Directory: Techniques → Offensive techniques → Sphere attacks

Spirit Bomb
元気玉 Genki Dama
Anime name	Spirit Bomb
Manga name	Genki Dama
Alternate names	Genki Tama[1] Energy Ball Energy Sphere Spirit Ball Spirit Blast Gege Ball (Greek Dub, Buu Saga)
Debut	"Counting Down"
Inventor	King Kai
Users	Goku Krillin[2] Perfect Cell Super Buu (W/ Perfect Cell absorbed)[3]
Class	Energy Ball
Color	&       &       or       &
Similar techniques	Finish Buster Revenge Death Ball Spirit Ball

Spirit Bomb (元気玉, Genki Dama; lit. "Energy Sphere") is a powerful attack in Dragon Ball, widely considered to be the strongest attack in the series, but depends on the number of organisms supporting its use. In the manga, it is used only a total of three times. Its name is a pun on denki gama, meaning "electric rice cooker" in Japanese.

History and usage

Users of the Spirit Bomb gather huge amounts of energy from all chosen surrounding life forms and inanimate objects to conduct that energy into a massive sphere of astounding destructive power. Energy takes the visual form of sparkling, glittering wisps when adding to the mass that are usually blue and/or white in color. The creation of the attack promotes a calm breeze away from the bomb, which turns into a strong continuous gale and expels colorful bands or radiation of Northern Lights-esque aurora. When used it is quite swift, and if the user is not careful of it, the Spirit Bomb could absolutely obliterate a planet.

In the afterlife, Goku is taught this move from King Kai. Essentially, to use the Spirit Bomb, one must have a pure heart so they can manipulate and gather energy, otherwise the move can backfire and possibly hurt or kill the user. Likewise, once a Spirit Bomb has been fired, it is possible for one with a pure heart to deflect the technique, as Goku clarifies to Gohan and Krillin. However, it should be noted that although a person can be pure good or pure evil of heart, a Spirit Bomb created by a pure good person can not be deflected by a pure evil person, as the two opposite energies cancel each other out and one engulfs the other. This is shown when Frieza (a being of pure evil) is not able to deflect the Spirit Bomb, although being able to survive it through brute endurance. However, the Spirit Bomb is capable of harming anyone, regardless of morality.

In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, Krillin says that Goku cannot gather the energy while in his Super Saiyan state. This is because the Super Saiyan transformation is inherently malicious and taints the heart and soul. In the feature, Goku manages to channel the Spirit Bomb energy directly into himself while he is in his Super Saiyan form, supercharging his power, giving him a Spirit Bomb-sized solar aura, and filling him with a straining fury. Despite not being able to form one as a Super Saiyan, Goku is apparently capable of using it in this form as he turns into a Super Saiyan when he destroys Kid Buu with the Super Spirit Bomb, albeit after already forming it and firing it.

However, the main disadvantage of the attack is the amount of time needed to complete the attack, thus the attack is used very rarely. Although Goku, Krillin, and Gohan are the only characters known to have used this attack, it was Goku who gathered the energy before Krillin threw it and Gohan only rebounded the attack. Although he never used it in the anime and manga, Cell claimed to be capable of using the attack (likely because he has data collected by Dr. Gero's remote tracking device about the fight between Goku and Vegeta) to Piccolo, Krillin and Future Trunks.

Types of Spirit Bomb

Fusion Spirit Bomb

During the battle against Vegeta, Goku had no choice but to use the technique King Kai taught him: the Spirit Bomb. But Vegeta transformed into a Great Ape and due to the enormous disadvantage he was at against his now monstrous enemy, many of Goku's attempts failed. However, he eventually managed to collect the energy needed for his ultimate attack. Unfortunately, before he was able to unleash this attack on his foe, Vegeta thrashed Goku, reducing the amount of gathered energy and leaving him incapable of doing anything. Still, he managed to give what was left of the gathered energy of the Spirit Bomb to Krillin, and with some help from Gohan, the Spirit Bomb reached its target, Vegeta. Although a direct hit, the Spirit Bomb did not finish the Saiyan prince, presumably due to having lost too much power, although it did injure and weaken Vegeta.^[4]

Large Spirit Bomb

Similarly to his fight with Vegeta, Goku couldn't defeat Frieza even with his Kaio-ken's power increased 20 times, so he decided to once again use the Spirit Bomb, raising his hands into the air, with Frieza thinking Goku was giving up. With some help from Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan, Goku had enough time to collect energy from the remaining living beings of Namek as well as some nearby planets, thus creating a bigger Spirit Bomb than the last one, and threw it at Frieza, seemingly killing him. However, the Spirit Bomb was not strong enough to bring an end to the galactic tyrant.^[5] This is speculated to be either because Goku underestimated Frieza's power (since he was only at about 50%) or because there was very little life left in the Namekian planetary system. Despite the fact that it failed, Frieza was still unable to reflect it, and caused him some damage.

Instant Spirit Bomb

A combination of the Instant Transmission and Spirit Bomb used against Hatchiyack.

Cell's Spirit Bomb

Cell's version of the Spirit Bomb shown in several video games.

Super Spirit Bomb

In holding back against Buu's various incarnations to allow Vegeta and the other Z Fighters a chance to protect the Earth, Super Saiyan 3 Goku exhausts his energy to the point that he alone cannot defeat Kid Buu. Vegeta reacts by coming up with the idea to destroy Buu with a Spirit Bomb powered by the people of Earth. By restoring the planet and immediately reviving everyone on it thanks to Porunga, every Earthling would give Goku most of their energy. However, only Goku's friends give their energy at first, since everyone else has doubts about the voices they are hearing. But once Mr. Satan talks to the people on Earth and convinces them to raise their hands, everyone's energy becomes part of the Spirit Bomb. Goku forms the Spirit Bomb in base form, but has to go Super Saiyan during the attack to overcome Kid Buu's attempt to deflect it. With this, the bomb eventually obliterates the evil Majin.^[6]

Ultra Spirit Bomb

A larger and more powerful form of the Spirit Bomb used by Gokule in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2.

Revenge Death Ball

A negative version of the Spirit Bomb used by Baby Vegeta. The energy is gathered from the people under his control.

Universal Spirit Bomb

Having Goku and Vegeta lost both their fusion and their transformations as Super Saiyan 4s, the battle against Omega Shenron seemed practically lost. However, they would not give up and with a Spirit Bomb powered by the whole universe, the evil Shadow Dragon was beaten and completely destroyed.^[7]

Movies and OVA

The Spirit Bomb has also appeared in several Dragon Ball Z movies.

Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest

After having decided that it was the only way to defeat Dr. Wheelo, Goku started gathering energy for a Spirit Bomb. Dr. Wheelo flew high into space, shooting a beam intended to destroy the whole planet. But just then Goku launched his energy ball and destroyed Dr. Wheelo once and for all.^[8]

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

Seeing that Turles had gained an incredible power after eating the fruit of the Tree of Might, Goku once again resorted to the Spirit Bomb. But since the tree had absorbed all the energy from the planet, there was no energy left for Goku to use his technique and Turles easily countered it with his Calamity Blaster. Goku then collected the energy inside the Tree of Might and used it to destroy both Turles and the tree he had planted after a brief showdown. In the English version, King Kai refers to this as a "Super Spirit Bomb" it could be considered the first one of its kind.^[9]

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

When Gohan whistles as Piccolo asked him to, Lord Slug quickly loses his edge, and right after Piccolo gave his energy to Goku, the latter attacked Slug with the Kaio-ken. Goku then disabled the generator that was causing the Earth to freeze, so he could absorb energy from the sun. With that energy, Goku launched a Spirit Bomb at Slug, destroying him and his generator as well.^[10]

Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!

Although in this movie Goku does not actually throw a Spirit Bomb, he does gather the energy for it, except that, because he transformed into a Super Saiyan, he absorbed the energy, which ultimately he used to destroy Super Android 13.^[11]

The Super Dragon Fist used by Goku in his Super Saiyan forms in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World is very similar the Spirit Bomb technique used in Super Android 13!.

OVA

In the OVA Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku, Goku uses the Instant Spirit Bomb variation to defeat Hatchiyack while using his Full-Power Super Saiyan transformation.

Appearances in Video Games

The Spirit Bomb appears in several video games, including the Gokuden RPG series, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, Dragon Ball Z: The Legend, Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu, the Budokai series (including Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit), Super Dragon Ball Z, and the Supersonic Warriors games. The Spirit Bomb almost always inflicts extreme damage, being one of the strongest techniques in video games (in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3, when the user combines Give Me Energy! or Kaio-ken together with Spirit Bomb, it inflicts a tremendous amount of damage). It appears as golden-yellow and red in some games, and light-green for Cell's Spirit Bomb in the Budokai games.

In Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Goku teaches Krillin how to use the Spirit Bomb (Krillin was able to wield the Spirit Bomb when Goku gave it to him to attack Vegeta in the manga/anime). In Dragon Ball GT: Transformation, Goku can perform the Spirit Bomb as a Super Saiyan 4.

In the Raging Blast games, if the non-custom Spirit Bomb is equipped on Goku with Krillin and Kid Gohan on his team, when he loses all health, a cutscene will occur recreating the scene of Krillin throwing the Spirit Bomb and Kid Gohan deflecting it back at the opponent. If this team attack hits, it will be an instant K.O, no matter how much health the opponent had.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, after absorbing Perfect Cell, Super Buu can use the Spirit Bomb.

The Spirit Bomb can also be used in the crossover video game Battle Stadium D.O.N. Goku, as well as the player's avatar, can perform this technique in the arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes. The Spirit Bomb can also be used in the First-Person Fighting games Dragon Ball Z: Battle Taikan Kamehameha and Dragon Ball Z For Kinect.

In Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, the Spirit Bomb is the second and final of Goku's Ultimates. He acquires it after obtaining the Spirit Crystal from the Sprite elder Montgomery to prove that he is of pure heart. Like in the manga and anime, it takes time to charge; this is represented in the game by taking several turns to complete.

Trivia

• At first, Goku could only create basketball sized Spirit Bombs. Later on, he can create ones that are the size of miniature planets. It depends on how much energy Goku collects.
• Though neither character creates a Spirit Bomb, both Gohan and Kid Buu are contacted by the attack and manage to deflect it towards another target.
• In the 4kids dub of Dragon Ball Z Kai, the Spirit Bomb is called the Spirit Blast.

Gallery

Goku prepares a Spirit Bomb Goku prepares a Spirit Bomb Goku forms the Spirit Bomb Goku aims for his target Goku fires his Spirit Bomb Gohan deflects the Fusion Spirit Bomb Goku charges a Spirit Bomb in The World's Strongest Goku uses the attack against Dr. Wheelo Goku launches the Spirit Bomb at Dr. Wheelo Goku uses the Spirit Bomb in The Tree of Might Goku's Spirit Bomb in The Tree of Might Turles destroyed out by the Spirit Bomb along with the Tree of Might Goku creates a Spirit Bomb to finish off Slug Goku charges a Spirit Bomb in Super Android 13! Goku charges the Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan Goku absorbs the Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan Goku powers up Goku with the power of the Spirit Bomb Goku preparing his Spirit Bomb in The Legend Goku's Spirit Bomb about to hit Frieza in The Legend Goku charges a Spirit Bomb in DBZ: Taiketsu Spirit Bomb in Battle Taikan Kamehameha Spirit Bomb in Battle Taikan Kamehameha Spirit Bomb in Battle Taikan Kamehameha Goku about to throw the Spirit Bomb in Supersonic Warriors Goku uses the Spirit Bomb as a Super Saiyan 4 in GT: Transformation Super Buu (with Cell absorbed) uses the Spirit Bomb in Budokai 2 Goku charging the Spirit Bomb in Budokai 3 HD Goku fires the Spirit Bomb in Budokai 3 HD The Spirit Bomb hits Frieza and explodes The Spirit Bomb explodes on Namek When defense wins in Budokai 3 HD Spirit Bomb in Super Dragon Ball Z Goku (Early) launching a Spirit Bomb in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Goku prepares to fire a Spirit Bomb in Ultimate Butoden Goku prepares the Spirit Bomb in Ultimate Tenkaichi Goku charges a Spirit Bomb in Dragon Ball Heroes Goku launches the Spirit Bomb at Broly in Dragon Ball Heroes Goku and Akina combine their Spirit Bombs in Dragon Ball Heroes Goku uses a Spirit Bomb in Tap Battle Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

References