How strong is Dende?

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Did Goku just called Mr. Satan an idiot?

 

[kriss-]

Probably around Piccolo's level when he first arrived on Namek.

 

[ahill1]

Merging with Dende had a high probability of deactivating the Dragon Balls though. Plus I can't imagine Dende would be flying all over Namek with no stamina issues if he was weaker than a chump like Satan.

Back on this topic, I found something interesting in the "Strength Checker":


Chapter: 502 (DBZ 308), P13.6
Context: Goku contemplates who to merge with
Goku: “De-Dende’s not a warrior…”


^It seems to imply Goku opted to not fuse with Dende because he was weak, rather than deactivate the Dragon Balls.

 

[Papasmurf]

Gohan actually offered Dende a spot in the Tenkaichi Budokai and he declined because he wasn't a warrior type, so I think that's all that means. There's no way he'd get offered if he was weaker than Roshi or Yajirobe.

 

[ahill1]

Gohan actually offered Dende a spot in the Tenkaichi Budokai and he declined because he wasn't a warrior type, so I think that's all that means. There's no way he'd get offered if he was weaker than Roshi or Yajirobe.

Yeah, but Goku didn't want to fuse with Dende because the latter isn't a warrior type. There's no "deactivating the Dragon Balls" IMO.

 

[Papasmurf]

He just doesn't think that combining with a non-warrior is worth it, which is why Tenshinhan (who is a skilled warrior for a human) was his first choice (had he not been fucked by Boo already). All other evidence points to Dende being nowhere as weak as Satan, who Goku seriously contemplates might actually weaken him had they fused. His hesitation to fuse with Dende when he leans toward a much weaker Mr. Satan tells me he might be thinking of the Kami-Piccolo situation as well imo.

 

[Nèro]

Stronger than Kami.

 

[Papasmurf]

Two wishes is better than one.

 

[SSJ2]

Physically weaker than Kenshi

 

[ahill1]

Well it just seems strange to me that he'd be referring to the Kami-Piccolo situation when he specifically said "warrior type", which implies he is not strong enough imo. If the line was just like Viz ("But can I combine with him...?"), then fine.

 

[Papasmurf]

The Z Kenshi can fight off Nappa

@ahill1 Every bit of previous evidence in the Freeza arc and even the Boo arc itself points toward Dende possessing at least some measure of battle power though. While Mr. Satan is consistently portrayed as so weak a gun can kill him and Videl can kick his ass any day of the week. I can only assume the preference for Satan isn't power related unless you think Dende is way weaker than Videl.

 

[ahill1]

@Papasmurf - But what's the purpose of the "not a warrior type" line?

 

[Papasmurf]

To show that he wasn't a warrior, so the fusion wouldn't benefit them in the long run compared to a warrior like Tenshinhan. Considering all power statements and comparisons prior show Satan to be waaaaay weaker than Dende, I can only assume what little power increase that may result from permanently fusing with Dende would be outweighed by the downsides (one being a possible deactivation of the DBs)

Then there's that statement where Goku says Satan at least knows some martial arts... which I fail to see how that would help when he's weaker than the bear bandit, but for some reason Goku (and Toriyama) seem to consider fighting skill to be important in this scene.

 

[Pocket-God]

I'd say his PL would be somewhere between Raditz and Nappa but I doubt he could beat either of them XD

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Maybe fusing with Dende would hurt his abilities and size as well.

 

[Animelover5487]

To show that he wasn't a warrior, so the fusion wouldn't benefit them in the long run compared to a warrior like Tenshinhan. Considering all power statements and comparisons prior show Satan to be waaaaay weaker than Dende, I can only assume what little power increase that may result from permanently fusing with Dende would be outweighed by the downsides (one being a possible deactivation of the DBs)

Then there's that statement where Goku says Satan at least knows some martial arts... which I fail to see how that would help when he's weaker than the bear bandit, but for some reason Goku (and Toriyama) seem to consider fighting skill to be important in this scene.

TBH, even in terms of fighting skill I find Mr. Satan to be half-assed at best. His best "technique" is just a hard punch with a fancy name. Real life pro martial artists would shit on him, besides in brute strength. Mr. Satan looks like he could make a good boxer though.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I don't think Dende can kick and punch very well at least Hercule has a basic styles of martia arts.

 

[Future Warrior]

I wouldn't put him in the thousands.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

He's weaker than Chouzu.

 

[sei'taer]

Not a warrior doesn't have to refer to power, especially when he's contemplating satan instead. It can also mean that dende has no fighting skill whatsoever.

low to mid thousands is just fine to explain anything he does on namek.