Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

About this, as I've heard on other forums and such, I want to know if they're actually able to travel at lightspeed. Other than that, I've seen how they fight, I'm talking DBZ here, and their reflexes or how fast they fight could be considered lightspeed, but there's no real proof to tell us this. So, dicsuss.

Short answer. No they can't travel at light speed. Unless you count IT but only a handful of people can teleport.

Originally posted by Kento
Short answer. No they can't travel at light speed. Unless you count IT but only a handful of people can teleport.

So far, that's about it. I've been hearing claims that they can without solid proof, other than using Piccolo's statement that Raditz is faster than the speed of light, which is a dub error.

Tthe biggest feat and really only huge speed feat is of Gotenks going around the earth that only is shown half a dozen times in the span of twenty-something minutes but him bragging it being a couple dozen. Then takes a minute to get from where he was to Buu's house.

Originally posted by Kento
Tthe biggest feat and really only huge speed feat is of Gotenks going around the earth that only is shown half a dozen times in the span of twenty-something minutes but him bragging it being a couple dozen. Then takes a minute to get from where he was to Buu's house.

About that, wouldn't going around the world that fast also wast most of his energy, and also lessen how long the fusion would last?

Don't think so. Only ssj3 makes the fusion last shorter because of the strain I guess it is.

Goku did fly from one side of the planet namek to the other in an unspecified period of time since he diisaperas in one frame is shown flying in the netx then hes landed where frieza is about to finnish of vegeta..id say it took him about 1.2 seconds or something...

..plus the gotenks feat is ****ed up in the aniem u see gotensk go round the world 7-8 times in a few seconds, then he flys of to buus house an dpiccolo says hes only got a few minutes left =/..

...Gokus instant translocation too, stated to be lightspeed but goku has traversed distances that wud take years even traveling at lightspeed, in seconds...

..s for combat speed, i cant imagine anyone beating DBZers not even speedsters liek flash...

Originally posted by BradBalboa
..s for combat speed, i cant imagine anyone beating DBZers not even speedsters liek flash... No.

Just no dude.

Originally posted by BradBalboa
Goku did fly from one side of the planet namek to the other in an unspecified period of time since he diisaperas in one frame is shown flying in the netx then hes landed where frieza is about to finnish of vegeta..id say it took him about 1.2 seconds or something...

..plus the gotenks feat is ****ed up in the aniem u see gotensk go round the world 7-8 times in a few seconds, then he flys of to buus house an dpiccolo says hes only got a few minutes left =/..

...Gokus instant translocation too, stated to be lightspeed but goku has traversed distances that wud take years even traveling at lightspeed, in seconds...

..s for combat speed, i cant imagine anyone beating DBZers not even speedsters liek flash...

lol.

Originally posted by Darth Raizen
other than using Piccolo's statement that Raditz is faster than the speed of light, which is a dub error.

Are you sure about that, I remember specifically reading that within the official DBZ Japanese Manga as well.

I already explained this to you. No distance or time was ever specified, in fact he said "it's not that far" before he left. Stop making up numbers.



Yet you can see the earth visibly rotating in the anime in that scene, scaling it it means it took around 5 - 6 hours. Of course this is impossible as the fusion doesn't last that long. That's one of the reasons why the manga should be used instead - the anime is full of inconsistencies like that.



Only stated to be lightspeed in the American dub. It's actually instant teleportation, like the name says. Not actual speed, though.



Then you must have a very poor imagination.



Well you didn't.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2176/raditzlightspeedclaimdeea1.jpg

Originally posted by JustFrame
Are you sure about that, I remember specifically reading that within the official DBZ Japanese Manga as well.

And I specifically saw something otherwise in the Translated English Manga as well.

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8408/chap204i05tt8.jpg

Oh, and btw, it seems that Mangafox is updating Dragon Ball from the start by going with the redone version.

Goku does it!

Goku was going light speed after the raditz fight. I'm going to say it like this, goku was training pan as a child (think she was 4) and he asked her to fly around the earth which she did but she did it at 2 minutes and goku said that that was too slow, so he basically wanted her to go around the earth in some seconds.

If two minutes is to slow for goku and it took pan at the age of 4 to fly around the earth in two minutes, how fast do you think a more powerful pan that was fighting after the z saga could have went around the planet, I'll like to say seconds, hell maybe milliseconds.

As for the combat speed feat, I agree, there is basically no comic book character that can perform combat speed like goku. When it come to combat speed, dragonball characters is the best. Hell goku during the regular dragonball series was doing things with his speed that I have yet to witness characters in dc OR marvel perform.

GT also isn't canon.

Originally posted by NonSensi-Klown
GT also isn't canon.

I know gt isnt cannon but everything that I said was in dbz during the time goku met buu reincarnated.

Carver...how does anything to do with Pan = Gokou being ftl during Saiyan Saga? And if Goten and Trunks are any indication Pan could probably beat anybody from the Freeza saga since she's actually had traning while Goten and Trunks were powerful without ever any real training.

And where does it say how long it took or Gokou saying it was to slow? She appears said she flew around the world, and Gokou rubs her head saying that was quick. In the VIZ translation is never states how long it took nor does Gokou say it was slow. Just that she flew around the world and Gokou comments her on how fast it was.

Originally posted by Kento
Carver...how does anything to do with Pan = Gokou being ftl during Saiyan Saga? And if Goten and Trunks are any indication Pan could probably beat anybody from the Freeza saga since she's actually had traning while Goten and Trunks were powerful without ever any real training.

And where does it say how long it took or Gokou saying it was to slow? She appears said she flew around the world, and Gokou rubs her head saying that was quick. In the VIZ translation is never states how long it took nor does Gokou say it was slow. Just that she flew around the world and Gokou comments her on how fast it was.

Goku said two minutes and he said that it was too slow and gotenks and trunks was born as super sayains so of course they have the ability to go around the planet far less then 2 minutes.

Goten never went ssj until he was seven. He wasn't born ssj. Same with Trunks though we don't know the first time he did it unlike Goten.

And where did Gokou say the time? Or that it was slow? When Pan lands he pats her head saying it was fast but no time was stated.

There is also the fact Pan isn't = Gotenks which she'd have to be to go around the planet in two minutes. If you believe Gotenks bragging at that instead of what was actually shown.

Originally posted by Kento
Tthe biggest feat and really only huge speed feat is of Gotenks going around the earth that only is shown half a dozen times in the span of twenty-something minutes but him bragging it being a couple dozen. Then takes a minute to get from where he was to Buu's house.
Actually what happen was that after speeding up he lapped the world seven times in one panel (way outside the atmosphere, meaning he had to hold his breathe while doing this and the orbits were greater).
Piccolo later caught up to him 29 minutes after the fusion and by then Gotenks have lapped the world numerous times and taken a nap.

I would say that the most powerful fighters travel in relativistic velocities (close to light), about 99% or so. The instant transmission is instantaneous, it's basically moving from one time in space to another without having to pass through the 3rd dimension.

No. They can't travel or fight at ftl speeds (unless it's IT).

Originally posted by Kento
Goten never went ssj until he was seven. He wasn't born ssj. Same with Trunks though we don't know the first time he did it unlike Goten.

And where did Gokou say the time? Or that it was slow? When Pan lands he pats her head saying it was fast but no time was stated.

There is also the fact Pan isn't = Gotenks which she'd have to be to go around the planet in two minutes. If you believe Gotenks bragging at that instead of what was actually shown.

Who said that pan was equal to gotenks, gotenks>>>>pan during the time that she flew around the planet at the age of four and since dragonball characters speed is based off of there powerlevel then gotenks should be able to do what pan did instantly and again, two minutes was quoted, stop hating on a character that you dont even understand or know anything about (I can still remember when you said that dragonball z power levels dont give a increase to there speed, strength, and durability. my momma even know that and she dont even look at dragonball.)

Originally posted by dvampire
No. They can't travel or fight at ftl speeds (unless it's IT).

I know they dont travel light speed they travel above it and easily.

Dbzers fly by using KI, the more KI they use the faster they fly and the more exhausted they get. Which is why they try to conserve it. Its debatable how fast they go since its not comics and they dont put narrator bubbles all the time to quantify whats happening. Its made even harder when Toriyama was obviously high when he wrote since he filled it with so many loopholes. A lot of characters though have IT or another form of it so that lets them operate at way higher levels than the usual ftl.

IT is a teleport.

Anyone who says DBZ characters are FTL, prove it with a quantifiable manga scan or stfu.

Originally posted by Dark-Jaxx
IT is a teleport.

Anyone who says DBZ characters are FTL, prove it with a quantifiable manga scan or stfu.


I know its a teleport, but it can function in all the same ways so it doesn't really matter.

No it can't.

It does not improve reaction time, strike speed, and is not all that effective in combat.

Notice how it has only been used sparingly in battle.

They don't need any improvements in reaction time and yes it can improve strike speed. You don't need to use IT much when you aren't fighting someone faster than you. Like I already said they use it all the time without putting fingers to the head, when that happens in a fight you can't tell if they are using IT or just going faster. When Goku fought Cooler, someone who knew IT as well and was using it to outspeed Goku, Goku used IT constantly in the fight and so did Cooler.

Originally posted by carver9
Who said that pan was equal to gotenks, gotenks>>>>pan during the time that she flew around the planet at the age of four and since dragonball characters speed is based off of there powerlevel then gotenks should be able to do what pan did instantly and again, two minutes was quoted, stop hating on a character that you dont even understand or know anything about (I can still remember when you said that dragonball z power levels dont give a increase to there speed, strength, and durability. my momma even know that and she dont even look at dragonball.) Except for her to fly around the world in two minutes she'd have to be equal to Gotenks. And that's only if you believe his bragging and what wasn't shown. He'd have taken almost a minute to fly around the planet once.

Prove it said two minutes. Seeing as how I have the manga in front of me. First panel shows her far away, second panel shows her land, Pan then says I just flew around the world in the third panel. Fourth panel has Gokou saying great that was pretty quick. Then the next two panels are talking about Pan entering the tournament. And it's only the bottom half of the page. She's not in the top half or any page before it, and the next page is Vegeta telling Trunks to enter the tournament, then the island being shown.

And I believe my words were. How much of a boost they get is unknown. But if I did mind quoting it? But then again you really have no right saying I know nothing about DBZ when I've proven you wrong about Cell having a power level, and being organic, and 17 and 18 never running out of energy.

Originally posted by Kento
I've proven you wrong about Cell having a power level, and being organic


Wha?

...Cell has a power level...Hence why 16 was able to sense it...Wtf.

Although powerlevel does not directly correlate to strength, speed, and durability.

Yeah thats why I was asking what was he talking about. but power level correlates directly they use it to amp or DEamp themselves in all 3 of those areas. but thats not all there is too it since the different races have different base strengths,etc.

Any one who says they can move at light speed or any where close is talking shite. The one and only speed feat of the entire show that you could maybe use to roughly estimate there speed is useless considering we have no accurate time frame and no idea what diameter dbz Earth is as it's certainly not the same as real life. There are lots of instances which prove they can not travel any where close to light speed yet none showing they can. Why some people think they can move so fast is probably because of lazy animation and stupid dub errors.

Originally posted by TheBadguy
Wha? Carver tried to say that Cell didn't have a power level and that's why he was able to hide from them in his 1st form.

There is absolutely zero proof that any character in Dragonball (Z, if you insist) is anywhere near lightspeed. The highest quantifiable speed feat is Gotenks' and even at the most generous estimates, it was far, far, far, far below c.

There is no way to prove how fast their are going because most of it is unquantifiable and they don't use narration bubbles to explain like our comics do. The best case I've seen is since we've seen their blasts go ftl and they routinely dodge blasts that some of them are ftl.

I believe they can if they all learn IT, which seems to be pretty easy to do. I don't know if it's the move or is it them tho. So by goin off thier own power, I think no.

Broly destroying a galaxy in mere seconds.

Yes, some can probably travel at lightspeeds or faster.

Originally posted by occultdestroyer
Broly destroying a galaxy in mere seconds.

Yes, some can probably travel at lightspeeds or faster. The Broly movie is noncanon.

Originally posted by Astner
Actually what happen was that after speeding up he lapped the world seven times in one panel (way outside the atmosphere, meaning he had to hold his breathe while doing this and the orbits were greater).
Piccolo later caught up to him 29 minutes after the fusion and by then Gotenks have lapped the world numerous times and taken a nap.

I would say that the most powerful fighters travel in relativistic velocities (close to light), about 99% or so. The instant transmission is instantaneous, it's basically moving from one time in space to another without having to pass through the 3rd dimension.

Except that they still take minutes to fly to another point on earth...

Even Gotenks took almost a minute to fly to Buu's house after Picollo caught up to him.



When Goku fought Cell in the Cell Games, Cell was faster than him and IT didn't help him much.



Not even canon



I disagree. There's no reason to assume it's different, especially when the gravity and composition is pretty much the same as our earth.



Some of the blasts might be relativistic at best, but not FTL. After all, in the really long ones no timeframe was given, and normal humans can track them often.

Originally posted by TheBadguy
There is no way to prove how fast their are going because most of it is unquantifiable and they don't use narration bubbles to explain like our comics do. The best case I've seen is since we've seen their blasts go ftl and they routinely dodge blasts that some of them are ftl.

By that logic, Mr. Satan has superluminal reaction speeds.

Ki blasts do not go faster than light.

Goku>>>>>light speed.

Originally posted by Soljer
By that logic, Mr. Satan has superluminal reaction speeds.

Ki blasts do not go faster than light.

It's possible that they do, in some caes. The whole moon destruction thing. Depends on your interpretation.



I think the DB universe is so inconsistant with real world physics that it can't be compared very well to anything but itself. Alas, tons of internet nerds have tried using physics for show, though.

Originally posted by carver9
Goku>>>>>light speed. Then provide a quantifiable speed feat to prove it. And please do the math as well.

Originally posted by carver9
Goku>>>>>light speed.

No he isn't

Cosidering That Special beam canon reached the moon. Rather quickly before the rediclous transformation and trainning buffs. I would have to say that they are in the vacinity of Lightspeed to a degree. But not actually lightspeed or faster than it.

Piccolo one shots the moon in one panel, we see the beam reach the moon instantly.
http://s4.tinypic.com/34htixh.jpg
same with the anime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-tiKJOQN7c


Originally posted by Endless Mike
Except that they still take minutes to fly to another point on earth...

Even Gotenks took almost a minute to fly to Buu's house after Picollo caught up to him.



When Goku fought Cell in the Cell Games, Cell was faster than him and IT didn't help him much.



Its taken Surfer time to get to places he could reach almost instantly, that doesn't mean he's not that fast. Everyone is not going balls to the wall out when they fly all the time. Dbzers especially rely on ki to fly, the faster they go the more energy they lose and more tired they get, they fly casually most of the time.

At best Cell was slightly faster than Goku, IT helped plenty when he bothered to use it, and when they trade blows its impossible to tell if Goku is using IT or if he's just going faster.

No they're not.

Originally posted by TheBadguy
Piccolo one shots the moon in one panel, we see the beam reach the moon instantly.
*snip*

Anime is not canon, and there was no timeframe provided for the manga. Even if you accept it was a second or so, it's an outlier, as most ki blasts don't travel anywhere near that fast.



Because he has consistent feats showing he is that fast.



Gotenks wasn't thinking about that at all, he was completely hotheaded and overconfident. (As shown by the fact that he didn't even think of the fusion expiring when he went to fight Buu).



Sorry, IT is only good for teleportation, it doesn't work if your opponent can react faster than you can and attack you before you can use it, or is in a completely different location by the time you manage to use it. It was only used in the fight to escape Cell's ki blast, and then to trick Cell by using a Kamehameha after it was already charged up (which only happened because Cell was stupid enough to let him charge it up in the first place).

Originally posted by Csdabest
Cosidering That Special beam canon reached the moon. Rather quickly before the rediclous transformation and trainning buffs. I would have to say that they are in the vacinity of Lightspeed to a degree. But not actually lightspeed or faster than it. [/QUOTE


That was during the beginning of dbz when raditz dodged that light speed attack. Goku during the vegeta saga>>>>>>>>>raditz with speed.

Goku should be able to dodge that attack with ease during the saiyan saga. Light speed aint shit to dbz. How many time have we seen dragonball z character outrace a beam and if we was to use the anime, hell goku turned to light during his fight with cell. Yep he actually turned into light due to him moving so fast.

Originally posted by Endless Mike
Anime is not canon, and there was no timeframe provided for the manga. Even if you accept it was a second or so, it's an outlier, as most ki blasts don't travel anywhere near that fast.



Because he has consistent feats showing he is that fast.



Gotenks wasn't thinking about that at all, he was completely hotheaded and overconfident. (As shown by the fact that he didn't even think of the fusion expiring when he went to fight Buu).



Sorry, IT is only good for teleportation, it doesn't work if your opponent can react faster than you can and attack you before you can use it, or is in a completely different location by the time you manage to use it. It was only used in the fight to escape Cell's ki blast, and then to trick Cell by using a Kamehameha after it was already charged up (which only happened because Cell was stupid enough to let him charge it up in the first place).

We are just going to disagree, there is almost never any specific timeframe given for anything in the manga. If thats the case there would be no point in arguing any of this period. I didn't say every blast was going that fast, but we've seen their charged beams move like that repeatedly.

IT is good for fighting or teleportation, he can use it instantly without fingers. Like I said you can't tell when Goku is using it or not in a fight because the only way to tell he's using IT when not going far is if he puts his fingers on his head which he has shown he does not have to do.

Originally posted by TheBadguy
We are just going to disagree, there is almost never any specific timeframe given for anything in the manga. That is the point, how can you say they move at lightspeed when you have no way to prove it?

I dont know. That manga shot of Piccolo Shooting the moon with this SBCannon should have done it. SHot and fired all in one panel. One panel should only be like a few seconds.

Originally posted by Csdabest
I dont know. That manga shot of Piccolo Shooting the moon with this SBCannon should have done it. SHot and fired all in one panel. One panel should only be like a few seconds. It was a normal ki blast. And besides the two times the moon was destroyed they never move that fast.

Originally posted by Magee
That is the point, how can you say they move at lightspeed when you have no way to prove it?


I said some of their blasts do and some of them can at least in bursts. but Its hard to prove anything with the manga period, it rarely fleshes things out 100% and rarely uses narration bubbles. Most all of it is up for interpretation. Did you look at the scan. The blast hits the moon instantly in one panel. When it was animated the same thing occurred. .

so iz that lik a flashstep or something...i dnt c y they hav to hold their breath's

Originally posted by carver9
Originally posted by Csdabest
Cosidering That Special beam canon reached the moon. Rather quickly before the rediclous transformation and trainning buffs. I would have to say that they are in the vacinity of Lightspeed to a degree. But not actually lightspeed or faster than it.

That was an error that was only in the American dub. The manga just had Picollo being surprised how fast he was.



Yeah - ki beams, which are different than light beams.



Um, no?

Where was that ever stated? Or are you basing it on a special effect?



I have dozens of scans of normal humans reacting and perceiving ki blasts.



So you just assume he's using it, despite the fact that they've been doing that flashy disappearing and afterimage stuff since early Dragonball, and IT is specifically noted by the characters themselves to be different?



And that was the only time it ever moved that fast in the entire manga, there are many feats showing blasts moving much slower. Outlier.

ya im basing it off a special effect

Even so. They probably are near lightspeed. It didnt take forever for that ki beam to get to the moon. It got to it extremely quick.

Except there was a long conversation before anyone noticed the moon was gone. The Picollo feat had no timeframe, but even if it was that quick, like I said, it was an outlier.

IT's hard to tell since dbz/gt is full of plot holes.Such as cell puching mr satan and having mr satan live and master roshi stating that he could pick up a mountain but having ssj4 goku who is around 500 billion times stronger can't even lift a building.plot holes a filler to keep fans entertained with it's comedy aside from the action and scales of power set by the main story line makign it hard to compare dbz charecters to marvel charecters without elaborate reshearch.

What are you even talking about?

That kinda explained why it's hard to tell how dbz ppl are going when they fly. And how hard they punch. SSj4 goku couldn't lift a building When in dragonball master Roshi talked about how he coul lift mountians while he is about 500 billion times weaker than ssj4 goku.

It's been a long, long time since I've been the vanguard of these types of threads on KMC, but for old time's sake, DBZ characters cannot move at light-speed. The Anime should not be used, and these types of debates should be avoided as the manga is inconsistent with itself that deciphering a clear answer is all but impossible.

I don't remember Roshi ever saying he could lift a mountain. He destroyed a mountain with his Kamehameha, though.

Huh. Very interesting topic. I once posted a theory I developed on another forum. Here it is.

"Here's something else I'm sure most of you know.

Objects moving at extreme speed and/or with extremely high amounts of energy (related, since high speeds require high energy) warp time around them, in fact, the slow it.

o_O

I think you know where I'm going with this.

This may also help explain why fights in DBZ appear to occur at the same rate (or why the spectators can make ANYTHING out during the Cell games, while they had an equal amount of trouble during the DB tournaments), while outside the the time warp, time is slowed for the fighters, (While it may seem fast, speaking volumes for their sheer velocity), inside the time-warp, time moves at what seems normal, and the weaker being is overcome by the time/space shift that they can't keep up with the opponent.

Basically, what I'm saying is, with the stupendous amount of energy Gotenks was putting out, with the resulting almost complete halt of time (and the trail of energy he was leaving would slow time behind him), to appear to be moving that fast, he would have been moving FAR beyond the speed of light (which, according to the results of an experiment performed by 2 german scientists, is not as impossible as one would think).

And this is not limited to Gotenks, in reality, the energy attacks should be traveling as fast as light particles, so, at least in terms of reflexes, that dub line about Raditz may not have been so ridiculous (especially since the energy from the Makankosappo should have slowed Raditz, but he was already around that level, which may have been what surprised Piccolo...

So discuss, and tell me what you think."

Instant Transmission is light speed, which can appear instant depending on your point of view (according to the Theory of Relativity).
And raditz wouldn't need to be faster than the speed of light to avoid Piccolo's attack- just fast enough to move his head out of the way before the beam reached him. Even if the beam was travelling at the speed of light, unless it's at point blank range Raditz isn't necessarily faster than light.

IT is a lot faster than Light Speed.

Originally posted by Dark-Jaxx
The Broly movie is noncanon.

shows canon ability.

Why isn't GT canon? I mean, Toriyama produced the series even if he didn't write it himself.

Originally posted by jimBOFH
Why isn't GT canon? I mean, Toriyama produced the series even if he didn't write it himself.


cause its shit. and thats a good enough reason for me.

Well...fair enough.
Also, IT couldn't be faster than Light Speed. Otherwise, Goku would be able to travel back in time using it- or at least it would seem that way from one point of view. Things get weird at faster-than-light speeds, unless you actually travel through a different medium (e.g. hyperspace)

Your trying to use science on a anime that has talking animals that can shapeshift, is in a different universe Akira created himself not even based on our Earth or universe, has ships that travel faster than light, has dinosaurs, and flying cars? Besides IT is instant. It's a lot faster than light when it can instantly go from Earth to Namek.

Originally posted by jimBOFH
Well...fair enough.
Also, IT couldn't be faster than Light Speed. Otherwise, Goku would be able to travel back in time using it- or at least it would seem that way from one point of view. Things get weird at faster-than-light speeds, unless you actually travel through a different medium (e.g. hyperspace)

Thats comics for you. but now that you mention hyperspace, IT was going through something like that in the Cooler movie.

Since when do the spaceships in DBZ travel faster than light? And if you were travelling at light speed you would not perceive the passage of time- it would be instant. And although all fictional texts demand the willing suspension of disbelief, if you try to explain everything through "magic" or "advanced technology" without introducing it in advance or properly establishing it, and it seems illogical, then it's not going to work. So yes, i'm applying science to those areas of DBZ where it should be applicable based on the world Toriyama has created.

Originally posted by jimBOFH
Since when do the spaceships in DBZ travel faster than light? And if you were travelling at light speed you would not perceive the passage of time- it would be instant. And although all fictional texts demand the willing suspension of disbelief, if you try to explain everything through "magic" or "advanced technology" without introducing it in advance or properly establishing it, and it seems illogical, then it's not going to work. So yes, i'm applying science to those areas of DBZ where it should be applicable based on the world Toriyama has created.


IT is faster than light, its taken Goku to new namek instantly, when it takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach earth.

Yes, but instant from whose point of view? Either it's instant from Goku's point of view but only light speed in terms of how long the Z fighters on earth spend waiting for him, or, he would appear to arrive on Namek before he left earth.

Instant from everyones. New Namek is in a whole other part of the galaxy. It would have took plenty of time even at light speed.

If it's instant from everyone's, either he's not actually moving through space, or that's a contradiction.

Originally posted by jimBOFH
Since when do the spaceships in DBZ travel faster than light? And if you were travelling at light speed you would not perceive the passage of time- it would be instant. And although all fictional texts demand the willing suspension of disbelief, if you try to explain everything through "magic" or "advanced technology" without introducing it in advance or properly establishing it, and it seems illogical, then it's not going to work. So yes, i'm applying science to those areas of DBZ where it should be applicable based on the world Toriyama has created. Since the Saiyan Saga. They got to earth in a year from a completely different solar system.

Then in the Freeza saga the namekian ship got the Jupiter nearly instantly and was able to make the journey to Namek in three months. And Dr. Briefs upgraded a saiyan space pod to just make it there in a week.

http://www.mangafox.com/page/manga/read/214/dragon_ball/chapter.16014/page.6/

And this is how long Bulma said it would take to get to Namek with a human spacecraft.

I stand corrected. Incidentally, does it give an exact figure for how long it takes Frieza to reach Earth from Jupiter? If it's less than 35 minutes, he's travelling faster than the speed of light.

Originally posted by jimBOFH
I stand corrected. Incidentally, does it give an exact figure for how long it takes Frieza to reach Earth from Jupiter? If it's less than 35 minutes, he's travelling faster than the speed of light. It wasn't Freeza. It was the Namekian ship that Bulma, Gohan, and Krillen take to namek.

http://www.mangafox.com/page/manga/read/214/dragon_ball/chapter.16015/page.13/

http://www.mangafox.com/page/manga/read/214/dragon_ball/chapter.16015/page.14/

But there it is. Going to Jupiter. Doesn't really say how long it took but it's fast enough to suprise Bulma and it doesn't look like it took more than a minute or two. And fast enough to cut the time to get to Namek down to 3 months compared to the 4000 years.

So by Bulma's calculations the Saiyan ship is 16000 times faster than the fastest known earth rocket. If you take the Apollo 10 speed (fastest manned craft) that makes 11 km/s x 16000 =176000 km/s, which is a little more than half the speed of light.
However, the upgraded Saiyan pod that Goku flies makes the same trip in a week, 12 times faster....i.e. over 6 times the speed of light.

Originally posted by Endless Mike



Some of the blasts might be relativistic at best, but not FTL. After all, in the really long ones no timeframe was given, and normal humans can track them often.

No early on Piccolo takes no time at all to blow up the moon which already put's a low level ki blast at relativistic levels. Coolers revenge doesn't conflict with the manga and Cooler gets to the sun in less than a minute with Goku's Kamehameha.

It's not an outlier because later on Goku reacts to Cell's kamehameha and it leaves the earths atmosphere before he can even IT back to earth. They just slow them down for effect.

I don't recall any time when normal humans react to ki blasts.

They clearly have ftl reactions at the end of the series.

Originally posted by Kento
Short answer. No they can't travel at light speed. Unless you count IT but only a handful of people can teleport.

IT is also limited, in the sense that it requires ki signals

It is said that instant transmission is a technique that allows you to move at the speed of light, but from what I have seen it should be vastly faster than light speed to allow goku to travel to namek and the new planet vegeta in the time he does. These planets he can get to with instant transmission must be between billions and trillions of light years away so light speed would never be anywhere near enough.