Life Link

Life Link is a special ability where two beings' life forces are linked together thus if one dies the other will die as well. This ability is a natural aspect of the Namekian Fission, though it connects the Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction to ensure the balance between destruction and creation.
==Overview==
The concept of Life Link was first introduced and mentioned during the Piccolo Jr. Saga in relation to Piccolo and Kami, though it actually predates the birth of the Nameless Namekian as well as his fission into Kami and King Piccolo as the Gods of Creation and Destruction are life linked to prevent an imbalance between the natural forces of creation and destruction and as a natural side effect of Namekian Fission. While both function similarly there are a few key differences and are unrelated to one another.
===Namekian Fission===
The first form of Life Link introduced in Dragon Ball is the result of a Namekian performing Fission. The only known case involves the Nameless Namekian who while attempting to remove the evil from his heart inadvertently performed fission splitting himself into good and evil halves. His good half became Kami the Guardian of Earth while his evil half became King Piccolo (Piccolo meaning "Another World" in Namekian and the word used to access the Nameless Namekian's spaceship). Due to their life link, it is implied that Kami was unable to stop his evil twin and prevented King Piccolo from harming the Earth's Guardian deity. King Piccolo terrorized the people of Earth with his Demon Clan made of his Mutant Namekian children. However fortunately for Kami and the Earth, Master Mutaito developed the Evil Containment Wave to imprison King Piccolo in an Electric Rice Cooker at the cost of his life, which stopped King Piccolo's reign of terror while allowing Kami to survive.
However, many years later, Emperor Pilaf found King Piccolo's prison and freed him in an attempt to take over the Earth. To make matters worse Pilaf informed Piccolo of the seven Dragon Balls which Kami had created, which King Piccolo sought to use to grant him eternal youth as he like Kami had grown old losing much of his power. King Piccolo succeeded in summoning Shenron and having his wish granted, killing Shenron to prevent the Dragon Balls from being used against him, though Kami had the power to resurrect Shenron but chose not to due to the many evil and selfish people who had sought them. Restored to his youth, it seemed that King Piccolo would conquer the Earth, but was stopped by Goku who's friends Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Master Roshi had died as a result of King Piccolo actions. However, Goku would have unknowingly killed Kami as well due to the life link, though fortunately King Piccolo chose to transfer his soul and memories into his final offspring, Piccolo Jr. who inherited all of his father's powers and abilities including the life link with Kami. This ironically allowed Kami to survive and resurrect Shenron allowing Goku's friends to revive all the victims of King Piccolo's recent reign of terror, in exchange for Goku agreeing to train under him and Mr. Popo to confront Piccolo Jr. at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. However Kami decided to join the tournament as well by possessing an Earthling named Hero and attempted to seal away his evil counterpart in a bottle with the Evil Containment Wave however Piccolo's reincarnation had developed Evil Containment Wave Reflection to counter the one technique King Piccolo feared which lead to Kami being sealed though he managed to free Shen before being sealed. Piccolo swallowed the bottle as he couldn't kill Kami and to ensure that Goku and his friends didn't free Kami who might try to convince one of them to kill the Guardian to stop Piccolo. However, Goku managed to retrieve the bottle and freed Kami who watched his student defeat Piccolo. However, Kami had resigned himself to kill Piccolo at the cost of his own life as a form of penance for allowing Piccolo to terrorize the Earth, but he was stopped by Goku who gave Piccolo a Senzu Bean as he saw Piccolo as a worthy rival, though Piccolo swore vengeance.
However, the arrival of Goku's older brother Raditz forced Piccolo and Goku to join forces leading to Goku's death. Due to the threat posed by the Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta, Piccolo and Kami became effectively allied and both would work to prepare for the coming threat as both had a premonition of their impending death. While Kami had Goku train under King Kai in Other World and oversaw the training of Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe, Piccolo decided to train Gohan, Goku's son. Kami suspected that the thought of his impending death may have drive Piccolo to want to leave behind some legacy even if it was in the son of his sworn enemy. Piccolo and Gohan bonded despite Piccolo's harsh training.
This inadvertently lead to their deaths as Piccolo sacrificed himself to shield Gohan from Nappa's Bomber DX, dying heroically and admitting that Gohan friendship had changed him. Having learned of his Namekian heritage from Nappa through Piccolo, Kami informed Mr. Popo of the Namekian Dragon Balls. After Vegeta's defeat, the remaining Dragon Team decided to go to Planet Namek and use the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive their fallen friends. Meanwhile, Piccolo journeyed to King Kai's Planet for training while Kami remained in Heaven. Piccolo later convinced Gohan and Krillin to revive him first as the wish would also revive Kami and the Earth's Dragon Balls. Piccolo. however also asked to be transported to Namek to join in the fight with Frieza. Piccolo encountered the warrior Nail who revealed that Piccolo would be far stronger than Frieza if he and Kami were fused, though offers to fuse with Piccolo instead due to Kami being revived on Earth. This increases Piccolo's power and reveals to him the benefits of fusion. While Kami's life link with Piccolo is a normally a critical weakness, it does have its benefits as King Kai was surprised to discover Kami was alive after Frieza used Destroy The Planet! to destroy Planet Namek, but Frieza held back resulting in the planet surviving for the moment. While talking about the Dragon Balls, Kami gave King Kai the idea to use the Dragon Balls to revive the victim of Frieza and his army in a bid to revive Guru and Porunga, so they could use the final wish to transport everyone to Earth, though Goku requested that he be allowed to remain to finish his battle with Frieza. Piccolo was transported to Earth with the revived Namekians. Though aware of fusion, Piccolo and Kami chose to remain unfused.
During the Garlic Jr. Saga, it is shown that the life link between them can effect them even if both are still alive as Piccolo and Kami are weakened if one of them is being attacked or injured. It is also implied by Kami several times that Piccolo would die if Kami died of old age, though the same cannot be said for Piccolo who inherited his father's eternal youth, though this is rendered moot by the fact that Kami still ages.
In Future Trunks' and Cell's Alternate Timelines, Future Piccolo died fighting the Androids leading to the death of Future Kami rendering the Dragon Balls inert preventing Future Bulma and Future Gohan from reviving their fallen friends.
During the Android conflict after being defeated by Android 17 & 18, Piccolo decided the time had come for him and Kami to fuse. Piccolo pointed out that the only reason Kami continued to exist was due to the Dragon Balls and that the Earth was in desperate need of their combined power. After observing the evil Cell who had traveled to the past to absorb 17 & 18, Kami agreed to fuse. Piccolo was selected to be the dominant fusee due to him being more suited for combat due to his abilities and eternal youth. After fusing with Kami, the life link between the two was negated as they effectively became the Nameless Namekian once more. As a result of their fusion, the Super Namekian Piccolo gained power on par with Android 17 and essentially the strongest Namekian in Universe 7, with Dende succeeding Kami as Guardian of Earth.
Though the byproduct of Namekian fission the Life Link can be pasted on to ones offspring if one of the Namekians reincarnates themself as King Piccolo did with Piccolo who was both his son and reincarnation. If one of the Namekians is a Dragon Clansmen tied to a set of Dragon Balls and the life link leads to their death the dragon balls will be rendered inert just as they would if the creator had been killed or died directly. Additionally, the resurrection of one will lead to the other being resurrected as well due to the link as shown when Kami was resurrected as a result of Piccolo being restored to life by the Namekian Dragon Ball. Ultimately the Life Link is negated if the linked pairs perform Namekian Fusion which effectively causes them to became a single being once more. Then, as long as one of them does not reincarnate, death is triggered by the life link whether the cause was natural (such as old age) or unnatural (such as dying in battle or other unnatural causes).
====Namekian Life Link Pairs====
*Kami & King Piccolo - The result of the Nameless Namekian's fission. Ended with King Piccolo's death and reincarnation into Piccolo who inherited the Life Link with Kami preventing Kami's death.
*Kami & Piccolo - The result of King Piccolo reincarnating himself. Resulted in the death of Kami when Piccolo was killed protecting Gohan during the Saiyan conflict. Resulted in Kami being revived when Piccolo was revived with the Namekian Dragon Balls. Ended when Piccolo fused with Kami during the Android conflict.
*Future Kami & Future Piccolo - The life link of Kami and Piccolo's future counterparts in both Future Trunks' timeline and Cell's Timeline. Resulted in Kami's death after Piccolo was killed fighting Future Android 17 and Future Android 18 in both timelines.
===Supreme Kais & Gods of Destruction===
In Dragon Ball Super, it is revealed that the Supreme Kai and Gods of Destruction of each universe are Life Linked to ensure a balance between creation and destruction as part of a set, and promotes partnership between a Supreme Kai and a God of Destruction due to their inability to kill one another without also being killed in the process.Dragon Ball Super chapter 16, "Future Trunks's Past" The Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction try to maintain this partnership, such as when Beerus recommended Whis accompany Shin to Zeno's Palace for damage control in fear of the possibility of Shin being killed and Beerus dying with him. The lengths of this partnership may extend to a God of Destruction coming to the aid of their Supreme Kai should they be in danger, provided they are capable of doing so (for instance, Beerus' habit of sleeping for long periods likely prevented him from aiding his Supreme Kais against the ancient threat of Majin Buu). Due to the potential existence of multiple Supreme Kais at once, a God of Destruction can consequently be linked with them all, and so long as one Supreme Kai survives, the link is safe.
The knowledge of the life link between Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction is a closely guarded secret in order to protect the generally weaker Supreme Kais from being targeted in order to eliminate the Gods of Destruction with them. Only the Supreme Kais, Gods of Destruction, their attendants, Angels, Zeno, and those closest to them such as Goku and Vegeta are aware of the life link. Partially connected to this Life Link are Angel attendants, who are rendered dormant if their respective Destroyer is killed and must wait until a new Destroyer is appointed.Dragon Ball Super episode 63, "Don't You Disgrace Saiyan Cells! Vegeta's Fierce Battle Commences!" The extent of this "inactivity" is unknown, the angel attendants whose universes were erased during the Tournament of Power were still able to act normally (though whether or not this was due to the Grand Minister's kindness is also unknown).
In Universe 7, during a collaboration meeting on the Sacred World of the Kai, the short-tempered Beerus chose to seal Old Kai in the Z Sword, as it would have been improper to destroy the Sacred World of the Kai or outright kill Old Kai himself due to their life link. In the following years, Beerus would become linked with fourteen generations of Supreme Kais, eventually becoming linked with five at once. During his slumber, Beerus nearly died along with most of them due to Bibidi and Kid Buu's assault, only surviving thanks to Grand Supreme Kai's sacrifice that saved Shin and resulted in Bibid's death, Innocent Buu's creation and subsequent sealing.
Much later, Beerus' life was threatened again during the Majin Buu Saga, though surprisingly, first due to Goku threatening to kill Supreme Kai for standing in the way of his duel with Majin Vegeta. Afterwards, Majin Buu was unsealed again, unleashing a massive conflict that resulted in Shin and Kibito fusing into Kibito Kai and Old Kai being freed and sacrificing his life to revive a then-deceased Goku, ultimately culminating in Kid Buu's defeat and the life link remaining between Beerus and Kibito Kai. After the events of Buu SagaDragon Ball Daima episode 1, "Conspiracy" or the Gods of the Universe Saga, Kibito Kai would be defused, and Beerus and Shin would maintain the life link.
Zamasu, a delusional Supreme Kai apprentice bent on wiping out mortal kind, used his knowledge of the life links to jumpstart Project Zero Mortals without much interference. In the unaltered main timeline, he killed his master Gowasu, resulting in Rumsshi's death, before using the Super Dragon Balls to become Goku Black. With the Time Ring, Black discovered Future Trunks' timeline, where Future Shin died during the battle with Future Dabura in the manga, resulting in Future Beerus also dying and Future Whis becoming inactive. This provided an ideal environment for Goku Black to begin Project Zero Mortals. After killing Future Gowasu (and by extension Future Rumsshi, Black recruited Future Zamasu, and the two exploited the life link by massacring the Supreme Kais, wiping out the Gods of Destruction and rendering the Angel attendants inactive in one fell swoop (though they dare not attempt attacking Future Zeno out of fear of being erased). The present Zamasu is destroyed by Beerus after some investigation and the Kai's true colors are revealed,Dragon Ball Super episode 59, "Protect The Supreme Kai Gowasu Destroy Zamasu!" and despite their best efforts, Goku Black and Future Zamasu are eventually defeated by Goku and his friends, and ultimately erased when Goku summons Future Zeno and the deity erases Infinite Zamasu along with the future multiverse in the mangaDragon Ball Super chapter 26, "The Decisive Battle! Farewell, Trunks!" or just Future Trunks' timeline in the anime. Afterwards, in the anime, Whis warns Future Beerus of the events leading to his and Future Shin's death, as well as the threat posed by the Zamases, allowing Future Beerus to prevent his demise via the life link (and presumably Future Gowasu and Future Rumshii's as well).Dragon Ball Super episode 67, "With New Hope in His Heart - Farewell, Trunks" In the manga, Future Shin is the one informed of these events by Future Trunks and Future Mai, ultimately resulting in the same outcome.
Like the Namekian version, the life link can be triggered by natural or unnatural causes though as both Gods of Destruction and Supreme Kai are extremely long lived, death by old age is rare and can be potentially mitigated if the life link is transferred to a younger candidate as Beerus is implied to have been life linked with others before Shin as he has held the position for at least 75 million years, long before Shin took on the role of Supreme Kai.
During the Tournament of Power, the life link is effectively rendered moot should the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of said Universe be erased due to rules of the tournament which causes said Universe to have its corresponding gods of creation & destruction erased along with their Team and their respective universe, though said Universe's Angel is spared and is not rendered dormant.Dragon Ball Super episode 80, "Awaken Your Dormant Fighting Spirit! Gohan's Fight!"
====Known Life Linked Pairs====
*Iwan & Anato - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 1.
*Heles & Pell - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 2.
*Mule & Eyre - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 3.
*Quitela & Kuru - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 4.
*Arak & Ogma - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 5.
*Champa & Fuwa - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 6.
*Beerus & Old Kai - The life link of the God of Destruction and a previous Supreme Kai of Universe 7. Was eventually transferred to Old Kai's successors.
*Beerus & Shin/Grand Supreme Kai/North Supreme Kai/West Supreme Kai/South Supreme Kai - The life link of the God of Destruction and the Supreme Kais of Universe 7. Reduced to a life link between Beerus and Shin after the other Supreme Kais were killed and/or absorbed. Was briefly transferred to Shin's Potara Fusion with Kibito.
**Beerus & Kibito Kai - The result of Shin's Potara Fusion with Kibito, though later undone when Kibito Kai used the Namekian Dragon Balls to undo the fusion causing it to revert to Shin. Negated in Dragon Ball Fusions whenever Kibito Kai and Beerus fuse into their EX-Fusion, Kibeer Kai. Also transferred to Kibicollo Kai whenever Kibito Kai and Piccolo perform EX-Fusion as well.
***Beerus & Kibicollo Kai - The result of Kibito Kai performing EX-Fusion with Piccolo in Dragon Ball Fusions. Negated whenever Kibicollo Kai defuses.
**Future Beerus & Future Shin - The life link of Beerus and Shin's future alternate timeline counterparts. Lead to Beerus' death when Shin was killed during the battle with Future Dabura in the manga or killed by Goku Black in the anime. Prevented in the new timeline created by Whis warning Future Beerus in the anime and by Future Trunks and Future Mai using the Time Machine to prevent Future Shin's death and warn him of the threat posed by the Zamases.
*Liquiir & Iru - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 8.
*Sidra & Roh - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 9.
*Rumsshi & Gowasu - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 10. Resulted in Rumsshi's death in the unaltered main timeline when Gowasu was killed by his apprentice Zamasu. Was later erased in the altered main timeline thanks to the intervention of Beerus, Whis, and Shin (as well as Goku in the anime) resulting in Gowasu death being prevented and Zamasu being killed. However, it was rendered moot when Gowasu and Rumsshi were erased along with their universe for Team Universe 10 being eliminated during the Tournament of Power.
**Future Rumsshi & Future Gowasu - The life link of Rumsshi and Gowasu's counterparts in Future Trunks' timeline. Lead to Future Rumsshi's death after Future Gowasu was killed by Goku Black. Presumably undone in the altered future timeline created by Whis in the anime or Future Trunks & Future Mai in the manga.
*Belmod & Khai - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 11.
*Giin & Agu - The life link of the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai of Universe 12.
==Trivia==
*One interesting aspect of the life link is that it makes the act of killing the person that one is life linked to a suicidal action as it would lead to both individuals dying. It is implied that this was why Kami was unable to stop King Piccolo, as killing his evil counterpart would result in his death leaving Earth without a Guardian. However, after his attempt to seal Piccolo failed, Kami resolved himself to kill Piccolo and die along with him as a form penance, though Goku and his friends managed to talk him out of it.
*Besides Shin and his fusions, Beerus has never been confirmed to be life linked with any of the other Supreme Kais of Universe 7 such as Elder Kai, though he must have been life linked with one of them before Shin became Supreme Kai (as Beerus has been a God of Destruction since 75 Million Before Age long before Shin) leading to him becoming linked with Beerus at some point presumably either before or after Kid Buu's slaughter of the other Supreme Kais of Universe 7, save for Shin, Elder Kai (who was sealed in the Z Sword), & Chronoa (who survived due to living in the Time Nest). Beerus likely chose Shin as he was younger than Elder Kai who Beerus does not get along very well as Beerus is responsible for sealing him in the Z Sword.
**Though it has never been confirmed it is likely that Beerus is unable to become Life Linked with the Supreme Kai of Time due to the unique nature of her position among the Supreme Kais.
*Interestingly, Kami and Beerus have both had several close calls and would have died as a result of their link had certain events or actions averted their linked counterparts deaths.
**Kami averted death when Master Mutaito chose to seal King Piccolo rather than training himself to become strong enough to kill the demonic Namekian, which he may not have believed was possible. He also survived King Piccolo's death ironically cause of King Piccolo reincarnating himself into his final son, which allowed Kami to revive Shenron which lead to all the deaths the Demon King and his clan had caused following his release to be undone. Additional Goku convinced Kami not to kill Piccolo (which would been suicidal act for Kami because he would die as a result of the life link) after his defeat. Kami also avoided death when Goku chose to die with Raditz as Piccolo would have likely died had Goku not chosen to sacrifice himself to defeat his brother. Additionally, Kami avoided the fate of his Future counterpart when Android 17 & 18 spared the lives of Piccolo and the other Z Fighters as they lacked the murderous personalities of their future counterparts.
**Beerus avoided death when Grand Supreme Kai was absorbed by Majin Buu while protecting Shin who was the only survivor present during Majin Buu's rampage. Beerus also avoided death when the revived Kibito healed Shin after his encounter with the released Innocent Buu and Shin's decision to leave the fighting to Gohan, Goku, and the Z Fighters. Beerus also avoided death when Old Kai convinced Shin to allow him to transfer his remaining life span to Goku instead after Shin had suggested transferring his life to Goku during the Majin Buu conflict. Old Kai also dissuaded Kibito Kai from confronting Majin Buu and Kibito Kai fleeing to Namek with Old Kai and Dende prevented the possibility of his potential death during the battle with Kid Buu on the Sacred Planet of the Kai.
*The Life Link results in a potential plot hole in Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone which Garlic Jr. and his henchmen the Three Lords attack and defeat Piccolo, believing they had managed to kill him and by extension Kami due to the life link, however Piccolo survived which ironically was actually fortunate for Garlic Jr. as had he and his men killed Piccolo he would not have been able to use the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality later in the film, which would have likely lead to his death at the hands of Goku who would have been alerted to both Piccolo and Kami's deaths when the Four-Star Dragon Ball turned to stone.
**It is unclear why Garlic Jr. would make such a potentially disastrous mistake of killing Piccolo and Kami before using the Dragon Balls to acquire immortality, though the most likely explanation is that he was unaware that the Dragon Balls would be rendered inert by Kami's death and was only aware of the life link between him and Piccolo, thus explaining his mistake.
*In the manga, Rumsshi has no compunctions in threatening to murder Gowasu should the meeting in the Zeno's Palace involve them being punished for Zamasu's rebellion despite being life-linked to the latter and would die if he goes through with the threat. Rumsshi either just gave an empty threat or lets his rage cloud his judgement in the heated of the moment.
*In Dragon Ball FighterZ, there is a special event cutscene with Piccolo, Tien, and Android 21 (Good) in which Tien and Piccolo inquire as whether the Good 21's life is linked to her evil counterpart with both assuring her that if that is the case then they can simply use the Evil Containment Wave to seal her so the Good 21 can survive. Good 21 thanks them for their concern but informs them that as far as she knows their lives are not linked indicating that 21's fission works like Majin fission as the two halves are not life linked. However, this fact is rendered moot by the fact that the Good 21 elects to die with her counterpart in order to protect her newfound friends from the possibility of her losing control of her hunger.
*The various sets of Dragon Balls is linked to the lives of Dragon Clan members tied to them (like Moori and Esca who are tied to the Namekian Dragon Balls) or responsible for their creation (like Kami and Dende). However, this partial life link is one way as killing the Eternal Dragon will not result in the death of one who's life is tied to said Eternal Dragon's particular set of Dragon Balls as shown when Shenron was killed by King Piccolo, Kami did not die. Ironically, King Piccolo was fortunate that this was the case as had Shenron been fully life linked to Kami, it would have inadvertently resulted in King Piccolo's own death, due to his own life link to Kami.
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