Was non-divine telepathy just forgotten?

[Gorrilian]

I remember it being used for the canyon fight versus Vegeta and when Goku read Krillin's mind, but after that it seemed only Kaio and East Kaioshin could use it prominently. Weren't there situations where using ki like a 2 way radio would have been called for?

[Kamiccolo9]

Goku reads Krillin's mind on Namek, and Piccolo telepathically calls Gohan when Gero attacks him. Other than that, I don't remember it ever happening again.

Edit: Oh, and Babidi does his big planetary telepathic thing, and talks to Vegeta after he's possessed.

[Absolute Ice]

But Babidi can due to his magic power, he truly possesses that ability. I wonder how and why Piccolo and Goku can read/talk through telepathy if this is not an ability of Namekuseijins and Saiyans.

[Polyphase Avatron]

DIdn't Piccolo telepathically talk to Goten and Trunks while they were preparing to fight Super Buu?

[Absolute Ice]

Yes, and when Piccolo calls them to go to Kami's Lookout.

[Kamiccolo9]

DIdn't Piccolo telepathically talk to Goten and Trunks while they were preparing to fight Super Buu?

Yeah, I forgot about that one. And Kami and Kaio had a telepathic conversation in the Freeza Arc. Kaio's actually probably the biggest telepath we've seen. That might explain where Goku and Piccolo got the ability.

[irreality]

Has there been a plot reason to use telepathy recently? Only instance I could think of was maybe calling Goku and Vegeta from Beerus' planet, but maybe there are distance limitations.

[Kamiccolo9]

Has there been a plot reason to use telepathy recently? Only instance I could think of was maybe calling Goku and Vegeta from Beerus' planet, but maybe there are distance limitations.

Well, Kaio "heard" them from the Kaioshin realm. Granted, he does say that it's his "specialty," and Goku and Piccolo probably aren't as good at it.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Kaioh called Vegeta to warn him about Beerus.

[irreality]

Well, Kaio "heard" them from the Kaioshin realm. Granted, he does say that it's his "specialty," and Goku and Piccolo probably aren't as good at it.

Yeah, they normally use Kaio as the "heavenly telephone" which made me think that the telepapthy doesn't work for the others from one realm to another as easily.

[nickzambuto]

So that ends it. Telepathy hasn't been forgotten, it's used when it's needed.

[SuicidalZerg]

Also, for the record, Telepathy has been used since the very beginning... Muten Roshi seemed to utilize it the most, reading the thoughts of Namu, and both Roshi and Tsuru sen'nin argued telepathically before the Goku vs. Tenshinhan fight. Then after the fight, Roshi spoke telepathically to Tenshinhan. Piccolo Daimao also spoke telepathically to his henchmen while they were out searching for the Dragon Balls.

Also, in late DBZ, Piccolo spoke telepathically to Gohan regarding Goku's fight with Majin Buu on the Kaioshin realm. And then, of course, in GT, he spoke to Gohan again before earth exploded. And in the fight with Yi Xing Long, as Goku was preparing to blow himself up, Vegeta telepathically spoke with him to tell him to not be a fool about doing so.

[SylentEcho]

And in the fight with Yi Xing Long, as Goku was preparing to blow himself up, Vegeta telepathically spoke with him to tell him to not be a fool about doing so.

Is this the only instance Vegeta ever used it? If that's the case, then I don't think he knows how to (in canon).

It's a good thing that they didn't use this ability much in the series. It would have been a little annoyingly if they did it all the time.

[DanielSSJ]

It was only used for plot convinience and nothing more.