When anyone thinks of the Dragon Ball franchise, most will immediately think of images of flying martial artists, gigantic, weaponized bursts of fire erupting from palms, super-powered brawls that make Superman look like a wimp, and a seemingly never-ending parade of appearance-altering transformations that exponentially increase the might of whoever goes through the process.

While that’s all well and good, we can’t forget the role that the series’ villains play in making the Dragon Ball franchise as iconic as it is. Whether it’s a teenage duo of merciless cyborgs, literal gods of destruction, or a galactic tyrant born from the literal nightmares of Akira Toriyama, the franchise has countless horrifying and devastatingly powerful adversaries for the well-trained heroes to spar against.

That said, there’s also a collection of “villains” who, while nefarious in their own right, aren’t exactly up there on the scale of pure power and are, in fact, pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.

In our list, we’re going to dive into the each series in the franchise and figure out just where all of the major villains fit in the spectrum of power. Unfortunately we’ll be skipping the movies and focusing purely on the television shows, but there are more than enough villains to fill up the list despite it.

Here's a look at The 15 Most Powerful (And 10 Most Worthless) Main Villains In Dragon Ball, Officially Ranked From Weakest To Strongest.

Powerful: Android 17 And 18

Androids 17 and 18 nearly wiped out the entire human race, and even Trunks as a Super Saiyan feared them. Ruthless, cold-blooded, and cruel, these horrific cyborgs were fast, strong, and capable of overwhelming some of the series’ strongest characters. To make matters worse, they’re incapable of exhausting their potent energy sources, meaning that they can hunt their prey for an eternity.

Although both of them would eventually be turned to the side of good, they still make the rank of some of the strongest enemies the Z Fighters have ever faced, whether that be in the present or future.

Powerful: Dabura

Dabura, who looked very much like the traditional interpretation of Satan, was a dangerous adversary for the Z fighters, despite his arrival late in his respective season. While it’s theoretically true that Dabura could possibly have been overcome by the Androids if they had not been reformed in the present (or destroyed in the future), its his ability to turn his victims into solid stone that makes him such a dangerous opponent.

Sure, the well-trained Trunks of the future, after visiting the past, was able to make mince meat of Dabura by the time he showed himself in the devastated timeline, but it’s not a stretch to say he was lucky there wasn’t any spit around.

Worthless: King Piccolo

Before we jump into why King Piccolo makes the cut of our “weakest” entries, we want to stress the fact that he isn’t exactly weak. In fact, he’s incredibly powerful. His might is so incredible that he had the world in the palm of his hand and almost no one was able to stop him. He needed to be sealed away in order to halt his evil path.

So why is he on the weaker side of this list? Unfortunately for King Piccolo, he just doesn’t measure up to the adversaries that Goku and gang would fight later on in the franchise. He was also beaten by Goku as a kid, so there’s that, too.

Powerful: General Rilldo

General Rilldo is said by Goku to be “stronger than Majin Buu.” Frankly, we have an incredibly hard time believing that, but that doesn’t mean the General is a pushover. Unfortunately for Goku and company, it’s the exact opposite.

Rilldo, in his base form, is already a formidable force, but it’s after he’s powered up that the real danger begins. Seemingly the T-1000 at that point, Rilldo is a living, liquid metal, and can manipulate his entire planet to serve him. That ability alone makes him one of the strongest enemies our heroes have ever challenged.

Powerful: Shadow Dragons

The Shadow Dragons were the final enemies in Dragon Ball GT and, as such, were immensely powerful beings. One particular member of their clan was far and away the most dangerous individual in the group, but we’ll get to him later. The rest of the Shadow Dragons were strong in their own right, but it was their unique powers and abilities that made them especially overwhelming.

Whether it was Haze Shenron’s pollution, Rage’s electricity, Oceanus’ weather control, Naturon’s amplification abilities, or Nuova’s heat or Eis’ ice, these abilities are comparable to Dabura’s stone powers. Just because they might be physically stronger than some others on this list doesn’t mean they’re not as dangerous.

Worthless: The Ginyu Force

Considered by Frieza to be his “elite forces,” the Ginyu Force was strong for its time, but it was almost immediately obsolete. Not unlike the Shadow Dragons, each member of the squad had a unique trait that earned them their spot, but that still wasn’t enough to mean much of anything in the long run.

Sure, Guldo’s time-stopping and telekinesis is incredibly impressive, and Captain Ginyu’s body switching technique is theoretically ridiculously powerful, the Ginyu Force is simply too dumb to succeed, and the group is quickly dealt with by the Z Fighters.

Powerful: Baby

Designed specifically to get revenge for the Tuffles and eradicate the Saiyan Race from the cosmos, the neo machine mutant, Baby, remains one of the more poetic and dangerous villains to ever grace the franchise.

Baby’s raw power and ability to infect entire populations in order to enslave them is already an effective and dangerous combination, but it’s the might he gains after infesting Vegeta and taking full advantage of the Saiyan potential that defines Baby as one of the series’ greatest threats. After taking the form of a giant, Golden Oozaru, Baby was nearly unstoppable.

Powerful: Majin Buu

Known to both the galactic tyrant, Frieza, and the God of Destruction himself, Beerus, Majin Buu is a force of pure evil. Despite the fact that he looks like chewed-up bubblegum, Majin Buu, in almost every last one of his multitude of forms, was an opponent not to be underestimated.

Going as far as wiping out the entire population of the Earth, this maniacal, impish devil nearly achieved total victory. The scariest part is that according to Toriyama himself, Buu’s ki is unfathomable, which means that we not have even seen the true depth of his power.

Worthless: Zarbon

Something fascinating about the Frieza Saga was how well-paced it was. It seemed as if every corner there was a new, more terrible adversary that our heroes couldn’t possibly defeat (until they did) and the cycle never got boring.

Zarbon falls right into this loop and, for a time, remained as a dangerous threat to those who wished to defeat Frieza. Unfortunately for Zarbon, despite his charming personality, good looks, and even his disgusting transformation, he’d eventually be nothing more than a footnote that helped set the stage for the eventual super-powered clash that’d round out the Saga.

Powerful: Super 17

A diabolical fusion between two Android 17s thanks to the combined genius of Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu, Super 17 was freakishly powerful, nearly indestructible due to a seemingly impenetrable barrier, and capable of absorbing energy in order to add it to his reserves.

His might was so severe that even the godly Super Saiyan 4 had difficulty against him. In fact, his only weakness seemed to be being distracted by his sister, Android 18. This allowed Goku to discover that when Super 17 absorbed energy, which meant that he was vulnerable to physical attack. If that trick wasn't discovered, Super 17 may very well have ruled the cosmos.