Koenma, Prince of the Spirit World - How powerful is he?

[FriendlyEL]

In Yu Yu Hakusho it was difficult for me to tell how powerful of a fighter Koenma really is. He states on the Dark Tournament story that he would be no match for a regular human being ("I bruise too easy" and "I'm a ruler, not a fighter" are two quotes are his excuses) but against Sensui who not even Yusuke at his best at the time could not stop he was supposedly able to stop.

Some people seemed to feel that he's actually the equivalent of a S+++ demon, and that he was only wanting to hide his power during the Dark Tournament? Anyone else want to discuss that?

[bissek]

Part of it is that Koenma is a coward. He doesn't have the guts to go on the front lines if he doesn't have to.

Also, I think that the pacifier he uses is a capacitor that holds massive amounts of spirit energy. Koenma is capable of safely using the power stored there, but it takes time for that power to accumulate. Reviving Yusuke and all the other actions that Koenma took at the end of the Chapter Black arc drained those power reserves considerably. Just because he can wield incredible power doesn't mean he always has access to it.

A third thing to consider is that just because someone has power, it doesn't mean that the power is suitable for battle. While just about anything can be a weapon if you're clever enough, some things are more suitable than others. His powers may primarily be in the latter category.

[FriendlyEL]

Part of it is that Koenma is a coward. He doesn't have the guts to go on the front lines if he doesn't have to.

I got that impression from the constant referral to the Koenmatron 5000 jetpack. It's sort of expected that he'd think he's too important to die, being a prince and all.

Koenma is capable of safely using the power stored there, but it takes time for that power to accumulate.

Any idea exactly how long it takes for it to reaccumulate? Is it a long enough time that he really screwed himself using it, because given the massive power he showed at the time and the fact that he felt it was an absolute last resort made me wonder if he was using up a one chance in a lifetime opportunity.

[bissek]

I got the impression that it's on the order of years, minimum. Decades or more seem more likely.