History ArcVillain / DragonBall

** Also for Universe Survival Saga: [[TopGod Zeno]] can be considered this as he's the cause for the conflict in the first place and is feared by almost everyone for his [[RealityWarper universe-altering]] abilities when displeased. Although Zeno [[spoiler:is later revealed to be causing the tournament [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test the character of the multiverse]] and fully expected them to be revived.]]

** '''22nd Tournament Arc''': has the Crane Hermit, being the one who is attempting to lead Tenshinhan and Chaozu down the path of evil and who himself tries to cheat and murder his rivals, going a bit beyond the OpposingSportsTeam of the 21st Tournament (in particular, Crane seeks Goku's death after learning he's the reason his brother, Tao Pai-Pai, is dead, even though Goku did so out of self-defense). Tenshinhan is the strongest antagonist power-wise, but his villainy is born from a rivalry incited by Crane, and while still intense his villainy disappears after his master crosses the line by forcing Chaozu to sabotage the fight, and both renounce Crane after he's disposed of. For the next arc, Tien seeks to atone for his actions, with filler pitting him against a former victim.

** '''Cell Arc''': After some more ExecutiveMeddling, Cell replaces 16, 17, and 18 in the transition to this arc. Not only does he seek to absorb 17 and 18 to become complete, but unlike them, he massacres innocents to gain strength, and thus is much more of a threat, especially when [[spoiler: he successfully absorbs 17 and 18, not only removing them from play for the remainder of his arc, but achieving his perfection]]. His arc lasts much longer than that of any of the other androids. Cell is a threat on an intergalactic level, but fortunately dies before he thinks of leaving Earth to flaunt his power.
** '''Buu Arc''': Initially has none due to the focus on Gohan at high school as the Great Saiyaman... until Babidi shows up, [[EvilIsNotAToy who is then usurped by Buu]], [[ItMakesSenseInContext who is then usurped by his evil, pure form]]. Babidi's grand scheme is to release Majin Buu, and initially commands him to kill innocents and destroy cities until [[spoiler: Buu kills him]] when Goku points out that he's under no obligation to follow his orders. Buu then causes destruction on his own for fun (not actually realizing that it's bad), but after he grapples with his inherent evil he casts it out... only to be absorbed by it and becoming Super Buu, a much more malevolent threat, who eliminates Earth's population in seconds. Then his good side is removed, entirely and he becomes Pure Buu/Kid Buu, who is an utterly uncontrollable psychopath [[spoiler: [[EarthShatteringKaboom who proceeds to blow up the Earth]]]]. Neither Babidi or Buu have connections to previous villains, but Buu serves as the final villain of both the classic manga storyline and ''Dragon Ball Z'', marking the end of an era.

** Also for Universe Survival Saga: [[TopGod Zeno]] can be considered this as he's the cause for the conflict in the first place and is feared by almost everyone for his [[RealityWarper universe-altering]] abilities when displeased. Although Zeno [[spoiler: is later revealed to be causing the tournament [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test the character of the multiverse]] and fully expected them to be revived.]]

** '''Buu Arc''': Initially has none due to the focus on Gohan at high school as the Great Saiyaman... until Babidi shows up, [[EvilIsNotAToy who is then usurped by Buu]], [[ItMakesSenseInContext who is then usurped by his evil, pure form]]. Babidi's grand scheme is to release Majin Buu, and initially commands him to kill innocents and destroy cities until [[spoiler: Buu kills him]] when Goku points out that he's under no obligation to follow his orders. Buu then causes destruction on his own for fun (not actually realizing that it's bad), but after he grapples with his inherent evil he casts it out... only to be absorbed by it and becoming Super Buu, a much more malevolent threat, eliminating Earth's population and even [[spoiler: [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up the Earth]]]]. Then his good side is removed and he becomes Pure Buu, who is an utterly uncontrollable psychopath. Neither Babidi or Buu have connections to previous villains, but Buu serves as the final villain of both the classic manga storyline and ''Dragon Ball Z'', marking the end of an era.

** Red Ribbon Arc: This arc adds a major antagonist for the first time in the form of the Red Ribbon Army, led by Commander Red. Red is the source of all the woes in the arc, including enslaved villages, forest fires, cruel leaders, and even sending an assassin who cares not for collateral damage. That said the story makes no effort to build up to a final confrontation between the two on a personal level: it frequently goes 10+ episodes without even mentioning him, and Goku defeats the Red Ribbon Army as whole without even meeting the guy.

** 22nd Tournament Arc: has the Crane Hermit, being the one who is attempting to lead Tenshinhan and Chaozu down the path of evil and who himself tries to cheat and murder his rivals, going a bit beyond the OpposingSportsTeam of the 21st Tournament (in particular, Crane seeks Goku's death after learning he's the reason his brother, Tao Pai-Pai, is dead, even though Goku did so out of self-defense). Tenshinhan is the strongest antagonist power-wise, but his villainy is born from a rivalry incited by Crane, and while still intense his villainy disappears after his master crosses the line by forcing Chaozu to sabotage the fight, and both renounce Crane after he's disposed of. For the next arc, Tien seeks to atone for his actions, with filler pitting him against a former victim.
** Daimao Arc: Piccolo Daimao (the Great Demon King) is the first straight and unambiguous Arc Villain that would characterize the series, with the story notably building up to a grand confrontation with him the moment he's introduced. The conflict is incited by him being [[SealedEvilInACan awakened]] to conquer the world, all the secondary antagonists are his minions, he plunges the planet into chaos, and the arc ends with his explosively climactic defeat. The Daimao Arc is ''Dragon Ball'''s very first Villain Arc, and this format would come to define Dragon Ball storylines: with the odd exception, every single Arc would follow this format, and Daimao is easily the most "Z-like" Arc in the original ''Dragon Ball'' run.
** 23rd Tournament Arc: Piccolo Jr., the son/reincarnation of Daimao out to kill Goku in the tournament. This is the only time both the Tournament and Villain Arc styles are mixed together, and is also the only time the same character has been used as the Arc Villain twice in a row.

** Saiyan Arc: Vegeta, as the leader and strongest member of the Saiyan Trio made up of himself, Nappa, and Raditz, who come to Earth to conquer it and punish the "traitor" Kakarot/Goku. Raditz is introduced as a StarterVillain to set the scale for his compatriots, and while Vegeta is the scrawny one, the way Nappa backs down and respects him reveals that Vegeta is by ''far'' the best warrior of the three. These three are notable for being the first Arc Villains to have a personal connection to Goku, revealing that he's from a warrior race who pride themselves on barbaric acts of murder and savagery.
** Namek Arc: Frieza, a GalacticConqueror space pirate who raids Namek to obtain its Dragon Balls in hopes of gaining immortality to allow him to rule forever. Similar to Vegeta, Frieza has a personal connection to Goku by being the boss of the Saiyans who killed his father as he attempted to stop Frieza from destroying their homeworld, although it takes a ''long'' time for Frieza to even realize this. Vegeta acts as a secondary antagonist and third faction in his own right, but every other villain in this arc reports to Frieza. After this, Frieza appears in two more arcs and two more movies.
** Garlic Jr. Arc: Garlic Jr., in this filler arc exclusive to the original anime. He turns nearly all of Earth's population into vampires and seeks to wish his malevolent father Garlic back to life to rule over the people. Garlic Jr. is the only Arc Villain and storyline that has a personal connection to Kami (just like the ''[[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Dead Zone]]'' movie that this arc is a follow-up to), and thus he and Mr. Popo get a lot more screentime than usual.
** Android Arc: Initially Androids 19 and 20, before being replaced by 16, 17, and 18 thanks to ExecutiveMeddling. 19 and 20 are pure evil, and 20 is [[spoiler:Dr. Gero himself]], then 17, 18, and 16, while far less sinister, are more powerful than even Super Saiyan Vegeta and seek to kill Goku. That and teenage rabblerousing aside, they aren't actually direct threats (unless you count the versions from Future Trunks' timeline), which plays into the...
** Cell Arc: After some more ExecutiveMeddling, Cell replaces 16, 17, and 18 in the transition to this arc. Not only does he seek to absorb 17 and 18 to become complete, but unlike them, he massacres innocents to gain strength, and thus is much more of a threat, especially when [[spoiler: he successfully absorbs 17 and 18, not only removing them from play for the remainder of his arc, but achieving his perfection]]. His arc lasts much longer than that of any of the other androids. Cell is a threat on an intergalactic level, but fortunately dies before he thinks of leaving Earth to flaunt his power.
** Buu Arc: Initially has none due to the focus on Gohan at high school as the Great Saiyaman... until Babidi shows up, [[EvilIsNotAToy who is then usurped by Buu]], [[ItMakesSenseInContext who is then usurped by his evil, pure form]]. Babidi's grand scheme is to release Majin Buu, and initially commands him to kill innocents and destroy cities until [[spoiler: Buu kills him]], after which Buu causes destruction on his own, then Buu casts off his evil side who absorbs him and becomes Super Buu, a much more malevolent threat, eliminating Earth's population and even [[spoiler: [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up the Earth]].]] Neither have connections to previous villains, but Buu serves as the final villain of both the classic manga storyline and ''Dragon Ball Z'', marking the end of an era.

** Initially, the opening arc has no established villain in an attempt to [[BackToTheRoots evoke the very first arc in the series]], but the lack of a defined antagonist and focus on the character interactions sucked a lot of the tension away. So, like Cell and Buu before it, the story pivoted to...
** Baby Arc: Baby, the final villain in what starts out as an extreme Villain pile-up as the villain in one episode turns out to be serving another one. Baby's pink appearance and ability to take over other beings draws comparisons to Buu, however he's closer to MoreThanMindControl, able to implant eggs inside other beings to align their perspectives with his, including every single one of Goku's closest friends. He's also one of the biggest hypocrites in the franchise, chastising Saiyan savagery over destroying the Tsufruian race and yet has no qualms with mind-jacking their Prince and enslaving the entire population of Earth.

** ''[[Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods Battle of Gods]]'' Saga: Beerus is the first primary antagonist in the series. He is far more powerful then the entire cast and not even Super Saiyan God Goku can beat him. However, he's not really villainous, just sinister and short-tempered, and ends up becoming an erstwhile ally to Goku and friends.
** ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection of 'F']]'' Saga: Frieza (again), resurrected by his own men in order to bring back the glory days of his empire. Rather than doing that however, Frieza concentrates on killing Goku.
** Champa Saga: Champa, [[TheUnfought though rather than fighting directly]] he instigates a tournament that would see Earth being transported to Universe 6 if the heroes lose.
** Future Trunks Saga: Zamasu. While the arc has multiple antagonists, all of them are AlternateTimeline versions of Zamasu himself.
** Universe Survival Saga: another tournament arc with effectively NoAntagonist, but Jiren the Grey is the closest to this trope since he's the single most powerful character in the tournament (and potentially the most powerful character in ''Manga/DragonBall'' canon besides Zeno) and he stands in the way of Universe 7's survival. However, he's not villainous at all and doesn't have any specific grudge against Goku or his friends, he's just fighting because the alternative is his universe and everyone from it being erased from existence.

** Also for Universe Survival Saga: [[TopGod Zeno]] can be considered this as he's the cause for the conflict in the first place and is feared by almost everyone for his [[RealityWarper universe-altering]] abilities when displeased. Although Zeno [[spoiler: is later revealed to be causing the tournament [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test the character of the multiverse]] and fully expected them to be revived. This technically leaves Jiren as the arc's true antagonist as he's the primary opponent to Universe 7.]]

** Also for Universe Survival Saga: [[TopGod Zeno]] can be considered this as he's the cause for the conflict in the first place and is feared by almost everyone for his [[RealityWarper universe-altering]] abilities when displeased. Although Zeno [[spoiler: is later revealed to be causing the tournament [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test the character of the multiverse]] and fully expected them to be revived.]]

** The first few arcs lacked any ArcVillain, instead having [[MonsterOfTheWeek no villain last for more than a few chapters]]. The Pilaf gang come the closest in the first arc, [[AdaptationExpansion but only in the anime]], where they appear early and have a larger role compared to the manga, where they're just more BitPartBadGuys who show up at the end. The second arc is a tournament setting with NoAntagonist, and the various opponents within it are at worst [[JerkAss jerks]], and in any case only get brief focus.
** The third arc adds a major antagonist for the first time in the form of the Red Ribbon Army, led by Commander Red. Red is the source of all the woes in the arc, including enslaved villages, forest fires, cruel leaders, and even sending an assassin who cares not for collateral damage. That said, Goku never even meets him, and the story makes no effort to build up to a final confrontation between the two as utter rivals: the story frequently goes 10+ episodes at a time without even mentioning him.
*** That said, each ''mini-arc'' of this storyline does have its own Arc Villains, including Colonel Silver, General White, General Blue, Tao Pai-Pai, and Commander Red himself. Each of these are the focus when Goku is in their turf, and all are defeated on the way to acquiring the next Dragon Ball.
** 22nd Tournament Arc: the Crane Hermit, being the one who is attempting to lead Tenshinhan and Chaozu down the path of evil and who himself tries to cheat and murder his rivals, going a bit beyond the OpposingSportsTeam of the 21st tournament. Tenshinhan is the strongest antagonist, but his villainy is born from a rivalry incited by Crane, and while still intense his villainy disappears the moment his master to disposed of.
** Piccolo Daimao Arc: Piccolo Daimao (the Great Demon King) is the first straight and unambiguous Arc Villains that would later characterize the series, with the story notably building up to a grand confrontation with him the moment he's introduced. The conflict is incited by him being [[SealedEvilInACan awakened]] to conquer the world, all the secondary antagonists are his minions, he plunges the planet into chaos, and the arc ends with his climactic defeat. The Daimao Arc is ''Dragon Ball'''s very first Villain Arc, and this format would come to define Dragon Ball storylines: with the odd exception, every single Arc would follow this format.

** Saiyan Arc: Vegeta, as the leader and strongest member of the Saiyan Trio made up of himself, Nappa, and Raditz, who come to Earth to conquer it and punish the "traitor" Kakarot/Goku.
** Namek Arc: Frieza, a GalacticConqueror space pirate who raids Namek to obtain its Dragon Balls in hopes of gaining immortality to allow him to rule forever. Vegeta acts as a secondary antagonist and third faction in his own right, but every other villain in this arc reports to him. After this, he appears in two more arcs and two more movies.
** Garlic Jr. Arc: Garlic Jr., in this filler arc exclusive to the original anime. He turns nearly all of Earth's population into vampires and seeks to wish his malevolent father Garlic back to life to rule over the people.
** Android Arc: Initially Androids 19 and 20, before being replaced by 16, 17, and 18 thanks to ExecutiveMeddling. 19 and 20 are pure evil, and 20 is [[spoiler:Dr. Gero himself]], then 17, 18, and 16, while far less sinister, are more powerful than even Super Saiyan Vegeta and seek to kill Goku.
** Cell Arc: After some more ExecutiveMeddling, Cell replaces 16, 17, and 18 in the transition to this arc. Not only does he seek to absorb 17 and 18 to become complete, but unlike them, he massacres innocents to gain strength, and thus is much more of a threat, especially when [[spoiler: he successfully absorbs 17 and 18, not only removing them from play for the remainder of his arc, but achieving his perfection]]. His arc lasts much longer than that of any of the other androids. Is a threat on an intergalactic level, but fortunately died before he left Earth.
** Buu Arc: Initially has none until Babidi shows up, who is then usurped by Buu, [[ItMakesSenseInContext who is then usurped by his evil, pure form]]. Babidi's grand scheme is to release Majin Buu, and initially commands him to kill innocents and destroy cities until [[spoiler: Buu kills him]], after which Buu causes destruction on his own, then Buu casts off his evil side who absorbs him and becomes Super Buu, a much more malevolent threat, eliminating Earth's population and even [[spoiler: [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up the Earth]].]] Neither have connections to previous villains, but Buu serves as the final villain of both the classic manga storyline.

** The third arc adds a major antagonist for the first time in the form of the Red Ribbon Army, led by Commander Red. Red is the source of all the woes in the arc, including enslaved villages, forest fires, cruel leaders, and even sending an assassin who cares not for collateral damage. That said, Goku never even meets him, and the story makes no effort to build up to a final confrontation between the two as utter rivals: the story goes 10+ episodes without even mentioning him.

Due to the franchise having numerous {{Time Skip}}s, pretty much every BigBad in ''Franchise/DragonBall'', who also tend to lend their names to the arcs they're featured in.

** The first few arcs lacked any ArcVillain, instead having [[MonsterOfTheWeek no villain last for more than a few chapters]]. The Pilaf gang come the closest in the first arc, [[AdaptationExpansion but only in the anime]], where they appear early and have a larger role than in the manga, where they're just more BitPartBadGuys who show up at the end. The second arc is a tournament setting with NoAntagonist, and the various opponents within it are at worst [[JerkAss jerks]], and in any case only get brief focus. The third arc adds a major antagonistic organization for the first time in the form of the Red Ribbon Army, led by Commander Red, but even he doesn't properly qualify as the arc's main villain; Goku never meets him (he's killed by his own subordinate instead), he does not incite the initial conflict, Goku only comes into conflict with his forces incidentally (with his sub-commanders usually serving as the MonsterOfTheWeek of Goku's latest adventure), Goku encounters threats other than his forces like the Pirate Robot (he's simply the most prominent), and the arc continues after he's dead.
** 22nd Tournament Arc: the Crane Hermit, being the one who is attempting to lead Tenshinhan and Chaozu down the path of evil and who himself tries to cheat and murder his rivals, going a bit beyond the OpposingSportsTeam of the 21st tournament. Tenshinhan is the strongest antagonist, but he's not really villainous (beyond being a huge jerk) undergoes a de facto HeelFaceTurn before the arc is even over.
** Piccolo Daimao Arc: Piccolo Daimao (the Great Demon King) is the first of many straight and unambiguous arc villains that would later characterize the series. The conflict is incited by him being [[SealedEvilInACan awakened]] to conquer the world, all the secondary antagonists are his minions, he plunges the planet into chaos, and the arc ends with his climactic defeat.
** 23rd Tournament Arc: Piccolo Jr., the son/reincarnation of Daimao out to kill Goku in the tournament.

** Saiyan Arc: Vegeta, as the leader and strongest member of the Saiyan Trio of himself, Nappa, and Raditz, who come to Earth to conquer it and punish the "traitor" Kakarot/Goku.

** Cell Arc: After some more ExecutiveMeddling, Cell replaces 16, 17, and 18 and initiates this arc. Not only does he seek to absorb 17 and 18 to become complete, but unlike them, he massacres innocents, and thus is much more of a threat, especially when [[spoiler: he successfully absorbs 17 and 18, not only removing them from play for the remainder of his arc, but achieving his perfection]]. His arc lasts much longer than that of any of the other androids. Is a threat on an intergalactic level, but fortunately died before he left Earth.
** Buu Arc: Initially has none until Babidi shows up, who is then usurped by Buu, [[ItMakesSenseInContext who is then usurped by his evil, pure form]]. Babidi's grand scheme is to release Majin Buu, and initially commands him to kill innocents and destroy cities until [[spoiler: Buu kills him]], after which Buu causes destruction on his own, then Buu casts off his evil side who absorbs him and becomes Super Buu, a much more malevolent threat, eliminating Earth's population and even [[spoiler: [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up the earth]].]] Neither have connections to previous villains, but Buu serves as the final villain of both the ''Z'' anime/movies and the original manga run.

** ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection of 'F']]'' Saga: Frieza (again).

** Saiyan Arc: Vegeta, as the leader and strongest member of the Saiyan PowerTrio of himself, Nappa, and Raditz, who come to Earth to conquer it and punish the "traitor" Kakarot/Goku.