Dragonball - frozen in time

[Anonymous Friend]

Unlike a lot of other animated programs that I watch, where all of the characters never really age now matter how long the program airs or how many birthdays or anniversaries or individual holidays everyone (frozen in time if you will), throughout the Dragonball and Z series the characters age and change and what not.

But lets say they were like that, everyone was frozen, at what point would you prefer it to be?

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

Unlike a lot of other animated programs that I watch, where all of the characters never really age now matter how long the program airs or how many birthdays or anniversaries or individual holidays everyone (frozen in time if you will), throughout the Dragonball and Z series the characters age and change and what not.

But lets say they were like that, everyone was frozen, at what point would you prefer it to be?

My favourite "point in time" as far as the characters go is the Buu Saga, but then that probably defeats the purpose of your question since the characters have all aged quite a bit by this point.

The exception to this is Yamucha, who's at his best in the Saiyan saga. Then again, his character doesn't really matter during the Buu saga, so it's pretty much irrelevant.

Incidentally, I'd be interested in seeing more content showcasing the characters as portrayed at the end of DBZ, 10 years after Buu, following the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai. I've always felt that Toei could've produced a longer story arc set in that time before wrapping up the series, or at least had GT set in that time period instead of fast-forwarding yet another 10 years to a point where the humans are old geezers and Goku and Vegeta are the only ones who haven't aged significantly.

[dchan316]

My pick would have to be around the King Piccolo arc. Yamcha, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Yajirobe are all present, and Goku kicks so much ass as a kid. Flying technique is exclusive to Tenshinhan and Chaozu, so there'd be more adventuring around the world, which I love (and Battle Stadium D.O.N. would totally rock even more since the ages and strengths here are more comparable to the OnePiece and Naruto characters). And Goku using Kintoun and Nyoibo is just too cool, and something I miss.

[Lavender Saiyan]

The Cell Era. You've got Future Trunks. Goku and Vegeta are so awesome, so is Piccolo. Such a great time.

[Chuquita]

If you fast-forwarded everyone that many years then Goku and Vegeta's slow aging process would be a lot more apparent.


One of the things I do enjoy about the series is that everyone ages. Not many animated shows do that.


If I had to freeze everyone though, it'd be either at their ages during Freeza or Buu.

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

If you fast-forwarded everyone that many years then Goku and Vegeta's slow aging process would be a lot more apparent.

By the time that Goku and Vegeta visibly age, it's likely that the human characters from their generation (Krillin, Chi Chi, Bulma, Tien, Yamucha, etc.) would already be dead.

I also personally think there's a damn good possibility that Goku and Vegeta would naturally outlive their children, as half-Saiyans would probably have a reduced lifespan from the human side of them (this being the price to pay for having greater potential in terms of fighting power than full-blooded Saiyans during the course of their lives; every positive comes with a negative of equal value).

Consider that Goku is 47 and Vegeta is 52 at the end of DBZ and neither of them have visibly aged at all, still looking about 30. Due to this, I'm guessing that each of them would live on well into their 100s, maybe even up to 200 years old.

[caejones]

Well, let's not forget KameSen'nin, TsuruSen'nin, TaoPaipai, Karin, Baba, Kami... Popo...

The timeperiod of the first Cooler movie (The three years between Freeza and Gero?) could be great, -- even Gohan's gone through the chaos of a major battle, but everyone's still at the right age for there to be a family-and-friends adventure of awesomeness.

On the same note... I'd not mind something between Cell and Buu, like, when Gohan's 13-15--not quite the highschool Saiyaman, but not quite the one that beat Cell--and Goten and Trunks are still around to be even younger versions of themselves. 'course, then there's no Goku...

And then there's always the era surrounding the 22nd tournament... enough happens in that time frame that we have a lot of development for the entire cast (as opposed to just Vegeta and Gohan Ala the Cell saga... though that wouldn't hurt, either...).

Yah... T.T. I can't decide.

[Bura]

I'd have to say Buu saga too Great character designs there.
The fact that characters age in DB/Z/GT makes this anime so great for me. With most animes they're all stuck on a certain age and never wear different clothing or have different hairstyles from time to time.

[jjgp1112]

If you fast-forwarded everyone that many years then Goku and Vegeta's slow aging process would be a lot more apparent.

By the time that Goku and Vegeta visibly age, it's likely that the human characters from their generation (Krillin, Chi Chi, Bulma, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, etc.) would already be dead.

I also personally think there's a damn good possibility that Goku and Vegeta would naturally outlive their children, as half-Saiyans would probably have a reduced lifespan from the human side of them (this being the price to pay for having greater potential in terms of fighting power than full-blooded Saiyans during the course of their lives; every positive comes with a negative of equal value).

Consider that Goku is 47 and Vegeta is 52 at the end of DBZ and neither of them have visibly aged at all, still looking about 30. Due to this, I'm guessing that each of them would live on well into their 100s, maybe even up to 200 years old.

You forgot about to subtract eight years from Goku's life since he was dead for a combined time of eight years.

[Terra-jin]

every positive comes with a negative of equal value

I'd like to remodel these words to "every negative comes with a positive of greater value"

I don't think that Saiyans live longer than humans. Instead, their aging process starts later and lasts significantly shorter than humans'. This way, Saiyans grow up at the same rate as humans, but still stay younger for an extended period. I'd say that Saiyans' aging process begins at age 60-70 and ends at 80-90 (or at least the same age humans become).
If this weren't the case, they'd also have a much longer aging process (imagine being old for 70 years!)

[Supa Saiya-Jin Tullece]

I'd have to say... Just before Goku and Gohan went into the RoSaT.

Vegeta doesn't age, neither does Goku.

Bulma isn't a wrinkly carcass, neither is Chi-Chi.

Future Trunks has his long hair (making his Bojack Attire a possibility).

Gohan is still young (I always like this Gohan the most, I would have liked to see him Super Saiyan 2 instead of Teen Gohan).

Krillin is bald.

[Godo]

every positive comes with a negative of equal value

I'd like to remodel these words to "every negative comes with a positive of greater value"

I don't think that Saiyans live longer than humans. Instead, their aging process starts later and lasts significantly shorter than humans'. This way, Saiyans grow up at the same rate as humans, but still stay younger for an extended period. I'd say that Saiyans' aging process begins at age 60-70 and ends at 80-90 (or at least the same age humans become).
If this weren't the case, they'd also have a much longer aging process (imagine being old for 70 years!)

I would say that their life expectancy rate is still a bit higher because of their perfect physique. Even though they get lots of physical damage, they get strenghtened as a resistance. Yes, they get old, but they get older, I would say about 120 years or so.

[Xyex]

You forgot about to subtract eight years from Goku's life since he was dead for a combined time of eight years.

Actually, it'd only be 7 years since he also spent a year in the RoSaT which negates the year he spent dead in the Saiya-jin Saga.

I would say that their life expectancy rate is still a bit higher because of their perfect physique. Even though they get lots of physical damage, they get strenghtened as a resistance. Yes, they get old, but they get older, I would say about 120 years or so.

Possibly. Or the consequence of staying in their prime longer is rapid aging and deterioration of the body once it can no longer maintain that level. That's actually what I'm doing in a Fanfic. It's different for each one but sometime between 70 and 85 the Saiya-jins bodies begin to deteriorate, no longer able to keep functioning at such high levels. And then within 5 to 10 years of this happening their body gives out completely and they die.

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

On the same note... I'd not mind something between Cell and Buu, like, when Gohan's 13-15--not quite the highschool Saiyaman, but not quite the one that beat Cell--and Goten and Trunks are still around to be even younger versions of themselves. 'course, then there's no Goku...

That would be an interesting time period to look at. You'd have Gohan growing up as a teenager without his dad around, you'd have Vegeta adjusting to being a father himself, and if you really want to see the physical side of it, we'd get to see the circumstances revolving around Goku achieving both SSJ2 and SSJ3 in the afterlife.

Hell, I'd be curious to see some of the intense training methods that Vegeta underwent on earth that allowed him to achieve SSJ2 (and yes I believe he did so during the 7 years between Cell and Buu). Showing how it happened would put the debate to rest, at least.

You forgot about to subtract eight years from Goku's life since he was dead for a combined time of eight years.

Firstly, I'm not really thinking all that deeply about this, but thanks anyway for pointing out a nearly irrelevant detail.

Secondly, Vegeta is 52 at the end of DBZ and hasn't aged at all since the beginning of the series. This in turn means that Goku wouldn't age either up to that point. Hell, Nappa is 50 years old during the Saiyan saga, and looks exactly the same as he did in the Bardock Special (minus the hair, of course), which was 20 years earlier when he was 30.

I don't think that Saiyans live longer than humans. Instead, their aging process starts later and lasts significantly shorter than humans'. This way, Saiyans grow up at the same rate as humans, but still stay younger for an extended period. I'd say that Saiyans' aging process begins at age 60-70 and ends at 80-90 (or at least the same age humans become).
If this weren't the case, they'd also have a much longer aging process (imagine being old for 70 years!)

This is all speculation of course. Neither of us knows for sure how the lifespan and aging processes of Saiyans go, but I disagree with your theory. I really don't think it would make sense for them to suddenly start to rapidly age near the end of their lives. Likely, the process would be incredibly slow, and yes, they would end up being old for a damn long time afterward.

Anyone who is familiar with Wolverine and his healing factor slowing down his aging will probably know where I'm coming from; that's basically how I see the Saiyan lifespan working, except they would age faster than Wolverine and wouldn't live nearly as long. Damn, the guy's like 125 years old and still looks 30.

[Lavender Saiyan]

Let me kind of elaborate on the time period I meant. I said the Cell Era, but I consider Trunks-Cell Games all the Cell Era, even before Cell arrives. My favorite time period is actually the Android Saga. Before everyone goes in the Time Chamber.

[dchan316]

Isn't the Turtle Hermit just a normal human? And he's well over 300, if I remember right.

Anyhoo, I think maybe Gohan's High School years would be another fun time to freeze at. It would have stories of Gohan and Videl in school, and they meet a crazy new cast of classmates, kinda like in Ranma, ahaha...

[DaemonCorps]

I'd have to say that I'd probably enjoy the characters freezed during the Tenshinhan Saga, since around that time in the series, it almost seems like one of those teenage rivalry type of shows. Sure, there aren't as much people introduced yet, but the ones that are there are pretty enjoyable, especially since there are so many rivalries crammed into this particular saga (Roshi and Crane, Ten and Yamcha, Kuririn and Chauzu...).

And it's probably Mr. A's drawing of those rivalries that really um... "solidifies" it for me.

[JohnnyBoy_Z]

My pick would have to be around the King Piccolo arc. Yamcha, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Yajirobe are all present, and Goku kicks so much ass as a kid.

I'd go with that era as well. And you know the hilarious comedy will stay strong too. But I'd pick that era simply for the fact that all of the fighting was all about pure martial arts skill (no too much flying or chi blasts), despite all of the desperation techniques, of course.

[dchan316]

I'd go with that era as well. And you know the hilarious comedy will stay strong too. But I'd pick that era simply for the fact that all of the fighting was all about pure martial arts skill (no too much flying or chi blasts), despite all of the desperation techniques, of course.

Yea, seriously. In the fight with Tenshinhan alone, we get introduced to the Volleyball Technique, Taiyoken, Four Arms, Kikoho, and Goku's own 8-arms. Baba's lackey's fought in completely new ways.

Then, of course, theres the Turtle Hermit, whos got more techniques up his sleeve than anyone. From reading minds, to hypnosis, to that weird electricity attack, to the Mafuba, and loads of others, its nice having him as one of the strongest.

[Kunzait_83]

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