How would the series change if Goku kept his tail?

[Osmium]

This is one of those things I’ve always thought about, since I was always disappointed in Toriama removing Goku’s tail since it was such an integral part of his design, and it feels like a loss. The introduction of the Saiyajins removed a lot of the mystique about why Goku had the tail, but it was still iconic.

I’d like to think of an alternate timeline where when Goku is training with Kami, instead of Kami deciding to remove Goku’s tail, he instead manages to change Goku psychologically, where looking at the full moon wouldn’t turn him into an Oozaru anymore. If you wonder how Kami would be able to do this, I think of it sort of like the “clothes beam”, where there’s no much logic to it and it can be waved away by Kami being a god. Kami would give him an explanation of what he did with a somewhat vague explanation, saying that “you will now remain normal when the moon is out”, which of course Goku doesn’t understand. This gives us a way to have Goku retain his tail while still not understanding what it does and not being able to tap into its potential, allowing Goku’s revelation during the fight with Vegeta to still be as powerful as it was.

Now we can cut ahead to the meeting with Raditz, where he asks how this planet is still full of life when Goku has his tail. Goku tells him that he doesn’t know what his tail has to do with anything, since he if course doesn’t know about the Oozaru. Raditz then calls Goku a “defective” Saiyajin or something like that, doubtless brought up again by Vegeta and Nappa when they meet Goku. This makes Goku look even more pathetic than he did originally, as here it looks like he’s not even able to tap into the power of his tail. Not only is he kind and weak, his tail doesn’t even work!

Moving into the Vegeta fight, he of course thinks Goku destroyed the moon to prevent him from transforming despite his tail not working. Vegeta laughs and thinks that Goku’s tail maybe once worked but doesn’t anymore to the point he would understand the transformation, something akin to erectile distinction. Goku of course still doesn’t know what Vegeta is talking about at all. Vegeta becomes the Oozaru using the power ball and Goku finally puts together what Kami told him and figures out how he killed Gohan, understanding the danger inherent in his tail, and that he vows to defeat Vegeta for him.

The fight continues like how it does originally until after Vegeta is hit by the Genkei Dama. Vegeta decides to torture Goku some more and bashes his head with a stone. This clearly shows some damage to Goku’s head, and this some undoes what Kami did to prevent the transformation. While Vegeta and Gohan are fighting, both rapidly losing energy, Goku looks at the power ball and it starts to induce the transformation. Gohan is down and as Vegeta is about to strike the final blow, Goku begins to transform into the Oozaru, noting as it’s happening that he’s beginning to lose his mind to his primal side.

Goku as the Oozaru begins by acting as he would when he transformed as a kid, mindlessly smashing everything in sight, although now of course much more powerfully. Even though he couldn’t as a kid, we’ll assume he’s able to do the mouth blast like Gohan did with Piccolo. Vegeta still manages to barely avoid Goku, but not easily at all. Then Goku picks up a massive boulder and is about to throw it at Gohan and Kuririn, but Kuririn is able to tap into Goku’s intact mind somewhat and Goku regains a little bit of consciousness, and goes after Vegeta. This is thought by Kuririn to be a product of Goku’s greatly enhanced mental training over the years, which gives him a little bit of awareness.

Vegeta is now fighting for his life against Goku as an Oozaru, and manages to cut of his tail using the Kienzan rip-off like he did originally. Then the rest happens like it really did, this time though it’s Goku landing on Vegeta. I thought it would be interesting to have it be Goku that underwent the transformation instead of Gohan since the arc is all about Goku’s acceptance of his Saiyajin past, including the Oozaru. Goku is somewhat ashamed he ended up using the form that killed his grandfather to win the fight, but he knew there was nothing else he could do; and part of his vow is to fight Vegeta again and win without any use of the Oozaru.

This now gives us the conundrum of Goku back to his default childhood state, now with a tail and able to undergo Oozaru at the full moon (after it grows back). Conveniently for us though, the moon was destroyed by Piccolo before, so there’s no way for Goku or Gohan after his tail comes back to transform without the moon after the power ball so we don’t have to worry about that.

If Vegeta’s tail grows back (which I think it should, since it was a Saiyajin hallmark of pride and I would think Vegeta would be pissed if he permanently lost it), that makes the situation more difficult for what would happen at Namek if Vegeta had access to it. I assume to make things convenient that they couldn’t regrow Vegeta’s tail in the healing tank, but eventually it would come back naturally. So for the early parts of the Namek arc, Vegeta is as vulnerable as he was in the manga.

If his tail does come back, he would also have to use the power ball on Namek since there is no true night. Maybe if his tail comes back during the fight with Freeza, he would end up facing Freeza using the Oozaru at some point, probably waiting to use the power ball when Freeza was at his final form (as he correctly didn’t want to waste energy knowing Freeza would transform anyway), but Freeza is so powerful that he can handle it fine. Freeza is so strong that he rips Vegeta’s tail straight out. We can write it that Gohan is distracted somehow during this part so he can’t see the power ball himself (maybe something to do with Dende).

As Vegeta returns to normal form, he wants Gohan to get over there transform into an Oozaru, arguing that even if Gohan isn’t as strong, he may wear Freeza out somewhat anyway, but Freeza is able to destroy the power ball somehow, so it can’t happen. Following that, the fight between Vegeta and final form Freeza happens as it did originally, with Goku showing up much later, and the rest of the arc playing out as it did originally.

I’m not sure how the rest of the series would play out, but I’ve always liked the Saiyajin tails, especially for Goku as it is an iconic part of his character and was sad to see them go, so this was a workaround to keep them relevant. What do you guys think about the tails, and what would you do to keep them in the series?

[Dr. Casey]

I've always thought there was something slightly odd about the way that the Oozaru transformations in the series were spaced out. Goku's first two transformations at the Pilaf Castle and 21st Tenkaichi Budokai were fairly close together, then the series goes an eternity without any Oozaru transformations, then in the Saiyan saga everyone's turning into an Oozaru all the time, then they're never used again. I wonder what put Toriyama in such an Oozaru mood during the Saiyan arc.

[Osmium]

I've always thought there was something slightly odd about the way that the Oozaru transformations in the series were spaced out. Goku's first two transformations at the Pilaf Castle and 21st Tenkaichi Budokai were fairly close together, then the series goes an eternity without any Oozaru transformations, then in the Saiyan saga everyone's turning into an Oozaru all the time, then they're never used again. I wonder what put Toriyama in such an Oozaru mood during the Saiyan arc.

That’s always something that stuck in my mind as well. If I was going to give my thoughts on why it happened like that, i wouldn’t be surprised if Toryiama didn’t want to use the Oozaru too much as a convenient way for Goku to get out of trouble so dialed back it’s use, then eventually forgot about it somewhat (still showing up as art set pieces in Piccolo Daimao’s story of course), and it only became relevant again after Toryiama came up with the Saiyan plot and it naturally fit.

[Anonymous Friend]

I've always thought there was something slightly odd about the way that the Oozaru transformations in the series were spaced out. Goku's first two transformations at the Pilaf Castle and 21st Tenkaichi Budokai were fairly close together, then the series goes an eternity without any Oozaru transformations, then in the Saiyan saga everyone's turning into an Oozaru all the time, then they're never used again. I wonder what put Toriyama in such an Oozaru mood during the Saiyan arc.

The first transformation was a twist. The second one at the tourney was something for Jackie Chun to overcome. He needed to beat Goku at his most powerful. Gohan's transformation was to show how Piccolo was able to handle it. Vegeta's was to show a controlled version of it.

[jjgp1112]

I've always thought there was something slightly odd about the way that the Oozaru transformations in the series were spaced out. Goku's first two transformations at the Pilaf Castle and 21st Tenkaichi Budokai were fairly close together, then the series goes an eternity without any Oozaru transformations, then in the Saiyan saga everyone's turning into an Oozaru all the time, then they're never used again. I wonder what put Toriyama in such an Oozaru mood during the Saiyan arc.

The tail had previously been Gokus signature characteristic but now Goku was revealed to be an alien from an entire race of people like that. So I figure he just wanted to showcase the transformation again in that context - show others besides Goku using it

[FoolsGil]

imho, with what Z became, there's only one reason why to keep the tail for much longer. the 10x Strength Boost. and the last use for it would be for Goku and/or one of the other Saiyans to access that power boost without the full moon. Body may or may not change afterwards, but after that, tail is unneeded, good to cut off now that the Oozaru is a powerup, no longer a transformation.