8 Best Dragon Ball Villain Transformations in the Franchise's Entire History

Dragon Ballis undoubtedly one of the greatest anime franchises of all time. It features some of the best fights in the art form, incredible characters, and jaw-dropping transformations. Unfortunately for the heroes in the series, they're not the only group to gain a huge power boost by acquiring a cool new form. The villains in the series are just as capable of transforming as the heroes, leading to great conflicts and even better designs.

There aren't many villains in Dragon Ball that don't transform. If a villain is strong enough, or important enough, to the series, they have a transformation. Each of the 4 major antagonists from Dragon Ball Z has at least one transformation, proving how core the concept is to the series. When a villain reaches a point where they feel the need to transform, their new appearance comes with a host of powers that will push Goku and his allies even further, usually forcing them to transform as well.

8 Janemba

He Forced Goku and Vegeta To Fuse

Janemba is the main antagonist of the Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn movie. He's the result of a careless Sekai Demon overlooking his job at the Soul Cleansing Machine. The Demon let the machine fill up too much as it was overpowered by the negative energy that came out of it. The negative energy turned him into Janemba, a huge yellow blob of a monster. Janemba's first form resembled Majin Buu's first form. They both looked like oversized, soft monsters that acted like children.

Fusion Reborn served as the official debut for Gogeta. The character would later become officially canon in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

When Goku and Vegeta pushed Janemba to his limits, Janemba transformed into his more monstrous Super Janemba form. He became a lot smaller, much more menacing, and started using a sword as well. Janemba's transformation is one of the most memorable in the franchise because he forced Goku and Vegeta to fuse for the first time in the series. Janemba forced the two Saiyans to become Gogeta, arguably one of the strongest characters in Dragon Ball.

7 Top

The Future God of Destruction

Top's transformation was a surprising one in Dragon Ball Super. DBS has the fewest amount of villainous transformations in the franchise. While Frieza enjoyed his amazingly powerful Golden Frieza form and Goku Black went through a handful of forms, Hit and Jiren don't have any transformations as the other two major antagonists of the series. Dragon Ball Super introduces a new category of characters: Gods of Destruction. While there have always been celestial beings in Dragon Ball, none have the pure destructive power that the Gods of Destruction possess.

Top's transformation was a notable moment because it was the first time Dragon Ball Super revealed that normal mortals can eventually become Gods of Destruction. Whis hinted to Vegeta that he wanted him to become one eventually, but Top confirmed it was possible. Top gained a cool new chest tattoo and a ton of muscles to support his form. His God of Destruction powers nearly leveled the Tournament of Power, proving just how strong this transformation was.

6 Omega Shenron

Dragon Ball GT's Best Villain

Omega Shenron is one of the few high points in Dragon Ball GT. It's a series marred with errors, but he isn't one of them. The concept behind Omega Shenron is incredibly interesting. For the entirety of the Dragon Ball franchise, the titular Dragon Balls have been nothing but good. They can grant basically any wish after their collection, which has been made incredibly easy with the invention of the Dragon Radar. The Dragon Balls were overused, however, leading to the creation of the Shadow Dragons.

Omega Shenron is a combination of the Shadow Dragons. He's the most powerful villain in Dragon Ball GTand comes with a great design and plenty of menacing abilities. He's so strong, he's one of the few characters in the franchise to force Goku and Vegeta to not only work together, but fuse. They become the legendary Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, another high point for DBGT. Without Omega Shenron's transformation from Syn Shenron, Gogeta would never have been forced to make an appearance.

5 Legendary Super Saiyan Broly

Broly Is Unstoppable

Broly is one of the coolest characters in anime. Both the evil and the good versions of Broly are incredibly impressive because of his ability to transform into the Legendary Super Saiyan, a form neither Goku nor Vegeta could ever achieve. The normal Super Saiyan form is cool enough, but Broly's version takes the transformation to an entirely different level both on a power and visual level. Broly is already massive, but when he becomes the Legendary Super Saiyan, his muscles nearly triple in size.

Broly is the most recent character to force Goku and Vegeta to not only work together but fuse into Gogeta. He's so strong in his Legendary Super Saiyan form that Goku and Vegeta's Super Saiyan God forms weren't enough to stop him. He even pummeled Golden Frieza for an entire hour before Gogeta returned to the battlefield in one of the best fights of the franchise.

4 Great Ape Vegeta

Before Vegeta Became a Hero

Vegeta was the second antagonist of Dragon Ball Z, following in fellow Saiyan Raditz's footsteps. While he eventually becomes Goku's friend and rival, he starts as a brutal villain. Before he was able to turn into a Super Saiyan like he always wanted to, he used his tail and the moon to turn into the Great Ape form unique to Saiyans. It's one of the best Saiyan transformations in the series for a couple of great reasons.

Vegeta was menacing enough when he first came to Earth, but his Great Ape form took it to an entirely different level. He grew several times larger than Goku, crushing him in the palm of his hand. It's a great form that symbolizes just how monstrous Vegeta was at the time. If it wasn't for Yajirobe cutting Vegeta's tail off, who knows how the evil Saiyan would have been stopped?

3 Kid Buu

Kids Can Be Monsters Too

Kid Buu might be one of the most terrifying villains in Dragon Ball. All the villains have monstrous qualities, but none had the unpredictable penchant for destruction that Kid Buu did. All of Buu's forms were scary, but his Kid form was on another level. He was the only villain who actually destroyed the Earth, killing most of the Z Fighters in a single blast. Kid Buu transformed from Majin Buu, to Evil Buu, to Super Buu, beforing finally reaching his Kid Buu form.

Like the rest of the strongest villains in Dragon Ball, Kid Buu was so strong that he forced Goku and Vegeta to use the Potara earrings to fuse into Vegito in order to take him out. Goku even uses the Spirit Bomb successfully, one of the few times in the series that it actually works, to take out Kid Buu.

2 Perfect Cell

Cell Was Stunning in More Ways Than One

Cell is another villain in Dragon Ball with a number of forms. He starts as a reptilian creature with a big tail, resembling a bug more than a person. When he starts to absorb his fellow androids, he grows much more humanoid. He gains a larger frame and a lot more power, but it pales in comparison to his Perfect Form. His Perfect Form is the strongest character in the series at the point. He's brutal, cold, and calculating at all times. He even gives the heroes time to train before they fight each other, showing off a Saiyan level of pride.

Like all good villains in the Dragon Ball franchise, Cell's transformation forces the heroes to transform as well. Instead of Goku or Vegeta transforming, it's Gohan who is forced to reach Super Saiyan 2 and take on Perfect Cell once and for all. Perfect Cell's arrogance, deceitful nature, and overall power make his transformation one of the best in the series.

1 Frieza’s Final Form

The Tyrant's Most Memorable Form

Frieza is not only the greatest villain in Dragon Ball,he's one of the best villains in anime. He's a cruel intergalactic dictator who makes the other villains in the series look kind and thoughtful by comparison. He has several forms in the series, but none stand out like his Final Form. He starts as a smaller character before undergoing three separate transformations on Namek in Dragon Ball Z.

His first two transformations make sense. His second form sees him grow in size, sporting larger horns and a huge frame. His third form sees him grow even further in size, looking much more monstrous than any other form. His Final Form, however, sees him returning to a much smaller size. It doesn't make sense at first, as power in Dragon Ball has always been proportional to size.

Final Form Frieza puts this trope to rest with Death Beams that can kill the Z Fighters with a single blast and a Death Ball that eventually destroys Namek. Even Golden Frieza's introduction can't touch the first time Final Form Frieza stepped out on screen.