Power Ball

Directory: Techniques → Supportive Techniques → Energy spheres

Power Ball (パワーボール) is an energy sphere used by Saiyans to mimic the presence of a full moon.

Overview

By combining ki with the planet's atmosphere, a sphere of condensed Blutz Waves is created. Using this, a Saiyan can achieve the Great Ape transformation even when a full moon (or similar planetary body) is not present. However, using the technique is apparently very tiring, so even Saiyans that can use it prefer to transform using a planetary body (Vegeta mentioned to Goku that he planned his trip to Earth to coincide with the full moon in an attempt to avoid using the technique). The Power Ball disappears after 90 minutes.^[5]

A Power Ball was first used by Vegeta during his battle against Goku in the Dragon Ball Z episode "Saiyan Sized Secret". This same Power Ball would later be used against Vegeta when Goku tells Gohan to look at it to transform.

File:TurlesPowerBall.png

Turles' Power Ball

The technique is seen again during flashback in the anime series. It takes place while Dodoria's explanation of Freeza's use of the Saiyans. An unnamed Saiyan warrior is seen performing the technique so that he and his comrades can transform into Great Apes.

Turles performs this technique in the movie Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might to make Gohan transform into a Great Ape and attack Goku, and destroys it afterwards to prevent himself from transforming. Thanks to Icarus, Gohan apparently gets control over his Great Ape form and attacks Turles. Turles then tried to attack Gohan, but Goku managed to cut off Gohan's tail in time and save him from Turles' Kill Driver.

Appearances in games

KingVegetaTransformBT3 — King Vegeta holding a Power Ball in *Budokai Tenkiachi 3*

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Vegeta launches the Power Ball in one of the cutscenes, and it is colored yellow.

In the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series, Vegeta, Turles, and King Vegeta can use the Power Ball to transform into a Great Ape at any time, while other Saiyans with tails must be on a stage with a full moon in order to transform (Raditz, Nappa, Bardock, Fasha, and Kid Goku). Bardock is amongst those that require a full moon, which further goes against the Ocean Dub stating he invented the technique.

Vegeta also uses Power Ball in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z cutscenes.

DBXV Prince Vegeta's Power Ball 1212-05 — Vegeta creating a Power Ball in *Dragon Ball: Xenoverse*

Vegeta uses the Power Ball in Dragon Ball: Xenoverse for the same purpose he does in the original series; to transform into a Great Ape. This only appears in a cutscene, and the playable Vegeta is incapable of using it in the game-play proper. The Power Ball is mentioned one final time in the Legendary Super Saiyan Saga when Bardock asks Vegeta to make the Ball for him to use to become a Great Ape for the purpose of combatting Broly. Bardock destroys the Power Ball immediately after he uses it, to prevent Broly from potentially transforming into a Great Ape as well.

Trivia

Exclusively in the Ocean Group dub of the anime, Vegeta states that Goku's father (never referred to by name) invented the Power Ball technique, calling him as an "average fighter but a brilliant scientist". This was obviously an error as in his TV Special, Bardock is shown to be a soldier, not a scientist, although Vegeta may simply have meant that Bardock had an excellent scientific mind as well as being a fighter.
- This could be the dub trying to turn Goku into Superman, Jor-El (Superman's father) being a brilliant scientist on Krypton.
Even after Turles destroys his Power Ball in The Tree of Might, Gohan is still a Great Ape, which hints that the effects are long-lasting. A similar occurrence happened in Xenoverse, when Bardock destroys the Power Ball Vegeta created after using it himself, to prevent Broly from becoming a Great Ape.