The deity's role in the Trunks arc

[sintzu]

People are really speaking about risk? We all know that they'll win in the end anyways.

That doesn't mean there shouldn't be any risks or consequences.

We all knew they'd win against the Saiyans but a lot of them died so that could happen which lead to the Namek arc.

We all knew they'd win against Freeza but that ended with Goku being lost in space.

We all knew they'd win against Cell but that cost Goku his life.

[sintzu]

It's really weird how Toriyama took such a drastic 180 degree turn from how he used to portray deities in Dragon Ball. They used to always be much weaker than the upcoming main villains as a way of adding to the tension by showing how serious the threat is. Kami was weaker than Piccolo Jr., King Kai was weaker than Vegeta and Frieza, and all of the Kaioshins were weaker than Majin Buu.

Now it seems as though deities only exist to reduce tension by being so incredibly overpowered.

I think it's so that kids will know everything will be alright and no one is in any real danger.

The thing is, everyone already knows they'll be OK so having us reminded every minute takes so much away from the characters cause they don't really have to do much anymore unlike before where everything was in their hands so they had to push themselves time and again to survive and to protect their planet.

[TekTheNinja]

It's really weird how Toriyama took such a drastic 180 degree turn from how he used to portray deities in Dragon Ball. They used to always be much weaker than the upcoming main villains as a way of adding to the tension by showing how serious the threat is. Kami was weaker than Piccolo Jr., King Kai was weaker than Vegeta and Frieza, and all of the Kaioshins were weaker than Majin Buu.

Now it seems as though deities only exist to reduce tension by being so incredibly overpowered.

I think it's so that kids will know everything will be alright and no one is in any real danger.

The thing is, everyone already knows they'll be OK so having us reminded every minute takes so much away from the characters cause they don't really have to do much anymore unlike before where everything was in their hands so they had to push themselves time and again to survive and to protect their planet.

Yeah, even though Beerus says he won't interfere with Frieza's revenge, I don't really believe that. I feel like he just said that because he knew Goku and Vegeta could handle it. The only way to have tension here would be for a threat stronger than the gods to appear and for Zeno to die of a heart attack or something, haha...

[ChronoTwigger]

No, they will have active roles.
Actually, with BlueGod+Kaiokhen, Goku is VERY near Beerus strenght. So Beerus uncanny strenght is now less overscale.
BlackGoku is the dangerous GodSayan in Beerus dream. I suppose is stronger than him.
Goku SayanBlue + Kaiohken I think is quite strong as Beerus, if they almost get a tie the first time.

Maybe BlackGoku is at this very level, and have quick ways to get stronger.
If BlackGoku have a power similar to Cell, and his first victim is WHIS... well, figure out how to stop him O_O! He can also steal the cube and create havoc thru galaxies! Defeating other strong characters like HIT and drain uncanny powers.

So there's enough space to create a thrilling arc with active characters, despite the high power levels.

ALSO, Zeno "power" stand in the whole universe annihilation, NOT fighting people. It's like the cornerstone of reality. If you disappoint him he can just delete everything.
That's how power and strenght are different. If BlackGoku bypass the guards and kill Zeno the 12 Universes can collapse!
So, Zeno can play a role of dangerous target to protect, more than active fighter or sensei. This create enough tension (my idea of Zeno is more like the ancient chinese kid emperor, something precious but feeble on his own...).

There are many possible ideas, and if I came out with a couple in one minute, Toriyama could have found many more.
If they finally go a little more epic, the actual situation open up a lotta great possibilities!

Think of BlackGoku reach Planet Sadal and create havoc. Now, Vegeta stop here to get the role of vacant king, and train sayajin to get stronger.
Think of an army of Sayan leaded by Vegeta and Cabba to stop Black Goku... that will be the greatest epic moment of DB! Finally Vegeta get back to his very own role: sayan prince. How great for those Vegeta fanboys!

You can also have something strange, like Future Trunks that fuse with Gohan O_O.

And maybe, as Beerus can't defeat BlackGoku, can fuse with Champa! Or... at the very end... fuse with Goku too! That would really be INCREDIBLE!

Toriyama also spoke on a "time" adventure, so there's a lotta space here to create havoc despite power levels.

And finally, Jaco reason to be here: "Goku will destroy the Universe" mission O_O. It was that BlackGoku, indeed. How nice when things entwine themselves...

So, there's enough space to create exciting moments. I think everything depend on how Toriyama had conceived this BlackGoku and his powers.

[sintzu]

Even though Beerus says he won't interfere with Frieza's revenge, I don't really believe that. I feel like he just said that because he knew Goku and Vegeta could handle it.

And when they messed up he let Whis fix it.

Now with the upcoming tournament, we know for sure that he won't let anything happen to them so hopefully he'll take a vacation or something so they won't have anyone to hide behind when things don't go their way.

[DragonHermit]

What if this Trunks ISN'T the same Trunks from Cell Saga? What if it's a Trunks from the future of this timeline where Goku is a God of Destroyer?

[Nejishiki]

The description for the new arc specifically states that this is the same Trunks that saved his future with the help of Goku and friends.

[ChronoTwigger]

The description for the new arc specifically states that this is the same Trunks that saved his future with the help of Goku and friends.

NO. It doesn't tell us this. It tell that, from the DBZ story, Future Trunks as we know had to live in a peacefull future. So why he appear now?
In fact state a doubt.

[Nejishiki]

Well, it does interject that it was supposed to be peaceful. Obviously we'll have to wait and find out what disturbed the peace, so I'm not seeing how that discounts my original post.

[kinisking]

People are really speaking about risk? We all know that they'll win in the end anyways.

That doesn't mean there shouldn't be any risks or consequences.

We all knew they'd win against the Saiyans but a lot of them died so that could happen which lead to the Namek arc.

We all knew they'd win against Freeza but that ended with Goku being lost in space.

We all knew they'd win against Cell but that cost Goku his life.

Yes, but have any of those consequences mattered? They're all alive and healthy.

[sintzu]

Yes, but have any of those consequences mattered? They're all alive and healthy.

That doesn't mean there shouldn't be any risks or consequences of certain actions.

[Cipher]

Yes, but have any of those consequences mattered? They're all alive and healthy.

You could lob that complaint at the entire series. What's the point? We've only had two permanent main character deaths in the franchise, and one of them was in GT. The other was Kaio, which hardly matters.

That's never been where the tension, fun and excitement comes from. They can still muster tension within an arc if they want to.

You know what would really hit home at this point, by the way? Beerus dying.

[sintzu]

You know what would really hit home at this point, by the way? Beerus dying.

He's "Super" popular now so he'd come back somehow but doing that would cause a lot of tension and show that whoever did it isn't a joke.

[DragonHermit]

A character dying for the sake of dying is becoming a bit cliche no? It's a trope like deux ex machina. It was cool in the beginning but now overused.

[Ssgvegito30]

I wonder if any character will die in the new suture trunks arc...

[Retan]

I wonder if any character will die in the new suture trunks arc...

We need someone to die for this to feel more DB/Z in my opinion.

[Neon Z]

Probably to be spectators, like Beerus an Whis in F and make sure theres no real drama to scare the kiddies.

Yeah, pretty much.

There's 0 at risk with beings this strong hanging around and making sure everyone plays nice.

The original really knew how to create drama so it's a shame that they're playing everything so safe now.

It's really weird how Toriyama took such a drastic 180 degree turn from how he used to portray deities in Dragon Ball. They used to always be much weaker than the upcoming main villains as a way of adding to the tension by showing how serious the threat is. Kami was weaker than Piccolo Jr., King Kai was weaker than Vegeta and Frieza, and all of the Kaioshins were weaker than Majin Buu.

Now it seems as though deities only exist to reduce tension by being so incredibly overpowered.

To be fair, that was only really a problem in Revival F. They had no super powerful deity on their side during Battle of Gods, and the deities weren't fighting in the tournament anyway since it generally was a tournament arc without big stakes, like the 21st and 22nd Budokai. We'll see with the upcoming arc if Toriyama will do anything to fix Revival F's flaws.

[Zeru14]

We can only hope.

[shadd21]

If this Goku-Black is more powerful than SSB, then Beerus will no doubt get involved as he needs them alive for the multiverse tournament.