Dragon Ballis undoubtedly one ofthe greatest anime franchisesof all time. It features some of the best fights in the art form, incredible characters, andjaw-dropping transformations.Unfortunately for the heroes in the series, they’re not the only group to gain a huge power boost by acquiring a cool new form. The villains in the series are just as capable of transforming as the heroes, leading to great conflicts and even better designs.
There aren’t many villains inDragon Ballthat don’t transform. If a villain is strong enough, or important enough, to the series, they have a transformation. Each of the 4 major antagonists fromDragon Ball Zhas at least one transformation, proving how core the concept is to the series. When a villain reaches a point where they feel the need to transform, their new appearance comes with a host of powers that will push Goku and his allies even further, usually forcing them to transform as well.
8Janemba
He Forced Goku and Vegeta To Fuse
Janemba isthe main antagonist of theDragon Ball Z: Fusion Rebornmovie. He’s the result of a careless Sekai Demon overlooking his job at the Soul Cleansing Machine. The Demon let the machine fill up too much as it was overpowered by the negative energy that came out of it. The negative energy turned him into Janemba, a huge yellow blob of a monster. Janemba’s first form resembled Majin Buu’s first form. They both looked like oversized, soft monsters that acted like children.
Fusion Rebornserved as the official debut for Gogeta. The character would later become officially canon inDragon Ball Super: Broly.
When Goku and Vegeta pushed Janemba to his limits, Janemba transformed into his more monstrous Super Janemba form. He became a lot smaller, much more menacing, and started using a sword as well. Janemba’s transformation is one of the most memorable in the franchise because he forced Goku and Vegeta to fuse for the first time in the series. Janembaforced the two Saiyans to become Gogeta, arguably one of thestrongest characters inDragon Ball.
7Top
The Future God of Destruction
Top’s transformation was a surprising one inDragon Ball Super.DBShas the fewest amount of villainous transformations in the franchise. While Frieza enjoyed his amazingly powerful Golden Frieza form and Goku Black went through a handful of forms, Hit and Jiren don’t have any transformations as the other two major antagonists of the series.Dragon Ball Superintroduces a new category of characters: Gods of Destruction. While there have always been celestial beings inDragon Ball,none have the pure destructive power that the Gods of Destruction possess.
Dragon Ball Has Some Bleak Moments, But Its Darkest Scenes Are on Another Level
Dragon Ball certainly isn’t known for having dark moments, but each entry in the franchise has some bleak, sad moments that make anyone quiver.
Top’s transformation was a notable moment because it was the first timeDragon Ball Superrevealed that normal mortals can eventually become Gods of Destruction.Whis hinted to Vegeta that he wanted him to become one eventually, but Top confirmed it was possible. Top gained a cool new chest tattoo and a ton of muscles to support his form. His God of Destruction powers nearly leveled the Tournament of Power, proving just how strong this transformation was.
6Omega Shenron
Dragon Ball GT’s Best Villain
Omega Shenron is one of the few high points inDragon Ball GT.It’s a series marred with errors, but he isn’t one of them. The concept behind Omega Shenron is incredibly interesting. For the entirety of theDragon Ballfranchise, the titular Dragon Balls have been nothing but good. They can grant basically any wish after their collection, which has been made incredibly easy with the invention of the Dragon Radar. The Dragon Balls were overused, however, leading to the creation of the Shadow Dragons.
Omega Shenron is a combination of the Shadow Dragons. He’s themost powerful villain inDragon Ball GTand comes with a great design and plenty of menacing abilities. He’s so strong, he’s one of the few characters in the franchise to force Goku and Vegeta to not only work together, but fuse. They become thelegendary Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, another high point forDBGT.Without Omega Shenron’s transformation from Syn Shenron, Gogeta would never have been forced to make an appearance.
5Legendary Super Saiyan Broly
Broly Is Unstoppable
Broly is one of thecoolest characters in anime. Both the evil and the good versions of Broly are incredibly impressive because of his ability to transform into the Legendary Super Saiyan, a form neither Goku nor Vegeta could ever achieve. The normal Super Saiyan form is cool enough, but Broly’s version takes the transformation to an entirely different level both on a power and visual level. Broly is already massive, but when he becomes the Legendary Super Saiyan, his muscles nearly triple in size.
Broly is the most recent character to force Goku and Vegeta to not only work together but fuse into Gogeta. He’s so strong in his Legendary Super Saiyan form that Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan God forms weren’t enough to stop him.He even pummeled Golden Friezafor an entire hour before Gogeta returned to the battlefield in one of the best fights of the franchise.
4Great Ape Vegeta
Before Vegeta Became a Hero
Vegeta was the second antagonist ofDragon Ball Z,following in fellow Saiyan Raditz’s footsteps. While he eventually becomes Goku’s friend and rival,he starts as a brutal villain.Before he was able to turn into a Super Saiyan like he always wanted to, he used his tail and the moon to turn into the Great Ape form unique to Saiyans. It’s one of thebest Saiyan transformationsin the series for a couple of great reasons.
Vegeta was menacing enough when he first came to Earth, but his Great Ape form took it to an entirely different level. He grew several times larger than Goku, crushing him in the palm of his hand. It’s a great form thatsymbolizes just how monstrous Vegeta wasat the time. If it wasn’t for Yajirobe cutting Vegeta’s tail off, who knows how the evil Saiyan would have been stopped?
3Kid Buu
Kids Can Be Monsters Too
Kid Buu might be one of themost terrifying villains inDragon Ball. All thevillains have monstrous qualities, but none had the unpredictable penchant for destruction that Kid Buu did. All of Buu’s forms were scary, but his Kid form was on another level. He was the only villain who actually destroyed the Earth, killing most of the Z Fighters in a single blast. Kid Buu transformed from Majin Buu, to Evil Buu, to Super Buu, beforing finally reaching his Kid Buu form.
Like the rest ofthe strongest villains inDragon Ball,Kid Buu was so strong that he forced Goku and Vegeta to use the Potara earrings to fuse into Vegito in order to take him out. Goku even uses the Spirit Bomb successfully, one of the few times in the series that it actually works, to take out Kid Buu.
2Perfect Cell
Cell Was Stunning in More Ways Than One
Cell is another villain inDragon Ballwith a number of forms. He starts as a reptilian creature with a big tail, resembling a bug more than a person. When he starts to absorb his fellow androids, he grows much more humanoid. He gains a larger frame and a lot more power, but it pales in comparison to his Perfect Form. His Perfect Form is the strongest character in the series at the point.He’s brutal, cold, and calculatingat all times. He even gives the heroes time to train before they fight each other, showing off a Saiyan level of pride.
I Admit It: Dragon Ball Z Really Peaked With the Cell Saga And You Know It’s True
The Cell Saga was one of Dragon Ball Z’s most iconic, with its high-stakes battles, emotional undercurrent, and unforgettable character development.
Like all good villains in theDragon Ballfranchise,Cell’s transformation forces the heroes to transform as well. Instead of Goku or Vegeta transforming, it’s Gohan who is forced to reach Super Saiyan 2 and take on Perfect Cell once and for all. Perfect Cell’s arrogance, deceitful nature, and overall power make his transformation one of the best in the series.
1Frieza’s Final Form
The Tyrant’s Most Memorable Form
Frieza is not onlythe greatest villain inDragon Ball,he’s one of thebest villains in anime. He’s a cruel intergalactic dictator who makes the other villains in the series look kind and thoughtful by comparison. He has several forms in the series, but none stand out like his Final Form. He starts as a smaller character before undergoing three separate transformations on Namek inDragon Ball Z.
His first two transformations make sense. His second form sees him grow in size, sporting larger horns and a huge frame. His third form sees him grow even further in size,looking much more monstrousthan any other form. His Final Form, however, sees him returning to a much smaller size. It doesn’t make sense at first, as power inDragon Ballhas always been proportional to size.
Frieza Is Dragon Ball’s Best Villain For One Reason, and Toriyama Already Explained It
Akira Toriyama shared his thoughts surrounding Frieza’s return to the series, explaining why he is the villain most worthy of being defeated.
Final Form Frieza puts this trope to rest with Death Beams that can kill the Z Fighters with a single blast and a Death Ball that eventually destroys Namek. Even Golden Frieza’s introductioncan’t touchthe first time Final Form Frieza stepped out on screen.
