Saiyan power fluctuation (Broly too!)

[cheddarsword]

I've been wondering something. Yes, this is for my Broly fanfic, but it also applies to standard saiyans like Goku and primarily Gohan.

From what we know, saiyans grow stronger with every fight and weaker when not fighting, as evidenced by Gohan in Resurrection F.

But do they get stronger if their opponent is MUCH weaker than them? For instance, say Vegeta has an epic one on one with a house fly, swatting back and forth with his hands, moving from room to room. It's like a fight but the power balance is one sided here. After an hour of trying to kill it, Vegeta finally lands the "crushing" blow. Would he have gotten stronger from that, and if so, would it be very much?

If not, then that begs another question.

Broly, who was uncontested in his strength until everyone pours their power into Goku, may have actually WEAKENED after birth, or at least not grown as strong as he would have otherwise. Or since he's the Legend, are certain factors ignored, or special factors taken into account?

[GigaDrill]

That general statement seems to be based off of Zenkai, and Gohan in general simply got weaker because he wasn't training.

[cheddarsword]

That general statement seems to be based off of Zenkai, and Gohan in general simply got weaker because he wasn't training.

I thought Zenkai boosts only occur when recovering from mortal or near mortal damage? Or is it more accurately, as I've heard (thank you MasakoX) Saiyan Power and the boost is simply much greater when recovering from a "near death" scenario?

[nickzambuto]

Toriyama did state in that BoG interview (where he gave the 6-10-15 scale) that saiyans grow stronger while fighting, so a saiyan could conceiveably catch up to a stronger opponent and overcome them while battling. The problem is this idea kinda came out of nowhere. We know about near death boosts, but a saiyan's battle power rising just from the act of combat was never mentioned before that interview, and I can't think of any in universe examples that might indicate it as something in Toriyama's mind.

I'm going to have to conclude that saiyan battle powers do not fluctuate from the act of battle at all. They either grow stronger training, naturally, or from a near death boost, or they decline from age, and not staying in shape. Just simply fighting isn't going to result in any significant power boost.