How strong is a nuclear bomb in the Dragon Ball universe?

[mAcChaos]

No Dragonball character could survive a nuclear inferno.

The temperature in the core of a fission bomb breaks 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. The surface of the Sun is 'only' 6,000 degrees C, and lava is a comparatively chilly 1,000 degrees C.

Real life people survived getting nuked.

[Hellspawn28]

They tank planet busters, so what is nuke gonna do lol.

Freeza did, Cell and Buu both did but no one else in the series without some type of regeneration or a different type of body structure (Freeza). We know nothing how Freeza's body works, so who knows what radiation would do his body. Cell has DNA of Saiyan, Namek and Freeza inside of him, it's hard to tell. With Buu, he's made out of magic so radiation won't do anything to him.

[Eternal Super Saiyan]

No Dragonball character could survive a nuclear inferno.

The temperature in the core of a fission bomb breaks 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. The surface of the Sun is 'only' 6,000 degrees C, and lava is a comparatively chilly 1,000 degrees C.

Real life people survived getting nuked.

Not head on. Being in the vicinity and taking shelter somewhere, yes just about anyone can survive.

[Kamiccolo9]

No Dragonball character could survive a nuclear inferno.

The temperature in the core of a fission bomb breaks 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. The surface of the Sun is 'only' 6,000 degrees C, and lava is a comparatively chilly 1,000 degrees C.

Real life people survived getting nuked.

Not head on. Being in the vicinity and taking shelter somewhere, yes just about anyone can survive.

And practically all of them died later from radiation poisoning and heat exposure anyway.

[Lord Beerus]

I'm pretty certain Majin Buu could survive getting nuked. So could probably Freeza and Cell as well. As far as the power required within the Dragon Ball universe to create a devastating nuclear bomb-like scenario, anyone stronger than King Piccolo can pull it off. That guy was nuking cities at the flick of his wrist.

[Rocketman]

Real life people survived getting nuked.

Because they were miles away from the fireball. Everybody close to ground zero ceased to exist, the intense heat and light burning their shadows into the structures behind them.

[RandomGuy96]

Anyone past Piccolo Daimao will have no problem with a nuclear bomb. Contrary to popular belief, they're never seriously implied to be extremely weak against heat in particular in the manga (Freeza tanked a planet explosion with next to no ki left and only a third of his body).

[Eire]

Real life people survived getting nuked.

Not head on. Being in the vicinity and taking shelter somewhere, yes just about anyone can survive.

And practically all of them died later from radiation poisoning and heat exposure anyway.

Nope. We still have survivors of both Japanese atomic bombs. And soliders that were used as guinea pigs both in Russia and USA.

Most of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors were indoors in buildings made of bricks or concentrate. IIRC the survivor closest to the explosion was less than 0.5 km from the point 0, but she was in the building of solid concentrate. And after she managed to survive fire and panic that claimed even more lifes.
Radiation poisoning comes in two flavours- acute sickness after higher levels (cells that need to regenerate refuse to cooperate) and long term for lover doses (mainly leukemia). The key is that the radiation can also be blocked, especially when you plan to evacuate as soon as possible.

I suppose that temperature and energy can be compared to regular ki-attacks, but what about radiation? Those who can actively regenerate should be more prone to it, but there is no rule.

[Hugo Boss]

What kind of bomb the androids had inside them? No.16's in particular was supposed lethal to Goku.

[FindKenshi]

What kind of bomb the androids had inside them? No.16's in particular was supposed lethal to Goku.

Good point. It was probably a nuke, because even Cell looked terrified before everyone realized 16 wasn't going to detonate.

[Hellspawn28]

they're never seriously implied to be extremely weak against heat in particular in the manga (Freeza tanked a planet explosion with next to no ki left and only a third of his body).

Goku got hurt by lava before and the heat of a nuke is much hotter then lava. If Goku had his ki shield up then he can tank a nuke but without one then he might be burn alive from the nuke if it's hit from him directly.

[KentalSSJ6]

What kind of bomb the androids had inside them? No.16's in particular was supposed lethal to Goku.

Good point. It was probably a nuke, because even Cell looked terrified before everyone realized 16 wasn't going to detonate.

Gero also stopped researching Goku after his fight with Vegeta. Meaning the bomb was intended for a Goku that had a PL of 8000. When Goku fought 19 he was 375X stronger than when he fought Vegeta on Earth.

[Hugo Boss]

What kind of bomb the androids had inside them? No.16's in particular was supposed lethal to Goku.

Good point. It was probably a nuke, because even Cell looked terrified before everyone realized 16 wasn't going to detonate.

Gero also stopped researching Goku after his fight with Vegeta. Meaning the bomb was intended for a Goku that had a PL of 8000. When Goku fought 19 he was 375X stronger than when he fought Vegeta on Earth.

May I ask, has the bomb itself a powerlevel conotation? It even matters how strong Goku is? Even after seeing Goku in person, No. 16 wasn't doubtful about the bomb being capable of killing him and the others. Only Cell disagreed, but still that could be arrogance.

[FindKenshi]

Cell disagreed after it didn't detonate. Right after #16 announced he was going to detonate, Cell actually looked terrified. He went back to his boastful self afterwards. Also #16 is not one to miscalculate such a thing. He was confident the bomb was going to kill Cell, and judging by the look on Cell's face I bet there's a good chance it would have.

[Eternal Super Saiyan]

#16 has built in scouters and can gauge power level (let's not forget he can compare his own power level, as indicated when he battled Cell).

He would not resort to using a bomb strong enough to kill someone 100,000x weaker than himself. Not to mention the bomb likely wouldn't destroy #16 if the bomb truly was this much of an inferior creation.

Dr. Gero gathered cells from Frieza and King Cold as well. Knowing strength from these 2 guys, why would he add a bomb barely strong enough to handle Saiyan Saga Goku? That wouldn't add up.

May I ask, has the bomb itself a powerlevel conotation? It even matters how strong Goku is? Even after seeing Goku in person, No. 16 wasn't doubtful about the bomb being capable of killing him and the others. Only Cell disagreed, but still that could be arrogance.

I don't remember Cell saying that wouldn't have done anything if #16 actually had the bomb. It was only after #16 told everyone that the bomb was removed when Cell began acting cocky.

[Hugo Boss]

I guess I should have said Cell disagreed after No. 16 failed to activate it.

[RandomGuy96]

they're never seriously implied to be extremely weak against heat in particular in the manga (Freeza tanked a planet explosion with next to no ki left and only a third of his body).

Goku got hurt by lava before and the heat of a nuke is much hotter then lava. If Goku had his ki shield up then he can tank a nuke but without one then he might be burn alive from the nuke if it's hit from him directly.

I don't remember him getting seriously hurt by lava in the manga.

[rereboy]

Goku got hurt by lava before and the heat of a nuke is much hotter then lava.

That's filler.

Anyway, if Dragon Ball characters focused their Ki on defense, I doubt a nuke would destroy them. People often say that Coola and Broly dying in the sun is proof that they can't survive such a temperature but I disagree since those characters had their defenses completely overwhelmed by a Ki attack as they entered the sun, which basically left them defenseless against it. Outside those circumstances, there's nothing to suggest (in the manga anyway) that they couldn't resist extremely high temperatures if they focus their Ki on defense.

[In Brightest Day]

I'm curious who and when in the series would be capable of withstanding nuclear blasts?

Once the first official planet buster waltzed into Dragonball (hey Freeza) nukes pretty much became irrelevant. We see Raditz dodge an attack that wiped out a mountain range, so I'd say that was where powerful nukes pretty much cap out if we power scale Vegeta and Nappa from there. There are instances where we see Piccolo and Roshi destroy the moon earlier in the series... I don't know. I have I hard time counting them as serious feats.

[Cursed Lemon]

Apparently about as strong as Nappa when he's not even trying.