Just how strong is Videl?

[Thanos6]

Bukujutsu is supposed to be not only an advanced technique, but a bit of a draining one. For example, near the end of the 22nd Budokai, Tenshinhan can't even use it because his ki has gotten so low.

Not only does Videl master it in under two weeks, she uses it nearly effortlessly. Even after Spopovitch has beaten the snot (and blood, and several teeth) out of her, she takes to the sky with no sign of effort at all.

So, is Videl stronger than we think, at 22nd Budokai levels or above, and it's just that the "average" is so much higher we tend to dismiss her?

[wannywan]

Maybe it's because she didn't expend too much ki in her attacks, and generally got the snot beat out of her as opposed to draining the power she had.

[Li'l Lemmy]

It could just be that Bukujutsu lost its "challenge" as a technique between the 22nd Budokai and modern DBZ. In Dragonball, flying was something exceptionally rare, but in DBZ everyone can do it. It had to be written that way so that the fights could stay interesting. Maybe the limitations were dropped, or more likely it's simply that everyone we encountered after Dragonball who knew the technique was powerful enough where being drained was no longer an overwhelming issue.

(Then again, Gohan and Krillin definitely run out of ki to fly with during the fight to stall Freeza.)

But that just brings us back to Videl. She trained with Goten under the same teacher, but we know they're nowhere near equal; Goten didn't have any problem whipping out ki blasts, but Videl had to rest after producing the smallest ounce of energy.

I don't think there's any way to know for certain. But perhaps under Gohan's tutelage, Videl was able to master the use of her ki very quickly. This may indicate that she's someone with a great hidden potential unknown to most other humans, much like Saiyan children who are born into a potential they initially aren't aware of. So who knows?

Guesses, anyone?

[wannywan]

All in all, it's really plot device enabling Videl to be able to fight properly in the Tenkaichi Budokai, while also giving us a laugh at how she thinks she is still less powerful than her father.

[Thanos6]

She certainly does seem to be a fighting prodigy...imagine if she threw herself into some serious, Kame/Tsuru school type training after the Buu Saga...she could have really been a contender in the 10 years later.

[wannywan]

She certainly does seem to be a fighting prodigy...imagine if she threw herself into some serious, Kame/Tsuru school type training after the Buu Saga...she could have really been a contender in the 10 years later.

That I totally agree on, she's definitely got the Kuririn syndrome.

[Maphisto86]

She certainly does seem to be a fighting prodigy...imagine if she threw herself into some serious, Kame/Tsuru school type training after the Buu Saga...she could have really been a contender in the 10 years later.

That I totally agree on, she's definitely got the Kuririn syndrome.

Heh totally... most of the human fighters like Krillin, Tien, etc had a lot of potential but settled down or resigned themselves because of Goku and the other Saiyan's massive superiority in comparision. As for Videl I would definitley put her above 100 for a powerlevel. She is probably much stronger than her dad who is actually pretty strong for a ki ignorant human.

[Panda]

I was going to say she was healed or whatever but i realized were talking about the actual fight... so here's my opinion on that:

Most of the other characters rely a heavy amount on their ability to produce ki based attacks simply because they can. Since Videl is human, and considerably weak compared to the other characters, most of her attacks are base level kicks and punches. That being said, it's a common known fact in martial arts that is you kick and opunch a certain way it saves you energy. Viudel being the super-human fighter that she is probably knows this and impliments it effectively, saving her plenty of ki for bukujutsu.

Considering ki is as complex as it is I think it's also fairly safe to theorize that little ki is used in hand to hand combat. If Goku (Or really anybody on DBZ) got the crap beat out of them but their feet never left the ground and they never used a single ki blast I'd say they'd still have plenty of ki energy in them to scrape up the enemy pretty good.

[Rocketman]

I think Panda's got it. Videl doesn't use any ki attacks, so all of her 'ki reserve' can be put into flying.

[Godo]

Then again, Gohan and Krillin definitely run out of ki to fly with during the fight to stall Freeza.

Nope. At least Gohan had enough ki to fly when he picked up Bulma. In Krillin's case we don't know, because he was torn into bits before he could fly.

[Mr.Piccolo]

I guess you have to ask yourself around what saga or series would she be the most effective. I'm not even sure if she could win dragonball tournaments let alone survive a hit from Broli. I mean come on, Videl and her father are the luckest people on earth. Satan got punched by Buu and didn't explode while Videl was attacked by Broli and Pan was conceived

[Duo]

I guess you have to ask yourself around what saga or series would she be the most effective. I'm not even sure if she could win dragonball tournaments let alone survive a hit from Broli. I mean come on, Videl and her father are the luckest people on earth. Satan got punched by Buu and didn't explode while Videl was attacked by Broli and Pan was conceived

Well, that just proves that the assumption one would explode by being punched by someone with such a power is a false one. The only time that ever happens is in Movie 12 with Freeza, and it was a joke anyway.

Nope. At least Gohan had enough ki to fly when he picked up Bulma. In Krillin's case we don't know, because he was torn into bits before he could fly.

I think the point he was trying to make is that Gohan and Kuririn were having a hard time flying after giving their Ki to Piccolo for which to attack Freeza. Kuririn even says "I can hardly fly with this wimpy Ki!". You'll notice that Gohan flew very slowly when he took Piccolo to the spaceship and later when he got Bulma. He didn't manifest a flight aura, even when he was alone.

[Li'l Lemmy]

I think the point he was trying to make is that Gohan and Kuririn were having a hard time flying after giving their Ki to Piccolo for which to attack Freeza.

Yeah, that was it. I said they "ran out," but this is what I actually meant. My own fault for using the wrong words and not being 100% clear on the matter.

Sorry, Godo. Thanks, Duo!

[Godo]

I think the point he was trying to make is that Gohan and Kuririn were having a hard time flying after giving their Ki to Piccolo for which to attack Freeza.

Yeah, that was it. I said they "ran out," but this is what I actually meant. My own fault for using the wrong words and not being 100% clear on the matter.

Sorry, Godo. Thanks, Duo!

No big deal really =).

I wonder, I know that Dragonball can't be measured in powerlevels, but during his fight with Piccolo, shouldn't Goku have had around 300 in powerlevel? Add a -100 to the powerlevel for the exhaustion Goku had at that time, and -100 for his injuries and he gets. Then, when he flies, he is around maybe 100. Maybe he even was at 50, due to blood loss? Yeah, I know asumptionassumptionassumption.
But still, he has got enough power to fly kinda fast, so fast that he can burst into Piccolo so hard that he gets knocked out, and after that, he can't stand up, because of his injuries. So, this means that Videl probably doesn't need to be that strong to learn to fly, and to perform it.
Sure, Tien could only "float", but I think that was because of that he didn't know how to be faster. He maybe only could use his ki in one direction? He could go up in the sky pretty fast.
Did we ever see him change course of his ki? No. Because, learning to control ki properly is to control it as you please. So flying is not the same as floating. Flying is to be able to control the direction, right?
So I don't really think that flying is a matter of strenght really. To fly, you have to be able to use ki to control your bodyweight, and use the ki force to "shoot" your body into different directions I believe, and as Videl being "small", I don't think that it really was a problem for her to control her body, as se had some ki to use. So I think that it puts her around 20-50.


Maybe some things aren't correct here, but I've done my best and I hope I managed to explain? You may ask questions. Splitting my post into parts is forbidden. Please answer in a whole structure, as I would understand easier that way. Please.

[Rocketman]

I guess you have to ask yourself around what saga or series would she be the most effective. I'm not even sure if she could win dragonball tournaments let alone survive a hit from Broli. I mean come on, Videl and her father are the luckest people on earth. Satan got punched by Buu and didn't explode while Videl was attacked by Broli and Pan was conceived

Well, that just proves that the assumption one would explode by being punched by someone with such a power is a false one. The only time that ever happens is in Movie 12 with Freeza, and it was a joke anyway.

Cell Jrs?

[Virgil]

Cell Juniors exploded because of TOEI.

In the Manga, they were just ripped apart, decapitated, torn in half. They never exploded.

[desirecampbell]

Cell Juniors exploded because of TOEI.

In the Manga, they were just ripped apart, decapitated, torn in half. They never exploded.

That's the point. The Cell Jrs got hit by someone much stronger than them - and they were basically unmade. This proves that ungodly harm can be done to someone who is a great deal weaker than the heroes.

This is meant to show that Videl must have been fairly strong to survive all she's been through.

[Virgil]

That's the point. The Cell Jrs got hit by someone much stronger than them - and they were basically unmade. This proves that ungodly harm can be done to someone who is a great deal weaker than the heroes.

Doubt it. Mr. Satan got punched by Cell and Kid Buu and he never exploded...

[GI_Judd2287]

That's because Cell didn't hit Mr. Satan with all his might. He swatted him aside like a fly.

[desirecampbell]

That's because Cell didn't hit Mr. Satan with all his might. He swatted him aside like a fly.

Exactly. Just because these people are unfathomably powerful doesn't mean they throw their whole weight into each attack.

I wouldn't give a "power level" Videl more than a couple hundred. Videl could probably beat Roshi, but I'd have a hard time believing she could take down anyone stronger.