How do you figure that? He watched Cell drain the guy. Cell didn't drain the guy faster than light speed. He could've interrupted at any time ... but he didn't.
When he has a plan in mind the story tells us what it is, this one was just for shock effect to let us know how horrible Cell was.
The point is Piccolo just looked on as Cell absorbed a random guy and did nothing to stop him. Remember when Gero was in the middle of destroying the city? Despite like 70% being destroyed, Goku still dashed over and punched Gero mid rampage. Piccolo did not do that. I always took that to mean he was looking for an advantage and trying to feel Cell out a bit more before engaging him.
Yeah, you're right. I forgot Dende didn't disappear until after Buu escaped the time chamber.The Boo Saga example I mentioned because he had a moment to think and come to a decision - one that he struggled with- and in the end it was for nothing. (Also no, Dende and the others were alive while he was in the RoSAT)
It's the same thing as when he sacrificed his life for Gohan. He knew that his death meant the death of Kami and therefore no more dragon balls so Gohan and co. could've been brought back, but his instinctual fear of Gohan getting killed at all prompted him to act before he thought.
Back then, he didn't know that there were other threats beyond Vegeta and Nappa. In this case, he knows that the thugs here on Earth are just harbingers for a much bigger threat, one that even Goku, Vegeta, and Buu can't seem to defeat. He also knows that the Namekians were all wiped out. Why would be risk Dende's survival in this scenario. The situations aren't even compareable really. In terms of personal relationships, Piccolo has no real connection with Jaco other than being comrades briefly during the fight with Frieza. His connection with Dende, however, is arguably as strong, if not stronger than his connection to Gohan.
Yes, but it's still out of character for him to sacrifice Dende's safety to protect Jaco. That's not compassion, that's just stupidity. It also doesn't come off as character growth, because certain of his character traits were ignored for him to make the decisions the way he did. I do believe Piccolo is much more compassionate now than he's ever been, but he's never been this foolish.He is now at a place where this same instinctual response can be extended to characters that he isn't that close with. That's a sign he's more compassionate. Hence him also being against killing the three Macaronis.
BWri wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:49 amNot really. It still bought some time, likely a few extra minutes for the boys. He instantly regretted it, but really, what else was he to do? Buu would've probably just killed everyone on the lookout anyway then eventually wipeout humanity. The hope would be that he doesn't decide to destroy the lookout, because there goes Goten and Trunks with it. I mean, he could've tried luring him away to fight somewhere else, but realistically the fight wouldn't have lasted long and Buu wouldn't be interested anyway.
The point of the scene was to show that Buu was smarter than Piccolo believed him to be and also to shock us, the readers. And that last interpretation from your quote above is just one you and a few others have latched unto. I don't follow that interpretation at all and don't really believe it's there. If that "lesson" was actually intended, don't you think Goku and Vegeta would have found a way to save Piccolo and the boys later on? But no, they had to make the hard decision to leave them there so that they could survive to fight Buu again. So yes, Piccolo's decision, despite not being as effective as he immediately planned, still bought the boys a few minutes, maybe even an hour depending on how long it actually took Buu to scan the planet and fire his attack. It was still an effective tactic and cements Piccolo as a pragmatic thinker. Same as Goku and Vegeta later in the arc.Not it didn't. That was the point of that scene, the futility of that decision. And it might've been a lesson for him as well - to maybe not immediately jump to making the hardhearted decisions as they rarely pay off.
There's nothing humane about letting his family and friends die, I'm sorry. Especially when it's to "save" someone he knows is strong enough to go toe to toe with large groups of Frieza soldiers. So, I'm more concerned with him losing his warrior's edge and his brilliant mind to become a blithering idiot.Again, what he did was humane and right and I would've far more disappointed in his characterization being written as someone that sees someone falling to their death and he just lets it happen.