We doubt they need an introduction, but just in case, we're breaking down the top 10 villains from the original run of Dragon Ball Z.
Character: Super Buu
Bio: Majin Buu has many forms, however, each form has a different personality and goals, essentially making them separate individuals. Super Buu, the result of Evil Buu absorbing good Buu. He is the same overall entity as Innocent Buu, however he looks and acts completely different due to Buu's evil resurfacing and overcoming the Grand Supreme Kai's positive influence.
Why we love them: The Buu Saga got a little weird at times. Despite how big of a foe Buu was, it's been an interesting storyline to see Buu join the good side with Mr. Satan, as long as he can be controlled.
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Character: Raditz
Bio: Raditz (ラディッツ Radittsu) is a mid-class Saiyan warrior, the biological brother of Goku and the eldest son of Bardock and Gine. He is one of the four known remaining Saiyans left alive after his home world was destroyed. He seeks out Goku in order to recruit him to conquer more planets.
Why we love them: Raditz was mostly brought in as a teaser for Vegeta, but the brotherly dynamic between him and Kakarot has always been interesting for fans. It's just a shame that they didn't give this character more runway to explore that dynamic further.
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Character: Nappa
Bio: Nappa (ナッパ Nappa) is a mid-class Saiyan warrior from Planet Vegeta, and Vegeta's partner in combat. Prior to the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Nappa was the general of the Saiyan Army and aid/partner to the young prince, Vegeta. After his race's demise, he, along with Vegeta and Raditz, worked as soldiers directly under Frieza, which led him to Earth.
Why we love them: Nappa is a big, cocky, arrogant baboon, but you can't help but be entertained by him. Even he couldn't get out of his own way to prevent Vegeta from knocking him down a few pegs, or all the pegs.
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Character: Dabura
Bio: Dabura (ダーブラ Dābura) is the king of the Demon Realm. Existing for thousands of years, Dabura was a demon king placed under the wizard Babidi's control by a spell, becoming his right-hand man before the appearance of Majin Buu and thus doing his bidding.
Why we love them: While everything was building towards the unveiling of Buu, Dabura held his own as an admiral antagonist, going head-to-head against the saiyan warriors.
Character: Cooler
Bio: Cooler (クウラ Kūra) is the titular main antagonist in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge and an emulation of him acts as the main antagonist in Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler. He is the older brother of Frieza and the eldest son of King Cold. Like his brother, he can push his body through transformations. Also, like Frieza, Cooler possesses a biomechanical incarnation, but this is gained from merging with the Big Gete Star.
Why we love them: Frieza is an inconic villain of the series, so fans couldn't help but be interested when we came across a bigger, badder, older brother.
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Character: Broly
Bio: Broly (ブロリー Burorī, lit. "Broli") is the main antagonist in the Broly Triple Threat trilogy. He appears to be the latest of the Legendary Super Saiyans who appears every thousand years.
Why we love them: The series has dabbled with turning Vegeta back to the dark side at times, but he's officially been on the good team for some time now. Ever since Goku turned into a Super Saiyan, fans were clamoring to see a proper Super Saiyan face-off. This is what has made Broly such an interesting villain to explore for Goku and Vegeta throughout the series.
Character: Android 17
Bio: Android 17 (人造人間１７号 Jinzōningen Jū Nana-Gō, lit. "Artificial Human No. 17"), Lapis (ラピス Rapisu) when he was an ordinary human, is the twin brother of Android 18 and Dr. Gero's seventeenth android creation, designed to serve Gero's vendetta against Goku. Despite his interests not initially deviating from this expectation, Android 17 takes it upon himself to kill Dr. Gero, who is uncooperative with Android 18's curiosity in activating Android 16 and deemed inferior by 17.
Why we love them: The Android saga started off by positioning Dr. Gero as the big bad. This quickly shifted gears when Android 17 came in the picture and showed who was really calling the shots. If that wasn't enough, he brought on two more Android threats that were almost equal in strength.
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Character: Vegeta
Bio: Vegeta (ベジータ Bejīta), more specifically Vegeta IV (ベジータ四世 Bejīta Yonsei, lit. "Vegeta the Fourth"), recognized as Prince Vegeta (ベジータ王子 Bejīta Ōji) is the prince of the fallen Saiyan race and one of the major characters of the Dragon Ball series. He is the eldest son of Vegeta III, the older brother of Tarble, the husband of Bulma, the father of Trunks and Bulla, and the ancestor of Vegeta Jr. Alongside Goku, Gohan, Bulma, Krillin, and Piccolo, he is easily one of the most prominent characters in the series, receiving more character development after being introduced than a number of other characters.
Why we love them: Vegeta eventually came around and became the anti-hero of the series, but we can't forget about everything he did as the big bad in the Saiyan Saga. Raditz hyped how imposing the next Saiyan visitors would be. It was a nice shift for the fans when we realized that Vegeta, not Nappa, would be the terrifying threat that would have to be defeated. Not bad for such a little guy.
Character: Cell
Bio: Cell (セル Seru) is the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero, who came from a future timeline, designed using the genetics of the greatest fighters to have been present on Earth that the remote tracking device could track down; the result was a "perfect warrior", possessing numerous favorable genetic traits and special abilities from Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza and King Cold.
He was one of the few Red Ribbon Androids not directly completed by Dr. Gero; he was completed by Dr. Gero's Supercomputer. He is the main antagonist of the Imperfect Cell, Perfect Cell, and Cell Games Sagas.
Why we love them: The shift from the Android Saga to the Cell Games may be the best of the series. This was the first time we truly got to see all of the Z-Fighters take a shot at the big bad, and they all came up short. Not only did Cell get stronger and stronger with each stage, but he also adopted all of fighters' iconic attacks. It seemed like everything the Z-Fighters did only made Cell stronger, that is until we finally got to see Gohan's true potential as the heir apparent as Earth's Mightiest Warrior.
Character: Frieza
Bio: Frieza (フリーザ Furīza) is the emperor of Universe 7, who controlled his own imperial army and is feared for his ruthlessness and power. He is the descendant of Chilled, the second son of King Cold, the younger brother of Cooler, and the father of Kuriza. Frieza is the catalyst antagonist of the entire franchise, as it is his actions that led to Goku arriving on Earth. He has made several comebacks since his fight with Goku on Namek, including multiple invasions of Earth. Recently, he has been chosen to represent Universe 7 as the tenth member of Team Universe 7 for the Tournament of Power as a replacement for Good Buu. This makes him the most recurring villain of the Dragon Ball series. After the events of the Tournament of Power, he is revived and recovers his title as Emperor of Universe 7.
Frieza is the main antagonist of the Namek, Frieza, Trunks, Gods of the Universe, and Golden Frieza Sagas. He is also the main antagonist of the Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku special and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ film. He later serves as a villainous protagonist in the Universe Survival Saga and secondary antagonist in the Broly Saga.
Why we love them: Frieza and Goku will always go down as one of the best face-offs ever. In the previous battles there was always a small piece of Goku that was holding back. This was the first time that we truly saw him unleash his true power in the face of his enemy, which ultimately drove him to be a Super Saiyan. They've tried to bring Frieza back a few times, but nothing will ever top their initial battle.
Image Credits: TOEI ANIMATION
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