How Plausible is it That Raditz Knew how to Make an Artificial Moon?

[Yasai9001]

The title speaks for itself: the main reason I ask this in the first place is because Raditz had spent two decades conquering worlds with Nappa, Vegeta, and spent a good bit of time (assuming) with their two unnamed comrades. Despite being born a low-class warrior, Raditz was still promising enough to not be sent off to some low-tier planet and was raised as a combatant candidate. Granted, he wasn't given special training like the more promising children of Planet Vegeta (think those other special Saiyan kids in the nursery capsules around Prince Vegeta), but he had enough talent and battle potential to be delegated to the same combat squad as Nappa before Prince Vegeta was added to it.

All these years with warriors like Vegeta and Nappa, Raditz would have surely had to pick up on these things, right? In my opinion he definitely knew of the power ball technique, but going as far as to say he knew how? Iffy. On one hand I believe it is absolutely possible because of all the time spent, he would have to pick up on these things. HOWEVER, on the other hand, it may not be the case because Raditz could have relied on his stronger comrades to do these deeds.

One thing to also consider is that unlike Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta had managed to train their tails so that it wouldn't be used as a weakness in battle. Raditz did not do this. So for many, one may say "Raditz definitely didn't know how." But how are we to know for sure? Removing one's own weakness is paramount in battle, of course, but on the other hand, Raditz likely didn't expect of any enemy to know his weakness and if Raditz is separated from Nappa and Vegeta as they're trying to take over different parts of a planet simultaneously, he wouldn't have anyone to rely on at this point. If in need of the full moon and the full moon isn't there, then he's done for. Being on the frontlines for over twenty years, Raditz and Vegeta would have had to been in just about EVERY war scenario that one could even remotely think of. It's a lot of fighting against hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and even millions of people with different tactics, defense strategies, etc.

Still, in a sense, Raditz was a bit more incompetent compared to Vegeta for the simple fact that he was too cocky and let his guard down. Then again, the same could be said for Nappa, who at one point was much older and experienced more than Vegeta, but it was obvious that Vegeta was just a prodigal son in his own right.

What say you? Raditz was around them for so long, meaning he ineluctably picked up on their habits and some of their tactics, but being able to make his own power ball? It wasn't even a thought around the time of his introduction but if Raditz knew for a fact that he wouldn't be capable of winning a fight, if he knew how to use a power ball, I'm sure he would. Still, a Saiyan would much rather prefer to use the full moon than rely on that technique. Vegeta made that obvious when he was looking around for the full moon.

What do ya'll think?

[PowerPhantom245]

I thought creating Artificial Moon can only achieved by higher class (limited) Saiyan?
I don't know if Nappa can do it (it's possible, but unlikely), but it seems to be very rare technique.
Even then, making Artificial Moon seems to be desperate solution, where Vegeta hesitated at first, since it would drain his power.
I REALLY doubt lower-class Raditz would ever accomplish something like that, even with years and years of training.

[Yasai9001]

I thought creating Artificial Moon can only achieved by higher class (limited) Saiyan?
I don't know if Nappa can do it (it's possible, but unlikely), but it seems to be very rare technique.
Even then, making Artificial Moon seems to be desperate solution, where Vegeta hesitated at first, since it would drain his power.
I REALLY doubt lower-class Raditz would ever accomplish something like that, even with years and years of training.

Saying that even with years and years of training is unfair, to be honest - Saiyans are natural warriors and advanced users of energy; downplaying Raditz because of the stigma of him being weaker than his subordinates and a low-class warrior is unfair. And to be even fairier, calling Raditz a 'lower-class' is even more unfair in my opinion. He wasn't shipped off to some frontier planet like he was common trash. He was put on Nappa's team before Vegeta was.

Nonetheless, I think it is highly likely Raditz didn't learn the technique, but only knew of it. Not saying he didn't know how, but you are absolutely right about the Artificial Moon being a desperate solution. Vegeta wasn't even keen on using the real full moon, but he's smart and knows his limits. The downside with losing energy and whatnot would also probably deter Raditz from wishing to use it as well, but going back to your last claim, saying that Raditz couldn't accomplish it with years of training ain't right. What one Saiyan can do, every other Saiyan can do. Just like we people, there are Saiyans who are naturally stronger or better at certain things. They all have boundless potential depending on how hard they push themselves and if they push themselves to be studious, then they can be great in other aspects, too (like energy mastery).

Goku was near the absolute bottom of the barrel of what a Saiyan was in strength and potential and yet he outshined and shattered everything that Saiyans of the past thought that made up the ultimate warrior.

[PowerPhantom245]

Saying that even with years and years of training is unfair, to be honest - Saiyans are natural warriors and advanced users of energy; downplaying Raditz because of the stigma of him being weaker than his subordinates and a low-class warrior is unfair. And to be even fairier, calling Raditz a 'lower-class' is even more unfair in my opinion. He wasn't shipped off to some frontier planet like he was common trash. He was put on Nappa's team before Vegeta was.

Nonetheless, I think it is highly likely Raditz didn't learn the technique, but only knew of it. Not saying he didn't know how, but you are absolutely right about the Artificial Moon being a desperate solution. Vegeta wasn't even keen on using the real full moon, but he's smart and knows his limits. The downside with losing energy and whatnot would also probably deter Raditz from wishing to use it as well, but going back to your last claim, saying that Raditz couldn't accomplish it with years of training ain't right. What one Saiyan can do, every other Saiyan can do. Just like we people, there are Saiyans who are naturally stronger or better at certain things. They all have boundless potential depending on how hard they push themselves and if they push themselves to be studious, then they can be great in other aspects, too (like energy mastery).

Goku was near the absolute bottom of the barrel of what a Saiyan was in strength and potential and yet he outshined and shattered everything that Saiyans of the past thought that made up the ultimate warrior.

Even though we don't get much backstory and past of Raditz, he's not really a good fighter.
He's a coward.
He BEGGED for mercy when Goku grabbed his tail, indicating that Raditz is NOT a type of character who like to train.
He most likely spend most of his life fighting someone significantly weaker than him and did not spend time training.
It's essentially equivalent of someone in their 20s, bullying elementary school students (6~12 years old) for lunch money on daily basis, NOT fighting/challenging anyone stronger nor older.
Nappa mentioned that Raditz a weakling, indicating that he's not competent fighter.

[Yasai9001]

Saying that even with years and years of training is unfair, to be honest - Saiyans are natural warriors and advanced users of energy; downplaying Raditz because of the stigma of him being weaker than his subordinates and a low-class warrior is unfair. And to be even fairier, calling Raditz a 'lower-class' is even more unfair in my opinion. He wasn't shipped off to some frontier planet like he was common trash. He was put on Nappa's team before Vegeta was.

Nonetheless, I think it is highly likely Raditz didn't learn the technique, but only knew of it. Not saying he didn't know how, but you are absolutely right about the Artificial Moon being a desperate solution. Vegeta wasn't even keen on using the real full moon, but he's smart and knows his limits. The downside with losing energy and whatnot would also probably deter Raditz from wishing to use it as well, but going back to your last claim, saying that Raditz couldn't accomplish it with years of training ain't right. What one Saiyan can do, every other Saiyan can do. Just like we people, there are Saiyans who are naturally stronger or better at certain things. They all have boundless potential depending on how hard they push themselves and if they push themselves to be studious, then they can be great in other aspects, too (like energy mastery).

Goku was near the absolute bottom of the barrel of what a Saiyan was in strength and potential and yet he outshined and shattered everything that Saiyans of the past thought that made up the ultimate warrior.

Even though we don't get much backstory and past of Raditz, he's not really a good fighter.
He's a coward.
He BEGGED for mercy when Goku grabbed his tail, indicating that Raditz is NOT a type of character who like to train.
He most likely spend most of his life fighting someone significantly weaker than him and did not spend time training.
It's essentially equivalent of someone in their 20s, bullying elementary school students (6~12 years old) for lunch money on daily basis, NOT fighting/challenging anyone stronger nor older.
Nappa mentioned that Raditz a weakling, indicating that he's not competent fighter.

Truthfully, Raditz is a good fighter. If he managed to survive with Vegeta and Nappa while their other two comrades had died (the same ones shown in Dragon Ball Super: Broly), then that's saying a lot.. He survived 20+ years fighting with them and outlived two older Saiyans with higher power-levels than him; it's a testament to his own ability to survive and adapt on the battle-field. Over the years, Raditz, like any Saiyan, got used to fighting weaker opponents and got cocky. His inexperience in fighting fighters able to manipulate their energy like Piccolo and Goku bit him in the behind.

Now, as far as him being a coward? I doubt that's even debatable. What Saiyan is going to let another person grab their tail and lay there as they are about to be killed? Raditz intelligently used Goku's kindness against him and capitalized on that - taking a risk to continue the fight when they could have found another way to catch him off-guard. I don't see how Raditz was a coward because he begged his soft brother to let him go, using the fact of them being brothers against him and lying about coming back. A soldier is going to do whatever they can to win a fight - especially a soldier with no morals.

And Saiyans never spent their time training. None of them were used to it. Some special children got special training when they were kids if they had high battle-powers. Raditz, although he didn't get that special training because he wasn't on pace to become a mid-class soldier, still fought in other worlds. Saiyans got their training through their military conquests. Vegeta got special training before he was put into battle I'm sure and Nappa is unlikely he trained as well. Saiyans relied on their own strength and ability instead of honing their powers and learning new techniques, you know what I mean?

Nappa called Raditz a weakling because compared to him, he is insanely weak. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Freeza scanned the battle-power of those Saiyan snipers and they all had power-levels of around 2,000. These were still low-class warriors that just happened to be on the upper echelon of strength (all of the mid-class soldiers were seen standing by King Vegeta). Granted, those men (2,000) would wipe the floor with Raditz (1,200 or 1,500 depending on what you go off). Still, had Raditz gotten to live as long as Nappa conquering worlds, his power-level would have gotten to 2,000 and likely higher.

All in all, if Raditz were not a competent fighter, then he would have been dead. He would have died with those two unnamed Saiyans that Vegeta and Nappa were also accompanied with. Not to mention, if you want to call Raditz incompetent, then so is Nappa. Why? Because of the fact that Nappa, a man who is 20+ years Vegeta's senior, wasn't able to recognize that Krillin's kienzan attack was deadly and would have chopped his head off.

People talk down on Raditz too much because of him being weaker than Nappa and Vegeta by miles, but we still need to take into account that Raditz was just another run of the mill low-class Saiyan with uphill potential. As he progressed in strength, the leaps in strength lessened because he, like Vegeta and Nappa, got used to fighting way weaker opponents; not to mention, if in a pinch, Nappa or Vegeta would take over and fight any opponent stronger than him much like how Vegeta tagged himself in when he realized that Nappa wasn't going to win or it was just taking too long for his liking. They also had the full moon to rely on in case they were overwhelmed with thousands/millions of opponents. Nappa was years older than him and still a naturally more gifted warrior. Vegeta on the other hand was the most gifted Saiyan of his time and still is - he catches on faster than Goku when it comes to things, but Goku's hard work and ethic is what drives him. Raditz was naturally more gifted than Goku was, but wasn't given the chance to explore and shatter his barriers like Vegeta was. We need to cut Raditz some slack to be honest, lol.

But to get back to the basis of things, Raditz knowing how to use the artificial moon is still an interesting topic, wouldn't you say?

[Kamiccolo9]

The technique Vegeta used to make the artificial moon in the Saiyan Arc *noticeably* depleted his energy. It could just be that, given the vast gap in strength between Vegeta and the other two that they were just too weak to pull off the move on their own.

[Peach]

The technique Vegeta used to make the artificial moon in the Saiyan Arc *noticeably* depleted his energy. It could just be that, given the vast gap in strength between Vegeta and the other two that they were just too weak to pull off the move on their own.

Yeah, but Raditz won't be depleted when he gets his boost.