Summary
Although theDragon Ball Superanime went on an indefinite hiatus following the Tournament of Power arc, the manga continued airing until 2024, introducing some of the most beloved arcs in the entire series. Among these was the Granolah arc, which was one of the most emotionally charged in the entire franchise, exploring themes such as the cost of revenge, the sins of the past, forgiveness, and growth.
Along with being one ofDragon Ball’sbest arcs, it also introduced many important villains into the story. Some were nuanced while others were outright evil, but they all worked perfectly withthe themes that this arc tried to portrayand were each incredible characters to witness. In this article, let’s go over the main villains of the Granolah arc and see why they go down as some of the most memorable in the franchise.
Dragon Ball Super, Chapter 67, “Happy Endings… And Then…”
Due Date
July 12, 2025
The titular character of the arc, Granolah, isone of the most nuanced and deep charactersthat have ever been introduced inDragon Ball. Essentially, decades before the start of the main story, Saiyans were sent to his home planet to wipe out the native population on behalf of Frieza in order to sell the planet off, creating within him a deep hatred of the Saiyan race and the Galactic Tyrant. Although he would spend his life in relative peace alongside the Sugarians, Granolah never forgot the torment he went through, so he sought out greater power.
No matter how powerful you are, I remain the strongest in the universe!
By making a wish with the Cerealian Dragon Balls, Granolah quickly matched up to Goku and Vegeta’s strength, eventually fighting both Saiyans and proving to be powerful and cunning enough to defeat Ultra Instinct in a single hit. Eventually, he made terms with his choices and was willing to kill himself for revenge, only to rethink such actions with nuance, which allowed him to ally with the Saiyans by the end of the arc, opening the door to the possibility of him becoming a Z-Fighter down the line.
Debut Date
July 27, 2025
When the arc started, it seemed that Granolah was the main villain as the powerful warrior whom the heroes had to defeat. However, it was slowly revealed that all the events leading up to the inevitable clash at the end of the arcwere set in motion by The Heeters, or, more particularly, their leader Elec. They are a mysterious family who often acted as the intermediaries in Frieza’s planet-selling business.
I was once the weakest among us, but Elec raised me to this level. I would do anything for him.
Realizing how lucrative the business was and how Frieza’s existence is always a threat, Elec hatched a plan to have Granolah and the Saiyans take each other out. In the meantime, he also wished for his younger brother, Gas, to become the new strongest in the universe in order to kill Frieza when the time came. Although everything was going his way, he never could have accounted for Frieza’s newfound strength.
July 01, 2025
Despite being the youngest and smallest in stature out of all the Heeters, Gas was the strongest and was considered to be the muscle of the group. While his power was formidable, it proved to beutterly meaningless in front of Granolahafter his wish with the Dragon Balls, birthing serious jealousy and insecurity within the villain. Due to this, he agreed with Elec to make the same wish with the Dragon Balls as Granolah did, which brought him up to the same level as Goku, Vegeta, and Granolah.
I consider this a failure on my part. I had hoped to kill you with the technique I’ve honed.
Due to this, he served the role of the primary antagonist of the arc, where he battled against the heroes and even proved to be superior at points. However, the nature of his wish demanded an exchange of years of his life to make him the strongest, which he didn’t know about. Due to this, his body began to disintegrate and eat itself apart in an attempt to grow in strength like the others, which eventually made him into a mindless, withered husk of himself. Even though he was stronger than the heroes by the end, his body simply couldn’t keep up, which is how Frieza was able to kill him in a single hit.
May 23, 2025
At the end of the arc, fans believed that victory for the heroes was certain due to them joining forces against Gas, who was revealed to be dying anyway. However, this hope quickly turned sour at the very end when everyone’s favorite villain made his long-awaited return toSuper, and did so in a way that left fans' jaws on the floor. Since the Tournament of Power, it was revealed thatFrieza had been training to hone his strength, even going so far as to find a Hyperbolic Time Chamber on a planet and getting in 10 years worth of training.
Meet Black Frieza! Achieving this form took plenty of toil, I’ll have you know!
This led to his brand-new Black Frieza form that was so powerful that it killed Gas in a single hit. Not only that, but he eventually went on to knock Goku and Vegeta out with just one punch, despite both of the Saiyans being in their most powerful Divine Forms. This showed that Frieza is far stronger than anyone fans have seen up to this point in the story, perhaps being the only mortal who equals Beerus. Only time will tell the true limits of this form, but it is clearly built up as the greatest threat in the future of the series.
