Who do you count as main antagonist?

[Piccolo Daimao]

And even the Red Ribbon Army's significance in the Cell arc diminishes or was never even important in the first placeeee, as Dr. Gero (retconned as a previously unknown scientist for the RRA who built the practically one-shot #8, who's only really confirmed as being related to the other Androids on that Androids title page) dies early on and the Androids and Cell don't even follow his orders. The defunct RRA are just like a tag for the Androids and Cell at this point, and other than that, they don't really have anything to do with them.

They still created them. And Cell seems to want to follow Dr. Gero's wishes (however he interprets them).

To that, I say...meh. Read my post again. And Cell doesn't seem to want to follow Dr. Gero's wishes. He claims that Gero created him to defeat Goku, but then remarks that that "seems of little importance now". Like #17 and #18, he never really had a real objective in mind. He just wanted to become the strongest being in the universe and, in his own words, "have fun".

[Attitudefan]

Care to elaborate on that?

Sure, I see them as the main villains because I think they are the most Identifiable to the series. King Piccolo was the first real bad guy/challenge to Son Goku, while before that it was a tournament of rivals; it's different. The Red Ribbon Army was nothing to Goku as he just slaughtered them all and, Goku never fought Red....

Freeza was Goku's toughest fight and caused the SSJ transformation, one of the most identifiable turning points of the series in a battle perspective; it changed the rest of the show forever.

PS Piccolo killed Shenron and most of the main characters at that point. First and only time in the series!

PPS Freeza was one of the toughest opponents on a galactic level, and he almost got his wish from Porunga; the whole series is about Dragonballs you know. Freeza Dominated and ruled over people, I think that is a feat for which makes him one of the most evil.

[Gaffer Tape]

Piccolo had a way of finding the DBs, Cell had no way of finding the androids until he could sense Piccolo fighting.

A fight he didn't start. Piccolo didn't have a choice. The Artificial Humans came to him. Sure, fighting was stupid since it would allow Cell to sense him, but it was really the only viable option at the moment, and at least he was TRYING to finish off the Artificial Humans so Cell couldn't absorb them.

At least in my opinion, doing something that ends in disaster with a noble motivation is hardly comparable to doing something that ends in disaster for the sake of being an asshole.

[Kiddo626]

Care to elaborate on that?

Sure, I see them as the main villains because I think they are the most Identifiable to the series. King Piccolo was the first real bad guy/challenge to Son Goku, while before that it was a tournament of rivals; it's different. The Red Ribbon Army was nothing to Goku as he just slaughtered them all and, Goku never fought Red....

Freeza was Goku's toughest fight and caused the SSJ transformation, one of the most identifiable turning points of the series in a battle perspective; it changed the rest of the show forever.

PS Piccolo killed Shenron and most of the main characters at that point. First and only time in the series!

PPS Freeza was one of the toughest opponents on a galactic level, and he almost got his wish from Porunga; the whole series is about Dragonballs you know. Freeza Dominated and ruled over people, I think that is a feat for which makes him one of the most evil.

I agree with this. And not only that, but these two were significant in that they were the most personal battles for Goku as well. They actually triggered real and emotional responses from him, unlike other villains, which he seemed to treat as just another enemy to fight. Sure, you could argue that Cell was personal for Gohan and Buu was personal (in a way) for Vegeta, but I'm always gonna see Goku as the main protagonist, and the ones who gave him the most internal struggle are the ones I'm counting as the main antagonists.

[AgitoZ]

Piccolo should be put on a higher pedestal if only for the fact that he's the only one to ever achieve his goals.

[Kid Buu]

Piccolo should be put on a higher pedestal if only for the fact that he's the only one to ever achieve his goals.

Dr. Gero wanted revenge on Goku.

His creation Cell killed Goku.

I guess Gero succeeded?

[AgitoZ]

I guess Gero succeeded?

He was also killed before Cell "carried out" that action.

Piccolo, on the other hand, was able to gain his youth and take over the world (essentially) all before he died. Even then he still lived on with Piccolo Junior.

[Kid Buu]

I guess Gero succeeded?

He was also killed before Cell "carried out" that action.

Piccolo, on the other hand, was able to gain his youth and take over the world (essentially) all before he died. Even then he still lived on with Piccolo Junior.

OOH, I thought you were talking about Piccolo Junior, who initially wanted revenge on Goku and failed. Later, he kills Goku in in the Raditz battle, thus kinda achieving his goal in an indirect way...which is way I compared it to Gero.

[Attitudefan]

Care to elaborate on that?

Sure, I see them as the main villains because I think they are the most Identifiable to the series. King Piccolo was the first real bad guy/challenge to Son Goku, while before that it was a tournament of rivals; it's different. The Red Ribbon Army was nothing to Goku as he just slaughtered them all and, Goku never fought Red....

Freeza was Goku's toughest fight and caused the SSJ transformation, one of the most identifiable turning points of the series in a battle perspective; it changed the rest of the show forever.

PS Piccolo killed Shenron and most of the main characters at that point. First and only time in the series!

PPS Freeza was one of the toughest opponents on a galactic level, and he almost got his wish from Porunga; the whole series is about Dragonballs you know. Freeza Dominated and ruled over people, I think that is a feat for which makes him one of the most evil.

I agree with this. And not only that, but these two were significant in that they were the most personal battles for Goku as well. They actually triggered real and emotional responses from him, unlike other villains, which he seemed to treat as just another enemy to fight. Sure, you could argue that Cell was personal for Gohan and Buu was personal (in a way) for Vegeta, but I'm always gonna see Goku as the main protagonist, and the ones who gave him the most internal struggle are the ones I'm counting as the main antagonists.

That was the best way to sum up what I feel about the main antagonists. These were personal vendetta's on a large scale for Son. Roshi died for god sakes!

[Michsi]

OOH, I thought you were talking about Piccolo Junior, who initially wanted revenge on Goku and failed. Later, he kills Goku in in the Raditz battle, thus kinda achieving his goal in an indirect way...which is way I compared it to Gero.

Yeah, but Gero himself was dead and gone by that time. Piccolo on the other hand achieved that goal on his own

I've seen some people claim that the reason changed sides fairly easy was because his thirst for revenge got sated when he killed Goku.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I've seen some people claim that the reason changed sides fairly easy was because his thirst for revenge got sated when he killed Goku.

I doubt that. Piccolo told Gohan that if they can defeat the Saiyans, he'll then fight and defeat Goku. Of course, you could argue that Piccolo was in denial, like he was in denial about being less evil than before and caring for Gohan, but whatever. To me, nothing suggests that anyway.

Or that he'd become less evil than before, either as a result of his reincarnation or just living in relative peace for five years not fighting Goku or whatever. Plus, he'd grown to care for Gohan, so that could've probably, in turn, made him OK with Goku too. I mean, it would be real dickish and kind of stupid to kill the father of your only friend and (practically) surrogate son, because of some age-old vendetta your father passed down to you.

[Michsi]

Yeah, I don't believe it either, but it's a funny thought.

[Kid Buu]

OOH, I thought you were talking about Piccolo Junior, who initially wanted revenge on Goku and failed. Later, he kills Goku in in the Raditz battle, thus kinda achieving his goal in an indirect way...which is way I compared it to Gero.

Yeah, but Gero himself was dead and gone by that time. Piccolo on the other hand achieved that goal on his own

I've seen some people claim that the reason changed sides fairly easy was because his thirst for revenge got sated when he killed Goku.

Hey man, his goal was to get revenge on Goku, not get revenge on Goku and stay alive.

[Silver Sinspawn]

Care to elaborate on that?

Sure, I see them as the main villains because I think they are the most Identifiable to the series. King Piccolo was the first real bad guy/challenge to Son Goku, while before that it was a tournament of rivals; it's different. The Red Ribbon Army was nothing to Goku as he just slaughtered them all and, Goku never fought Red....

Freeza was Goku's toughest fight and caused the SSJ transformation, one of the most identifiable turning points of the series in a battle perspective; it changed the rest of the show forever.

PS Piccolo killed Shenron and most of the main characters at that point. First and only time in the series!

PPS Freeza was one of the toughest opponents on a galactic level, and he almost got his wish from Porunga; the whole series is about Dragonballs you know. Freeza Dominated and ruled over people, I think that is a feat for which makes him one of the most evil.

^Pretty much this

[GreggMays64]

Almost no Shonen Jump series had a truly main main antagonist, just really important ones. But like I said, here is how I divided them up.

Pilaf
Commander Red
Piccolo Daimao
Freeza
Cell
Majin Boo

Tournament arcs don't really have main villains, or main antagonist. Some are antagonist. They're just bosses at the end Goku must fight. The pattern of DB is that after a main villain, Goku goes to a tournament. After Pilaf, was the one with Master Roshi as the boss, after Commander Red, was the one with Tenshinhan as the boss, and after Piccolo Daimao, was the one with Piccolo. If you want to be technical, if you count Baba's Tournament as an arc of its own you could say Grandpa Gohan was the boss.

As for filler arcs, the first one was simply a movie put onto the show where Garlic Jr. came back. The second one is a tournament arc where Pikkon is the boss.

[Attitudefan]

Come on, Commander Red did nothing! He got killed by a lowly servant plus, Goku never even touched Red!

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Come on, Commander Red did nothing! He got killed by a lowly servant plus, Goku never even touched Red!

Yeah, I'm not sure if I should count as the main villain Red or Black... Even though the one who was giving orders was Red, in the end, Black was the final battle's boss, in both Red Ribbon Army arc & 10th Anniversary.

[GreggMays64]

Come on, Commander Red did nothing! He got killed by a lowly servant plus, Goku never even touched Red!

Neither did did Empereor Pilaf. Plus, he was the main threat the whole time. It wasn't like with Babidi or Android 20.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Come on, Commander Red did nothing! He got killed by a lowly servant plus, Goku never even touched Red!

Neither did did Empereor Pilaf. Plus, he was the main threat the whole time. It wasn't like with Babidi or Android 20.

Goku fought him in Uranai Baba arc.

[Attitudefan]

Come on, Commander Red did nothing! He got killed by a lowly servant plus, Goku never even touched Red!

Neither did did Empereor Pilaf. Plus, he was the main threat the whole time. It wasn't like with Babidi or Android 20.

Goku fought him in Uranai Baba arc.

And in filler when he was an adult.

But Pilaf did get to summon the Dragonballs, he imprisoned the gang for them to melt by the hot sun. He was so damn close to killing Goku and friends it's not funny!