(1 - 4) The Arrival - Born long ago of a primeval force on a faraway planet, the Saiyans developed into a warrior race so devastating and relentless that their own planet did not survive their centuries of destruction. Now, one of them is coming to earth to find his younger brother Goku! The mighty Saiyan warrior Raditz arrives on Earth searching for his brother Goku, who was sent to Earth as a baby with a mission to destroy all traces of human life on Earth. However, Goku received a blow to his head upon his earthly arrival, causing him to forget his mission of destruction. Goku has instead become earth's most powerful defender. When Raditz arrives, he tells Goku to destroy 100 earthlings by the next morning or Goku's son Gohan will be killed. After Goku refuses his request, Raditz kidnaps Gohan. Goku is baffled about what to do until his arch enemy, Piccolo, appears. Piccolo joins forces with Goku to battle against the Saiyan's threat to Earth. Both use every technique they possess against Raditz, but discover there is no power on Earth capable of stopping Raditz. When Raditz has almost finished Goku, his power sensor goes off. Gohan has broken free of the space capsule in which Raditz had imprisoned him. In a remarkable burst of power against Raditz, Gohan's Saiyan blood shows through. Raditz is weakened by Gohan's burst, allowing Goku to grab Raditz in a bear hug. Piccolo summons an extra powerful screw blast to finish off Raditz, but his attack also ends Goku's life. Before Raditz dies, he tells Piccolo that two other Saiyans who have even greater power are heading for Earth and will arrive within the year! While Piccolo trains Gohan, Goku travels through the other world to visit Martial Arts Master King Kai to get superior training from him in preparation for the coming battle against the Saiyans!
(5) Gohan's Metamorphosis - Piccolo takes Gohan to a deserted wasteland to train him to utilize his incredible power. Gohan is left alone to survive for six months, while Piccolo watches over him from afar. On the night of the first full moon, Piccolo witnesses an incredible transformation as Gohan becomes a gigantic ape!
(6) Gohan Makes a Friend - Gohan gradually gets used to living in the wasteland, even though he misses his parents. One day, he helps an injured dinosaur and the two become friends. Later, Gohan's new friend is attacked by another evil dinosaur! See if Gohan can save his new friend!
(7) Trouble on Arlia - The evil Saiyan warriors, Vegeta and Nappa, are getting closer to earth, eager to gather the seven Dragon Balls and realize their wish for immortality. On the way to earth, the two warriors decide to stop by Planet Arlia to have some fun. Watch out because fun to a Saiyan warrior means destruction!
(8) Home for Infinite Losers - Goku has fallen off Snake Way into the land of no return. There, two ogres give Goku a test; they promise that they will show him the way back to Snake Way if he wins a competition against them.
(9) Princess Snake's Hospitality - A selected group of warriors have gathered at the top of Korin Tower. There they will under go the special training that will prepare them for the Saiyans. Meanwhile, Goku reaches the end of Snake Way only to fall into the treacherous hands of the beautiful Snake Princess.
(10) Escape from Piccolo - Gohan misses home very much. One day, he escapes the wilderness, but his handmade boat is wrecked in a storm. Gohan is saved by orphan children on an island and makes some new friends. When he almost reaches home, Piccolo reminds him of his mission: to save Earth!
(11) Showdown in the Past - Earth's warriors, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha, are training at Kami's lookout, but get frustrated at the speed of their training. Kami's assistant, Mr. Popo, instructs them to know themselves to become stronger and to learn about their enemy to defeat it. Mr. Popo sends their spirits to the virtual reality of the Pendulum Room, where the warriors experience the overwhelming power of the average Saiyan. Then they learn the terrible reality that the two Saiyans who are approaching are twice as strong!
(12) The End of Snake Way - Gohan is continuing his training under Piccolo. One night, Gohan suddenly transforms to a giant ape again and attacks Piccolo! Piccolo discovers that a moon image is projected from Goku's old Saiyan space pod and Piccolo must destroy the pod before Gohan destroys him! Meanwhile, Goku finally reaches King Kai's small planet at the end of Snake Way. There, Goku finds that he must train in the gravity of a planet that is ten times stronger than Earth's!
(13) A Fight Against Gravity... Catch Bubbles! - After Goku passes King Kai's test to make King Kai laugh, the training begins! Goku's first task is to catch King Kai's pet monkey, Bubbles, in a gravity ten times stronger than Earth's. King Kai tells Goku that the planet Vegeta, the Saiyans' homeworld, had the same gravity as his place and that the two Saiyans that are on the way to Earth are even stronger than King Kai himself! This fact reinforces Goku's determination to train even harder to defeat them.
(14) The Legend of the Saiyans - Goku's next task in his training is to hit Gregory, a super fast grasshopper, with a heavy hammer. King Kai is amazed to see how quickly Goku can conquer the gravity and decides to teach him the ultimate techniques called "Kaio-Ken" and "Spirit Bomb". One day, King Kai reveals more to Goku about his Saiyan heritage. Goku learns that the planet Vegeta had vanished and he is one of only four Saiyans that survived. Goku will have to confront the rest of the surviving Saiyans soon!
(15) Black Day for Planet Earth - Goku completes his training under King Kai, and is ready for the battle against the Saiyans. While Goku hurries back on Snake Way to Earth, the evil Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa, finally land and launch a diabolical wake-up call for the planet Earth. They first sense the power of Piccolo and Gohan and proceed to them. Their purpose is to find the Dragon Balls and make their wish -- immortality. Can Earth's Special Forces hold out until Goku arrives?!
(16) The Battle Begins... Goku Where are You? - Vegeta and Nappa reach Piccolo, Gohan and Krillin. Vegeta recognizes Piccolo as the one who told Raditz about the Dragon Balls before finishing Raditz off, and then reveals that Piccolo is an alien from the planet Namek! The Saiyans then grow plant monsters, called Saibamen, to fight Earth's warriors first, just as Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha arrive to help!
(17)The Saibamen Strike - The Earth's Special Forces show their newly developed power in their battle with the plant monsters known as the Saibamen. Unfortunately, the Saibamen are only a prologue to the real battle against their creators - the evil Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa.
(18) Nappa... The Invincible? - Nappa powers up and picks Tien as his first prey. Chiaotzu tries a sneak attack, but Nappa's enormous power prevents anyone from helping Tien. Piccolo plans a new attack, but will it work on one who seems invincible?
(19) Tien Goes All Out!! - Tien uses all his powers to help Piccolo and Krillin attack Nappa, but Nappa continues to dominate the Earth's Special Forces. Just as Nappa is about to finish off Piccolo and Krillin, Vegeta calls a three hour break to see if Kakarot (Goku) will show up. Where is Goku?
(20) Times Up!! - When the three hour truce ends Goku has not arrived, so Nappa resumes his devastating attack. Suddenly everyone senses that Goku will arrive soon. When Vegeta discovers that Goku's power level is at least 5000, he orders Nappa to finish off the remaining three warriors before Goku arrives!
(21) The Return of Goku - Nappa defeats Krillin and fires a massive power blast to finish off Gohan. Piccolo saves Gohan by sacrificing himself, but this also sacrifices Kami and the seven Dragon Balls necessary to wish everyone back alive! Gohan is enraged and uses all of his power to avenge Piccolo, but Nappa is too strong. Luckily for Gohan, Goku finally shows up!
(22) Goku Strikes Back - Goku arrives and surprises everyone with his new power. Vegeta orders Nappa to retreat, but the enraged saiyan attacks Krillin and Gohan instead. Goku stops Nappa by using his new Kaio-ken technique, and the injured Nappa pleads to Vegeta for help. The powerful Saiyan shows his ruthlessness by blowing up Nappa instead! Now it is time for the showdown between Goku and Vegeta!
(23) Goku Vs. Vegeta... A Saiyan Duel - Goku must now face Vegeta, the prince of the planet Vegeta, the strongest Saiyan warrior, and a villian so ruthless he destroyed his own partner, Nappa, for being injured. When Goku's double Kaio-Ken attack fails, Goku breaks his promise to King Kai and uses the triple Kaio-Ken. Vegeta becomes so angry he decides to blow up Earth!
(24) Vegeta... Saiyan Style! - Vegeta realizes that "Kakarot" is stronger than he expected, so he uses the ultimate strategy - transforming to a giant ape. Goku is in great danger! On the way to Master Roshi's, Gohan and Krillin sense Goku's crisis and hurry back to help him. Meanwhile, Goku decides to try his other new technique, the Spirit Bomb. But does he have enough time to gather the energy!?
(25) Stop Vegeta Now!! - As the giant ape almost crushes Goku, Yajirobe manages to cut off his tail! A furious Vegeta now attacks the other three warriors, while Goku tells Gohan to fight against Vegeta to give Goku a chance to give the Spirit Bomb to Krillin. As Vegeta corners Gohan, Krillin throws the Spirit Bomb at Vegeta!
(26) Battle's End - Even after getting hit by the Spirit Bomb, Vegeta is still alive! Although he is injured and weak, Vegeta seems still too strong for the Earth's warriors. Just as Vegeta is about to finish off Gohan, Gohan's tail grows back again! Gohan then transforms to a giant ape and starts attacking Vegeta!
(27) A New Goal... Namek! - The damaged Vegeta leaves the Earth, promising he will be back to destroy everyone. Goku wants to bring back the other Earth's warriors, but the Dragon Balls don't exist any more on Earth! Krillin remembers that the Saiyans had said that the Dragon Balls could be found on the planet Namek, so Mr. Popo and Bulma go to find out if Kami's original spaceship will still work.
(28) Journey to Namek - Kami's spaceship is reconstructed and ready for the long journey, so the Dragon Balls search crew -Bulma, Krillin and Gohan- takes off to Namek. At first, they enjoy a nice ride, but all of a sudden they are attacked and captured by a mysterious spaceship run by refugees! Meanwhile, the injured Vegeta travels back to his army base to recover.
(29) Friends or Foes? - Bulma, Gohan and Krillin are captured by a mysterious group of militant, heavily armed refugees on the way to the planet Namek. At first, the refugees accuse the trio of being the henchmen of the evil Frieza that destroyed their home planet. However, when the earthlings help in a dangerous situation, the refugees allow them to continue on their journey to the planet Namek.
(30) Hunt for a Dragon Ball - On the planet Namek, Bulma, Gohan and Krillin begin the adventurous hunt for the Dragon Balls with the help of two Namek natives. On the Earth, Goku starts his training early even though he has not yet healed, while far away in the universe, Vegeta rests in the recovery room at one of Frieza's bases.
(31) Who's Who? - Just as Gohan and others are about to find all of the Dragon Balls, the two 'Nameks' reveal their true identity! The Earthlings are in big trouble! Meanwhile, Vegeta finds out that Frieza has already left for the planet Namek to search for the Dragon Balls. Quickly, Vegeta also takes off to Namek!
(32) Touchdown on Namek - After escaping two vicious aliens, Bulma, Gohan and Krillin finally arrive on the real planet Namek. Their joy doesn't last long, because soon they see Vegeta's space pod flying over them, with a second space pod following it! Yet, they don't even know the worst part: Frieza is already on Namek searching for the Dragon Balls!
(33) Face Off On Namek - One of Frieza's assistants senses the power of Gohan and Krillin, and sends a reconnaissance party to investigate. The scouts break into the space ship, but Gohan and Krillin beat the scouts easily. Meanwhile, Vegeta is challenged by his long time rival, Cui. However, Cui is no match for Vegeta, who has increased his power level.
(34) The Ruthless Frieza - When Frieza and his troops pass by, Gohan and Krillin sense the great power from Frieza! To make matters worse, Frieza has already collected four of the seven Dragon Balls! On Earth, Goku instantly recovers thanks to a Senzu bean, but when he learns Gohan may be in trouble, he hops on a space ship to rush to Namek!
(35) The Nameks vs. Frieza - As Goku continues his long journey to Namek, Gohan and Krillin watch as the Nameks struggle to defend their planet from Frieza's henchmen. Frieza is continuing his search for the fifth Dragon Ball, and will stop at nothing to get it.
(36) Escape From Dodoria - Frieza's henchmen threaten a Namek child during their search for the Dragon Balls, but Gohan and Krillin become enraged and rescue the child. They soon find themselves pursued by Frieza's henchman Dodoria, but they manage to give him the slip.
(37) Secrets Revealed - Vegeta intercepts Dodoria who hopes that Vegeta will spare his life if he reveals that Frieza destroyed the Saiyan home planet! Vegeta decides to destroy Dodoria anyway, and then begins to search for Gohan and Krillin. When he cannot locate them, Vegeta decides to search for the Dragon Balls instead. Meanwhile, Gohan and Krillin locate Bulma who tells them that Goku will reach Namek within the week!
(38) A Collision Course - Goku struggles to fix his ship during his trip to Namek, and barely avoids getting barbecued! Vegeta beats Frieza to the Namek village containing the fifth Dragon Ball and he takes it for himself.
(39) Stay Away From Frieza - Piccolo and the others reach King Kai's and begin their training. On Namek, Frieza's henchmen continue their search for the Dragon Balls while Gohan and friends learn about the eldest Namek. Krillin soon sets out to find the last Dragon Ball, but Vegeta decides to amuse himself at the expense of Zarbon.
(40) Zarbon Transformed - Vegeta surprises Zarbon with his increased power, but Zarbon returns the surprise by transforming into an incredibly powerful monster. Zarbon then attacks Vegeta and appears to destroy him.
Episodes 41-80