Dragon Ball Super Moro arc: 10 most surprising moments ranked

The Moro arc may be the most outlandish story Dragon Ball Super has told. This storyline, also called the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc, ran in the manga illustrated by Toyotaro. Here are my top 10 moments from it that left readers surprised, shocked, pleasantly thrilled or horrified.

This isn't a list of moments I liked. Some of these I loved and some I disliked, and both kinds are here. What ties them together is that each one caught us off guard. My number one is Moro fusing with the Earth itself.

10. The Grand Supreme Kai's return made sense for Moro's story

We hadn't seen the Grand Supreme Kai in Dragon Ball since flashbacks during Dragon Ball Z. Because of the history between him and Moro, he came back in two ways. He appeared in flashbacks, and he also took control of Majin Buu's body. That led to a fun magic-based fight between the Grand Supreme Kai and Moro.

He also showed up at the end of the arc. There, to my surprise, he told Uub to put his hand in the air and donate godly ki to Vegeta's spirit fission technique. It was cool to see this character back in a way that made sense. It did not feel forced, and it connected directly with Moro's story.

9. Piccolo claiming Vegeta never underestimates his opponents

I don't know if Beerus's chopsticks caused brain damage in Piccolo, but this line was mind-blowing. Piccolo said Vegeta never underestimates an opponent. Underestimating opponents is what Vegeta has done from the very beginning of his introduction. Toyotaro flubbed this one, and it shocked me.

If Piccolo had said Vegeta used to underestimate his opponents but had gotten better about it, that would have been more understandable. It would have made more sense. Saying he never does it left me asking: "what manga are you reading Piccolo?" Whatever story he was following, it wasn't this one.

8. Moro switching off Goku and Vegeta's transformations

Transformations have been an integral part of Dragon Ball ever since Goku's Great Ape form in the original series. Moro isn't really turning off the forms. He's draining their energy. When we first saw it, though, it looked like he was simply switching their forms off, and that was a big shocker.

Whichever method he used, he rendered the transformations useless for at least a short time. Moro was the first to do that. In my opinion, it instantly made him far more interesting than many other characters introduced in Dragon Ball Super. He posed a new kind of threat, one Goku and Vegeta would have to beat with a different method instead of transforming, as they had against other opponents.

7. Merus being revealed as an angel

Many of us predicted this one. Some thought Moro was Merus's god of destruction, and some thought Merus was an evil character; that was wrong too. There were teases, though. Back in chapter 42, Merus knocked out Goku and Vegeta. That was shocking in itself, because we had no idea this seemingly weak Galactic Patrol member could do that.

Then we learned he was an angel, or at least an angel trainee. He also had intense and extensive knowledge of Ultra Instinct. He helped Goku hone his skills and eventually master Perfected Ultra Instinct and use it at will. Merus turned out to be a very important part of this arc, and in many ways the best part. He helped Goku evolve as a fighter and, arguably, as a person, although that is up for debate. Either way, he turned out to be a cool character.

6. Moro copying Merus's angel power

This was a shocker, even though many of us predicted that Moro's severed hand would be used to take somebody else's power. We all saw that coming in some form. What I don't think anybody predicted, except maybe a small handful of great prognosticators, was that Moro could copy Merus's power and tap into some angel power.

He didn't get all of it, and his body couldn't maintain it. Moro is a mortal and Merus is an angel, and they're totally different types of beings. Seeing his body get mutated, discombobulated and grimy was cool. That whole event was a big, shocking moment when it happened.

5. Moro brutally crippling the Z Fighters after absorbing Seven-Three's power

This is one of my favorite moments, one I totally loved. When Moro first transformed and got Seven-Three's power, he dismantled the Z Fighters in a violent and bloody way. Gohan took punishment, and so did Piccolo. Moro wrecked them, including ramming his arm through Goku's chest and leaving a huge scar. That was incredible.

The blood and violence were something we hadn't seen from the Dragon Ball Super anime, because of Japanese television restrictions in its time slot. Unfortunately, we may never see that on TV again. It reminded me of the more violent moments of classic Dragon Ball and Z, when things were bloody and gory.

Sometimes you have to use blood and violence to illustrate how dangerous the opponent is and the danger the heroes are in. I think that chapter and that moment illustrated it, and Toyotaro did a great job with it.

4. Moro swallowing Seven-Three whole

We had an idea that Seven-Three would be involved in the finale one way or another. I do feel that after this happened, Moro's character regressed a bit. But the first image of Moro opening his mouth and swallowing Seven-Three was a crazy visual, even before the transformation.

We've seen Cell and Majin Buu absorb people, but it hasn't been quite like this. Moro didn't have to turn him into candy like Majin Buu. He opened his mouth and swallowed him whole. I was eager to see the anime adapt this someday, whenever that might be, so we could see it animated.

3. Goku giving Moro a senzu bean was the arc's most annoying moment

This was the most annoying moment of the arc: Goku giving Moro a senzu bean. By now, "Goku should know that not all villains can be redeemed." For every Piccolo, Vegeta and Tien Shinhan, there's a demon like Kid Buu, who got reincarnated rather than redeemed. There's also Frieza, who was helpful but is still unpleasant, and other characters who are simply evil. Moro is just an evil guy.

Goku not only had mercy on him, which was a mistake in itself, but he also gave him a senzu for no reason. He could have arrested Moro and sent him away. To me that was a boneheaded move, and it wasn't only my opinion; a big part of the community agreed. In my opinion, it was a regression and bad writing for Goku. Luckily, in chapter 66, Goku at least acknowledged he made a mistake.

2. Goku's giant ki hologram finishing Moro in chapter 66

At the end of chapter 66, Goku went in with Ultra Instinct after being restored by the spirit fission energy of Vegeta and everybody else. That included the surprising assist from Uub, who didn't even know what he was doing. It gave Goku the power to create a giant ki image of himself to hold Moro down. Meanwhile, Goku himself came out of its forehead and punched Moro in his crystal forehead, finishing him off once and for all.

This was a brand new ability for Goku, and I thought it was cool visually. Does it make Goku a bit too powerful? I could see that. But it looked great, it was unexpected, and it was a unique finish that I liked. When that image first leaked, everybody was going nuts because nobody understood what was going on, and people made comparisons to other anime and manga. To me it is the second biggest moment of this kind in the entire arc.

1. Moro fusing with the Earth

My number one is Moro fusing with the Earth. We've never seen this before, and it took a lot of nerve for Toyotaro to build the grand climax around it. Moro had no choice, because his body was totally out of whack. He had to fuse himself with the entire planet. So Goku was facing the Earth, controlled by Moro, who was also drawing energy through the planet's gravity.

It was a crazy visual. There were comparisons to Gengar and the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin. Son Goku go up against a planet-sized villain, it's like Unicron. It was a great visual and a great final test for Goku.

There were many problems with the writing in this arc, and there are unquestionably things to nitpick. I still feel this was a great final chapter for Moro and a true new challenge for Goku. He couldn't simply destroy the Earth, because the galaxy was in danger and billions of lives were at stake, maybe more if you count the entire galaxy. If the right animators ever bring these moments to the anime, it could be quite a treat.