Fusion, and its side-effects to the personalities of its constituents

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MajinPopo
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Fusion, and its side-effects to the personalities of its constituents

Post by MajinPopo » Tue May 30, 2023 12:01 pm

So, I've been creating headcanons to explain away why Goku doesn't seem as perceptive of the benefits of the spiritual nature and meditation training as he used to be.

Sure, we could chalk it up to bad writing, Toriyama's memory, and other reasons like that. They're probably all accurate in some way.

However, if you want to still enjoy Dragonball without getting too caught up in things like this that bug your fan brain, I do have some questions that may go some way to provide an answer.

We've seen Goku and Vegeta fuse several times recently, and I always wondered how the individual people involved think and feel after a fusion has ended? Is it like waking up from a dream? How conscious are each part of the other part? Do their thoughts/memories mix? Or are they separate but accessible?

What about when you continue to use the fusion technique, several times over? Do you gradually understand the other person better? Do you gain insight into why they are who they are? Do the memories and thoughts of one ever impact the other?

It was only after Goku/Vegeta fusing and getting into a big ol' Saiyan brawl with Broly that Goku specifically told Broly that he can call him "Kakarot", showing that through his adventures and possibly during his fusion and experiences with Vegeta, he has taken on board an understanding of his Saiyan heritage. This is something that's followed up on in the Manga, with Goku gaining some more direct knowledge of his father.

However, from Vegeta's perspective, as someone who spent a life as a bloodthirsty Saiyan Prince, could it be likewise suggested that Vegeta's character growth and meditation, while influenced by his story, was also directly impacted by becoming "one" with Goku?

That is, they both took on elements of the other's nature, or that in fusing and understanding each other's minds better, each were more able to make the mental leap to different concepts than they would have been originally?

Goku, while being a thoughtless fighter for much of his life, gained a healthier grasp on reality after his meditation training and years with Kami. And using the series' Buddhist concepts of Karma, Dragon Ball macguffins aside, Goku generally won the day with net positive effects because he generally put net positive effects out into the world.

Because Goku's thoughtless in a lot of areas, I feel like he started to develop this blasé "Eh" attitude about life. That everything would work out fine like it usually does, he just wants to keep fighting. However, he's not really cognizant of the greater danger he poses to the Universe, or the damage he causes, and because everything tends to get wrapped up okay with a "battle victory and some Dragon Balls" he's not really cognizant of the Karmic effect it's having.

This element of his personality, I suggest was then exacerbated by the act of fusing with Vegeta, which kind of made him forgetful of his own meditation training. It made him want to give into his fleshly desires of battle without any thought otherwise.

Indeed, I see Goku threatening universal stability in his fight with Beerus as no different than Majin Vegeta wanting to blow up a stadium for a good fight.

It is in essence, a battle between Flesh and Spirit. The oldest tale of time. You can believe something with your soul, you can think certain things, but biological impulses can be too strong. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.

Therefore, because he's not so thoughtful, he's essentially fallen right off the spiritual wagon. He's not keeping those thoughts front and center. He's achieved some form of Ultra Instinct, to move without thinking... but in doing so, he's sacrificed keeping the lessons he was taught because he sees them now as non-practical in a fight.

I merely suggest that this state of being was exacerbated by Goku suddenly having more understanding of Vegeta's old thought processes and memories after Fusing. Ones that Vegeta himself has now grown from, having gained wisdom from the memories of Goku's spiritual meditation training.

I feel like GT's choice of Black Star Dragon Balls being a Karmic retribution tool to be a fascinating one that needs to be revisited.

Either way, to put a really long post short; Goku and Vegeta's personality types influenced each other during fusing, and has continued to affect them after de-Fusing.