Attack Ball

Attack Balls are compact, spherical spacecraft roughly five feet in diameter. Despite their small size, they house an advanced environmental system and a remarkably fuel-efficient faster-than-light drive. Occupants travel in a state of suspended animation, which minimizes the resources needed to sustain them during long voyages. The pods can operate continuously for up to three years, though they require atmospheric replenishment every six months by briefly entering a habitable world.

The exterior shell is built from extremely durable armor plating, enabling the craft to survive atmospheric entry at tremendous velocity. Landings typically create massive craters and devastating shockwaves, which can serve as a pre-emptive strike during planetary invasions. Specialized landing pads on Frieza-controlled worlds like Planet Frieza 79 mitigate this damage for returning soldiers. Curiously, while the outer hull is incredibly tough, the interior is relatively fragile; a single ki blast fired from inside can destroy the entire pod.

Controls and Features

Each Attack Ball comes with a handheld remote control resembling a small calculator. This device allows pilots to summon their pods remotely, trigger self-destruct sequences, and command multiple pods simultaneously. Vegeta used one such remote to detonate Nappa's pod after Nappa's defeat. The remote is remarkably durable, surviving a Kaio-ken Kamehameha, a Spirit Bomb, and being crushed by a Great Ape.

Scouters can also interface with the pods, providing an alternate means of control. In the anime, the pods can project a holographic moon to generate Blutz Waves, allowing Saiyans without access to a natural moon to trigger their Great Ape transformation.

Goku arrived on Earth as an infant in an Attack Ball that landed in a remote forest, where Grandpa Gohan discovered him. Years later, Dr. Brief recovered and rebuilt the pod into the first Capsule Corporation Spaceship. Raditz's pod was the first one seen in the series; his nephew Gohan destroyed it after bursting out in a rage. Nappa and Vegeta used their pods to travel to Earth, landing in East City and causing widespread destruction.

The Ginyu Force used specialized pods bearing their team logo. After defeating Frieza on Namek, Goku escaped the planet's destruction in one of these pods, which carried him to Planet Yardrat. Paragus used an Attack Ball in an attempt to flee the destruction of New Planet Vegeta, but Broly crushed the pod with his bare hands, killing his father in the process.

Larger two-person variants also exist. Bardock and Leek were shown using one in Dragon Ball Minus, and Sorbet and Tagoma traveled in a modified two-seat version when they came to Earth to resurrect Frieza.