Effects of the Final Flash

[Son_Gohan]

The Final Flash came off as somewhat atypical of your usual signature Ki blast used in the series, that seem to rely more purely on power.

It appeared to have deceived Cell, since before Vegeta fires it, he was fully confident in withstanding the blast and calmly stood his ground. His expression quickly changed once it is unleashed, and that's where it becomes more ambiguous as to the circumstances of Cell's reaction.





From what we can see, the attack does not take a single form, but appears to wildly expand from its origin and is then concentrated into a slimmer, more precise point of impact. Is this what Trunks was referring to when he establishes that Vegeta made its range small? And hypothetically speaking, if he hadn't done that, would the blast have exclusively taken its wilder, more expanded form without compressing at the end, or was Trunks' statement just meant to refer to Vegeta controlling and guiding the attack away from the Earth, and the technique would always look that same way?

Taking into account Cell's reaction, he should've been able to sense just how much power Vegeta was accumulating before he fires it, and we know he had much more Ki in his reserve than Vegeta could've amassed in that technique. Judging from the images, could the Final Flash have an effect similar to the Taiyo-ken that blinds the opponent temporarily? It appears to me that it does, I'm not sure how else to interpret those vague specks from Cell's perspective, the attack looks to have obscured his vision some way. If that is the case, he'd be unable to anticipate the attack landing. Concentrating the attack into a precise beam may also give it a piercing effect similar to Piccolo's Makankosappo. I think it is for these reasons that the attack was so effective on Perfect Cell, when power alone shouldn't have been an issue for him. Here's the entry from Daizenshuu 7 for a more official outlook on it, translation courtesy of Herms:

Final Flash
First Appearance: Chapter 384
Category: ki manipulation
People: Vegeta
Special Characteristics: Super Vegeta’s super special attack. Concentrating all the ki in his body into both his hands, he fires it at his opponent. As he concentrates his ki, his hands enter a state of electrical discharge, distorting the surrounding atmosphere and drawing everything in. Its rate of energy depletion is high, and it can only be fired in a state surpassing the limits of Super Saiya-jin. It has enough force to easily destroy the Earth, and Vegeta is able to narrow its attack range by aiming it. This technique blew away the upper right portion of Cell’s body. (Daizenshuu 2, p.214)

Also, do you think Cell tried to dodge the attack or was the result on Cell's body due to Vegeta's aiming the technique away from the Earth?

[Kamicciolo]

I don't think Cell was so much deceived by the Final Flash as he was just plain over-confident in his new power, and when the attack was actually launched and he saw/felt just how powerful it was it was kinda too late for it him react. Afterall up until that point Cell had been in control of the fight, so it's kinda understandable that he'd assume Vegeta wouldn't be able to hurt him.

I also don't think that the Final Flash has any sort of blinding or piercing effect. The specks in Cell's perspective are probably intended to just be the light from the attack (since it's pretty much right on top of him and all), and the attack blowing away a portion of Cell doesn't seem all that different from when Goku blew away a chunk of that robot in Muscle Tower or Gohan vapourised parts of Cell when reflecting the Kamehameha aimed at the planet. I really do think it was just a case of the attack being so overloaded with power, plus maybe Cell not being at full power at that point, that made it so effective (well that and probably to add a little bit of suspense to the whole scene).

Lastly, I think there is some mention made in the anime about Cell having tried to dodge the attack, but obviously it was too late to get away. I always went with that idea too, since it seemed more likely for Cell to have been unable to dodge than for Vegeta to have had poor aim.

[shonenhikada]

Trunks said at the last second Vegeta focused his blast entirely on cell then redirected it so it wouldn't do damage to the earth. Concentrating the blast to a more finite point may have given it enough intensity to overcome cell's durability, and that is why he got scared.