Vegeta's Forced Spirit Fission Explained: The Yardrat Technique That Can Undo Fusion

Forced Spirit Fission is the technique Vegeta learned on planet Yardrat during the Moro arc of Dragon Ball Super, and it's one of the reasons I think he's one of the most dangerous characters ever. Land one blow with it and, in theory, Vegeta can break energy apart at a submolecular level, take power away from an opponent and even undo a fusion.

I held off on writing about this mysterious Yardrat technique for a while, but the things you can do with Forced Spirit Fission are wild. Vegeta's never been this deadly. Later in this piece I'll get to what this means for some of the biggest villains from Dragon Ball Z, because in theory he wouldn't even have to fight some of them.

Forced Spirit Fission grows out of the Yardrats' spirit control

Forced Spirit Fission was discovered and created, presumably, by the Yardrats. To really understand it, you have to understand the Yardrats' mysterious ways, starting with spirit control. Spirit control is a modified version of ki control, or energy manipulation, that the Yardrats have essentially mastered. With it they tap into very bizarre and unique abilities that go beyond firing ki blasts and other simple techniques.

Instantaneous movement, cloning yourself, gigantification (where you're actually modifying molecules in your own body), healing and Forced Spirit Fission all fall into this category. The Yardrats have the most diverse and unique moveset of any race in Dragon Ball, with the possible exception of the angels.

Spirit control is very much derived from the Buddhist monks' sort of ability to sense things and become one with the elements. If you master spirit control, or at least learn to do it more effectively, you can detect energy at greater distances, manipulate energy with greater proficiency, and do things with your own molecules that seemed impossible. Take instantaneous movement, the teleportation of instant transmission: you have to move your particles faster than light and faster than sound to arrive instantly at the next location and reform yourself into matter. Once you can reach even deeper into yourself through spirit control, you can advance to Forced Spirit Fission, one of the Yardrats' most advanced techniques.

Vegeta went to Yardrat because Moro's magic went beyond ki control

As the battle with Moro raged on, Vegeta felt he needed to go and train. While Goku was training with the angel, Vegeta was on Yardrat learning spirit control and Forced Spirit Fission. The issue with Moro is that he's a magician. Moro knew how to use magical abilities that go beyond ki control.

Spirit control is sort of a version of magic; it just has a different name. It's very interesting how the two are kind of polar opposites, specifically when it comes to Forced Spirit Fission.

One blow can break things apart and put them back together

When you use Forced Spirit Fission, you target an opponent, and if you can physically touch them with a blow, you can not only hurt them like any other blow but also manipulate the particles around them. That gives you the power to break things apart and put them back together at a submolecular level. That's why Vegeta can take Moro's energy, which Moro stole from other people.

Vegeta can also manipulate genki, the way Goku can with the Genki Dama, the Spirit Bomb. With Forced Spirit Fission the two kind of work together, but they're a bit separate. In theory, if Goku fired a Spirit Bomb at Vegeta, Vegeta could tear it into pieces with Forced Spirit Fission. That's how strong this is. We haven't seen it yet, but based on what we know about the technique, I believe he can do that. He can also add energy to it, which we literally saw him do at the end of the Moro arc.

Against Moro, Vegeta was able to take power away from him, something Moro had been able to manipulate from the very beginning of the arc.

Forced Spirit Fission can undo fusion, and that changes old matchups

The statement was made in the Moro arc that Forced Spirit Fission can undo fusion. The series doesn't specify whether it can undo every type of fusion, whether Potara, Namekian or Metamoran, but it's implied he can undo any fusion. That's kind of freaky.

So if Vegeta faced off one on one against Kefla or Gotenks, he might be able to split them before the time limit runs out, in theory. And if the Majin Buu from the Buu saga, the one that absorbed Gotenks, Gohan and Piccolo, faced off against this version of Vegeta, Goku and Vegeta would never have had to go inside him to rescue those characters. In theory, Vegeta could have pulled Gohan, Piccolo, Gotenks and anybody else Buu absorbed directly out of him by landing one blow.

This is one of the most dangerous techniques in the series because of Vegeta's ability to manipulate energy, on top of the fact that, at the time I wrote this, in the Granolah arc, he knew how to manipulate God of Destruction energy. In my words: "this guy vegeta is scary."

How Vegeta used it to separate Moro from the Earth

During the climax of the Moro arc, after Moro had absorbed the Earth, Vegeta used Forced Spirit Fission to punch the ground, shrink Moro and separate him from the planet. Granted, he couldn't do it with just one punch, and Moro's crystals were the source of his power.

Still, Vegeta was able to weaken Moro enough and then use the energy from the fighters, as well as Uub, to give Goku the power boost to deliver the final blow and defeat Moro.

Goku couldn't learn it, and I see the two Saiyans as yin and yang

It's interesting that Goku states he was unable to learn this technique because it was too complex for him, and he probably didn't have enough time on planet Yardrat either. Vegeta, in much less time than Goku spent there, was able to learn not only instantaneous movement but also Forced Spirit Fission.

As a Dragon Ball fan, I find it really interesting that Goku knows the Spirit Bomb and can use Ultra Instinct, while Vegeta knows Ultra Ego and Forced Spirit Fission. The way I see this going, based on what Toriyama and Toyotaro are writing, is that Vegeta and Goku are going to be polar opposites, yin and yang. The Spirit Bomb takes energy from various life forms and organisms, while Vegeta can take that away and separate it from a single target, or maybe even multiple targets if he gets strong enough.

Why this move puts Vegeta among the most dangerous fighters

At that point we'd only seen Vegeta use this technique in the Moro arc, but having it in his arsenal only adds to how dangerous he is. The fact that he could take on Moro and really put him up against the wall with this power tells me that when we see it again, whoever Vegeta faces, if it's a fused opponent or somebody who absorbs somebody else, he can cancel that out.

That means Vegeta could defeat a lot of characters from Dragon Ball Z just by using this technique, Cell and Majin Buu for example. He wouldn't even have to sit there and compete with them man to man; he could just use this technique to defuse them and win.

The usefulness of this move is right up there with teleportation and healing. "The yardrats in my opinion have the most useful arsenal of moves and the most unique in dragon ball," and Goku and Vegeta have proven that.

Which Dragon Ball villain do you think would struggle most against Forced Spirit Fission?