In the "Saiyan" and "Frieza" arcs of Dragon Ball Z, power levels were a constant metric of comparison, used to see who was somebody and who wasn't even worth a punch. However, as Dragon Ball continued and power creep spun out of control, levels became harder and harder to keep track of. Characters like Cell and Majin Buu were so much stronger than the Super Saiyan form used to conquer Frieza, leaving fans to guess at how much more powerful one fighter was than another.
With Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super introducing exponentially more powerful characters to the Dragon Ball universe, one has to wonder, in a Scouter-less world, who has the highest power level?
Dragon Ball Z, Post-Frieza
Up until the end of the Frieza Saga, power levels were revealed either in-story or in the official Daizenshuu guides. Because of this, fans have accurate power levels for most of the Dragon Ball Z cast up until Goku's final fight on Namek. According to Daizenshuu 7, at the end of the Frieza Saga, Frieza had a power level of 120,000,000 at 100% power, while Super Saiyan Goku had 150,000,000.
In regards to power levels beyond that, Daizenshuu 7 notes power levels after this point became so high "they could no longer be measured numerically." However, that's not necessarily the case. V-Jump and Weekly Shonen Jump supplemental materials revealed power levels for characters in Cooler's Revenge and Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, the fifth and eighth Dragon Ball Z films. These place Cooler in his fifth form at a power level of 470,000,000 and Broly in his Legendary Super Saiyan form at 1,400,000,000. V-Jump later listed Gogeta's power level in the twelfth movie, Fusion Reborn, as 2,500,000,000.
Much later on, another scan in V-Jump, while not giving a precise number, estimated that Super Buu with Gohan absorbed was "on-par" with Super Saiyan 3 Goku.
The Games and Their Power Levels
Many spin-off games have given their takes on power levels. These numbers, however, tend to be unreliable. For example, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot states Goku's power level when returning from Namek was 400,000, which is much lower than the 150,000,000 he had when fighting Frieza.
Of all the games that do list power levels, however, the only one consistent with V-Jump's information is Scouter Battle Taikan Kamehameha, a plug-and-play game released by Konami in 2007. The game, like V-Jump, lists Broly's power level as 1,400,000,000. The game also lists Perfect Cell's power level at 900 million, Majin Buu's level at one billion and Kid Buu's at 1,150,000,000. Presumably, Super Buu, being stronger than both Majin and Kid Buu, would be close to Broly's power level, but still significantly below Gogeta's 2.5 billion.
However, Scouter Battle Taikan Kamehameha also includes Dragon Ball GT. According to the game, Super Saiyan 4 Goku & Super 17 are 1,500,000,000, Baby Vegeta in his Golden Ape form is 1,580,000,000 and Omega Shenron is 1,900,000,000. Because the game is consistent with V-Jump's power levels, even Omega Shenron is below Super Gogeta and Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, who fittingly out-classes the villain in their fight in Dragon Ball GT.
Dragon Ball Super and Power Levels
In Dragon Ball Super, power levels become far more difficult to accurately count. In Resurrection 'F' Frieza estimates his power level at 100% -- without training- - is 1,300,000. This is confusing, considering Frieza's second form alone was documented as over one million. This lack of consistency essentially makes figuring out power levels a guessing game, especially following the introduction of the Gods of Destruction.
Jiren is the only character in Dragon Ball Super stronger than his universe's God of Destruction, making him their equal. While Goku in Ultra Instinct Mode beats Jiren -- with some help -- it's clear he's one of the most powerful entities in the multiverse. In Dragon Ball FighterZ, Jiren confirms Super Saiyan Blue Vegito is his equal in power.
But, it's vital to compare Jiren's power to that of Broly and Gogeta. Broly in Dragon Ball Super: Broly is canonically stated to have an immeasurable power level. This is staggering, except that Daizenshuu 7 also states that Goku post-Frieza Saga also had an immeasurable power level.
However, what truly stands out about Broly is that Goku confirms the Saiyan is probably stronger than the God of Destruction, Beerus. The only fighter on-par with Broly is Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta but, even then, Broly is able to best him with one last power-up. On top of that, much like the Hulk, Broly's power increases the longer he fights, making him a fighter without limitations.
Who is the Strongest?
If Broly is stronger than Beerus and Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta fought at Broly's level, that means that both Broly and Gogeta are stronger than Beerus. This makes four multiverse fighters stronger than a God of Destruction: Jiren, Ultra Instinct Goku, Broly, Vegito and Gogeta. Ultra Instinct Goku is undeniably the weakest, since he burns out incredibly fast. Vegito and Gogeta are roughly equal in power and Jiren is equal to Vegito. This would mean that Broly, who's stronger than Gogeta by a small margin, is the mightiest in the multiverse.
As for characters pre-Super, the strongest are Gogeta and Vegito by far. Below them are Omega Shenron, Vegeta and Goku, Super 17, Broly and Buu, roughly in that order. However, none of these characters reach the levels of power seen in Dragon Ball Super.
Ultimately, there are two conclusions to be made: Dragon Ball Super's version of Broly is the strongest there is...and measured power levels are beyond defunct.
