The "Saiyans getting stronger when wounded" rule

[Ultimate DBZ]

It is said in DBZ that when Saiyans are fatally wounded, they are much stronger when repaired. This is why in so many instances, after Saiyans such as Goku or Vegeta gets damaged, they become a lot stronger with an increase in Battle Power once repaired. This is also why Vegeta intentionally got Krillin to almost kill him so Dende would heal him, and he'd be stronger. My question is... Once Dende was brought back to life, why didn't Goku or Vegeta just have themselves intentionally killed a whole bunch of times so Dende would repair them, and this way they would become much stronger? Vegeta did it once and it worked, right?

[Kaboom]

Those boosts after being healed become scarce and/or insignificantly tiny once you become a Super Saiyan. So even if Goku and Vegeta did continue to get them, there wouldn't really be any big jump in power. It wouldn't make a difference against the enemies they were fighting.

[Ultimate DBZ]

How would you know that? It was never stated. Plus, Vegeta and Gohan weren't SSJ's at the time that Dende was brought back to life, so they still could've used this tactic then. Also, the Saiyans' planet had machines that could heal very bad injuries and damage, which is why Vegeta was able to recover even after almost dying on Earth, and Bardock was able to heal even after he was knocked out cold. They could've used the strategy then too.

[Bussani]

How would you know that? It was never stated.

There never was a stated reason, so you're out of luck if that's what you're looking for. All we know is that the near-death-power-ups seem to go away or become smaller once transformations are introduced.

[Kaboom]

How would you know that? It was never stated.

Well, they are never seen again once everyone becomes a Super Saiyan. Save for Cell, but he's a very special case. Plus, the Daizenshuu mentions the part I said. In the part where Goku's Battle Powers are listed over the course of the early series.

[Ultimate DBZ]

How would you know that? It was never stated.

Well, they are never seen again once everyone becomes a Super Saiyan. Save for Cell, but he's a very special case. Plus, the Daizenshuu mentions the part I said. In the part where Goku's Battle Powers are listed over the course of the early series.

Maybe Mr. Toriyama just forgot about it.

[Kaboom]

Maybe Mr. Toriyama just forgot about it.

Not likely, since he did give one to Cell, but never to anyone else.

[Ultimate DBZ]

Okay. But why didn't the Saiyans use this tactic back on Planet Vegeta a while back? None of them were SSJ's at this time; they were all aware that they got stronger from fatal wounds, and they had the machinery to repair fatal wounds, like the machinery used to repair Bardock and Vegeta (Twice. Once when he left Earth and almost died, and another when Zarbon almost killed him).

[Rocketman]

How would you know that? It was never stated.

Vegeta was beat down hard by #18 and didn't get significantly stronger after healing.

And you're also missing that Dende didn't want to heal Vegeta. Vegeta had slaughtered a Namek village and laughed about it in front of all the Nameks on Earth. Dende wouldn't heal him just so Vegeta could get even stronger without a threat like Freeza right there. Hell, he refused to heal Vegeta even with Freeza right there.

[Son_Gohan]

Okay. But why didn't the Saiyans use this tactic back on Planet Vegeta a while back? None of them were SSJ's at this time; they were all aware that they got stronger from fatal wounds, and they had the machinery to repair fatal wounds, like the machinery used to repair Bardock and Vegeta (Twice. Once when he left Earth and almost died, and another when Zarbon almost killed him).

With their abilities to transform into Great Apes, they never needed to.

[rereboy]

Okay. But why didn't the Saiyans use this tactic back on Planet Vegeta a while back? None of them were SSJ's at this time; they were all aware that they got stronger from fatal wounds, and they had the machinery to repair fatal wounds, like the machinery used to repair Bardock and Vegeta (Twice. Once when he left Earth and almost died, and another when Zarbon almost killed him).

With their abilities to transform into Great Apes, they never needed to.

Exactly. They only felt a need to become stronger once Freeza started to rule them. Up until that point they had been strong enough to deal with anything, even if it took a large number of sayans. Except Freeza and his elite forces. He was that much powerful.
And once they started to really become stronger, Freeza killed them.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I figured that, due to their Saiyan pride, Son Goku and Vegeta (Vegeta, especially) would be against using that cheap tactic to become stronger. Perhaps they thought it better to increase their power through training, rather than cheating their way to gain power.

That explanation may have gone for the other Saiyans, before they were killed by Freeza. Or you can just go with rereboy's explanation.

[Dayspring]

Another reason could be that they do still get them, but the gain is just insignificant compared to what they need. For example, by the time the androids show up, people have strength for what could easily be argued as in the multi-billions by BP standards. If a near-death caps out as less than 5 mil, then nobody would take note of it if the gap there.

[Bussani]

I figured that, due to their Saiyan pride

Saiyan pride is a myth. They're a bunch of uncultured barbarians.

Son Goku and Vegeta (Vegeta, especially) would be against using that cheap tactic to become stronger.

Goku and Vegeta abused the boosts more than any other Saiyan in known history.

[Snail]

I'm with the belief that those near death power ups never went away, but instead they were merely insignificant in contrast to the "big picture" so to speak.

*edit

Nevermind, Dayspring already made mention.

[Kendamu]

I think it was stated in one of the recent SEGs that a Zenkai (yeah, I call it that) becomes less significant with the more power you have. So, by the time the Androids showed up, even a 100,000 BP increase or whatever would be worthless compared to how powerful the Saiyans were by that point.

So, yeah, it was mentioned.

Also... "barbarian." Actual Germanic barbarians had really smart battle tactics that made use of terrain and lighting rather well. They had really low-tech weapons for the time but they used them very well against their enemies that had access to armor and better weapons. The only reason they were called "barbarians" was because "barbar" is equivalent to our "blabla" and were called that because, "They don't speak our language so it's obviously gibberish." It had nothing to do with how they acted. Barbarians were smart fighters!

Sorry... I couldn't help myself. Germanic barbarians are one of my favorite examples of historical warriors.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I figured that, due to their Saiyan pride

Saiyan pride is a myth. They're a bunch of uncultured barbarians.

Son Goku and Vegeta (Vegeta, especially) would be against using that cheap tactic to become stronger.

Goku and Vegeta abused the boosts more than any other Saiyan in known history.

Yeah, but that was when it was ultimately needed for the plot to continue. Vegeta only ever once intentionally used the Zenkai tactic to become stronger in order to defeat Freeza. It was an all-or-nothing situation.

Personally, I believe that Vegeta would want to surpass Goku on his own terms.