Dragon Ball Z

Five years after the events of Dragon Ball, a mysterious alien warrior lands on Earth. After brushing aside a terrified farmer, the invader sets out in search of someone called "Kakarot," while Goku enjoys peaceful family life with his young son Gohan.

Goku introduces Gohan to his old friends at Kame House, but the reunion is cut short when the alien warrior Raditz arrives, reveals Goku's Saiyan heritage, and kidnaps Gohan to force his brother into submission.

Goku and Piccolo form an uneasy partnership to rescue Gohan and defeat Raditz. Using Bulma's Dragon Radar to track Gohan's hat, the two rivals fly off to confront a Saiyan warrior stronger than either of them alone.

Raditz overwhelms Goku and Piccolo, destroying Piccolo's arm with a devastating blast. Piccolo reveals a secret technique he needs time to charge, leaving Goku to stall the ruthless Saiyan alone while Gohan stirs inside the space pod.

Gohan's rage unlocks devastating power that wounds Raditz, but it fades as quickly as it appeared. Goku sacrifices himself by trapping Raditz in a Full-Nelson, allowing Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon to kill them both.

In the aftermath of Goku's death, Piccolo claims Gohan for training, Goku begins his journey along the million-kilometer Snake Way in Other World, and the surviving Z Fighters brace for two Saiyans arriving in one year.

Piccolo abandons Gohan in the wilderness for six months of survival training. On Snake Way, Goku nearly falls into Hell. At home, Krillin cannot bring himself to tell Chi-Chi the terrible news about her husband and son.

When the full moon rises, Gohan transforms into a rampaging Great Ape. Piccolo destroys the moon to stop the rampage, removes Gohan's tail, and clothes the unconscious boy in a new outfit before departing for his own training.

Gohan falls into an underground cavern and discovers an ancient robot buried for eighty years. The two form a brief friendship before the robot sacrifices itself to send Gohan back to the surface as the ruins collapse around them.

Gohan bonds with an injured dinosaur in the wilderness while Krillin recruits Yamcha from his baseball career to join the Z Fighters at Kami's Lookout. A predator attack teaches Gohan a harsh lesson about the limits of kindness.

Vegeta and Nappa detour to the insectoid planet Arlia, where they demolish a tyrant king and his forces for entertainment. After briefly being hailed as heroes by the freed inhabitants, Vegeta destroys the entire planet as they leave.

Piccolo trains alone with devastating telekinesis, Gohan narrowly survives an earthquake, Launch tries to win Tien's heart, Krillin recruits Tien and Chiaotzu, and Goku falls off Snake Way straight into Hell.

Trapped in Hell, Goku must outwit the guardian ogres Goz and Mez in a sumo match and a game of tag to find his way back to Snake Way. He escapes through a secret exit, only to end up at the very beginning of the road.

While traveling Snake Way, Goku stumbles upon the palace of Princess Snake, who tries to seduce him into staying forever. When charm fails, she reveals her true form as a giant serpent and attempts to devour him whole.

Piccolo pushes his training to the limit by splitting himself in two to fight his own clone. Meanwhile, Gohan discovers he is stranded on a deserted island, builds a raft to escape, and is caught in a violent ocean storm.

Gohan washes ashore and is taken in by a group of orphan children led by the resourceful Pigero. After bonding with the group and nearly reaching home, Gohan chooses to return to his training, inspired by the orphans' bravery.

Mr. Popo sends the Z Fighters into the Pendulum Room, where they face two Saiyan warriors in a simulated battle and learn just how outmatched they truly are against the coming threat.

Gohan's tail regrows and triggers a Great Ape transformation during training with Piccolo, while Goku finally reaches the end of Snake Way and meets King Kai and his monkey companion Bubbles.

Goku begins training under King Kai on his high-gravity planet, struggling to catch the speedy monkey Bubbles while Piccolo pushes Gohan harder than ever in the wastelands below.

King Kai reveals the violent history of the Saiyan race to Goku, while the Z Fighters complete their training on the Lookout and Fortuneteller Baba sees no future for Earth.

Goku is wished back to life with the Dragon Balls and races down Snake Way as the Saiyan space pods crash into East City, signaling that the battle for Earth has begun.

Vegeta and Nappa emerge from their pods and obliterate East City. The Z Fighters sense the monstrous energy and converge on the battlefield as Nappa plants six Saibamen seeds in the soil.

The Z Fighters face the Saibamen in a series of one-on-one duels. Tien dominates his opponent, but Yamcha's overconfidence proves fatal when a defeated Saibaman latches onto him and self-destructs.

Krillin annihilates the remaining Saibamen and Nappa enters the fight, severing Tien's arm with a single blow. Chiaotzu sacrifices himself in a desperate attempt to stop the unstoppable Saiyan.

Tien pours his remaining life force into a final Tri-Beam that fails to stop Nappa, dying alongside his best friend. Vegeta grants a three-hour reprieve for Goku to arrive.

Nappa terrorizes Earth's military and destroys cities during the three-hour wait, while Goku arrives at the Check-In Station and races back to Earth with Senzu Beans and the Flying Nimbus.

The tail-grab plan fails when Nappa reveals he has trained past that weakness. Krillin's Destructo Disc nearly kills the brute, but Piccolo ultimately shields Gohan from a lethal blast.

Piccolo dies shielding Gohan from Nappa's blast, taking Kami and the Dragon Balls with him. Goku arrives at the battlefield and overwhelms Nappa with a power level over 8,000.

Goku dominates Nappa with the Kaio-ken technique, breaking his back when the brute targets Gohan and Krillin out of spite. Vegeta then executes his own partner for being a disappointment.

Goku and Vegeta clash in an explosive duel at the Gizard Wasteland. Vegeta's overwhelming power forces Goku to push the Kaio-ken to a dangerous times-three multiplier.

Goku pushes Kaio-ken to times four and overwhelms Vegeta's Galick Gun with a supercharged Kamehameha. The battered prince responds by creating an artificial moon and transforming into a Great Ape.

Nappa's rampage reaches a horrifying peak as Chiaotzu sacrifices himself in a desperate self-destruct attack, only for the Saiyan brute to emerge completely unharmed. With Earth's defenders falling one by one, Piccolo and Krillin launch a surprise counterattack.

Tien channels every last ounce of his life force into a devastating final attack against Nappa, but even this ultimate sacrifice fails to bring down the Saiyan warrior. Vegeta grants a three-hour reprieve, waiting for Goku to arrive.

Krillin holds the Spirit Bomb with Earth's survival resting in his hands. When Vegeta dodges the throw, Gohan bounces it back with a pure heart, striking the Saiyan prince and sending him crashing from the sky.

Gohan transforms into a Great Ape and crushes Vegeta beneath his massive body. As Krillin moves in for the kill, Goku makes a telepathic plea for mercy that changes the course of history, allowing the Saiyan prince to escape Earth alive.

The survivors collect their fallen friends and learn about Planet Namek, where more powerful Dragon Balls could revive everyone. King Kai locates living Namekians, and Krillin produces a stolen Saiyan remote that may hold the key to getting there.

The heroes regroup at Wukong Hospital while a recovery team extracts Nappa's space pod. When Bulma accidentally destroys the pod via remote, all seems lost until Mr. Popo reveals an ancient Namekian spaceship hidden in the highlands of Yunzabit.

Capsule Corporation refits Kami's ancient spaceship for the long journey ahead. After an emotional send-off complete with Chi-Chi's wardrobe demands, Bulma, Krillin, and Gohan blast off for Planet Namek on mankind's first deep space voyage.

Seven days into their voyage, boredom gives way to danger when a giant mirror-plated spaceship pulls Kami's vessel inside. Bulma, Krillin, and Gohan navigate a gauntlet of booby traps only to find themselves surrounded by hundreds of armed children.

The orphaned children aboard the Mirror Spaceship mistake our heroes for agents of Frieza. A meteor swarm forces an unlikely alliance, and after escaping together, the crew hears the name "Frieza" for the first time. Vegeta arrives at Planet Frieza 79.

The crew crash-lands on what they believe is Planet Namek and meets two friendly locals, Raiti and Zaacro, who help them search for Dragon Balls. But Bulma begins to suspect their generous hosts are not what they seem.

The Dragon Ball hunt continues across increasingly bizarre terrain as Goku secretly escapes the hospital to train. On Planet Frieza 79, Vegeta completes his recovery and emerges from the Medical Machine stronger than before.

The elaborate illusion shatters as Raiti and Zaacro reveal their true monstrous forms. On Planet Frieza 79, Vegeta learns that Frieza has already departed for Namek to claim the Dragon Balls, and the Saiyan prince races to beat him there.

Gohan and Krillin break free from the sea creatures and defeat Raiti and Zaacro, escaping the fake Namek for good. After 34 days in space, they finally land on the real Planet Namek, only to discover Vegeta has arrived minutes behind them.

Frieza's scouts destroy Kami's ship, stranding the heroes on Namek. Vegeta confronts Cui and reveals a shocking power increase, eliminating his old rival with contemptuous ease. Krillin and Gohan hide in a cave as Frieza's army sweeps toward the next village.

Goku eats a Senzu Bean, makes a miraculous recovery, and blasts off for Namek in a Capsule Corp spaceship equipped with 100x gravity training. On Namek, Krillin and Gohan witness Frieza's army arrive at a Namekian village and begin terrorizing its people.

Frieza demands the village Dragon Ball and murders Namekian elders to make his point. Three warrior-class Namekians arrive and shockingly overpower Frieza's soldiers, while the clever elder Moori destroys every scouter in sight to blind the tyrant's forces.

Dodoria massacres the remaining Namekian warriors and murders elder Moori and young Cargo in cold blood. Gohan snaps, rescuing Dende in a burst of rage, and Krillin blinds Dodoria with the Solar Flare as the trio escapes into hiding.

Vegeta ambushes Dodoria after he separates from Frieza and Zarbon. The panicked henchman reveals the truth about Planet Vegeta's destruction at Frieza's hands, but Vegeta, unmoved by the revelation, executes him with a single blast.

Goku narrowly avoids being incinerated by a star after his ship is knocked off course, firing a Kamehameha to propel himself to safety. On Namek, Vegeta discovers an untouched village and begins his own brutal campaign for the Dragon Balls.