As a continuation of the storied Dragon Ball franchise, Dragon Ball Super is generally liked among the fans. It provides fans with more happy memories with their favorite characters and delivers plenty of exciting fight scenes along the way. In delivering these thrills, though, the series violates many rules that were supposedly set in stone during previous entries.
Among the most egregious is the power scaling. In the past, viewers and readers could gauge how formidable the fighters were based on the training they'd undergone and how they fared in battle. In Dragon Ball Super, the fighting strength of every character is all over the place. Now, the Z-fighters are only as tough as the plot demands — just look at these examples to see how.
10 Frieza Catches Up In Months
Once Frieza returns to life, he hears that Goku defeated the all-powerful Majin Buu. The villain realizes he's clearly outmatched by his old nemesis, so he resolves to improve. It's a new challenge for him, since he's never trained a day in his life.
Viewers would never know it by looking at the results. In just a few months, the evil emperor becomes a match for Goku in his Super Saiyan God forms. For reference, the hero had to work years to achieve this level of power. If Frieza was this naturally gifted, he could outpace any adversary in the franchise.
9 The Universe 6 Saiyans
Initially, the Saiyans of Universe 6 can't turn into Super Saiyans. They aren't even familiar with this transformation. Thankfully, Goku and Vegeta teach them in the midst of combat, and they're quick studies.
Cabba gets all the way to Super Saiyan 2 through rage and pure instinct, seemingly skipping over years of training in the process. It goes further when Caulifla and Kale fuse into a fighter who can contend with Goku's Super Saiyan God form. In the immortal words of Vegeta, it's a "Super Saiyan bargain bin sale."
8 Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan?
This super-sized Saiyan amplifies the rapid progress of his Universe 6 counterparts tenfold. In all fairness, the story treats him as an anomaly and a freak of nature that the warrior race hasn't seen for thousands of years. Plus, he utilizes the power of the Oozaru ape while in human form, multiplying his strength by many times.
Still, one can't help but marvel at the exponential rate he grows during his battle with Goku and Vegeta. Despite never turning into a Super Saiyan before, his hulking transformations eventually overpower both of his opponents in their god states. How can he wield this primal power? Maybe his stunted mental and emotional growth helped.
7 What's The Deal With Ultra Instinct?
This state involves one's instincts being so sharp that the body can move without thinking. Since fighters using this technique can dodge and counter automatically, strength shouldn't matter.
This is evidenced when Master Roshi keeps up with Jiren, who was previously thought to be insurmountable. With Ultra Instinct, even the frailest fighter can theoretically become invincible. This goes against much of what Dragon Ball has pushed up to this point. The storylines have dealt with increasing one's power and speed. Above all, however, is the mind that uses these tools. Having a state that eliminates the mind from the equation seems counterproductive.
6 How Did Vegeta Achieve Super Saiyan God Without Five Other Saiyans?
Previously existing only in legend, the Super Saiyan God transformation theoretically can't be achieved by normal means. Rather, it requires the combined energy of five Saiyans; for example Goku attains this state through the combined efforts of Gohan, Goten, Vegeta, Trunks, and the unborn Pan. It's reminiscent of his Super Saiyan 4 recharge in Dragon Ball GT, which was probably no mistake.
Once Vegeta starts training with Whis, he not only reaches Super Saiyan God, but he also progresses to Super Saiyan Blue. How did he do this without the aforementioned ritual? His exercises were fairly standard by comparison. Maybe the legend was all heresay and fluff after all.
5 How Can Androids Get Stronger?
By time the Tournament of Power rolls around, Androids 17 and 18 have gotten strong enough to compete. However, they're robots, so their limits were presumably built in by Dr. Gero. Maybe it's different for 17 and 18 since they were originally humans who were converted into cyborgs. Toriyama was always fairly vague about the rules for these robotic adversaries.
Still, fact that they're now keeping up with deities only raises further questions. Just how tough could they become? With their endless energy supply, these twins could be among the more overpowered fighters in Universe 7's roster.
4 Trunks Fits A Spirit Bomb In His Sword?
Zamasu has outlasted Goku and Vegeta's almighty fusion, and survived every assault against him. All seems lost until Trunks starts gathering energy from the remaining people on Earth. This power of hope goes into his sword, which he wields against the evil deity.
Putting aside the fact that he knows how to channel the energy in this way, how much power could the planet's population have? This isn't exactly like the Spirit Bomb used against Kid Buu. These people were barely recovering from the android apocalypse before Zamasu started ravaging their world. Nevertheless, the Spirit Sword works...at least until the heroes have to call in Grand Zeno for backup. It's amazing this silly strategy even made it that far.
3 Vegito's Power Is Too Much For The Potara?
Unlike the Fusion Dance, combining bodies with the Potara earrings is supposed to be permanent. Goku and Vegeta coming together to form Vegito should have been a victory, yet it still wears off. The characters offer two explanations, both of which are retcons.
First, the earrings weren't made for mortals, meaning that they could have trouble adapting to anyone besides the Kais. Second, Vegito is simply too strong and uses too much energy to maintain a long-lasting union. Yep, it's the same sorry excuse that undermined Gogeta's fusion in Dragon Ball GT.
2 What's The Difference Between Destroyer Energy And Regular Energy?
On top of the traditional energy (ki), Dragon Ball Super also uses divine energy. The Destroyer gods obviously use Destruction (Hakai), which tears anything apart and releases the energy inside. This should negate regular ki blasts, but that's not always the case.
Just look at how Vegeta topples Top. The latter throws all kinds of Destruction attacks at his opponent, but the Saiyan shrugs them off like they were nothing. What's the point of establishing an unconventional tool if it can be overcome through conventional means?
1 Granolah's Wish
This vengeful bounty hunter asks the Eternal Dragon to make him the strongest being in the universe. He wants to wipe out Frieza and the remaining Saiyans, but the Dragon can't raise his power above his natural limit. He can, however, take all of the power Granolah will accumulate in his life and condense it into his body now.
This sounds reasonable at first, but who is this dragon to say how strong someone can get or what his/her limit is? Does the Dragon have supreme foresight? Even if he does, Dragon Ball is all about breaking through one's limits. Gohan's latent potential has been unlocked a few times through mystical methods; he shatters this ceiling soon after. Who's to say Granaolah couldn't do the same, thereby rendering this wish outdated?