Sneak Attack

A sneak attack is a type of attack used by several characters in the Dragon Ball series. It is used to deliver severe damage to off guard opponents.
==Overview==
Sneak Attacks are a type of attack aimed at catching a foe off guard, and are usually done from behind an opponent, when the opponent has their guard down, or to stealthily attack someone who is unaware that the attacker is even present.
Sneak attacks are some of the most lethal attacks in the series, as if the victim does not see them coming, they could take severe damage from the attack - even if they possess a power level much greater than the attacker. This makes sneak attacks the most effective attacks in the series.
Notable examples of the effectiveness of sneak attacks are when it was said that Goku (who seemingly had a power level of 5,000) could take down Recoome (who had a power level of around 40,000) in a single blow, when Vegeta (who had a power level around 530,000) thought he could kill second form Frieza (who possessed a power level over 1,000,000) with a single energy wave (though Frieza had his guard up so the attack failed), and when Sorbet's ray gun was able to take down Goku (who was in the Super Saiyan Blue form) in one blast.
==Usage==
During the fight with Nappa, Chiaotzu tried to Self Destruct to kill the elite warrior. It was stated that despite the huge power gap between them (610 and 4,000), if Nappa hadn't raised his guard at the last moment, the explosion might have severely injured him."The Power of Nappa Later, Tien tried to kill Nappa with a Spirit Tri-Beam, but Nappa managed to block it at the last second, causing only his armor to be destroyed.Dragon Ball Z episode 25, "Sacrifice"
During the battle with Great Ape Vegeta, Yajirobe managed to cut off the Saiyan's tail by attacking him when he was unaware Yajirobe was even on the battlefield.Dragon Ball Z episode 33, "Hero in the Shadows"
When Dodoria attempted to kill Dende, Gohan flew in and attacked him with a surprise kick, knocking the pink behemoth into a Namekian house. Before Dodoria could retaliate, Krillin came in and attacked Dodoria as well, knocking him down and giving them a chance to flee. Dodoria chased after them and caught Krillin by the leg, but stopped to gloat, giving Krillin the opportunity to stun Dodoria by headbutting him in the face while he was off guard.Dragon Ball Z episode 48, "The Hunted"
In order to defeat Monster Form Zarbon, Vegeta throws dirt into his face, catching the general off guard and allowing Vegeta to deal a rapid blow of attacks to him - he was greatly injured by the attack and his strength dropped.Dragon Ball Z episode 57, "Gohan, the Hunted" Vegeta later used a sneak attack on Recoome - when the Ginyu Force member thought he was unconscious, Vegeta blasted him directly in the face with an energy wave, doing a great amount of damage and knocking him back. When Recoome attempted to finish Vegeta with his Recoome Eraser Gun, Krillin attacked him with an unexpected kick to the head, causing Recoome to shut his mouth quickly and doing a great amount of damage to him.Dragon Ball Z episode 64, "Recoome Unleashed" Later, while Recoome had his guard down and was preparing his Recoome Fighting Bomber, he was heavily hit in the stomach by Goku and knocked out, Burter then stated that the only reason that Recoome was defeated was because he was hit with his guard down - showing that even though they believed Goku had a power level of 5,000, even this low power level would be enough to defeat Recoome (who possessed a power level of around 40,000) in one blow with an unexpected attack; however, it should be noted that Vegeta pointed out that Goku hit Recoome with a single powerful attack, and that he increased his power during the moment he attacked so instantaneously, that Burter and Jeice's scouters failed to detect the increase at all.Dragon Ball Z episode 66, "Goku's New Power"
Captain Ginyu later attempted to catch Vegeta off guard twice using his Body Change technique. It almost worked; however, Goku managed to stop the attack both times: First by flinging himself in between Vegeta and Ginyu (restoring the latter and Goku's respective forms in the process) and later by throwing a Namekian Frog in between the attack and Vegeta.Dragon Ball Z episode 73, "Gohan, Defeat Your Dad!!"Dragon Ball Z episode 74, "Captain Ginyu... The Frog"
During the battle against second form Frieza, while Frieza had his back turned, Vegeta attempted to kill him with a Galick Gun; however, Frieza had his guard up, as he saw the move coming, and was unaffected by the attack.Dragon Ball Z episode 79, "Gohan Attacks" Piccolo later attacked Frieza off guard while he was fighting Goku in his final form at 50% power, sending the tyrant flying into the ocean with a Sonic Kick, despite the massive power difference.Dragon Ball Z episode 93, "Keep the Chance Alive"
Later during the battle with Mecha Frieza, Super Saiyan Future Trunks caught the tyrant off guard by attacking him with a blast that was not intended to hit him, allowing the Saiyan-Human hybrid to attack Frieza from above.Dragon Ball Z episode 120, "Another Super Saiyan?" King Cold then attempted to attack Future Trunks with a quick blow; however, Trunks saw the attack coming and blocked it.Dragon Ball Z episode 121, "Welcome Back Goku" It being a sneak attack was made more apparent in the manga, as Gohan implies that Frieza was only operating at half-power when Future Trunks killed him, while the anime depicted Frieza as going all out.
Android 16 managed to land a sneak attack on Imperfect Cell as the latter was about to absorb Android 17 to enter his Semi-Perfect state by sneaking up to him, putting his hand on his shoulder, and then punching him in the face when he turned, with the blow being powerful enough to force Cell to let go of his quarry for the time being.
While not an actual sneak attack, Vegeta was implied to have attempted to bait Semi-Perfect Cell into doing one against him, where after taunting him with sarcastic responses of doing lots of exercises and drinking juice, he turned his back towards the bio android to "make things easier." Cell then tried to blast him, but Vegeta kept his guard up.
While Goku and Gohan were laying down in the grass and relaxing, Krillin threw a rock at Goku to test him. Goku had his guard down, so the rock managed to hurt him, surprising Krillin.Dragon Ball Z episode 169, "No Worries Here"
Upon being revived in his Super Perfect form, Cell attacked Future Trunks with a Full Power Death Beam while he had his guard down, instantly killing him.Dragon Ball Z episode 188, "A Hero's Farewell" During the final Energy Clash between Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and Super Perfect Cell, Vegeta managed to hit Cell with an unexpected attack, catching the Bio-Android off guard and allowing Gohan to finish him off. In the anime, Piccolo and the other Z-Fighters attempted to utilize sneak attacks on Cell beforehand in an attempt to buy Gohan enough time to overpower Cell. However, Cell kept his guard up and proceeded to force them away by powering up, also proceeding to regain the advantage whenever Gohan attempted to capitalize and gain the upper hand.Dragon Ball Z episode 191, "Save the World"
Pikkon managed to take Cell off guard and defeat him with two blows by attacking while Cell was not even aware of his presence.Dragon Ball Z episode 195, "Warriors of the Dead"
During the Majin Buu Saga, when Vegeta agreed to stop fighting Goku so they could deal with Majin Buu, Goku turned around to take out his bag of Senzu Beans, and Vegeta took advantage of this and delivered a heavy punch to the back of Goku's head, knocking him out cold for hours, despite the two being very equal in power. Later, when Buu had Vegeta incapacitated, Super Saiyan Trunks hit Buu with a surprise high-velocity kick, sending the Majin flying a far distance. Although not technically not an actual sneak attack, Goku proceeded to test Old Kai's claim of possessing fearsome powers in a similar manner to Krillin's earlier throwing a rock at him by lobbing a relatively weak ki blast (according to Gohan, his younger brother Goten could deflect it easily) at him while the Kai was doing stretches, only to end up burning his face and knocking him down flat, surprising both Goku and Gohan, causing Old Kai to clarify that his fearsome powers weren't in terms of raw physical power, but the ability to draw out others' latent abilities.
In order to keep Goku from learning Monaka was far weaker than him, Chiaotzu uses his telekinesis to restrain Goku while he was off guard. Due to being taken off guard, Chiaotzu was able to briefly restrain him, though he quickly broke free.Dragon Ball Super episode 42, "A Chaotic Victory Party! Showdown at Last?! Monaka vs. Goku!"
During the "Future" Trunks Saga, Future Mai attempted to shoot Goku Black from a distance with an energy bullet. Despite his great power, it was believed that she could kill him if she shot him in the right place while he was completely off guard. However, she missed, and the bullet only hit Black's Potara, though due to being taken by surprise, the force was still enough to knock Black down.
In the Universe Survival Saga, three bandits managed to catch Goku off guard and shoot him with a Gun, slightly injuring him and leaving a wound. Krillin was also taken off guard and slightly hurt by a bullet from regular human criminals. Goku continued to let his guard down during the tournament, allowing fighters like Nink to try and get the drop on him. Before Nink could jump off the stage and eliminate them both, Goku managed to power up and escape from his Bear Hug, causing only Nink to be eliminated. Hit later tried to attack Jiren immediately after his fight with Goku, hoping to catch him off guard, but Jiren managed to block the punch, showing that he is not prone to dropping his guard right after a fight like most warriors. This was further shown when Catopesra tried to attack Jiren after he started to meditate while planning to sit out the rest of the tournament, only for his attempt to be stopped by Jiren's Energy Shield.
In the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, Moro tried to ambush Goku several times in mid-battle but failed miserably due to his Perfected Ultra Instinct allowing him to react and respond to every attack, even if he let his guard down. After being given a Senzu Bean and was ask by Goku to surrender since he has no chance of winning, Moro attempted to kill Goku with a Ruthless Blow, but this attack didn't work at him as his Ultra Instinct allowed him to grow studier in case he was sneak attack, Making Goku called Moro a "Sneaky Coward" for his attempt and trickery after the latter broke his own hand.
During the Baby Saga, Trunks managed to knock Golden Great Ape Baby off his feet by hitting him with a surprise energy blast.
Later, in the finale of the Shadow Dragon Saga, Trunks was able to send Omega Shenron flying by hitting him with a kick he did not see coming.
==Film Appearances==
In Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, After Goku is swatted by Staff Officer Black with the giant robotic suit called "Battle Jacket" that knock him unconscious and was about to be finish by the evil mad man, Android 8 shows up in time and manage to knock him at the other side, Causing Black to lose his balance and damage his own gigantic robotic suit upon firing too late.
In Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, when Full Power (Hera Clan) Bojack had Gohan in a bear hug, Goku used his Instant Transmission in order to hit Bojack with a surprise attack, damaging him while also knocking him far away, and causing him to release Gohan.
In Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming, Videl performs her Moonsault Kick sneak attack on Super Saiyan Broly while he is distracted by the arrival of Gohan hitting Broly in the cheek, however the Legendary Saiyan was unharmed by the kick due to noticing it at the last second. Similarly, Videl used up her remaining strength to throw a crystal she had procured earlier at Broly (who by that point had transformed into the Legendary Super Saiyan) as he was busy crushing Gohan to death, although Broly noticed it at the last second and deflected it, shattering the crystal on his forearm. Gohan likewise managed to capitalize on the distraction by kneeing Broly in the gut in anger at witnessing Videl passing out, which affected Broly enough to force him to let go and form a defensive position as Gohan backflipped away from the deranged Saiyan.
In Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, in order to demonstrate how lethal lowing one guard down was, Whis attacked Goku with a blow to the side when Goku believed they were merely talking - causing incredible pain to the Saiyan. Later, when Super Saiyan Blue Goku had his guard down during his battle with Golden Frieza, Frieza had Sorbet shoot Goku with his ray gun, dealing critical damage to the godly Saiyan.
==References==
Category:Techniques
Category:Offensive techniques
Category:Supportive techniques
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Category:Dragon Ball Heroes
Category:Power Levels