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| by Toei Animation |
Piccolo Jr.’s most powerful attack—the Hyper Explosive Demon Wave—was used during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, completely destroying Papaya Island’s surface and generating a massive shockwave that created a tsunami strong enough to wipe out nearby ships.
But how powerful is this technique, exactly? We already calculated the destructive output of King Piccolo’s Demon Wave, so now it’s time to analyze the enhanced and amplified version used by his successor.
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| Dragon Ball manga Chapter 190 |
The first thing we need to determine is the size of Papaya Island. Between the information shown in the manga and the official material, the only solid detail we have is that the tournament ring is located at the island’s center. Because of this, we must estimate the island’s overall size using the available visual references.
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| Dragon Ball manga Chapter 134 |
The key detail that helps us estimate the island’s size comes from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. During Goku and Tenshinhan’s fight, both leave the ring, and the announcer follows them using a small rocket device. While he is airborne—at an approximate height of 20 meters above the arena—the coastline can be seen on the horizon.
The formula used to determine the distance to the horizon is:
d = √(2 × R × h)
Where:
- d is the distance to the horizon
- R is Earth’s radius (approx. 6,371 km or 3,959 mi)
- h is the observer’s height above the surface
Substituting the values into the formula:
d = √(2 × 6,371,000 × 20) = 15,963 meters (≈16 km)
This gives Papaya Island an approximate diameter of 32 km and a total area of around 804 km²
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| Dragon Ball manga Chapter 190 |
As shown in the manga, the shockwave wipes out everything on the island’s surface, leaving Papaya Island practically barren. This means the blast overpressure must be at least 20 psi. Unfortunately, NukeMap cannot be used here, since its maximum yield limit is 100 megatons of TNT—lower than the output of Piccolo Jr.’s technique. Therefore, we must rely on the following equation:
Glasstone & Dolan / Kingery–Bulmash airblast formula
Air-blast radius (near-total fatalities):
Y = (x / 0.28)³
Where:
- Y is the yield in kilotons of TNT
- x is the blast radius in kilometers
- 0.28 is an empirical constant corresponding to a 20-psi overpressure
Substituting our values:
Y = (16 / 0.28)³ = 186,588 kilotons of TNT (≈186 megatons)
This value should be considered a minimum, since the explosion depicted appears even larger. Still, the result fits the narrative scale of the story and remains consistent when compared to the King Piccolo Demon Wave, which we previously estimated at around 20 megatons of TNT.
Piccolo Jr.’s Hyper Explosive Demon Wave stands as one of the most destructive techniques in early Dragon Ball, far surpassing the original Demon Wave used by King Piccolo. By estimating the size of Papaya Island and applying real-world blast-pressure formulas, the attack reaches a minimum yield of 186 megatons of TNT, powerful enough to erase the island’s entire surface in a single blast. This places Piccolo Jr.’s technique firmly within the high-megaton range and highlights the dramatic escalation of destructive power leading into the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.
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