Tail Attack

The Tail Attack is exactly what it sounds like: using a prehensile tail as a weapon. It can take the form of a whip strike, a constricting hold, or a sweeping blow, depending on the user and the situation. There is nothing flashy about it and no ki charge required. The tail simply acts as an additional limb for combat, giving tailed fighters a natural advantage in close quarters that their tailless opponents lack.

The technique appears across every series in the franchise and is used by an enormous variety of characters, from Saiyans like Goku and Raditz to Frieza's race, Shadow Dragons, and various movie villains. Even Beerus, the God of Destruction, has been known to use his tail in combat.

Raditz provides one of the earliest and most memorable tail attacks in Z, casually swatting Krillin aside with his tail when the monk tries to intervene during the standoff over young Gohan. Frieza uses his tail extensively in his various forms, particularly during his battle on Namek where he whips and constricts opponents with it. Cell's tail serves double duty as both a weapon and his primary absorption tool, making it arguably the most dangerous tail in the series.

Great Apes and Giants

In Great Ape form, the tail attack becomes proportionally more devastating. Great Ape Vegeta, Nappa, and Bardock all use tail strikes in the Budokai Tenkaichi games, and Golden Great Ape Baby employs his massive tail during his battle with Super Saiyan 4 Goku in Dragon Ball GT. The sheer size difference makes these attacks capable of leveling terrain.

The irony of the Saiyan tail is that it is simultaneously their greatest natural weapon and their greatest weakness. Early in Dragon Ball, grabbing Goku's tail renders him completely helpless. This vulnerability is eventually trained away, but the dual nature of the tail as both asset and liability makes it one of the most narratively interesting body parts in anime history. The Tail Attack exists at the intersection of that duality: a simple, instinctive offensive use of something that has caused its owners as much trouble as advantage.