Summary
Ki is the central point of theDragon Ballpower system, with every notable fighter having the ability to manipulate it in one way or another. Fans of the series have seen many different kinds of Ki manipulation, but the most common one takes the form of Ki Blasts as a way to deal damage to an opponent through the sheer power of their energy output.
Goku Black was a character who used his Ki masterfully. Not only was he able tomimic Goku’s signature moves, but he was even able to come up with his own that proved to be incredibly deadly attacks that really put the heroes on the back foot. Chief of these attacks was his iconic Sickle of Sorrow or, as most fans call it, the Spirit Scythe. Let’s take a look at what this attack exactly was and why it was one of the strongest moves inDragon Ball.
The first form of the Spirit Scythe
First Appearance
Dragon Ball Super, Episode 56, “Rematch with Goku Black! Enter Super Saiyan Rose!”
Story Arc
Goku Black Arc
When Goku and Vegeta first came across Zamasu, they saw that he had a powerful attack known as the God Split Cut which he used to kill Gowasu. Once he took over the body of Goku and gained an incredible amount of power due to his Saiyan nature and God Ki, he evolved this attack and made it far deadlier than it had ever been before. It was dubbed the Violent Fierce God Slicer, and it was used while Goku Black was in hisSuper Saiyan Rose form.
I am justice. I am the world! You are a mere insect compared to my power.
By concentrating energy into his hand, he manipulates his Ki and forms a sharp blade of it that is capable of slicing through pretty much anything. It works exactly the same way as Vegito’s own Spirit Sword in terms of lethality, as it took Vegeta out of the fight instantly and had similar success against Goku and Trunks as well. As Goku Black gets stronger, so do his techniques, as the attack’s second usage was even larger and could fire blasts of Ki.
The strongest variant of the God Slicer
Dragon Ball Super, Episode 64, “Worship Me! Give Praise Unto Me! The Explosive Birth of a Merged Zamasu!”
As the fight against the Saiyans raged on, Goku Black and Zamasu eventually found themselves getting overpowered due to thesubstantial boost in strengththe heroes were able to get in a short amount of time. However, due to this, Goku Black was able to understand how the Saiyans and their bodies worked and how they used rage to power themselves up even more. Though he had overlooked how it could have benefitted him due to how crude it was, he later understood that he needed to use his anger as a weapon to make full use of Goku’s body.
By realizing this anger, Goku Black manifested the God Slicer with his right hand. However, instead of using it on Vegeta, who he was fighting at the time, he turned the blade on himself, stabbing his left hand with the sword while finally realizing his rage. This formed the God Slicer into a long and far more powerful scythe that had incredible feats and abilities.
I shall use my anger. Anger toward the mortals who defiled the universe. Anger toward the other gods who have tolerated such behavior. But most importantly, the white-hot rage I now feel toward myself for letting you get the upper hand on me during our battle!
The power of the Spirit Scythe:
This variant of the God Slicer is, by far, the most powerful of them all, mainly because of its powerful ability of dimensional slashes. Despite its relatively slow speed, the scythe is able to create rifts in the fabric of space, seemingly leading to an entirely different dimension. The strength of this dimension is a complete mystery,even to Goku Black himself, who states that even he doesn’t know what power it holds.
With the Scythe, Black can create crescent-shaped blasts of Ki that are incredibly powerful. Moreover, once this mysterious dimension is created by the slashes of the Spirit Scythe, it exudes a lot of energy which can form various clones of Goku Black, each of whom is seemingly close to his own strength. What makes them even more deadly is that when they’re attacked, they just dissipate into the gas from the dimension, meaning they can’t be harmed in the traditional sense.
However, they’re fully solid when they have to attack someone else, so each timethey punch Goku or Vegeta, the Saiyans actually feel each blow! Even when the heroes successfully took out each of the clones that surrounded them with their Ki blasts, the mysterious dimension would simply let out more energy to replace the lost clones.
Though there hasn’t been any concrete evidence behind it, Goku Black stated that his anger is essentially limitless, and seeing how Saiyan bodies get much of their power from the rage and emotions they feel, his power is essentially limitless too! This makes the Spirit Scythe one of the most deadly moves in the entireDragon Ballfranchise.
