It's Over 9000!

In the Dragon Ball franchise, a Power Level or Battle Power (戦闘力, Sentō-ryoku) is a recurring concept which denotes the combat strength of a warrior. In the original Japanese and English-translated mangas as well as the original Japanese anime series, Goku's power level is actually read as "over 8000!" (8000以上だ…!, Hassen ijō da…!)."

In the English-dub of the episode, the main protagonist Goku returns to the Earth after intense training in the Other World to square off against Vegeta and his aide Nappa. As Goku powers up in rage after learning they had killed his ally Piccolo right before his arrival, Vegeta senses an explosive increase in his power level through his scouter device. In response to Nappa's query about Goku's power level, Vegeta yells: "It's over nine thousand!".

In most versions of the scene dubbed in other languages, Vegeta actually says "It's over 8000!". This has occurred several other times where power levels are given more as estimates than accurate figures. For instance, Gohan's retaliation against Nappa is given as "over 2,800", and Frieza's power level is given as "over one million!". Frieza later claims this power level is only 1% of his full power, when it is in fact, less than 1% of his maximum power level of 120 million. Subsequent releases and dubs have used one of the two numbers.[1]

Opinion differs as to whether the switch from "8,000" to "9,000" came about purely by error, or whether the change was made intentionally. Craig Elvy from Screenrant claimed that this phrase is actually a mistranslation from the original Japanese anime.[2] He noted that the Daizenshuu 7 book quoted the dubbing team as saying that speaking "9000" in English was a better fit for Vegeta's animated mouth movements; on the other hand, Elvy made the assertion that Dragon Ball Z's Ocean dub "was notorious for making translation errors (such as Goku believing Vegeta killed Grandpa Gohan) which can't be explained away so easily".[2] When Dragon Ball Z was re-dubbed by Funimation with the now familiar voices of Sean Schemmel and Christopher Sabat, the mistranslation was retained, and has featured in most English re-dubs and video games ever since. In non-English speaking territories, the 8000 version is predominantly used.[2]

The "It's over 9000!" phrase has attained recognition to the point that it is now one of the internet's favorite phrases, and even non-fans of Dragon Ball Z have heard of it.[2] Google searches for the "Over 9000" DBZ reference have on average surpassed searches for HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's seminal 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey.[3]

A video clip of the scene from the episode was first uploaded by a 4chan user on October 17, 2006 and became popular as Vegeta's line does not accurately fit his mouth flaps. The original video was shared as an inside joke.[4] The popularity of the video quickly spread, inspiring a series of remix videos on YouTube, various image macros and demotivational posters on 4chan, as well as parody sites dedicated to the phrase. The meme's notoriety reached its first peak in 2007, when 4chan moderators implemented a word filter that would turn any mentions of the number 7 into "over 9000".

The most viewed video clip of the original scene uploaded on YouTube has received over 15 million views to date, while various parodies and spoofs of the clip received a large number of views on YouTube and Vine as well. In addition to being referenced in numerous official and fan-made English language Dragon Ball media, the "It's Over 9000!" meme has also influenced various real life topics and fictional works unrelated to the Dragon Ball series.

In September 2008, an anonymous troll left an alarming message on the official message board of American journalist and businesswoman Oprah Winfrey's talk show, in which he claimed to represent an organized network of over 9,000 paedophiles. Oprah took the bait and read the post before her audience in an episode of the show.[5] A video clip of Oprah's message to her audience was promptly uploaded to YouTube, however it was quickly removed due to a copyright claim by Harpo, Inc. In spite of that, numerous remix videos featuring Oprah's mention of "9000 penises" continued to surface on YouTube.

The 2012 book Dragon Ball Z 'It's Over 9,000!' When Worldviews Collide by Derek Padula, is named after the meme. It provides coverage about the full history and relevance of the Dragon Ball series in pop culture, while also providing a complete psychological analysis of Goku and Vegeta's colliding worldviews.

The "It's Over 9000" phrase was missing in the 2020 game Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Its absence is considered conspicuous by Paul Tamburro of GameRevolution, who argued that the meme is iconic and immensely popular to warrant its inclusion or reference, even if the phrase itself may have originated as a mistranslation.[6]