Dragon Ball Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This is a featured article.

"If you're a soldier in Frieza's army, you can have [a Scouter] made to order to fit your ear. The different screen colors can be chosen to fit the peculiarities of different aliens' eyes, or to suit one's tastes. Also, dual-eye types exist as well."
Akira Toriyama, Saikyō Jump Q&A with Naho Ooishi, July 2014 Issue

A Scouter (スカウター Sukautā)[9] is a wearable, all-purpose computer that Frieza's army uses.[2] Scouters are mainly used to measure power levels early in Dragon Ball Z.

Overview[]

Creation[]

Akira Toriyama's number-one goal in coming up with the scouters was because it would be easier for the readers to understand if an opponent's strength is seen as a number. However, he foresaw that it would also be an inconvenience for him because if a concrete number is known, then it will be easy for the readers to tell who would win or lose. So, with regards to Goku and the other Z Fighters, he decided that their power would change due to ki and could not be adequately measured.[10] He made scouters break when they pick up a high battle power as showy staging for the manga; saying it is really digital, which makes it impossible, but in terms of something analog, it is like how a counter that is rising at breakneck speed can not keep up and breaks down.[3] Also, since a scouter only shows direct numbers, it does not take into account if an opponent is hiding thier power level. Toriyama also said that it would have been even more perfect if the form of location of the enemy picked up by the scouter were displayed in video, but if features up to that point were added, it would have been even more difficult to do as manga story developments go.[3]

Design[]

The design of the scouters is similar to a device in Mitsuteru Yokoyama's 1956 manga Tetsujin 28-go. An antagonist character named Alberto has lost his right eye and wears a metal patch that somewhat resembles the scouter in appearance, and also acts like a tracking and communication device.

In an interview, the series creator Akira Toriyama himself wonders how scouters are attached around the ear and says he was always doubtful of it when he was drawing it. It would have to be strong enough to withstand sharp movements and he supposes there is no other way but to stick it on tight with something, saying it is "alien technology". He eventually says the headset method, like the toy, is the right answer.[3]

A device similar in design to the scouter also appears in the Blue Dragon series, whose characters were also designed by Toriyama.

Name[]

In the military realm, the word "scout" refers to "reconnaissance". For example, a reconnaissance vehicle would be called a "scout car". Toriyama tweaked that "scout" and gave it its name. He explains that, in other words, a scouter is a useful tool for the purposes of information-gathering.[11]

History[]

Scouters were invented by the Tuffles, the original inhabitants of Planet Vegeta who were exterminated in Age 730 by the Saiyans.[3] From the Saiyans, scouters were introduced to the Frieza Force. Originally, it was a device for the purpose of guarding against enemies and beasts, but Gichamu, a highly skilled engineer in Frieza's army, laid eyes on it and made modifications for concrete battle power numbers and telecommunications abilities, and soldiers began making use of it to carry out offensives.[3] During the series, almost all of the Galactic Frieza Army soldiers can be seen wearing one.

Another source states that scouters, along with the Battle Armor, and the Frieza Force Spaceships, were invented by Kikono.[4] This is supported by Frieza supplying the Saiyans with Scouters to replace their outdated Scout-Scopes. They were also much more efficient than the scopes, since a target's power level could be read without taking attention off of it.

Description[]

Tuffle7

Tuffles wearing scouters

A scouter appears as a semi-transparent colored monocle that covers the left eye. Dual-eye types exist as well, as Tagoma wears a blue variant, but they are uncommon.[3] The first scouter to be seen is the one Raditz wears in the first episode of Dragon Ball Z upon his arrival on Earth. The power level is given as a number without any units of measurement (5 for the farmer, 322 for Piccolo and 334 for Goku before taking their heavy clothes off, etc.). It is shown that the device explodes if one increases his power level by an enormous amount at a rapid pace, albeit without leaving any injuries to the wearer; though the range of scouters throughout the series has varied. So called old model scouters seemingly always explode when they detect someone's power level going over 20,000 at a fast rate. The most frequently seen color is green, though alternate colors of red and blue also exist. The different screen colors can be chosen to fit the peculiarities of different aliens' eyes, or to suit one's tastes.[3] All the scouters are the same in terms of features but, since a variety of different aliens wear them, there are many different attachments depending on the position of the ear. Soldiers in Frieza's army can have one made to order to fit their ear.[3]

In the series, a scouter's primary purpose is to calculate the individual power level or ki concentration of biological characters by converting the readings into numbers. It is never explained what units of measure are used to read ki levels; Akira Toriyama simply stated in an interview that it could not be done by conventional means.

TuffleScouter

Saiyans locked by a Tuffle's scouter

Scouters also serve the purpose of gathering information, and for interstellar communication, as seen when Raditz sent Piccolo's description of the Dragon Balls to Nappa and Vegeta, as well as Frieza learning of the existence of the Namekian Dragon Balls from eavesdropping on Vegeta's conversation with Nappa (as well as Vegeta in turn learning how to get the Namekian Dragon Balls from the Namekian Villages via eavesdropping on Frieza explaining how he himself did so). Vegeta also used his scouter to keep track of the time after he said he and Nappa would give the Dragon Team three hours for Goku to arrive. Scouters can also tell the location of someone, as demonstrated when members of the Frieza Force use scouters to hunt down enemies.

Some members of Frieza's army, that are too weak to use ki blasts, wear an Arm Cannon that has a wire that connects to their scouter. It is unclear what role the scouter plays in using the Arm Cannon (some soldiers who lack scouters instead have the wire connected to a helmet on their head). One explanation is that the scouter is used for aiming, though this is not expressly stated.

During the Granolah the Survivor Saga, it is revealed that the Namekian Elder Monaito kept Bardock's Scouter as a keepsake after his defeat of Gas. It is revealed that Scouters have the ability to record audio and while trying to figure out a way to defeat Gas, Goku listens to the recording of Bardock's battle with Gas, which causes him to hear his father utter the words "Stay Alive" which are the same words Bardock said to him when his parents bid farewell to him before sending him to Earth. This in turn causes Goku to finally regain his long lost memory of his parents.

Limitations[]

Tarble's Scouter blows when Goku turns into a Super Saiyan

Tarble's scouter breaks

Though it is possible to sense others' ki without advanced machinery, as the Z Fighters do, scouters provide the ability to read power levels to less-trained fighters. Scouters do have some disadvantages, however. Their main drawback is that a trained person is capable of consciously lowering their ki (see Power Up), and can therefore fool scouter users into thinking they have a lower power level than their real level. Vegeta speculates that is how Raditz was killed, and this later proves a key component in the downfalls of several of Frieza's notable soldiers.

AbokadoScouter

Goten and Trunks locked by Abo/Kado's scouter

Another disadvantage is that scouters may explode on certain conditions. The reason for this is not mentioned explicitly in the manga or the anime. The recorded cases have lead to the conclusions that this it either happenes when the scouter is detecting a high power level or when a power level is rapidly increasing, possibly overloading it. Dodoria suggested that it was a problem with older scouter models. There are two generations of scouters:[9] the first generation ones (such as Raditz's and Zarbon's) explode when reading a power level over 24,000, something that is corrected in the improved second generation scouters (such as Dodoria's and the ones used by the Ginyu Force) which are always in development to go along with battle power inflation,[12] at least up to 180,000. Frieza's description of his 530,000 power level to Nail may imply that scouters can read these high numbered power levels as well. An example of scouters exploding while someone's power level is rising rapidly would be that which occurred to Bulma's (formerly Raditz's) scouter when Goku was fighting Vegeta for the first time. The explosion took place around the time that Goku had used the Kaio-ken times 3, causing his power level to rise at an incredible rate, thus overloading the scouter. Even the second generation scouters can be overloaded and explode, as Frieza's did reading Vegeta's power. In both Frieza's and Ginyu's what-if scenarios in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Ginyu has a scouter that is capable of reading a power level of much stronger opponents than the scouter's limitation such as: Super Saiyan Goku, Super Saiyan Gohan, Super Saiyan Vegeta, Future Trunks, Androids 18, 20 and even Perfect Cell.

Due to Frieza's comment about his power level being over 1,000,000 in his second form, it is possible that the scouter's limit of counting is that number, as in many videos games once Frieza transforms the scouter simply shows the number "+999,999" no matter in which transformation stage he is. On Planet Frieza 79, there is a master computer with scouter-like system (used by Malaka and the Control tower soldier) that can read Frieza's full power (120,000,000) but goes haywire once Super Saiyan Goku's power level is checked (150,000,000) before exploding.

Additionally, as shown by Goku during his initial battles with the Ginyu Force it is possible for a highly trained individual to raise their power level so fast and instantaneously that even the state-of-the-art Scouters used by the Ginyu Force at that time could not even register the sudden and momentary increase confusing Burter and Jeice. This ability is extremely dangerous as it effectively makes the Scouter's readings unreliable unless the opponent powers up in a manner that is detectable. However, experienced soldiers with knowledge of advanced ki control like Vegeta and Captain Ginyu are aware Scouters can be fooled in this manner though Vegeta noted it requires one to acquire an immense level power to pull it off.

In Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, the newly revived Frieza tells Sorbet that by only training for 4 months he can unlock his dormant power and reach a power level of 1,300,000 in his first form, which means Scouters can also give readings of over a million.

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, it is shown that adult Broly's power level is so high that it exceeded the limits of both Cheelai and Lemo's Scouters which caused their Scouters to give a blank reading while their scouters remained intact and functional indicating it was such a high power level that it was unreadable to scouters according to Cheelai, though they were pleased with this development as they had been searching for strong warriors for the Frieza Force. However the more experienced Lemo initially doubted Cheelai's blank Scouter readings for Broly and assumed it was a malfunction until his Scouter also got a blank reading confirming to him it was legitimately unreadable and that Broly's power level was exceptionally high. This demonstrates that it is possible to exceed a scouters' calculations if the power level in question is beyond its ability to measure without said scouter blowing up or being damaged by trying to calculate said power level, though their current generation models seem to have been designed with a new safety feature to stop calculating if the power level reading exceeds a specific limit (their model's maximum limit is apparently 99,999) prevent it from exploding like past models though this prevents said models from reading power levels over its maximum limit. However Lemo's initial reaction suggests a blank reading my also result via Scouter malfunction/defect though said malfunction/defect apparently rarely occurs as two blank readings of Broly from both of their scouters were enough to convince Lemo it was legitimately unreadable. This however means such an exceptional power level cannot be calculated accurately beyond being interpreted as over the maximum power level limit said Scouter model can read.

Another limitation of Scouters is that they are unable to detect Godly ki presumably due to its divine nature or simply because Scouters are only designed to detect normal ki and no Scouter models capable of detecting it exist (presumably because the existence of Godly ki is not well known or as well understood as normal ki).

Scouters also cannot detect anyone that is significantly above the user in terms of height. This is implied in Cooler's Revenge, where Gohan managed to bypass Cooler's Armored Squadron (who were spending their time trying to search for him and Goku on Cooler's orders) by flying high above them via Icarus under Krillin's suggestion

Scouters by class[]

Different screen colors can be chosen to fit the peculiarities of different aliens' eyes, or to suit one's tastes.[3]

Green-colored models[]

Bardock and his elites[]

DragonBallZSpecial121

Bardock using his scouter

All five members of Team Bardock (Bardock, Tora, Shugesh, Borgos and Fasha) wear scouters. Bardock's scouter is used to locate his team on Planet Meat. All of their scouters are destroyed during the assault made on them by Dodoria and his team. After discovering his slain comrades, Bardock's scouter locates the group responsible. After Bardock slays them, his scouter detects Dodoria, who blasts Bardock away with a Mouth Energy Wave, damaging the Saiyan and destroying his scouter. In the Xenoverse series it appears under the name Old Model Scouter (Green).

Raditz[]

TheNewThreat15

Raditz's scouter analyzing the Farmer's power level

Like his father, Raditz's scouter was constantly used upon his arrival on Earth. Raditz used his scouter to see the power levels of a Farmer, Piccolo and finally Goku. During his fight with Goku and Piccolo, Raditz went by his scouter's power readings, causing him to underestimate them. He also thought it was malfunctioning at first when it caught Gohan's latent power of 710, until it was proven correct by detecting Goku and Piccolo's arrival. After being dealt a fatal blow, Raditz used his scouter to transmit Piccolo's description of the Dragon Balls back to Vegeta and Nappa.

Bulma with Raditz green scouter

Bulma using Raditz's scouter

After Raditz's death, Bulma took possession of his scouter from his corpse. Though it had been damaged slightly, it took her a single night to repair it and even switch it over to Earth's numeric system. With her repairs and modifications, she tested it out by reading the power levels of Master Roshi and Krillin (as well as Turtle in the anime), and also used it to locate Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, and Chiaotzu. The scouter remained in Bulma's possession up to Goku's fight with Vegeta when Bulma used it to read Goku's power level, which was rising too fast due to Goku's using the three-fold Kaio-ken in order to match Vegeta. It was the first scouter to blow up on-screen. This model is called Scouter (Green) in Dragon Ball: Xenoverse.

In World Mission, the game world Raditz's Scouter remains in Raditz's possession due to him surviving his encounter with Goku and Piccolo due to an anomaly. Additionally his Scouter is unaffected by Raditz's anomalous Super Saiyan 3 transformation and is shown to be functional beeping when Raditz finishes charging his Weekend Super Attack indicating it can read his own power without exploding (this is either due to the mechanics of the game world and/or the anomaly itself). Raditz's Scouter is also the name of Raditz's Ability 1 for his SH1-19 card, which allows him to attack the enemy with the lowest GRD at the end of his Power Level Battle Phase.

In Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot during the Sub Story "Mysterious Power Reading", Bulma was apparently able to repair Raditz's Scouter after it blew up as it is working during the Intermission after Vegeta's defeat. It detects a large power signature near the crash site of Raditz's Spaceship and the signature is too high for Master Roshi to handle so she enlists Gohan who discovers it was coming from three Saibamen that apparently came from the Saibamen Set in Raditz's pod that got scattered when Gohan broke out.

Appule's Scouter[]

Appule's scouter is seen in just one scene in Dragon Ball Z, when he is mistreating Namekian villagers. Strangely enough, he is never seen wearing his scouter again. Appule's alternative outfit in the Budokai Tenkaichi series is also shown wearing a scouter.

Cui[]

CuiNamekNV

Cui using his scouter

Cui's scouter has always remained on him. After landing on Namek, Cui used his scouter to track and converse with Vegeta. When the unknowing Cui used his scouter to read Vegeta's power level (24,000), it was much more than he had previously believed, causing his scouter to explode.

Dodoria[]

DodoScout2

Dodoria's scouter displays three power levels

Dodoria's scouter has always remained on him even since when Frieza contemplated destroying Planet Vegeta. When on Planet Namek, Dodoria's scouter (a newer one) was used to read Vegeta's power level when the latter fought Cui. Dodoria used his scouter to measure the power level of several Namekians (although he did not take into account that they hide their real power levels). Dodoria's scouter was destroyed by Moori's Finger Beam in order to prevent them from finding more Dragon Balls.

Ginyu Force[]

Four members of the Ginyu Force wear the same scouters. Only Guldo does not wear one, most likely due to the shape of his head and his extra eyes making him unable to wear one; but also because of his psychic abilities, he possibly is able to sense ki without one. However in Xenoverse 2, it is revealed by Guldo in the Frieza's Spaceship time rift that there are no Scouters designed to fit the heads of Boulean members of the Frieza Force including himself though hopes one day such a Scouter model will be developed, which later comes true years after his death in Dragon Ball Online as Boulean Frieza Force members are shown wearing such a model by Age 1000. This implies that he is unable to sense ki and must rely on his teammates and/or other soldiers for power level readings.

54012

Recoome's scouter

Recoome's scouter was one of the newer models used by the Ginyu Force. After arriving on Planet Namek, Recoome used his advanced scouter to track Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin. When fighting Vegeta, Recoome's scouter measured Vegeta's power level when was powering up and was knocked off him during Vegeta's attack on the Ginyu Force member.

Burter6

Burter's scouter

Burter's scouter was one of the newer models used by the Ginyu Force. After arriving on Planet Namek, Burter used his advanced scouter to track Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin. When Recoome fought Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan, Burter's scouter measured the three fighters' strength. While fighting Goku, Burter used his scouter to contact Jeice's scouter during their fight with Goku (who briefly raised his power level quick enough that even the newer scouters could not detect it), ending with Goku beating Burter while his scouter falls off the elite.

Ginyu6

Ginyu's scouter

Captain Ginyu's scouter was one of the newer models used by the Ginyu Force. After arriving on Planet Namek, Ginyu used his advanced scouter to track Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin. Ginyu used his scouter to measure Goku's max power (180,000), which surpassed Ginyu's power (120,000). After switching bodies, Ginyu (in Goku's body) wore his scouter. When Ginyu (in Goku's body) fought Gohan, Krillin and even Goku (in Ginyu's body), Ginyu's scouter was knocked off him during the fight. In Xenoverse, Venyu (Ginyu in Vegeta's body) wears it as well. In Xenoverse 2, Ginyu wears it as Venyu and while in Trunks: Xeno's body. Xeno Trunks briefly wears it after returning to his original body though mysteriously it appears on Ginyu in Goku's body shortly afterwards though he may have received a replacement from Turles who helped him steal Goku's body.

JeiceGreenScouter

Jeice's scouter

Jeice's scouter was one of the newer models used by the Ginyu Force. After arriving on Planet Namek, Jeice used his advanced scouter to track Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin. When Recoome fought Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan, Burter's scouter measured three fighters' strength. While fighting Goku, Jeice used his scouter to contact Burter's scouter during their fight with Goku (who briefly raised his power level quick enough that even the newer scouters could not detect it). Later, Jeice used his scouter to measure Ginyu's strength while in Goku's body (23,000) and Vegeta's power level, the latter of which caused Jeice to crush his scouter in disbelief.

In the Xenoverse series, it appears under the name New Model Scouter (Green) and is the default Scouter that the Future Warrior starts out with in Xenoverse 2.

Salza[]

Salza

Salza's scouter

Salza wears a green scouter. He uses it to scan for Gohan and Goku's location while searching for them on Earth, eventually locating Gohan while the latter is getting Senzu Beans for Goku. It later detects Goku's rising power level from Saiyan Power, overloading the scouter and causing it to detonate. Prior to its detonation, Salza wondered whether Oolong (the only other accounted-for individual in the cave) was the source of the rising power level.

Beat & Xeno Trunks[]

Beat CG

Beat's Capsule Corporation model Scouter from the God Mission 1 special trailer

Beat wears a green Hero Scouter model created by the Capsule Corporation that appears in the God Mission 1 special CGI trailer for Dragon Ball Heroes. This model Scouter features the Capsule Corporation's CC logo. After using the Dragon Ball Heroes machine to join Xeno Trunks, Piccolo, Super Saiyan 4 Goku, and Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta as they confront Mira and the Masked Saiyan, Beat uses the Scouter to read the Masked Saiyan's power as he fights SSJ4 Goku and the scouter display is shown to be able to calculate well into the 10-digit range, though it lists the Masked Saiyan as "Unknown" suggesting it can identify known individuals, though is unable to identify the Masked Saiyan. After reading the Masked Saiyan's Power, Beat coordinates with Xeno Trunks, SSJ4 Vegeta, and Piccolo to gang up on the Masked Saiyan.[5]

DBH God Mission 1 (GDM1) Xeno Trunks' Capsule Corp Scouter (GDM1 Trailer - Resurrection F)

Xeno Trunks' Capsule Corporation model Scouter from the God Mission 1 animated trailer

DBH God Mission 1 (GDM1) Beat's Capsule Corp Scouter reading Resurrected Frieza's Power Level (GDM1 Trailer - Resurrection 'F')

Beat using the Capsule Corporation Scouter to read the resurrected Frieza's power level without breaking from the God Mission 1 animated trailer

In the animated God Mission 1 (GDM1) trailer, it is revealed that the Scouter originally belonged to Xeno Trunks before he gave it to Beat following Xeno Trunks, Note, and Beat's brief encounter with the Masked Saiyan (indicating the events of GDM1 occurred after GDM2). After giving Beat the Scouter, he sends Beat and Note on a mission to assist Saiyan beyond God Goku and God-like Saiyan Vegeta as Sorbet and Tagoma gather the Dragon Balls to resurrect Frieza, with Jaco trying to stop the villains only to be defeated by Tagoma, while Sorbet makes his wish, reviving Frieza who appears flanked by his army of Combatants. Beat uses the Scouter to read Frieza's power level and starts quivering as it keeps rising though the Scouter is strong enough to handle reading the tyrant's power without exploding. God-like Saiyan Goku and God-like Saiyan Vegeta power up, causing Beat and Note to go Super Saiyan with Beat's Scouter remaining intact and unaffected by the power of Beat's Super Saiyan form. Super Saiyan Beat is still wearing his Scouter while fighting with Sorbet.[6]

Red-colored models[]

Vegeta[]

VegetaScouter.Ep

Vegeta using his scouter on Namek

Vegeta's scouter received the transmission Raditz's scouter with information about the Dragon Balls. After arriving to Earth, Vegeta used his scouter to locate the Z Fighters. Just when Goku was arriving, Vegeta used his scouter to see Goku's strength. Vegeta also used it during Goku's charging up, to which Vegeta responded by uttering his famous quote, "It's Over 9000!", and crushing his scouter in shock of Goku's power.

After Vegeta recovered on Planet Frieza 79, he reluctantly took possession of another scouter. After landing on Namek, Vegeta used it to converse with Cui and eavesdrop on Frieza. After encountering Dodoria, Vegeta destroyed his scouter, as he could now sense power levels just like the Z Fighters, to keep Dodoria from actually acquiring one during their fight. This Scouter appears under the name Scouter (Red) in the Xenoverse series.

In World Mission, the game world Vegeta's Scouter is able remains intact even after he transforms into his anomalous Super Saiyan 3 form.

As a child, Vegeta owned a green scouter.[13]

Frieza[]

ImagesCANBUTQB

Frieza's Scouter

Frieza wears a scouter just before attacking Planet Vegeta. He takes it off in order to fire his Eye Lasers at King Vegeta's brigade. Frieza's scouter on Namek was a newer model of the same color that was personally given to him by the Ginyu Force. Frieza uses this scouter to find Guru's home. When Frieza personally fights Nail, his scouter measures the lone Namekian's power level (42,000), which somewhat impresses the emperor. After having severely beaten-up Nail, Frieza uses his scouter to contact the Ginyu Force, only to find out they are all defeated. While fighting against Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin and Dende, Frieza uses his scouter to measure Vegeta's power, ending the conflict when Frieza's scouter blows up due to Vegeta's power now rivaling his own, apparently, much to Frieza's disbelief. Frieza's newer model appears under the name New Model Scouter (Red) in the Xenoverse series.


Turles[]

In the film Tree of Might, Plan to Eradicate Saiyans, and various video games, Turles wears a red scouter much like Frieza's and is the only low class Saiyan to wear a Scouter with a red lens. Turles uses his Scouter throughout the film Tree of Might to read power levels for Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan. Before he fired his second Calamity Blaster at Goku’s second Spirit Bomb, his scouter exploded from reading Goku’s second Spirit Bomb.

Tutz[]

In Dragon Ball Fusions, Tutz the EX-Fusion of Raditz and Turles wears a visor scouter with a red lens. Unlike other scouter models, this one is a byproduct of Raditz and Turles' EX-Fusion.

Fisshi[]

Fisshi2

Fisshi's scouter

Fisshi's scouter is seen briefly during Dragon Ball Z. Fisshi is shown wearing it on King Cold's spaceship and later on he is seen again wearing it on Earth. It is assumed that Fisshi has a new model scouter (the same model as Frieza's scouter) as he is shown to be wearing it after the Frieza saga.

Iru[]

Arm Blaster

Iru's scouter

Iru's scouter is seen just briefly in Dragon Ball Z. Iru uses his scouter to measure Future Trunks' power level on Frieza's demand. Iru measures Future Trunks with a power level of just 5 because Future Trunks was hiding his true power.

Impaled soldier[]

The soldier wore this scouter on him during his attack on Earth alongside King Cold and Mecha Frieza. The scouter ended up destroyed via aftershocks from Future Trunks' swordplay that downed his comrades, as well as destroying most of his armor.

Sūi[]

FriezaSoldierNV02

Sūi's scouter

Sūi 's scouter is seen just once in Dragon Ball Z. It is shown while he and his partner Banan are searching for Gohan and Krillin on Zarbon's orders. Upon finding Gohan and Krillin the duo state that they detect Gohan and Krillin's power levels to be non-existent. When Gohan and Krillin decide to power up, suddenly Sūi and Banan realize the power of Gohan and Krillin. Gohan lands punch to Sūi's face and the next scene after, he is shown with out his scouter on his face. It is presumed that his scouter was broken when Gohan landed a punch to his face.

Abo and Kado[]

DragonBallJumpSpecial200834

Abo's and Kado's scouters

Abo and Kado's scouters are seen during Dragon Ball: The Return of Son Goku and Friends! Their scouters were used to measure Trunks and Goten's fighting power. After underestimating Goten's and Trunks' ability to hide their power, the two consider them a weaklings because of their low scouter readings. Like some other characters' scouters, Abo's scouter may also seem to differ in color appearance and can sometimes be seen as a more purplish color. It appears under the name Scouter (Purple) in the Xenoverse series.

Blue-colored models[]

Frieza[]

Saiyan Genocide Frieza

Frieza's blue scouter shortly before the Saiyan genocide

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Frieza is first shown wearing a first generation blue lens Scouter when King Cold announces his retirement and Frieza's succession. Frieza introduces this Scouter to the Saiyans, as a replacement for the old Scout-Scopes and uses it to locate several hidden Saiyan snipers and immediately kills them. Frieza also uses this Scouter to make sure no Saiyan was alive on Planet Vegeta after he used his Supernova to wipe out the planet and the Saiyan race.

Dodoria[]

Dodoria, Captain Ginyu and Recoome grin at King Vegeta bowing to Frieza

Dodoria wearing his Scouter during the Frieza Force's first visit to Planet Vegeta

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, during the Frieza Force's first visit to Planet Vegeta during the period King Cold transferred leadership of the Cold Force to Frieza, Dodoria wears a first generation blue lens Scouter. This model would later be replaced by his newer green lens model.

Zarbon[]

Zarbon's Scouter Breaks

Zarbon's scouter explodes after detecting Vegeta's power level, surpassing the scouter's reading capacity

Zarbon wore his blue scouter as far back as when Frieza contemplated destroying Planet Vegeta. When on Planet Namek, Zarbon's scouter broke when Vegeta riased his power level during the latter's fight with Cui.

Banan[]

FriezaSoldierNV01

Banan's scouter

Banan's scouter is shown just once in Dragon Ball Z. It is shown while he and his partner Sūi are searching for Gohan and Krillin. When Banan first checks Gohan and Krillin's power levels he states that they are almost non-existent. When Krillin and Gohan both power up, Banan is shocked at their power. Krillin then lands a kick to Banan's face and is assumed that his scouter was broken then.

Napple[]

NSoldier4

Napple's scouter

Napple's scouter makes just one appearance in Dragon Ball Z. He is first seen wearing his scouter at Moori's village whilst Frieza is trying to uncover the Dragon Ball. Napple's scouter is used to measure three Warrior-type Namekians' power levels. After taunting the three Warrior-type Namekians by saying they would be better off fighting old grannies, Napple leads the charge against the three Namekians. Napple is kicked in the face by one of the Namekians and his scouter is then broken.

Nappa[]

Nappa01

Nappa wearing his blue scouter

Nappa's scouter received the transmission from Raditz's scouter with information about the Dragon Balls. After arriving to Earth, Nappa uses his scouter to locate Krillin, Piccolo, Gohan, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu. Just as they are about to fight, Vegeta suggests to Nappa that they remove the scouters as they do not want to underestimate their opponents like Raditz did. Nappa drops his scouter to the ground, and it is presumably destroyed from all the explosions caused by his fight against the Z Fighters. Although, many times, it can appear to be a light purple. Appears under the name Scouter (Blue) in the Xenoverse series.

In Dragon Ball Legends, it is called Scouter (Nappa Model) and can be obtained for Nappa's Tournament of Time student Shallot from the Exchange Shop for the Nappa (Young) Story Event "Elite Soldier N". In Dragon Ball Legends, it has the light purple coloration. During the main story, the pre-Dragon Ball Z Nappa wears his Scouter when Beerus forces his partner Vegeta to train Shallot, Zahha, & Gohan so they can defeat Raditz who had gone off on his own. The Scouter survives numerous battles including his epic showdown with the Ginyu Force that he was briefly believed to have perished during, though in reality he and his Scouter survived the ordeal and later joined the many allies of Shallot recruited by the presumed dead Zahha, who join forces to hold off the Mastermind's group so Shallot and his righteous Saiyan allies can complete the Super Saiyan God ritual.

In World Mission, the game world Nappa's Scouter remains intact even after Nappa's anomalous Super Saiyan 3 transformation.

Tarble[]

Scouter

Tarble's blue scouter

Despite not being affiliated with Frieza's army or even the Saiyan army, Tarble possesses a scouter during his encounter with the Z Fighters, while warning them about Abo and Kado. It breaks when he analyzes the power level of Goku steadily increasing his power and turning into a Super Saiyan to demonstrate to Tarble how a person's power level can easily change. Although, just like Nappa's scouter, it seems to have a different appearance at times. Tarble's scouter can also be pictured as aqua in color.

Sorbet[]

Sorbet RoF art

Sorbet's blue scouter

Sorbet wears an updated blue scouter throughout his appearance. His scouter breaks when it reads the newly regenerated Frieza's power level in the film, and he later acquired a new blue scouter which he uses for the rest of his life.

Tagoma[]

Tagoma w DB RoF

Tagoma's visor-like dual eye blue scouter

Tagoma wears a double eye version of the blue scouter throughout his appearance. His scouter breaks when it reads the newly regenerated Frieza's power level, moments before his demise by the tyrant, in the film. In Dragon Ball Xenoverse, it appears under the name Tagoma's Scouter and appears as an equippable accessory in the Resurrection ‘F’ Pack DLC. In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Tagoma's Scouter model is worn by the Future Warrior in promotional material.

Cheelai & Lemo[]

Cheelai and Lemo

Cheelai and Lemo nervous after learning of Broly's unreadable power level

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the Frieza Force is shown to have a new model of the scouter, apparently instituted some time after Frieza's return following the Tournament of Power. This new model features a blue lens and has its button to the bottom of the earpiece, as opposed being on the limb supporting the eyepiece as on all previous models. As a safety feature, the scouter will simply stop calculating power levels beyond a certain point (seemingly 99,999) in order to prevent the explosive malfunction seen in older models. However this safety feature makes Power Levels that exceed this limit unreadable beyond said limit such as Broly's though Cheelai and Lemo came to the conclusion that Broly was exceptionally powerful. Frieza Force members Cheelai and Lemo, among many others, are shown to use this scouter.

Considering this model seems to be unable of reading power levels at or over 1,000,000, it makes sense that that would be their limit as anyone with an unreadable power level would be around that of 2nd Form Frieza was during the Frieza Saga, thus would be considered extraordinarily high among the Frieza Force as it would put an unreadable individual above the Ginyu Force and 1st Form Frieza before his training. This would also explain why Lemo was excited after recognizing Broly's unreadable power level meant they had found an ideal recruit for the Frieza Force.

Yellow-colored model[]

Raging blast 2 dore

Dore's yellow scouter

Dore from Cooler's Armored Squadron has a yellow-colored model of scouter. It is called Dore's Scouter in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and is depicted as being a helmet-mounted Scouter.

Additionally the Golden Scouter from Xenoverse 2 has a golden yellow lens.

Other models[]

Planet Frieza 79 scouter system[]

MalakaAndControlTowerSoldier

The Scouter computer system

Although technically not a scouter in the traditional sense, the computer system used on Planet Frieza 79 functions under a similar manner to scouters in regards to reading power levels. Similar to the scouters, they also blow up when reading a power level beyond their processing limit (as it did when it attempted to analyze Goku's power level when he became a Super Saiyan and was fighting Frieza on Namek), although it was significantly more lethal than regular scouters, as they would blow up and destroy a lot of the personnel during the explosion, as what happened to most of the personnel on Planet Frieza 79.

King Cold soldiers'[]

ColdJeece&Commannder&Kanazian

King Cold's henchmen with their scouters

Although neither King Cold nor Mecha Frieza wear a scouter, their soldiers do. After a mysterious youth arrived, Iru uses his scouter to measure the youth's (suppressed) power level, which registers at just five. The youth quickly raises it to kill the soldier and then uses his sword to kill the rest of the army. One soldier's scouter is cut in half, however his body is still intact, but only moments later, he is killed by Mecha Frieza himself due to either showing signs of fear (English dub) or otherwise wanted him out of his way (Japanese version).

Evolved concept[]

Main article: 3D Scan Mode

Android19Scouter

Android 19 using his built-in scouter

Android 20, Android 19, and Android 16 possess a device that locates and analyzes power, much like scouters. These devices are far more durable than other scouters, with 16 being able to sense the power of someone like Cell. Other Androids, such as Android 15 and Android 14, are equipped with a more advanced device, the 3D Scan Mode. Major Metallitron was equipped with an old model version of 3D Scan Mode which allowed the Android to determine Goku was an unknown alien (as the Red Ribbon Army knew nothing about Saiyans) and not an Earthling.

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Saiyan scientists monitoring the infant Vegeta and Broly have handheld Scouter-like meters that are used to read the power levels of Saiyan children and are utilize to determine a Saiyan child's power level and social class. King Vegeta notes that Vegeta's power level broke all records in Saiyan history when he refused to accept the high power level of Broly whom had been placed within the same nursery reserved for Elite Saiyan children as Prince Vegeta. However one of the scientists contributed Broly's high reading to recent anomalies with the nursery's equipment though Nion believed Broly's reading to be accurate and suggested he might be the Legendary Super Saiyan causing King Vegeta to decide to banish Broly to Vampa to get rid of him. These meters also have a habit of breaking and frying when calculating a high power level like Broly's, similar to a overloaded Scouter.

In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 as part of the Masters Pack DLC, the Built-In Scouter device used by Android 16 is referred to as Power Radar by Android 16.[14] In addition to detecting power levels the Power Radar used by Future Android 16 is shown to be able to detect the energy signature produced by Dragon Balls, allowing it to function as a makeshift Dragon Radar (it is unknown if his main timeline counterpart's Power Radar is also able to detect Dragon Balls).[8] It is also called Power Radar in Dragon Ball FighterZ where it is revealed by Android 16 that it is unable to read Goku's power in his Super Saiyan Blue form indicating that it cannot detect Godly ki.[15]

In Dragon Ball Fusions, Bulma creates a robotic device called CCFDR49 "Ziku" who can Power Levels though with a greater range as it can detect ki emanating from other dimensions and timelines connected to the Timespace Rift created by Tekka and Pinich's wish.[16] Additionally, in Sub-Event: "Justice's Little Ally" if Tekka's Team decide to take on Android 20 & 19 to help Uub take them down after the Androids attacked Satan City, when confronting the pair, Android 20 refers to the Built-In Scouter device used by himself and 19 as the Detection System and wonders if it malfunctioning due to the high power levels of Tekka's Team, though 19 states there is no indication of this as his detection system is detecting the same levels as 20's.[17] This implies that 19 and 20's detection systems can communicate as 19 states his is detecting the same power levels as 20's and that it is unlikely that both would malfunction as 19 concludes that both are working properly as his system is detecting the same levels as 20's.

The World Martial Arts Tournament had developed a Punching Machine that would measure the strength of the fighters' punches (apparently in units of force) to replace the preliminaries in order to reduce injuries. This machine served the same purpose that a scouter would serve if they were used by the Tournament. However, it is not an accurate method of determining extremely powerful fighters and several of the Z Fighters had to pull their punches so as to not destroy the machine, though Vegeta refused to hold back and hit the machine with such force that he destroyed it. It is implied during the Peaceful World Saga that the World Martial Arts Tournament went back to holding preliminary matches as Pan and the other participants are noted to have made it pasted the preliminaries indicating the use of the Punching Machine was discontinued.

The wizard Babidi and his Majins have devices called Power Meters that calculate kili levels. However, the units of measure are much larger, being that Super Saiyan Full Power Goku's level was calculated to be around 3,000 kilis (and 300 kilis was enough to destroy a planet). The device was also used to measure the unusual power of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan at the World Martial Arts Tournament when he powered up in front of Kibito, though his power level was never stated. The most powerful of these devices have a limit of 9,000 kilis, so even they may not be able to measure beings like Majin Buu and a Super Saiyan 3. In various video games, Towa and Mira also use Kili as a form of measurement and seek out sources of Kili to empower Mira and revive the Demon Realm. Towa, however, apparently does not require any sort of device as being a scientist she can calculate the Kili level of those she can sense naturally though her calculations aren't always perfect. It is unknown if Towa has access to a Power Meters or similar technology designed to measure Kili.

Video Game Appearances[]

In Kyōshū! Saiyan and Gekishin Freeza, a scouter card can be used.

In Super Saiya Densetsu, the Z Fighters can purchase either green or red scouters to measure their enemies' power levels.

BarcodeBattlerZ2

Sukautā Batoru sold with a plastic scouter

Sukautā Batoru and Scouter Battle Taikan Kamehameha - Ora to Omee to Scouter are based on the usage of a replica scouter for the player.

Raditz Budokai

Raditz wearing his scouter in Budokai

Captain Ginyu's BP after Z-Battle (Super Sonic Warriors)

Information appearing on a scouter in Supersonic Warriors

In fighting games, they often appear on screen representing a health or energy bar. This trend can be seen in both Budokai and Supersonic Warriors. Also, in Supersonic Warriors, after the end of fight, a scouter is used to calculate the player's score.

CHIAOTZU LEGACY OF GOKU II SCOUTER DATA

Chiaotzu's bio as gathered by the scouter in The Legacy of Goku II

In The Legacy of Goku II, a scouter can be obtained from Bulma after obtaining the electronic parts she needs to build. Once obtained, her scouter can be used for the rest of the game. Bulma's scouter can be used to scan enemies, allies, neutral characters and animals. The scouter will give information about any character scanned by it (hit points, height and weight and character scan-bio). It also has a handy map feature, and at the near the end of the game, it can be upgraded (by Bulma) to work as a Dragon Radar. Also, all of the scouter's scanned information can be transferred and stored on a computer inside the Capsule Corporation. This computer can be used to view information on any character that has been previously scanned.

In Buu's Fury, Bulma's scouter is available at the start of the game.

In Budokai 3, in the game's story mode, scouters are used by characters like Prince Vegeta.

In Sagas, the scouter is used to represent the game's menu screens, and interestingly, it shows the power level of all the game's boss characters before they are fought (even characters like Frieza and Cell).

MysticGoanVsYardratGoku(SDBZ)

scouters in Super Dragon Ball Z

In Super Dragon Ball Z, green, red, or blue scouters appear at the start of every battle to show the B.P. of the two fighters.

In the Budokai Tenkaichi series, some characters (like Bardock, Raditz and Nappa) have a special type of lock-on they can use to detect an opponent even if they are hidden behind an object. However, if the user receives too much damage, their scouter is destroyed, and their lock-on suffers as a result (this is similar to what is seen in the manga and anime).

In Burst Limit, scouters appear in cutscenes and are worn by certain characters in gameplay.

In Attack of the Saiyans, a scouter is obtained after Raditz is defeated, and Bulma repairs the scouter: it shows the Power Level, the items the opponent can drop, the strengths and weaknesses, and the experience obtained.

In Dragon Ball Online, scouters can be equipped to Humans, Namekians, and Majins.

In Tenkaichi Tag Team, Scouter is an Ability type D-Item: when equipped on a character, the speed of its enemy search (when lock-on is disrupted) increases.

In Raging Blast 2, there are two items that can only be equipped to characters have a scouter: Study Scouter (a defense-type item which makes their Scouters indestructible) and Unequip Scouter (an accessory-type item which causes their scouter to disappear, yet its affects are still in-play as the Study Scouter item can be equipped with Unequip Scouter).

In Ultimate Tenkaichi, a scouter can be equipped to custom characters; the eye piece is red, and it assists in finding objects in the Hero Mode.

Ultimate Mission includes a scouter function, which uses the 3DS' camera to take a picture of someone's face in order to check their power; this allows the player to earn Zeni and other items and scanning someone with a high-power level makes Great Ape Vegeta appears as a boss fight.

In Battle of Z, Scouter is an item that increases Special.

Goku and Piccolo in the scouter of the Future Warrior

Goku and Piccolo being scanned by a scouter in Xenoverse

In Xenoverse, scouters are used by the Future Warrior both to read opponents' level, power (representing their health and ki), and moves as well as to find items or communicate with the rest of the Time Patrol. When worn as an accessory or when using an original character equipped with one, they change standard Search view into a Scouter view which takes on the color of the lens of the scouter being worn. Scouters are also used by various other characters such as Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta (Vegeta Saga), Bardock, Fasha, Appule, Raspberry, the Ginyu Force (sans Guldo), and 1st Form Frieza. The Capsule Corp. Robots used by the Time Patrol are all equipped with a green Scouter presumably to allow them to detect Ki artificially. Some members of the Time Patrol wear scouters including Hakusa, Taino, Percel and Ukatz. Scouters also appear as the first accessory item received by the player, given by Future Trunks. Other colors and models can be bought from the accessory shop in Toki Toki City. Tagoma's scouter appears as part of the Resurrection ‘F’ Pack DLC.

Turtz

Tutz wearing his red visor-shaped scouter in Dragon Ball Fusions

In Dragon Ball Fusions, scouters are worn by certain characters, and it is shown that Fusions will sometimes gain a scouter if one or more of their fusee is wearing one. In the case of EX-Fusion, sometimes the Scouters themselves will fusee creating a completely different model as show by Tutz and Ginyuman. Tekka can wear a scouter performing via EX-Fusion with certain characters that wear them, but it doesn't work with all characters that wear scouters. Additionally, Ziku has the ability to detect power levels allowing it to function as a scouter.

DBXV2 A Desperate History Saga Future Warrior (Female Saiyan) Scroll of Eternity (Alternate ''Future'' Timeline, Age 780)

Female Saiyan Future Warrior wearing their Golden Scouter in Xenoverse 2

In Xenoverse 2, scouters return and serve the same purpose they did in Xenoverse along with the addition of Dore's Scouter. New characters equipped with scouters include Turles, Dodoria, and Zarbon, though Dodoria and Zarbon only have them equipped to specific skillsets. In promotional material, the Future Warrior wears Tagoma's scouter which can be unlocked randomly in Parallel Quest 73: "Frieza's Siege Against Earth!. Additionally, there is a rare Golden Scouter model which appears as a Raid Quest reward. Certain members of Majin family created by Majin Buu via Fission are born wearing different scouter models.

It is revealed that the Time Nest's communications are linked to a Patroller's scouters or communicator if they do not wear a scouter. Communicators can be turned off according to Xeno Trunks though it is unknown if the same is true for scouter-based communication. However, the Time Nest's communications are vulnerable to being hacked as shown by Towa in Age 779 when she hacked in to lure Beerus and Whis to Age 852 which the Warrior is able to hear through their scouter (or communicator). However, Xeno Trunks and the Warrior later discovered Towa had used information from the Masked Future Warrior to access the Time Nest's communications indicating she was only able to get in due the brainwashed Patroller's assistance. While investigating the Capsule Corp time rift anomaly, Hakusa will mention to the Future Warrior that not even her customized scouter can read Vegeta's power level, indicating that if a person's power level extremely high a scouter may not be able to read it at all. While investigating the Frieza's Spaceship time rift anomaly, Guldo reveals to the Future Warrior that he wishes they had a scouter that was designed to fit him. Orlen also states he wishes they could make a scouter that wouldn't blow up in his face.

In Legends, Shallot can acquire different scouter models as wearable accessories. In addition to these models there are some characters such as Raditz and Nabana can utilize their scouters as part of their Special Quirk Skill Arts.

In World Mission, during the Power Level Battle Phase both teams PWR LV are calculated using scouters as a meter with the team with the higher PWR LV entering their Attack Phase. Raditz's scouter will beep when he finishes charging his Weekend in his Super Saiyan 3 form.

In Kakarot, scouters are used by the Saiyans and members of the Frieza Force. After Raditz's defeat, Bulma recovers and repairs his scouter. It is shown that she apparently repaired it a second time after it blew while reading Goku's power level during his fight with Vegeta, as she has it during the post Saiyan Saga intermission during the Sub Story "Mysterious Power Reading". During the Sub Story "Foreboding Fear", it is revealed that Attack Balls carry communications chips that apparently record scouter transmissions as Gohan finds a slightly fried chip from Raditz's destroyed pod and with Bulma's help recovers a broken audio file of the Saiyans talking about Frieza though Gohan and Bulma can't understand it due to the poor audio quality due to some of the Chip's circuits being burnt out.

Trivia[]

  • The first and last power level read by a scouter in the manga is "5". The first time occurs when Raditz lands at Earth and uses his scouter to examine a hostile farmer to see if he is any threat to him. The last time occurs when King Cold's soldier Iru reads Future Trunks' power level as "5" (as Future Trunks was hiding his true level); this is the last time a Scouter appeared on the main series.
  • In an interview, the author Akira Toriyama claims there are also dual-eye versions of these devices. Many years later, Tagoma and a member of Appule's race that was one of the 1000 soldiers were the first (and so far, only) characters shown to have this kind of scouter.
    • However Turtz wears one as it is a byproduct of his EX-Fusion. Additionally, the Future Warrior in Xenoverse 2 wears Tagoma's Scouter model in promotional material and in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 The Manga.
  • Bulma is one of the few good characters to use a scouter in the series. Tarble also wears one, until it explodes from reading Goku's power. Vegeta is the only Z Fighter to have ever used a scouter (outside of video games such as the Legacy of Goku series in which Scouters can be used by various Z Fighters). Goku's father Bardock also worn a Scouter. Goku technically wears one as well though it was actually Ginyu in control of Goku's body at the time when the Scouter (which belonged to Ginyu) was worn.
    • Time Patrol Trunks briefly wears Ginyu's Scouter after returning to his original body which had been stolen by Ginyu. Coincidentally it was a green lens scouter like the ones used by his mother and his father as a child. In The Breakers, he wears Ginyu's Scouter while in Ginyu's body after Captain Ginyu stole his inside a Temporal Seam.
    • Additionally, Xeno Trunks' uses a green lens Hero Scouter developed by the Capsule Corporation in one of the God Mission (GDM) Trailers for Dragon Ball Heroes.
  • In Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the third generation Scouter, New Model Scouter (Blue) is described as the model given to officers in the Frieza Force. Interestingly, Tagoma's Scouter visor is also blue, which given his rank as one of Sorbet's top henchman, it indicates the possibly that a Scouter's color (as well as model) may be used to identify a soldier's rank within the Frieza Force.
    • On a related note, a Scouters color tends to be related to a character's role in the story. For example, main villains/antagonists tend to wear red lens scouters as shown by Vegeta, Frieza, and Turles while their subordinates tend to wear green and blue lens scouters. Generally Green lens scouters are worn by the weakest henchman as shown by Raditz, Cui, and Dodoria, while the stronger henchman tend to wear blue lens as shown by Nappa, Zarbon, and Tagoma. However, the Ginyu Force, Ado and Cado, Cooler's Armored Squadron, and rank-and-file Combatants do not follow this pattern.
      • Team Bardock does not follow the pattern either however Bardock is a protagonist, and his squad mates are his comrades who are brutally murdered by Dodoria's Elite who in turn are minions of Frieza, the main antagonist in Bardock, Father of Goku special. Interestingly, protagonists tend to wear green lens scouters as Bardock, Fasha, Bulma, and both Future Warriors (as their default scouter is green in the Xenoverse series) all wear green scouters. Ironically the only scouter Goku ever wore was also green, though this was when Captain Ginyu was in control of Goku's body.
      • Turles' Crusher Corps. follows this pattern only for Turles, Rasin, and Lakasei as Turles wears a red lens while Rasin and Lakasei wear green lens. Amond, Cacao, and Daiz break the pattern as they all wear red lens like Turles.
    • However, it should be noted that according to Akira Toriyama, Scouter lens colors are generally selected for either aesthetic purposes or to fit the particularities of certain alien races eyes (as certain lens colors may be better than others depending on the species as their eyes may work differently than other aliens).
DBOPTO1

Boulean Frieza Force wearing a Scouter model from Age 1000 in Dragon Ball Online

  • In Xenoverse 2, Guldo mentions that there were no scouter modals capable of fitting him and wish someone would make one that could fit him, implying that Guldo and his fellow Boulean were unable to use Scouters at that point in time. However, Guldo's wish would eventually come true as by Age 1000 in Dragon Ball Online there were Scouter models that could be worn by Boulean members of the Frieza Force.
  • The Scouters used by Cheelai and Lemo apparently can only calculate up to 99,999 before its safety feature stops it to prevent Scouter overload. This suggests levels beyond 99,999 such as Broly's are unreadable to these newer models.
    • This would mean that a power level at 1 million or over 1 million would be unreadable. It should be noted that 2nd Form Frieza noted his power level was over 1 million during the Battle on Planet Namek, which along with Frieza's statements and Vegeta's reaction would presumably be considered extremely high, thus explaining Lemo's reaction to Broly's power level being unreadable as it would easily put him above the elite Ginyu Force and pre-training 1st Form Frieza.
  • Similar devices appear in other series not related to Dragon Ball:
    • Star Fox characters Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, and Wolf O'Donnell occasionally wear devices that appear similar to scouters.
    • The manga and anime series Yu Yu Hakusho has devices similar to scouters, but they are handheld. They are used by the demons that serve Yomi and were used to measure the power levels for the 5 demons Jin, Chu, Rinko, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru when they arrive at Yomi's palace. It is also used to read the power level for Kurama as well as that of Yomi's clone Shura during his growth development.
    • In Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, duels are viewed using devices called Duel Gazers, which resemble scouters.
    • In the anime series Ultimate Muscle, there is a character named Bone Cold wore an eyepatch that can read a person's energy level, similar to the scouter.
    • In the online game Lost Saga, an Epic gear looks like a Scouter.
    • In the MMORPG game Maplestory, players can purchase an item called a scouter in the special store. It is an eyewear equipment item but is just for looks. The eyepiece of the scouter is Pink.
    • In the game Scribblenauts, if a player were to type in "It's Over 9000", a scouter-like object would appear and could be worn on Maxwell's eye. It has no other purpose.
    • In the online game Wonderking, there is an accessory called the scouter, the eyepiece is red, and the description is "It's over 9000".
    • In the video game series WWE SmackDown! vs Raw, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, there is a head wear piece that closely resembles a scouter to be found in the Create-A-Superstar character creation mode.
    • In "Go, God Go", an episode from South Park, Otter army members are seen wearing scouters.
    • There is a show named The Amazing Spiez, where there are four kids working under Jerry's WOOHP wearing a green device, which is similar to a scouter.
    • The website Gaia Online has an item that resembles a scouter, though it is only an item to be equipped on your avatar.
    • The Facebook game Ninja Trick has an item which strongly resembles a scouter. It is called Galaxy Scanner and has a green eye component, which resembles the scouter's display.
    • In the game Epic Battle Fantasy 3, a character named Lance has a scouter and he notes that he got it from someone with a tail.
    • In Sonic X, Sonic and Tails both wear red scouter-like devices with a microphone attached on two separate episodes of the series.
      • In Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge the Bat can obtain an item called the Treasure Scope which looks very similar to a scouter.
    • In Beyblade V-Force, the members of Team Psykick use devices that resemble scouters in order to control their Cyber Bit Beasts.
    • In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, a device called the Aura Reader, which resembles a scouter, is used to identify Shadow Pokémon.
    • The Solid Eye in Metal Gear Solid is a device that looks like an eyepatch, but which actually has functions such as Bio Monitor.
    • In the game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, the victim in the third case, Glen Elg, wears a light-green radio on his eye that highly resembles a scouter.
    • In the 2013 film Iron Man 3, the device that Tony Stark wears on his head to control his armor remotely resembles a scouter.
    • In The Seven Deadly Sins, Merlin, the Boar's Sin of Gluttony has a magic item called Balor's Power Eye that reads the power levels of other characters within sight in numerical values.
    • In Halo: Combat Evolved, Marines have scouter-like devices attached to their helmets.
    • The video game WATCH DOGS features mini games known as "Digital Trips", and one such Digital Trip, "Conspiracy!", features the main character, Aiden Pearce, hunting down cyborgs hidden amongst humans. To identify the cyborgs, he wears a small scouter-like device (which features a black lens [that bears a large blue "N" on it] and an integrated bluetooth earpiece) over his right eye.
    • In the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, players can acquire scouter-like eye pieces known as "efficiency scanners" in a number of colors, including blue, red, green, and black.
      • The appearance of these Scouter-like eye pieces in a Star Wars game is fittingly ironic considering the fact that Akira Toriyama is noted to be a fan of Star Wars.
      • In the Star Wars: Visions short "Lop & Ochō", Lop uses a Scouter like device called "Side Glasses" which has a pink holographic lens that appears at the press of a button and can show her information as well as view into the infrared spectrum. Like many Dragon Ball characters, she wears it on the left side of her head.
    • In the anime and video game series Zillion, the three main characters wear headgear very similar to a scouter when on missions.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Turles refers to his scouter as a "portable computer" in the Bridge Entertainment version of Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, 1990
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, 2014
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Saikyō Jump #7, 2014
  4. 4.0 4.1 Herms' tweet on the Broly website. Twitter (August 10, 2018).
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dragon Ball Heroes, God Mission 1 (GDM1) Special Trailer
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Dragon Ball Heroes, God Mission 1 (GDM1) Trailer
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Dragon Ball Xenoverse, 2015
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, 2016
  9. 9.0 9.1 Daizenshuu 7, 1996
  10. "My number-one goal in coming up with it was because, if an opponent's strength could be seen as a number, it would be very easy for the readers to understand when I put it in the comic. However, I could foresee that it would be an inconvenience for me down the line, because if you knew a concrete number, then you could tell who would win or lose, so with regards to Goku & co., I decided that their power would change due to ki and could not be adequately measured. In addition, it is a very convenient item to create peril, since with enemies equipped with them, their location could become known, and they could be reported." - Akira Toriyama, Saikyō Jump #5, 2014
  11. Saikyō Jump #4, 2014
  12. "Dragon Ball Q&A 7", Dragon Ball Full Color, Saiyan Saga volume 2, February 4, 2013
  13. Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, 1990
  14. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Masters Pack DLC Android 16: "With your help, my system check procedure is complete. The power radar I am equipped with appears to be functioning correctly."
  15. Dragon Ball FighterZ, Android 16: "In his current state. My power radar cannot read Goku."
  16. Dragon Ball Fusions, 2016
  17. Dragon Ball Fusions, Sub-Event: "Justice's Little Ally" Android 20: "Who are you? And why do you have such high energy levels? Has the detection system malfunctioned?" Android 19: "No malfunctions indicated, Number 20. I am picking up the same levels."

Site Navigation[]

Advertisement