Dabura being "over 4000" kiri

[ahill1]

Well yeah, I think you could say that future Trunks (post Kaioshin's training) is stronger than Boo saga SSJ Goku based on their respective mastery of the sword... but then we have Dabura receiving SSJ2 Trunks' blows fairly well, while it'd be a stretch to say Dabura from the Boo arc could handle hits stronger than Majin Vegeta SSJ2 with no apparent injuries... as those hits were enough to visibly damage someone if his own power, SSJ2 Goku, quickly. So it seems Dabura gained some considerable amount of power in the future, be it by training or meditation.

Why not? One could adopt a gap similar to that of Goku vs. Cell between Vegeta and Dabura.

Vegeta was already considerably stronger than Dabura even before the Majin charm, so the gap between post Majin Vegeta and Dabura would be pretty significant. Goku was already bleeding and injured from Majin Vegeta's first hits and the Boo's meter easily reached maximum capacity, so would Dabura be laughing post being hit twice by an opponent we regard as above Majin Vegeta? Well, not the present-timeline Dabura, at least.

 

[Tapion]

Vegeta was already considerably stronger than Dabura even before the Majin charm

This is what your belief hinges on, and it isn't really a necessity if one subscribes to the idea Dabura was holding back against Gohan, like I do. Considering present Dabura still scoffed at a power great enough that Gohan felt he would need to put out all of his true power to stand a chance, and Boo performed a power-up so big that it left even Goku and Vegeta in the dust before attacking Dabura, I think one can argue Dabura isn't far from pre-Majin Vegeta.

 

[ahill1]

Vegeta was already considerably stronger than Dabura even before the Majin charm

This is what your belief hinges on, and it isn't really a necessity if one subscribes to the idea Dabura was holding back against Gohan, like I do. Considering present Dabura still scoffed at a power great enough that Gohan felt he would need to put out all of his true power to stand a chance, and Boo performed a power-up so big that it left even Goku and Vegeta in the dust before attacking Dabura, I think one can argue Dabura isn't far from pre-Majin Vegeta.

There isn't a solid case for Dabura to be holding back though. Holding back to a level he could barely damage Gohan is stupidity. Dabura arguably couldn't sense chi, so he was judging Boo by appearence. Boo couldn't sense chi either, so his power went up likely due to his anger, not due to thinking that was what was needed to deal with Dabura.

 

[Tapion]

Something worth noting:

"Come on! How do you say it...uh...um.....Vegeta! Steal the energy from those guys! Fight them as you see fit! It's alright to kill them after that, of course."


Viz:

This implies that killing someone instantaneously is not as effective in collecting energy as having a drawn-out fight.

 

[ahill1]

Didn't Dabura try to kill Gohan with the sword though?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

This is what your belief hinges on, and it isn't really a necessity if one subscribes to the idea Dabura was holding back against Gohan, like I do. Considering present Dabura still scoffed at a power great enough that Gohan felt he would need to put out all of his true power to stand a chance, and Boo performed a power-up so big that it left even Goku and Vegeta in the dust before attacking Dabura, I think one can argue Dabura isn't far from pre-Majin Vegeta.

Whilst I'm open to the idea of Dabura being significantly stronger than what Galu estimated, it's worth noting that official sources seem to disagree. The Daizenshuu, El Manga Legendario and several video games cite Dabura as having power equal to Cell and his edge being from his magic rather than in power, and it's not as though he was using less effort to fight Gohan than he did to kill Kibito as Goku would definitely catch onto that. I suppose there is anime filler in which Trunks comments on Dabura's Ki increasing when powering up against Boo, though using filler in which Dabura's Ki can actually be sensed seems pretty questionable.

 

[Tapion]

This is what your belief hinges on, and it isn't really a necessity if one subscribes to the idea Dabura was holding back against Gohan, like I do. Considering present Dabura still scoffed at a power great enough that Gohan felt he would need to put out all of his true power to stand a chance, and Boo performed a power-up so big that it left even Goku and Vegeta in the dust before attacking Dabura, I think one can argue Dabura isn't far from pre-Majin Vegeta.

Whilst I'm open to the idea of Dabura being significantly stronger than what Galu estimated, it's worth noting that official sources seem to disagree. The Daizenshuu, El Manga Legendario and several video games cite Dabura as having power equal to Cell and his edge being from his magic rather than in power

Most guidebooks are probably under the impression that the 'Cell' in question is Super Perfect Cell. In which case, Dabura being about on par with him wouldn't contradict my view. Not to mention that being "about equal" and being "slightly stronger" aren't mutually exclusive; Piccolo was referred to as being "on par' with 17 twice throughout the fight, but he was a fair bit stronger than him:

Chapter: 368 (DBZ 174), P5.5-7
Piccolo: “Your speed is pretty good...But your punch lacks weight.”

 

[Captain Cadaver]

You have SPC being a fair bit ahead of SS2 Gohan though. Considering the way Goku talked about Gohan in the fight, it seemed as though the outcome wasn't entirely clear despite his rustiness.

Chapter: 455 (DBZ 261), P10.5-6
Context: as Gohan fights Dabra
Vegeta: “Damn it…this is pissing me off! Alright, I’ll finish this!”
Goku: “Don’t, Vegeta! Let [Gohan] do it. It ain’t like he’s completely losing.”

Seems very difficult to imagine a rusty Gohan not completely losing if subscribing to Dabura ~ SPC >/>> SS2 Gohan (no rage).