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

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 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. 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.

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. In the afterlife, Goku was taught this move from King Kai. 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 whether a person can be pure good or pure evil of heart, a Spirit Bomb that is created by a pure good person can not be deflected by a pure evil person, 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 force. However, the Spirit Bomb is capable 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.

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.

Occasions it has been used

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.

Super Spirit Bomb

After seeing that Goku as a Super Saiyan 3 had not finished off Kid Buu to allow Vegeta a fair chance to fight, Vegeta came up with the idea to make a Spirit Bomb powered by the Earthlings. By restoring the Earth and immediately reviving everyone and the planet thanks to Porunga, every human would give Goku most of their energy. However, only Goku's friends gave their energy at first since everyone else had doubts about the voices they were hearing. But once Mr. Satan talked to the people on Earth and convinced them to raise their hands, everyone's energy became part of the Spirit Bomb, which eventually obliterated the evil Kid Buu (Goku formed the Spirit Bomb in base form, but had to go Super Saiyan as Kid Buu was deflecting it).^[6]

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 Hachihyaku 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.

Premature and advanced levels

The following Spirit Bombs are presented in order of size and strength, from the smallest to the largest. The more spiritual energy is contributed to the bomb, the bigger and more potent it will become.

• Fusion Spirit Bomb: A combined form of the Spirit Bomb that Goku used with Krillin and Gohan. It was used against Vegeta. This version appears in the Raging Blast series of video games
• Large Spirit Bomb: A larger and more powerful Spirit Bomb. The energy was gathered from life forms on Planet Namek. It was used against Frieza.
• 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: A much larger and even more powerful Spirit Bomb. The energy was gathered from the life forms on Earth and the Kai planet. It was used against Kid Buu.
• Universal Spirit Bomb: The most powerful version of the Spirit Bomb. The energy was gathered from all of the life forms in the entire Universe. It was used against Omega Shenron.
• 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.

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

Gohan deflects the Fusion Spirit Bomb Goku collects the energy for his Spirit Bomb to finish off Slug 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 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 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 Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

References