How Strong Were Madōshi Babidi And Majin Dabura?

[Steven Bloodriver]

In the Majin Buu Saga, how strong was Madōshi Babidi and his Right-Hand Man, Majin Dabura, both before and after the likes of the Demon King of Demon Realm became enslaved?

[Lionel]

All we know of Babidi is that he knew how to fly and could sustain it at high altitudes, as seen when he was observing Goku's fight with Buu and when he was broadcasting to the planet. But we see Puar handling flight back in the early parts of Dragon Ball so that feat should be taken with a grain of salt. Babidi's power rests in his magical abilities. While he may be stronger than the average human, I question if he could even handle 21st tournament standard fighters like Nam or Giran. Dende has arguably more feats since we witness him traversing Namek in quick fashion -- a feat that was remarkable at the time -- and withstanding the impact of King Kai's planet briefly years later after having his potential unlocked by the Grand Elder.

We have little information to go off on with Dabura prior to being enslaved. The only nugget that's available is his status as the most powerful being in the demon realm. Little is known about that realm or its inhabitants, however. By the time Dabura inspected the Earth and made his declaration that no one in the universe could stand up to him, he was already under Babidi's control and presumably had his potential unlocked. I think it's sort of telling that Dabura would feel confident in his abilities when Babidi would have likely informed him of the strength wielded by Shin. Opinions on the subject vary but I project Shin to be stronger than the Cell Jrs and not too far off from SSJ Gohan early on in the Buu arc. Magical abilities are a different matter. For Dabura to have any sureties about his chances in light of Shin being able to dissipate a blast that would have killed the aforementioned SSJ Gohan and restrain the Saiyan in his SSJ2 state makes a statement, I feel.

[wolflonnie]

The weirdest thing about Babidi is that he can react to Fat Buu redirecting SSJ3 Goku's Kamehameha towards him, as well as protecting himself with a barrier at the right time from SSJ+ tier attacks, but seems (and is stated to be) weak as dirt.

[Polyphase Avatron]

The weirdest thing about Babidi is that he can react to Fat Buu redirecting SSJ3 Goku's Kamehameha towards him, as well as protecting himself with a barrier at the right time from SSJ+ tier attacks, but seems (and is stated to be) weak as dirt.

I know it was a filler scene, but he did use that one attack on Piccolo that covered him with some kind of green slime... but Piccolo just powered up and blew it off. I always wondered why he did that instead of using his magic to teleport Piccolo to another planet or something.

[RandomGuy96]

Well, even if that wasn’t him at full force… I think that before he would have been a frightening opponent, but… 7 before he showed up, there was a guy called ‘Cell’… Dabra’s probably about as strong as him.

[funrush]

Dabura's weaker than Cell, right? IIRC Gohan had gotten slightly weaker over the timeskip & Vegeta comments as such. If Dabura was about on par with a rusty Gohan, then Super Perfect Cell's probably significantly above him?

[theherodjl]

Its possible Dabura wasn't going all out on Gohan. The purpose of the battle was for Dabura to make Gohan expend power that would be siphoned to Boo's egg, he didn't necessarily need to defeat or kill Gohan until they had gotten all they could out of him. Cell & Goku's fight was sorta the same, Cell was enjoying his fight with Goku too much to just kill him and even wanted Goku to have a Senzu just so they could continue. I don't recall Gohan ever putting Dabura's life in danger or even inflicting anything more than minor damage, Dabura seemingly not having lost much stamina while Gohan had.

[Kaboom]

Got to remember that Goku is making a broad guess about Dabra's strength, and one based primarily on just his movement since they can't seem to actually sense his ki. "Probably about the same as Cell" covers a pretty broad range. Even presuming that means Cell in his Perfect form, that can still be anywhere from the initial low power he used against Vegeta and Trunks, all the way up to his maximum "Super Perfect" power against Gohan, and anything in-between.

[ZombieVito]

Dende has arguably more feats since we witness him traversing Namek in quick fashion -- a feat that was remarkable at the time -- and withstanding the impact of King Kai's planet briefly years later after having his potential unlocked by the Grand Elder.

This is great. I never gave that any thought.

I feel me putting Dende in the 1,000's is justified now.

[Steven Bloodriver]

Dende has arguably more feats since we witness him traversing Namek in quick fashion -- a feat that was remarkable at the time -- and withstanding the impact of King Kai's planet briefly years later after having his potential unlocked by the Grand Elder.

This is great. I never gave that any thought.

I feel me putting Dende in the 1,000's is justified now.

Judging from Son Gohan, Uncle Krillin, and Dende, the Unlock Potential from Mr. Grand Elder Guru is a very potent power-up for someone.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Babidi was pretty weak. He can make a human's head explode, can crush a weakened Kaioshin with his magic, and can withstand Fat Boo's explosion with his barrier. That's about it.

Dabra is as strong as whatever level of Perfect Cell you think he is.