Raditz should've lived and hooked up with Launch, Goku Black should've been Evil Future Goten, Future Trunks & Mai should've gone with Corona to become Time Patrolmen, and Announcer Man is the secret MVP of Dragonball. (P.S. I miss Saiyan tails)
Got inspired to make a fan-comic based on @jscandyhell's RADemption fan-comic. Chapter 3's in progress and he's staying with Launch and Tien so I imagine this happens sometime around when he's staying with them.
I was trying to be lazy with the art and leave it sketchy, but I polished up the first page and that kinda doomed the rest of it to be polished too. I haven't drawn this style in a while so I'm pretty rusty with the consistency and accuracy (so I don't wanna hear it!)
I''m gonna do an annoying rant here so sorry in advance to legit fans, but the universe 6 Saiyans kinda tick me off a little.
I personally think it would've much better if Cabba's backstory was that he was one of the weak Saiyan babies who was discarded into space and somehow ended up in Universe 6 (heck, that could've been all three of their backstories, just have them be abandoned at the same time, their pod coordinates the same, the Saiyans were probably lazy like that).
Their tails could've been explained as missing because they were removed for safety from the locals (like Bulma did with Trunks, although I just wish they'd let Saiyans have tails again). I don't mind Cabba as a character, but he went super saiyan WAY too easily for my taste (and that "tingle in the back" line from Vegeta fills me with more rage than Broly. Speaking of Broly...).
Califla is fine even though her entitled attitude did put me off initially, her sass is very Saiyan so it works. Kale however is infuriating beyond measure, especially how she's just discount Broly without what made him interesting. Her whiny, overly clingy attitude gets really grating. She never even met Goku so her shouting "Goku" was even more dumb than when Broly did it (and OG Broly's reason was pretty dumb already). I will admit she is better written in the manga, her and Califla being heads of a sorta space yakuza was neat, Kale was way less whiny and more sneaky which actually made her interesting.
Plus them being abandoned Saiyans would've been much more interesting thematically. Think of it, abandoned by the Saiyans for being unpromising warriors and yet now, with the Saiyan race destroyed, it's the abandoned babies who are the only ones able to carry on its legacy.
It would also give Cabba and Vegeta a much more interesting dynamic as Vegeta is the only connection Cabba has to his people, Cabba desperate for a connection. Make Cabba troubled over who he is and how there's so little others like him, maybe have him struggle with the fact he was abandoned for being a dissapointment and get THAT to be part of the reason he becomes a super saiyan. He could have the same fight with Vegeta asking about his heritage and pleading for help and Vegeta beats him down calling him a failure and saying that such weakness was the reason he was discarded in the first place.
But Vegeta won't let Cabba give up and threatens to blow up his planet which makes Cabba stop caring about his past and realize he doesn't need to appease the whims of a violent race that abandoned him. It doesn't matter where he comes from, what matters is who he is right now.
Then Vegeta could still do his pep talk, but now it has more weight because he's telling it to an abandoned Saiyan, in essense mending the sins of his forefathers, so it's good for Vegeta's arc too.
IDK, I actually like Super (the slice of life moments are the best), but there was some stuff I was hoping they'd do a lot more with and think it could be made much better with some minor tweaking here and there.
Toriyama tends to "Toriyama" concepts and characters out of existence out of convenience, I was kinda hoping with Toyotaro more at the helm, he'd restore some consistency, he does a good job of that in the manga. I mean Toriyama didn't have to personally draw the tails anymore so they don't present the same problem they did back when he was the sole writer/artist.
I know Cabba is supposed to be different, but making the saiyans of universe 6 so inately peaceful and mild feels like another step in whittling away what makes the saiyans unique initially, they were basically space spartans.
First the tails go (and with them Oozaru), then the reason Goku was sent to earth is more benign, Bardock's apathetic and brutal personality is lessened significantly, Broly's legendary super saiyan malice is rewritten, now there's an entire saiyan race that is less interested in fighting and gentle.
It's not that any of these changes are necessarily bad on their own, but they seem to be making the Saiyans as a race less and less brutal which takes away from one of Dragonball's most interesting conflicts: how can one desire strength and battle without being violent?
Goku's most interesting conflict in Z was admitting he was a Saiyan and letting Vegeta go. He openly stated that despite knowing it was wrong and stupid, he couldn't help but want to fight and recognized that as an inherent flaw. His desire to become stronger and fighting strong opponents was ironically his biggest failing and all because of his Saiyan nature.
Also, I feel Trunks and Goten were able to go super saiyan easily being around so many super saiyans as it seems exposure from an early age helps accelerate the change, plus goten and trunks had tranquil hearts (being innocent children) so it makes sense they'd be able to achieve that form being exposed to the power so much. Cabba had never seen the form before Vegeta so he should've had more of a struggle or at least a bigger arc to achieve the form
I personally really don't care for @masakoxtra design of Raditz with his hair tied back (the round head makes me sad) but THIS Raditz design with his hair tied back is just 😍 https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80311334
I was watching some old clips of Raditz and I realized something interesting about this characterization. Yes, Raditz is immediately interesting because he's Goku's older brother, but he's made even MORE interesting in my opinion thanks to the brief characterization he's allowed to have.
Take his first lines to Goku:
He doesn't immediately berate him for his failure to purge the planet, he takes a moment to muse on how much Goku has grown and how he looks just like their father Bardock. Keep in mind, Bardock wasn't even a spark in Toriyama's mind, so for him to have Raditz say this when he's supposed to be a throwaway villain shows an unusual level of fondness for family, especially considering what we later learn about Saiyans
Raditz, upon realizing Goku doesn't remember him, isn't just annoyed that Goku forgot his mission, but seems distraught that his little brother doesn't remember him.
It's a small detail, but again, cements that Raditz shows an unusual level of attachment to family bonds, especially for a Sayain.
And then (and this is something important to keep in mind) he declares that he will find a way to recover his little brother's memories because Goku is NEEDED.
His priority isn't to get the planet purged or punish Goku for failing, it's to regain the only biological bond he has left, however little of it there may be.
I find it interesting Toriyama wrote this piece of dialogue. It just seems odd he would write such layered dialogue to characterize a villain he always intended to kill off ASAP. I guess it was to play into the whole "subverting the brother trope" but still, it doesn't make the characterization any less interesting
When Raditz tells Goku how their planet was destroyed and how everyone died, he AGAIN emphasizes that this means their parents died too.
Again, Raditz really seems to put value on his family. Note he says PARENTS not just father. Even Vegeta, for as long as we've gotten to know him, never talks about his father King Vegeta that much (if at all? He's thought about him, but not really talked about him) I find Goku's reaction interesting too, as if deep inside, despite not remembering Bardock and Gine, his heart still feels the pain of losing them. (Could it be possible Raditz noticed his reaction and took that as a sign that Goku felt the bond too, hence his following actions?)
Like @masakoxtra said, Bardock's line seems to be unusually empathetic for Saiyans. (He talks about it at 3:30)
Even Raditz, despite living his whole life under Frieza's boot and submitting to the bullying and callousness of Vegeta and Nappa and hardening his heart because of it, hasn't completely lost his sense of empathy, it's part of his nature albeit incredibly suppressed.
Raditz then has an unusually distressed response when he realizes Goku doesn't have a tail.
He doesn't mock him for losing it or immediately gets disgusted by his weakness, he is outright horrified and then gets mad at Goku for letting others just remove his tail (From Raditz's perspective, It would be like if Goku just let his arm get cut off to fit in with a race of one-armed aliens).
For Raditz, he views it as a form of betrayal, not just of his race, but the idea that his own brother would rather pass as a lowly earthling than embrace his own heritage (family being something Raditz clearly values) really gets to Raditz on an emotional level.
Now that I think about it, Raditz kinda goes through 4 out of 5 of the stages of grief for the brief time he's alive.
His first reaction is denial that Goku had forgot him and accepted life on earth, then anger that he would rather live as an earthling than be with his Saiyan kin, and then he starts the bargaining phase, trying to entice Goku with the idea of fighting saying that he's a Saiyan and it's in his blood.
When that bargaining doesn't work, he resorts to a different form of bargaining.
Blackmail.
Raditz steals Gohan trying to force Goku to join him. He tells Goku to kill 100 humans by tomorrow as proof of his submission, but pay attention to the wording:
Raditz says "when you decide to join us, and you WILL decide to" that's how much confidence he has in Goku's devotion towards his son EVEN THOUGH Goku's a Saiyan.
Raditz doesn't have a shadow of a doubt that Goku will do everything in his power to protect his son, even if he is a weak crybaby. Saiyans don't typically care much for their kin as shown in several flashback material later on (in fact it's later explained that they'll completely disown and abandon babies that are too weak to be considered useful. They have a very Spartan-esque society).
But Raditz knows he can use Gohan as leverage because Raditz actually understands emotional connections between family members, something he would've likely valued all the more being considered weak himself.
A lot of times people are able to use emotional manipulation because they either understand or were a victim of similar manipulation.
He then warns Goku that he might as well comply because everyone is going to die anyway, the earth being scheduled for purging. He hammers home the point that Goku's defiance is pointless and he really doesn't have a choice anyway so he may as well submit.
But what Raditz is doing here is almost an act of compassion (for a Saiyan). The way he sees it, Goku will die if he doesn't comply, so joining them is the only way he'll be able to survive. If he didn't care about Goku's life, why warn him? Why give him a chance to prove himself?
In fact, why would Raditz need Goku to prove himself when he was willing to take him without that before?
This is just an idea, but could it be...because of his scouter?
Remember, his scouter was open the entire time so Vegeta and Nappa are listening in. If Vegeta was listening it, after hearing about Goku's weak power level and his defiance and kind-nature, Raditz probably knew Vegeta might just dispose of Goku when they returned, considering him a disgrace to the Saiyan race. So Raditz has to have Goku prove himself by killing a bunch of humans to show Vegeta he's worth keeping alive.
It's horrific in Goku's eyes, but to Raditz, the lives of a few humans is inconsequential compared to his brother. This again is why Raditz says Goku has no choice, Vegeta won't give them a choice.
This also might be desperation on Raditz's part. If we are to consider the opening of Dragonball Z: Kakarot canon, Vegeta and Nappa mock him, Nappa going as far as to declare it's why he's called "Raditz the Runt", apparently a knickname he's saddled with in the Frieza force.
Raditz, instead of responding angrily or protesting as most Saiyans would, bows his head and pathetically apologizes, promising things will be different next time, showing that not only is this bullying common, but Raditz has just accepted it at this point. The way Raditz treats Goku when meeting him may stem from this treatment, he's trying to sway his brother the only way he's seen, through brute force and intimidation.
But Vegeta, getting sick of Raditz's weakness, promises to kill him if he screws up again, and if Vegeta promises death, you know it's coming. Raditz, panicking as his self-preservation instincts kick in, mentions his brother, saying he can help make things easier, but really Raditz just doesn't want Vegeta to kill him. Even then, Vegeta scoffs "The fact that he's YOUR brother doesn't exactly fill me with confidence" It's possible that Raditz did actually forget his brother and it was only in his panic, scrambling mentally for any way to save his life, that in that moment of desperation he at last remembered Kakarot.
Again, if we are to consider this conversation canon, Raditz needs Goku to survive to better the odds of his own survival, it's only after he's in a pod heading to Earth that he has time to think about Kakarot and wonder why he hasn't tried contacting them after so long.
But back to the OG manga, After Raditz gives Goku his ultimatum, he says this:
Again, he could've stopped at "I hope you don't disappoint me" but to follow it up by emphasizing it's for both his and Gohan's sake is noteworthy.
And even though Raditz clearly doesn't have much of a connection with Gohan as he does with Goku, I find this bit particularly interesting:
He barks at Gohan to stop crying and states that he possesses the proud blood of Saiyans. Yes, he is annoyed by Gohan's crying, but he also feels that he's better than that since he is still a Saiyan and wants him to be strong.
I like to imagine that Raditz is repeating something Bardock told him when he cried as a child, it feels like a very Bardock thing to say.
I particularly like the english dub of this scene, Justin Cook gives such an interesting and tender delivery of the line.
Also I really like how Raditz pauses to look at Gohan before walking away in the anime, I like to interpret it as Raditz seeing a bit of himself as a child in Gohan, but quickly burying those feelings.
There's a little fancomic I found that really drives that idea home.
When Goku and Piccolo show up, before they even fight, Raditz says this:
Again, why warn Goku? This feels more like Raditz is still in the bargaining mindset, he's trying to get his brother to give up and now must resort to brutally beating him to get his point through.
And then followed by this.
Remember, his scouter is open, so it's entirely possible he's acting ruthless and declaring they'll die so he won't look soft to Vegeta. I mean, he'd kill Piccolo without a thought, yeah, but Goku...? It may still be a bluff.
Plus, if he was serious about killing them, why stand around and let them plot instead of finishing them off?
The tail scene is where we see Raditz's cowardly nature on full display. But I think this moment really enhances his character because most Saiyans probably wouldn't beg for their lives, at least not to the degree Raditz is doing, they're too proud a race.
Raditz starts rambling about how he'd never actually kill his brother and his death threats were just bluffs.
Yes, we know it's a ploy to get free, but could there be an iota of truth in there? The fact he could've cut off his tail but was waiting for Piccolo to fire off his second Makenkosopo shows that Raditz is a quick thinker and very calculating.
Plus he probably didn't want to have to lose his tail unless he absolutely HAD to.
Goku was NOT stupid for letting go.
After Goku releases him, Raditz mocks his softness stating that he, a Saiyan-warrior wouldn't hesitate to kill their own brother, only to confusedly ask if Goku wants "a demonstration".
Like, if he wouldn't hesitate to kill his brother, why is he hesitating to kill his brother?
He's not killing him, he's torturing him, he could easily end it.
Remember that Double Sunday he shot off with ease earlier?
And of course after Raditz and Goku get turned into donuts, Raditz says one of the saddest lines in retrospect:
Like, he is relying on Vegeta and Nappa to save him, believing that they'll value him as a Saiyan and bring him back because HE HAS NO ONE ELSE TO RELY ON.
Right before he dies, he's in a sort of stage 4 depression where he can't believe this is how his life is going to end, dying alone and disgraced on some backwater planet at the hands of his own brother, their family line coming to a miserable end. He's never allowed to come to stage 5: acceptance (which is often where the change in a person's perspective/character tends to happen) because he dies and is forgotten.
Another thing that makes me sad Raditz didn't survive is cuz he's the perfect medium between Goku and Vegeta.
Goku rejects his saiyan heritage while Vegeta clings to it, but Raditz feels like he could easily straddle both worlds. He'd cling to his saiyan heritage out of love and respect for his parents (He'd still call Goku Kakarot, not because "it's a Saiyan name" like Vegeta, but because it's the name Bardock and Gine gave, his reason a much more personal one).
However, Raditz would have plenty of things NOT to like about Saiyan society, especially with how he and his father were treated as low-class warriors.
Being on earth, surrounded by kind people who don't belittle him and show basic kindness and respect would quickly endear Raditz to earth (remember, Bardock's kin are unusually empathetic for Saiyans).
Plus, being around Goku, who'd no doubt encourage and be proud of Raditz whilst training, would do a lot to boost Raditz's confidence (Goku looking like Bardock a way to ease his yearning to prove himself to his father) and further make him enjoy earth.
I like to imagine that, while Goku always wears a training gi from earth and Vegeta always wears some semblance of saiyan armor, Raditz would probably have a saiyan breastplate resembling Bardock's (as a kind of tribute to his dad) and go with loose pants like Goku which is good for training, visually symbolizing his willingness to find the balance between two worlds.
If Raditz had survived in the canon, this could've played even further into Vegeta's sense of isolation post-Cell arc. During his whole Majin Vegeta vs Goku fight speech, he could've said something like "And imagine the frustration I felt, when the only other pure-blood of my race left, your brother, that low-level trash who'd trembled for years under my elite warrior might, not only obtained the power of a super saiyan, but deemed me, ME the prince of all Saiyans UNWORTHY of his time! UNWORTHY FOR HIM TO FIGHT!"
“The best translations into English do not, in fact, read as if they were originally written in English. The English words are arranged in such a way that the reader sees a glimpse of another culture’s patterns of thinking, hears an echo of another language’s rhythms and cadences, and feels a tremor of another people’s gestures and movements.”
— Ken Liu, Translator’s Postscript to The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin (via proud-member-of-hermits-united)
You ever wonder just how miserable Raditz was after Planet Vegeta blew up? The guy was pathetically weak compared to even regular Freeza Force soldiers and having to live and travel with the likes of Vegeta likely wasn't easy.
How much mockery, disrespect and outright antagonistic behaviour did he have to endure from Nappa and Vegeta? And he had nowhere to go to get away from them. It was either them or the rest of the active Freeza Force, most of whom seemed to share Freeza's racist views on Saiyans. Naturally Raditz would stick with his own kind.
He must have relished the feeling of overwhelming power when he brutalized Goku once he arrived on Earth. It must have been the first time in a long time where he overpowered someone and didn't have someone mocking him in the background over it.
Raditz' life withe Nappa & Vegeta has potential for a psychological story where he's turned into more and more of a sociopathic coward. Just wish people didn't constantly portray the three of them as cute bffs.
My tablet works again! Also I'm reminded why I don't do color comics ಥ‿ಥ
I wondered if Cybertronians and Frieza's soldiers ever run into each other in space. (I like to imagine Raditz sitting in a waiting room for therapy (by our favorite counselor Nappa of course) and Starscream is just waiting in the same room trying to sit on human sized furniture and read human sized magazines)
