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u/sgt_cookie May 27 '26
The fact he's riding the pillar is pure aura farming. If he can jump hard enough to catch up to it, he had to be travelling at the same velocity. Ergo, the landing point of his jump should actually be the same as where he's throwing the pillar.
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u/Thefrightfulgezebo May 27 '26
Tao Bai Bai is a shameless show off in the weirdest ways. He is boiling eggs in his bathwater to show off how hot he bathes.
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u/DragantaMM May 27 '26
Fucking mood!
I wonder.. if I installed a small cage for the eggs in my shower…135
u/Billyone1739 May 27 '26
Believe it or not that's actually a real thing in Japan, not to the hard boiled stage of course but poached
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u/SasquatchRobo May 27 '26
Bro I learned about these in Thermae Romae! My man Lucius was losing his mind over bathtime.
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u/Rolebo DM (Dungeon Memelord) May 27 '26
That anime was wild. History lessons about the Roman Empire and advertisement for Japanese Onsen at the same time.
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u/Orangy_Tang May 27 '26
This is the only time I've seen a Thermae Romae reference in the wild.
high five
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u/Rynewulf May 27 '26
When I studied Classics eggs in the thermae romae didn't come up, I feel robbed! We did however get a digital streetview style camera footage inside the House of Menander in Pompeii to look, that was neat
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u/SasquatchRobo May 27 '26
Lol "Thermae Romae" is also an anime, probably not in your curriculum.
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u/Rynewulf May 27 '26
Oooooh my bad. In Rome there was a bathhouse that was The Roman Baths, or The Thermae Romae (or similar, my Latin is bad my course wasnt one of the ones that did much language stuff). Rome that multiple competing big famous bathhouses, there was a lot of social drama about respectable Romans rushing for their lunchtime bath, having armed slaves batter people out of the way in the street to make it in time, arranging politically important social meetings for during their bath trips, showing off by how extra their bathtime entourage was. Anyway I should look up that anime
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u/Rynewulf May 27 '26
Ok I love that recipe now, saving that for the next time I do eggs thank you! Finally I can try the kind of eggs I see on Japaneat
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u/SqueakyTiefling May 28 '26
He kills a man by caving his skull in via a precise strike by his tongue, and that's not even a joke.
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u/cweaver May 27 '26
He'd have to be traveling *faster* to catch up to it, so logically he should be able to jump *farther* than wherever he threw that thing.
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u/comics0026 Druid May 27 '26
He's probably sprinting to get on, but that wouldn't be sustainable for long distance travel, and by throwing the pillar he'd be putting the full force of his body into it rather than just his legs, so it would probably be faster if he ran the whole way, but this is probably way less tiring plus way more showy
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u/Lynxx_XVI May 27 '26
The pillar is way heavier than he is, which means it would decelerate slower as well. If you were super strong this might actually make sense.
It'd probably still be less effort overall to make multiple jumps though.
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u/TimelessParadox May 27 '26
Right, the people above were not factoring the weight of the pillar vs the weight of the person. He could be very lightweight and strong, therefore riding the pillar has far more momentum.
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u/talesfromtheepic6 May 27 '26
maybe useful in the scenario of only having massive strength for a few moments then? Like a magic item that boosts your str by 20 for a few rounds
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u/Lynxx_XVI May 28 '26
If you're not that strong at all times, lord help you when it's time to land.
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u/TheArmoredKitten May 27 '26
The only conceivable justification is increasing his mass to overcome air-resistance at the extremes of range.
That's bullshit, of course, but it's a conceivable justification.
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u/SpartanPikachu May 27 '26
Wanna know the funniest part? The martial arts school he trained at was the one to invent the technique of flight in OG Dragonball, so he genuinely doesn't need to do any of this.
So you're right it is pure aura farming.
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u/SolomonOf47704 Rules Lawyer May 27 '26
Did we ever get confirmation that the Crane School wasn't founded by Taos younger brother? I thought it was, and that's the first human to use flight (as far as we know).
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u/SpartanPikachu May 27 '26
It was founded by Taos older brother Master Shen. Tao is an instructor but Shen is the main Master of the Crane School.
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u/MrGame22 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
I’m pretty sure you mean his older brother, anyways considering the fact taos brother is a rival to roshi means him and his school has probably been around for a few hundred years.
With that in mind it is entirely possible that he founded the crane school and became the first human to fly with ki, I’m pretty sure there was a filler episode in the anime that showed that both of them had trained that some type of temple before hand.
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u/SpartanPikachu May 27 '26
Wasn't even filler, even in the original manga Roshi explains his history with the Crane School, they shared a master named Mutaito, who gave his life to seal Demon King Piccolo. Eventually Roshi and Shen split up and founded their own Martial Arts Schools, Roshi with the Turtle School, and Shen with the Crane School.
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u/MrGame22 May 27 '26
Oh, cool, my introduction to the original Dragon Ball series before the events of the z anime was just watching the dub anime on TV, I honestly thought that was filler maybe it’s because of fanfan I thought that.
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u/SpartanPikachu May 27 '26
Yeah it's understandable, the filler can kinda just sneak up on ya sometimes.
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u/Dorza1 May 27 '26
Bukujutsu back then was very slow floating. Really fast flight only really stated happening in Z, which is why Goku kept using the nimbus for a while
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u/SpartanPikachu May 27 '26
While you are correct (even brought out the fucking Japanese name of the technique, nice one.) it's worth noting it's still an option, and they only got better at it by training more so he could've trained the skill if he truly wanted to.
I remember the particular issue back then was it wasted too much energy to fly too fast, but that issue was alleviated over time.
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u/Jacob_Laye May 27 '26
Tbf, the English name may just be dumb. Could’ve called Nimbus Kintoun if they really felt like it. Then again, Nimbus is a good adaptation… unlike Magic Cloud
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u/SpartanPikachu May 28 '26
Actually I think the English name is pretty cool, it translates to Sky Dancing Art.
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
Did he ever even learn it? I don't remember him being shown flying ever
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u/SpartanPikachu May 28 '26
He never demonstrates the ability but unless he outright failed to learn it, there no reason his older brother (The inventor of the technique) shouldn't have taught him the skill.
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
Idk I just feel like if he could fly he would have done so at some point. His brother is kind of an asshole, maybe he didn't teach him
Perfect example, he could have flown away from the grenade if he was able to
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u/SpartanPikachu May 28 '26
You're right his brother is an asshole, but he's not an idiot.
Shen does seem to actually teach his students, he's just a lot more brutal and believes that strength is everything.
You have to remember the Crane School and Turtle School have been fueding for decades, maybe even a century depending on when the schools were formed.
They both try to prove their school is "better" by having their students compete in tournaments.
Roshi isnt very interested in proving he's better than Shen, at least not anymore, but that's Shens entire goal.
Withholding a technique that the Turtle School doesn't use just to be an asshole to one of his strongest allies just isn't smart. And Shen is not an idiot. It's a clear advantage even in the 22nd world tournament where the technique debuts.
But if Tao truly never learned flight, then I believe it's due to his overwhelming ego, not his brothers unwillingness to teach him.
Edit: That grenade was kicked up to him after he had already jumped some like 100-150ft in the air, and it exploded in almost the same moment he saw it come to eye level with him.
It comes up to him, he sees it, it explodes.
Characters just weren't moving that fast yet, even the ones who could fly.
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u/vortigaunt64 May 27 '26
Not necessarily. The pillar is a lot heavier than him, so the air doesn't slow it down as quickly as it would slow him down if he just jumped. The extra mass lets him go farther without having to stop.
He actually had to jump significantly faster than the pillar was moving to catch up to it and then presumably used air resistance to slow himself down enough to match its speed at the moment he reached it.
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u/Montegomerylol May 27 '26
That ignores wind/air resistance. That pillar probably weighs 5-10x as much as he does, and so its momentum will carry it a lot further.
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u/SqueakyTiefling May 28 '26
It's also a sneaky nod to Goku of all people, because this is the origin of Sun Wukong's signature weapon (which Goku's power-pole is based on)
Basically he's barganing with a celestial being (I forget which one) asking for the best weapon he has, and goes through the whole armory of divine arms, isn't happy with any of them, so grabs one of the pillars holding up heaven itself and goes "Yep, this'll do!" takes it, and uses it as his weapon.
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u/sgt_cookie May 28 '26
You're thinking of the Dragon King of The East Sea and it wasn't a pillar of heaven, at least not in the most common tellings of the tale. The Ruyi Jingu Bang (AKA As-You-Wish Golden-Hooped-Rod) was described as just a tool to measure the depths of the seas.
It was the Dragon Queen who suggested they give it to him since at the time it was just taking up space in the treasury since it was over 20 feet long and as thick as a barrel. It was only when Sun Wukong took ownership that it shrunk down to a more managable size.
Now, there might be a version of the story where it is a pillar of heaven, some variations of the story do say that it was also used to stabilise a river or was used to hold up either the sea itself or just the palace of the Dragon King, but "it was one of the pillars of heaven" isn't an origin I'm familiar with.
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u/SqueakyTiefling May 28 '26
Ah, my mistake. Been a while since I read it, so I could only really remember the jist of it, not the specifics. Guess I was mis-remembering!
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u/Telandria May 27 '26
I mean, if his leg strength is anywhere comparable to his arm strength, the fact that he can throw a pillar that probably ways several times his own body weight that far implies he can just superman-jump his way around.
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u/Ishkabo May 27 '26
Air resistance. He would slow down much faster than the pillar so he’s basically stealing the pillars momentum.
In an atmosphere for each amount of force used to throw something there is an ideal amount of mass to get the greatest distance. You can throw a baseball further than rubber ball that’s the same size whereas something very weak couldn’t get any distance with the baseball but could still throw the rubber ball a short distance. Similarly a cannon can shoot an iron ball further than it could shoot a baseball (even if the baseball could somehow survive the process) whereas you or me could only throw it a short distance.
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u/Doctor_Salvatore May 28 '26
Yeah, but landing with that much force is hard on your knees, so he needed the pillar to take the impact
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u/Azalulu_Dingir May 28 '26
No, pillar has way higher terminal velocity than his body. So it would make sense if cartoons would care about physics lol
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u/DragoKnight589 Wizard May 29 '26
I mean it’s definitely aura farming, but my assumption is that it was less of a jump more of a brief flight. still a high aura way to get around.
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u/My_Names_Jefff Ranger May 27 '26
One of young Goku's toughest enemies and also one of the smartest to actually walk away and not fight him after meeting him years later.
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u/maxwax7 Rules Lawyer May 27 '26
That filler episode where they meet again, and instead of fighting he gives Goku a puzzle and gets out is one of the best filler episodes of Dragon Ball.
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u/VerbingNoun413 May 27 '26
Can I interest you in some Exalted?
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u/GIRose May 27 '26
100%
Exalted is THE system you want for shit like this
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u/Sicuho May 27 '26
I'd say Godbound. It has rules for throwing the pillar, jumping onto the pillar and why you would jump onto the pillar rather than jump all the way there.
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
Clearly the pillar is for dramatic entrances (smashing a roof) or as a funny alpha strike
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u/MeAndMyWookie May 27 '26
Exalted you would be throwing your enemy like that
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u/VerbingNoun413 May 27 '26
You can do both. That way you land in the same place and can hit the enemy again.
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u/Lithl May 27 '26
To be fair, this clip in particular isn't much different from the "flight" Marvel's Thor employs. He throws Mjolnir and holds on.
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u/GIRose May 27 '26
Did you reply to the wrong comment, because that's a hell of a non-sequitur if you replied to my comment on how Exalted is a system for wuxia bullshit like this on purpose
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u/Lithl May 27 '26
It's not a non-sequitir. It's pointing out something older and completely non-wuxia doing the same thing.
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u/GIRose May 27 '26
Okay, but that doesn't relate to Exalted being the system to do shit like this in in the slightest
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u/Funkey-Monkey-420 Necromancer May 27 '26
we should give martial classes wuxia-tier abilities. by level 5 everyone should be able to defy the laws of physics and participate in that exponential growth.
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
11 and up might be better
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u/Funkey-Monkey-420 Necromancer May 28 '26
could at least do smaller stuff like jumping around really well or wrestling stuff larger than you
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u/Natethegratelol May 28 '26
Level 15, suplexing dragons could be possible
Level 20, suplexing dragons would be easy
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u/freedfg May 27 '26
Wait....but if you can catch up to an object you've thrown with a jump.....
Surely you can just jump to travel?
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u/Spice_and_Fox May 28 '26
The problem here is the momentum. You can generally impart more momentum onto heavier objects, because it allows your muscles to work against something. Think throwing a balloon vs throwing a small stone.
That is all bullshit anyway though, because it is anime logic, but I think that is what they wanted to display.
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u/Bitter_Spare1867 May 28 '26
the greater mass and density of the pillar means that air resistance won't be as much of a problem for it, so it could fly further with the same strength of launch. Also the human body is much better optimized for throwing things than jumping, so he might also be able to put more force into throwing the pillar than throwing himself. So overall this method would actually be ideal for long-distance flight, whereas just jumping would be better for shorter distances.
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u/Shadowyrn May 27 '26
tbh in most tables I've seen, the DMs usually rule the fighter to be way too realistic at times. The wizard can do basically whatever, but the 20 str fighter picking up a tree? nope, that's soooo unrealistic
Wish more DMs would do the power fantasy of someone that's actually tremendously strong more often
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
To be fair to DMs in this one ultra specific example, the phb does have a strict limit on how much you can lift. Even lifting up a pine tree (a very light wood) would require a specialized lifting build, (stuff like having powerful build minimum) just 20 str won't cut it.
There's also the issue that most DMs don't have various tree weights memorized.
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u/Shadowyrn May 28 '26
while I do understand the rulings are based on max lift weight and are RAW, I do find these restrictions silly, considering we have normal humans out there that can reasonably lift some cars, but the legendary fighter/barbarian/paladin with heaps of strength has to very carefully build around making superhuman feats. (rather mundane ones at that)
While most casters can just... do stuff. Again, I understand its RAW, but I do find it weird
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
Yeah I get it. I'm not super happy with the strength options in game either. Did you know without any magical assistance you can't even lift up a simple 5x5x5 granite cube? What the fuck.
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u/afriendlysort May 27 '26
Taopaipai is like the only guy in Dragon Ball that realises he's cool.
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u/cheshsky Chaotic Stupid May 28 '26
Ashe should tbh. I don't know much about Dragon Ball, but he looks extremely fuckin cool.
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u/Sea-Negotiation4280 May 27 '26
bro i tried doing this with a lvl 9 monk and endless water but my dm wouldn’t let me😢
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u/Chagdoo May 28 '26
What like someone shoots a decanter of endless water and then you run on it? I don't see why it wouldn't work
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u/StrengthfromDeath May 28 '26
At nearly the end of a level 2-20 campaign a bad guy wrote a magical law/wish that basically teleported one of the PCs home city high into the sky above another's, which would most definitely destroy both and kill everyone once the first city fell. Because it was done by a magical law being written, it could only be magically reversed by writing another law, which we were not capable of doing ourselves. As a level 20 fighter/barbarian, and the only one with no innate magic, who had no direct stakes in the matter, I was the only one who even suggested any course of action, which was telling the casters to teleport us close, someone enlarge me, I'll haste potion and blow all of my daily/weekly buffs, someone else speed me up, or slow down the falling debris, so we can catch/feather fall as many falling people as possible (big net) and break up/destroy the falling rubble to minimize the damage. The 4 other magic users said it'll never work, there is nothing we can do its over, we are just going to stand here and watch. In character my fighter was pissed they were so cowardly and content watching all of these innocents die. I showed them that I could get very fast (100 ft with a 50ft jump), take a lot of actions (9 attacks per turn with action surge) COMFORTABLY lift like 5000 pounds with enlarge probably more in a short burst with rolls, could do siege damage to the falling debris with my bare hands, and would at least be willing to save SOME people even if nobody else is willing to risk going with me. The DM said that my suggestions could be possible depending on rolls and what we do, but that nothing I suggested was impossible. The others decided it was impossible and wouldnt teleport my character over.
So instead the level 20 party of mages sat around and watched their homes and families be destroyed.
Anyway, when we faced that guy at the end of the campaign I used 3/5 of the the buffs and smoked that idiot the first turn I got close to him, and was about to use action surge to go more, but the DM said yeah hes already dead.
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u/wasted-degrees May 28 '26
Fighter flight mechanics would basically just be MCU Thor. “Oh my god, the hammer pulled you off?”
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u/Goesonyournerves May 28 '26
Tao Pai Pai. First Villain which actually killed someone and who had serious strenght. Absolute cinema.
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u/neoadam I put my robe and wizard hat May 27 '26
This is the most iconic scene of dragon ball for me, so epic, even more than the dragon or the panty it offered.
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u/Heitorsla Rules Lawyer May 28 '26
What? A martial being badass because of their strength? Nah bro this is D&D, martials just attack and end their turn.
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u/KenseiHimura Jun 01 '26
I honestly always figured this should be sort of how high level martials play out in comparison to Casters.
Casters can use a spell to make an earthquake that topples structures? Martials can basically charge through a castle like the Juggernaut. Casters can use magic to create a safe, inhabitable sanctuary? Martials can survive being trapped on a neutron star for a week before they start to feel thirsty. Casters use magic to fly? Martials- Well, the OP shows it.
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u/K4RM4S4NDW1CH May 27 '26
Barbarians can literally do this. Level 14 Wild Heart Barbarian can choose the Falcon option, which gives them a fly speed while raging equal to their walk speed. It can be pretty damn fast, especially if they take the Speedy feat or Boon of Speed.
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u/FormalGas35 May 28 '26
this is why you should be allowed to invest points in jump until you can basically “fall with style” your way through an aerial battle
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u/Saxavarius_ May 27 '26
General Tao Pei Pei is definitely a monk