Potara

Potara
ポタラ
Potara
Alternate names	Pothala (Spanish translation) Arcillos (Latin American Spanish dub)
Debut	Manga: "Enter a Savior?!" Anime: "Big Trouble, Little Trunks"
Inventor	Supreme Kais
Users	Young Elder Kai & Old Witch Shin & Kibito Goku & Vegeta Goku & Mr. Satan Vegeta & Future Trunks Goku Black & Future Zamasu Caulifla & Kale
Color	Varies
Class	Fusion
Similar Techniques	Fusion Dance Metamo-Ring

The Potara (ポタラ, Potara) are earrings worn by Supreme Kais and their apprentices. Despite being worn so casually, they have incredible properties, allowing two individuals to fuse or permitting the wearer to use the Time Rings.

Overview

Shin wearing Potara earrings

These earrings are worn by all Supreme Kais as part of their standard outfits, coming in various colors. The earrings can grant the wearer certain privileges, such as using the Time Rings that are exclusive to Supreme Kais. The earrings also have the ability to fuse two people into a single entity for an hour, although it is permanent if a Supreme Kai is involved.

Old Kai gives his pair to Goku as a trump card for defeating Super Buu. Shin and his attendant Kibito accidentally merge without knowing about the fusion being permanent.

In Dragon Ball Super, Goku Black wears a green Potara earring in order to use the Time Ring in his position. The Potara Fusion is mentioned again by Gowasu and Zamasu, as Gowasu appoints him briefly to the rank of Supreme Kai by giving one of his Potara, so that Zamasu could use the Time Ring. Gowasu suggests that they could fuse permanently if they wish so, but Zamasu rejects the offer. It is also revealed that if two Potara earrings are worn on the same ear, the two beings will not fuse.

Fused Zamasu is born from the Potara Fusion

Later, Future Zamasu and Goku Black fused into Fused Zamasu using the Potara as their final trump card. Goku offers to fuse with Vegeta again, but Vegeta is initially hesitant. Gowasu then reveals that the reason why Goku and Vegeta did not stay fused the previous time is because neither of them are Supreme Kais, and that a fusion without a Supreme Kai would only last an hour. Vegito is born once again, but defuses before even forty minutes has passed. Gowasu speculates that Vegito Blue is simply too powerful for the fusion to sustain.

Kefla is born

Before the start of the Tournament of Power, Champa and Fuwa gives the Universe 6 Saiyans a pair of Potara earrings as a last resort to use. Caulifla and Kale puts them on in the tournament after getting overwhelmed by Goku. They fuse and become Kefla, who then proceeds to combat Goku. Kefla pushes Goku to the state of Ultra Instinct -Sign- and is defeated as a result. Rabanra and Zarbuto of Team Universe 2 attempted to perform Potara fusion as well but failed when Kefla ran over them and destroyed their earrings.

Potara Fusion

Shin and Kibito being fused

Potara Fusion (ポタラの合体, Potara Fusion) is a powerful Fusion technique using the Potara earrings. To perform it, two nearby individuals must be wearing a single earring, but on opposite ears. They will be automatically drawn to each other until they connect, then fuse. As shown with Shin and Kibito, the earrings do not have to be from the same set in order for this to work. Interestingly, Kibito's earring (blue in the anime) becomes the color of Shin's earring (yellow) after the fusion.

If a living and a dead person fuse, the result will be living. If a fused being dies, he or she will remain fused. If the earrings are removed or destroyed, nothing will happen if the fusion is permanent, but the fused being will defuse if it is temporary. If a fused being defuses, both individuals will retain the memories of the fusion, as well as some memories from the other individual.

According to Vados, the fusion creates a new body and personality greater than the sum of the two individuals and increases their power by "tens of times." When Goku Black and Future Zamasu fused, Gowasu stated that their power did not just merge, but expanded to no end. Even without transforming, Kale and Caulifla's fusion, Kefla, was capable of completely outclassing Super Saiyan God Goku, who stated that her energy is so massive that he could not even feel a limit.

It is implied by Beerus that compatibility between the two individuals is a factor in the fusion, though it is unspecified how and to what extent; he claims Android 17 and 18 should be perfectly compatible with each other because they are twins.

Vegito's outfit

Unlike the Fusion Dance technique, the Potara Fusion does not require the individuals to have equal power levels; the fusion lasts an hour instead of thirty minutes (unless one of the fused is a Supreme Kai, in which case the fusion is permanent); and it also fuses clothing, whereas the Fusion Dance gives the newly fused being the native dress of the people of Planet Metamor. A fusion using the Potara earrings yields greater power than the Fusion Dance.

In some cases, such as Old Kai and Kibito Kai, one of the two fused individuals takes over the fusion's voice. In other cases, such as Vegito or Kefla, the two individuals' voices are overlaid, similar to the Fusion Dance. Fused Zamasu has two Zamasu voices on top of each other, despite one of the Zamases, Goku Black, having Goku's body and voice at the time of the fusion.

There are six instances of Potara Fusion in the series:

1. Young Elder Kai and an Old Witch into Old Kai. The witch had stolen one of the earrings and put it on.
2. Shin and Kibito into Kibito Kai. They voluntarily tested the fusion, not knowing it would be permanent. They later defused using the Namekian Dragon Balls.
3. Goku and Vegeta into Vegito to defeat Super Buu. They defused an hour later inside Super Buu's body.
4. Future Zamasu and Goku Black into Fused Zamasu. (In the manga, because neither of them were officially promoted to Supreme Kai, they began to defuse an hour later; however, this was overridden by the fact that they are the same person.)
5. Goku and Vegeta into Vegito to combat Fused Zamasu. They defused prematurely due to sheer power of the fusion.
6. Caulifla and Kale into Kefla. Their earrings were given to them by Champa and Fuwa as a last resort to use in the Tournament of Power. They defused after their earrings were destroyed by Goku's Imperfect Instinct.

Weaknesses

If fusion occurs without a Supreme Kai, the fusion only lasts an hour; this is further reduced if the fused being is so powerful that the power sustaining the fusion gets used up. In the manga, Fused Zamasu overcame this weakness by being the fusion of two of the same person.

If an individual is transformed while fusing, the fused being will not be able to power down from that transformation. As a result, certain transformations, such as Super Saiyan, can put a significant strain on the user's body and shorten his or her lifespan. Fused Zamasu is permanently in the state of Super Saiyan Rosé due to Goku Black using it when he fused.

File:Light of justice.jpg

Fused Zamasu corrupted

In the anime, if an immortal and a mortal were to fuse, the regeneration of the fused being from the immortality will be impaired. If the damage is sufficient enough, the body will not heal properly and will become corrupted; it is even possible for the body to be completely destroyed, as shown when Future Trunks' Final Hope Slash destroyed Fused Zamasu's body. Despite this, Zamasu did not actually die and continued to exist without a body. In the manga, this does not exist.

Other abilities

Wearing even a single Potara earring that belongs to a Supreme Kai enables one to use the Time Rings.

Video Game Appearances

Gokule, the What-If fusion of Goku and Hercule, in Budokai 2

In both Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Shin can use the Potara Fusion and fuse with Kibito to become Kibito Kai. Goku and Vegeta both can use the Potara Fusion and fuse together to become Vegito. Also in Budokai 2, Goku and Hercule can use the Potara Fusion and fuse together to become Gokule. In the Budokai series, Potara Fusions lacks the timer seen with Fusions produced by Fusion Dance, because at the time the games it was believed that Potara Fusion was permanent for all Potara Fusions, as the revelation that it would only be permanent a Supreme Kai-based Potara fusion like Kibito Kai. The Potara also appears in gameplay when Goku and Vegeta are about to fuse in Dragon Ball Heroes.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, it features a character upgrade system that uses different "Potaras" to add special attributes to characters. These Potaras are known as "Z-Items" in the English release. A wide variety of different upgrade types are available, ranging from simple stat upgrades to powerful special abilities. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, features the same system as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and Budokai Tenkaichi 2, with a new Z-Item type: the Red Potara Z-Item, which substantially increase the powers of the fighters. They have the same abilities as the other Potara Z-Items, only compacted into one usage, such as maximum damage, inflicting neutral damage with Blast 2 and Ultimate Blast attacks, recovering health quickly, surpassing limits, using half the amount of energy for ki consumption usage, and others. Characters with all "Red Potaras" equipped are also called "GOD Characters." Red Potaras can only be accessed by the player through cheat devices or by entering passwords to allow access to these characters in Duel mode, though computer-controlled characters will have Red Potaras equipped during certain matches in Story Mode or Dragon Sim mode. In the Raging Blast series, Potara are used in the same way as in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

In the Potara Fusion ending of the PSP game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai: using the Potara earrings (which Kibito Kai had Shenron repair), Goku and Vegeta use this to fuse back into Vegito in order to defeat Janemba and Buu before going to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Potaras also appear in Jump Super Stars.

In Super Dragon Ball Heroes, during the Demon God Towa Saga, Vegeta: Xeno and Trunks: Xeno use Potara earrings given to them by Chronoa to fuse into Vegeks in order to take on Demon God Towa.

In Dragon Ball Xenoverse, like most Supreme Kai, Chronoa wears a pair of Potara earrings, though they are never used to initiate Potara Fusion. Additionally, despite Vegito's appearance in the game, Goku and Vegeta use of the Potara Earring to fuse into him is not shown as he only appears in Parallel Quests and not in the game's main story (unlike Gotenks and Gogeta who use the Fusion Dance during the Majin Buu Saga and the 2nd half of the GT Saga). Despite Vegito's Clothes appearing as an obtainable outfit for the Future Warrior, it lacks Vegito's Potara Earrings entirely.

In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, in addition to the Potara worn by Vegito, Chronoa, and Elder Kai, Goku Black wears one Potara earring his left ear. As part of the Super Pack 4, Vegito Blue and Fused Zamasu appear as DLC characters.

In Dragon Ball Fusions, male & female Offworlder characters will wear Potara Earrings if custom Face Options 1, 2, 3, or 4 (which are based on the Shinjin) are selected. Additionally some non-Offworlder characters such as the Namekian Moolin wear Potara-like Earrings. Additionally, certain EX-Fusion characters like Kibeerusshin may wear Potara Earrings if one of fusee wears them (as Kibeerusshin is the fusion of Beerus and Kibito Kai).

Characters created via Potara Fusion

• Old Kai
• Kibito Kai
• Vegito
• Fused Zamasu
• Kefla
• Vegeks
• Gokule (hypothetical)
• Den-Goku (hypothetical)
• Android 35 (hypothetical)

Trivia

• Several characters in the franchise wear earrings similar in style to the Potara. Among them are Zarbon, a man bearing the same symbols as Nok in the audience of the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, Don Kee, and the Demons Towa from Dragon Ball Online and Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Demigra from Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Heroes.
  • In Dragon Ball Fusions, certain characters like Moolin wear Potara-like earrings.
• In Dragon Ball Fusions, it is shown that it is possible for a Shinjin-based Potara fusion like Kibito Kai to perform EX-Fusion. Presumably this is due to the normally permanent nature of said fusion.
  • Additionally, both Kibito Kai and Vegito can perform Five-Way Fusion as well.
• The Potara Fusion technique was originally believed to be a permanent fusion of two characters, barring circumstances which would result in the negation of the energies involved in maintaining the fusion such as the inner atmosphere of Majin Buu. In Dragon Ball Super however, it is revealed a temporary fusion similar to the Fusion Dance method, with permanent fusion only being a result if a Supreme Kai is involved.
• Kefla is the first female Potara Fusion to appear in the entire Dragon Ball franchise. She is also the first female Potara Fusion who is pure Saiyan and the second pure Saiyan Potara fusion after Vegito.
• It seems likely the case that most of the time, the seen and hypothetical Potara Fusions display more of the physically weaker fusee's appearance and personality over that of the physically stronger fusee. This is true for:
  • Vegito being predominantly Vegeta over Goku.
  • Gokule being predominantly Mr. Satan over Goku.
  • Den-Goku being predominantly Dende over Goku.
  • Fused Zamasu being predominantly Future Zamasu over Goku Black.
  • Kefla being predominantly Caulifla over Kale.
  • One exception is Old Kai whose Fusion has retained more of the Supreme Kai from 15 generations ago appearance over that of the Old Witch. Another possibility may be that Kibito as Shin's bodyguard may be stronger than him to some degree, which would tie in with Kibito Kai displaying more of Shin's traits than Kibito's. Old Kai and Shin being dominate is likely due to them being Supreme Kais who make the fusion permanent.

Gallery

Kibito's Teal Potara. Gohan's Blue Potara. Fuwa's Dark Green Potara. Gowasu's Green Potara. Zamasu's Orange Potara. Roh's Red Potara. Towa's Purple Potara like earring. Demigra's Potara like earring. Two Yellow Potaras Beerus holding Potaras Alternate version of earring