Does Tenshinan represent a Earthling Goku?

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emperior
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Does Tenshinan represent a Earthling Goku?

Post by emperior » Sun May 26, 2019 2:33 pm

As the title says, do you guys believe that Tenshinan is basically what Goku would have been if he was an Earthling?
He had similar “talent” feats as Goku, as he could replicate a Kamehameha after seeing it just once and it also took him one night to master Mafuba, like Goku in Super.
Surely he was a little older than Goku by the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi when they were already on par power wise, but he also could already fly by then and had some techniques of his own so he was a bit more advanced.
By the 23rd Budokai Goku already outclassed him but I may argue that Goku went through much better training in preparation for that tournament due to Kami’s and Popo’s guidance. In fact when Tenshinan and the others received the same training they improved a lot more than Goku did and there’s basically no in-universe explanation for that but I headcanon that having sparring partners on the same level helped a lot, and they also started from a better level than Goku did as a kid.

Anyways, ever since Goku was stated to be a Saiyan he gained new properties that completely set him apart from the others (with Toriyama even attempting to retroactively include those new properties in his story, such as Goku receiving Zenkais as a kid even though it never happened) and left Tenshinan in the dust, even though he kept diligently training all his life.
So, do you think that Goku would be the same as Tenshinan if he never had the Saiyan genes? (In this case the Oozaru would just be a weird transformation Goku used to have)
Or did Tenshinan sort of let it go and stopped striving to improve himself, possibly because of how wide the gap between himself and Goku got?
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Lionel
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Re: Does Tenshinan represent a Earthling Goku?

Post by Lionel » Sun May 26, 2019 5:03 pm

Goku wouldn't have been an exact replica of Tenshinhan if he were actually just an anomalous earthling who happens to transform into a giant ape during nocturnal hours instead of an orphaned space alien. One has an astute understanding of societal etiquette who was raised to be a ruthless assassin. Goku was a happy-go-lucky carefree child who only had bits and pieces of how to conduct himself passed down to him from his hermit of a grandfather. Come to think of it, though, his original Saiyan persona might have mirrored early assassin-in-training Tenshinhan quite a bit if it had been allowed to develop over the years.

Now in the sense of both Goku and Tenshinhan being dedicated martial artists who prioritise their fighting careers over social interaction while living out in the countryside labouring as farmers to make ends meet, yes, I could see the similarities. As to whether they would be similar or not if Goku had remained as just an earthling instead of a Saiyan, maybe to an extent. He was already starting to create a gap between himself and the humans before the discovery of his Saiyan heritage came to the surface. It wouldn't surprise me if Toriyama continued to artificially inflate the gap by having Goku enjoy the benefits of a first-come-first-serve method of enjoying the benefits of the latest and greatest training opportunities available like we saw in DB classic. Instead of Super Saiyan, Goku might have continued to improve on the Kaioken, raising the multiplier to greater yet harsher heights.

Tenshinhan never gave up on his training. He's the only human that still earnestly builds himself up in order to break through his own limits. It's possible he came to the realisation that Goku's Super Saiyan forms and new training standards (don't forget Toriyama's unwillingness to give the Kaioken to anyone else or elaborate on possible fighting power growth methodologies of the others outside of the Saiyans and their bountiful supply of transformations) made it "impossible" for himself to ever catch back up or hold pace with Goku. It doesn't mean he can't still improve though.

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Re: Does Tenshinan represent a Earthling Goku?

Post by theherodjl » Tue May 28, 2019 10:18 am

Tenshinhan would never have achieved the same level, or at least have remained on it for very long, as Goku because he has a different(and to some extent, inferior) philosophy & attitude towards training.
Tenshinhan takes his method & intent of training very seriously, wanting to show the world that his way is the best for him and to improve as a true martial artist. Goku on the otherhand takes his training seriously but the intended purpose has no reason to it besides the need to satisfy his Saiyan-desire to fight. Tenshinhan trains for total victory & honor while Goku trains for fun and if he loses, he just continues to play the game to improve and then see if he loses again in an endless cycle.
Even if Goku didn't have the advantage of being a Saiyan, the way Goku & Tenshinhan train and what they learn from fighting differs to such a degree that the decision over who the superior fighter is becomes obvious.
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