Planet Busters

[Insertclevername]

Do you find it odd that nearly everyone (well the fighters that is..) can blow up the planet. Even characters like Kuririn and Yamucha, who are typically reserved for comic relief can hypothetically destroy the earth. Do you think any of this takes away from some of the progression of strength the series grows upon, in the sense that it was a concept brought in too early? In my opinion, I feel some character who are capable of blowing planets tend to make them feel too strong, especially given the nature of some of them. (like Kid Goten, or Guldo)

[Fox666]

The series had run for a extend that Toriyama would never predict. The destruction of planets wouldn't be that much of a problem if it stopped as of the Saiyans or Namek saga.

[Saiga]

Also, we don't really know who is even capable of planet busting. Freeza is the weakest character that we know can do it, although Vegeta claims to be capable of it during the Saiyan saga.

[Fox666]

Well, Kame-sennin destroyed the moon, and Nappa's shockwave erased like a tenth of the Earth surface...

[Bussani]

It can start depending on your definition of "destroyed". Does the planet have to be blown to smithereens to count, like if a Death Star flew by and shot it? What if you just turn it into an inside-out molten ball? That wouldn't take quite as much energy. Heck, anyone who could destroy the moon could easily wipe out all life on Earth...although that is assuming that Dragon Ball's moon and Earth are similar to our moon and Earth.

To answer the question: yes, I think it may have been introduced too early on in the grand scheme of things. But we can't blame Toriyama for that when he was writing by the seat of his pants.

[Saiga]

I think Freeza really messed up the power scale something fierce, but I suppose that's not really relevant.

I don't think it was introduced too early, because it's my headcanon that Dragon Ball's moon is tiny in comparison to the Earth and that (first form) Freeza is the weakest character capable of planet busting.

Which really only leaves: Freeza, Cold, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, F. Trunks, the Androids, Cell, Goten, Trunks, Kaioshin, Dabra, Boo, Gotenks and Vegetto as those strong enough to blow up the planet. Okay, that's still a lot, but eh.

[Hitiro]

In my opinion Goku had an idea of how powerful he was when he went up against Vegeta. He knew what he, himself, was capable of doing during that battle. Much in the same way Kame-sennin knew he could destroy the moon. If Goku knew what he was capable of then he would know what Vegeta, who was more than twice as strong as his base power level, was capable of during their fight. And for that reason Goku chose to stop the Galick-Ho because he knew it would destroy the planet if he didn't attempt to stop it. Vegeta's Galick-Ho took a powerlevel of 32,000 to stop it, so we can assume the efficiency of Vegeta's Galick-Ho knocked the ki level of the attack up a few notches for it to be even with Goku's Kaioken x3 which gave him 24,000. Vegeta being at 18,000 would mean his Galick-Ho's energy was at least 24,000 when it come out so it was about a 33.33% increase. Taking this into consideration Daizenshuu 7 states Nappa had a powerlevel of 4,000 so if he destroyed a tenth of the world then Vegeta could destroy 4 tenths of the world with just his base ki of 18,000(If ki scales proportionally). And if his Galick-Ho was at 24,000 that's 6 tenths or 60% of the world, that much power being focused on one spot (compared to Nappa's technique which was a deliberate area of effect) I would say is enough to destroy the planet.

[Hellspawn28]

I think Yamucha could but I'm not sure if he can do it casually like everyone else can going by power scaling. To me, Freeza is the first legit planet buster in the series. I don't think Vegeta was really going to destroy the Earth since he would have no way to return back to Freeza's HQ since his ship would be destroyed along with it which would cause him having him die in space.

[Insertclevername]

I think Yamucha could but I'm not sure if he can do it casually like everyone else can going by power scaling. To me, Freeza is the first legit planet buster in the series. I don't think Vegeta was really going to destroy the Earth since he would have no way to return back to Freeza's HQ since his ship would be destroyed along with it which would cause him having him die in space.

Yeah I'm beginning to believe that Vegeta was just bluffing when he said that since, well he is rather dramatic. lol

[Piccolo Daimao]

Yeah, the weakest character we actually know of that is a certified "planet-buster" is first-form Freeza. When Vegeta said that he was going to destroy Earth with his Galick Gun, I think he meant that he'd pretty much kill everyone on the planet and turn it desolate, rather than flat-out blow it up like Freeza did to Planet Vegeta. Even in his mindless rage, he may've still had the sense to know that blowing up the planet would mean his own death and inability to escape in his ship, as well as the possibility of selling it only later (remember that earlier on, Vegeta told Nappa not to cause any more damage after his shockwave, because it could harm the resale value - of course, this was before Freeza had even been remotely hinted at in the story).

If not that, he was out of his mind in a fit of rage, like when he shot that full-power blast at final form Freeza. In both situations, he's faced with a hard-to-swallow and face-value truth about his inferiority in strength to warriors that he'd previously deemed weaker than himself and who he believed he was meant to defeat. Gokuu, the lowest of the low-level Saiyans, had surpassed his strength and made him shed his "noble blood". And later, he'd recieved beating after beating to be revived, all for the goal of becoming Super Saiyan, but when he realized that he still actually wasn't there at all and Freeza was both stronger and faster still, he couldn't take it.

But yeah, Toriyama just kind of got carried away with the power-scaling of the characters, which is to be expected from a series (which gradually became more realistic via the pseudo-scientific theme that Toriyama had sort of shoehorned in) that'd gone on for as long as Dragon Ball, longer than Toriyama himself had predicted. Kame-sennin can destroy a moon. Piccolo Daimaou can destroy a city. The Saiyans can destroy tenths of a planet. Freeza can destroy a whole planet. Cell can destroy the solar system. Majin Boo can destroy the universe, including the afterlife. But because everyone's getting so much stronger to keep up the villains.

I'm not sure if Kuririn and Yamcha (who aren't used for comic relief all the time; they're just background characters post-Freeza) can hypothetically destroy the Earth. Their powers are subjective and I, like many others, don't believe that they even surpassed first-form Freeza by the end of the series. But I understand your point anyway.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Yeah I'm beginning to believe that Vegeta was just bluffing when he said that since, well he is rather dramatic. lol

Depeds on the persons preference. Manga? Maybe. Anime? Doubtful, depending on which version you are watching anyway, as he blew up Arlia without minimal effort using a tiny little finger beam.

[Hitiro]

Yeah, the weakest character we actually know of that is a certified "planet-buster" is first-form Freeza. When Vegeta said that he was going to destroy Earth with his Galick Gun, I think he meant that he'd pretty much kill everyone on the planet and turn it desolate, rather than flat-out blow it up like Freeza did to Planet Vegeta. Even in his mindless rage, he may've still had the sense to know that blowing up the planet would mean his own death and inability to escape in his ship, as well as the possibility of selling it only later (remember that earlier on, Vegeta told Nappa not to cause any more damage after his shockwave, because it could harm the resale value - of course, this was before Freeza had even been remotely hinted at in the story).

But yeah, Toriyama just kind of got carried away with the power-scaling of the characters, which is to be expected from a series (which gradually became more realistic via the pseudo-scientific theme that Toriyama had sort of shoehorned in) that'd gone on for as long as Dragon Ball, longer than Toriyama himself had predicted. Kame-sennin can destroy a moon. Piccolo Daimaou can destroy a city. The Saiyans can destroy tenths of a planet. Freeza can destroy a whole planet. Cell can destroy the solar system. Majin Boo can destroy the universe, including the afterlife. But because everyone's getting so much stronger to keep up the villains.

I'm not sure if Kuririn and Yamcha (who aren't used for comic relief all the time; they're just background characters post-Freeza) can hypothetically destroy the Earth. Their powers are subjective and I, like many others, don't believe that they even surpassed first-form Freeza by the end of the series. But I understand your point anyway.

I am at doubt with Vegeta needing to sell the planet on. Despite the horrible monstrosity that is Frieza he seems pretty laid back with his minions, I doubt Frieza was the one who ordered Vegeta and Nappa to go to Earth and I doubt that he really cared for what they did as long as they did their jobs. So the fact that Vegeta was worried about the resale of the planet isn't that much of a deal if he threatens to destroy it. In the event that he was hinting the destruction of the everybody on the planet the buildings would be gone too and that would definitely harm the resale of the planet. So I see that line as more of a bi-product of his job than a necessity to keep himself alive under Frieza's reign, and as such what would the destruction of a few planets really matter in the grand scheme of the universe where there are countless planets to capture? I see Vegeta and Nappa's jobs as brokers/realtor's so just because they didn't manage to sell one planet doesn't mean they'll get fired.

Also considering him destroying the planet it is perfectly plausible that he could of pulled a Frieza job and destroyed the core, then he could have just left the planet and let everyone suffer the consequences. There were no space ships capable of transporting everyone, Piccolo and Kami were dead so there were no dragonballs Goku was critically injured from using the Kaioken so much and I doubt Briefs would have been able to build a decent spaceship in time to get everyone off there. There really was only Kami's ship but Goku was in no condition to travel. And really Vegeta was just in a mindless rage, I doubt he even cared what would happen to him. Look what happened when Trunks was shot in the Cell Games, he jumped straight in without any regard to himself and made matters worse. When Vegeta is level headed he is the most calculative individual in the series but when he is mad you may as well just slap a sticker on him saying retard. And who's to say the Saiya-jin space pods aren't durable enough to weather the explosion and let Vegeta get away after the planet is destroyed? We have no idea what the Saiya-jin limits are in space or the durability of their pods except they can survive large impacts with the ground without any damage.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Yeah, the weakest character we actually know of that is a certified "planet-buster" is first-form Freeza. When Vegeta said that he was going to destroy Earth with his Galick Gun, I think he meant that he'd pretty much kill everyone on the planet and turn it desolate, rather than flat-out blow it up like Freeza did to Planet Vegeta. Even in his mindless rage, he may've still had the sense to know that blowing up the planet would mean his own death and inability to escape in his ship, as well as the possibility of selling it only later (remember that earlier on, Vegeta told Nappa not to cause any more damage after his shockwave, because it could harm the resale value - of course, this was before Freeza had even been remotely hinted at in the story).

But yeah, Toriyama just kind of got carried away with the power-scaling of the characters, which is to be expected from a series (which gradually became more realistic via the pseudo-scientific theme that Toriyama had sort of shoehorned in) that'd gone on for as long as Dragon Ball, longer than Toriyama himself had predicted. Kame-sennin can destroy a moon. Piccolo Daimaou can destroy a city. The Saiyans can destroy tenths of a planet. Freeza can destroy a whole planet. Cell can destroy the solar system. Majin Boo can destroy the universe, including the afterlife. But because everyone's getting so much stronger to keep up the villains.

I'm not sure if Kuririn and Yamcha (who aren't used for comic relief all the time; they're just background characters post-Freeza) can hypothetically destroy the Earth. Their powers are subjective and I, like many others, don't believe that they even surpassed first-form Freeza by the end of the series. But I understand your point anyway.

I am at doubt with Vegeta needing to sell the planet on. Despite the horrible monstrosity that is Freeza he seems pretty laid back with his minions, I doubt Freeza was the one who ordered Vegeta and Nappa to go to Earth and I doubt that he really cared for what they did as long as they did their jobs. So the fact that Vegeta was worried about the resale of the planet isn't that much of a deal if he threatens to destroy it. In the event that he was hinting the destruction of the everybody on the planet the buildings would be gone too and that would definitely harm the resale of the planet. So I see that line as more of a bi-product of his job than a necessity to keep himself alive under Freeza's reign, and as such what would the destruction of a few planets really matter in the grand scheme of the universe where there are countless planets to capture? I see Vegeta and Nappa's jobs as brokers/realtor's so just because they didn't manage to sell one planet doesn't mean they'll get fired.

Also considering him destroying the planet it is perfectly plausible that he could of pulled a Freeza job and destroyed the core, then he could have just left the planet and let everyone suffer the consequences. There were no space ships capable of transporting everyone, Piccolo and Kami were dead so there were no dragonballs Goku was critically injured from using the Kaioken so much and I doubt Briefs would have been able to build a decent spaceship in time to get everyone off there. There really was only Kami's ship but Goku was in no condition to travel. And really Vegeta was just in a mindless rage, I doubt he even cared what would happen to him. Look what happened when Trunks was shot in the Cell Games, he jumped straight in without any regard to himself and made matters worse. When Vegeta is level headed he is the most calculative individual in the series but when he is mad you may as well just slap a sticker on him saying retard. And who's to say the Saiya-jin space pods aren't durable enough to weather the explosion and let Vegeta get away after the planet is destroyed? We have no idea what the Saiya-jin limits are in space or the durability of their pods except they can survive large impacts with the ground without any damage.

I didn't say he needed to sell the planet, just that he mentioned to Nappa that it'd be best not to cause any more unnecessary damage, since it would affect the resale value. But again, I understand that this was before Freeza was even hinted at in the story. And we know that Freeza didn't order Vegeta and Nappa to go to Earth, because 1) Freeza flat-out says that it was against his orders and 2) if he did know, then presumably he'd know about the DBs and Vegeta's plan to get them (originally immortality for an eternity for battle, later retconned to immortality in order to defeat Freeza), and he'd want that for himself (as we actually saw when he eventually learned of them and beat him to Namek).

And yeah, that's kind of what I implied. He could've pulled a Freeza and detonated the core, perhaps subconsciously holding back like Freeza did because he was afraid of getting caught in the blast (and, unlike Freeza, he can't survive in space).

And I've added in that Vegeta may've been in such a mindless fit of rage that he didn't acknowledge the consequences of his actions. It'd literally be a case of "The lowest of the low Kakarotto surpassed me...he shed my noble bleed...ARGHHHHHHHH, I'M FUCKING PISSED, FUCK YOU AND THIS PLANET!" Similar to how some people punch themselves under an intense amount of stress because they just need something to hit, whether it's themself or someone else that may not even deserve it.

[mysticboy]

Someone half as strong as Nappa can planet bust.

The Earth is roughly 6x's the size of the moon.
When Piccolo busted the moon, his BP was over 400
400 x 6 = 2400 which equals 2 Raditz
2400 is enough to destroy an Earth-sized planet.

Feel free to correct me.

[Hellspawn28]

Majin Boo can destroy the universe, including the afterlife.

That was a filler and Buu was going destroy the universe through a chain reaction. It would be like a domino effect where it takes time for it happen. I think DBZ characters by the Buu saga should able to blow up large planets and multiple planets without that effort. I guess someone like Vegito could blow up the sun but destroying a star takes much much more power though.

[Fox666]

When Vegeta said that he was going to destroy Earth with his Galick Gun, I think he meant that he'd pretty much kill everyone on the planet and turn it desolate, rather than flat-out blow it up like Freeza did to Planet Vegeta.

But look at his words:

Even if you save yourself, the Earth will be smashed to pieces!!!!!

[Piccolo Daimao]

Majin Boo can destroy the universe, including the afterlife.

That was a filler and Buu was going destroy the universe through a chain reaction. It would be like a domino effect where it takes time for it happen. I think DBZ characters by the Buu saga should able to blow up large planets and multiple planets without that effort. I guess someone like Vegito could blow up the sun but destroying a star takes much much more power though.

I didn't mention anything about filler. The universe, which contained the afterlife, was in danger, which is why the Kaioushin had to step in. And then all but one were killed.

I'm probably wrong, but they might have even said this in the story itself.

When Vegeta said that he was going to destroy Earth with his Galick Gun, I think he meant that he'd pretty much kill everyone on the planet and turn it desolate, rather than flat-out blow it up like Freeza did to Planet Vegeta.

But look at his words:

Even if you save yourself, the Earth will be smashed to pieces!!!!!

Bluff, exaggeration (for dramatic effect/purposes/licence), or simply a mindless fit of rage. Perhaps he really would've blown Earth to smithereens, or perhaps he would've done what Freeza did and hold back out of subconscious self-preservation/fear.

[Hitiro]

Someone half as strong as Nappa can planet bust.

The Earth is roughly 6x's the size of the moon.
When Piccolo busted the moon, his BP was over 400
400 x 6 = 2400 which equals 2 Raditz
2400 is enough to destroy an Earth-sized planet.

Feel free to correct me.

Are these scales based on our Earth and Moon? We don't know how big Dragonball's Earth and Moon are compared to our own. Looking at the world map of Dragonball it might be smaller but we'll never know unless Akira specifically says.

But look at his words:

Even if you save yourself, the Earth will be smashed to pieces!!!!!

Are these his exact words? Considering he says "Even if you save yourself" I would be inclined to think that he is talking about destroying the Earth's core rather than busting the planet as Goku wouldn't be able to save himself if he did do a planet buster, lol.

[Insertclevername]

I'm not sure if Kuririn and Yamcha (who aren't used for comic relief all the time; they're just background characters post-Freeza) can hypothetically destroy the Earth. Their powers are subjective and I, like many others, don't believe that they even surpassed first-form Freeza by the end of the series. But I understand your point anyway.

Yeah at the time I said that I believed that Saiyan saga Vegeta was able to blow up the earth, so I assumed that Kuririn and Yamucha could do the same since they passed him in strength.

Depeds on the persons preference. Manga? Maybe. Anime? Doubtful, depending on which version you are watching anyway, as he blew up Arlia without minimal effort using a tiny little finger beam.

Wow, I completely forgot about Arlia, well you could argue that maybe that was a weak/smaller planet compared to Earth.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Wow, I completely forgot about Arlia, well you could argue that maybe that was a weak/smaller planet compared to Earth.

Wouldn't really matter IMO. If an effortless finger beam can destroy a possibly smaller sized Arlira, then I'd bet a fully freaking charged Gyarikku-ho could destroy Earth in the anime. lol