The nature of "ki"

[James R. Cadwell]

Is a person's "ki" and "combat power" as measured by the scouters a property of his body or his "soul"?

If it is a property of the body, then characters should have lost all of their cumulative superhuman strength and abilities whenever they were resurrected after their bodies were destroyed.

If it is a property of the "soul", however, Ginyu's body-switching technique would have been worthless since he wouldn't gain any strength from the exchange.

The first explanation can be reconciled with contradictory events by assuming that whatever process is involved with reviving a dead person also restores their "ki" energy. This also neatly explains how deceased, super-powerful villains like Freeza and Cell weren't able to use their power to kill Enma-Daio(sp?) and generally wreck havoc in the afterlife -- their "ki" would have dissipated after their bodies were destroyed.

This theory could also be twinked to explain why Vegeta and Goku appeared to have less energy after being resurrected than they did while they were dead -- maybe it takes time for a living body to be restored to its full "ki" level, the same way it takes time to recover after exhausting a lot of energy.

I prefer the second explanation, although I don't really have any comments on it.

[Adamant]

If it's in the soul, wouldn't the villains still be able to use attacks that could destroy half the universe after being turned into one of those cloud guys and placed in hell?

And then there's the Ginyu thing.. yeah, it's gotta be in the body.

[Dai]

I always figured ''Ki'' to be ones life energy, which coarses through your body. The fighters in DB learned how to manipulate this energy to manisfest itself outside their bodies, and then be used as a weapon. (Or for healing) Flying would mean also manipulating this energy, but then focussing it around a point in your body, and then lifting it up.

I find ''body or soul'' a rather one-sided question, as if you're supposed to pick. I always figured it was sorta both... Your life energy.

Sensing someone's ''combat power'' is simply detecting the life energy a certain person radiates, so to speak. A scouter is some sort of radar that is designed to pick up on this sort of energy radiation, and then transfigure it into numbers. At least, that's my theory.

If a person is resurrected, their life energy is simply given back to them. If a person dies, their bodies are taken away, along with their life energy and only their soul remains to be judged. Unless Enma himself thinks you are worthy of keeping your body in the afterlife. In that case, you still get to have your life energy, but it is stuck in another plain. In that case, wishing back someone who's ''dead'', but still has his body in the afterlife, simple means teleporting that person to the mortal realm.

Freeza and all those other villains that appear a few times, don't match up with this, simply because it is all filler. There's no way Enma would have allowed any of them to keep their bodies.

That's all my theory, but feel free to bash me for it.

[James R. Cadwell]

I find ''body or soul'' a rather one-sided question, as if you're supposed to pick. I always figured it was sorta both... Your life energy.

When I refer to the "soul", I'm talking specifically about the metaphysical construct that houses the personality and other aspects of a person's "mind". (it doesn't appear to be the brain in the DB universe) I would consider "ki" to be distinct from this.

[Jerseymilk]

As far as I know, the definition of "ki" is indeed a "life energy" according to the original Chinese definition. The Chinese believe that you can harness it and use it as power, hence the incredible feats that you see the Shaolin monks do. The same concept also comes into play with the treatment of acupuncture. It's believed that diseases are caused when the flow of one's "chi" is interrupted. Acupuncture is supposed to re-etablish the flow.

[Adamant]

In that case, wishing back someone who's ''dead'', but still has his body in the afterlife, simple means teleporting that person to the mortal realm.

Eh, no. Goku had to travel all the way back to Enma from Kaiou's place.

[PsyLiam]

And in Piccolo's case, it required two wishes to get him to the mortal plane: One to wish him back to life, and another to teleport him to Namek.

But, as hinted at, that resurrection (and Goku's) contradicts other examples of resurrection shown throughout the series. When all of Freeza's victims are wished back by the Namek dragon balls, Vegeta's previously dead body comes back to life. But Piccolo's original body stayed on Earth, and he seemed to be given a new one (unless Emna transported his, Yamcha's and Tenshinhan's bodies to be used in the afterlife).

[SaiyaJedi]

... that resurrection (and Goku's) contradicts other examples of resurrection shown throughout the series. When all of Freeza's victims are wished back by the Namek dragon balls, Vegeta's previously dead body comes back to life. But Piccolo's original body stayed on Earth, and he seemed to be given a new one (unless Emna transported his, Yamcha's and Tenshinhan's bodies to be used in the afterlife).

Actually, I think that's what was implied. Unless one's body is destroyed, it is simply moved to the afterlife (and healed, if need be), so that the individual may continue using it as before. People are granted permission to use their bodies in the afterlife; although rare, there certainly seems to be a set of rules in place about it.

[The S]

Oh boy, a Ki topic!

Generally, Ki is your life energy. It's a supernatural force flowing through your body, which science can neither prove nor disprove. However, many worldwide not only believe in it, but KNOW it exists. Of course, there's also different types of ki, such as Reiki, which is determined by your spirit.

Now, I wouldn't know about being resurrected in the same body, but as your soul is reborn in other bodies, it retains the ki from its past lives, as well as the ki from its current body. It keeps building up, but you must realize how to use it (don't ask how, it just does).

[PsyLiam]

And I'm going to be a real picky pain in the arse here, but...

However, many worldwide not only believe in it, but KNOW it exists.

No, they don't. They believe it exists, but they don't KNOW that it exists. That's like Christians saying that they KNOW that God exists. They believe so, but whether it's true or not is not definite.

*cough*

Carry on...

[TripleRach]

I definitely say body. When someone dies, no one can feel their ki anymore. But it's just the body that is dead, because the soul is obviously still around in the afterlife as one of those cute white poofy clouds. In the very special cases where people keep or regain their bodies in the afterlife, they seem to have ki again, even though dead people are generally not supposed to have ki, by definition. (Lots of comments are made about dead Gokuu's ki in the Buu Saga.)

But it's probably not as simple as that. I think when the soul is rejoined with its proper body, the original ki is recreated. That could explain why Gokuu and Ginyuu couldn't fully utilize each other's abilities (actually, I believe Gokuu even made a comment about how the body and spirit need to be in synch). In the cases of the bodies being destroyed and recreated, perhaps Shenlong is able to recreate the body as it was before death so that the soul recognizes it and everything is spiffy again.

[The S]

(offers PsyLiam a cough drop, then blasts his ass with a ki blast)

[Dai]

To Adamant: I said ''mortal realm'', not Earth or anything. I realize using the term ''teleporting'' might have been somewhat confusing, so sorry about that.