23rd Budokai Comprehensive Guide
 

QUARTER-FINALS

Match: Tenshinhan versus Tao.
Winner: Tenshinhan.
Backstory: Throughout his youth, Tenshinhan trained under the Crane Hermit and Mercenary Tao. He respected the strength of his masters, but at heart, he was not a killer, like they were, and their ideals often clashed. At the previous budokai, Crane instructed Tenshinhan to kill Goku in revenge for Mercenary Tao's death at his hands. But Tenshinhan refused to kill Goku and defected from Crane's school, becoming friends with Master Roshi and his students. Now, Mercenary Tao has reemerged, mostly cyborg, and has pledged to take revenge on both Goku and Tenshinhan...
Winning Move: Although Tao proves himself to be no match for Tenshinhan and is obliterated by him, Tenshinhan's victory actually comes about as the result of Tao disqualifying himself via use of a weapon.
Fight Details: Tenshinhan is reluctant to fight as the battle begins, standing stoically and monitoring his opponent. Tao is quite brash and thinks he will easily win the battle, mistaking Tenshinhan's reluctance for fear. Crane Hermit psychically taunts Tenshinhan, reminding him that when he was young and training under him, he could never defeat Tao. With Tenshinhan temporarily distracted, Tao makes the first move. Tenshinhan effortlessly evades Tao's attack and responds with a light tap that has considerable effect on Tao. Tenshinhan says that he's stronger than Tao, but Tao disagrees, saying he'll kill Tenshinhan. Tenshinhan explains that he doesn't want anything to do with the Crane Hermit or his family anymore, but he doesn't exactly plan on losing this fight either. Tenshinhan continues to humiliate Tao, and Tao gets angry, accusing Tenshinhan of playing around when he should be fighting for his life. Tenshinhan catches one of Tao's punches and forces his arm behind Tao's back. From that position, he pushes Tao forward, forcing him to exit the ring. As they reach the ring's edge, Tao detaches his hand and back flips over Tenshinhan. He then replaces the hand with a knife, cutting Tenshinhan and leaving a scar across his chest. Tao is immediately disqualified for this, but the match continues, as Tao threatens all around him if they try to interfere. Crane Hermit implores his brother to kill Tenshinhan. Goku, Krillen and Yamcha offer Tenshinhan their support, but he declines, saying this is his problem to solve. Tao tries to attack again with the knife, but Tenshinhan shatters it easily. With all other attacks proving ineffective, Tao reveals that his other arm can fire a "Super" Dodompa wave. Tao describes the incredible strength of this attack. Master Roshi tells Tenshinhan to run as Tao charges it, but Tenshinhan faces Tao down, raising his ki. The sheer level of his energy shocks Tao, and he leaps back before firing. Tenshinhan screams and easily dissipates Tao's attack. As Tao tries to understand how Tenshinhan could do this, Tenshinhan knocks him unconscious with a single blow. Goku is impressed by Tenshinhan's strength. Tenshinhan hands Tao's unconscious body to Crane Hermit and asks them to never bother him again. Crane flies off with Tao, promising to take revenge someday.
Interesting facts: Crane never tries to get that revenge. In fact, neither him or Tao ever appear again. (Excluding filler, that is.)

Match: Goku versus Chi-Chi
Winner: Goku.
Backstory: Goku and Chi-Chi were childhood friends. While they were playing together once, Chi-Chi asked Goku if he would marry her someday. He agreed, not really understanding what she meant. Years passed by and he forgot all about her and his promise. This angered Chi-Chi greatly and she's come to the tournament looking for him again.
Winning Move: Goku throws a punch that doesn't even connect with Chi-Chi; however, the sheer force of the blow carries her out of the ring.
Fight Details: Chi-Chi's identity is not revealed until the end of the match. She attacks Goku furiously as the match begins and Goku doesn't understand why she's so angry at him. No one else recognizes her either, although Roshi does admire her beauty. Goku continues to block her attacks and asks her questions about herself. She says that she was to be his "bride," but Goku doesn't know what that is. Goku asks for her name, and she says she'll tell him if he wins the match. Goku, intrigued, warns Chi-Chi that he's going to attack, and she isn't fazed by this proclamation. Goku proves to be much stronger than anyone imagined, as his attack eliminates Chi-Chi, despite the fact that his fist didn't even hit her body! Chi-Chi crawls back into the ring and tells Goku of her identity. Delighted, and realizing now what marriage is, Goku agrees and wants to marry Chi-Chi. The announcer relates the news of their engagement as the two depart the ring.
Interesting facts: This is the first match at the Budokai to ever end in engagement!

Match: Krillen versus Ma Junior.
Winner: Ma Junior.
Backstory: None.
Winning Move: After a particularly brutal blow by Ma Junior, sending him crashing down into the ring with many fearing for his life, Krillen forfeits the match.
Fight Details: Ma Junior's true identity as the reincarnation of evil King Piccolo has not yet been revealed. He and Krillen face off, and Krillen attacks first. He throws a pair of energy blasts. Ma Junior easily dodges them, but is surprised to notice that they're following him. Ma Junior smugly destroys the blasts with eye beams. Unexpectedly, Krillen appears behind Ma Junior and attacks. Ma Junior is amused by this and levitates above the ring for a moment. He then swoops down and lands back in the ring. Krillen rushes for him attacks furiously, but Ma Junior blocks each attack. Ma Junior jumps back into the air and levitates. Krillen jumps after him, but Ma Junior is ready and kicks Krillen out of the ring. Everyone thinks it's over, but Krillen surprises everyone by stopping his descent before he hit the ground. He has learned to levitate as well. Impressed by this, Ma Junior decides to show some of his true strength. Krillen is still confident. Ma Junior powers up and Krillen attacks. Ma Junior is now easily evading Krillen's punches. He decides to attack and extends his arm across the ring, grabbing Krillen by the leg and pummeling him. Krillen is beaten rather badly and goes for kamehameha, his final shot. He fires it pointblank in Ma Junior's face, but only hits an afterimage of Ma Junior, who appears above and behind Krillen. He deals him a nasty blow to the top of the head, sending Krillen crashing down to the ring. Ma Junior is confident that the fight is over. Krillen barely manages to get up, but he collapses again, then forfeits the match.
Interesting facts: This is Piccolo's first fight ever! It's also Adult Krillen's as well. Poor guy loses too. Omen for things to come?

Match: Yamcha versus Shen.
Winner: Shen.
Backstory: Yamcha lost in the first round the last two tournaments, but thought this one would be a piece of cake, against the seemingly weak/nerdy shen. But he has no idea who Shen really is.
Winning Move: After recovering from Yamcha's spirit ball, a move that seemingly knocked him unconscious, Shen catches Yamcha off-guard with a deadly right forearm, causing him to stumble back and fall out of the ring.
Fight Details: Yamcha is confident that he'll defeat the bumbling Shen. As both combatants face off, Yamcha implores Shen to take his time in getting the match started, mocking him. Shen dances around Yamcha in a farcical manner, and the crowd laughs at him. After doing this for a while, he's warmed up and rushes Yamcha. Yamcha evades his attack and Shen loses his balance. As he falls, he accidentally on-purpose kicks Yamcha in the stomach. Yamcha steps back and doubles over in pain as the crowd laughs at Shen's clumsiness. Both fighters recover and seem to be embarrassed, Yamcha especially so. He decides to kick the accident-prone Shen out of the ring quickly and end it. Shen takes a laughable defensive pose and ends up head butting Yamcha's groin, again making it appear as if Yamcha were the victim of circumstance. Goku is beginning to suspect Shen's true identity at this point. The crowd begins to laugh even harder as Yamcha lies on the ground in agony. Shen relaxes and waits for Yamcha to recover. Once he does, he's both angry and embarrassed. He and Shen talk for a while, and then Shen shows some of his true power, hitting an incredibly powerful, almost blindingly fast, blow on Yamcha, toppling him. Shen tells Yamcha his theatrics were merely an act to disguise his true power and abilities. Yamcha and Shen begin to fight for real now, and Yamcha can't land a single blow. Shen is dominating the match. During the next lull in combat, Shen acknowledges Yamcha's strength, and then whispers that he's not human. Yamcha states that he will defeat Shen with his next attack, the Spirit Ball. He manages to connect and it looks as if Shen has been beaten, when Shen suddenly recovers and knocks Yamcha out of the ring with a sudden counterattack. Yamcha and Shen congratulate each other on their strength, and Goku suddenly realizes Shen's true identity: Kami, earth's guardian.
Interesting facts: Yamcha never made it past the opening round of any budokai he participated in. Poor guy. Also, this is the only fight we ever see Kami win.

SEMI-FINALS 

Match: Goku versus Tenshinhan.
Winner: Goku.
Backstory: Goku and Tenshinhan met previously at the 22nd Budokai's finals. Each being the star pupils of two rival schools, there was a lot of bad blood going into that previous match, and this was exacerbated by Tenshinhan's dominance of Goku's friend Yamcha, which resulted in Yamcha's leg being broken. The two fought a long, grueling match before Tenshinhan took the (very) narrow victory. Shortly afterwards, Goku and Tenshinhan fought Evil King Piccolo together, but Goku's power had improved dramatically after drinking the ultra divine water, and Goku did most of the work. Tenshinhan vowed to get stronger so he could rival Goku again and be the best, and spent the 3 years before this tournament training as hard as he could.
Winning Move: Goku takes advantage of Tenshinhan's arrogance and exceptional eyesight and blinds him with the solar flare. He then hits all four of the stunned Tenshinhan's with quick and powerful attacks, knocking each out of the ring in succession.
Fight Details: The battle begins with Goku and Tenshinhan matching each other blow-for-blow, with neither seeming to have the upper hand. They fight evenly for a while, and the level of strength and skill they display is impressive to all watching on. (Master Roshi can't even follow their movements at times!) Tenshinhan talks about how much both fighters have improved, but insists that he is the better of the two, and claims that his superior speed will give him the edge in the battle. He displays it and proves to be significantly faster than Goku, nearly knocking him out of the ring! Recovered, Goku asks Tenshinhan for a short-time out so he can remove a few extraneous articles of clothing. Tenshinhan agrees, making a comment about the heat. Goku removes his weighted clothes, totaling somewhere around 100 KG. Everyone is shocked by this. Goku and Tenshinhan begin to fight again, and now Goku is much faster than Tenshinhan, even stealing his belt right out from under him. Tenshinhan is embarrassed, but is still determined to win, and announces his trumpcard, saying "if three eyes aren't enough, I will use 12!" Tenshinhan then quadruplicates himself, creating 4 versions himself. At first, Goku thinks this is simply the afterimage technique, which leaves noncorporeal images of a fighter, and is beaten badly for it. Realizing this is a superior technique, Goku does his best to fight the four Tenshinhans, who quickly take the upper hand. The struggle continues, and Tenshinhan hits what seems to be the final blow, causing Goku to fall motionless from the sky and back to the ring, directly on his head. Goku shows resilience, however, by recovering and telling Tenshinhan that he will defeat him with two more moves. Tenshinhan scoffs at this, and goes to repeat his previous attack, promising to use his full power this time. Before he can do it, Goku surprises him with the solar flare! Tenshinhan is completely caught by surprise and blinded. Goku tells Tenshinhan that he doesn't need his eyes to know what Tenshinhan is doing, whereas Tenshinhan is helpless without his extraordinary eyesight. He then proceeds to attack the four dazed Tenshinhans, knocking each one out of the ring for the victory.
Interesting facts: This is a rematch from the finals of the 22nd Budokai, which Tenshinhan won. It's also the first time anyone ever wore weighted clothes, and took them off mid-battle to increase their power.

Match: Shen/Kami versus Ma Junior/Piccolo.
Winner: Ma Junior.
Backstory: Kami and Piccolo are actually the same being. One of them is pure good; the other pure evil. Piccolo was created when Kami expelled all evil from himself when he became Earth's new guardian. Naturally, Kami feels guilty for the monster he created, and is willing to give his life to put an end to his evil side's madness, once and for all.
Winning Move: Ma Junior reverses Kami's evil containment wave, and Kami abandons his human host before being locked in a jar by Ma Junior. Kami's human host is unconscious after this, and thus, Ma Junior is awarded the victory.
Fight Details: Shen and Ma Junior stare each other down as the match begins. Ma Junior says he will finish Shen quickly, but Shen says he will be the one to finish Ma Junior, and refers to Ma Junior as "Piccolo." Ma Junior demands to know how Shen knows who he is, but he doesn't say. Shen and Ma Junior begin to fight and seem evenly matched, although, due to being in a human body, Kami is the weaker of the two. During the next lull in combat, Ma Junior seems to understand who he's fighting, and the two begin speaking in their native Namekian language. Ma Junior thinks that Kami won't kill him, since killing him would kill Kami as well, due to them being the same person. Kami says he won't need to kill Ma Junior, and draws a small jar. He then uses the evil containment wave. However, Kami's human host is weak, and Ma Junior is able to reverse the effect of the wave. Kami release his human host and is slammed into the jar by Ma Junior. Since the body Kami was inhabiting is unconscious, Ma Junior takes the victory via the ten count and advances to the finals.
Interesting facts: This is Kami's only real fight in the series. It also features the only Namekian conversation in Dragonball.

FINALS: 

Match: Goku versus Ma Junior/Piccolo.
Winner: Goku.
Backstory: There has been a lot leading up to this battle. When King Piccolo was first released shortly after the 22nd Budokai, one of the first things he did was have his henchman Tambourine kill Krillen. This infuriated Goku, and he vowed to kill Piccolo, which he did later with Tenshinhan's help. Before his death, however, the evil king created a new version of himself to take revenge. That entity became Ma Junior, whom Goku is to face now.
Winning Move: Goku returns from out of nowhere after seemingly being obliterated by Ma Junior and crashes into him with a powerful tackle. Both fighters sprawl to the ground, but Ma Junior lands outside of bounds.
Fight Details: The match begins with a stare down and an exchange of words. Ma Junior says he will kill Goku and take over the world. The battle begins. The two seemingly evenly matched. Ma Junior briefly takes the upper hand and sends Goku crashing to the ring with a series of ki blasts. Goku lies motionless and it seems that he's been beaten. The announcer counts, but Goku gets back up before the 10, and is unharmed; he was using the time to rest. The two begin to fight again and neither can gain the upper hand. Ma Junior gets angry and leaps into the sky, preparing a huge blast to fire down on Goku. Goku realizes that the blast will kill many of the bystanders in the stands if Ma Junior fires it at Goku's present position, so he leaps into the air and Ma Junior diverts his attack to follow Goku, narrowly missing his target. Goku prepares an incredibly powerful kamehameha in response, but Roshi tells Goku to stop, reminding him that killing Ma Junior will also kill Kami. Goku halts the attack. Ma Junior says he'll kill everyone there and begins to power up another huge attack, similar to his previous one. Krillen reminds Goku that if Kami is killed, he can be revived with the dragonballs. Goku thinks this is a good idea, and powers up another kamehameha. The two warriors fire their blasts. They meet with incredible force, but Goku eventually breaks through and hits Ma Junior. He survives with minor damage to his clothes. Ma Junior is quite angry now, and Goku is shocked that he survived. The announcer notices that without his turban on, Ma Junior looks just like evil king Piccolo, who menaced the world three years earlier. Ma Junior states that he and the former demon king are one and the same. The audience flees, leaving only Ma Junior, the announcer, Goku, and all of Goku's friends. Piccolo tells Goku to watch his next move, and then proceeds to grow to an enormous new size. Piccolo attacks and Goku is on the defensive, doing his best to evade Ma Junior's attacks. Tenshinhan offers Goku his aid, but Goku refuses, saying that if he accepted it, he would be forfeiting the match. Goku attacks Ma Junior's knee and brings the giant down. They continue to fight, and Piccolo gets Goku down. He proceeds to step on him, but Goku pushes against Ma Junior's foot, and actually succeeds in overpowering him, knowing him off his feet. Further enraged, Piccolo increases his size yet again, and now he's 50 times larger than Goku or more. Goku leaps into the air and uses a Kamehameha to propel himself into Ma Junior's mouth. From there, he attacks Piccolo from the inside. Piccolo spits him out after a while, but Goku throws a bottle to Tenshinhan and tells him to open it. Inside is Kami. (Piccolo swallowed the jar before this battle with Goku began.) Kami is told of the situation, and Piccolo reverts back to his normal size. He and Goku begin to fight again. Piccolo knocks Goku down toward the ring, and Goku uses his feet to perform a kamehameha. With the move's momentum, he pummels Ma Junior. Piccolo counters with a powerful ki blast that knocks Goku to the ring. Piccolo goes to finish Goku when Kami suddenly blocks the punch. Goku is angry about this and explains that the tournament is still ongoing, and thus, he can't accept Kami's help. Kami is irate at this, and Goku gives Piccolo a free punch to make up for the one Kami blocked for him. Kami eventually leaves the ring and the battle resumes. Piccolo uses an energy blast which follows Goku around, homing in on him. Goku runs in front of Ma Junior, then quickly dodges to the side, 'causing the blast to hit Piccolo. Once the smoke has cleared, Goku sees that Ma Junior's left arm is damaged, and tells him to surrender. Piccolo however, merely tears the arm off and regenerates a new one. Piccolo begins to power up his next attack, and Goku tells the others to get as far away as they can; this attack will be incredibly powerful. But there isn't enough time for them to run, so Tenshinhan uses his tri-beam to create a large crater in the ground, and the group hides in there. Once hidden, Piccolo attacks. The attack does major damage to the surrounding environment, but Goku and friends survive. The battle continues, and Piccolo uses a powerful ki blast from his mouth, which pierces completely through Goku's chest, disabling his right arm. Piccolo then breaks Goku's legs, and blasts Goku's left arm as well. With Goku seemingly helpless, Piccolo prepares to deliver the final blow. Kami asks Tenshinhan to kill him, as that would kill Piccolo as well. Tenshinhan considers this, and is about to do it, when Goku asks him not to. Goku says he will win the battle. The others doubt this, but they listen to Goku. Piccolo fires down his final attack and it seems that Goku has been obliterated. Piccolo gloats about his victory when suddenly, the others see Goku heading in a flat trajectory for Ma Junior. Piccolo turns around and is tackled hard by Goku; this knocks him out of bounds, giving Goku the victory.
Interesting facts: This is DB's longest fight, clocking in at 6 episodes. It is also the final battle of the series.