TheDragon Ballseries is considered by many to be one of the greatest franchises of all time, featuring a number of iconic characters and stories that have become synonymous with pop culture.The names of characterslikeGoku, Vegeta, and Gohan— among many others — have been etched in the annals of history due to the massive role they played in the childhood of many fans all over the world.
RELATED:Things We Want To See In Dragon Ball Super’s Sequel Series
The fights present in theDragon Ballseries have become the stuff of legends, with beam clashes and the like allowing for some of the most iconic moments in the franchise’s history. Of course, as is the case with most shonen shows that have massive power scaling, there are some beam attacks that are bound to be better than others, with the best of the bunch earning their spot on this list.
Updated July 05, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Dragon Ball Z is a series where ki can be manipulated for all sorts of attacks. From energy balls to explosive waves, Dragon Ball has done a great job of taking this martial arts concept and spinning it brilliantly to make for bombastic fighting spectacles.
Perhaps the most engaging of them all is forming ki into a beam that can be fired at an opponent. There are several instances of fighters manipulating their energy for these awe-inspiring attacks, with the best beam attacks of the bunch being mentioned below.
20Explosive Demon Wave
The Explosive Demon Wave has been used sparingly across theDragon Ballseries. It was a go-to move for King Piccolo before slowly fading away as Piccolo devised more powerful beam attacks such as the Special Beam Cannon.
The Explosive Demon Wave was actually brought out once during the battle against Cell Max but did barely any damage. Suffice it to say, the power level of this beam attack has been vastly overshadowed by other moves in the series
19Spirit Cannon
Bardock didn’t really get the opportunity to shine against some ofDragon Ball’s stronger foes. He was taken out quickly by Frieza and never really got a chance to show his true potential.
While there is an OVA where Bardock goes Super Saiyan, the vast majority ofDragon Ballfans don’t really like that development anyway. As a result, his iconic Spirit Cannon attack doesn’t really get to rank all that high on the list.
18Masenko
The Masenko is easily one of the most underutilized beam attacks inDragon Ball. It’s indicative of Gohan’s decline as a character that this move barely sees the light of day.
Dragon Ball Superhas featured this move at times, but there’s still a long way to go before the Masenko establishes itself as a powerful beam attack once again. Until then, it’s bound to be one of the biggest what-could-have-been-beam attacks inDragon Ballhistory.
17Final Impact
Majin Vegeta is one of the most fascinating characters inDragon Ball Z. After going through a midlife crisis of sorts,Vegeta decides to unlock his hidden potentialby letting Babidi take over his mind.
However, after his fight against Goku, Vegeta decides to take out Majin Buu with his Final Impact attack. However, Majin Buu turns out to be too tough for this move, and Vegeta resorts to blowing himself up instead.
16Special Beam Cannon
Piccolo is easily one of the most beloved characters inDragon Ball, and his Special Beam Cannon was easily one of the biggest highlights during the initial run ofDragon Ball Z.
RELATED:Dragon Ball: Every Character Piccolo Tried To Kill (& Failed)
While some people may argue that this move — and Piccolo himself — have lagged behind the rest of the pack inDragon Ball Super, Special Beam Cannon was still a pretty reliable move that Piccolo fell back on several times throughout the series to defeat powerful opposition.
15Death Beam
Frieza is one of the most iconicDragon Ballantagonists of all time. His return toDragon Ball Superwas widely celebrated by fans who wanted to see this powerful fighter show his true potential.
One need only check the effectiveness of his Death Beam attack to see just how much Frieza has grown as a fighter. However, given how much of a punching bag he has become after turning into Golden Frieza, it’s clear that the former emperor of the universe needs to get some more hours of training under his belt.
14Galick Gun
The Galick Gun is still standing strong as one of the most powerful beam attacks around, remaining iconic ever since its first appearance during that iconic battle between Goku and Vegeta inDragon Ball Z.
Since then, the Galick Gun has made sporadic yet important appearances throughout the show, with one such notable — and perhaps the most powerful — appearance coming inthe movieDragon Ball Super: Broly, where Vegeta combined the Galick Gun along with Goku’s Kamehameha in the fight against Broly.
13Final Flash
The Final Flash is easily one of the most iconic beam attacks inDragon Ball, with its first — and most resounding — appearance coming inthe fight against Cell inDragon Ball Z.
RELATED:Dragon Ball Super: What Happens After The Anime?
Since then, the move has become a pretty valuable part of Vegeta’s arsenal and is considered to be one of his best and most powerful attacks in the series.
12Kamehameha
Of course, it was only a given that the Kamehameha would be a focal part of this list, and for good reason. An energy beam attack that is easily one of the most recognizable abilities in the series — with most people being able to figure it out with hand gestures alone — the Kamehameha has evolved various times over the course ofDragon Ball Z, increasing its power every single time.
One need only look at the fact that the rest of this list has just altered versions of the Kamehameha to understand just how powerful this move really is!
11Final Shine Attack
Vegeta loves adding the word “Final” as a prefix for his attacks. The Final Shine Attack that he develops inDragon Ball GTis a great example of this, with this attack unleashing an emerald-color beam against his opponents.
This attack was devised byVegeta in his Super Saiyan 4 form, with the Saiyan Prince using either one hand or both hands to charge this attack. The latter is done with a Final Flash pose, implying that this technique is an evolution of Vegeta’s iconic move.
