Dragon Ball characters with the most defeats

Key points

• Many Dragon Ball characters have suffered significant casualties in battles, highlighting the high-stakes nature of the conflicts.
• Characters like Goten, Tien, and Gohan have struggled to achieve victories against difficult foes, while facing crucial defeats.
• Despite their losses, characters like Goku and Vegeta demonstrate resilience, pushing themselves to improve and continue fighting.

Dragon Ball is a household name at this point, with many shonen anime fans loving Goku's adventures as he encounters massive foes that must be defeated while reaching new levels of power. This can be achieved through intense training, impressive transformations, effective teamwork and everything else along the same lines.

It's great to see the heroes achieve victory against enemies who gave them a hard time, but the series' most cathartic victories need to be preceded by a few defeats to underline the high-stakes nature of each battle. The toughest enemies in Dragon Ball they can wipe out the competition effortlessly, which is why seeing these antagonists finally get eliminated for good is so satisfying.

8 Son Goten

He has lost 8 of his 12 fights

• Notable losses: VS Trunks, Android 18 and Copy Vegeta

Goten is introduced during the Peaceful World Saga, born when Goku was in self-imposed exile in Heaven. For someone so young, it's impressive to see him unlock the Super Saiyan transformation as a mere kid.

However, this form is admittedly little more than a child's toy at the time of the launch of the Buu Saga, with Vegeta expressing the same opinion. As a result, Goten barely manages to win his fights after his debut Dragon Ball. Even after fusing with Trunks, his form is only relevant for a short time, before stronger opponents join the fray.

7 Tien Shinhan

He has lost 9 of his 20 fights

• Notable losses: VS Goku, Nappa and semi-perfect Cell

Although it has become somewhat of an afterthought Dragon Ball Z as the characters have reached ridiculous levels of strength, Tien manages to remain relevant in some moments. His Tri-Beam barrage against Semi-Perfect Cell is an iconic moment, even if he fails to protect the W.

Tien loses many of his fights with the introduction of Dragon Ball Z. It's a shame, but it's clear that the Terrans got the short end of the stick while the Saiyans became the dominant heroic force in the series.

6 Future Trunks

He has lost 12 of his 21 fights

• Notable losses: VS The Androids, Perfect Cell and Goku Black

Future Trunks is one of the most interesting characters in the series. Watching him humiliate the duo of Frieza and King Cold right before Goku lands on Earth is something fans can't get enough of.

So, it's pretty shocking to see that his win-loss record isn't all that great. This can be attributed to the fact that he lost several battles in his timeline against the Androids and Goku Black, but he more than makes up for it by having his moments shine after training and unlocking new reserves of power against the enemies that gave him an extremely difficult period at the beginning.

5 Son Gohan

He lost 15 of his 41 fights

• Notable losses: VS Nappa, Recoome and Frieza

Gohan is consistently hailed as a fighter of limitless potential who unlocks these reserves of power multiple times throughout the series. Watching him evolve to become an Ascended Super Saiyan after finally letting himself go against Cell is a moment fans can't get enough of.

However, Gohan also tends to ignore his training and focus instead on his academic pursuits, which can lead to frustrating moments where he shuts down and is subsequently humiliated by opponents who punish him for not strengthening his strengths when the world is in peace.

4 Krillin

He lost 15 of his 38 fights

• Notable losses: VS Nappa, Frieza and Perfect Cell

Krillin is the punching bag of the series that everyone loves to make fun of, and it's easy to see why that is. As an Earthling who has failed to power up as much as his fellow Saiyans, Krillin is mostly on the losing side of fights and fails to impress for the majority of the series.

It is primarily used to showcase the might of enemies that stand in his way, but not all of his losses spell doom for the Z Fighters. As traumatic as his death at the hands of Frieza may have been for Goku, it allowed him to channel finally unleash his boundless rage and unlock a transformation that easily defeated the tyrant in humiliating fashion once and for all.

3 Piccolo

He lost 15 of his 34 fights

• Notable losses: VS Goku, Nappa and semi-perfect Cell

Piccolo was a bad guy Dragon Ball for a while before Gohan's tenderness helped him understand the value of friendship. He has since become a loyal ally of the Z Fighters and plays his part in most battles.

However, even though Piccolo powers up quite a bit over the course of the series, his losses slowly increase as more powerful villains join the fray and display their boundless strength by defeating him in battle numerous times. The fact that people still consider him one of the strongest characters in the series shows how justified Piccolo's losses are, solidifying him as one of the strongest characters in the series. Dragon Ballthe best characters.

2 Vegeta

He lost 21 of his 61 fights

• Notable losses: VS Goku, Frieza and Jiren

The Prince of All Saiyans debuted as a vile villain before slowly settling on Earth. He is quite comfortably the second strongest member of Universe 7, a fact that pains him no end.

No matter how hard he tries, he always fails to cross the finish line and is defeated by the final villain, with Goku taking on the role of Earth's savior instead. Vegeta may have racked up a considerable number of casualties, but that's mostly due to the fact that he participates in so many battles throughout the series.

1 Son Goku

He lost 28 of his 133 fights

• Notable losses: VS Raditz, Beerus and Vegeta

Despite having one of the most impressive win-loss records in the series, Goku has been in so many battles Dragon Ball who collected the most defeats in the series. This Saiyan pushes himself to improve again and again, and each defeat motivates him to become stronger.

This is exactly why fans always enjoy when Goku fights against all odds to emerge victorious after being pushed into the ropes time and time again. He's a lovable hero who never gives up, which makes him an easy hero to love Dragon Ball.

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  Dragon Ball

  Release date

  February 26, 1986

  Study

  Toei animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama

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  Dragon Ball Z (1989)

  Release date

  April 26, 1989

  Study

  Toei animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama

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  Dragon Ball Super

  Release date

  July 5, 2015

  Study

  Toei animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama