7 Underrated Dragon Ball Z Fights That Deserve a Second Look

Dragon Ball Z has plenty of famous fights, but there are seven slept on battles that I think people need to go back and revisit. They aren't the major clashes fans talk about all the time, but they were a lot of fun and they were awesome.

A big reason Dragon Ball Z became such a huge hit all over the world is the fights. The story, the comedy and the characters are all very important, but most Dragon Ball fans probably got into it through these crazy cosmic battles across the universe. In the '90s there were very few shows, if any, that had fights like this. They were incredible and so much fun as a kid or young adult, and they're still fun today. Everyone has their favorites: Gohan versus Cell, Goku versus Frieza, Goku versus Vegeta or Majin Vegeta. I'm not talking about any of those here.

A couple of things before I start. These aren't in a countdown order, and you should go back to all seven. I'm also only talking about Dragon Ball Z, not Super, not GT and not the original Dragon Ball.

Vegeta versus Recoome in Episode 64 was absolute brutality

I'm beginning with a fight from the Frieza saga that I absolutely adore: Vegeta versus Recoome of the Ginyu Force. This was "absolute brutality" at the time. The show built Recoome up as an unbeatable monster. Vegeta had just easily finished off Guldo, and then here comes Recoome.

Vegeta, fighting alongside Gohan and Krillin, does his best, but Recoome was an absolute tank and too much for him. Vegeta threw everything he had at him, while Recoome hit back with attacks like his eraser gun. This guy was an absolute beast.

What makes this episode great isn't just the choreography but the amazing artwork and animation. The key animators included Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, and you can tell, because his style is all over it. Get out your Blu-ray or DVD and go back to this one episode: Dragon Ball Z episode 64.

Gohan versus Dabura showed a villain with wasted potential

Next I go to the Majin Buu saga with Dragon Ball Z episodes 226 and 227. The fight starts in 226, but the majority of it is in 227. It's Gohan versus the demon king Dabura. It's a great fight because it's the first time we actually see Gohan taking a fight seriously since the Cell saga. But as Vegeta notes, this isn't the same Gohan. He hasn't trained during the seven year time skip and isn't as impressive as Vegeta thought he was.

What I find interesting is that the fight itself is still a lot of fun because of all of Dabura's cool techniques. He can spit a kind of magic spit that turns you to stone, he's got flame breath, and he's got a sword. He was always built up as a serious threat. Even as a kid, I kind of wished they had built him up more and maybe given him his own arc, because he has so many cool techniques and he's so fun to see fighting.

Animation wise, I think episode 227 was done well, and it's still fun to this day. Go back to the last few minutes of 226 and to 227. Honestly, it's really the only time we see Dabura actually getting into a real fight. I don't count the Majin Buu stuff. This is him actually in combat, and I wish we got more of him. It's "totally wasted potential."

Fat Buu versus Evil Buu in Episode 255 was short but a lot of fun

Another fight from the Majin Buu saga comes a bit further down the road. It's short, but it's fun, and it has a personal connection for me. This fight was the first thing I ever saw from the Majin Buu saga. I was in ninth grade in high school, and a friend of mine had a bootleg Japanese fan sub of this episode. I was only up to the Frieza saga in English and Spanish, and I couldn't believe how awesome the Buu saga was. I even thought Dende was Piccolo's son. I didn't recognize him as Dende from Namek. That's how naive I was back then.

The episode is Dragon Ball Z episode 255: Fat Buu versus skinny Buu, good Buu versus evil Buu. In the previous episode, Fat Buu, angry because Mr. Satan was presumably killed, expels the evil from his body, which creates the evil skinny Buu. The two have a fight that I think is pretty fun.

I wish it had gone on longer, because we didn't get enough of this skinny gray Buu. I actually have an action figure of him because I love the way he looks. By the end of the episode both Majin Buus are gone, and we're left with Super Buu, who is looking for a fight. If you want a good fight, episode 255 is short but a lot of fun.

Piccolo versus second form Frieza is the best Piccolo fight of the Frieza saga

Back to the Frieza saga for Piccolo versus second form Frieza. Nobody talks about this fight, and it was a lot of fun. It's in Dragon Ball Z episodes 80 and 81, and maybe a little bit of 82. Piccolo had just come back to life after Gohan wished him back, and he fuses with Nail. That creates a super Namekian, which is what he's called anyway.

He faces off against second form Frieza, who had been plowing through Krillin, Vegeta and Gohan and almost killing them, leaving them at his mercy. This newly powered Piccolo goes in and has a really fun fight with Frieza. Frieza busts out some new techniques, and Piccolo is extremely confident.

I picked this fight because it's really the best Piccolo fight in the Frieza saga. There aren't many of them, truth be told, but I love seeing Piccolo as a force to be reckoned with again. It wasn't the last time we saw him like that; that would probably be his fight with 17 in the Cell saga. Here, Piccolo is an absolute beast and so confident in beating Frieza. Unfortunately for him, Frieza's third form was too much, but at this point Piccolo was a huge threat to the alien emperor.

Base form Gotenks versus Fat Buu is probably my favorite filler fight

The next fight isn't even in the manga. It's filler only, and it's probably my favorite filler only, non manga fight in all of Dragon Ball Z: episode 251, with Gotenks, fresh off learning how to fuse and in his base form, taking on Fat Buu.

They fight at a pier or dock, and Gotenks goes in super overconfident because of everything Goku said about fusion, and because Gotenks himself is just super arrogant. He's utterly demolished by Fat Buu. This fight is great because it shows that Gotenks's overconfidence was his weakness. He thought Fat Buu was going to be candy for him, no pun intended, and he ends up going home licking his wounds, literally bruised up.

Even though Super Buu and Super Gotenks are both stronger, seeing base Gotenks fight Fat Buu, and seeing Fat Buu not even sweat it, is great to me. The choreography is a lot of fun, and there's a little bit of comedy but not too much. I think it balances out pretty well. I really love revisiting this episode every couple of years, because this one self contained episode is a blast and has everything I love about Dragon Ball.

Android 16 versus first form Cell is the only time 16 really fights

You might be wondering whether the Cell saga has any underrated fights. It definitely does, and the one I'm picking is Android 16 versus first form Cell, from Dragon Ball Z episode 151 and a little bit of 152. I love this fight. It's the only time we really see 16 fight, and fight seriously.

We see the rocket punch, and we see him take on first form Cell after Cell had just demolished Piccolo and absorbed a whole bunch of people. Seeing 16 fight is just very special. He comes off as the silent warrior we never saw fight, and here we finally see what he can do. It's a blast, no pun intended.

The animation team included Tadayoshi Yamamuro. Go back to this one and you'll see why it's so great, and maybe you'll appreciate 16 a bit more.

Goku and Piccolo versus Raditz kicked off Dragon Ball Z with a war of attrition

The last fight, again in no particular order, is one some folks talk about but not enough: the first real fight in Dragon Ball Z, the world's strongest team against Raditz. It runs across the majority of Dragon Ball Z episodes 2, 3, 4 and 5.

This fight felt like a war of attrition. Goku and Piccolo had just headlined the end of the previous series in the anime version, the main good guy and the main bad guy, and here they team up against an alien menace who is Goku's brother and, at the time, so much stronger than them. Raditz has become a meme over the years, but people forget how hard he was to beat. I absolutely love the animation style, with Minoru Maeda carrying over the classic, youthful Dragon Ball look for Goku and Piccolo.

We see Piccolo bust out the Makankosappo, the Special Beam Cannon, for the first time. It was a move he wanted to use to kill Goku, and he did kill Goku, but not before Goku sacrificed himself for the betterment of the world and for Gohan. Gohan also shines here, and it's the first time we see his hidden potential in Dragon Ball Z. Then there's the brutality: Piccolo loses an arm, and Goku's ribs are broken. The fight took everything out of them. Raditz shoved them down and humbled them, and as he's about to die, he tells them more Saiyans are coming within a year. And with that, Dragon Ball Z kicks off.

What is your favorite underrated fight in Dragon Ball Z?