Dragon Ball 10 Times The Main Characters Cheated Death

There was no way out for these characters and they were supposed to be destroyed in battle, but they survived purely out of luck or circumstance.

Being a Dragon Ball protagonist is difficult — there's always someone attempting to take you out for some reason or another. Over the years, everyone has had to be saved from an opponent... it doesn't matter who they were, or how high up the ladder they were. Goku and Vegeta have been saved arguably more times than Krillin or Gohan, if only because they're constantly expected to beat the most powerful opponent.

A lot of times, these characters are in situations where there was no way out and they were absolutely supposed to be destroyed in battle, but they survived purely because someone arrived just in time or because of a plot-based reason, such as a power-up.

10 Goku vs. Beerus: Goku Was Lucky To Avoid Beerus' Wrath

Beerus arrived on Earth with the express desire to find this so-called Super Saiyan God and see if he could become strong enough to give him a challenge. But what if Beerus had been as mercurial as he usually is in situations like this?

He spent quite a bit of time tolerating Goku and the rest of the group’s attempt to get the Super Saiyan God to appear. And even then, Beerus quickly proves himself to be much stronger than that form, but he’s entertained enough to keep Goku around.

9 Vegeta vs. The Z Fighters: The Z Fighters Should Have Been Wiped Out If Not For Yajirobe

The remaining Z Fighters managed to defeat Vegeta just narrowly. The Prince of All Saiyans was incredibly powerful, first shifting to his giant ape form and using that incredible power to nearly squish Goku.

It was only with Yajirobe cutting his tail off that they survived that, but even still Vegeta had more than enough energy left to kill the rest of them. It took battling Gohan in Giant Ape form and being hit with a Spirit Bomb before he finally had no strength remaining.

8 Vegeta vs. Zarbon: Zarbon Only Kept Vegeta Alive To Find Out Where The Dragon Balls Are From

The first time Vegeta faced Zarbon, Vegeta quickly ran into the limits of his new power. He’d defeated Kui with ease and handled Dodoria as well. Zarbon wasn’t a threat either, as he went down easily... before Zarbon transformed.

With that transformation, Zarbon was able to humiliate Vegeta, all too happy to get rid of Vegeta. Fortunately for Vegeta, Zarbon needed information about the locations of the remaining Dragon Balls, so he took Vegeta back to get healed instead of finishing him off.

7 Krillin vs Frieza: Krillin Only Survives Because Dende Is Present To Heal Him

Eventually, Krillin’s fight against Frieza went poorly and he wasn’t able to cheat death anymore. But when Frieza entered his second form, he was ready to take out all the remaining members of the Z Fighters.

With his power higher than Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin put together, he chose to pick on Krillin to start their battle. The first thing he did was spear Krillin directly in the gut, leaving him to die shortly afterward. Neither Gohan nor Vegeta was able to do anything about it, but Dende revealed he had the ability to heal people and that saved them all.

6 Goku & Vegeta vs. Fused Zamasu: Goku Had To Literally Summon Zen-Oh To Erase Zamasu

Goku and Vegeta did everything they could to win against Goku Black and Zamasu, but no matter what their trick, Zamasu always had a counter to it. From Super Saiyan Rose to fusing with himself, Zamasu had plans within plans.

In the end, despite technically “beating” him multiple times, they were still going to lose until Goku summoned Zen-Oh of that multiverse and erased Fused Zamasu from existence, saving them all.

5 Goku vs. King Piccolo: Piccolo Only Stopped Because He Believed Goku Was Dead

After Goku’s second World Tournament, King Piccolo made his reappearance and began taking out anyone strong enough to compete there. Though Goku seemed like he was a match for King Piccolo at first... that didn’t last. Very quickly, he was able to use his superior speed and experience to get over on Goku.

Goku was forced to resort to biting Piccolo to try to fight back, which led to an even worse beating. After being hit with a beam of electricity, Piccolo was able to safely take the Dragon Ball around Goku’s neck before leaving, believing he’d eliminated another major threat.

4 Gohan vs. Frieza: Gohan Only Survived Because Goku & Vegeta Arrived At The Last Moment

Gohan was in danger every time he battled Frieza, but this is more about the second time around. During Frieza’s second trip to Earth, he arrived with a new army that the Z Fighters were actually capable of dealing with.

But it was up to Gohan to take on Frieza, and not only was he incapable, but he also failed to challenge Frieza’s first form. Frieza beat him senseless, and it was only Gohan raising his power level high enough for Goku to sense it that caused Goku and Vegeta to return to Earth in time to fight against Frieza.

3 Goku vs. Mercenary Tao: Mercenary Tao Left Goku Alive Because He Thought He Was Already Dead

The original Goku vs. Mercenary Tao fight was not a good one for Goku. Despite having nearly won the World Martial Arts tournament, he wasn’t on Tao’s level at all. A single kick nearly took Goku out, but he continued to fight.

It got so bad, Tao was able to land blows by slapping him with his ponytail. He finished Goku off with a powerful headbutt and slamming Goku into Korin’s tower, which Tao thought left Goku dead.

2 Vegeta vs. Perfect Cell: Trunks Was Around To Show Mercy On Vegeta, Which Made Cell Curious About Where Their Strength Came From

This was a fight Vegeta should’ve won. He’d defeated Semi-Perfect Cell handily, but he wasn’t satisfied. Realizing that he couldn’t win, Cell tried to bring up his Perfect Form to Vegeta, hoping he could gain it because Vegeta only wants to face the most powerful opponents.

When Vegeta faced off against Perfect Cell, he exhausted all of his energy and was laid out. The only reason he wasn’t killed is that Trunks was there to fight for him.

1 Tien vs. Cell: Tien Kept Using The Tri-Beam Even Though It's Supposed To Be Dangerous

Tien tried this against Nappa one time and it did not end well for him. The character threw down against the former Saiyan for several minutes, fighting until exhaustion. By the end, the only thing he was able to do was fire off a single, one-handed Tri-Beam... which ended him.

Here against Perfect Cell, he fired off multiple Tri-Beams against Cell until he literally passed out. It was only Goku’s arrival that saved him from being killed, but even then firing off so many of these should’ve been the end of him.