Dragon Ball TV Anime Series - Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball is Toei’s animated adaptation of the highly successful hit manga Dragon Ball by renowned manga author Akira Toriyama. Beginning it’s televised run in 1986 and ending in with an incredible 153 episodes in 1989, Dragon Ball became a pop culture phenomenon in Japan. It wasn’t until the international release of Dragon Ball Z some years later that Dragon Ball found a greater appreciation overseas despite its popularity in Japan.

Dragon Ball was originally a manga called Dragon Boy about a young boy on an adventure to safely return a princess home before being re-imagined as Dragon Ball. The story uses elements of the Chinese “Journey to the West” such as the monkey king Sun Wukong that can be seen in the monkey-tailed main character of Dragon Ball, Son Goku.

The story follows the adventures of protagonist Son Goku, an inhumanly strong little boy and his friends as they search for the legendary Dragon Balls, collecting all seven of which grants the user a single wish. The series begins with a young Goku fishing and going about his daily activities as he encounters a young woman in a car. Thinking the car is a monster, Goku attacks and wrecks the car with his power pole. The girl in the car happens to be Bulma, who is searching for the Dragon Balls in order to wish for the perfect boyfriend. Goku is tricked into going with her and the story unfolds.

Sagas

According to Toei there are four story arcs in Dragon Ball, referred to as sagas. However in other iterations the Sagas can be broken down further into nine distinct sagas.

Emperor Pilaf Saga (Episodes 1–13)
Tournament Saga (Episodes 14–28)
Red Ribbon Army Saga (Episodes 29–45)
General Blue Saga (Episodes 46–57)
Commander Red Saga (Episodes 58–67)
Fortuneteller Baba Saga (Episodes 68–83)
Tien Shinhan Saga (Episodes 84–101)
King Piccolo Saga (Episodes 102–122)
Piccolo Jr. Saga (Episodes 123–153)

Emperor Pilaf Saga

Goku having finished his chores for the day is ready to head home with the fish he caught is run over by Bulma. Angered he attacks her car with his power pole wrecking it. Goku finds out that Bulma is actually a normal human and at that, not a threat but a friend. They head to his house where Bulma finds his grandfather's four-star dragon ball. She persuades Goku to join her in finding all seven Dragon Balls. Before setting up camp for the night in a capsule house they are attacked by a hungry dinosaur which goku handily fends off with his unnatural strength and combat skills. Goku finds a turtle outside and he and Bulma help the turtle get to the sea. On the way they defeat a giant Bear-like bandit. The turtle told the two to wait while he comes back with a reward for helping him and so later returns with Master Roshi (also known as Turtle Hermit) on his back. Master Roshi gives Goku the Flying Nimbus for his help and Bulma his Dragon Ball for a flash of her pants.

Next the pair arrive in a small village that's being terrorized by a monster that keeps stealing all the young maidens. Goku goes to fight the monster only to find that it’s actually a perverted shape-shifting pig called Oolong. The villagers are relieved, Bulma receives a Dragon Ball as a reward and forces Oolong to join the party believing his technique could come in handy. He initially protests the idea but is controlled by a special medicine that makes him rush to the bathroom whenever someone says the word “piggy”. Continuing on their journey Bulma loses all of her capsules forcing the team to walk. In the heat of the desert they are traversing Bulma passes out due to heat exhaustion and the team are come upon by the infamous desert bandit Yamcha and his shape-shifting sidekick Puar. Goku puts up a fight with his power pole and Jan Ken technique but is quickly knocked back by Yamcha’s Wolf Fang Fist. Injured and tired but not knocked out, Goku returns to an angry Yamcha. Just as the fight is about to reach its climax Bulma wakes up forcing Yamcha, who has a profound fear of women to flee in terror.

Yamcha finds the team later in Oolong’s camper as Bulma is taking a shower and Goku and Oolong are discussing the Dragon Balls. Yamcha overhears the conversation and decides to make the Dragon Balls his new target. After knocking out both Goku and Bulma with a tranquilizer and attempting to steal the Dragon Balls, Oolong botches the attempt when he is lured outside in the form of Bulma by Puar who is in the form of Goku. Yamcha then also botches his attempt to steal the Dragon Balls when he sees the real bulma lying naked in bed and again has to flee. The next day after recovering from his shock and unable to steal the Dragon Balls, Yamcha decides to take them by force by blowing up the camper with a bazooka. Bulma now dressed in a bunny suit is knocked out and Goku begins his attack knocking out one of Yamcha's teeth in the process. Yamcha realizes Goku is much stronger than the last time they fought and soon surrenders instead giving the team a car with a tracker inside as an apology.

The next Dragon Ball is found at Fire Mountain in the possession of the mighty Ox-King. After seeing the nimbus Ox-King asks Goku to fetch the Bansho Fan from Master Roshi with his daughter (and Goku’s future wife) Chi-Chi. Master Roshi admits to having thrown the fan away accidentally a long time ago and instead heads to the Fire Mountain to extinguish the flames surrounding Ox-King’s home with a Kamehameha. Goku then tried the Kamehameha himself successfully, shocking everyone spectating and destroying the car Yamcha gave them. Ox-King was grateful for the assistance and gave them not only a Dragon Ball but also a car with which to continue their adventure.

Running low on gas the team stopped at a small town in which the residents all feared Bulma on account of the bunny suit she was still wearing. After removing the bunny suit the townspeople realized she was in fact not a part of the rabbit gang that was terrorizing the town. The rabbit boss appeared and turned Bulma in a carrot forcing Goku and Oolong to take action. After an arduous fight with Boss Rabbit and rabbit gang, Goku manages to have him turn Bulma back into a human and then blasts the gang off to the moon with his power pole.

As the team gathers up all of the Dragon Balls they are captured by Emperor Pilaf and his two assistants following many embarrassingly unsuccessful attempts. Using sleeping gas Pilaf takes the Dragon Balls from the team and goes to summon Shenron to make his wish of world domination. Before he can make the frightful wish Oolong shouts out his wish for the most comfortable pair of girls panties in the world. As the panties fall from the sky onto Oolong’s head, the dragon disappears and the balls scatter into the sky Pilaf in a rage locks the team up in a jail.

In their captivity Goku recounts the story of his grandfather’s passing. How he was crushed by a giant ferocious beast one night when the moon was full. Goku then sees a full moon himself and begins to transform into his great ape form destroying the jail and subsequently the rest of the castle. Pilaf and his goons manage to escape in a plane as the castle is reduced to ruins. While this allows the team to escape too, they are also unable to move on without helping their dear friend Goku. Puar shape-shifts into a pair of scissors to remove Goku’s tail returning him to his human form. Goku wakes up confused, naked and unable to balance without his tail. The team agrees to never tell Goku that he caused the death of his grandfather after witnessing the correlation between his story and the events of the previous night. Oolong gives Goku some pants to wear and Yamcha and Bulma decide they don’t need the Dragon Balls to wish for a partner as they have each other and agree to become a couple. Bulma gives Goku the dragon radar and tells him the Dragon Balls will return in exactly one year. Goku heads off on the nimbus to train with Master Roshi.

Tournament Saga

At Kame House (Master Roshi’s house) Goku asks Roshi to become his teacher. Refusing, he claims he hasn’t had students in a very long time and if Goku can bring him a girl, he might accept. Goku brings a mermaid and a fat woman, both of which Roshi rejects. Krillin then also appears on the island seeking martial arts instruction, bribing Roshi with erotic magazines. The pair head off in search of a woman for Roshi and return with Launch, a blonde haired bank robber. Roshi accepts the pair as students and they begin a grueling regimen including milk delivery and plowing fields. Eight months later they head to the World Martial Arts Tournament. They reach the quarter finals with relative ease. The first match is Krillin against Bacterian, the stinkiest, most disgusting fighter in the world. Using his foul body odor and fat body to overwhelm Krillin, the situation seems dire until Goku reminds Krilin that he doesn’t actually have a nose, at which point Krillin makes a miraculous recovery and defears Bacterian (with a fart no less).

The next major battle is Yamcha versus Jackie Chun. Jackie Chun is actually Master Roshi in disguise, joining the tournament to ensure that his students don’t win and develop inflated egos. Yamcha can’t land any hits on the obviously incredibly skillful Jackie Chun and is quickly defeated by the wind pressure from Jackie Chun's attack knocking him out of the ring. Roshi uses telepathy to read the mind of the next fighter Nam and discovers his village is poor and suffering from drought. Nam faces a female fighter called Ranfan who strips down to her underwear to force the male opponent out of the ring, but Nam as desperate as he is, closes his eyes and knocks her out. Goku is then faced with a giant dragon-looking fighter called Giran. Giran attempts to beat Goku by ring out but Goku uses the nimbus to get back to the ring followed by a warning that another use of the nibus would result in a disqualification. Giran then binds goku in gum and again tries to ring out him again until Goku grabs onto Girans arm with his newly regrown tail. Goku powers up and destroys a wall to which Giran surrenders. Next up is Krillin versus Jackie chun. While Krillin is strong from the training, he is still no match for Jackie Chun. Krillin uses a pair of pants and tricks Chun into a near ring out. Using a Kamehameha Chun makes his way back into the ring and defeats Krillin using the afterimage technique.

Nam versus Goku is the next battle. Goku manages to ring out Nam after the pair both use aerial attacks on eachother. Before leaving though Chun gives Nam a capsule full of water for his village and in return asks him to pose as Master Roshi so that Goku and Krillin would not suspect his true identity.

The last battle is Goku against Jackie Chun, both fighters showcase exceptional skills. Angered at being hurt by Goku, Chun uses his electrical attack and as it all seems to be over for young Goku, he sees the full moon and transforms. Puar transforms to cut off his tail again as Roshi destroys the moon with a Kamehameha. The two continue their fight with kicks and punches until neither can stand. The first to stand and claim the title of world champion would be declared the winner and as Goku stands, he passes out before he can make the claim. Jackie Chun then gets to his feet, albeit slowly and makes the claim to the world title.

Red Ribbon Saga

While Goku continues his journey to find the Dragon Balls he finds competition with not only Emperor Pilaf but also the military force, The Red Ribbon Army, also seeking world domination via the Dragon Balls. Coincidentally, all three end up in the same town. They end up then in the town where Ox-King and Chi-Chi are living after chasing a dinosaur that had eaten the Dragon Ball. Pilaf manages to retrieve the Dragon Ball and escape while Goku is betrothed to Chi-Chi not understanding what marriage is and agrees to marry when he comes back. Colonel Silver of the RR Army forces Pilaf to hand over the Dragon Ball he had successfully retrieved. Goku finds another Dragon Ball but is set upon by Colonel Silver and has his nimbus destroyed by a bazooka. He quickly dispatches Silver though and continues his mission. Silver returns to base and is ordered to be executed for his failure by General White.

Goku uses a capsule he found to travel but crashes in Jingle Village where he is helped by a small girl calle Suni. He hears of the RR army building nearby called Muscle Tower and how they are holding their village chief hostage there. Two RR Army soldiers then burst in and Goku beats them up before heading to Muscle Tower. Goku arrives at Muscle Tower and fights through various levels of the tower featuring a different set of enemies each time including normal soldiers, a giant android (that strongly resembles Arnold Schwarzennegger), a ninja called Murasaki and a Frankenstein’s monster klooking monster called Hacchan (android 8). Android 8 eventually becomes Goku’s friend because he hates violence and badness. Goku is faced however with a rather evil creature called Buyon, whose large fat body nullifies almost all of Goku’s attacks completely, including the Kamehameha. Goku thinks quickly as android 8 is about to be eaten, breaks the wall in the room allowing a freezing wind to enter and freezes Buyons body allowing Goku to shatter it with a kick. Moving up in the tower, Goku and Hacchan encounter General White who tries to fight Goku to no avail. He then tricks Goku and shoots him in the head, which hurts Goku and knocking him unconscious makes Hacchan angry enough to knock General White out of the building and into the distance.

Android 8 gives Goku a Dragon Ball which is then stolen by the still living Murasaki. Goku chases him up the mountain and manages to catch him with a Kamehameha before retrieving the stolen ball. Murasaki is then killed accidentally when Goku throws away the bomb that Dr. Flappe removes from Hacchan and it lands on him. Goku is told his nimbus can’t be destroyed and so calls for his nimbus and heads to find Bulma. The two then head out with Bulma shrunk and inside Goku’s pocket since she can’t ride on the nimbus.

General Blue Saga

Goku gets his radar fixed by Bulma and they head to the ocean to find the first Dragon Ball. Bulma is threatened by two red ribbon soldiers before Goku quickly handles them. The pair borrow a submarine from Master Roshi and go to find the Dragon Ball. General Blue, a highly revered soldier in the red Ribbon Army learns of Goku and his activities and sends a team to Master Roshi’s house to capture him and the Dragon Ball thinking he is a professor. Roshi deals quickly with the team until Launch is taken hostage. Turtle however, brushes her nose with a leaf causing her to sneeze and turn into her violent dangerous blonde form. Launch quickly destroys her captors.

Now being pursued underwater by General Blue, Goku, Krillin and Bulma take refuge in an abandoned pirate cave. Inside they evade many dangerous traps and Goku faces off against a pirate robot. General Blue eventually catches up to Krillin and Bulma and Krillin challenges him to a fight. Krillin loses badly and as he is about to be killed by Blue, Goku attacks. Both Goku and Krillin rendered incapable of fighting due to Blue’s telekinesis and muscle paralysis technique are about to be finished off when a rat runs by. Blue, horrified by the sight of the rodent temporarily releases his technique allowing Goku a brief moment to land a decisive blow. The team escapes as the cave falls in on Blue who narrowly survives and takes chase once more. The team is followed by Blue to Master Roshi’s house where he ties them all up with a rope telekinetically and leaves a bomb next to them before stealing their Dragon Balls and leaving in a plane. Launch arrives in the nick of time and frees them, Goku throwing the bomb up into the air and saving everyone's lives. Taking to the skies Goku chases after Blue causing both to crash land near Penguin village. The two continue their chase and fight and end up battling at Dr. Norimaki’s house. Arale saves Goku by headbutting Blue into the sky allowing Goku to retrieve his Dragon Balls and head back on his way after receiving a new dragon radar from Turbo Norimaki. Blue lands in a desert with Goku’s dragon radar in his possession and returns back to the Red Ribbon Army base.

Commander Red Saga

The four-star Dragon Ball is launched by a volcano into a small village in the Land of Korin. The Red Ribbon Army head to the village to retrieve the Dragon Ball but are confronted by the protector of the land, Bora. Desperate, Captain Yellow takes Bora’s son Upa hostage. Just then Goku shows up and defeats Captain Yellow with ease. As a reward he is given the four-star Dragon Ball. Blue returns to his base and is faced against Mercenary Tao as a test of Tao’s ability and a punishment for failure. Tao easily kills General Blue despite his telekinetic abilities and heads to the village to get the Dragon Ball and kill Goku. Tao arrives to kill Goku but is confronted by Bora whom he quickly dispatches. Goku is furious but is defeated swiftly by the superior Tao with a Dodonpa ray and knocked out presumed dead. Tao goes to a tailor to have new clothes made after Goku burned them with a Kamehameha and checks into a hotel stating he will return in three days once his clothes are made. Goku hears of the sacred water on Korin’s tower that grants magical strength to those who drink it. He climbs the tower to find Korin and demands the water. Korin tells him if he can take it from him, he can have it. Goku fails miserably to get the water and is tricked into jumping off the tower when Korin throws his Dragon Ball over the edge. Goku climbs back up the tower at breakneck speed and continues to try and take the water from Korin, eventually succeeding. Drinking the water Goku discovers that is in fact tap water and the strength came from the training he went through to be able to take the water from Korin. Confident in his new power he rushes to face Tao for a rematch. Tao is now no match for a powered up Goku and himself climbs the tower to drink the water. Korin deceives him with some magic and sends him back down to face Goku. Goku appears to be losing at first before revealing that he was in fact messing about and demolishes Tao. Tao not wanting to lose throws a grenade at Goku and jumps into the air, but Goku wise to this tactic kick the grenade up to meet him. Mercenary Tao is defeated in the resulting grenade blast and Goku goes on his way with the four-star Dragon Ball after promising Upa that he will resurrect his father Bora.

Bulma, worried about little Goku calls Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong and takes them with her to save Goku. Little do they know Goku is already past the Red Ribbon Army defences and tearing them apart. Making his way up to Commander Red, Goku starts battling with Staff Officer Black as Red collapses the ceiling on them and leaves them for dead. Surviving the trick, Black kills Red after revealing his wish for the Dragon Balls was to become taller and takes to a giant robot battle suit to fight Goku. Ultimately Black loses and Bulma and the team show up to find the battle already over. The team retrieve the stolen Dragon Balls but somehow the radar can’t detect the last one. They head back to Master Roshi’s house with hopes of fixing the dragon radar and continuing their mission.

Fortuneteller Baba Saga

With the dragon radar unable to locate the last Dragon Ball the team take Roshi’s suggestion to meet with his sister Fortune Teller Baba and ask her about the Dragon Ball. Taking Upa along with them, Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, Roshi, Puar and Bulma agree to fight with Fortune Teller Baba’s five fighters seeing as they can’t afford her services. Fangs the vampire easily defeats Krillin but is beaten by a combination of Upa’s garlic breath and Puar taking the form of a crucifix. Yamcha then fights an invisible man and is losing because he can't land any hits. Krillin then pulls down Bulma’s top exposing her chest to Roshi who spurts blood from his nose all over the invisible man allowing Yamcha to defeat him. In the following fight Bandages the Mummy makes quick work of Yamcha before falling to Goku. Devilman then takes up the challenge and faces off against Goku with his special attack the Devilmite beam that causes the enemy to die instantly by increasing the evil in their hearts to extreme levels. Goku however being completely pure-hearted is unaffected by this attack and defeats Devilman.

A mysterious figure in a fox mask is the last opponent. He is equally as strong as Goku and surprisingly also knows the Kamehameha technique. Goku is losing due to the weakness in his tail until it is pulled out accidentally. The figure then gives up and reveals himself to be Goku’s grandfather. During the tearful reunion Pilaf and his crew steal the Dragon Balls yet again. Goku catches up to them and defeats their giant robot suit. Wishing for Upa’s father to be brought back he grabs the four-star dragon ball before they all disperse and continues on his journey at the behest of Fortune Teller Baba for three years. Afterwards he hears of the next World Martial Arts Tournament and plans to depart but before his plane leaves he is caught up in helping a fox causing him to miss his flight. Missing the tournament is not an option, and so Goku swims across the world to get there.

Tenshinhan Saga

The Tenshinhan Saga (Tien Saga) introduces Tien and Chiaotzu as characters and follows a very much tournament based plot. The most notable fights are;

Yamcha vs. Tien - Going punch for punch the two battle it out back and forth until Yamcha uses Wolf Fang Fist but is countered and knocked to the ground. Yamcha uses a Kamehameha that Tien then deflects back at Yamcha. Yamcha jumps to avoid his beam and is knocked out from behind by Tien who proceeds to land on Yamcha’s leg with his knees, breaking the bone. Goku is angered and promises to pay him back for the brutality.
Krillin vs. Chiaotzu - They begin by sparring back and forth, jumping and evading attacks until Krillin lands a solid hit on Chiaotzu. Now realizing he can't match Krillin in martial arts, he flies in the air knocking that Krillin can't fly he stays on the ground. Chiaotzu fires multiple Dodon rays at Krillin as Krillin dodges them successfully and prepares to launch a Kamehameha. Chun knows Krillin's kamehameha can't beat Chiaotzu full power Dodon ray and urges him to stop. Krillin instead jumps into the air, avoiding the attack and blasts Chiaotzu and point-blank with his first ever successful Kamehameha. Chiaotzu resorts to using telekinesis to paralyze Krillin and starts kicking him around. Krillin mocks Chiaotzu asking him a maths equation forcing him to move his fingers and break the technique giving Krillin a chance to defeat him.
Jackie Chun vs. Tien - The fight starts out equal with no one landing any critical hits. Chun uses the afterimage technique but is seen through by Tien’s special third eye. Tien launches a Kamehameha at Chun having seen Yamcha use the move and forces Chun to deflect it away from the audience. Tien uses this as an opportunity to attack and knees Chun to the back of the head assuming to have knocked him out. Chun quickly gets back up and tells him not to be evil and that his master Shen should not be followed. Chun gives Tien one last chance to change his ways and hops out of the ring forfeiting the match. When asked why, he said that one of his students will be able to beat Tien anyway.
Goku vs. Krillin - Agreeing to hold nothing back the two engage. Krillin resorting to tricks like using his bald head to blind Goku and puffing up with air seems to be gaining the upper hand. Goku then boasts that he will show a trick of his own and disappears. Tien watching, sees that Goku is actually moving so fast that he can’t be seen as he appears before Krillin and strikes him eight times and kicks him out of the ring in the blink of an eye.
Goku vs. Tien - Gokus is quickly hit with a Dodon ray when his afterimage technique is foiled by Tien. The pair both launch a number of attacks at each other with Goku landing some fast hits before canceling a Kamehameha knowing Tien can deflect them. Tien tries Solar Flare but it is nullfied by Goku wearing Master Roshi's sunglasses. Suddenly Goku is paralyzed affording Tien a number of free hits. Tien notices this is strange and that Chiaotzu is using his telekinesis to freeze Goku. Demanding that he stop interfering Master Shen becomes angered and orders Tien to kill Goku. Tien refuses stating that he will not follow evil pursuits like Tao and so Shen orders Chiaotzu to kill them both. Chiaoztu obviously refuses, leading to Shen threatening to kill Chiaotzu. Master Roshi then blasts Shen out of the stadium with a Kamehameha to end his villainous scheme. Tien uses his four witches technique and grows two extra arms to attack with but it countered by Goku’s eight arm technique he learned from King Chappa. Tien’s attacks becoming futile, he loses his extra arms and charges a Tri-Beam that he tells Goku to dodge if he doesn't want to die. Obliterating the area beneath them and hoping to ring out Goku, Tien believes he has won when Goku jumps into the air, fires a Kamehameha under himself and crashes into Tien knocking both fighters out of the sky. Attempting another Kamehameha Goku is hit by a truck and lands a second before Tien resulting in Tien’s overall victory.

Krillin gives Goku his gi and changes into his other clothes and Tien apologizes to Yamcha. Offering Goku half of the prize money Goku refuses claiming to have no interest in money. Tien then insists to at least allow him to pay for dinner for everyone and they all head to a restaurant while Krillin goes back to pick up Goku’s power pole and Dragon Ball. It is suggested that Tien live at Master Roshi’s house for some time with everyone but he refuses claiming he can’t study under another master. Goku notices Krillin has been gone for too long and worriedly heads back to find Krillin’s corpse and the Dragon Ball and tournament list stolen.

Evil King Piccolo Saga

It is discovered that the monster that killed Krillin took the Dragon Ball and with his power pole and dragon radar Goku goes in hunt of the perpetrator to avenge his fallen friend. Oolong meanwhile finds a piece of paper with a strange symbol on it, revealed to be the sign of Evil King Piccolo by Master Roshi. Roshi then recants the tale of Evil King Piccolo and how he killed defeated his master and his dojo before his master managed to seal him away in an urn and throw it into the ocean. Emperor Pilaf and his gang foolishly opened the urn though to ask Piccolo to help them gather the Dragon Balls, not knowing the danger they were in. Tambourine, Piccolo’s spawned son was then ordered to kill all of the former world martial arts champions. Goku catches up to Tambourine but is easily beaten and presumed dead by the beast who goes on to kill all of the fighters that took place in the world tournaments including Nam, King Chappa, Giran and more. Goku recovers from his beating and wakes up in a forest to find a large fish cooking over a fire. He eats the fish and is confronted by Yajirobe who accuses Goku of stealing his fish and the two spar. Both were surprised at the others abilities, speed and strength. Piccolo’s second spawn Cymbal, is ordered to find the Dragon Balls and bring them back to Piccolo. Yajirobe, having one of the Dragon Balls, is come upon by this new creature but easily kills and later eats. Piccolo is enraged at this and orders his first spawn Tambourine to avenge his fallen brother. Goku is fully recovered by this point and easily vaporizes Tambourine with a Kamehameha. Master Roshi and the other fighters manage to find the rest of the Dragon Balls and head to where Goku is fighting Piccolo only to arrive too late and find that Piccolo, even in his elderly form has beaten Goku.

Using the Dragon Balls as bait Master Roshi attacks Piccolo but proves to be no match for the Namekian monster and prepares to use the Evil Containment Wave just as his master had done so many years ago. Roshi misses with the attack and his life is forfeit as he claims another person more powerful that he will soon arrive to defeat Piccolo. With no one left to stop him, Piccolo uses the Dragon Balls to wish back his youth becoming more powerful than ever and betraying and discarding Pilaf and his gang after blasting Shenron with a mouth blast destroying him and the Dragon Balls. Goku and Yajirobe go to Korin’s tower to get senzu beans while Tien practices the Evil Containment Wave having watched Roshi perform the technique. Goku reaches Korin but is shocked to learn he is now far stronger than Korin and has nothing to learn from him receiving senzu beans as his only aid. Korin then tells Goku of the ultra divine water though that unlike the previous water is truly magical and can increase Goku’s powers but at a cost.

Piccolo is busy causing chaos and destroying civilization as Goku is allowed to drink the water by the waters protector and spends the night in agony to survive the waters potent effects. In the morning he is brimming with new power and immediately sets out to a rematch with Piccolo. Tien has the same idea and reaches Piccolo’s castle first. Drum, Piccolo’s latest and final spawn is waiting there and engages Tien. Desperately Tien launches the Evil Containment Wave at Piccolo but Drum jumps in the way before Piccolo destroys the container thus saving Drum. Drum then easily defeats Tien as Goku arrives to smash Drums head with a single kick to Tiens surprise.

Piccolo attacks Goku with a chop which Goku easily blocks followed by more attacks and blasts that Goku again can easily outmaneuver. The battle keeps escalating with each fighter using more powerful techniques than the last. Piccolo manages to burn Goku’s knee with a beam but still can’t seem to get the upper hand as Goku uses a homing Kamehameha. Piccolo resorts to releasing an energy wave from the body that resembles a huge explosion, Tien having carried Goku up into the air helped avoid the attack. Goku claims he can handle the fight on his own from here. He flies toward Piccolo who is preparing another blast and punches him in the face, but with only one leg functional could not gather the necessary power to put him down. Piccolo grabs Tien by the head and claims he will crush Tien’s skull if Goku keeps fighting. Goku stops and ignoring Tien’s pleas to kill Piccolo has his arm and leg broken by Piccolo blowing rocks into them. With Goku incapacitated Piccolo drops Tien and levitates into the air to charge a final blast to kill Goku. Goku uses his single good arm to power a full power Kamehameha underneath him and blasts toward Piccolo at high speed. Making a fist with his remaining hand he punches a hole clean through Piccolo’s chest. Piccolo uses his last remaining power to create an egg containing the reincarnation of himself and spits it far into the distance before exploding in a giant ball of flame. Goku falls to the Earth and is caught by Yajirobe.

Piccolo Jr. Saga

Yajirobe takes Goku to Korin’s tower and is healed with a senzu bean. Korin tells Goku about Kami and how he can recreate the Dragon Balls to wish back his friends and that he would need to power pole to connect Korin’s tower to Kami’s lookout. Goku retrieves his power pole from Master Roshi’s house and climbs up to the top of the lookout. There he meets a strange man called Mr. Popo who tests Goku and completely outclasses him. Goku pleads that he wants to stay there and train to be strong enough to pass the test and meet Kami. Mr. Popo begins teaching Goku, however Kami appears to see Goku. Mistaking him for Evil King Piccolo Goku attacks but is brushed aside. Kami explains that they were once the same being but split to separate the good side of himself and the evil side. As a reward for his valiance Kami recreates the dragon for Goku and Bulma and the team collect the Dragon Balls and wish back all of the people murdered by Piccolo and his minions. Kami tells Goku he must now stay on the lookout and train for three years to be strong enough to defeat Piccolo’s reincarnation at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Three years later everyone gathers at the tournament. Noone recognizes Goku having been so long until he removes his headwear and reveals his trademark hairstyle and foolishly asks Bulma if her lipstick is blood.

The rest of the saga is tournament based until the final fight. Some notable battles are;

Cyborg Tao vs. Tien - Tao starts out being beaten down by Tien until bringing out a knife with which he slashes Tiens chest before firing a super dodon ray from his cannon arm. Tien is unaffected by the blast after neutralizing it with ki and easily pounds Tao into the ground dropping his incapaciated body out of the ring at Master Shen’s feet telling them to leave and never come back.
Goku vs. “Name Withheld” - Goku is attacked ferociously by the anonymous woman. Unable to remember who she is, she reminds him that he promised to marry her. Still unsure what that means Goku is told that it means they will become husband and wife and live together. She promises to tell him her name if he can win. He very easily knocks her out of the ring with a ki push. The woman then reveals that she is Chi-Chi and Goku reveals he promised because he thought marriage was a kind of food. Chi-Chi is devastated by this but Goku sticking to his words proposes to her from the ring.
Piccolo Jr vs. Krillin - Krillin starts off well but is quickly overwhelmed by Piccolo. Thrown out of the ring Krillin demonstrates the ability to fly and that he won't be beaten so easily. Piccolo uses his stretchy arm and pulls Krillin in to smash him with a strong punch. Krillin tries to use a Kamehameha but Piccolo dodges and hammers Krilllin, seriously injuring him and forcing him to resign.
Hero vs. Yamcha - Yamcha is confident due to Hero looking like a weak nerdy type. Yamcha dodges his first attack easily but is caught off guard with a kick that seemed to connect luckily as Hero stumbled. It’s found out that Hero is in fact not a human and is possessing this body to fight against Piccolo Jr in a later round as Yamcha uses the spirit ball ki attack. Narrowly missing Yamcha is knocked out by a hard elbow. Goku realizes Hero’s identity at this point.
Goku vs. Tien - Goku is first being held off by Tien and seems unable to keep up. However upon removing his training gear (weighted clothing) he is much faster that Tien and steals his belt causing his pants to fall down in front of the audience. An embarrassed Tien uses his latest special technique, four-way splitting and creates three independent clones of himself. They each head to a corner of the ring and blast at Goku forcing him up into the sky and once again blasting him. Goku tells him this move won't work again as he tries the same attack pattern. This time Goku uses solar Flare to blind Tien and defeats him with a single blow.
Hero vs. Junior - Hero is far stronger than Piccolo imagined and is quickly able to recognize that it is in fact Kami in disguise when he reads his mind. Kami uses the Evil Containment Wave but it is deflected by Piccolo. Rather than have the body he is using be trapped inside the container, Kami gives up Hero’s body and allows himself to be trapped instead. Piccolo then swallows the bottle and is declared the winner.
Goku vs. Piccolo Jr - After a brief spar, Piccolo tries to destroy the arena and all of the spectators which Goku manages to prevent. Trying again though, Goku counters with a Kamehameha destroying Piccolo’s turban and making the spectators flee in terror when they see that it’s Piccolo. Piccolo then uses his giant form but it is no use as Goku manages to get inside Piccolo’s mouth and take back the bottle containing Kami to release him. Giant form proving to be useless in this fight, Piccolo returns to normal size and electrifies Goku with his antenna attack. He goes to finish off Goku but Kami defends the attack much to Goku’s dismay. Goku demands Kami not intervene and offers Piccolo a free hit.

Piccolo uses powerful ki attacks but they are almost all ineffective leaving him exhausted and open for a Kamehameha from Goku. Believing the fight is over, the announcer is almost at ten when Piccolo jumps back up and blows a hole in Goku’s shoulder with a mouth beam. Piccolo then goes on to disable all of Goku’s limbs one by one. Thinking him unable to move, Piccolo fires a heavy beam at Goku, apparently killing him. Not yet over though, Goku having learned flight during his training appears above Piccolo and smashes into him knocking him out of the ring and winning the tournament.

Yajirobe gives Goku a senzu bean to heal as Kami goes to finish off the defeated and exhausted Piccolo. Goku intervenes and tells him that if he kills Piccolo the Dragon Balls will disappear and he will die too. Roshi explains cooly that it is thanks to the Dragon Balls that Goku did the things he did and now there is peace. Kami fixes Goku’s clothes and to everyone's surprise, offers Piccolo a senzu bean. Piccolo immediately gets to his feet and claims he will have revenge some day and flies off. Kami seeing the good in Goku requests that he become the new guardian of Earth in his place. Goku refuses Kami’s offer, summons Flying Nimbus, grabs Chi-Chi, and flies off to begin his peaceful family life.

Links

Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama