Who would be the most competent protector of Earth?

[Beyond]

If you were to give one of the characters the position of Earth's protector, who would you pick? This is based on who you think would do the job best. You can assume whoever you pick will get a massive power up if they need it. Oh, and no future Trunks as he has his own timeline to worry about.

Looking over the options, it's kinda hard.

Goku - Is a good guy, but has gone out of his way to risk the entire Earth like with Cell and Buu. He also doesn't take things too seriously, so I wouldn't pick him.

Vegeta - Isn't right for the job.

Gohan - I want to think he would be a good fit, but he gets cocky as hell whenever he has a massive power up. I think if he learned to control that bad habit, he'd be a good fit.

Piccolo - Would probably be alright. He seems to overestimate himself, but probably wouldn't do anything too stupid.

Goten and Trunks - wouldn't trust them with my life.

Krillin - Probably would do a good job as well.

Edit: I never said who I'd pick. I guess I would go with Piccolo or Krillin.

[Cipher]

Piccolo and Future Trunks are the only two both pragmatic enough and motivated to fight.

Gohan likes being a superhero, but isn't particularly interested in training or fighting unless it's immediately important.

[Steven Bloodriver]

To be honest, the best option should be to use the Namekian (or Super) Dragon Balls to wish for Gogeta from Fusion Reborn to exist both permanently and without consequence as his own separate entity as he would be the perfect defender for Earth and beyond.

[Anime Kitten]

To be honest, the best option should be to use the Namekian (or Super) Dragon Balls to wish for Gogeta from Fusion Reborn to exist both permanently and without consequence as his own separate entity as he would be the perfect defender for Earth and beyond.

Vegito as well. He probably would act considerably different than in Multiverse.

[Steven Bloodriver]

To be honest, the best option should be to use the Namekian (or Super) Dragon Balls to wish for Gogeta from Fusion Reborn to exist both permanently and without consequence as his own separate entity as he would be the perfect defender for Earth and beyond.

Vegito as well. He probably would act considerably different than in Multiverse.

True, but the Gogeta from the movie he made his first appearance in may have the better mindset for the job.

P.S. I really like that avatar of yours.

[sintzu]

Piccolo would be the best option.

He takes things seriously and doesn't get over confident.

[Lionel]

I wouldn't trust any of the Saiyans with such an enormous responsibility, including Gohan. We haven't seen enough of most of the humans in life imperiling fights against major antagonists to really grasp how they would handle being Earth's protector. Tenshinhan's biggest role against a major antagonist happened in the Piccolo Daimao arc and he made a pretty silly mistake by not realising that the rice cooker he intended to use was damaged. We haven't seen much of him on the battlefield since. Chaozu almost accomplished the impossible when he tried articulating the wish to kill Piccolo Daimao, but he otherwise seems a bit too meek and naive to handle imposing monstrosities. Before Krillin there's only Yamcha left who didn't see much screen time against bona-fide villains after the Pilaf arc. From what we've glimpsed of him when he fought the Saibaman, he seems prone to making bad judgement calls by brashly running into unknown danger and not ensuring that the job is done when he's ahead. We're now left with Krillin who has the most experience against villains and has been shown to know some survivalist skills on Namek. He can act a bit cowardly at times but he seems the most qualified out of all the humans; at least he makes better judgement calls than Goku.

Piccolo seems to have the least amount of blemishes on his resume. He's serious, intelligent and dependable with a no-nonsense approach to fights. The only fault I can think of is his lack of awareness to Cell's approach to the battlefield while he was fighting #17. Still, compared with everyone else, Piccolo looks the most competent to have as your main fighting force.

[LordCrumb]

I think you are all over looking the greatest martial artist in the world.



He defeated both Cell and Kid Boo, and has a heart big enough to change someone who is evil, into a rather peaceful being.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Why not Tenshinhan?

[VegettoEX]

Why not Tenshinhan?

Tenshinhan has many of the same motivations as Goku; it's not about protecting people, but about furthering himself as a martial artist. I'd wager that he's more about the challenge than about any moral responsibility behind it (yes, even considering his character arc and defection from the Crane school). Like Goku, if he happened to end up saving the world in the process, great, but it wouldn't be about that.

[Doctor.]

It's still Goku despite his way of thinking and motivations because everyone else is incompetent.

[FoolsGil]

Tien. He's so serious, and so willing to lay his own life on the line, he'd be perfect.

[Bansho64]

Gohan, Piccolo, and Future Trunks. Both Gohan and Trunks still have lots to learn as fighters so Piccolo could push them in the right direction when it comes to that.

[simtek34]

Does Tien Shinhan vs Cell and Buu ring any bells? I know somebody said this already, but how about they use the Shenron to create permanent fusions of Gogeta, Prillin, Tiencha, and (maybe) Gotenks?

EARTHS SAVIORS!

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[In Brightest Day]

I wouldn't trust any of the Saiyans with such an enormous responsibility, including Gohan. We haven't seen enough of most of the humans in life imperiling fights against major antagonists to really grasp how they would handle being Earth's protector. Tenshinhan's biggest role against a major antagonist happened in the Piccolo Daimao arc and he made a pretty silly mistake by not realising that the rice cooker he intended to use was damaged. We haven't seen much of him on the battlefield since. Chaozu almost accomplished the impossible when he tried articulating the wish to kill Piccolo Daimao, but he otherwise seems a bit too meek and naive to handle imposing monstrosities. Before Krillin there's only Yamcha left who didn't see much screen time against bona-fide villains after the Pilaf arc. From what we've glimpsed of him when he fought the Saibaman, he seems prone to making bad judgement calls by brashly running into unknown danger and not ensuring that the job is done when he's ahead. We're now left with Krillin who has the most experience against villains and has been shown to know some survivalist skills on Namek. He can act a bit cowardly at times but he seems the most qualified out of all the humans; at least he makes better judgement calls than Goku.

Piccolo seems to have the least amount of blemishes on his resume. He's serious, intelligent and dependable with a no-nonsense approach to fights. The only fault I can think of is his lack of awareness to Cell's approach to the battlefield while he was fighting #17. Still, compared with everyone else, Piccolo looks the most competent to have as your main fighting force.

Great analysis. Master Roshi is another potential choice. He's a letch, but he seems practical and realistic in dire situations.

Why not Tenshinhan?

Tenshinhan has many of the same motivations as Goku; it's not about protecting people, but about furthering himself as a martial artist. I'd wager that he's more about the challenge than about any moral responsibility behind it (yes, even considering his character arc and defection from the Crane school). Like Goku, if he happened to end up saving the world in the process, great, but it wouldn't be about that.

I have to disagree. We have three examples where it fell on Tenshinhan to protect the Earth (vs. Drum/Daimao, vs. Nappa, vs. Semi-Perfect Cell) and in all three of those scenarios, saving the Earth and protecting his friends was the priority. Keep in mind, this is the same guy who refuses to let Chaozu help whenever a new threat emerges, in contrast to Goku and Vegeta encouraging their young children to fight. Yes, Tien is a martial artist first, but his mindset is a lot closer to Piccolo's than it is Goku or Vegeta's. He enjoys testing himself against new, strong opponents, but ultimately in my opinion he is a realist who would rather exterminate a strong threat as quickly as possible.

[hellobooboo14]

Piccolo for me has all the stuff to be the best protector of earth; willing to train in time of peace, he acts in earths best interest. Gohan would be have been the perfect choice, but his character doesn't like to train and gets lazy [in time of peace] over confident [when he has the power like in Cell Games with Ssj2 and Buu arc with Old Kaioshin post power up].

[DBZ Macky]

Guys why are we ignoring the fact that most of these guys are pretty weak. Tenshinhan and Krillin are weak enough to be owned by First Form Freeza. And now that we have established that villains like Tagoma and Shisami can get stronger than that in 4 months, I don't think I'd put my money on anyone weaker than Piccolo.
I think Future Trunks is the best choice but he'll probably not stay after this arc so I'm gonna go with Piccolo and possibly Gotenks if he changes his attitude as an adult.

[In Brightest Day]

Guys why are we ignoring the fact that most of these guys are pretty weak. Tenshinhan and Krillin are weak enough to be owned by First Form Freeza. And now that we have established that villains like Tagoma and Shisami can get stronger than that in 4 months, I don't think I'd put my money on anyone weaker than Piccolo.
I think Future Trunks is the best choice but he'll probably not stay after this arc so I'm gonna go with Piccolo and possibly Gotenks if he changes his attitude as an adult.

Read the OP through again. This thread is asking you who is the best for the job, not who is strongest. Obviously no one even comes close to Goku and Vegeta in that respect.

If you were to give one of the characters the position of Earth's protector, who would you pick? This is based on who you think would do the job best. You can assume whoever you pick will get a massive power up if they need it. Oh, and no future Trunks as he has his own timeline to worry about.

[DBZ Macky]

In that case, I'd say Videl would be the most competent. But how powerful are we assuming these people to be? If they are really overpowered then you could just make Satan the protector, then he'll really be the earth's savior for once.

[DanielSSJ]

Piccolo is the ideal candidate in my eyes. He spends most of his time at God's Temple anyway, does nothing but train and meditate (which is probably a form of training), and isn't stupid enough to risk the fate of the world for a good fight like some people, and the knowledge and wisdom of the previous God of Earth. The only thing he's lacking in is power and that's only by Super Saiyan standards. Besides, you mentioned that they'd get some power-up anyway. If Piccolo had been in Goku's shoes, Boo would've been gone before he could've done any real damage.