Can the Dragon Balls unlock one's potential?

[TheUltimateNinja]

Let's say Dende asked Porunga to bring out Goku's latent power, would we have Ultimate Goku vs Buu?

[Lionel]

Potential has to do with the strength of the person. I'm not sure if either Shenron or Porunga could unlock the power of someone who is stronger than their creator. Now if it were, say, Goku at the time of Daimao arc? Possibly, yes. Goku would have still been weaker than Kami at that time. Everything after early DBZ sounds like it would be too much. Now Super Shenron could probably unlock the potential of the characters today. His wish granting capabilities are known for vastly exceeding his fellow dragons'. The question then becomes who would want it.

[shadowfox87]

Yes, I think it's possible and not beyond the dragon's power. The latent potential is already within that person so you aren't wishing to become stronger than you already are. The Dragon cannot grant wishes beyond the power of the creator. Since the Elder Kai used a ritual based on magic to bring out Gohan's latent potential, Shenlong should be able to do the same thing. However, Goku would have never wished for something like this because he wanted to defeat Buu using his own strength. He even got rid of the potara earrings. He didn't like the fact that he had to depend on others for the SSG ritual either. He wants to train himself to get stronger with no shortcut methods.

[Steven Bloodriver]

Let's say Dende asked Porunga to bring out Goku's latent power, would we have Ultimate Goku vs Buu?

Even if it was not the same method of unlocking someone's own hidden power Gohan had received from Elder Kai, Porunga would have still given Goku access to more power than his Super Saiyan 3 form could give at that point in time, and Kid Buu would have had absolutely no chance against the Super Spirit Bomb thrown by this hypothetical version of Goku from the final battle of the Kid Buu Saga.

Heck, Ultimate Goku's Super Spirit Bomb might even destroy more than just Kid Buu, as a large part of the Sacred World of the Supreme Kais would have been in dire need of being restored right away or the Realm of the Kaioshin as a whole, would have made unstable by the sheer amount of damage accidentally done to it by the Super Spirit Bomb used to finally put an end to the original Majin Buu.

[Galan007]

He wants to train himself to get stronger with no shortcut methods.

I agree for the most part, but in DBS ep. 91, Elder Kaioshin mentions that he could unlock Goku's power/potential and bring him past his current limits(like he did with Gohan.) Ultimately, the plan never got off the ground because there simply wasn't enough time to preform the ritual before the ToP began.

However, judging by Goku's reaction/dialogue in that scene, he would have undoubtedly let OldKai unlock his potential... Time permitting. /shrug

[shadowfox87]

He wants to train himself to get stronger with no shortcut methods.

I agree for the most part, but in DBS ep. 91, Elder Kaioshin mentions that he could unlock Goku's power/potential and bring him past his current limits(like he did with Gohan.) Ultimately, the plan never got off the ground because there simply wasn't enough time to preform the ritual before the ToP began.

However, judging by Goku's reaction/dialogue in that scene, he would have undoubtedly let OldKai unlock his potential... Time permitting. /shrug

Nah, I don't think so. They had more than enough time to get Elder Kai to do his ritual before the ToP. Both Goku and Vegeta have too much saiyan pride for shortcuts. The only exception was the SSG ritual which Goku didn't like doing. Also, I think that potential changes. Elder Kai's ritual unlocked all of Gohan's latent potential AT THAT TIME. However, we know from the DBS anime, that he's trained and gotten even stronger than he was in the Buu saga.

[Galan007]

Nah, I don't think so..

Go back and rewatch episode 91. It's clear that Goku was going to let Elder Kaioshin unlock his potential(he was actually excited about it) -- but the ritual takes 25 hours to complete, and they no longer had that much time before the ToP began. That's the *only* reason it didn't happen.

The earthlings hadn't even thought of the Elder's ability to unlock power as a possibility beforehand -- evidently everyone forgot about that little tidbit(this was explicitly stated.) Gotta love inconsistent plot, lol.

[shadowfox87]

Nah, I don't think so..

Go back and rewatch episode 91. It's clear that Goku was going to let Elder Kaioshin unlock his potential(he was actually excited about it) -- but the ritual takes 25 hours to complete, and they no longer had that much time before the ToP began. That's the *only* reason it didn't happen.

The earthlings hadn't even thought of the Elder's ability to unlock power as a possibility beforehand -- evidently everyone forgot about that little tidbit(this was explicitly stated.) Gotta love inconsistent plot, lol.

I watched Dragon Ball Kai Episode 32 with subs. Goku was excited that Elder Kai had an ability and wanted to know what it was if it could help defeat Majin Buu. Nowhere did he ever mention him wanting to unlock his own potential or volunteered for it. I've watched it all the way up to Episode 42, when Gohan powered up. Goku was amazed but again, no interest to have him unlock his own potential. You can read the manga as well and draw the same conclusion. Enthusiasm for an ability doesn't mean that he himself wanted to use it.

[Pantalones]

Let's say Dende asked Porunga to bring out Goku's latent power, would we have Ultimate Goku vs Buu?

"Ultimate Goku" probably not, but I figure the dragons (or Porunga at least) would be able to provide Goku or other characters with something along the lines of the Namekian elder's potential-unlock -- a decent boost right away followed by gradual increases over a period of days/weeks/months following afterward.

If Goku got this boost before the last fight against Buu, the end result would be that Goku's initial plan (charging up a big enough blast in SSj3 to wipe Buu out) might actually work, since he would be strong enough now that he wouldn't need to charge up his maximum SSj3 power to pull it off and thus might be able to do it before the SSJ3 energy drain got the better of him. They'd only need to fall back on the Spirit Bomb if he somehow failed to destroy every last bit of Buu with the SSj3 blast.

[Galan007]

I watched Dragon Ball Kai Episode 32 with subs. Goku was excited that Elder Kai had an ability and wanted to know what it was if it could help defeat Majin Buu. Nowhere did he ever mention him wanting to unlock his own potential or volunteered for it. I've watched it all the way up to Episode 42, when Gohan powered up. Goku was amazed but again, no interest to have him unlock his own potential. You can read the manga as well and draw the same conclusion. Enthusiasm for an ability doesn't mean that he himself wanted to use it.

Again, I am talking about DBS ep. 91.

Once you [re]watch THAT episode, you'll understand what I'm saying.