Dragon Ball 10 Times A Character Other Than Goku (Or Vegeta) Took Down A Major Villain

In honor of the other Z-Fighters that often go forgotten, we've compiled a list of 10 times other characters took down powerful villains.

Fans of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z have always enjoyed seeing Goku's friends join him in his battles against villains who only desired to spread hate, death, and destruction to every corner of the planet. As the enemies got stronger, only those with Saiyan Blood were given the privilege of getting their hands dirty, and in Dragon Ball Super, it became rare to see characters other than Goku or Vegeta score a major win. Fans even began to call Dragon Ball Super "The Goku and Vegeta Show".

In honor of the other Z-Fighters and their victories that often go forgotten, we've compiled a list of ten times other characters took down powerful villains, and yes, this does include the movies! Unfortunately, this list won't cover fights where Goku or Vegeta helped to land the finishing blow, so Gohan's defeat of Cell or even Trunks' defeat of Zamasu (since Goku and Vegeta lent him their energy) won't be appearing on this list.

10 Future Trunks Versus Future Imperfect Cell

After defeating Androids 17 and 18 using the newfound strength that he'd gained through training with his father in the past, Trunks rushed to confront the Cell of his own future timeline, who was planning to steal his time machine so that he could travel to the past and absorb Androids 17 and 18 there.

Trunks handled Cell with ease, finishing him off by disintegrating him with his Heat Dome Attack. Instead of giving Cell any opening that could potentially grant him the upper hand, Trunks was sure to end Cell's life in order to finally grant his world the peace it had been robbed of.

9 Tien Versus Mercenary Tao

During the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tien was forced to go up against his old master, Mercenary Tao. We always knew that Mercenary Tao was scum, but nothing could prepare us for the power boost he'd gained with his new robotic accessories.

After the hidden blade he carried around in one of his cybernetic arms failed, he used his Super Dodon Wave, but Tien, his former pupil, deflected it with a simple shout before incapacitating Tao with a single punch. Given Tao's impressive track record thus far, fans were shocked to see him go down so easily, proving that his loss to Goku years ago taught him nothing.

8 Gohan Versus Garlic Jr. and His Henchmen

Whenever the Z-Fighters found themselves in a tough situation, whether it involved Nappa, the Ginyu Force, or Frieza himself, they always knew that Goku would be coming soon to ease their plight. With Goku still on Planet Yardrat however, Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin were the only heroes left who could stand up to Garlic Jr. and his quartet of new henchmen when they returned to Earth, seeking revenge.

Gohan pushed himself to his limits, blowing all of Garlic Jr.'s henchmen to smithereens to save Piccolo and Krillin. While Garlic Jr. himself was still immortal, Gohan was ultimately able to seal him back into his own eternal prison known as the Dead Zone. This victory was monumental since it marked the first time the planet had been saved without Goku's help at all.

7 Goten, Trunks, And Krillin Versus Bio-Broly

When Broly was hurled into the sun by Gohan, Goten, and Goku, fans were disappointed that they wouldn't be seeing any more of the Legendary Super Saiyan. After all, unless you were Cooler, there was no coming back from something like that. After stumbling across the pod that Broly used to travel to Earth, scientists harnessed Broly's DNA and created a monster that possessed many of Broly's powers.

It was a hard battle that relied on the combined abilities of Krillin, Android 18, Goten, and Trunks, but Bio-Broly was ultimately defeated by a Triple Kamehameha after Goten, Trunks, and Krillin all used the technique to send a wave of ocean water crashing down onto Bio-Broly, where he eventually grew solid and shattered to bits. Good thing it wasn't the real Broly since it takes a lot more than water to stop him.

6 Android 17 Versus Dr. Gero

Back in the days of Dragon Ball Z, no one could've predicted that Android 17 would one day become an ally. Although he can't truly be considered a Z-Fighter until his reappearance in Dragon Ball Super, he actually helped the Z-Fighters take out one of the series' craftiest antagonists. When Dr. Gero fled to his lab after the destruction of Android 19, Android 17 made sure to execute him.

With Dr. Gero defeated, the threat of more androids was stopped, and the force of the Red Ribbon Army's grudge against Goku had weakened. Though Android 17 killed Dr. Gero for his own selfish reasons, he spared our heroes of at least one more fight.

5 Future Trunks Versus Kogu

During the Dragon Ball Z film Bojack Unbound, Bojack's intergalactic crew overwhelmed Gohan and the others with abilities that rivaled those of a Super Saiyan. Kogu, Bojack's smooth-faced sword-loving henchman, made the mistake of fighting Trunks alone.

We all know Trunks doesn't play around. After powering up to a Super Saiyan, a gut-piercing punch was all it took to end Kogu.

4 Piccolo Versus Cooler's Armored Squadron

If the Ginyu Force largely relied on quirks and special abilities to get the job done, Cooler's Armored Squadron relied on strategy and outright ambush. Goku was able to hold his own against all three members of the Armored Squadron before Cooler arrived on the battlefield. Later on, when they attempted to stop Gohan from delivering Senzu Beans to his wounded father, Piccolo made Cooler's Armored Squadron look like amateurs.

He killed Dore with a homing energy blast, and he fried Neiz by reflecting his electric attack. Salza put up more of a fight, but at the very end of the film, he was killed by a Special Beam Cannon after catching a fatigued Goku by surprise. We only wish Piccolo still fought like this in Super.

3 Arale versus General Blue

Back in Dragon Ball, Goku found himself struggling against General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army, who possessed the ability to freeze his foes with a psychic glare. Before he finished Goku off, Arale showed him how she "played tag", headbutting him into the distance with her overly comical strength.

Though Arale is just a gag character, she saved Goku's life in an episode that actually wasn't filler and caught many fans who weren't familiar with Dr. Slump by surprise. After eventually seeing that Arale could even rival a Super Saiyan Blue, we feel bad for poor General Blue. He was doomed the minute he set foot in Penguin Village.

2 Yajirobe versus Cymbal

As one of Dragon Ball's strongest villains, Cymbal, one of King Piccolo's sons, has a large presence and a wide wingspan that made fans believe that he would be invulnerable to any of Goku's strongest attacks. In one of Yajirobe's best moments in the entire franchise, the sumo-sized samurai evaded every single one of Cymbal's shock wave attacks before slicing his body in half with ease.

Although he did take a few physical hits from Cymbal, he managed to walk away without any serious injuries. To add insult to injury, Yajirobe even cooked Cymbal's corpse and ate it! To this day, fans are waiting for Yajirobe to tell us just what Cymbal tasted like.

1 Gohan versus Kefla

For this final entry, we're looking at Dragon Ball Super's manga, where things took a completely different turn than they did in the anime. After Kale and Caulifla fused into Kefla, Gohan stepped up to fight her in Goku's place, and although we didn't see much of their fight, it must've been a pretty gruesome one. In the end, both Saiyan warriors stood with tattered clothes, and attacked the other at the exact same time, leading to a draw.

Given how strong of a monster Kale was, Gohan gets major props for even volunteering to fight Kefla, who possessed all of Kale's strength along with Caulifla's. It was awesome to see Gohan last so long against such a destructive, reckless, and talented fighter without any help from his father, and the manga's depiction of Gohan's performance in the Tournament of Power gave us the version of Gohan that we'd been missing now for years.