Thanks both! The feedback's appreciated. And you're welcome to the images, Koitsukai
GreatSaiyaman123 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 6:59 pmShouldn’t Raditz at least pick a power up from their 408-416 selves.
Thanks for your comments! Fundamentally, I guess this particular question boils down to the old 'If Goku and Piccolo have a BP range, how come Raditz doesn't read it?' argument. It's a fair question, to be sure; I figure the answer is simply that Scouters don't always read every change in Battle Power: for instance, there's no second Makankosappo reading in the Manga; Raditz's Scouter doesn't read the fact that Goku is still able to wield enough power to hold him even once he's been beaten up (or, indeed, the BP consequences of getting beaten up in the first place), etc., etc.
GreatSaiyaman123 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 6:59 pmThis also goes to Kuririn. Shouldn’t that 206 at least be his “braced” level? Why’d he ask Bulma to register an arbitrary, suppressed level?
This is an important question, which requires a clear answer - and that answer is that a "Resting" level, in this schema, is
not a "Suppressed" level at all, but is simply the character's ordinary, natural power - the difference between "Resting" and "Braced" isn't that one is 'suppressed' and one isn't, but that one is the character's natural state, and the other is the product of the kind of exertion/geeing oneself up that comes with fighting seriously. So, in the example proffered, 206 is the BP read for Kuririn's "Resting" state, rather than his "Braced" state, because he's standing around not doing anything to his power one way or another - he isn't making an arbitrary choice, it's just what his power naturally 'looks like', when expressed as a numerical BP value.
Now, if Kuririn were to deliberately hold his power down in some way below his natural "Resting" state,
this would be "Suppression", and this has some means of depiction, according to this schema (as do other means of wielding less power than the "Resting" State), which I guess I'll use the opportunity to crowbar in here:
The Modest Proposal: Suppression
So, in this diagram, we see three different means of using less power than one naturally has -
- First, there's "Messing Around". This is totally arbitrary, because it's down to the arbitrary decision of the character concerned as to how much of their natural resting power they're choosing to wield. Form 4 Freeza is the really obvious example here, as he's almost perpetually Not Even Trying (e.g., fighting without using his hands, though I guess you could also point to his performance in Form 1 against Nail); while both his BP and Total Power index are really the same as his "Resting" State (his power hasn't gone anywhere, or anything, and a Scouter wouldn't pick up any difference either), it's just he's not really bothering to use what he's got naturally. This kind of thing is, like the "Resting" State, hard to use effectively in a fight (unsurprisingly), and often results in the user being free, open, even sloppy with their use of power. In the diagram, the whole '7854' of the total power is there, but only a fraction is used (and the general amount is specified). This isn't true Suppression.
- Secondly, there's Suppression. This is basically the inverse of a "Braced" State - instead of shaping their total ki into a 'shape' that is more effectively wielded in battle, at the cost of extra exertion, the ki is shaped into something that is less effectively wielded in battle (the BP is held down), but which is exceptionally easy to maintain. One doesn't use this to fight with, but rather to conserve energy generally and surprise one's opponent (especially if they're using a Scouter), but a ki-sensing individual can tell there's more power there simply by directly sensing them - an example is the three Namekians who show up with a BP of 1000, though their true power is 3000. Kuririn can directly tell they're suppressing their power, and is surprised Freeza's goons can't tell. In the diagram, all the total power is there, again, but 'pressed down'.
- Thirdly, there's Suppression and Concentration. This method takes the 'holding down' of power of the second diagram, but also concentrates the power strongly while holding down the power according to the BP axis, packing it into this smaller 'space': this results in a state where it's harder to detect the extra power a character has, and it also allows the power to surge immediately along the BP axis once one stops 'holding down' their power. This combines the benefits of energy conservation and a basically immediate power-up whenever one wants to use a lot more fighting power, as one is concentrating one's ki at the same time. The key example of this is Goku against the Ginyus - Kuririn only infers that he's stronger than them from his performance - he can't directly sense it, unlike with the Namekians, and Gohan mentions that Goku's ki seems a lot smaller than the Ginyus. In the diagram, all the 7854 Total Power is there, again, but it's compressed into an area that seems much smaller (hence the much smaller Total Power number given under that diagram).
So, according to this schema, this is what "Suppression" States look like, which are rather different to the "Resting" State. As we know, these can be controlled basically completely by the Earthlings, who are able to suppress their powers all the way down to zero, thus erasing their presence. I hope this further explanation has added a little to the explanation of how this schema represents both BP and Total Power, helped demonstrate the distinction between "Resting" and "Suppressed" States, and thereby explained why so many of the various Scouter readings in the Early Saiyan arc are here designated as "Resting" BPs.