The PROBLEM With The VILLAINS in Dragon Ball Super

The problem is that there are barely any villains.

I think a major issue left unaddressed in this video is that villains in Super don’t have any major side villains that service the main antagonist of the arcs. For example in Z, Vegeta had Raditz and Nappa. Frieza had Cui, Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu force. Cell had Android’s #19, #20, #17, and #18. Buu had Babidi, Dabura, as well as Babidi’s minions. Each side villain not only acts as an obstacle for the protagonists, but also to further develop the main antagonist. Raditz acts as an almost insurmountable obstacle for the heroes in the beginning, and then reveals that the other saiyans are FAR more powerful than him, creating a sense of worry and dread. Nappa then inspires much fear in the heroes as well as the audience, before revealing that Vegeta is not only stronger than him, but also more merciless and terrifying. Cui showcases how far Vegeta has come, showing how he can instantly defeat someone who was at his level only a short time prior. Dodoria further’s frieza’s character by telling how he destroyed planet Vegeta. Zarbon furthers Frieza’s character by introducing transformations. The ginyu force operates for Frieza much the same as how Nappa did for Vegeta. Android #19 doesn’t help Cell a ton, but Android #20 serves as Cell’s creator, and foreshadows Cell’s sneakiness and skills of evasion. Androids #17 and #18 not only serve as Cell’s goal, but demonstrate how fearsome cell is. If the Androids were powerful and scary enough to lay waste to the future timeline, and Cell was supposed to be even worse, then he must be absolutely horrifying. Buu kinda serves as the opposite as previous villains. Buu isn’t a mastermind or a leader, he’s a timebomb that no one is capable of controlling. Dabura tries to subjugate Buu to Babidi’s will and is immediately destroyed by him. Babidi, who gladly allows his minions to die, is killed by Buu, which lets the monster be able to do anything he wants. These all show how scary and unpredictable Buu is, and how he’s unstoppable by both physical and mental means. Now as for Super Villains, Beerus is unstoppable from the get go and his only partner is Whis, who is generally a pacifist. Frieza returns and only really has the Frieza force, who are largely without any personality. Hit has no personal connection to the rest of the universe 6 group. Goku Black and Zamasu are the same people and are there from the beginning of the arc to the end, so no side villains. Jiren has a connection to Toppo, but really no one else. However, aside from power, no one else is able to further Jiren’s own character aside from the fact he doesn’t really care about his friends. Broly has Paragus with the father-son connection, and it’s honestly the best characterization of an “antagonist” in all of super. Paragus is abusive and harsh, but it’s shown how much Broly loves him in his own way. Moro has the Moro corps but they got like no characterization to them. Granolah has nothing to him, and Gas has the rest of the Heeter family, but they’re non combative and don’t really offer much. Cell Max is completely mindless and the rest of the villains of the super hero arc don’t have any personal connection to him.

The main issue with Super Villains is that there are only 3-4 original DBS villains who are actually villains and not just anti-heroes. Hit, Beerus, Jirin, Granolah, Broly, Gamma 1, and Gamma 2 were just misunderstood anti heroes who all end up becoming good. Frieza is just a carried over villain from Z. The only true DBS original villains are Goku Black/Zamasu, Moro, Gas, and Cell Max (Two of which haven’t even been animated yet). Goku Black, Moro, and Zamasu all function incredibly well as villains and I personally think that they all fit in perfectly with the Z villains. But Gas and Cell Max are very hollow attempts at being true villains, as yes they are evil, Cell Max is just a mindless beast while Gas is just mistreated.

Saying zamasu wasn’t evil is a bit of a stretch 😭

Its the typical shonen problem. Once the characters have done all they need to, the villains can't challenge the characters in any way beyond just using strength. So the show becomes a monster of the week type deal. Frieza was able psychologically compete with Vegeta because of their past. And he was able to compete with Goku because all the morals and lessons Goku learned in the past were actually completely nullified by frieza. Relying on friends? Useless. A fighter can become an elite if he trains hard enough? Hahahaha. Anyone can be a teacher? Goku used all his techniques and none of them worked. Cell had less interactions with the characters but the android's strength forced Vegeta and Trunks into a psychological corner. Buu? Is a monster of the week but Vegeta and Gohan had their development Super's villains are just "Im strong, get stronger so you can beat me"

Good villains started in Dragonball King Piccolo is a OG I feel bad for people who do not start at the start of the story you miss out on so much and have a better understanding of everything.

The problem is, DBZ is story written, story always came first fights and transformations came second to last. Dragon Ball Super on the other hand rushes straight to fights without making any kind of story, it's a hype train made for attracting kids and nothing else

Moro and black are actually good villains

Super only has had THREE new villains in 10 years+ thats insane 1. Frieza (old villain from Z) 2. Zamasu, Goku Black 3. Moro and his goons 4. Gas and the Heaters (no Granolah doesn't count, he is a antagonist)

Good stuff. Always appreciating the points you make in your videos.

Zamasu saga in DBZ would be soo dope!

So much great content You need more subs my man

I generally agree with your point. Dragon Ball Super's villains more are villains of circumstance rather than true villains that need to be dealt with. Obviously Moro is an exception and is my favorite villain of the Super series. I'd even put Moro above Buu as a villain. Granted they are above some OG DB and most GT villains like Pilaf and Super 17. Although antagonists to Goku aren't really a problem as I loved Broly in DBS Broly movie and how his fight was more spurred on by Paragus and then Frieza killing Paragus. Villains like Freiza, Tao Pai Pai, Demon King Piccolo, Vegeta, and Baby stood out for a reason. Not only were they powerful, they gave some incredible fights that forced Goku to push himself to the limit otherwise he risks losing everything he loves

Moro was huge wasted potential, especially his final form with 73. I really wanted more original villains of different species like Z had with the big 3.

The difference between Z and Super is that in Z, it was a personal matter between the Z fighters and villains, i.e vengeance, protection, etc. And someone died in each arc, which made the whole series intense. In addition, to beat the villain, the fighters had to tap into higher power by necessity. The battles were intense with a feel of dread and hopelessness at the beginning. On the other hand, in Super, there was no personal motives to be stronger other than “I need to fight a strong opponent”… ok for what? No one died, no imminent danger, villains become allies, they have help from whis, beerus and zeno, etc. Villains are not scary, no intense periods, build ups were minimal, etc. And it didn’t seem like the fighters gave their all to beat the villains. The closest to a Z villain would have been black goku/zamasu until the end part. They could have made it more interesting if it was like the androids/Cell arc. All in all, Z is for adults and Super is for kids who watch Pokémon, Yugiho, PJ Mask, etc. Hence we couldn’t feel the seriousness in Super. Z felt organic; Super felt like plastic, made in china.

Moro is probably the only super Villian I really like. Has an interesting story, has a reason to be as strong as he is, awesome design and isn’t a bore to listen to

great video bro

nujabes bgm is a big W. subbed

I mean, I not really bothered by the fact that Super has more antagonist than actual villains. In the OG series, while we did have villains like the Pilaf gang and the red ribbon army, they were more like obstacles than an actual threat compared to King Piccolo and his son.

Goku black started great but didnt cook enough to be an icon like he needed more fights like being jumped by Goku, Vegeta and Trunks at once, battle damaged costume, seeing him getting to his corner but zamazu kinda was there to make sure he was safe with his imortality and fusion so he fell off flat afterwards, Morro started great as concept and became a cell ripoff with fusion and senzu bean. JIREN IS NOT A VILLIAN.