Ki Manipulation (Dragon Ball)

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Summary

Ki (気 "Ki", lit. "Air, Breath"), also known as Chi/Qi, Youki (妖気 Yōki, lit. "Bewitching energy") or simply Energy (エネルギー Enerugī) is the secret energy that lies hidden inside the bodies of humans. By utilizing materialized energy converted from energy inside one's body, one can produce formidable special attacks. Ki is said to be possessed by everyone. Ki takes various shapes based on the person using it. Almost as if it reflects the user's heart.

As a concept based on Chinese Martial Arts, Ki includes metaphysical, spiritual, abstract aspects such as:

Genki (元気 lit. "Vigor") is the energy/life force that is projected in ki. Genki is present in the grass and trees, people and animals, inanimate objects, the atmosphere and celestial bodies.

Yūki (勇気 lit. "Courage") is implied to be the literal emotion of courage and the energy rush that comes from that, which would mean ki is as much an emotional concept as it is a physical energy to use in battle. Yūki also makes it possible to grant one's power to another person by cheering and encouraging them.

Shōki (正気 lit. "Right-mindedness") is implied to be one's mental state, meaning that by maintaining self-control, balance and staying true to yourself, it is possible to increase your capability in battle.

Universal Energy System

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Manipulating and increasing the ki in the body amplifies statistics, such as strength, overall power, destructive capacity, speed, defensive force and aerial capabilities, and is also shown that the characters are normally comparable to their ki attacks, and thus, qualifies for a Universal Energy System.

• Note: There have been numerous showings of fighters in the series having demonstrated significantly higher combat speeds and reactions than their own flight speeds.

Manipulation

Ki manipulation techniques are the use of ki power to attack one's enemy. Beginning with Goku, warriors in the world of Dragon Ball frequently use many techniques with different names and forms. However, ordinary people have a low degree of familiarity with ki manipulation techniques, and Mister Satan interpreted the ki manipulation techniques that Goku used as being mere tricks.

• Canon
• Toei
• Games

• Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z
• Dragon Ball Super

• Superhuman Physical Characteristics: There are physical limitations to the body that can be overcomed by strengthening the ki
• Energy Manipulation: Ki is a life-force energy or vital energy, thus manipulating ki means manipulating energy itself. And with it, ki users can perform many techniques
• Accelerated Development (Training; Physical Statistics & Abilities): By having an effective training that improves the ki, one can improve way faster than normal
• Empowerment: Via Yūki and Shōki. Ki users can be powered by being encouraged by others and their own emotions of courage, by staying true to themselves and by remaining calm through the battle
• Extrasensory Perception & Information Analysis: Via Ki Sensing. Ki users can locate others by reading their ki, detect malicious intent or differences in power levels. Also allows movement tracking without relying on visual detection by sensing ki movements
• Limited Telepathy: Ki users can project image trainings in their minds that simulates the real experience and connect it to train with others
• Presence Concealment: By supressing and lowering their ki level, ki users can mask their presences, make them harder to be detected by other ki sensors and blend themselves to the surrounding, even erase their ki completely to practically make them undetectable
• Statistics Manipulation: Ki users can manipulate ki through their bodies and use it offensively and defensively. By manipulating the amount of ki they can increase or decrease their battle power at will to better fit each battle, showing greater power in short bursts
• Limited Attack Nullification: Ki users can suppress and nullify weaker ki blasts

At least 4-B and higher:

• Dimensional Travel, Sound Manipulation, Space-Time Manipulation & Portal Creation: At this level of power ki users can create dimensional rifts and destroy space-time and pocket dimensions with their energy

• Anime
• Manga

Abilities of Ki displayed in the Anime continuity of Dragon Ball Super.

All abilities from Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z, plus:

• Non-Physical Interaction:
  • Abstractions (Will & Thoughts): Ki can interact with intangible ki blasts, abstract beings made of will, thoughts
  • Void & Nonexistence (Nature Type 1): Ki can interact with void
• Energy Manipulation & Explosion Manipulation: Ki can be imbued inside the enemy's body and detonated
• Healing & Limited Resurrection (Low-Mid): Can revive himself or others shortly after death from injuries as severe as a crushed heart, even if their soul has left the body
• Clairvoyance: Ki sensing can be used to visualize places while searching for kis
• Aura (Explosive, Overwhelming & Materialization): Auras can be used to obliterate and crush weaker opponents. Ki Aura can also cause the air to feel like it’s scorching hot. To a point it can fry machines and cause storms of energy so potent people can’t get close. It also has the capability to break through different space-times. Ki also has the ability to form itself into multiple different items
• Enhanced Forcefield Creation: Can generate pseudo-barriers via auras which protects against weaker attacks
  • Resistance to Poisons: Barriers can keep out poisons

Abilities of Ki displayed in the Manga continuity of Dragon Ball Super.

All previous abilities from Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z, plus:

• Non-Physical Interaction (Void & Nonexistence [Nature Type 1]) & Void Manipulation: Ki blasts can affect and warp the World of Void
• Energy Manipulation: Ki can be imbued inside the enemy's body to use it offensively and inside objects to increase their capacity
• Explosion Manipulation: Imbued ki can be detonated
• Vibration Manipulation: Ki can be used to send vibrations through surfaces
• Healing: Ki can be used to heal wounds
• Clairvoyance: Ki sensing can be used to visualize what is happening with someone
• Aura (Explosive & Materialization): Auras can be used to create powerful shockwaves and clash with enemys. Ki also has the ability to form itself into multiple different items
• Enhanced Forcefield Creation: Can generate pseudo-barriers with auras which protects against weaker attacks

• Universal
• Positive Energy
• Negative Energy

Abilities of Ki displayed in the Toei continuity of Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z, plus the Movies & Dragon Ball GT.

All abilities from canon Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z, plus:

• Vibration Manipulation: Ki can be used to send vibrations through surfaces
• Healing: Can be used to revive those at the brink of death
• Non-Physical Interaction (Ghost, Spirit & Soul): Ki can interact with ghosts, spirits & souls
• Aura (Explosive, Overwhelming & Catastrophe-inducing): It can damage the environment, generate storms, and cause explosions
  • Electricity Manipulation, Forcefield Creation & Heat Manipulation: By releasing their Ki auras, they can create a kind of Electromagnetic Field around themselves that burns and repels anything that tries to touch them

Completely clear mind:

• Advanced Ki Sensing & Instinctive Action: By clearing ones mind, they can react without the need for conscious thought, and can sense disturbances even when they aren't exhibiting energy
  • Resistance to Perception Manipulation: By not letting his eyes deceive them by clearing their mind, the user should not be fooled by those who can trick their perception

Positive Energy or Plus Energy is a special energy, or ki which is the opposite of what Negative Energy is, the force and laws of nature, power of justice. As the name suggests, it is an energy that bring about good things

• Power Nullification & Purification (Types 1 & 2; Positive Energy is the opposition to the Negative Energy, capable of neutralizingnullifying Negative Energy, which can distort the surroundings, cause chaos, calamity, decay and destruction, even corrode the world, give rise to calamities and evil phenomena.)
• Law Manipulation & Reality Warping (Positive Energy is stated to be the force of nature and is the opposition to the Negative Energy which is the opposition to the laws of nature. The energy itself is what natureorders should be, the force of natural orderslaws of nature and justice which act as counterbalance to the negative energy which distort the surroundings, cause chaos, decay and destruction, even corrode the world, give rise to calamities and evil phenomena. The Positive Energy capable of neutralizingnullifying the Negative Energy, and erase the chaos and destruction caused by Negative Energy, in other word, return the distorted natural orderslaws of nature back to their natural state. As the Positive EnergyPlus Energy and the Negative EnergyMinus Energy exists as a polarity within the Dragon Balls' energy, it should have the same power as Dragon Balls' which is stated to be "cosmic cheat code" that can hurl the cosmic order into chaos, capable of bring disorder to natural orders and distort the laws of nature.)

Negative Energy or Minus Energy is a special type of energy or ki that is a byproduct of the Earth Dragon Ball's wish-granting capabilities. As the name suggest, it is a very harmful energy

• Corrosion Inducement, Corruption (Types 1 & 2), Weather Manipulation & Environmental Destruction (Negative Energy can passively lay waste to the entire universe, decaying anything in its vicinity. Alongside creating natural disasters, it can corrode the world itself.)
• Deconstruction (Negative Energy is stated to be able to disintegrate everything it affects)
• Law Manipulation, Chaos Manipulation & Reality Warping (Negative Energy can passively distort the surroundings, cause chaos, calamity, decay and destruction, even corrode the world itself. The energy give rise to calamities and evil phenomena, and is the opposition to the laws of nature. As the Negative EnergyMinus Energy and the Positive EnergyPlus Energy exists as a polarity within the Dragon Balls' energy, it should have the same power as Dragon Balls' which is stated to be "cosmic cheat code" that can hurl the cosmic order into chaos, capable of bring disorder to natural orders and distort the laws of nature.)

• All Games
• Heroes & Xenoverse Exclusive

Ki abilities for all Dragon Ball Games.

• All applications of Ki

Ki abilities that exclusively exist only in the Dragon Ball Heroes Multiverse

• All previous applications of Ki (Games; Heroes & Xenoverse are also Dragon Ball Games, thus the ki in this multiverse shares the same abilities as ki from all other DB Games)
• Enhanced Non-Physical Interaction
  • Space-Time (Superior to Canon & Toei, in the Heroes multiverse Ki can interact, warp and distort space-time itself)
  • Ghosts, Spirits, Soul; Illusions; Energy; Invisibility; Intangibility (Elemental, Immaterial, Phasing); Incorporeality; Abstractions (Will, Thoughts, Ideas & Emotions; Superior to Canon & Toei, in the Heroes multiverse Ki can interact with ghosts, spirits, souls, illusions, pure energy beings, invisible & intangible ki blasts, abstract wills, ideas, thoughts, emotions. Can interact with its own attacks which can generate flame/fire or electricity/lighting)
  • Law & Chaos (Can interact with Positive EnergyPlus Energy & Negative EnergyMinus Energy with the former being the force of justice, nature itself, its laws and the latter being the opposition to natural laws, force of destruction, chaos, decay, calamities and evil phenomena)
  • Data & Information (Type 2; Can affect the Ziku World which is a digital space-time comprised purely from WiFi Network Data and Information)
  • Void & Nonexistence (Nature Type 1; Aspect Types 2 [Concepts] & 5 [Other: History, Space-Time, Causality, Fate] - In the Heroes multiverse, Ki can interact with the World of Void, a realm of eternal nothingness devoid of time and space and even the <Subspace> which is a dimensional world devoid of the concepts of time and space.)

• Dimensional Travel, Enhanced Space-Time Manipulation & Portal Creation (In the Heroes multiverse, Ki can warp and distort space-time itself, create holes/rifts in space-time leading to different timelines, even allowing characters to summon different versions of themselves from different dimensions)

Resistance to

• Space-Time Manipulation (Not only characters can distort space-time, but with Ki, they can also withstand the distortion of space-time itself)

Attack Types

• Basic
• Concentration
• Accumulation
• Kiai
• Alteration
• Rapid Fire
• Guided
• Blended

The type of ki manipulation technique that most commonly appears in the story is when someone gathers ki into the palm of their hand, then shoots it out as an energy bullet. The Kamehameha and ki blasts are examples of this kind of technique. Other techniques in the same category are Vegeta's Galick Gun and the like.

Powers and Abilities:

• Energy Projection: Materializes the body's internal energy outside the body, shooting it off as a ki blast
• Heat Generation: Ki attacks generates heat
• Light Generation: Ki attacks can emit light
• Explosion Manipulation: Ki attacks can make explosions that can be limited to a specific area
• Minor BFR: Can send opponents flying away
• Restricted Flight: Can propulse themselves to fly
• Pseudo-Electricity Manipulation: Bankoku-Bikkuri-Shou is a ki blast that fires electricity-like ki
• Minor Electricity Generation: Ki blasts can generate minor levels of electricity

Techniques where one concentrates ki into their fingertips, mouth, or another part of their body and then fires it. The Tsuru-sen School's Dodonpa is included in this category.

Powers and Abilities:

• Damage Boost: Can increase the power of attacks by focusing ki into a single point to do more damage, or charge-up the blast
• Breath Attack: Can be used to fire blasts from different parts of the body, including the mouth

A ki manipulation technique where one borrows the power of the ki held inside the bodies of others and makes it into an energy bullet. The Genki-dama, which Goku acquired through his training with Kaio-sama, is a technique of this category.

Powers and Abilities:

• Absorption: Can be used to borrow energy from others

As opposed to the other techniques, which can be seen in the shape of energy bullets, this category of technique cannot be directly seen by the naked eye. Things like the Kikoho and shockwaves are techniques included in this category.

Powers and Abilities:

• Air Manipulation & Shockwave Generation: Kiais produce an artificial shockwave through rapid hand movement or the emission of ki
• Invisibility: Kiai is an invisible ki technique
• Explosion Manipulation: Can create direct explosions
• Limited Attack Nullification & Limited Attack Reflection: Kiais can be used to nullify or deflect weaker attacks

Techniques where the basic form of ki manipulation is utilized according to the user's peculiar arrangement. They are fired with some additional value different from the traditional energy bullet type ki manipulation attacks. To give one example, there is Kuririn's Kienzan, where the ki is altered into a rounded edge before firing.

Powers and Abilities:

• Weapon Creation: Ki users can create energy weapons by releasing and shaping their ki in the form of the weapon they want, normally used to create weapons with sharp edges

Techniques that rapidly fires ki energy bullets. Gotenks' Rapid-Fire Die-Die Missiles are an example of this kind of technique. Vegeta also used a technique of this category during his battle with Zarbon on Planet Namek, but it didn't have a name. These attacks consume an intense amount of ki, but leave no openings for the opponent to counterattack. The majority of rapid fire type ki manipulation attacks are so powerful that they scar the surface of the earth.

Powers and Abilities:

• Danmaku: Can release danmaku by rapid firing dozens of ki blasts in quick succession

Techniques where a bullet of ki is freely manipulated. These could be said to have the advantage of being able to precisely aim for the target object. The ultimate form of these types of attacks is Gotenks' Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack. This technique is not mere manipulation, but rather the fired ki (ghost) possess its own consciousness, and can act according to the user's orders and through its own will.

Powers and Abilities:

• Homing Attack & Limited Telekinesis: Can be used to fire ki blasts that can home in on targets by changing it's trajectory or controlling it telekinetically

Techniques that combine the various types that have appeared up till now. The Kakusandan that Kuririn used against the Saibamen combined the three varieties of alteration type, rapid fire type, and guided type. You could say that these blended type techniques are an enhanced version of the respective types they combine. In order to utilize these, the user needs extreme training that strengthens their battle power and spiritual power. Furthermore, one also needs the calm discernment to take the amount of ki consumption into consideration.

Powers and Abilities:

• Homing Attack: Can be used by combining various other types to make different attacks, such as making homing ki blasts that pursues the opponent's ki

Variation Types

There exist various types of ki manipulation techniques, like what we've seen up till now. However, ki manipulation has many uses outside of attack. It also appears as a method of movement or of supporting attacks. Just like the attack type, these methods of use are also rich with variation.

• Aura
• Movement
• Attack Assisting
• Sealing

Auras are an effect of ki being manifested outside the body, normally appearing when the user is powering up. It can interact with the outside world, displaying various effects.

Powers and Abilities:

• Aura: Ki users can emit auras
• Limited Air Manipulation & Limited Vibration Manipulation: Powering up auras can cause intense vibrations that cracks the ground and destroys the surrounding environment and releases powerful gust of wind that blows everything. Can push back and even blow away weaker opponents
• Social Influencing: Ki users can passively induce fear and insecurity into opponents that can sense their presence through the power of their auras, bigger when the user has malicious ki, forcing a sensation of being crushed and paralyzed
• Limited Weather Manipulation: Ki users can change the weather by powering up and emitting auras
• Minor Electricity Generation: Auras can produce electrical discharges

The Tsuru-sen School's Bukujutsu is famous among the movement type techniques. This technique allows one to race through the sky through manipulating the ki inside one's body. Shunkan-ido, where by sensing someone's ki one can instantly move to their location, could also be said to be in this category of technique.

Powers and Abilities:

• Flight: Ki users can fly by emitting ki from the entire body
• Teleportation: teleportation is a movement type technique where one can instantly move to someone's location by sensing someone's ki

The Kaio-ken is one of the techniques that Goku was taught by Kaio-sama. This technique rapidly raises the user's battle power and speed. Other techniques that assist the user in attacking are thing like the Taiyoken which Tenshinhan uses and the Barrier used by Freeza, Vegetto and Android 17.

Powers and Abilities:

• Statistics Amplification: Kaioken can power up the user's attack power, speed, and the strength of their techniques
• Status Effect Inducement: Taiyoken converts ki into light energy to blind opponents
• Forcefield Creation: Ki users can create barriers around themselves to hit opponents and defend against enemy attacks

The Mafuba, which Kame-sennin's master Mutaito used when he sealed Piccolo Daimao, is in this category of technique. Perceiving the evil ki of an opponent, this technique can seal them within a talisman-marked container. There also exists the Reverse-Mafuba, which seals a good-hearted person by knocking back the Mafuba. This is a technique thought up by Ma Junior, who used it to seal Kami-sama with at the Tenkaichi Budoukai.

Powers and Abilities:

• Sealing: Mafuba is a sealing type technique that seals the opponents within a container affixed with charms

Mastery

In battle, the most important thing is the size of your ki and your control over it. Ki is evolved by it's users multiple times during the series, creating multiple levels of mastery.

• Initial
• Basic
• Advanced
• Master

For characters who have familiarity with ki and little to no control over it, but still have standard and simple abilities.

• Examples: Videl, Yajirobe

• Superhuman Physical Characteristics: There are physical limitations to the body that can be overcomed by strengthening the ki
• Accelerated Development (Training; Physical Statistics & Abilities): Training ki can make one improve way faster than normal
• Empowerment: Via Yūki and Shōki. Ki users can be powered by being encouraged by others and their own emotions of courage, by staying true to themselves and by remaining calm through the battle

Possible inclusions:

• Energy Manipulation & Flight: Ki is a life-force energy or vital energy, thus manipulating ki means manipulating energy itself. Simple techniques such as flight requires manipulating the ki inside one's body
• Extrasensory Perception and Information Analysis: Ki Sensing can be learned even with little to no ki control

For characters that have higher amounts of ki and can control it on a higher level, enough to emit it as ki blasts and such.

• Examples: Son Goku (Pilaf Saga - Red Ribbon Army Saga), Tao Pai Pai

Most of the abilities from the previous level, plus:

• Energy Projection: Materializes the body's internal energy outside the body, shooting it off as a ki blast
• Damage Boost: Can increase the power of attacks by focusing ki into a single point to do more damage
• Explosion Generation: Ki blasts generate explosions
• Minor Electricity Generation: Ki blasts can generate minor levels of electricity
• Heat Generation: Ki attacks generates heat
• Light Generation: Ki attacks can emit light
• Restricted Flight: Can propulse themselves to fly

For characters who are on the level of the 22nd and 23rd Tenkaichi Budokais. At this level, ki users can use a wider variety of ki attack types, such as Guided and Kiai Types, as well as manipulating ki through their bodies to manipulate their statistics.

Regarding Turtle School characters.

• Examples: Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, King Piccolo, Ma Junior

All abilities from the previous level, plus:

• Statistics Manipulation: At this level, ki users can amplify and suppress their ki through the bodies
• Aura: At this level, ki users can emit visible auras
• Minor Electricity Generation: Auras can produce electrical discharges
• Minor BFR: At this level, ki attacks can be used to BFR enemys
• Homing Attack & Limited Telekinesis: At this level, ki users can make homing ki blasts that pursues ki and ones that can be freely controlled
• Air Manipulation & Shockwave Generation: At this level, ki users can fire kiais
• Invisibility: Kiais are invisible to the naked eye
• Limited Attack Reflection: Kiais can be used to reflect attacks
• Explosion Manipulation: Kiais can directly make explosions
• Limited Attack Nullification: Kiais can be used to nullify attacks

For characters on similar levels of mastery and power to the Saiyan Saga and Namek Saga. At this level, ki users can use techniques that requires higher battle power and spiritual power, such as a wider variety of Blended Type techniques and others that requires higher ki consumption, such as barriers.

Regarding Freeza Force characters and Android characters.

• Examples: Vegeta, Freeza, Android 17, Cell

All abilities from the previous level, plus:

• Presence Concealment: At this level, ki users can mask their presences, make them harder to be detected by other ki sensors and blend themselves to the surrounding, even erase their ki completely to practically make them undetectable
• Limited Telepathy: At this level, ki users can do image trainings inside their minds
• Limited Attack Nullification: At this level, ki users can supress and nullify attacks
• Limited Air Manipulation & Limited Vibration Manipulation: At this level, auras affects the surrounding environment
• Social Influencing: At this level, auras can intimidate weaker opponents
• Limited Weather Manipulation: At this level, the weather can be changed by powering up auras
• Weapon Creation: At this level, ki users can create weapons with ki
• Forcefield Creation: At this level, ki users can create ki barriers
• Danmaku: At this level, ki users can release danmakus

Notes

Note

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