Was it ever explained away why no one in trunks time in the afterlife help out at all?

[TheGreatness25]

Androids killed Baba in one of the attacks.

It honestly falls apart a little, to be honest. I we see that fighters can be brought back for one day as far back as Dragon Ball.

I can understand Goku keeping his body and not knowing what is happening on Earth (because he died of natural causes).

The rest--Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and especially Gohan-- would have been much more interested in what's happening on Earth and I don't think it makes sense for them to not be able to come back for a day. Unless, of course, Baba was like or Enma didn't approve their return.

But this is why I think the return for a day thing is pretty dumb. See how much drama builds when we don't have dead people just coming back to life whenever they feel like it? As if the drama of death wasn't lost enough because of the Dragon Balls, we have alternative ways to bring someone to life too.

[MasenkoHA]

But this is why I think the return for a day thing is pretty dumb. See how much drama builds when we don't have dead people just coming back to life whenever they feel like it? As if the drama of death wasn't lost enough because of the Dragon Balls, we have alternative ways to bring someone to life too.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the one day thing is very literal and Baba can't bring back someone for a day more than once i.e there's no loophole where she can she effectively revive someone by bringing them back over and over

[FoolsGil]

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

[TobyS]

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

Kaio just cant/doesn't want to intervene.

There's explanations.

Maybe you think it's a stretch kaio can't or isn't allowed to get involved or jaco did get called but died or baba died before the saiyanless saiyan crew got strong enough.

But if that's what had to happen than that's what happened if nothing contradicts it.

[TobyS]

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

Bulma and her dad don't have a good enough ship. Their only good one got destroyed on namek. We don't know she can replicate it or has the resources in the fucked up timeline. It took them 8 months to fuel their time machine alone.

[Zephyr]

If Kaio was completely oblivious to Cell, I think he was probably also oblivious to #17 and #18 in the future.

The real question is why they didn't wish Goku back to life right after he died. Or wished to remove his heart virus before he died.

[jjgp1112]

While it makes sense that Goku didn't keep his body, surely Kami would've just done what he did back when everyone was killed by the Saiyans and bring back the bodies of Yamcha, Krillin, et al. Probably couldn't have pulled strings to keep Vegeta around since the Androids weren't a universal threat like Buu though. But still, at least one of them would've been able to go to Kai's planet and tell them where New Namek was.

But again, there's the tech hurdle. And perhaps Tights was killed by the Androids and she was Bulma's only link to Jaco.

If Kaio was completely oblivious to Cell, I think he was probably also oblivious to #17 and #18 in the future.

The real question is why they didn't wish Goku back to life right after he died. Or wished to remove his heart virus before he died.

Well they wouldn't have been able to wish him back with their Dragon Balls due to the rules - natural causes, and even if that weren't the case he'd already been wished back once before. And maybe the virus happened so quickly that by the time they realized it was fatal, they didn't have enough time to find them all.

[TheGreatness25]

But this is why I think the return for a day thing is pretty dumb. See how much drama builds when we don't have dead people just coming back to life whenever they feel like it? As if the drama of death wasn't lost enough because of the Dragon Balls, we have alternative ways to bring someone to life too.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the one day thing is very literal and Baba can't bring back someone for a day more than once i.e there's no loophole where she can she effectively revive someone by bringing them back over and over

I know, but we saw in the Boo arc that one day is way more than enough for some things. Gohan could have spent a year doing Other World training, come back for a day, and killed the androids. I mean, surely, right?

It goes beyond that. These questions arise because it looks like the dead fighters simply don't care about the loved ones that they leave behind. Having the exception for Goku back in the Saiyan arc was fine, but once all the other Z Warriors started keeping their bodies and were able to have direct communication with the living, that's when the gravity of death suddenly got lighter. Now, wondering why Gohan didn't check up on Trunks or Chi-Chi or Bulma or whoever, just comes off like he didn't care enough to.

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

Kaio just cant/doesn't want to intervene.

There's explanations.

Maybe you think it's a stretch kaio can't or isn't allowed to get involved or jaco did get called but died or baba died before the saiyanless saiyan crew got strong enough.

But if that's what had to happen than that's what happened if nothing contradicts it.

I support this. Kaio shouldn't be so attached to the Z Warriors. Deities should be neutral. But, of course, everyone that Goku meets needs to become his pal and try to help him and his friends overcome those who oppose their ideology. I'm not trying to put a spin on right versus wrong or anything, but realistically, why would a deity care about aliens coming to Earth and destroying it? Why would a deity care about an artificial human invasion? Deities shouldn't care about that--what happens, happens. But instead, Kaio is over here acting like a phone so that Yamcha could talk to Bulma.

[Koitsukai]

We don't know exactly when Goku passed away, maybe it was right after they used the DBs to send the nameks to New Namek, and they couldn't use them. But I don't think you can resurrect people that died of natural causes, and probably his soul was rehashed or whatever.

Once the androids attacked, Piccolo and Kami died, so probably he no longer had any saying on the matter with Enma. That just might be how things work, Kami helping out in the saiyan arc might be the outlier, the exception, a once in a lifetime thing that was already used. He was nowhere to be found during the Namek arc IIRC, I think the Z-senshi training with Kaio sama was Kaio's doing, so maybe not even Kami was able to keep his body. I'm thinking his soul was also rehashed, it seems low level deities don't get extra treatment when they die(with some exceptions like when big bads are involved like Freeza or Buu).

Freeza (and later on, Buu) was kinda of a big deal, universally a big deal, so all the accomodations of his saga could've been exceptional. The androids might not have been big enough threats for the afterlife rules to be changed to save one small planet.
In any case, I don't think Goku coming back for a day could do much, neither would the other guys coming back.

The only way to help out here would be going to Namek (could Porunga bring back Goku? or my dead dog?), or introducing the ROSAT. Only Kami knew about the ROSAT, and I guess he was fully dead, recycled, etc.

And do we know for a fact Uranai Baba survived? in the DBS Future Trunks arc, I can't remember her being there. But even if she were alive, and we assume Goku's soul reincarnated as somebody else, then she wouldn't be able to bring him or anybody back. I still don't know how she brought Son Gohan back, given that he wasn't anything special and his sould should've been reincarnated, but maybe it was related to Baba knowing Goku would save the world and would need to meet Gohan again, so perhaps Gohan was like "saved" just for that one intervention.

The whole dead heroes keeping their bodies and spending the afterlife training forever was Toei's invention, so I wouldn't assume Goku should've kept his body after defeating Freeza, ready to be called back by Uranai Baba.

[WittyUsername]

Buu was a threat to the entire universe and was known to wipe out several hundred planets in a few years. #17 and #18 are just a threat to the Earth and that's it. The kais are not going to give a shit about them.

That wasn't my point.

It doesn't matter if the Kais care or not. Goku was allowed to return for the 25th Tournament simply because he wanted to, and Grandpa Gohan was allowed to return to just as a favour to Baba.

Future Goku logically should've seen the Androids from the afterlife, so it's weird that he never asked to go back for a day to fight them. Like he's allowed to go back for a tournament but not to save a planet? I don't buy it.

Future goku was bodyless in heaven. And kaio is on his planet. It's specifically said that he got his body for saving earth from cell. Otherwise you need Kamis intervention. And goku died long before him.

Most likely Babas place was destroyed and Baba was killed. If not straight away perhaps by the time they trained enough to make it happen.

North Kaio would probably not authorize the Nameks balls to get involved as the androids were a terrestrial threat only. And nameks not even his jurisdiction and not under threat as well.

Vegeta is in hell bodyless.

Piccolo might not be willing to fuse with kami so if there's no pending resurrection he's in hell too. And it'd take too many years for kamiless piccolo alone to get android level by training alone or with the humans.

There's lots of possible reasons.

Trunks has no fast ship or coordinates for Namek

Why would Piccolo be in Hell? He got to keep his body and train with Kaio the first time he died.

[supersaiyamangod]

That wasn't my point.

It doesn't matter if the Kais care or not. Goku was allowed to return for the 25th Tournament simply because he wanted to, and Grandpa Gohan was allowed to return to just as a favour to Baba.

Future Goku logically should've seen the Androids from the afterlife, so it's weird that he never asked to go back for a day to fight them. Like he's allowed to go back for a tournament but not to save a planet? I don't buy it.

Future goku was bodyless in heaven. And kaio is on his planet. It's specifically said that he got his body for saving earth from cell. Otherwise you need Kamis intervention. And goku died long before him.

Most likely Babas place was destroyed and Baba was killed. If not straight away perhaps by the time they trained enough to make it happen.

North Kaio would probably not authorize the Nameks balls to get involved as the androids were a terrestrial threat only. And nameks not even his jurisdiction and not under threat as well.

Vegeta is in hell bodyless.

Piccolo might not be willing to fuse with kami so if there's no pending resurrection he's in hell too. And it'd take too many years for kamiless piccolo alone to get android level by training alone or with the humans.

There's lots of possible reasons.

Trunks has no fast ship or coordinates for Namek

Why would Piccolo be in Hell? He got to keep his body and train with Kaio the first time he died.

There is the problem piccolo died fighting the androids/cyborgs there you go plot hole. He could have gone to north Kaio asked contacted dende for help on namek boom arc has a better resolution. Even if it took a long while

[TobyS]

Future goku was bodyless in heaven. And kaio is on his planet. It's specifically said that he got his body for saving earth from cell. Otherwise you need Kamis intervention. And goku died long before him.

Most likely Babas place was destroyed and Baba was killed. If not straight away perhaps by the time they trained enough to make it happen.

North Kaio would probably not authorize the Nameks balls to get involved as the androids were a terrestrial threat only. And nameks not even his jurisdiction and not under threat as well.

Vegeta is in hell bodyless.

Piccolo might not be willing to fuse with kami so if there's no pending resurrection he's in hell too. And it'd take too many years for kamiless piccolo alone to get android level by training alone or with the humans.

There's lots of possible reasons.

Trunks has no fast ship or coordinates for Namek

Why would Piccolo be in Hell? He got to keep his body and train with Kaio the first time he died.

There is the problem piccolo died fighting the androids/cyborgs there you go plot hole. He could have gone to north Kaio asked contacted dende for help on namek boom arc has a better resolution. Even if it took a long while

Piccolo died fighting the androids, but the androids were only a threat to earth, also Piccolo wasn't fully a good guy. While he wasn't a Demon anymore despite claiming this in the android arc, he was not pure hearted, and this is a Piccolo who didn't live and train with Gohan and Goku for 7 years in preparation for the androids.

He only kept his body last time because Kami hooked them all up and they were training while they waited to get resurrected, if Baba is dead there's no reason for Emna to allow it. He had to justify it to Emna when he kept Gokus body and that was because it was to fight two invaders who would wipe out all life/destroy the planet and again, he was gonna get resurrected eventually anyway.

[Makaioshin]

There are a bunch of outs that keep building in-universe the more the story continues. Trunks' time is damned because that is the foundation of the story being told and if you think about it for too long it falls apart. Not too much time is spent in his future world so it is a bit easier to get away with it.

[90sDBZ]

Future goku was bodyless in heaven. And kaio is on his planet. It's specifically said that he got his body for saving earth from cell. Otherwise you need Kamis intervention. And goku died long before him.

Most likely Babas place was destroyed and Baba was killed. If not straight away perhaps by the time they trained enough to make it happen.

North Kaio would probably not authorize the Nameks balls to get involved as the androids were a terrestrial threat only. And nameks not even his jurisdiction and not under threat as well.

Vegeta is in hell bodyless.

Piccolo might not be willing to fuse with kami so if there's no pending resurrection he's in hell too. And it'd take too many years for kamiless piccolo alone to get android level by training alone or with the humans.

There's lots of possible reasons.

Trunks has no fast ship or coordinates for Namek

I don't see any reason why Goku would be bodyless. He'd already earned the right to keep it way back in the Saiyan arc, so logically he should keep it by default. Plus he'd saved the universe from Frieza since then. After dying by Cell he instantly had his body in the afterlife, despite Kami being gone and Dende being focused on overseeing the events of the day.

The Baba dying theory is plausible, although it's never confirmed. It would contradict her staying alive throughout Buu's rampage though. She can see the future, so it would surprise me if she hung around for the Androids to kill her.

The idea that King Kai wouldn't bother lifting a finger is also bothersome. He clearly cared about the fate of the Earth during the Saiyan invasion, and went out of his way to help the gang reach Namek, and also played a key role in saving everyone before Namek exploded. I just find it hard to believe he wouldn't even try to help.

I think Toriyama just wanted Trunks' timeline to feel bleak like the war with Skynet, and any outside intervention would clash with that tone. The fact that the Androids' rampage continues for 17 years still feels insane to comprehend.

[jjgp1112]

The idea that King Kai wouldn't bother lifting a finger is also bothersome. He clearly cared about the fate of the Earth during the Saiyan invasion, and went out of his way to help the gang reach Namek, and also played a key role in saving everyone before Namek exploded. I just find it hard to believe he wouldn't even try to help.

King Kai had no clue what was going on during the Android and Cell saga and needed Goku to recap the entire situation for him.

[90sDBZ]

The idea that King Kai wouldn't bother lifting a finger is also bothersome. He clearly cared about the fate of the Earth during the Saiyan invasion, and went out of his way to help the gang reach Namek, and also played a key role in saving everyone before Namek exploded. I just find it hard to believe he wouldn't even try to help.

King Kai had no clue what was going on during the Android and Cell saga and needed Goku to recap the entire situation for him.

True, but the timespan was much shorter there. The Androids and Cell had only been around for a few days in the present timeline, while the Future Androids were wreaking havok for well over a decade.

There was also that scene in the Buu arc of Yemma getting stressed out from his workload because of Buu's victims, and freaking out at the thought of the entire population dying. Future Yemma had to have been aware of the Androids.

[WittyUsername]

Kaio was arguably the most helpful deity in the original manga, if not all of Dragon Ball. The idea that he would be completely apathetic to the artificial humans terrorizing the Earth doesn’t really fit with what we’re shown.

[Cure Dragon 255]

The real answer is that it is shoddily written then. There is simply too many careless plot contrivances that allow this arc to be.

[Dr. Casey]

2. They didn't want too. They accepted that they lost the battle and there's not much that they can do. Sometimes death is death.

This wouldn't be very good moral logic (though I guess it would be somewhat consistent with Goku's "The dead shouldn't interfere" nonsense from the Buu arc). There's nothing wrong with whoever is able to help doing so. "The dead shouldn't be able to help" is a seemingly self-evident statement that doesn't actually mean anything, I think. It's pretty much just saying "It's bad because it's bad." Allowing for widespread destruction and genocide because you're taking a moral stand which honestly doesn't make any logical sense isn't really a bad thing to do. If I asked "Why is that bad?" it's doubtful that an actual reason could be given since it's really just meaningless sophistry.

But of course the real reason is that Toriyama just didn't think about it, 99 percent chance. It's a pretty obscure and specific scenario that didn't cross my mind until just now at any point during the past 20 years since I got into Dragon Ball.

[FoolsGil]

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

Kaio just cant/doesn't want to intervene.

There's explanations.

Maybe you think it's a stretch kaio can't or isn't allowed to get involved or jaco did get called but died or baba died before the saiyanless saiyan crew got strong enough.

But if that's what had to happen than that's what happened if nothing contradicts it.

Don't presume you know what I'm going to say on a subject. You look like an ass when you do.

It's even worst than that. Forget about fighting the Androids on a day 1 pass, via King Kai's telepathy, information on where New Namek was could have been sent out to Bulma, but radio silence.

Bulma and her dad don't have a good enough ship. Their only good one got destroyed on namek. We don't know she can replicate it or has the resources in the fucked up timeline. It took them 8 months to fuel their time machine alone.

Yeah, a machine that bends time and space, and a machine that travels distances. The former is far more complex, and definitely would need more materials than the latter, so the idea that they couldn't create or replicate the latter, that's dumb.