Dragon Ball GT covers a lot of ground despite being a relatively short series. In less than half of the episodes of DBZ, Dragon Ball GT covers 4 major story arcs, each with their own main villain – some of which have just as much potential as those in Toriyama’s original manga. Of course, they never get the chance to be as fleshed out as Dragon BallThe biggest villains were, and many of them were defeated long before they should have been.
In fact, a good majority of GTThe most promising villains were defeated far too easily. The quasi-episodic format of GT led to villains who were often beaten just an episode or two after their introduction, leaving a lot to be desired in terms of characterization. GT also tends to introduce increasingly powerful villains, with each “final boss” eventually deferring to a bigger, bigger one. Many minor villains in GT promised to be major threats in their own right, but the series never let them get that far.
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10 Ledgic went through an entire redemption arc in just one episode
First Appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 4, “The Most Wanted List”
Ledgic served under Don Kee, a ruthless and greedy ruler who took more from his people than he gave them. However, it was only through the money he paid to Ledgic that Don Kee had any real power. As Don Kee’s number one hired muscle, Ledgic was the first major opponent Goku faced in his quest to find the Black Star Dragon Balls.
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Ledgic was a powerful fighter with impressive abilities, including the power to materialize swords from the spikes on his shoulders. Ledgic was definitely the strongest enemy Goku fought after becoming a child in the beginning. GTbut it didn’t last long. While Ledgic had a chance against Base Goku, he was vastly outmatched once Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan. Ultimately, Ledgic and Goku seemed to develop a mutual respect for each other, making it even more unfortunate that Ledgic never appeared in the series again.
9 The Sigma Force wasn’t as much of a threat as it should have been
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 16, “Giru’s Checkered Past”
Like so many others GT villains before them, the Sigma Force was just another underling of Dr. Myuu. Nevertheless, they had all the makings of a powerful and deadly villain from the start. Like the androids of DBZthe Sigma machines knew all of Goku’s techniques and were able to predict how he would move before he even knew himself. It was reminiscent of Android 13 from DBZ film of the same name, and the Sigma Force had even more in common with 13 than just its prior knowledge of Goku’s abilities.
Also like Android 13, the Sigma Force could combine into one ultimate machine, Mega Cannon Sigma. In fact, they even went further when Rilldo assimilated the Sigma Force bodies into his own to become Meta Rilldo in a way even more eerily similar to Android 13. Despite their great power, Goku was able to easily defeat the Sigma. Force while still in his base form, with even the narrator of GT asking if Goku had been “putting sand” the whole time.
8 The denizens of Hell were all once major villains
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 42, “A Dangerous Union”
After Doctors Myuu and Gero used their two identical Android 17s to create a rift between Hell and the outside world, the villains that Goku and the Z Fighters had defeated over the years returned for revenge. Bringing back iconic villains like Frieza and Cell was a brief detour, and their fight with Goku in Hell went as expected. However, the introduction of the term “non-canon” was even better. DBZ movie villains like Cooler and Bojack. Unfortunately, none of these characters other than Cell and Frieza got much screen time.
It makes sense that the Z Fighters would be much stronger at the time of GT than they were when they faced the villains of DBZbut by that same logic, the villains should have had time to train and become stronger as well. See even more powerful versions of DBZ‘s classic villains would have made for a great brief arc and given more to characters like Gohan and Goten. Brief scenes such as Pan making quick work of the Red Ribbon Army and Vegeta reuniting with Nappa show the potential of the denizens of Hell to create a fun and nostalgic saga.
7 Zoonama wasn’t the earth-shattering threat he appeared to be
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 7, “Trunks, the Bride”
Upon its introduction, Zoonama was presented as a true power by the inhabitants of the planet Gelbo. Zoonama’s story has a lot in common with Oolong’s, as both terrorize a village and demand a bride under threat of their great powers. In Zoonama’s case, these powers meant the ability to cause earthquakes by simply wiggling his whiskers.
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At the end, Zoonama became more of a gag character than a legitimate villain. His ability to cause earthquakes was actually nothing more than the ability to predict earthquakes, and his actual strength was nothing compared to that of Goku, Trunks, or even Pan. Zoonama’s spell was ultimately fine for what it was, but it would have been interesting to see a character with the actual ability to cause earthquakes so easily and how Goku should have dealt with this unique power.
6 Mutchy’s ability to subjugate objects should have been mastered
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 9, “Lord Luud”
Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy seemed to be the average archetype of an evil leader, complete with a whip to force his servants to fall in line. However, his true identity turned out to be much more than that. After Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy was defeated by Goku and Trunks, they soon learned that the Cardinal was never the one with the true power, it was his anthropomorphized whip, Mutchy, who always took the lead.
There is a questionable nuance to Mutchy’s ability in that he can bend anything he touches with his whips to his will, giving him an almost slave master style ability that hasn’t really been recognized by the fandom. When Mutchy holds people with his whip for Luud to turn them into dolls, he literally objectifies them by turning them into inanimate objects. It’s not entirely clear if Toei was trying to make an interesting allegorical statement with Mutchy, but he’s at least a character with a lot of potential in terms of abilities alone that wasn’t fully utilized in GT.
5 Lord Luud’s full power was disappointing
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 9, “Lord Luud”
Lord Luud is a major villain early on GT. Served by underlings like Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy and the Para Para Brothers, Lord Luud’s name takes on an almost mythical significance before his true identity is revealed. This builds the anticipation of this character as a terrifying being, and his final awakening seems to be the ultimate reward for this. However, it turns out that he is just a powerful machine controlled by the devious Dolltaki.
Lord Luud promised to be the “God of Destruction” before Lord Beerus, although Luud is quickly dealt with in less than two episodes. Dr. Myuu even claimed that Luud was his “greatest masterpiece”, although fans never really understood why. At Level 3, Luud was capable of fighting both Goku and Trunks, but he was never allowed to reach his full strength in the series. It’s unclear how powerful Luud could have been if Dolltaki had been able to fully power him up.
4 The Para Brothers Were Tougher Than We Thought
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 8, “Whisker Power”
The Para Brothers were subordinates of Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy which gave Goku and the gang a hard time at the start of their adventure. Okay, Pon and are far from individually powerful, but their contemporary song and dance routine is enough to get even their biggest enemies in the groove. After hypnotically tricking Goku, Trunks, and Pan into dancing to their beat, the Para Brothers had them completely at their mercy.
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A lot about the Para Brothers makes them feel like the logical conclusion to the Ginyu Force. Their propensity for posing and flamboyant sense of style fit perfectly alongside Ginyu, and their sneaky combat tactics are no different from those of the Force. While the Para Brothers fought better than expected, they were quickly overpowered after a group of Mouma (giant carnivorous centipede monsters) interrupted their dance routine. There’s no denying that Goku got off easy thanks to unforeseen circumstances, showing that the Para Brothers could have posed an even greater threat if given the chance.
3 Baby Gohan had much more potential than Vegeta
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 26, “Saiyan Hunting”
The prospect of Gohan becoming a Majin Vegeta-like villain has always excited fans. Even Toyotarou’s first fan manga, Dragon Ball AFToriyama’s protégé was experimenting with the concept of an evil version of Gohan. Of course, GT did it first, although it was an extremely short period during the Baby Saga.
Gohan is known for having the highest level of potential out of all the Z Fighters, and his power is also closely tied to his emotions. This would make Gohan a terrifying villain, as the angrier he is, the more powerful he could become. Baby Gohan was a great starting point for what a villainous version of Gohan could be, but GT ultimately chose Vegeta as his superior baby vessel. There’s no denying that Baby Vegeta was an awesome villain in the long run, but Baby Gohan was a sorely underused version of the character with a lot of potential.
2 The Super 17 arc was cut short, as was its DBZ counterpart
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 42, “A Dangerous Union”
After Android 17’s versions of Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu joined forces and merged, they became the supremely powerful artificial being known as Super 17. Super 17 is a villain with a lot of potential who unfortunately had one of the shortest major villain arcs of all time. GT. In total, the “Super 17 Saga” only lasted 6 episodes (episodes 41-47), leading many fans to view it more as a brief filler saga than anything substantial.
Androids 17 and 18 were originally intended to be the main villains of DBZ before Toriyama came up with Cell to surpass them, so bringing 17 back in an even more powerful – and tougher – form was actually one of the better concepts GT came with. 17’s actual defeat at the hands of 18 was also a poetic conclusion, but it would have had far more impact if the conflict had been building a little longer and 17’s inner struggle had been more fleshed out.
1 Guardians remain one of Dragon Ball’s biggest enigmas
First appearance: Dragon Ball GT Episode 30, “The Game After Life”
Appearing in only two episodes, the Guardians are potentially some of the most powerful beings in the world. Dragon Ball universe. They are also among the most mysterious, as they are never seen directly and are never shown or referenced again after Goku escapes from their Sugoroku space. While Goku’s time in Sugoroku space is by far the most random episode of GTthis has interesting implications.
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According to Elder Kai, the alternate dimension of Sugoroku space is the only place where his powers don’t work. This alone seems to imply that the Guardians have a higher level of authority than the Kais themselves in their own world. Sugoroku space could potentially add another layer to the world’s cosmology. Dragon Ball World, but GT‘s questionable place in the franchise’s canon means most fans ignore it completely. If Sugoroku space was really part of the larger Dragon Ball Universe, however, this would make the Caretakers as powerful a group of entities as any in the anime pantheon.
After Goku is turned back into a child by the Black Star Dragon Balls, he sets out on a journey to regain his former self.
- Release date
- March 26, 1997
- Cast
- Masako Nozawa, Yûko Minaguchi
- Seasons
- 1
- Characters by
- Creator
- Production company
- Story by
- akira toriyama
- Writers
- Akira Toriyama
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Streaming service(s)
- Hulu
- Directors
- Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Yoshihiro Ueda, Takahiro Imamura, Hidehiko Kadota, Osamu Kasai, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Shigeyasu Yamauchi
- Showrunner
- Akira Toriyama
- Producers
- Kozo Morishita
- Character(s)
- Oob (voice), uncredited, Blake Smoke Dragon/Enma-Daiō/Gyūmaō/Mr. Satan/Umigame (voice), Son Gohan/Son Goku/Son Goten (voice), Kuririn (voice), Vegeta (voice), Lady in Movie, Pan/Videl (voice), Trunks (voice), Son Para/Sūgorō (voice) voice), Piccolo (voice), Android 18 (voice), Bulma/Bra (voice), King/Narrator/North Kaiō (voice), Lady in Film (voice)