Power level
From Dragon Ball Wiki, the ''Dragon Ball'' encyclopedia
The power level (戦闘力, sentō-ryoku, literally "combat power" or "fighting strength", sometimes refered as "battle power") is a concept found in the Dragon Ball metaseries created by Akira Toriyama. It is first introduced in Dragon Ball Z, where devices called "scouters" were used to read the exact power level number of a living being and analyze it. The highest number ever officially read aloud from a scouter was Captain Ginyu's reading of Goku's power level, which after powering up, was 180,000. The highest power level ever officially stated was from the Daizenshuu guides, in which Super Saiyan Goku had a power level of 150,000,000 while battling Frieza on Planet Namek.
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[edit] Application
The application of power levels is to get an estimation of how a battle will fare between two opponents of known power levels. In general, if one has a higher power level than one's opponent, then he/she can defeat the one with the weaker power level. For example, "Person A" has a fighting power of 10,000 and "Person B" has a fighting power of 5,000. "Person A" can most certainly defeat "Person B". However, the factors of speed, strength, and technique can also come into factor when deciding the outcome of a fight.
It should be noted that, when factoring in the edge one has over an opponent, the difference in power levels as a flat number is apparently not important, but rather, the difference in power levels as a percentage. For example, when Goku (as a child) fought King Piccolo, he was thrown around like a rag doll, and the power levels of Piccolo and Goku then were 260 and 180, respectively; this made Piccolo 30% stronger than Goku. On the other hand, when Super Saiyan Goku fought Frieza at 100% power, their power levels were 150 million and 120 million, respectively Goku was only 20% stronger than Frieza, and so the fight was (at least in the beginning) somewhat even, despite the fact that Goku had a power level of 30 million greater than Frieza's.
(Figuration: difference ÷ highest number × 100 = percentage difference)
[edit] Changes in power levels
In general, the power level of a regular person in the Dragon Ball universe seems to remain pretty constant throughout his/her life. Power levels can be increased, usually very slowly, through intense training or by some other special mean. Some people are able to increase their power levels faster than others; the most clear example of this is Goku.
The power level of most people is usually the same independent of the fact that they are resting or powered-up. However, there are several important exceptions. The most common way to increase one's power-level temporarily during a fight is for races or characters that are able to transform into different shapes and alter their external appearance. Examples include Saiyans (who transform into Great Apes and Super Saiyans), Zarbon and Frieza. There are also some people that have learned the skill to change their apparent power-level at will. This allows them to "supress" their power-level when they wish to appear weaker, to be undetected or to conserve energy, and to increase their power-levels to their maximum during a fight. Namekians and highly-trained earthlings (such as the Z-Fighters) seem to be examples of races that are able to do this with most ease, though Saiyans are also shown to be able to learn this ability. Other characters known to posses this ability are Captain Ginyu and Frieza, whose race is unknown.
Saiyans posses a unique ability that allows them to easily increase their permanent power level. If they fight a strong opponent and are left almost dead, but are able to recover, they will gain a significant amount of power, and increase their maximum level. The first character to display this in the series is Vegeta.
The average Human power level is near 5, with exceptionally skilled Humans such as Master Roshi or Nam having power levels over that of 100.
Characters that have mixed Saiyan and human blood seem to display special abilities regarding power levels. They are able to reach high levels much faster than other races. Their power level at a given time also fluctuates a lot depending on their emotional state. Intense rage, for example, can make them increase their power level significantly for a limited amount of time.
[edit] Influence and similarities on other series
Akira Toriyama and his work in the Dragon Ball series has influence in several other manga work. Similar works use an identical kind of "inner power", and that "inner power" made the characters grow stronger.
- Masashi Kishimoto states in his comic Naruto that he was influenced by Toriyama. In Naruto, the concept similar to "ki" is called chakra level; the trademark technique being the Rasengan(Spiraling Sphere), which requires a high level of chakra control.
- In the manga Saint Seiya, authored by Masami Kurumada, the protagonist Seiya is the titular character of the namesake show. He is one of the 88 saints of Athena, and serves loyally at her side. Seiya dons the bronze cloth (an armor that denotes sainthood) of Pegasus, and draws power ("cosmos") from the constellation that connects to it. The saints can grow stronger if they raise higher levels of "cosmos".
- Bleach is a manga and anime series by Tite Kubo. All Bleach characters are "souls". Living humans contain souls within their bodies. Disembodied souls, or spirits, have a form composed of particles of spiritual energy called "" (霊子, ectoplasm), Certain unique humans naturally have both the power to sense and the strength to fight with spirits. Ordinary humans can gain the ability to interact with spirits by spending time around a large source of spirit energy. Ichigo Kurosaki is the exact example, and considered to be one of the strongest characters.
- YuYu Hakusho is a manga and anime series by Yoshihiro Togashi. Yu Yu Hakusho characters are either human or yokai (demon), and have spiritual powers called reiki (for humans) and yoki (for demons). There is also a system of yoki class or equivalent-to-yoki class that ranges from D-S+, D being the weakest and S class being the strongest level of yokai.
- Shaman King is a manga and anime series by Hiroyuki Takei. The Shaman King characters are shamans or mediums that uses a spiritual energy called Furyoki to materialize their spirit guardians. This process is known as Over Soul, and the inner power is measured by an arm device whose function is similar to a Scouter.
- One Piece is a manga and anime series by Eiichiro Oda. Douriki (approximately meaning "power level") is a measurement of the power of one's Rokushiki abilities among the CP9 (Cipher Pol Number 9). It is measured in a similar way to Dragonball's power level but in the form of hitting a member of CP9 (Fukurou) who will then after being hit follow on to tell one his Douriki. However, this measurement of power was short-lived and was only ever shown to measure the power of the CP9 members and a single marine.
