Directory: Techniques → Offensive Techniques → Energy waves
10x Kamehameha (10倍かめはめ波 Jūbai Kamehameha, literally translated as Tenfold Turtle Destruction Wave) is an energy wave technique in the Dragon Ball franchise. It made its debut in "The Tuffle Gorilla Attacks!", the 36th episode of Dragon Ball GT, which premiered on February 12, 1997. The technique, which Goku uses in his Super Saiyan 4 transformation, is a more powerful version of the Super Kamehameha.
Overview
Goku's first use of the 10x Kamehameha against Great Ape Baby (Note that the attack emits a bluish hue in its debut)
The 10x Kamehameha was first developed by Goku while battling a Baby-possessed Vegeta. Despite being at Super Saiyan 4, Goku began to struggle after Super Baby Vegeta transformed into a Golden Great Ape. Midway into their fight, Goku rose into the air, united two energy spheres in his hands and unleashed the 10x Kamehameha for the first time. Despite its massive power, the attack inflicted little damage to Baby. However, shortly after, the delayed effect of the technique kicked in and the Tuffle parasite was paralyzed temporarily, sending him plummeting to the ground (this side-effect is completely absent from video game incarnations of the technique, which fundamentally make the 10x Kamehameha no different from a normal energy wave). Later during the fight, Great Ape Baby launched a Revenge Death Ball Final at Goku, who retaliated by absorbing its massive power and returning it in the form of a powerful 10x Kamehameha, severely damaging Baby. Goku later used the 10x Kamehameha to blast Baby's spaceship hurdling into the Sun during his attempt to escape, killing the Tuffle parasite.
The 10x Kamehameha, with a reddish glow, was next used by Goku against Super 17, who responded by merely absorbing the energy. In the Shadow Dragon Saga, Goku used the 10x Kamehameha against the evil Shadow Dragons while searching for the Dragon Balls with his granddaughter Pan. Later during his battle with Syn Shenron, Goku, again in his Super Saiyan 4 transformation, launched a 10x Kamehameha head-on, which evidently had no effect on the Shadow Dragon. In the ensuing battle with Omega Shenron, Goku retaliated with a combination of the 10x Kamehameha and Dragon Fist techniques, which the Shadow Dragon survived by regenerating.
Trivia
- A common misconception is that the Japanese name for the attack is "Jūbei Kamehameha". However, the Kanji for "times" [倍], as in "10 times", is actually pronounced "bai". The confusion arises due to Goku's way of speaking. Due to his unique dialect and accent (his idiolect), in Japanese, it gets heard as "bei". Goku's way of speaking is to show he is uneducated, or "hick-ish". In this idiolect of Goku's, vowels are switched constantly. This is seen when Goku says "ora" instead of "ore" or "omei/omee" instead of "omae". And so, likewise, "Jūbai" becomes "Jūbei" when said by Goku.
- Throughout the Dragon Ball series, it has been canonically stated that a Saiyan's power level is multiplied times ten when transformed into a Great Ape. Since the Super Saiyan 4 state is by technically a condensed version of the Golden Great Ape form, it is possible that this fact is what gave birth to the 10x Kamehameha.
- The 10x Kamehameha and Crimson Galick Gun (in which the latter is used by Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast) both share similarities. They are both reddish-orange in color, both are a more powerful version of a character's signature technique (Kamehameha for Goku and Galick Gun for Vegeta), and both are created upon the creator achieving a new form of Super Saiyan (Super Saiyan 4 for Goku and Super Saiyan 3 for Vegeta).
- During its first use in the Baby Saga, the 10x Kamehameha is whitish-blue in appearance, much like the standard. In later uses, it emits a crimson aura instead.
- The first time Super Saiyan 4 Goku attempted the 10x Kamehameha, he needed to charge two energy spheres and merge them together, but later on in the series, he just charges the 10x Kamehameha like a Super Kamehameha.