ATTACKS, TECHNIQUES, AND POWERUPS

This is far from a complete list. It lists only some of the more significant attacks/techniques and powerups, with a few of my personal favorites thrown in as well. They're all in alphabetical order.

BIG BANG ATTACK - This is a powerful attack in which the user stretches out their arm, charges for a few moments, then fires the blast - and when it hits, it makes a big bang. The attack is first used by Vegeta after he turns Super Saiya-jin in the fight against Artificial Human 19, and...well, after the attack, 19 was in quite a few pieces. As Vegeta performs the attack for the first time, he calls it Super Vegeta's Big Bang Attack. In Dragon Ball GT, Super Saiya-jin 4 Gogeta also creates a hybrid "Big Bang Kamehameha" that
is used against Ii Shenlon.
Used by: Vegeta

BUKU JUTSU - Well, this is the most popular technique in the world of Dragon Ball. Buku Jutsu is flight, and almost everyone uses it. The user simply concentrates their ki and floats on it. As you get more experienced, you can fly faster, and when you fly at really high speeds, you get an aura around you. It's presumed (by us, anyway) this aura sort of protects you, considering the high wind that would be constantly hitting you at such high speeds. It is used by almost anyone in the entire series who can fly, besides Artificial Humans, who don't have ki. So, how fast do the Z Senshi fly? Well, no exact speed is ever given, but we can deduce that by the time Gohan dons his Great Saiyaman disguise, he can fly about 3000 km/hour (or about 1800 mph). When he goes to school, a girl named Eliza asks him where he lives; when he tells her, she's shocked because it's about 1000 kilometers from the school. So then, when Gohan gets his Great Saiyaman costume, he states that he should be able to make it to school "in about 20 minutes" flying at top speed (which would, therefore, have to be about 3000 km/hour). This is in normal form, though. Who knows how fast he could fly in Super Saiya-jin 2...
Used by: Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten, Piccolo, Kamisama, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Chaouzu, Kuririn, Chibi Trunks, Mirai Trunks, Vegeta, Nappa, Raditsu, Zarbon, Dodoria, Nail, Dende, Freeza, Rikum, Butta, Jhees, Ginyu, Cell, Cell Jr., Yamu, Spopovich, Darbura, Majin Buu, Uub, Videl, and any other non-machine that can fly.

FINAL FLASH - Vegeta's second most powerful attack, it's similiar to a Kamehameha in some ways. Vegeta's wrists go together, then he holds his arms straight out in front of him, charges up, and a huge yellow blast flies towards his opponent. The attack's debut would have killed Perfect Cell if not for Cell's ability to regen, although it proves significantly less effective against Cell Jr.
Used by: Vegeta

FUSION - Fusion is performed by doing a short dance with someone of your size and power, and while doing it, yelling "FUUUU-SION HA!" It only lasts for 30 minutes though (less if the fusion transforms into Super Saiya-jin 3 or Super Saiya-jin 4), and after it wears off, the two fighters must wait another hour before they can fuse again. If the Fusion is performed incorrectly, a "mis-fusion" is the result (Fat Gogeta). The technique was taught to Goku by the Metamoru-jin, and is first used by Son Goten and Chibi Trunks in order to fight Majin Buu as "Gotenks." Later, Son Goku and Vegeta fuse into Vegetto through use of the Potara earrings, a stronger and permanent form of fusion. They are split back into separate people when Buu eats them, and never fuse again in the DBZ TV series. They do, however, use the Fusion Dance to create Gogeta in DBZ Movie 12 and one of the final episodes of DBGT.
Used by: Goku, Vegeta, Goten, Chibi Trunks, Kibit, Kaioshin, Rou Kaioshin

GENKI DAMA - Otherwise known as a Spirit Bomb in America, this is THE most powerful move in all of Dragon Ball. It nearly kills Vegeta and Freeza, and actually does kill Majin Buu. On the GT side of things, Ii-Shenlon is also killed by a giant Genki Dama formed with the life energy of beings across the universe. It was taught to Goku by Kaiosama, and the attack is performed when the user spreads their arms and gathers the energy from every being on the planet, in the system, etc. When the Dama is complete, the user can throw the ball at will. It's usually held in your hand, but later in the series, they get so big that they have to form elsewhere. Freeza's Genki Dama forms in outer space, for example. The attack is so powerful that if used incorrectly, it would destroy the entire planet. It can only be performed by those with a pure heart, so it can't be gathered
while Goku is a Super Saiya-jin, although if it's already complete, he can throw the ball after turning Super Saiya-jin.
Used by: Son Goku

KAIO-KEN - Kaio-ken is named after Kaiosama, and literally means "Kaio Fist." It doubles the user's strength, speed, vision, etc., and can be upgraded several times. When Goku uses it against Vegeta, he gets it up to level 4, and against Freeza, he constantly uses it at level 10, and eventually upgrades it to level 20. There really is no set way to perform this, although you usually sort of hunch over a little and bend your knees, then scream the attack name. This is typically how it's performed, but it doesn't have to be done this way, as it has been used in midair and just standing in other positions on the ground. It becomes obsolete after Goku turns Super Saiya-jin, but he does use it once during the Anoyo-ichi Budokai, a five-episode filler that never took place in the manga. The theory is that using Kaio-ken while a Super Saiya-jin would simply be too much power. It works like Super Saiya-jin 3, where Goku has immense power, but has so much that his energy is actually decreasing as he uses it. If he's already dead, he needn't worry about those sorts of limits which are only placed on a living body, and he's free to go wild, basically.
Used by: Son Goku

KAMEHAMEHA - The most popular move in all of Dragon Ball, this attack is performed by putting your wrists together, then putting them at your side and forming a ball of energy in your hands (one-handed Kamehameha's have been done before, though). Of course, it's always accompanied by the name of the attack, usually yelled slowly. The beam is usually blue, but not always. During the Saiya-jin saga, Son Gohan throws yellow Kamehameha's at Vegeta. Son Goku throws a LOT of red Kamehameha's during Dragon Ball GT. The attack isn't the most powerful in the series, but it's good enough to defeat Cell and blow a hole through Majin Buu.
Used by: Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten, Kamesennin, Kuririn, Yamucha, Cell, Majin Buu

KIENZAN - Known as the Destructo Disk in America, this is a disk of pure energy, able to slice through almost anything. It's great for low power fighters, as they can fight stronger opponents with this attack. Loses most importance later on, when the fighters get strong enough to withstand it. It hits Perfect Cell in the back of the head and does no damage, and Super Gohan 2 simply charges his ki and allows his aura to dissolve two of them at once. To create the Kienzan, the user just puts their hand above their head, palm up and form the disk. The trouble with this attack is that it nearly always misses, but Freeza finds a way around that, creating a modified Kienzan that follows the opponent. He sends a few of these at Goku, but after Goku dodges them a few times and the fight progresses a little more, they both forget about them, and one eventually hits Freeza from
behind, slicing him cleanly into a few pieces.
Used by: Kuririn, Cell, Freeza

KIKOHOU - Tenshinhan's best move, the Kikohou is still in use far into the series. It does a good job of pissing off Cell for a while, when Tenshinhan allowed the Artificial Humans to escape before 18 could be absorbed, and it also saves Mr. Satan and Dende by knocking one of Majin Buu's blasts away. The Kikohou is formed when the user puts their hands together in front of them, forming a triangle, and firing the blast. If done incorrectly, the Kikohou could kill both the target and the attacker, so it's to be used sparingly. The Kikohou shows up as early as Tenshinhan vs. Goku at the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, and it lasts until the end of DBZ, when it's used against Majin Buu. A modified version of Kikohou known as Shin Kikohou is what Tenshinhan used against Cell. Not really a whole lot different, just stronger.
Used by: Tenshinhan

MAKKANKOUSAPPO - The most powerful attack at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, this attack quickly lost its importance as soon as it's finished killing Raditsu and Goku. The name means Screw Beam of the Devil, and as you may have guessed, it's used by Piccolo. As you may have also guessed, the beam looks like a screw. It's a straight beam, with a corkscrew around it, and is performed by raising your two forefingers to your forehead, charging up, and then firing from those fingers. As was already mentioned, it's used to kill Raditz, but even as early as the fight against Nappa, it really has no effect. Cell also fields this attack, not even needing to block it when Piccolo fires it at him. The technique is known as Special Beam Cannon in the English dub..
Used by: Piccolo, Cell

MASENKOU - This attack is used a few times in the fight against Freeza, and nearly kills Freeza in his 3rd form. It's always a yellow color (at least that I've seen), and is performed with either one or two hands. The user can shoot from both hands just straight out, or from one hand, with the other hand holding the wrist of the performing arm. Not especially effective around the beginning of the series, and not often seen at the end, but it's a good attack during the Freeza saga at least.
Used by: Son Gohan, Piccolo, Mirai Trunks (only in the Trunks TV Special)

SHUNKAN IDOU - Literally meaning "Instantaneous Movement," Shunkan Idou is a teleportation technique that the Yardratto-jin know. To perform it, you simply raise your two forefingers to your forehead, lock onto a ki somewhere that you want to teleport to, and then go. In order to use Shunkan Idou, the user must lock onto a ki in the area, or it can't be performed. Kibit also knows a form of Shunkan Idou, but rather than locking onto ki, he can teleport to anywhere within the Kaioshin's sphere of influence.
Used by: Son Goku, Cell, Other forms used by: Kibit

SUPER SAIYA-JIN - Super Saiya-jin (or Super Saiyan) is the massive power up that can be attained by Saiya-jin. In order to reach Super Saiya-jin, you must be a Saiya-jin with a pure heart, and you must be extremely powerful. Goku's fighting power around the time of the Ginyu battle was enough to give him Super Saiya-jin potential, and he later did reach Super Saiya-jin. Besides these requirements, there's one last step to actually becoming a Super Saiya-jin - extreme rage. For Son Goku, it was the death of his friends and threats on Gohan's life, for Vegeta, it was his own limits, and for Mirai Trunks, it was Son Gohan's death (at least in the anime). Almost every Saiya-jin in the series reaches this stage. In Super Saiya-jin form, your hair goes straight up, or at least up and out in some way, turns gold, and your eyes turn green/turquoise. Any fighting aura you may have had
is now gold, rather than the previous color you'd get. As far as I know, there's no set boost in power you'll receive from turning Super Saiya-jin, but we do know that Son Goku went from 300,000 to 15 million the first time he turned Super Saiya-jin, and that just happens to be an increase of 50x his normal level.
Used by: Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten, Mirai Trunks, Chibi Trunks, Vegeta, Gotenks, Vegetto, Gogeta

ULTIMATE SUPER SAIYA-JIN STAGE 2 - This is a power up from Super Saiya-jin, not really Super Saiya-jin, but not Super Saiya-jin 2. It's not used much, but when people say something along the lines of, "He's surpassed Super Saiya-jin" they generally mean this form. It's used prior to the Cell Game, but is not used much after that. It's never actually stated that Gohan reaches this level, but though he never could have won, he does a pretty good job holding his ground against Cell before reaching Super Saiya-jin 2 to have NOT been using this form, unless his base power is just leaps and bounds beyond everyone else, so I have included him as one of the users of this technique, but know that we don't know for certain.
Used by: Son Goku, Vegeta, Mirai Trunks, possibly Son GhanGohan

ULTIMATE SUPER SAIYA-JIN STAGE 3 - This is only used once, when Trunks fights Cell (the fight where Cell first tells Trunks about the Cell Game). Trunks bulks up big time, his muscles increase in size about one thousand fold (well, not literally). It's really slow moving though, the only downside. Still, there's no denying the fact that Trunks looks really cool in this form. Though never used in a fight, Son Goku also displays this transformation to Gohan in the Room of Spirit and Time. Cell also has a technique that works along the same lines, but is not Super Saiya-jin.
Used by: Son Goku, Mirai Trunks

SUPER SAIYA-JIN 2 - The second level of Super Saiya-jin, this is beyond the Ultimate Super Saiya-jin levels. Fighting power rises immensely, and unlike Ultimate Super Saiya-jin Stage 3, speed goes with it. Gohan was the first to reach this level at the Cell Game, and after that, Cell just couldn't compete until he came back as Super Perfect Cell.
Used by: Son Goku, Son Gohan, Majin Vegeta

SUPER SAIYA-JIN 3 - This is the strongest form of Super Saiya-jin, but it uses up your power incredibly fast. It's not a good form to fight in for this reason, although at Full Power Super Saiya-jin 3, Son Goku would have most likely been able to defeat Majin Buu. Even if this form isn't suitable for fighting though, it looks cool. The hair grows really long, down to about the person's waist. The whole deal with hair and eye colors takes place, and the Saiya-jin's eyebrows disappear.
Used by: Son Goku, Gotenks

SUPER SAIYA-JIN 4 - From Dragon Ball GT, this is simply the most powerful Saiya-jin form. Son Goku becomes the first to reach it when Pan breaks through to him after he turned Golden Oozaru from absorbing light by looking up at the Earth instead of the moon. Even after Bebi Vegeta turns Golden Oozaru himself, he has a tough time with Super Saiya-jin 4 Goku, and when he's eventually forced out of Vegeta's body, Bebi doesn't even stand a chance against Goku. Vegeta later reaches this form with help from Bulma's Brutes Ray, which transforms him into a Golden Oozaru. His control over his Oozaru form allows him to undergo the transformation from Golden Oozaru to Super Saiya-jin 4, and after transforming, Goku and Vegeta fuse to create Super Saiya-jin 4 Gogeta, who doesn't have the slightest bit of trouble against Ii-Shenlon.
Used by: Goku, Vegeta, Gogeta

LEGENDARY SUPER SAIYA-JIN - This is from the movies only, and it's a little different from the above Super Saiya-jin. The Legendary Super Saiya-jin was Brolly, and he was created for one reason -- to fill a plot hole. The Legendary Super Saiya-jin was supposed to come around only once ever 1000 years, but then all Saiya-jin in the Z Senshi except for Pan and Bra (and they're not really Z Senshi) reached it. To right this, Brolly was created. Unlike Son Goku and the rest, Brolly was already a Super Saiya-jin the day he was born. That's not to say that he was born with golden hair and all the rest, but on the day of his birth, his fighting power was 10,000.
Used by: Brolly

TAIYO-KEN - Tenshinhan's greatest non-attack battle technique ever created, it's useable by many of the Z Senshi. The user raises both hands to their face and reflect the sun's light into their opponent's eyes, temporarily blinding them. Saves quite a few lives throughout the series, allowing a fighter in trouble to escape.
Used by: Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Son Goku, Cell

ULTIMATE FINAL SKILL - This is the suicide attack Vegeta uses to kill Majin Buu. He uses his own life as the source of energy, causing an enormous and powerful explosion that leaves behind an absolutely massive crater. After the attack finishes, Vegeta's a stone, hovering in the sky above his giant hole in the ground. The stone Vegeta sits in the air for a while, completely still, then crashes to the ground, shattering on impact. Unfortunately for him, Majin Buu regened and was perfectly fine after the attack finished.
Used by: Majin Vegeta

Written and compiled by Dash