Did Raditz choose not to be brought back after his death in the Cell Saga, like Goku did? Or did things turn out differently? I know this Raditz is similar to Goku in that they're the protagonist of DBZ, but he's still different from Goku in personality. And for that matter, what sort of things did go differently in Raditzs' verse?
Now those are excellent questions. Answer is under a cut because holy crap itâs long, over 3,000 words.
Letâs start from the beginning then, and detail out the major differencescaused by Raditz being the one sent down instead of Goku. And trust me, thereare A LOT. Though perhaps not as much as you think, since the aim here is toensure every major event still happens where it does in canon.
Well I suppose the first major differences are Raditz is four years old whenhe crashes on Earth and that keeps his name. He still forgets it due to thehead trauma and amnesia, but at most a month in he manages to remember it whilehelping Grandpa Gohan harvest vegetables. The reason for that is mostlyscientific, in that people who suffer from retrograde amnesia find it harder torecover memories the closer to the incident they get. Raditz probably willnever recover any memory he made between ages 3 and 4, but he might be able toremember his own name given the proper memory jogging. Enough rambling on thatthen, on to the good stuff.
Since Raditz is four years older and most likely had some degree of trainingon Vegeta, at the very least growing use to the ten times stronger gravity,would come to Earth with much more strength. According to Daizenshu, Kid Gokuat the start had a power level around 12, about twice as strong as the averageadult (based on the Farmer being a 5). Now I know power levels are mostlybullshit, but theyâre useful for plotting out relative strength. Raditz, at age16, his age when he meets Bulma, has a power of 80. This also means his earlyenemies are going to be significantly easier to deal with. Therefore, Raditz isnever really pushed that much. That difference is made even clearer when histraining with Roshi kicks him up a bunch. Not sure on specific numbers, butitâs enough to get THE Jackie Chun impressed.
On the subject of bearded old men fighters, Raditzâs first meeting withRoshi takes a different turn. Raditz was older when Grandpa Gohan died, about12 years old. Old enough to understand death and to have a bit of logic insteadof just naivety. Basically, heâs not a total idiot. So Raditz is actually ableto notice that Roshi is wearing a Dragon Ball. He asks for the ball as paymentinstead of receiving a Nimbus Cloud, since he actually cannot ride one. Whetheritâs because he isnât as pure hearted or because of those funny feelings he hadfor Bulma the previous night, who really knows. This means Bulma never actuallyhas to flash Roshi, and we may have avoided that whole âBulma your balls aregoneâ debacle as well.
Now thatâs something I should have covered earlier. Raditz and Bulmaâsmeeting goes a bit differently, since Raditz actually offers to join her. Shedefinitely needs the help, and heâs willing to let her use his Dragon Ballsince Grandpa Gohan instilled enough manners into him to know to be nice togirls. No need for any tricks or foolery, no need for most of thatconversation, honestly.
Ok so without the Nimbus a few things are changed. Notably, it wonât bethere to save Raditz against Monster Beast Girran. And that is where RaditzâsSaiyan Training starts to manifest. Saiyans use a certain type of flyingtechnique that differs from that of the Earthlings, though itâs never named. Itjust seems to be more energy efficient, I guess. Regardless, Raditz taps intothat power when heâs being thrown from the ring wrapped in the Merry-Go-RoundGum. It would have been something a Saiyan Child was taught at a young age, sologically itâs an ability Raditz could have. He would have simply forgotten hecould do it. Retrograde amnesia does not affect learned skills. A man couldhave great skill with a piano and suddenly forget he can play after a massiveinjury. However, if you put that same man in front of a piano, he would stillbe able to play well; the muscle memory and instinct are still accessible bythe brain. The same can be said of Raditz here. He was given a situation whereflying would save him, so his body reacted and revealed a forgotten ability. Raditzwould continue to use Flight throughout his adventures, basically replacing anypoint his brother would have used the Nimbus Cloud. It should be noted that hestill uses the Power Pole until he hands it off to his son at the start of theDragon Ball Z era Sagas.
Looking at Goku, he shot up in height at around 18 years of age. That wouldhave been around the Piccolo Jr Saga for Goku. But since Raditz is four yearsolder, he appears in his Young Adult form much earlier, at the start of theTien Shinhan Saga, as in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Thatwould make him already an adult by the time he fought King Piccolo, whose Sagabegins immediately after the tournament. As stated in the About page, KingPiccolo is basically the first person to give him a seriously tough fight. Allof his other fights were against opponents on or below his level, leaving himwith very few chances to improve through Zenkai Boosts. Tien does show the mostskill and does manage to ring out Raditz, but the triclops was still outclassedin raw power.
Now the first major change in a side character comes from King Piccolo.After the Ultra Divine Water made Raditz stronger than the Demon King, herealized how much of a mistake he made in underestimating the defender of Earthand set a countermeasure. As Raditz struck the last blow with an energy infusedfist, he spit out an egg containing all of his strength and then some, creatingan offspring with more power than even he could have imagined. He alsoinstilled a desire to grow stronger and surpass anyone, which would lead to thenewly hatched Piccolo Jr training far harder and gaining much more power thanhis progenitor. But Raditz was training as well. In the end, Raditz and Piccolosport a fairly even base power of 500 as they fight in the 23rdWorld Martial Arts Tournament. Raditz, like Goku in the canon, spared Piccoloâslife. Though his reasoning was slightly different. Heâd grown to respectPiccoloâs strength over the course of the fight and hoped to get a strong rivalout of it, something he lacked in the moment. Â Â Â
Now this description of events in Dragon Ball Z are still a bit tentative,but I have a solid stance on how I want it to start. Firstly, I want Nappacoming down to pick up Raditz instead. Vegeta would have sent thelowest-powered one of the Saiyans, treating it like a boring easy fetch questytype of job. No one expected Raditz to be perfectly happy there. Raditzâs sonis still kidnapped and Piccolo still teams up with the Saiyan raised on Earthto beat back the invading threat. Raditz also notices the battle armor, as itresembles the set he wears frequently, though the design and colors may havechanged for him over the years. What with them being weighted and all.
With the Kamehameha and the Special Beam Cannon the two of them are able topinpoint their 600ish powers to over 2,000, surprising Nappa (power level4,000) and getting the drop on him. Like in the canon, Piccoloâs Special BeamCannon kills both Nappa and Raditz. Raditz then heads down Snake Way to learnfrom King Kai, who will teach him the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb. Piccolotakes Gohan to train him, the other Z Fighters go train with Kami and Popo,yada yada blah blah blah. Basically canon things happen. Thatâs not what weâreinterested in.
Kakarot and Vegeta invade, with both sporting substantially high powers.Kakarot has a power of about 9,000 (a little over twice as strong as Nappa) andVegeta has a power of 20,000 (about five times as strong as Nappa). NowKakarot, being on the more kind-hearted side of the Saiyan spectrum, wants theleast amount of bloodshed necessary to secure the Dragon Balls and their wishfor immortality. He plants more Saibamen than necessary, giving the Z Fightersquite a dangerous fight and causing the deaths of Yamcha and Chaotzu. This wasthe final straw that pissed off Tien, whose attack did nothing but angerKakarot. His calm demeanor was finally shattered under the pestering blows ofthe Earthlingsâ power of friendship speech and all that kinda shit. Kakarot thenstuns Tien with a Saturday Crash and blows a hole through his chest with aDouble Sunday.
With Raditz being ever-more late, Kakarot loses more patience and decides toplay with his nephew for a bit. Buuut his nephew is not as strong as he wouldhave hoped. Gohan puts up a good show, but he fails to really do much damage tohis uncle. Eventually the battle grows to bore Kakarot, and he fires a Weekend,intent on killing Gohan, just to see if it would force his dear brother out ofhiding. If they wanted to conquer this planet after getting immortality, theyâdhave to kill all the humans here anyway. So what if a few died early. At leastheâd give Gohan a warriorâs death. Nope wait, thereâs the green man.AndâŠohâŠthere go the Dragon Balls. Shit. Yup, Piccolo jumps in to take theenergy blast, dying at Gohanâs feet mere seconds before Raditz arrives. SoRaditz has to fight off his brother and manages to defeat him with a KaiokenAssault, just as Goku defeated Nappa. The only major difference here is thatRaditz has a slightly higher power level, since he returns from Other Worldwith a base power of 7,000. Under the effects of Kaioken, that boosts him overto 14,000- more than enough to beat Kakarotâs 9,000. However, since Kakarot wasso much stronger than Raditzâs base form, he has to enter Kaioken earlier.
The fight against Vegeta goes essentially the same, but his Kaioken x3brings his power level up to 21,000- just barely surpassing Vegeta. As such, hestill needs to use the x4 Kaioken Kamehameha to defeat the Earth SplittingGalick Gun, the power of his beam reaching 28,000. Vegetaâs Great Ape formreaches 200,000, which is far too much for him to handle on his own. Krillin,Gohan, and Yajirobe manage to help him take down the beast, leaving Vegetabarely alive. As he had spared Piccolo in the past for having strength enoughto rival his, so too does Raditz ask for Vegeta to be spared.
On his way to Namek, Raditz trains in 100 times Earthâs gravity, boostinghis power through the roof to 100,000. Under the effects of Kaioken, this putshis power at 200,000- a match for the Great Ape form Vegeta showed off. Vegeta,on the other hand, being already stronger than the canon Cui, defeats him witha great ease. Itâs only when he fights Dodoria that he reveals the power boostfrom his defeat on Earth- boosting his power level to around 26,000. Whichunfortunately is not enough to beat Zarbonâs Monster form, which boosted thelieutenantâs power just enough to kick Vegetaâs ass with a surprise attack. Ofcourse the Zenkai boost he receives when Frieza heals him boosts him up enoughto make easy work out of Zarbonâs Monster form. But itâs not enough forRecoome.
Speaking of the Ginyu Force, Raditz makes quick work of them. Recoome wentdown with a single punch to the gut, Burter had his spine broken, and Jeice wasbattered by an elbow to the face. Annoyed by just how weak and useless thosegoons were, Raditz took their lives. This is a huge departure from canon, asGoku would have let them live. But Raditz respects strength, not weakness. Andthose three were foolish to attempt to defeat him. A simple energy blastthrough the chest ended the lives of Burter and Recoome, but he had taken toolong to silence Jeice. Jeice had sent word to Ginyu before Raditz slayed him,and boy is he pissed. He powers up as high as he can, but Raditz only laughsand ascends to his Kaioken form (power level 120,000 vs power level 200,000). Afight ensues, with Vegeta flying off to try to steal the balls. In the end,Ginyu still steals his body and Vegeta beats him down long enough for Raditz toregain his body. As to whether he lets Ginyu die or remain trapped within afrogâŠthatâs up in the air. Honestly, Raditz would probably think that remaininga frog would be far worse than dying. And that is the kind of punishment hedeserves for stealing his body and hurting his son and Krillin.
As far as Frieza is concernedâŠI really canât think of anything goingdifferently. Raditz still cares about Krillin, being effectively one of hisfirst friends, and it would still give him enough rage to ascend to SuperSaiyan. But his hair weighs enough that the charge doesnât make it spike up. Hedoes in fact offer Frieza some of his energy after heâs defeated, but when thebroken alien blasts back, he responds with a dark smirk- he had hoped thatFrieza would be so stupid as to attack him, so he destroys the tyrant. Or wouldhave, if everything went right. Apparently Frieza survived long enough in thebarrens of SPACE to be put back together by his father. And here Raditz wasexpecting Frieza to be space dust. Future Trunks does come down to end theTyrant and his father, just as in canon. Which is sort of necessary, as thatsparks the Android Saga.
Speaking of the Android Saga, the only thing I can think of being differentis that when Raditz comes back he admits he messed up and forgot Gohanâsbirthday, so he sets up a party a couple days after returning to celebrateGohanâs birthday before everyone runs off to train for three years. Now that Iâmthinking about it, thereâs at least one more difference when Androids 19 and 20attack. Raditz would keep the Sensu Beans with him, not hand them off to Bulma.He would, however, still have Yamcha retreat for a bit to rest, which would denyhim the chance to tell the gang about the Androidâs ability to absorb energy.He does, however, realize this earlier, thus sending Gohan back to the frayearlier. This gave just enough time to prevent Raditz from releasing a SuperKamehameha that 19 would have easily absorbed.
The Heart Virus still kicks in though, and Raditz clearly knows thatâs whatit is. He doesnât bother with a Sensu Bean and continues to fight as best hecan, but he still gets beat around until Vegeta shows up. Trusting that hisrival was more than powerful enough to take down the foe, he tagged out. Well,more like passed out. So Yamcha took him back. The events surrounding 16, 17,and 18 continue on fairly smoothly, and when Raditz wake up he still knowseverything that went on, just like Goku. Like in the canon, he gathered theother Saiyans and brought them to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. Thereâsnot all that much to say here, since all they do is fight and fight and fight.Gohan himself wouldnât be that much different, though he might be a lot lessreluctant to perform acts of violence to defend those he cares about. Whichwould certainly cut down things with Cell. Perhaps he still fears the power hewields when angry and tries to avoid it, as to not lose sense of himself.
Now concerning Cell himself. I think the fights would go pretty similarly,if the final bout being a bit shorter since Gohan would tap into Super Saiyan 2a lot faster. You know, maybe 16 doesnât have to die in this timeline. If Gohancan tap into his rage all on his own, he doesnât need 16 to give him a peptalk. Yeah, I like that. 16 will survive in this timeline and Bulma will buildhim a new body or something. You had wanted to know if Raditz would choose toremain dead after sacrificing himself to Cellâs self-destruct attack, as Gokuhad. For the sake of canon, I think he would. He knows that too many people aregetting hurt because of things he did. Gohan is stronger than him now; heshould be strong enough to protect the Earth. That said, heâs also tempted bythe strength of the long dead masters living in Other World. I mean he did getone of his best skills and stronger power boosts while being dead, so itâs safeto assume that being dead has its benefits. With the help of King Kai, he couldeasily contact his friends and family whenever he wanted, allowing him to stayin their lives. In the end, itâs the best decision. He would stay dead to growstronger and keep an eye on his family to ensure everything was safe. Â
Due to constant conversation with his father, I doubt Gohan would get anybit weaker. With Daddy Raditz on his ass every morning, he probably wouldnâtget too lax on his training. I could see him maintaining the level of power hehad as a child, at the very least. Perhaps not too much of an increase, asRaditz and Vegeta would be training far harder. I think SSJ2 Goku and SSJ2Majin Vegeta are both around 2,000,000,000. SSJ2 Adolescent Gohan could be atleast 1,500,000,000. Enough about power levels. I can definitely see Gohanenjoying being a super hero and telling his father all about it. So Saiyamanstuff will definitely stay. This constant contact would allow Goten to knowabout his father, even if he never saw him. Raditz could even teach him a bit.Chi Chi would probably be a bit more relaxed, as she could talk to Raditz morefrequently- though sheâd probably miss his physical presence a hell of a lot.All in all, I think contact with Raditz in Other World would boost up the powerof Goten and Gohan and generally stabilize Chi Chi. They would still be excitedfor the Tournament, as it would be the last chance they ever had to physically seeand touch their dear Son Raditz.
Concerning Majin Buu himselfâŠI honestly canât think of a single viable change.Raditz would still prefer to save his planet and fight Vegeta later, Vegetawould still go Majin and sacrifice himself in an attempt to kill Buu, etc. Thatsaid, I can see Vegeta being less of a bitch about it. Sort of a âThe faster webeat Buu the sooner we can fightâ mentality instead of âWaaah Wahh I wannafight Kakarot but he wanna save dah woooorldâ. His motivations for going Majinwould then be for a power up, not just so Raditz would take him seriously andfight. At that point the fight would be to see who is stronger and more apt todestroy Buu. Kinda like a game of Rock Paper Scissors. Only lethal. Super Buuand Kid Buu will probably remain the same, as will Gohan receiving thePotential Unleashed power up. Buu Sagaâs pretty cut and dry, now that I thinkabout it. I donât know if Raditz will request that Kid Buu be reincarnated as agood person. Doesnât really sound like something heâd do. And I honestly donâtreally care enough about Uub to give a shit.
I suppose one thing is worth mentioning. With 16 surviving, his presence canshake things up. 16 will probably go on to live with Krillin and 18, functioningas an uncle-type figure for Marron. Chances are he will be the one protectingher, since I donât think she was on the Lookout, as Iâm pretty certain she didnâtdie. Ok, so she was apparently killed on the Lookout. Well screw that noise. Inthis timeline, they trusted 16 to take care of her. Either they left her withhim before coming to the lookout, or Krillin got a bad feeling and asked 16 totake her from the Lookout somewhere else. Since 16 has no power level, as longas Super Buu never saw him, heâd have no reason to kill him. This is in placemostly to avoid the fact that 16 cannot be wished back if he dies. Which heprobably would die, if Buu turned him into a cookie or something.
On the subject of the potara fusion with Vegeta, their fusion would likelybe known as Rageta, as Vegaditz is a silly name. Vegitz could also work. Notentirely sure. Rageta will probably be the name choice. The way I see it, the fuseewhose personality is more dominant is the one who goes first. Gogeta was Gokudominant and Vegito was Vegeta dominant. That said, I honestly think Ragetawould be Raditz dominant, if just because the two are far more similar thanGoku and Vegeta were. Namely the fact theyâre both snarky bastard at times.Rageta would probably be wearing battle armor like Raditz but it would bemodified by the color of Vegetaâs training suit. This really depends on Raditzâsfinal design, and Iâm not entirely sure if heâs going to start wearing the TurtleGi more frequently than the Battle Suit. Regardless, Ragetaâs hair wouldprobably end up looking a lot like Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta. A point at the topand a freakin mane coming down the back. It would be a lot of hair, butprobably make Super Rageta look hella badass. Â Â
As far as Dragon Ball Super is concernedâŠI really canât see anything goingthat differently. At least for now. I might change that whole nerf to PotaraFusion. Probably will. That ending could be better. Though with 16 alive thingsmight change. I like the idea of 16 being a cop with Krillin, could lead tosome funny Robocop jokes.
