Is the reasoning for the exclusion of Goten & Trunks still valid?

[Asura]

Now that we've seen the tournament in its near entirety and what the competition was like, is Goku still justified in not letting the kids participate for the reasons he laid out?

[majinwarman]

Now that we've seen the tournament in its near entirety and what the competition was like, is Goku still justified in not letting the kids participate for the reasons he laid out?

I believe so. I don't think Goten or Trunks are ready for stakes like this. Even though they are stronger than the human characters, they don't have the experience to last in a tournament like this. Plus, they would be so reckless like Kelfa, Caulifla, and Kale when it came to fighting different opponents.

[BWri]

Now that we've seen the tournament in its near entirety and what the competition was like, is Goku still justified in not letting the kids participate for the reasons he laid out?

Logically it still makes some sense. The kids are just not mature enough and they haven't been real combatants since the Buu arc so I imagine they're slightly rusty. They've also never been warriors really, so unless Piccolo, Goku, and Vegeta had a boot camp with them in the RoSaT, I can see them being eliminated early. But the writing doesn't exactly justify their exclusion, since many of the fighters in the ToP are even less mature than Goten and Trunks. It undermines that plot point a little.

[Kataphrut]

If you assume they would have gotten in ahead of one of the humans...ironically, things wouldn't be that much different. I can absolutely see Trunks going out the way Krillin did, getting blindsided while he was too busy self-congratulating, while Goten would probably get blindsided by a sneak attack the way Tien did, albeit in a different situation.

If they had fused, Gotenks would likely be powerful enough to take out several people, but he could just as easily start fooling around or wind up going after someone way out of his league like Hit or Jiren.

[SupremeKai25]

Goten and Trunks are too brash and reckless. What if they used their immense power accidentally killed an opponent? They would be erased immediately. They are too carefree, they are not disciplined, so they were detrimental to Universe 7. And they don't know how to properly address Gods, they would only humiliate themselves.

[Asura]

Goten and Trunks are too brash and reckless. What if they used their immense power accidentally killed an opponent? They would be erased immediately. They are too carefree, they are not disciplined, so they were detrimental to Universe 7. And they don't know how to properly address Gods, they would only humiliate themselves.

I don't think Goten & Trunks are that stupid that they would accidentally kill someone. Goku humiliates himself in front of the Gods all the time, so it's nothing new.

[Timetraveller]

Answer: No. But apparently they're not popular enough to do anything in the show.

[SupremeKai25]

Goten and Trunks are too brash and reckless. What if they used their immense power accidentally killed an opponent? They would be erased immediately. They are too carefree, they are not disciplined, so they were detrimental to Universe 7. And they don't know how to properly address Gods, they would only humiliate themselves.

I don't think Goten & Trunks are that stupid that they would accidentally kill someone. Goku humiliates himself in front of the Gods all the time, so it's nothing new.

Goku should be thanful that his immaturity is appreciated by the childish Omni-King. That's it. That's the only reason why he wasn't erased on spot when he even dared to touch the Omni-king. But let's see if Goten and Trunks would enjoy the same protection that Goku has.

And it's not a matter of being stupid. If you are reckless and carefree, you might end up killing your opponents, and Goten and Trunks clearly lack the awareness and patience of adults. There have been many weaklings in the Tournament (looking at Universe 10 in particular): what if Goten and Trunks overestimated their opponent and went full power against a weakling, thus accidentally killing them?

In addition, they were required to watch over Android 17's island, tend to the animals and keep poachers away.

[jplaya2023]

No not really, it was just really a ploy for them to get the human chars some shine.

They coulda put trunks and goten back in the rosat for 2 days let them age 2 years and be a more mature and focused fighter. It's still hogwash

[Timetraveller]

Goten and Trunks are too brash and reckless. What if they used their immense power accidentally killed an opponent? They would be erased immediately. They are too carefree, they are not disciplined, so they were detrimental to Universe 7. And they don't know how to properly address Gods, they would only humiliate themselves.

I don't think Goten & Trunks are that stupid that they would accidentally kill someone. Goku humiliates himself in front of the Gods all the time, so it's nothing new.

Goku should be thanful that his immaturity is appreciated by the childish Omni-King. That's it. That's the only reason why he wasn't erased on spot when he even dared to touch the Omni-king. But let's see if Goten and Trunks would enjoy the same protection that Goku has.

And it's not a matter of being stupid. If you are reckless and carefree, you might end up killing your opponents, and Goten and Trunks clearly lack the awareness and patience of adults. There have been many weaklings in the Tournament (looking at Universe 10 in particular): what if Goten and Trunks overestimated their opponent and went full power against a weakling, thus accidentally killing them?

In addition, they were required to watch over Android 17's island, tend to the animals and keep poachers away.

Goten and Trunks are Frieza level and have already participated in a tournament against regular humans. Neither Goten or Trunks killed anyone and both were very controlled. This whole lacking the awareness and patience of adults is a pretty bs excuse to exclude them from the tournament. Especially when you consider that over half of the tournament are complete idiots and Goku is probably the biggest idiot of them all.

[SupremeKai25]

I don't think Goten & Trunks are that stupid that they would accidentally kill someone. Goku humiliates himself in front of the Gods all the time, so it's nothing new.

Goku should be thanful that his immaturity is appreciated by the childish Omni-King. That's it. That's the only reason why he wasn't erased on spot when he even dared to touch the Omni-king. But let's see if Goten and Trunks would enjoy the same protection that Goku has.

And it's not a matter of being stupid. If you are reckless and carefree, you might end up killing your opponents, and Goten and Trunks clearly lack the awareness and patience of adults. There have been many weaklings in the Tournament (looking at Universe 10 in particular): what if Goten and Trunks overestimated their opponent and went full power against a weakling, thus accidentally killing them?

In addition, they were required to watch over Android 17's island, tend to the animals and keep poachers away.

Goten and Trunks are Frieza level and have already participated in a tournament against regular humans. Neither Goten or Trunks killed anyone and both were very controlled. This whole lacking the awareness and patience of adults is a pretty bs excuse to exclude them from the tournament. Especially when you consider that over half of the tournament are complete idiots and Goku is probably the biggest idiot of them all.

Not only because of that, but also because Goku needed someone to guard over Android 17 while the Tournament was taking place. And Goten and Trunks never participated in a battle royale, where there are 80 people fighting at once.

Also, it is interesting to note how Bulma was not convinced at first with Goku's decision to have Goten and Trunks protect 17's island, as she feared the island could have been too dangerous for the kids; so, from that little moment, we can assume that she would have never let her son participate in a tournament as grand and dangerous as the Tournament of Power.

[PsionicWarrior]

I never thought their exclusion was valid to start with. I don't understand why they're put so much on the side, in case some forgot they were about the only hope against Buu for a short period. Gohan was also fighting on Namek as a complete kid. They could definitely do some stuff with them. Moreover so DBS also aims for a younger audience, it would make perfect sense to give them some role in the series for youngsters to identify with them.

[Lionel]

Goten and Trunks do admittedly seem more abrasive than Gohan was on Namek. Still, who can say that they would have been worse than all of the fighters who actually participated in the tournament? At one point #18 mistakenly believed that she had gone too far in attacking her opponent and she wasn't erased immediately. You then have Krillin using the Kienzan against Jium when the possible repercussions could have entailed that opponent being cruelly mutilated and dying from his injuries. Goten and Trunks don't have nearly the same degree of ferocity or killing techniques as those two. Plus, as sad as it is to say, for all the good the earthlings did in this tournament I think the kids could have performed just as well if not better. They don't have the same experience and are prone to making mistakes, true, but their power would likely render the possibility of unforeseen developments such as Frost ambushing them or Hermila destroying the arena beneath their feet less plausible since any blow from the kids who have trained would have been far more decisive in incapacitating their opponent.

[King Jacku]

No, I've been against it from the start and now is no different. The real reasons they weren't included IMO is because, A) There were already too many Saiyans, B) They wanted to service fans from the original Dragonball days.

From an in-universe narrative standpoint, it just makes absolutely no sense. I mean let's be honest, in Dragonball, power usually triumphs over anything else and in Z, it's established Goten and Trunks would beat Kuririn, Ten and Roshi in a fight with relative ease, even with them being less experienced. Not much has changed in Super regarding the 3 humans.

Most of the excuses are that they are arrogant and reckless, but this could've easily been addressed in the recruitment arc (Just throw them in Piccolo's boot camp lol) and made for some decent character development. I have no doubt that they would've performed better than the humans, they're much stronger than A LOT of the fodders and since fusion is allowed, they'd still have that to back up on, putting them above Piccolo and 18.

[Ki Breaker]

Goten and Trunks Will fuse without a shread of doubt during the tournament, and Gotenks isn't the kind of guy you should trust with not getting cocky enough so even Katopesla can knock him off..

[coola]

I never thought their exclusion was valid to start with. I don't understand why they're put so much on the side, in case some forgot they were about the only hope against Buu for a short period. Gohan was also fighting on Namek as a complete kid. They could definitely do some stuff with them. Moreover so DBS also aims for a younger audience, it would make perfect sense to give them some role in the series for youngsters to identify with them.

From what i heard, lots of kids watch movies or cartoons for cool adults, and don't like kids, since they want to watch adults in action

[precita]

Most likely they would have fused into Gotenks at some point anyway. SSJ3 Gotenks would have been a huge asset the team.

As said he wouldn't have done worse than the humans or Piccolo anyway.

[BWri]

Most likely they would have fused into Gotenks at some point anyway. SSJ3 Gotenks would have been a huge asset the team.

As said he wouldn't have done worse than the humans or Piccolo anyway.

He likely would have done worse even if you think he's stronger than them. I don't even think Gotenks is stronger than Piccolo at this point, that's how inconsequential the script for the show has been treating him. There is ample evidence to suggest that even Roshi and Krillin are above Gotenks and while I choose not to believe that, I still believe that the techniques and wisdom (along with the offscreen power boosts) have made Krillin and Roshi better picks than the boys. Fusing into Gotenks just makes it easier to eliminate 2 U7 Saiyans at once.

Looking at what the show presents us, it appears that Goten and Trunks aren't much stronger than their Buu saga selves, while everyone else (except Tien, sadly) has gotten much much stronger.

[OriginalRed]

Them not being included over the likes of Frieza, Piccolo, 17, and 18 makes perfect sense but it never made any sense why they would lose their spot over guys like Tien, Krillin, and Master Roshi. The series has always been about power levels, that's been its foundation since Z. Even if they're less experienced and immature, they could have definitely contributed more than Krillin or Tien, though probably not as much as Roshi who seems to have gained a lot of favor from the writers as they've scaled him up ridiculously when he was shown/stated to be useless before the Saiyan Saga even started.

[Totamo]

Goten and Trunks would have been the first ones out for 3 reasons.

1. They would have replaced Tien and Krillin, because of the love Roshi got, he was actually important. Nothing suggest those 2 would be.


2. Everyone got defeated by letting their guard down and if they fuse, like we know they will, they will get knocked out.


3. What can they actually do? Everyone in universe 7 has one cool thing they can do thus cool fanfare.




If people truly think those kids would not get worse treatment, you are dead wrong.