •
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.
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 wrote: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.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
ABED wrote: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!
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.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
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 wrote: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.
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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.
"I can't increase my ability through some kind of noisy transformation the way Frost and you Saiyans do. If I wanna become more lethal, I don't have the luxury of cutting corners, I just have to do it the old-fashioned way.
Combat is craft. What matters most is not raw power, but the skill by which you hone it."
I'm kind of joking but if you consider... he had Planet Vegeta destroyed. And thus all the plot happened thanks to him.
Spoiler:
Lord Beerus wrote:
Gog wrote:The cell saga/android saga is the worst thing Akira Toriyama ever made. And nothing has ever actually managed to come close to it, after it. Even the terrible asspulls in the FT saga, weren't as bad as that. But of course this is all my opinion.
You've just made a new best friend.
Marz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:27 pm
"Well, the chapter was good, the story was good and so were the fights. But a new transformation, in Dragon Ball? And one that's ugly? This is where we draw the line!!! Jump the Shark moment!!"
This forum is so over-dramatic that it's not even funny.
90sDBZ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:44 pm19 years ago I was rushing home from school to watch DBZ on Cartoon Network, and today I've rushed home from work to watch DBS on Pop. I guess it's true the more things change the more they stay the same.
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
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
Pirina_Fusee wrote:Technically speaking Frieza is the main villain because he caused the problem that began the series.
ABED wrote: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.
July 9th 2018 will be remembered as the day Broly became canon.
I'd say Baby (as a Tuffle) and Beerus can also be considered "secondary-main" villains.
"I will concede that your feelings are worthy of the mightiest of Saiyans. However, there is more to my power than just this. Before you die, I will show it to you. This is the difference in power, between the primitive Saiyans and the evolved Tsufruians." ~Baby Vegeta
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.