Comparing their fighting styles

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GodVegetto91
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Comparing their fighting styles

Post by GodVegetto91 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 6:35 pm

Goku is NOT a curbstomper! Unlike Gohan and Vegeta.
Vegeta has always been shown to either lose completely or dominate entirely! And when Vegeta was in control. He completely curbstomped his opponents. With his opponent not even having the slightest chance of fighting back. It's a completely onesided battle. Much like Gohan in his prime. (Refering only to 2 fights here) SSJ2 Gohan Vs Cell and Ultimate Gohan Vs Super Buu. In which he completely DESTROYED his opponont through physical force. Unlike Goku who has always been shown to fight on par with his enemies. (Yes against strong ones) and most of that time. Goku is the one getting his ass handed to him. Goku has never "curbstomped" his opponents. Sure he's had his fair share of several hits on enemies. And he has knocked people out on occasions. But that only happened in 1 or 2 hits. Not enjoyable to any fans. Unlike Vegeta and Gohan. Who completely demolish en destroy their opponents. And keep hitting and punching and all that until they're on the ground and keep going. This is also a reference to last episode of Super where Vegeta COMPLETELY destroyed Golden Freeza!

Case in point.

Gohan and Vegeta are awesome onesided curbstompers. (With their opponents not even having the slightest chance of fighting back)
While Goku just has the potential to fight on par with very strong enemies. And hasn't really "curbstomped" anybody aside from knocking them out in one hit. (Which isn't really an enjoyable beating)

That's why i never like Goku's way of fighting. He's too soft.

He's been fighting on par with Freeza, Cell, Kid Buu Beerus. And maybe some others in early dragon ball.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:14 pm

During both of Goku's fights with Vegeta they were fairly even for a while.
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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by sintzu » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:41 pm

The fights would get repetitive if Goku fought like Vegeta and Gohan so it's good to see different types of fighting styles.

I like seeing my favorite characters destroy their enemies in battle so Vegeta's style is my favorite but I also like even fights every now and then.
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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Hitiro » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:36 pm

If we go back to pre-Saiyan arc Goku has done some pretty curbstomping fights. He was largely superior to most characters after various training and power-ups. Post Saiyan arc he did have a few fights that were crubstomping material. Such as his fight with Nappa and then his fight with the Ginyu force. I would even say his fight with #19 was curbstomping material if he hadn't of had his heart virus flare up. If we were to compare them to Gohan and Vegeta's then Goku actually has more of these moments, I mean he is the main character for the story so he has had a lot of fights. I think the issue here is that Gohan and Vegeta have had these moments but because we have only seen a few of their fights compared to a bunch of Goku's then their curbstomping fights stand out more. For instance, If Goku has had 10 curbstomp fights out of 40 fights you're going to remember that he has had them but they are few and far between. But then if you look at Vegeta and he has had 4 out of 10 fights then you're obviously going to remember them more because Vegeta has had a lot less fights than Goku.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Lionel » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:57 pm

I don't think "fighting style" is the operative phrase to use here. What you're describing seems to correlate more to the comparative strengths of two characters in fighting and how they influence conditions in its transaction. About the only significant deviation is the degree of savagery expressed between each character which you cited. Vegeta is the most prevalent in this case with Gohan's conduct against Cell being the prime example of sadistic behaviour from him. I can't recall many examples like this in Goku's situation besides his domination over Freeza after transforming; even Tambourine's suffering wasn't really prolonged and he had managed to bring out a side of Goku that we hardly ever see.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by MindForgedManacle » Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:46 am

Yea, Lionel's right about this. You aren't really talking about fighting styles at all. You're confusing how strong Goku is against strong opponents relative to how strong Vegeta and Gohan have been against certain opponents. It has nothing to do with Goku having a soft fighting style compared to those two, simply how the story was written at a given time.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by GodVegetto91 » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:42 pm

Sure it does. Goku is too soft. And because of that always holds back. It's a decision on his part. He "chooses" to hold back against his enemies. To have a more laid back fight and to play fair and all that(you know Goku) while Gohan and Vegeta fight to "dominate". Thus the fight ends up being far more explosive.
Now it's not neccesarily that i don't hate Goku's way of fighting. Or that i think he should change it. Because that's litterally the last thing i want for him. Since it's a part of his "character". But i do demand him staying on guard from now on. (Obviously reffering to the Sorbet Scene here)

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by nickzambuto » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:49 pm

Yamcha - Extremely agile fighting style based on wolf mimicry. The games always give him some extremely flashy and acrobatic kick combos, and his superior agility was showcased well in the anime when fighting Tenshinhan.

Piccolo - Can be a rather heavy and ferocious striker with his demon-clan fighting style, and this was only furthered with Nail's hardcore Namekian warrior style. His stance seems to even incorporate his nails, although I can't remember a time where he actually scratched at an opponent. Although the later addition of Kami granted him much more grace and agility, for example in the anime he can be seen using a series of backflips to escape 17 at one point.

Tenshinhan - Very oriental, straightforward martial skill, no particular physical specialty, just classic and honed martial arts, makes consistent use of pressure point strikes.

Vegeta - Unlike the classic cast, Saiyans aren't actually trained in martial arts. They can be the greatest warriors in the universe just based on their sheer genetic, natural fighting prowess. It took training from one of the four gods of the universe just for Goku to surpass Raditz's skill and be even with Nappa, but Vegeta was the Saiyan Prince, and so his natural talent still surpassed Goku, as Goku specifically stated in their fight with the quote "We've only just started, but his speed and technique already vastly outclass my own!" Vegeta has no oriental martial arts training, he is sheer aggressiveness, brutality, and natural talent, blitzing his opponents with pure savagery. He isn't a particularly heavy striker, instead he comes fast and gains damage output by being brutal.

Krillin - Similar to Tenshinhan in that he holds no particular physical specialty. His fighting style is based on sheer pragmatism and improvisation. He isn't as martially honed as Tenshinhan in terms of techniques and hand-to-hand exchanges, but he's one of the sharpest tacticians in the series, and fights his opponents by coming up with a variety of attack plans on the fly.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by MindForgedManacle » Sun Jan 24, 2016 12:50 pm

GodVegetto91 wrote:Sure it does. Goku is too soft. And because of that always holds back. It's a decision on his part. He "chooses" to hold back against his enemies. To have a more laid back fight and to play fair and all that(you know Goku) while Gohan and Vegeta fight to "dominate". Thus the fight ends up being far more explosive.
Now it's not neccesarily that i don't hate Goku's way of fighting. Or that i think he should change it. Because that's litterally the last thing i want for him. Since it's a part of his "character". But i do demand him staying on guard from now on. (Obviously reffering to the Sorbet Scene here)
You misunderstand me. Look at Goku's fights here:

Goku vs Raditz
vs Vegeta
vs Frieza (before Super Saiyan)
vs Perfect Cell

In these fights, Goku was greatly outclassed. He wasn't holding back, the opponent was just far above him. So he never had the option of "going soft" on them. Contrast this to the fights where Vegeta/Gohan "dominate" their opponent:

-Vegeta vs Cui
-Vegeta vs Pui Pui
-Vegeta vs Jace
-Vegeta vs Semi-Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Super Buu
etc.

Notice the difference. Gohan and Vegeta "dominated" their opponent because they far outclassed their opponent. Goku rarely has that luxury, so we don't see that from him. Goku doesn't have a soft fighting style, the story just isn't usually set up to let him dominate the opponent. Not surprising, given the kind of series this is; it'd be a bit boring for him to win like that.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by nickzambuto » Sun Jan 24, 2016 7:07 pm

MindForgedManacle wrote:
GodVegetto91 wrote:Sure it does. Goku is too soft. And because of that always holds back. It's a decision on his part. He "chooses" to hold back against his enemies. To have a more laid back fight and to play fair and all that(you know Goku) while Gohan and Vegeta fight to "dominate". Thus the fight ends up being far more explosive.
Now it's not neccesarily that i don't hate Goku's way of fighting. Or that i think he should change it. Because that's litterally the last thing i want for him. Since it's a part of his "character". But i do demand him staying on guard from now on. (Obviously reffering to the Sorbet Scene here)
You misunderstand me. Look at Goku's fights here:

Goku vs Raditz
vs Vegeta
vs Freeza (before Super Saiyan)
vs Perfect Cell

In these fights, Goku was greatly outclassed. He wasn't holding back, the opponent was just far above him. So he never had the option of "going soft" on them. Contrast this to the fights where Vegeta/Gohan "dominate" their opponent:

-Vegeta vs Cui
-Vegeta vs Pui Pui
-Vegeta vs Jace
-Vegeta vs Semi-Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Super Buu
etc.

Notice the difference. Gohan and Vegeta "dominated" their opponent because they far outclassed their opponent. Goku rarely has that luxury, so we don't see that from him. Goku doesn't have a soft fighting style, the story just isn't usually set up to let him dominate the opponent. Not surprising, given the kind of series this is; it'd be a bit boring for him to win like that.
Well even if we look at the instances of Goku curbstomping someone, for example, his fight with Recoome, he'll usually just end it fast instead of wasting his time brutalizing, humiliating or torturing his opponent like Gohan and Vegeta do. Even in an instance where Goku did choose to somewhat play around with his opponent, when fighting Tao the second time, that fight didn't pack near as much of the brutality as almost any Vegeta or pissed off Gohan fight.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by In Brightest Day » Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:44 pm

Great analysis, NickZambuto!

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by apex_pretador » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:31 am

Lets start with fights:

GOKU:

- 21st TB : Even with opponents in SF & F

- 22nd TB : Close SF , very even final

- vs daimao : gets stomped, then close

- 23rd TB : Even SF (till weights) , dead even final

- Vs raditz - stomped

- vs Nappa - close , but with clear advantage

- vs vegeta - very even , till ozaru

- vs ginyu force : no fight, he just one shot them, & lost body.

- vs freeza : even everytime till he turned SS , then even with 100% F till stamina drain.

- vs #19 : close

- vs PC : dead even

- vs majin vegeta : Perfect equals

- vs fat boo - close

- vs kid buu : very close

VEGETA:

- vs goku - even, but then stomped him

- vs cui : curbstomp

- vs dodoria : curbstomp

- vs zarbon : clear domination , then dominated , then close

- vs recoome : close

- vs jeece : curbstomp

- vs freeza : never fought, just died

- vs #19 : curbstomp

- vs #18 : got dominated

- vs Semi-cell : curbstomp
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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by GodVegetto91 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:34 am

MindForgedManacle wrote:
GodVegetto91 wrote:Sure it does. Goku is too soft. And because of that always holds back. It's a decision on his part. He "chooses" to hold back against his enemies. To have a more laid back fight and to play fair and all that(you know Goku) while Gohan and Vegeta fight to "dominate". Thus the fight ends up being far more explosive.
Now it's not neccesarily that i don't hate Goku's way of fighting. Or that i think he should change it. Because that's litterally the last thing i want for him. Since it's a part of his "character". But i do demand him staying on guard from now on. (Obviously reffering to the Sorbet Scene here)
You misunderstand me. Look at Goku's fights here:

Goku vs Raditz
vs Vegeta
vs Freeza (before Super Saiyan)
vs Perfect Cell

In these fights, Goku was greatly outclassed. He wasn't holding back, the opponent was just far above him. So he never had the option of "going soft" on them. Contrast this to the fights where Vegeta/Gohan "dominate" their opponent:

-Vegeta vs Cui
-Vegeta vs Pui Pui
-Vegeta vs Jace
-Vegeta vs Semi-Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Perfect Cell
-Gohan vs Super Buu
etc.

Notice the difference. Gohan and Vegeta "dominated" their opponent because they far outclassed their opponent. Goku rarely has that luxury, so we don't see that from him. Goku doesn't have a soft fighting style, the story just isn't usually set up to let him dominate the opponent. Not surprising, given the kind of series this is; it'd be a bit boring for him to win like that.
You're totally right. I admit i SHOULD have included the examples where Goku is usually fighting against opponents who are slightly superior to him, Heavily Suppressed Freeza>= Base Goku, Perfect Cell, Kid Buu(maybe not strongger but he definitely had the advantage for obvious reasons)
I guess what i've been mainly reffering to were the fight where Goku WAS in control.
So either it's Goku having trouble against a "stronger" opponent than himself.. Or he's holding back in terms of brutalness against someone significantly inferior to him.
And when he does knock them out it's usually in 1 or 2 hits.
Unlike Vegeta and Gohan who keep going and going until they can't even stand anymore.

In fact Goku even holds back to the point where a significantly weaker opponent than himself appears to be giving him visible trouble!

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by SansrivaaL » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:04 am

nickzambuto wrote:Yamcha - Extremely agile fighting style based on wolf mimicry. The games always give him some extremely flashy and acrobatic kick combos, and his superior agility was showcased well in the anime when fighting Tenshinhan.

Piccolo - Can be a rather heavy and ferocious striker with his demon-clan fighting style, and this was only furthered with Nail's hardcore Namekian warrior style. His stance seems to even incorporate his nails, although I can't remember a time where he actually scratched at an opponent. Although the later addition of Kami granted him much more grace and agility, for example in the anime he can be seen using a series of backflips to escape 17 at one point.

Tenshinhan - Very oriental, straightforward martial skill, no particular physical specialty, just classic and honed martial arts, makes consistent use of pressure point strikes.

Vegeta - Unlike the classic cast, Saiyans aren't actually trained in martial arts. They can be the greatest warriors in the universe just based on their sheer genetic, natural fighting prowess. It took training from one of the four gods of the universe just for Goku to surpass Raditz's skill and be even with Nappa, but Vegeta was the Saiyan Prince, and so his natural talent still surpassed Goku, as Goku specifically stated in their fight with the quote "We've only just started, but his speed and technique already vastly outclass my own!" Vegeta has no oriental martial arts training, he is sheer aggressiveness, brutality, and natural talent, blitzing his opponents with pure savagery. He isn't a particularly heavy striker, instead he comes fast and gains damage output by being brutal.

Krillin - Similar to Tenshinhan in that he holds no particular physical specialty. His fighting style is based on sheer pragmatism and improvisation. He isn't as martially honed as Tenshinhan in terms of techniques and hand-to-hand exchanges, but he's one of the sharpest tacticians in the series, and fights his opponents by coming up with a variety of attack plans on the fly.
This is an awesome read, how bout Goku then?

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Hitiro » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:53 pm

apex_pretador wrote:Lets start with fights:

GOKU:

- 21st TB : Even with opponents in SF & F

- 22nd TB : Close SF , very even final

- vs daimao : gets stomped, then close

- 23rd TB : Even SF (till weights) , dead even final

- Vs raditz - stomped

- vs Nappa - close , but with clear advantage

- vs vegeta - very even , till ozaru

- vs ginyu force : no fight, he just one shot them, & lost body.

- vs freeza : even everytime till he turned SS , then even with 100% F till stamina drain.

- vs #19 : close

- vs PC : dead even

- vs majin vegeta : Perfect equals

- vs fat boo - close

- vs kid buu : very close

VEGETA:

- vs goku - even, but then stomped him

- vs cui : curbstomp

- vs dodoria : curbstomp

- vs zarbon : clear domination , then dominated , then close

- vs recoome : close

- vs jeece : curbstomp

- vs freeza : never fought, just died

- vs #19 : curbstomp

- vs #18 : got dominated

- vs Semi-cell : curbstomp
Half of your statements don't make sense. How is Goku vs. #19 close? Goku was utterly decimating him. The only reason he lost is due to the heart virus. So we can pretty much chalk this down to it being a possible curbstomp if Goku wasn't sick. Against Tenshinhan Goku also had a significant advantage. The only reason the fight became more even is because A) Cheating diminished Goku's strength. and B) Goku couldn't fly so he had to use his Kamehameha to do any air battle. Versus Daimao the first time it was a curbstomp against Goku but when Goku powers-up it is actually a curbstomp in the opposite direction. The only reason this fight was fairly close is because Piccolo weakened Goku by damaging his limbs by threatening to kill Tenshinhan. Even with the one damaged leg Goku was still clearly superior. He just couldn't stop Piccolo from doing an area of effect move due to his injured leg. In the 23rd TB Goku was also holding back due to the stuff with Kami and pretty much decimated Piccolo all the way up to the end until Piccolo did a cheap shot and mouth beamed him through the arm. Even with that Goku could still put up a fight. And he still won that fight with that grave injury. If you're going to take into account disadvantages and cheating into battles then you may aswell say that Vegeta didn't curbstomp Semi-perfect Cell because Semi-perfect Cell obtained his new transformation and then dominated Vegeta. Or you could say it is equivalent to SSJ2 Gohan taking damage to his arm and losing half of his Ki therefore clearly the fight was "fairly even" against Super Perfect Cell. When we know that SSJ2 Gohan probably would have still had the upper hand considering he still fended off Cell with only half his Ki.

And the Nappa fight also was not a close one either. Goku was hardly giving it his best and showed that he could have clearly curbstomped him at any time during the fight when he attacked Kuririn and Gohan. He may not have even needed Kaioken if it weren't for the fact that he wouldn't have made it in time without it. If the battle had gone on we know what the outcome would have been. Especially seeing as he was twice as strong as Nappa. Even with Vegeta it wasn't and even fight. Goku was clearly dominating the fight at 3x Kaioken throughout the fight. His only issue was the strain of the form which in the end took its toll. And I'm not sure what you saw of the Fat Boo fight but even while Goku was not giving it his all it was clear he had the advantage. Piccolo thought so too.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by nickzambuto » Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:52 am

In Brightest Day wrote:Great analysis, NickZambuto!
Thank you! It's very fun to think about that stuff. When I read the thread title that is what I was expecting the topic to be about, discussing the unique aspects of the various characters' fighting styles. Because regardless of battle power, Yamcha will always be more agile than Piccolo, Krillin will always be smarter than Broly, etc. I think the thread would be a lot more interesting if everyone else gave their breakdowns as well.
SansrivaaL wrote:
nickzambuto wrote:Yamcha - Extremely agile fighting style based on wolf mimicry. The games always give him some extremely flashy and acrobatic kick combos, and his superior agility was showcased well in the anime when fighting Tenshinhan.

Piccolo - Can be a rather heavy and ferocious striker with his demon-clan fighting style, and this was only furthered with Nail's hardcore Namekian warrior style. His stance seems to even incorporate his nails, although I can't remember a time where he actually scratched at an opponent. Although the later addition of Kami granted him much more grace and agility, for example in the anime he can be seen using a series of backflips to escape 17 at one point.

Tenshinhan - Very oriental, straightforward martial skill, no particular physical specialty, just classic and honed martial arts, makes consistent use of pressure point strikes.

Vegeta - Unlike the classic cast, Saiyans aren't actually trained in martial arts. They can be the greatest warriors in the universe just based on their sheer genetic, natural fighting prowess. It took training from one of the four gods of the universe just for Goku to surpass Raditz's skill and be even with Nappa, but Vegeta was the Saiyan Prince, and so his natural talent still surpassed Goku, as Goku specifically stated in their fight with the quote "We've only just started, but his speed and technique already vastly outclass my own!" Vegeta has no oriental martial arts training, he is sheer aggressiveness, brutality, and natural talent, blitzing his opponents with pure savagery. He isn't a particularly heavy striker, instead he comes fast and gains damage output by being brutal.

Krillin - Similar to Tenshinhan in that he holds no particular physical specialty. His fighting style is based on sheer pragmatism and improvisation. He isn't as martially honed as Tenshinhan in terms of techniques and hand-to-hand exchanges, but he's one of the sharpest tacticians in the series, and fights his opponents by coming up with a variety of attack plans on the fly.
This is an awesome read, how bout Goku then?
Thank you. Goku I suppose would be classified as the most well-rounded fighter, because he has the widest history of training from various different masters. He's not too heavy and graceless like Piccolo, not too quick and weak like Krillin, he's not the most acrobatic but he's definitely got moves when he needs them, he's got everything in even portions. The Turtle Style and Kaio Fist give him power while Korin's muscle reading and Kami's godly style give him speed. His ki techniques aren't the most powerful, for example when having the famous beam struggle with Vegeta, Goku's KKx3 should have given him a much higher BP, yet the Galick Gun is stronger than the Kamehameha so Vegeta stalemated him anyway (until Goku went KKx4). However even though his attacks aren't the strongest, he is the most versatile. There's over half a dozen different variations of the Kamehameha alone, so while Vegeta for example has the propensity to destroy much stronger enemies with a Final Flash, it's only after charging for 5 hours. Goku on the other hand can use his Kamehamehas in numerous, practical ways to aid him, outside of just simply blasting his opponent. For example, launching the Kamehameha in the opposite direction to give himself a boost to blitz his opponent. Nobody else can do that. Nobody else is that versatile.

So basically, if all the characters had specialties, Piccolo would have strength, Freeza would have speed, Tenshinhan would have technique, but Goku would have them all in even portions. He is well rounded.

Beerus has another interesting fighting style. He seems to combine the honed classical martial arts of Tenshinhan with the brawly, dirty brutality of Vegeta. Beerus can shut you down with a pressure point, but he'll just as soon headbutt you. The infamous "So sleepy sleepy sleepy" scene from Super involved him straddling Goku on the ground, and just repeatedly smashing him in the face over and over again, mercilessly. That's savage, but he's also the guy with enough precision to disable Piccolo with mere chopsticks when he feels like it. That grants Beerus a fair amount of versatility as well. It should go without saying, right now he and Whis are obviously the two best fighters in the series, with Goku and Vegeta behind, then Freeza right behind them. After that the order becomes debatable.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Speedster » Tue Jan 26, 2016 6:37 pm

We see Goku training using only a percentage of his max (base) power level with the logic that if he makes his (say) 1%-self stronger, then his 100%-self becomes proportionally stronger too. For example in the spaceship to Namek he started with a 20x gravity and he seemed to struggle despite having already fully mastered 27x gravity at Kaio's planet (10x planet's gravity X 2.7 gravity of Kami's training clothes - by the way he was wearing Kaio's light clothes in the spaceship). Goku holds back against weaker opponents because that provides a challenge to his x% self. He probably sees this as a form of training; testing the progress of his (say) 1%-self in a real fight. It has nothing to do with him being soft. When he doesn't want to waste time or energy he will end the fight quickly like he did against the Ginyu force. That is still not him being soft. It is him being practical when he has to. Of course Goku IS kind and doesn't want to kill his opponents. He instead defeats them to the point they are powerless to attack back and gives them a second chance. Sometimes his opponents may plea for mercy and sneak attack him (see Taopaipai and Namek arc Freeza) but he was still able to defeat them regardless. Excluding of course the awful Revival of F arc - the worst arc in canon DB history. Even when he was attacked by Sorbet's ring he still had the option to teleport to Dende and heal himself up. We saw him doing this after his battle with SSJ2 Vegeta in the Buu arc but hey we can come up with BS reasons that "he was too injured to do it" this time.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Lord Frieza » Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:50 pm

There's an interesting contrast between Goku and Vegeta I've noticed. Goku has a much shorter list of techniques under his belt but what he dose have he's perfects and uses in a variety of ways (the Kamahamaha being the best example) while Vegeta tends to come up with new attacks almost every time he trains but rarely dose he try to advance them beyond the original concept.

As for fighting styles how about the villians

Frieza's is one that's very in your face, flashy and makes heavy use of lethal ki attacks. While he's very skilled its clear that he dosent have much experience fighting people as strong or stronger then himself. When fighting weaker foes he effortlessly jumps from deadly grace to savage brutality in the blink of an eye, having full control of the fight and often toying with his prey. But as soon as he's up against a strong opponent any grace or technique he had is dropped and he resorts almost entirely to pure brute strength, raw power and underhanded tricks.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by SingleFringe&Sparks » Tue Jan 26, 2016 10:10 pm

My observation is that Goku doesn't curbstomp because hes never that much stronger than his real opponents, he's usually around their level even to a lot weaker within the gaps. Goku is also a bit more technical with his melee strikes where he often exerts enough force to match his opponent or test their reactions. In cases with Nappa and Recoome he was more about precision and trying to stun his opponents into submission if they were already weaker than him. Only during his fight with Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga have I ever really seen him overpower an opponent that much from the getgo but thats from the Kaioken. Goku doesn't really hold back pacifically, he just gradually uses more power over time throughout the fight gauging on the opponent's strength similar to Superman.

Vegeta on the other hand is more about overpowering his opponents at any given opportunity, always trying to control a fight with himself in the higher gap but overestimates the gap between his opponents itself and prolongs fights just to suit his ego. He takes all his fights personally unlike Goku regardless on what side of the gap he is on which is why when his opponents overpower him, he panics and tries to get into desperate curbstomp-mode to hold or regain a former gap advantage but then gets stomped when he wastes his prior opportunities.

Gohan is more about how much power he has to use in a match up. When he's above the gap, he usually just stays in that position and lets the gap do the work for him, but he himself isn't a smart fighter at all. Gohan has just been about maximizing brute force in his convenience. His curbstomps only happen when he has the power, its never out of him actually beating his opponents. Hes more about shaving them down until they lose.
Zephyr wrote:The fandom's collective fetishizing of "moments" is also ridiculous to me. No, not everyone needs a fucking "shine" moment. If that's all you want, then all you want is fanservice, rather than an actual coherent story. And of course those aren't mutually exclusive; you could have a coherent story with "shine" moments! But if a story is perfectly coherent (and I'm really not seeing any compelling arguments that this one is anything but, despite constantly recurring, really poorly reasoned, attempts to argue otherwise), and you're bemoaning the lack of "shine" moments as a reason for the story's poor quality, then you're letting your thirst for "shine" moments obfuscate your ability to detect basic storytelling when it's right in front of you.

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Re: Comparing their fighting styles

Post by Lionel » Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:51 pm

I'm not of the opinion that a consistent affinity towards a particular combat element really exists with these characters. Strength and speed are almost always mutually dependent on the relative power level of the character in question. General physical techniques and postures seem to interlap based on the whim of Toriyama's penmanship. Some outlying examples do exist like Piccolo brandishing his claws, though this seems to be mostly aesthetical since as it was stated, he never uses his claws. Moreover -- the relative strengths underlying each fight dictate how they're influenced. Because of Goku's status as the protagonist the amount of fights he will be in are greater and more pronounced. These other characters have less exposure on the fighting scene. Less information is available because the majority of fights they've been in might be of a particular orientation that's not really suitable for showcasing what their inherent advantages in an equally matched fight are like.

Look at Yamcha -- nearly every fight he's been in has seen him on the receiving end of a beating. The closest moment of him fighting under equal terms was against a Saibaman which he needed to trick in order to gain the initiative; overwhelming speed really didn't have anything to do with it.

Gohan is another example. His fighting career can be likened to a seesaw that shifts from being overwhelmingly stronger to weaker in an instant. It makes it difficult to ascertain how he would perform in match where he's of equal strength -- the one significant example is Dabura and it's not really a definitive exhibition given the rusty nature of his fighting abilities at the time. He did have a mental sparring session with Krillin in which his skills were actually commended at the end of it. To argue that Gohan is solely a powerhouse who exploits the weakness of his enemy doesn't seem fair if you ask me.

With all of this said, I do agree that certain characters appear to exhibit certain traits that influence how they appear in a fight to others. Tenshinhan and Roshi both appear to have a greater supply of original techniques compared to most others, while Vegeta's callousness and aggressive tenacity gives the impression of a brutal warrior instead of a graceful and dexterous practitioner of any complicated school of fighting .

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