Kai Episode 52 (11 April 2010)

[Gaffer Tape]

I think it was more of what he basically said in his speech where he stopped fighting: his revenge was to humiliate Freeza. Let him know that he was no longer worth fighting, and that there was someone in the universe who could totally strip him of his pride and make a mockery of him. And he was going to leave Freeza alive with that humiliation. Freeza, however, didn't like that. Goku really wavers on whether or not he's a humanitarian (?). Sometimes he'll offer to let villains go just because he's a nice guy (the Ginyu Tokusentai), sometimes he'll let them go because he's a selfish bastard and puts his own desires above the needs of the world (Vegeta), and sometimes he'll just kill indiscriminately (Red Ribbon).

[Undercooked Sausage]

Goku doing his "no killing" thing only lasted between the latter half of the Saiyan arc and the end of the Freeza arc. Otherwise the dude will wreck shit if he has to. Must've been some idea that Toriyama had to make him more likeable.

[Tsukento]

Must be, seeing as how Goku killed any villain at the drop of a hat as a kid.

[Herms]

Goku doing his "no killing" thing only lasted between the latter half of the Saiyan arc and the end of the Freeza arc. Otherwise the dude will wreck shit if he has to. Must've been some idea that Toriyama had to make him more likeable.

He also refuses to kill Piccolo at the 23rd TB, though there was the whole God/dragonballs complication. Still, Goku's rate of killing does plummet after he grows up.

[DemonRin]

I always figured he only ever spared a few characters for specific reasons.

Piccolo he spared because A) Dragon Balls, and B) Wanted to fight him again
Vegeta he spared because he wanted to fight him again
Freeza he probably spared out of some form of disgust. He'd already toppled Freeza, now he didn't seem worth killing anymore. Son's personality changed a bit during that first Super Saiyan Transformation, he was a tad angrier and ruder.

Son's usual motivation is "Where are the strong guys!? I wana fight a strong guy! give me a stronger guy! You're not strong yet? Can you get strong?! Fine, Get strong and come back and we'll fight, it'll be great!" XD

[Flamzeron]

Son's usual motivation is "Where are the strong guys!? I wana fight a strong guy! give me a stronger guy! You're not strong yet? Can you get strong?! Fine, Get strong and come back and we'll fight, it'll be great!" XD

That's so true it's worth sig quoting.

[Xyex]

I've always pegged his 'no killing thing' up to the influences of Kami and, possibly, fatherhood. Not killing everyone seems like something Kami would teach, and Gohan also had a similar effect on Piccolo.

[penguintruth]

Need I remind you that after Freeza spits on Goku's good will and tries one final attack on him, Goku delivers a "killing blow" that only didn't work because King Cold and his bunch came by in time to save Freeza? And it turns out later that Goku only doesn't kill Freeza because Trunks gets to him first. He absolutely would have destroyed Cell and he does destroy Buu.

And, not that they're canon, but he does kill a number of movie villains, like Telluce and Coola.

Goku's willing to kill if that's what it takes, but it's not always necessary. At the time, Freeza's humiliation was a fate worse than death anyway, for a guy who always prided himself as being the strongest in the universe.

[Blue]

It is a weird double standard, both Piccolo and Vegeta threaten to blow up the Earth (or at the very least wipe out everyone who lives there) and Goku is a-okay with that and lets them go. Cell threatens to blow up Earth and Goku has no trouble with him dying.

Freeza I can understand,Goku had already outclassed him so there was no need to keep him around for a strong opponent to fight.When it comes to Piccolo I guess since he's not technically the same person as his father he hadn't committed any super atrocious crimes (for a DB villian anyway) thus Goku didn't feel the need to kill him.

[Amigo Ten]

I always saw it that Goku just had no respect for Cell, because he's simply an amalgamation of other fighters and hadn't earned or learned any of his abilities/strength.

[Undercooked Sausage]

Cell's just a robot though. He's not going to change his ways or anything because the way he's programmed, and he has no reason to keep him alive to be stronger because Goku is already dead.

[Big Momma]

Goku's willing to kill if that's what it takes, but it's not always necessary. At the time, Freeza's humiliation was a fate worse than death anyway, for a guy who always prided himself as being the strongest in the universe.

And the fact that he was beaten by someone from an "inferior" race that used to be enslaved to him.

That's like if Hitler's entire army would have been overthrown by a small Jewish army.

[Cold Skin]

Actually, in the manga story, Goku never kills again after his training with God. Strong symbolism here. After that:

- He doesn't kill Piccolo.
- He doesn't kill Raditz.
- He doesn't kill Nappa.
- He doesn't kill Vegeta.
- He doesn't kill the Ginyu Commando.
- He doesn't kill Freezer.
- He doesn't kill Cell.
- He only "kills" Boo at the very end, and that's killing only to be reborn instantly with a better life, so it's more "make you forget and give you a newborn human body" than really "kill". There's no hatred, no will to take anyone's life himself, just to purify it (which sometimes succeeds). Worthy of a training with God, don't you think?

This is actually supposed to be a major symbolism in the series, I think. Goku kills as a kid, not knowing it's bad (otherwise he wouldn't be able to climb on Kinto-Un), but after his training with God, he'll never kill anyone again, not even bad guys. The point is that even when he possibly wants to (example: when he ragingly blasts Cell's upper body and wonders why the latter doesn't seem to be dead), or if it's for selfish "wanna fight you again" reasons, the point is that he doesn't happen to kill ever again and that's probably no random stuff.

[DemonRin]

- He doesn't kill Piccolo.
- He doesn't kill Raditz.
- He doesn't kill Nappa.
- He doesn't kill Vegeta.
- He doesn't kill the Ginyu Commando.
- He doesn't kill Freezer.
- He doesn't kill Cell.
- He only "kills" Boo at the very end

- He doesn't kill Piccolo because he thinks he'll get stronger and wants to fight him again
- He was ready and willing to kill Raditz, he only backed off once because Raditz pulled the "I'm your brother!" card. As soon as he learned that lesson, he made sure to hold onto him next time, and although Piccolo was the one to do the deed, Son held him and no longer had any objections.
- He didn't have the chance to Kill Nappa, Toriyama wanted to use Nappa as a jobber to show how much of an "Elite" Bastard Vegeta was
- He didn't kill Vegeta for the same reason he didn't kill Piccolo
- Not sure on the Ginyu Special Corps, but they weren't really major villains worth focusing on.
- He let Freeza live momentarily, which would arguably have been crueler to such a prideful bastard, then Freeza basically spat in his face, so Son tried to put him down, there was no holding back
- He doesn't kill Cell because... he COULDN'T Kill Cell... that was the point. He wasn't strong enough, but he was sure Gohan would be, which ended up being the case... There was never a "Cell can live if he promises to be good!" moment at all. Hell, if you count him in because of the Father-Son Kamehameha, Son DOES Kill Cell.
- You mention the Ginyu Special Corps, but neglect Yakon? Son killed Yakon. He stood there while Vegeta killed Pui Pui and had nothing to say about it. He nonchalantly threatened to kill Kaioshin if he wouldn't move. And he seemed completely serious about that.
- Yes, he killed Boo, and yes he did ask for him to come back, but that wasn't because he was "Grown up and responsible about killing". He wanted to fight Boo again, so he wanted him to come back good so there would be no threat of world destruction based on the outcome of their fight.

That's what it really boils down to. As I said before, Son's core motivation in the series is that he wants to fight stronger and stronger guys. He let Piccolo go to get stronger and fight again, he let Vegeta go to get stronger and fight again.

Really, Freeza is the only character who can't be explained away that way. Every single other character he either let go to get Stronger later, or he set out to actively kill.

[Senzu_Bean]

I'm pretty sure if Goku, instead of Gohan, achieved Super Saiyan 2 at the Cell Games he wouldn't kill Cell. It might just be me but Goku seems have a lot of respect to Cell, due its great power of course, after this achieved its perfect form. Not sure what he would make with it though.

[Gaffer Tape]

Really? I'd say the opposite. Goku seemed quite pissed that Gohan decided to toy around with Cell and not just finish him off.

[Amigo Ten]

Why wouldn't Goku have killed Cell? I don't think he'd have any other choice, and he was urging Gohan to do it.

[Senzu_Bean]

Really? I'd say the opposite. Goku seemed quite pissed that Gohan decided to toy around with Cell and not just finish him off.

That is just because Gohan was playing with his toy, a toy he couldn't play with cause he was too weak.

He also wanted the others to kill Freeza and Buu and we know how those turned in the end.

[Amigo Ten]

Yeah, Goku had to kill them himself.

[Flamzeron]

Need I remind you that after Freeza spits on Goku's good will and tries one final attack on him, Goku delivers a "killing blow" that only didn't work because King Cold and his bunch came by in time to save Freeza? And it turns out later that Goku only doesn't kill Freeza because Trunks gets to him first. He absolutely would have destroyed Cell and he does destroy Buu.

And, not that they're canon, but he does kill a number of movie villains, like Telluce and Coola.

Goku's willing to kill if that's what it takes, but it's not always necessary. At the time, Freeza's humiliation was a fate worse than death anyway, for a guy who always prided himself as being the strongest in the universe.

I concur completely. He only kills if it is necessary. If Freeza had not attacked Goku, I bet that he would have become a major character.