Super Saiyan 4 Goku & Vegeta Were No Match For Master Roshi's Old Enemy
While Master Roshi is not often thought of as one of the most powerful characters in the Dragon Ball franchise, his enemy Dr. Wheelo was strong enough to take on Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan 4 forms. Dr. Wheelo is the villain of the film Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest. He is never seen as a human in the film, but instead appears as a giant mechanical suit hosting a brain almost ten times the size of a normal human one. Despite his stunning appearance, he was hardly ever referenced again outside the film for decades, until returning in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes manga.
Dr. Wheelo’s original intentions in the movie are to capture Master Roshi, who at the time is still considered by many to be the greatest martial artist who ever lived. Wheelo wants to transfer his brain into Roshi’s body, believing that humanity’s greatest brain inside of humanity’s strongest body would prove invincible and grant him the power to conquer the world. In the Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Big Bang Mission!!! manga, Wheelo’s human form is revealed, with him now going by Dr. W instead. Wheelo has now allied himself with the demon Fu in order to create a new universe solely to gain the respect and admiration of those living on the new Earth that would come with it.
Wheelo is considerably stronger in Super Dragon Ball Heroes. In the original film, he is destroyed by a base form Goku’s Kaioken x4 Kamehameha, but is more than capable of out-speeding Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta in Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Wheelo doesn’t even consider fighting Super Saiyan 4 Goku or Vegeta as he deems them both beneath his efforts and instead relies on dodging their attacks until his calculations are complete. Wheelo demonstrates the power to “download” their moves into one of his subjects, the newly christened Dark Janemba. Throughout the entire fight, Wheelo is completely untouched by either Goku or Vegeta, proving he is on another level than them altogether.
Even though Vegeta becomes increasingly frustrated during his battle with Dr. Wheelo, he is unable to land a single blow. Vegeta has always been known for having intense fits of rage that amplify his power. But even ascending from Super Saiyan 2 to Super Saiyan 4, which on its own could be a 40x power increase or greater, isn’t enough to get his hands on Wheelo. Throughout his time in Hell, as well as his dealings with Fu, Dr. Wheelo somehow manages to go from a Saiyan Saga-level fighter, to an opponent likely in the realm of warriors such as the Shadow Dragons.
Wheelo remains as one of Dragon Ball’s most untouched villains until his reintroduction in Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Surprisingly, even though he is able to take on two of the most powerful warriors in the universe, Wheelo is eventually defeated by Krillin and Hearts. Dr. Wheelo’s reintroduction proved that with enough time, power and plot armor, even Dragon Ball’s most obscure villains could surpass the power of Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Vegeta.