Dragon Ball has a reputation for simply being an action-packed series filled to the brim with muscle-bound heroes and villains creating giant explosions by shooting energy blasts at each other, and while that’s mostly accurate, Dragon Ball is also filled to the brim with genuinely hilarious moments.
During every era of Dragon Ball, from the classic series and Z to even the sequel era of Dragon Ball Super, there are many scenes, chapters, episodes, and characters that made fans laugh out loud, even between the dramatic action that was almost constantly taking place. From situational comedy to dark humor, Dragon Ball keeps fans laughing just as much as it blows them away with jaw-dropping fights and high-stakes stories. However, out of them all, only ten stand above the rest as being the all-time funniest Dragon Ball moments.
10 Oolong’s Dragon Ball Wish
In the early days of Dragon Ball continuity (chapter 20, to be precise), one Z-Fighter saved the world long before Goku: Oolong. When the villainous Emperor Pilaf and his gang got their hands on the Dragon Balls, Pilaf was about to wish upon them to become the Emperor of the World. However, after Shenron was summoned, Oolong quickly wished for a pair of women’s panties to waste the wish and foil Pilaf’s dastardly plans. The moment was heroic, to be sure, but the flabbergasted look Oolong got from everyone around him - including Shenron - when he made this totally off-the-wall and absurd wish was absolutely hilarious.
9 The Debut Of Dragon Ball’s ‘Superman’
While many fans might think Goku naturally fills the role as Dragon Ball’s Superman, there’s actually a character within DB continuity who is the self-proclaimed ‘Superman’ of Earth (sort of): Suppaman. Suppaman is introduced as a costumed hero whose secret identity looks exactly like Clark Kent, and whose superhero persona is greatly reminiscent of Superman. He’s like Dragon Ball’s official Superman parody, which is why his debut in Dragon Ball chapter 82 is so hilarious. Suppaman’s misguided sense of self-importance makes every moment he’s in the manga more funny than the last, especially when considering his delusion-fueled ineffectiveness when he’s actually trying to be heroic (and failing miserably).
8 Goku vs The Purple Ninja
Goku has been in many battles throughout his Dragon Ball career, but none have been funnier than his fight against the Purple Ninja in Dragon Ball chapter 61. The fight itself is as straightforward as most conflicts in Dragon Ball go. Goku is infiltrating a Red Ribbon Army stronghold, and he has to get through increasingly challenging bad guys before reaching the top of the tower. However, the action/adventure tone of this chapter changed drastically when the Purple Ninja jumped into the air in an attempt to come down on Goku with his sword, and Goku extended his Power Pole straight up into the Purple Ninja’s rear end. The Purple Ninja’s reaction to that level of shocking embarrassment and excruciating pain is something fans can’t help but to laugh at, and the fact that Goku himself was cracking up only made the scene that much funnier.
7 Lonely Cell
Cell is arguably the most terrifying villain in the entire Dragon Ball series, but in chapter 394, it seems even world-ending bio-androids get lonely sometimes. After Cell reached his perfect form, he went on live television and announced to the world that he’d be holding a tournament known as the Cell Games, and he said it would start in nine days. Then, Cell promptly rushed back to the arena he built and waited for the due date to arrive. In the chapters that followed that moment, readers are given what amounted to epic montages of intense training among the heroic Z-Fighters, only for the manga to cut back to a lonely Cell standing in his ring, muttering to himself, “Maybe nine days was too much of a wait”. It’s a subtle moment, one that humanizes Cell more than any other during his DBZ saga, and it’s actually hilarious.
6 Broly Attacking Frieza
Dragon Ball Super: Broly is perhaps the most epic, action-heavy installment of the Dragon Ball mythos, yet it isn’t without its comedy. While Frieza acted as the main antagonist of the film, who manipulated Broly into battling Goku and Vegeta on his behalf, he ended up being the butt of the joke when Broly completely lost his mind and went after Frieza instead of his intended targets. The panic in Frieza’s eyes moments before Broly made contact was almost as hilarious as the sight of Broly manhandling Frieza like a lifeless ragdoll. Plus, it’s always funny when bad things happen to bad people, and there’s almost no one worse than Frieza.
5 Vegeta’s Pacifier
Dragon Ball Super episode 46 gave fans probably the funniest piece of visual comedy in the entire series: Vegeta with his pacifier. In the episode, Vegeta is attacked by alien slime who assumed Vegeta’s identity and stole his powers. The longer ‘Copy-Vegeta’ remained alive, the more Vegeta faded into oblivion. However, by sucking on a special pacifier, Vegeta was able to slow the process of his own demise. This gave fans the hilarious sight of Vegeta aggressively sucking on his pacifier while watching his allies fight a perfect copy of himself, totally oblivious to how absurd he looks.
4 Goku Grabbing The Galactic King’s ‘Tentacle’
This is a gag that actually happened twice in Dragon Ball Super, but the joke was much more pronounced the second time. In Dragon Ball Super chapter 67, after Goku defeated Moro, he met with the Galactic King, who wanted to show his appreciation for Goku’s heroism, as Moro was a threat to the entire cosmos. The Galactic King is an octopus-like alien, so when Goku went to shake his ‘hand-tentacle’, he actually grabbed his genitals, which the Galactic King flat-out comments on by saying, “You’re grabbing my junk on purpose, aren’t you…?”. Goku accidentally did this once before, but the Galactic King simply blushed and the entire situation was purely implied. This time, though, the Galactic King outwardly says exactly what it looks like Goku is doing, which is the first and only time Dragon Ball made a direct penis joke with the visual to match.
3 Driving Lessons With Piccolo and Goku
The original run of the Dragon Ball Z anime was chalked-full of filler episodes, but episode 125 “Goku’s Ordeal” is easily the most memorable - and the most hilarious. The episode opens with Chi-Chi telling Goku and Piccolo that they need to get their driver's licenses, or else she won’t prepare them meals anymore. So, the two warriors enroll in a driving school, where they both take their driver’s test at the same time. This results in a drag race between Goku and Piccolo, which only happens after Piccolo’s driving instructor openly mocks him for driving so slowly. The absolute absurdity of this episode is enough to keep fans laughing throughout, with the only part of the episode that isn’t a joke being how iconically on-point Piccolo’s outfit is.
2 Yamcha’s Baseball ‘Death’
Yamcha alone is enough of a joke to qualify as his own installment on this list, but one of the funniest scenes involving him was in Dragon Ball Super episode 70. In the episode, Beerus and Champa have their top-fighters from their respective universes play a game of baseball. While Yamcha is absolutely no help on the battlefield, he’s surprisingly good at baseball, so Beerus adds him to the team. At the end of the game, when Yamcha makes a run for a base, the opposing team’s efforts to stop him get a bit more explosive than they intended, and Yamcha ends up laying face-down in a crater where the base was. While Yamcha successfully made the run, the visual of him laying in the crater was a clear reference to his pathetic death in Dragon Ball Z, which is a meta moment that even fans who love Yamcha can’t help but appreciate.
1 Yamcha’s Actual Death
While a meta joke mocking Yamcha’s pathetic DBZ death is funny, it can’t compare to the real thing. In Dragon Ball chapter 215, Yamcha boasts that he can kill every Saibaman the Saiyans throw at them, only to immediately be killed by one literally one second later. Not only is the scene itself incredibly funny in the darkest way possible (as the punchline was literally Yamcha’s death), but the fact that the image of Yamcha’s lifeless corpse laying face-down in a crater is one of the most iconic images in the entire Dragon Ball series for purely comical reasons is enough to make this moment the funniest in Dragon Ball history.
Dragon Ball contains some of the most intense, action-packed, and heart-wrenching moments in anime history. But, when the series decides to be funny, it’s absolutely hilarious, and these are just ten of the funniest Dragon Ball moments.