Highlights
- Piccolo’s character arc is one of the greatest in Dragon Ball, transforming from a Demon King to a powerful protector of Earth.
- His iconic moves like Explosive Demon Wave and Light Grenade showcase his intelligence and strength in battle.
- Special Beam Canon is Piccolo’s most powerful move, with a high success rate in defeating powerful foes.
Save perhaps for Vegeta, no other character in the entire Dragon Ball franchise has had as great of a character arc as the Namekian Z-Fighter; Piccolo. Starting his career as the infamous Demon King, Piccolo has since become one of the smartest and most valuable protectors of the Earth, saving his new home and friends on multiple occasions owing to how powerful he has become over the years.
Just as he has evolved, so too has his arsenal. Piccolo holds some of the most iconic and powerful moves in the entire series within his repertoire, whose sheer strength can only be attributed to someone as intelligent and disciplined as him. His incredible power has earned him many titles over the course of Dragon Ball, one of which is ‘The Strongest Namekian’, so let’s go over his most powerful attacks in the series!
Explosive Demon Wave
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First Appearance |
Dragon Ball, Episode 121, “The Biggest Crisis” |
|---|---|
|
Debut Date |
August 3, 1988 |
|
Story Arc |
King Piccolo Saga |
Though this move was originally created and used back when he was the evil Demon King Piccolo, the Explosive Demon Wave is still a central part of Piccolo’s move set. By holding out one arm with an open palm, Piccolo uses his other arm to support it at the wrist, charging up an incredibly powerful wave of Ki that was the Namekian’s most powerful attack for much of the run of the original Dragon Ball series.
My strength now makes my strength 3 years ago look like nothing!
Strength of the attack
When first shown in Dragon Ball, Piccolo’s Explosive Demon Wave was powerful enough to destroy all of Central City and would have obliterated Goku as well if Tien didn’t save him from the impact. Though the second usage of this attack was far weaker, it still injured Goku and formed a rather large crater. In Dragon Ball Z, Piccolo used this attack fairly often, and it was shown to be potent enough to destroy the moon.
Light Grenade
|
First Appearance |
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 150, “Up to Piccolo” |
|---|---|
|
Debut Date |
July 29, 1992 |
|
Story Arc |
Imperfect Cell Saga |
The Light Grenade is an extremely powerful blast of concentrated Ki that Piccolo uses to cause an incredible amount of damage. He first brings his hands together in front of his chest and begins to charge up his energy, upon which the energy flows to his palms, creating a sphere of energy that Piccolo fires ahead of himself by pushing his hands outward, dealing an incredible amount of damage. This attack also forms lightning around Piccolo’s hands, going to show just how powerful this move is and the Ki control needed to perform it.
Steady as she goes… This one’s for Gohan and Goku!
Strength of the attack
Though the power of the Light Grenade is certainly formidable, its signature use against Imperfect Cell merely served to show how powerful Android was. This attack was able to send Cell flying into the ocean upon connecting, and far later on in the Moro Saga, Piccolo was seen to charge up a ‘Self Destruction’ variant of this attack, which was seemingly far more powerful, but was knocked out before he could use it.
Masenko
|
First Appearance |
Dragon Ball, Episode 124, “Temple Above The Clouds” |
|---|---|
|
Debut Date |
August 24, 1988 |
|
Story Arc |
Piccolo Jr. Saga |
While many attribute this attack to Gohan due to his frequent use of it during the run of Dragon Ball Z, the Masenko was actually a creation of Piccolo himself. First used in the Piccolo Jr. Saga of Dragon Ball, this powerful move requires the user to place both hands on their head with their palms facing outward and overlapping one another. After saying the name of the attack, a yellow or white blast of Ki is fired out from their hands.
That was a pretty incredible move, for a little kid!
Strength of the attack
Though the Masenko was initially used by Piccolo in the original Dragon Ball series, its true strength was first hinted at when Gohan used it against Nappa in a fit of rage, making his power level spike up significantly. This attack also proved to be quite formidable when Gohan went up against the Ginyu force in the Namek Saga. Piccolo’s mastery over it was seen later on when he used it without performing the hand positioning in his fight against Frieza, at the end of which Gohan used it to save his master, dealing substantial damage to Frieza in the process.
Hellzone Grenade
|
First Appearance |
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 148, “The Monster is Coming” |
|---|---|
|
Debut Date |
July 15, 1992 |
|
Story Arc |
Imperfect Cell Saga |
The Hellzone Grenade is an offshoot of the Scatter Shot attack used by many characters throughout the series, but it is one of the most powerful variants of this move. Instead of sending a blitz of Ki blasts all at once, Piccolo fires off many balls of Ki that surround the opponent while suspended in the air. Then, after an arm motion by the Namekian, all the balls of Ki home in on the opponent to dish out an incredible amount of damage. As the move is about to connect, the spheres begin to rotate at very fast speeds and turn from yellow to purple, signalling that they’re about to attack Piccolo’s opponent.
Nowhere for you to run! This is the end!
Strength of the attack
This is an incredibly dangerous move that is among the series’ most deadly. The energy spheres coming in from every direction trap the enemy in the middle, making it so that there is virtually no means of escape from the vicious onslaught of attacks. Piccolo used this first on Android 17 but the villain used an Android Barrier to protect himself from the blast. However, Piccolo used the move a couple of times in the Tournament of Power to moderate success, allowing him to knock out some people from the arena.
Special Beam Canon
|
First Appearance |
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 4, “Piccolo’s Plan” |
|---|---|
|
Debut Date |
May 17, 1989 |
|
Story Arc |
Saiyan Saga |
Not only is this the most powerful move in Piccolo’s entire arsenal, but the Special Beam Canon ranks among the most powerful moves in the entirety of Dragon Ball! However, it requires a lot of charge-up time to be used at full effectiveness, which is shown when the user places 2 fingers on their forehead and begins to gather their energy. When fully charged, however, the piercing power of the Special Beam Canon is second to none!
I was hoping to save it for a special occasion, it’s the attack I planned to use to defeat you!
Strength of the attack
The Special Beam Canon is an attack with one of the highest win-rates in the entire franchise, as it has been shown to be successful almost every single time it has been used. The only downside is the amount of time it takes to charge up, but it makes sense when seeing how powerful the move truly is, as it defeated many powerful opponents. In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, this move was seen to be the strongest tool in the arsenal of Beast Gohan as well, who used it to destroy Cell Max. The Special Beam Canon remains the most powerful move in Piccolo’s entire arsenal!
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