Best young goku arcs

2115 duels later, King Piccolo Arc is still #1 in the Dragon Ball ranking, with 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament Arc close behind.

King Piccolo Arc wins 66% of its duels and holds the top spot with 1386 ELO points, followed by 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament Arc at 1356 and 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament Arc at 1348. The tightest race appears within the top three, separated by just 38 points, while the sharpest drop occurs between Red Ribbon Army Arc and 21st World Martial Arts Tournament Arc, where 86 ELO points mark the divide between ranks 4 and 5. The community clearly favors the darker, more dramatic arcs of Kid Goku's journey over the series' tournament-focused entries and its opening chapters. At the bottom, Kami's Lookout Training Arc struggles with a 21% win rate and 894 ELO points, suggesting voters view the training montage as less compelling than the action-driven narratives that dominate the upper ranks.

This TopList draws on 2115 duels submitted by 119 players across 9 contenders, with rankings updated on 12 October 2026. The data reveals which moments in the original Dragon Ball series resonate most with fans who grew up watching Goku evolve from a naive child into a martial arts prodigy. Cast your vote and shape the ranking by choosing your favorite arc in head-to-head matchups on VAINKEURZ.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →