Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise has always been about increasingly epic fights, with Goku and the Z Fighters defending the entire universe from some of the most powerful enemies in existence. With Dragon Ball Z taking the scope and scale to the next level, the intensity of signature attacks and special techniques among the characters similarly escalated. But which technique is the most formidable of them all? Here is a comprehensive listing of the biggest and best special moves and attacks utilized over the course of DBZ, including which attack is hands-down the most powerful in the entire series.
Big Bang Attack
Vegeta made his entrance in Dragon Ball Z's Android Saga with a shocking twist of his own: in the three years training for the androids' arrival, he had achieved the Super Saiyan transformation for himself. Stepping in after Goku fell ill to a rare heart virus, Vegeta easily bested the synthetic Android 19 all by himself. To cap off this battle, Vegeta destroyed 19 with his Big Bang Attack, fired from the outstretched palm of his hand.
The Saiyan Prince would sporadically use the Big Bang Attack with considerably less success throughout DBZ and Dragon Ball Super, infamously using it while possessed as Majin Vegeta to kill civilians and goad Goku into fighting him. Other instances of its use came against Android 18 and Kid Buu, but the intended targets dodged it on both occasions.
Special Beam Cannon
Piccolo began DBZ as something of a villain, looking to gain his revenge on Goku and proceed with his plans to conquer the Earth like his father, the Demon King Piccolo. Instead, Goku and Piccolo joined together against a common enemy when Goku's evil, older brother Raditz arrived, quickly proving himself to be far stronger than the two Earth warriors.
However, Piccolo soon unveiled his Special Beam Cannon, an attack he originally developed to use exclusively on Goku, charging it up long enough to cleanly pierce through both Raditz and Goku at once. The attack becomes something of a signature move of Piccolo's and is capable of deflecting stronger attacks and opponents, with Piccolo notably using the Special Beam Cannon to save Gohan's life from an energy blast during the non-canonical anime film Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound.
Final Flash
Vegeta's other signature attack is the Final Flash, a move he perfected while training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a full year to exceed his Super Saiyan limitations. When facing off against Perfect Cell, Vegeta found himself completely outmatched and challenged the villain to withstand the full brunt of his next attack. The overconfident Cell agreed as Vegeta fully charged up and fired his Final Flash, leaving Cell critically damaged by the attack -- even in his perfect form.
While Vegeta's subsequent, canonical uses of the Final Flash in DBZ and Dragon Ball Super are less epic, the Saiyan Prince uses the attack to destroy the villainous Doctor Lychee and his synthetic warrior Hatchiyack in the anime special Dragon Ball Z: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans.
Kamehameha Wave
No list of Dragon Ball attacks would be complete without the Kamehameha Wave, Goku's signature technique that he learned from his old martial arts mentor Master Roshi. In terms of sheer track record, Goku has had the greatest success in dispatching opponents throughout the franchise with some variation of this attack. That said, some of his toughest enemies have withstood the full brunt of the blast and continued to menace him, including Goku nearly destroying Cell with a point-blank Kamehameha Wave only for the villain to regenerate. Gohan would more than make up for it later, completely destroying Cell with a one-handed Kamehameha.
Successful uses of the Kamehameha Wave in DBZ include Goku combining it with the Kaio-Ken technique to prevent Vegeta from destroying Earth, as well as defeating Pikkon during the Other World Martial Arts Tournament. Non-canonical successes with the Kamehameha Wave include Goku using it with his sons Goten and Gohan to blast a fully-powered Broly directly into the sun during the anime film Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming, echoing Goku similarly finishing off Cooler with the same strategy in Dragon Ball Z: Return of Cooler.
Spirit Bomb
The ultimate attack in Goku's arsenal is the Spirit Bomb, having learned the technique while training under King Kai in the afterlife during the Saiyan Saga. Drawing raw energy from all life to form the attack, the Spirit Bomb is used sparingly due to the amount of time required to fully prepare it. Initially able to be thrown by a single hand, the Spirit Bomb has since grown to become a massive energy blast engulfing its target.
It was the Spirit Bomb that ultimately saved the day near the end of Dragon Ball Z, with Goku using it in his climactic fight against Kid Buu, completely obliterating the villain. The Spirit Bomb would also be used successfully at the end of many non-canonical anime films as the final move to destroy the opponent in an epic blast.
