Piccolo. The son of a demon, the other half of a god, and the last of his line. In a fandom as expansive and diverse as Dragon Ball, there are few things we in the fandom can agree upon; But Piccolo's place as one of the best characters is never up for debate. A lot of that is to do with history and character arc - it's one of the most emotionally fraught in the franchise - but it's hard to deny that a large appeal is Piccolo's style. Part and parcel with that are the iconic battles that Piccolo engages in. Though he often played the role of a protector, no fan can deny that when the cape and turban came off, they didn't get hype.
Like with Vegeta's Top 7 fights, I'll be judging these based on Piccolo's performance in the fight, and not necessarily the fight as a whole.
#7 - Piccolo vs #17
The last time we really get to see Piccolo fight all-out in the franchise, before being prematurely shelved in favor of a bunch of blondies getting progressively longer, and eventually bluer, hair. It's one of the most brutal fights in the series, with Piccolo and #17 repeatedly knocking the wind out of each other. But it loses some points because, sadly, most of it is drawn by Uchiyama, and by this point he and his studio are really lagging behind in quality, leaving much of the fight looking more silly than badass.
#6 - Piccolo vs Dorodabo
DBZ Movies 2 through 9 have a running bit with Piccolo where, when all hope seems lost for Gohan, Piccolo arrives and completely wrecks some baddies to protect his little half-Saiyan pal. In Movies 2 and 3, he immediately pays the price for his interference, going down protecting his pupil. But in Movie 4, while that is his eventual fate, he stops first to straight up murder Slug's minion Dorodabo. It's a brutal fight, where Piccolo not only smashes Doro's hand, breaks his arm, and kicks him through a window - when Dorodabo makes a plea for Piccolo to rejoin the Demon Clan and serve Slug, Piccolo extends his arm like he's going to, only to then explode Doro's big ugly face. Harsh.
#5 - Piccolo vs Imperfect Cell
After merging with Kami and once more becoming the nameless child of Katattsu, sent to Earth during the Planet Namek's cataclysm, Piccolo takes to Gingertown where he faces off against Dr. Gero's final Artificial Human - Cell. Though it's a great fight, with cinematic angles and fantastic, frenetic pacing, the great dialogue exchanges between the two are really the highlight of the whole thing. It's a verbal sparring on top of a powerful slugfest between two of the wiliest characters in Dragon Ball. My only complaint is that is doesn't go on longer!
#4 - Piccolo vs Coola Corp.
In Movie 4, Piccolo saves Gohan from Dorodabo by utterly breaking him down before killing him. In Movie 5, when he rescues Gohan from all three members of the Coola Corp., he has no time to play with his foes - instead opting to take down one after another in dazzlingly efficient style. I'm not sure what I like better; The initial elbow to the dome he lays on Dore, the way launches a homing attack at Naise so he'll dodge it and it'll kill Dore, his feigning defeat against Naise before frying him with his own attack, or battling against Sauza and his ki blade through the woods. Come to think of it, it's probably how, when Coola is beaten, and Sauza gets back up, Piccolo launches a quick Makankosappo, killing the last Corp. member from an easy distance. That's our Piccolo.
#3 - Piccolo vs Second Form Freeza
Like Piccolo's fight with Cell, it's too dang short. Also like Piccolo's fight with Cell, he's just come from a master power boost from merging - this time, with the powerful Namekian Warrior, Nail. With Nail and Piccolo's combined power, he does what neither could do alone and whomps on Freeza better than anyone else has ever managed to before - that is, until Goku shows up. But even during Goku's fight with Freeza's final form, Piccolo shows up to rescue him and his Genki Dama in expert Piccolo style. The bulk of their fight is animated by Studio Seigasha, who are the real MVP of Freeza Saga fight scenes. (Like this fight, and this fight, and this fight, and this fight.)
#2 - Piccolo vs Sansho
Before Piccolo had a pupil to protect, Piccolo fought for one reason, and one reason only; His pride. And when Garlic Jr's Spice Boys tried to kill him through an ambush, Piccolo returned to pay them back in kind. While Goku took on Nicky and Ginger, Piccolo took on the most brutish of the SB, Sansho -- and completely dominated him. Far from being one of the best Piccolo fights, it's one of the best, if not the best, one-sided fight in Dragon Ball. That badass soundtrack from Kikuchi is just a bonus.
#1 - Piccolo vs Goku
The knock down, drag out fight that started it all. The whole 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai is full of classic bouts in the DB canon, and is seen as a transition point that is neither completely Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z. But it is seen as fucking awesome, and this final brawl between Goku and Piccolo for the fate of the world (and the title of Strongest Under the Heavens) is the highlight. Piccolo has more gimmicks here than any baddie before or after (Freeza, Cell, and Boo all have more-or-less the same gimmick), like stretching his limbs, regrowing his limbs, growing big, growing bigger, and shooting ki out of his mouth. A fight that would have been a respectable finale to Dragon Ball ended up setting up the second chapter instead -- and we're glad for that, because we needed lots more Piccolo.
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