The term "OVER 9000" was coined when Nappa asked Vegeta what Goku's power level was, and Vegeta's scouter stated that Goku's power level was over said number. The term was coined a meme, and was used many, many times as a joke.
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Starting with the song >9000! By DJ Gotcha. It's Over 9000 was a translation mistake made by Vegeta's original English voice actor, Brian Drummond. It has become an internet meme that spread on YouTube. Originally posted on October 17th, 2006, the meme was started by user, Kajetokun. It shows Vegeta angrily crushing his scouter several times while repeating "It's Over 9000!!!" in response to Nappa's questioning of Goku's power level. The meme has spread across the world, with the video having received millions of views and is even referenced in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.
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In the original manga, the Japanese version of the anime, and even all its non-English translations, Vegeta actually says "It's over 8000!". However, even in the Remastered Uncut Funimation dub, Vegeta still says "It's over 9000!", now performed by Christopher Sabat. This change was made due to inconsistancies with the dubbing process, where 9000 fit the mouth flaps of the animation better.
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TeamFourStar did a video on YouTube, as part of their abriged series of Dragonball Z, satirizing this error. In the dialogue between the two, Vegeta responds with "It's over 8000!", Nappa then says, "Aw, Vegeta, you didn't do it right!" Vegeta responds with "Yes I did Nappa, YES I DID!"
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It is possible for over 9000 to be correct, since it is over 8,000. This has occured 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 3,000, and Frieza's power level is given as "over one million!" when the exact figure is 1,060,000. Later on, Frieza claims his power level is only 1% of his full power, when in actuality, it is 3⅓% of his maximum power according to the Daizenshuu 7.
