"Enough with this bravado, I know you're still hiding your real power. Maybe you're trying to save it for when you meet Frieza. Well, don't be a fool, you'll never get by me without baring your all. Show me your perfect power so I can finally test the depths of my strength against a worthy opponent."
— Captain Ginyu, Dragon Ball Z
Always wanting to fight stronger and stronger opponents, Son Goku has encountered many foes on his adventures. These characters in particular use both brains and brawn to be more than a match towards the Saiyan fighter.
Order by series release date.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Series-wide
- Piccolo Jr. is the reincarnation of his father King Piccolo with the cunning to match. Under the alias Ma-Junior, Piccolo reverses the Evil Containment Wave on Kami and nearly kills Goku to avenge his father. Returning and killing Goku alongside his brother Raditz, Piccolo later prepares Gohan for the Saiyans' arrival and eventually protects him with his life. Coming back to life as an ally, Piccolo repeatedly helps out Goku and the others by; using a Wounded Gazelle Gambit to con information out of Cell; buying time for Gotenks to stand a chance against Buu notably by sacrificing the rest of the human population; blowing up the Time Chamber's door to lock himself and Gotenks with Buu to protect the Earth. Molded by his time on Earth into a pragmatic but kind-hearted fighter and mentor to Gohan, Piccolo stands out as one of Goku's wisest allies and one of the most iconic characters in the series.
- Captain Ginyu is the leader of the Ginyu Force, who were called in by Frieza to secure the Dragon Balls and kill the heroes, with Ginyu swearing to avenge them upon hearing they were killed. Ginyu is able to deduce Goku is suppressing his power, but still wishes to fight fairly and disapproves of Jeice's interference. Realizing Goku is stronger, Ginyu swaps their bodies after wounding his original body to handicap Goku, and when beaten by Vegeta, comes close to stealing Vegeta's body, only failing due to Goku's luck on getting a frog in the way. Trapped in the body of a frog for years on Earth, Ginyu became aware of Frieza's return where he journeyed to the battlefield and tricked Tagoma into saying his incantation, stealing Tagoma's body and resumed serving Frieza once more as his strongest warrior.
- Demon King Piccolo formed after the Nameless Namek who would become Kami expelled his evil became Earth's most dangerous threat yet. His previous reign thwarted when the martial artist Mutaito performed a Heroic Sacrifice to seal him away. Released centuries later, he showed he had learned from his prior defeat sending his children to hunt down and dispose of every martial artist in the world as a precaution. When Goku kills his children, rather than shrug off their deaths Piccolo confronts the problem directly, beating Goku so thoroughly that his heart stops. Coming into conflict with Roshi, Piccolo lets Roshi hide his Dragon Balls and swallows his own, then summons Shenron to restore his youth, killing the eternal dragon after his wish has been fulfilled. Continuing his dark reign over the Earth, King Piccolo all but wins. Moments before his death, the demon king spits out an egg that carries his reincarnation to finish where he left off. As cool as he was evil, King Piccolo was fondly remembered for being one of the first truly threatening adversaries.
- The anime version of Colonel Violet is given more screen time to showcase her cunning. A high ranking Red Ribbon Army soldier, Violet is a cunning opportunist devoted to her own profit rather than any cause. Using the dragon radar she finds a Dragonball, coming into conflict with a crocodile she uses two of her men as bait to distance herself from it but protects the life of an injured monkey showing a cold disdain, yet soft side for innocent creatures. Anticipating the Red Ribbon Army's downfall, Violet takes advantage of Goku's assault to blow their vault open and loot their riches, making a successful escape afterwards.
- Android 16 is a tactical genius and the most levelheaded Android seen in the franchise. A tactical genius and Gentle Giant who pursues Goku due to his programming, 16 aids his siblings 17 and 18 on their robbery spree as they travel to Kame House, before switching priorities upon meeting the truly evil Cell. Doing his best to protect everyone he can from Cell and nearly managing to defeat the fearsome creature due to his quick thinking, 16 later allies with the heroes, only to try and destroy Cell with a secret bomb that will wipe out everyone in the vicinity, allies and civilians included. Even when on the brink of death, 16 employs a last strategy and gives Son Gohan a Rousing Speech to spark his transformation into Super Saiyan 2 and the ultimate defeat of Cell.
- Hit, introduced in the "Champa Arc", is an assassin from Universe 6 with the power to "Time-Skip", famed for always fulfilling his contracts without leaving a trace. Despite his cold professionalism, Hit always abides by a code of honor and goes out of his way to avoid unnecessary casualties when performing his contracts. Initially joining Champa's tournament for personal gain, Hit finds an adversary providing him a challenge in Goku for the first time, a sentiment that causes him to fake his defeat to show that he is not Champa's pawn. Later hired by a client to assassinate Goku, Hit swiftly dispatches the Saiyan before he could attack, promising to pay his respects to his seemingly slain rival, who was only saved by his own quick thinking. In the Tournament of Power, Hit rarely loses his cool in the heat of battle and simply shifts tactics whenever his opponents find ways to counter his signature Time-Skip. Even when he's physically outmatched by the mighty Jiren, Hit nearly rings out the Pride Trooper by using a variety of tactics and techniques, a feat that was previously deemed impossible.
- The Grand Minister is the attendant and advisor of the Zeno twins, who always maintains a polite and calm demeanor. When the Zenos desire to hold a tournament, Grand Minister creates the Tournament of Power, a multiversal tournament where the penalty for losing is erasure of said universe. Grand Minister instructs and coordinates the universes, creates the arena via magic materialization, and serves as the tournament announcer. Seemingly apathetic to the destruction of losing universes, the tournament is revealed to be a Secret Test of Character for the winner to make a selfless wish of restoring the erased universes, while making any other wish would lead to the complete destruction of the multiverse, with Grand Minister showing content when the selfless wish was made.
- Cheelai is a wanted criminal by the Galactic Patrol for stealing one of their ships. She ends up joining the Frieza Empire to get the Galactic Patrol off her tail knowing they wouldn't dare oppose Frieza. Given the mission of recruiting strong warriors, Cheelai decides to bring Broly and Paragus back to Frieza and receives a huge monetary reward. Feeling sympathy towards Broly for his mistreatment by Paragus, she steals the remote for Broly's Shock Collar from Paragus and destroys it. Seeing Broly in a losing battle against Gogeta and at risk of being killed, Cheelai steals the Dragon Balls from under Frieza's nose and uses them to wish for Broly to be returned to the planet Vampa, before Cheelai escapes with her comrade Lemo, knowing Frieza would be furious and out to kill them.
- Dragon Ball Minus / Broly: Bardock is a great deal more cunning and noble than his original counterpart, being in a loving marriage to his wife Gine. Under Frieza's orders, Bardock participated in invading other planets. Upon receiving orders from Frieza for all Saiyans to return to Planet Vegeta, Bardock immediately suspects the tyrant is plotting something. Bardock decides to send his youngest son offworld, stealing a pod during the night, while choosing not to have him and Gine accompany him as to not risk being detected by scouters. After a month, Bardock's suspicions come to pass where Frieza eradicates the Saiyan race by destroying the planet, with Bardock performing a Last Stand by attempting to blast and then stand in the way of the Frieza's attack.
Anime-Original Films
- The Tree of Might: Turles is a Saiyan survivor who leads the Turles Crusher Corps. and intends to plant the Tree of Might, which absorbs the planet's energy then grows special fruit, which Turles hopes can make him strong enough to challenge Frieza for control of the universe. After planting the Tree on Earth and met with resistance from the Z Fighters, Turles offers to let Gohan join him and upon the boy's refusal he generates an Artificial Moon to turn Gohan into a Great Ape and pits him against Goku, before destroying the moon so Turles himself won't transform and lose control. While evenly matched against Goku, Turles manages to eat one of the Tree's fruit and dominates the fight. A cunning Combat Pragmatist and surprisingly Benevolent Boss who revived two of his men, Turles is one of the most memorable movie villains.
- Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans: Dr. Lychee is a Tuffle who perished during the genocide of his race at the hands of the Saiyans. Before his death, he created Hatchiyack, a supercomputer that could harness The Power of Hate and had the power to create Ghost Warriors, phantom constructs of deceased enemies of the Saiyans, including himself. As a Ghost Warrior, Lychee released Destron Gas all over the Earth with the intention of poisoning and disabling the ki of the Saiyans that lived there. Ghost Warriors of past enemies prevent the heroes from destroying the Destron Gas machines. When finally confronting Lychee himself, Lychee anticipates his defeat and instead has his hatred be collected by Hatchiyack to complete its transformation into the ultimate warrior.
Other Media
- Dragon Ball Heroes: Hearts is the leader of the Core Area Warrior, a group who have the shared goal of eliminating all the gods, especially Zeno, by using the Universe Seed which he charges with energy from battle. Hearts successfully coerces Zamasu for his cause, and then snatches Cumber right after his defeat at the hands of the heroes. Hearts then coordinates the attack of multiple universes, strategically sending in specific fighters so they will hold advantages, while at times stepping in to assist them. Hearts is able to extract information by reading the minds of his enemies, while also making sure they are never able to get near him until he has enough power to fight them. Upon attaining enough energy for the Universe Seed, Hearts uses it to transform into his Ultimate God Slayer form, where he proceeds to kill Zamasu. Coming very close to killing the heroes, when he is finally defeated, Hearts dies gracefully expressing his desire was simply to free mortals from the gods, as well as his newfound respect towards mortals.
