The 12 Best Dragon Ball Z Episodes

As far as anime shows go, few are more popular worldwide than "Dragon Ball Z," with the long-running franchise remaining an immortal hit amongst fans worldwide. Created by the late great Akira Toriyama, "DBZ," as it's commonly referred to, is the sequel to the original "Dragon Ball" anime that ran until 1989. Just as "Dragon Ball" chronicled its martial arts protagonist Goku growing up, "DBZ" showcases his adult life as he raises a family of his own. Of course, Goku's home life is overshadowed by the increased emphasis on escalating battles throughout the story. Seriously, "DBZ" is all about powerscaling!

Running for 291 episodes from 1989 to 1996, "DBZ" served as the perfect gateway anime for international audiences and is available to stream on platforms like Crunchyroll. From Goku and his allies transforming into progressively more powerful combat states to epic twists and battles, there are several episodes that stand out from the rest. With that in mind, we've compiled our personal favorites, using the original episode numbering, but under the official English-language dub produced by Funimation. Here are the 12 best "Dragon Ball Z" episodes in the order that they aired.

From the series' opening fight against Goku's evil brother Raditz, it was clear that the fights in "DBZ" were going to be more explosive and fantastic than the preceding show. The culmination of this inciting promise took place with Goku's showdown against Vegeta, prince of the Saiyan race that Goku and Raditz belonged to. Reputed to be the strongest surviving Saiyan, Vegeta challenged Goku to a duel for the fate of Earth after his associate Nappa killed many of Goku's friends. While spanning multiple episodes, the highlight of this fight is in "Saiyan Sized Secret," with Goku unleashing the Kaio-Ken technique to amplify his strength and surpass Vegeta.

Compared to the one-sided battle against Raditz, Goku and Vegeta's first fight is more evenly matched, at least while Goku relies on Kaio-Ken and Vegeta stays in his human form. Even with the increased magnitude of the subsequent skirmishes, this confrontation remains a celebrated battle and a clear marker of how much "Dragon Ball" had escalated in the "DBZ" era. Narratively, it also informed the deep rivalry between the two warriors, with Vegeta vowing to reclaim his spot as the strongest Saiyan for years. An important and often referenced chapter in the saga, episode 31 raised the bar for the entire franchise.

One of the recurring hallmarks in all "Dragon Ball" shows is Goku arriving in the nick of time -– or just too late –- to save his friends from superior foes. The best instance of this in "DBZ" is in the episode "Goku's New Power" which has Goku land on the faraway planet of Namek. As the villainous Frieza's elite Ginyu Force nearly kills Goku's son Gohan, his friend Krillin, and Vegeta, Goku swoops in and rescues them all. Facing Recoome, the enemy who relentlessly overwhelmed the trio, Goku nonchalantly fells the fighter with a single blow leaving Vegeta in awe of his rival's increased strength.

Even though viewers know that Goku is going to make it to the battlefield to save Gohan and the others, that build-up is still masterfully done. Goku's landing on Namek was a long time coming and his arrival lives up to expectations, completely undeterred by the seemingly unbeatable Ginyu Force. The episode also shows just enough of Goku's upgraded potential to hint that he's reached a whole new plateau of power, enticing viewers to stay tuned. With Goku now on Namek, the Frieza storyline kicks into high gear as the series' biggest battles loom ahead.

In a lot of ways, Vegeta is the most complex "Dragon Ball" character, evolving from merciless antagonist to reluctant antihero, and finally to ally and genuine friend. Vegeta is at his most sympathetic in the episode "The End of Vegeta," allowing himself to be emotionally vulnerable to Goku as he faces his death. Beaten to a pulp before being mortally wounded by Frieza, Vegeta reveals to Goku that Frieza wiped out the Saiyans, begging him to stop Frieza's villainy as he dies. In a show of respect, Goku takes the time to quietly bury Vegeta before returning his focus to Frieza for their grand showdown.

Given how unshakably arrogant Vegeta can be, for a single episode to suddenly turn him into a tragic figure is great character-based storytelling. Seeing Vegeta tearfully beg for Goku to avenge their race is as emotional as the Saiyan Prince gets, with Goku finally accepting his extraterrestrial heritage in response. The episode also leaves a great cliffhanger, with Goku finally facing Frieza in what is the longest single battle in "DBZ." Both providing a seemingly final send-off for Vegeta and setting the stage for a climactic fight, episode 86 is an effectively pivotal installment.

Ever since Goku arrived on Namek, there were rumblings from Vegeta that he had ascended to become a Super Saiyan, a legendary fighter in Saiyan history. The prestige of the Super Saiyans was also attributed as Frieza's motivation for destroying their home planet and nearly making the warrior race extinct, afraid of new Super Saiyans emerging. After false starts, Goku's ascension as a Super Saiyan finally comes to pass in the aptly titled episode "Transformed at Last." After Frieza murders Goku's best friend Krillin and grievously wounds his ally Piccolo, Goku is overcome with pure rage and transforms into a Super Saiyan with a mighty roar.

"Dragon Ball" has become somewhat defined by its combat transformations, influencing similar power-ups in other anime and video games. Even with stronger Super Saiyan forms appearing later in "DBZ," there are few moments as memorably chilling as Goku's very first Super Saiyan transformation. Frieza surviving Goku's all-out attack before attacking his friends instills a sense of dread that moves into uncertainty as Goku moves into a rage-filled form. As the first Super Saiyan in the series, viewers were unsure how much of the pure-hearted Goku was left as this twist shifted the battle's balance into excitingly unexpected territory.

After dozens of episodes of build-up, Goku finally achieved the Super Saiyan transformation in the closing moments of the 95th episode. The following installment, "Explosion of Anger," finally showcases what a Super Saiyan is capable of as Goku resumes his explosive battle against Frieza. The galactic despot is shocked that he is now completely outmatched by the Saiyan he was recently dominating on the battlefield, with Goku shrugging off Frieza's most lethal attacks. Meanwhile, Gohan tries to get the wounded Piccolo to safety while Master Roshi is able to sense the significant changes to Goku all the way from Earth.

Prior to Goku's transformation, his fight against Frieza saw him steadily losing ground and stamina as the latter only took the encounter more seriously and got stronger. "Explosion of Anger" completely reverses the power dynamic while heavily hinting that Goku's new form comes at a potentially sinister cost to his pure-hearted demeanor. This underlying tension and mystery is underscored by Goku angrily snapping at Gohan and Roshi quickly detecting something may have gone wrong for his former star pupil. A blend of triumph and mounting unease over Goku's transformation, "Explosion of Anger" puts the climax between Goku and Frieza's long-running battle into motion.

Though Goku had presumably killed Frieza on Namek, the Z-Fighters were shocked to discover that not only was the tyrant still alive, but he had been upgraded with cybernetic enhancements. Swearing revenge, Frieza and his father King Cold led an army directly to Earth, with the heroes realizing they were grossly outmatched as Goku had not yet returned from space. This impending disaster was abruptly averted by the appearance of a mysterious youth who single-handedly cut down the interstellar army. In the episode "Another Super Saiyan?," the young man shocks everyone by transforming into a Super Saiyan and easily annihilates Frieza quicker and more definitively than Goku had.

Before the arrival of Future Trunks, it was assumed that Goku was the only Super Saiyan as the culmination of a long-standing legend. Trunks not only blows that assumption out of the water, but he does what took Super Saiyan Goku multiple episodes to do, killing Frieza, with complete ease. More than just introducing a fan-favorite character, the episode sets up the next major "DBZ" saga and lets viewers know the story is about to get a whole lot bigger. With his smug swagger and mastery with a sword, a rarity in the franchise, Trunks gets the coolest introduction of any "Dragon Ball" character here.

To face the killer androids and the time-traveling supervillain Cell, the Z-Fighters had trained hard for a way to surpass the conventional limits of Super Saiyans. This led to significant improvements for Vegeta, Trunks, and Goku, but Gohan quietly became the strongest of them all as the first to achieve the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. Realizing he was completely outmatched, Cell decided to self-destruct, intending to destroy Earth along with Gohan and the rest of the Z-Fighters rather than accept defeat. Left without options, Goku decided to sacrifice himself to save the world and his friends by teleporting him and Cell off-world in the episode "A Hero's Farewell."

At this point, Goku was no stranger to death but his heroic sacrifice to stop Cell is one the most emotionally poignant moments in the entire "Dragon Ball" franchise. Seeing Goku realize what he has to do and bid farewell to his friends and son, not in bitterness but with a wry smile, is a heartbreaking turn. It also signals him tacitly bestowing the mantle of Earth's protector to Gohan, though he would eventually return to reclaim this informal position. As raw as "Dragon Ball" gets, "A Hero's Farewell" set the emotional bar for the franchise moving forward that has rarely been met.

Even as noble as Goku's sacrifice was, it was ultimately a stalling tactic, at least in terms of decisively defeating Cell once and for all. Regenerating from his self-destruction more powerful than ever, Cell returns to Earth, casually murdering Trunks before a wounded Gohan steps up as the last hope in ending the villain. The conclusion to this confrontation comes to a head in the episode "Save the World," with Goku coaching his son from the afterlife to believe in himself and overcome Cell. This culminates in a beam clash between Gohan and Cell, with the Super Saiyan 2 obliterating Cell through Goku's advice and timely intervention from Vegeta.

If "A Hero's Farewell" is the bittersweet end of Goku, "Save the World" is the victorious moment signaling his sacrifice wasn't in vain as Cell is destroyed for good. Goku's post-mortem return also has a reassuring quality for the characters and audiences, reminding them that he is still very much a part of this story. Gohan's tenure as the franchise's protagonist wouldn't last all that long in the grand scheme of the series, but this episode does feel like a coming-of-age moment for him. The climactic end to the Cell saga, "Save the World" is a blend of action and emotional triumph.

Vegeta's redemption was always a complicated one, begrudgingly siding with the Z-Fighters to take on mutual threats while biding his time for a rematch against Goku. Though this selfish ambition was sidelined by Goku's death against Cell, Vegeta finally got his chance when Goku returned to Earth seven years later. Allowing himself to become possessed and empowered by the evil wizard Babidi, Vegeta's return to villainy led him to gleefully attack innocent civilians to goad Goku into a fight. In the episode "Vegeta's Pride," Vegeta reveals his motivations for this, with Goku finally agreeing to indulge the Saiyan Prince in a long-awaited fight.

The full depths of Vegeta's animosity towards Goku is unveiled in "Vegeta's Pride," something that had almost become a recurring one-note trait for the character. This episode explores the complexity of that motivation along with Vegeta finally embracing his bad boy roots one last time. That Goku finally agrees to a duel, against the wishes of the divine Supreme Kai, further fuels the anticipation brimming throughout this episode. With Goku and Vegeta both going Super Saiyan 2, the table was set for an epic rematch between the two rivals, one that gave "DBZ" its arguable best battle.

Vegeta's jealousy of Goku isn't exclusively over their strength and combat prowess, but also more complicatedly over Goku's noble nature, particularly his sacrifice against Cell. After incapacitating Goku with a dirty move, Vegeta tries to replicate this heroic act for himself in the episode "Final Atonement." Beaten within an inch of his life by the revived villain Majin Buu, Vegeta decides to blow himself up and take his new adversary with him. Leaving his and Goku's sons in the care of Piccolo, Vegeta proceeds with this plan, despite Piccolo warning him one selfless act won't redeem him for a lifetime of villainy.

"Final Atonement" is the last purge of the more antagonistic side of Vegeta, purified by self-destructive fire as he dies in one last explosive move against Majin Buu. Vegeta gets his own heartfelt last moments with his son, finally embracing Trunks as his own before moving his plan into motion. That he does this even after Piccolo's observation about his tainted soul underscores the melancholic beauty over the moment. Goku and Vegeta approach their own sacrificial strategies differently, but "Final Atonement" gives the Saiyan Prince his tragic due.

When Goku and Vegeta had their rematch, they fought evenly as Super Saiyan 2s, a transformation that took them both years to achieve. The episode "Super Saiyan 3?!" revealed that Goku had secretly ascended further, unlocking the long-haired third Super Saiyan form while training in the afterlife. Fighting Majin Buu to stall for time for Trunks, Goku unveiled his latest transformation in one of the most epic sequences in the series. Radically changing his physical appearance and power level, Super Saiyan 3 Goku then pummeled Buu as the hype behind this form quickly proved warranted.

If there were any lingering doubts that Goku is the strongest character in anime as a whole, they were dismissed by epic events like his Super Saiyan 3 transformation. Other characters would get more powerful forms of their own, but this episode is a reminder that Goku always leads the way in terms of sheer strength among the heroes. And what a showcase for Goku's strength this episode is, with the prolonged transformation sequence so primally victorious that it's easily one of the franchise's best. The Majin Buu saga is one of the more uneven storylines in "Dragon Ball" but Goku introducing Super Saiyan 3 is a definite highlight in the latter episodes of "DBZ."

The culmination of Vegeta's character arc throughout "DBZ," the episode "Vegeta's Respect" takes place during the series' last major battle as Goku fights Majin Buu's final form. After Buu dismissively bests Vegeta in combat, Goku steps in as Super Saiyan 3 for a grueling brawl against the pink villain. Watching his longtime rival fight Buu, Vegeta reflects on his entire relationship with Goku, from their own opening duel to the example Goku leads among his friends. As the showdown against Buu intensifies, Vegeta finally admits that Goku is better than him, urging him to destroy Buu and save the universe.

The developments in this episode are a long time coming, particularly in regard to Vegeta's moral growth and his burgeoning friendship with Goku. The episode also gives both Goku and Vegeta the chance to get in on the action, including another great showcase for Goku at Super Saiyan 3. Vegeta's memories and observations of Goku really connect this to the wider history of "DBZ," especially with the series nearly reaching 300 episodes at the time. A capper on the greatest rivalry in anime, "Vegeta's Respect" shows how to payoff on long-building character development masterfully.