Piccolo is one of the wisest martial artists in the Dragon Ball franchise, mentoring Gohan and Gotenks as a tough love teacher who repented from his wicked ways to become one of the most stoically powerful Z Fighters. Though Piccolo is one of the elder statesmen of Goku's allies, trading blows with opponents who are often far stronger than himself, there are times where the Namekian warrior endures crushing defeats that are so humiliating it makes one question if his respected combat wisdom may actually be misplaced.
Here are Piccolo's most embarrassing and one-sided defeats throughout Dragon Ball, knocking the unflappable Namekian down a few pegs and reminding audiences why it's Goku and Vegeta who tend to lead the charge instead.
Turles (Dragon Ball Z: Tree of Might)
While taking place in the non-canonical Dragon Ball Z film Tree of Might, Piccolo can't catch a break in the 1990 tale against the evil Saiyan warrior Turles. While the other Z Fighters were preoccupied by Turles' henchmen, Piccolo decided to go straight for the big bad himself -- only to find that Turles completely outmatched him at every turn.
What makes this distinction all the more humiliating is that Turles mercilessly dominates Piccolo even before he is significantly upgraded from eating a fruit from the eponymous Tree of Might. By comparison, Goku is able to knock the evil Saiyan around before he eats the fruit without even having to use the Kaio-Ken technique. Shortly after, Piccolo is beaten even more brutally by the upgraded Turles to buy Goku time to gather energy for a Spirit Bomb.
Frost (Dragon Ball Super)
Piccolo becomes a more active participant in Dragon Ball Super compared to his mentor role toward the end of DBZ, representing Universe 7 in two multiversal martial arts tournaments. While Piccolo would ultimately be defeated in both competitions, his elimination in the Tournament of Destruction against Universe 6 was easily the more embarrassing of the two.
The Namekian's biggest hit in the Tournament of Destruction is Frost, a member of Frieza's species from Universe 6. Though Piccolo pulls out all the stops in a bid to defeat Frost, the conniving warrior exposes one critical flaw in the hero's signature energy blast, the Special Beam Cannon. Frost attacks while Piccolo is charging up this attack, incapacitating him with a hidden needle that poisons the Namekian. Though Piccolo loses the fight, Frost bringing in a weapon to the fight is discovered and ultimately disqualifies him.
Imperfect Cell (Dragon Ball Z)
The first Z Fighter to battle Cell in Dragon Ball Z isn't Goku or Vegeta but Piccolo, shortly after he fuses with his counterpart Kami to become a Super Namekian. The powered-up Piccolo tracks down Cell after the supervillain consumes the entire population of Gingertown to gain power. Piccolo feigns being weaker to learn more about this strange, new threat -- but this decision comes back to haunt him.
To prevent Cell from reaching his perfect form, Piccolo fought Android 17 in an effort to destroy the synthetic warrior before Cell could absorb him. However, Cell arrives on the battlefield before Piccolo can succeed, with the Namekian weakened from his fight against 17 while Cell had grown noticeably stronger from absorbing more humans. Piccolo is easily laid out by Cell, with his past failure to destroy the villain painfully biting back.
Dabura, King of the Demon World (Dragon Ball Z)
Piccolo is among the Z Fighters recruited by the Supreme Kai to prevent the evil wizard Babidi from freeing the imprisoned monster Majin Buu -- only to be ambushed by Babidi's righthand man, the Demon King Dabura. Piccolo and Krillin learn the hard way that direct contact with Dabura's spit turns anything into solid stone in a matter of seconds.
To add insult to injury, the petrified Piccolo and Krillin are later discovered by Goten and Trunks, with Trunks accidentally tipping over Piccolo and causing him to shatter into pieces. When Dabura's enchantment wears off after his death, Piccolo remains in pieces but manages to use his regenerative powers to heal himself as if nothing had happened.
Super Buu (Dragon Ball Z)
After Goku ran out of time on Earth and returned to the afterlife, it fell on Piccolo to train Goten and Trunks to perfect the Fusion Dance and destroy Majin Buu. Matters became more complicated when Buu was absorbed by Evil Buu to transform into the powerful Super Buu, wiping out most of humanity and setting his sights on Gotenks.
While Gotenks did the actual fighting against Buu, unleashing a series of bizarre attacks, both Gotenks and Piccolo would be ambushed by Super Buu after Gohan's arrival made the villain realize he was outmatched in his current state. For being such a tactical genius, Piccolo -- unaware of Buu's deception until it's too late -- is overwhelmed easily from behind, with Buu gaining Piccolo's combat wisdom and insight on Gohan's psyche.
