Where's it said that nobody keeps their body at death?

[Herms]

I think I saw someone say that Enma wasn't nearly as arrogant about beating Raditz in the Japanese version than he was in the Viz version.

Yeah, there he just says that Raditz struggled a lot, but he managed to subdue him. There's nothing about how "none can defeat me".

[Dayspring]

Fair enough, but it doesn't explain why Radditz got to keep his body. Plus his physical one was left on Earth.

I assumed that he didn't, despite Enma bragging that he put up a fight.

I think I saw someone say that Enma wasn't nearly as arrogant about beating Raditz in the Japanese version than he was in the Viz version.

Yeah, there was just some indignation over Kami implying that he was nothing compared to Kaio. The only thing regarding Radditz is that Radditz put up a fight but Enma managed to restrain him anyway. If he were a cloud, this wouldn't be impressive to anybody, let alone Goku, so rather than assume there's two plotholes, I just like to think there are cases when people's souls take on the form of a spirit body rather than a spirit cloud.

[Bussani]

The only thing regarding Radditz is that Radditz put up a fight but Enma managed to restrain him anyway. If he were a cloud, this wouldn't be impressive to anybody, let alone Goku, so rather than assume there's two plotholes, I just like to think there are cases when people's souls take on the form of a spirit body rather than a spirit cloud.

Or Goku just didn't think to call Enma out on it. Halfway down Serpent Road he was probably like, "Heeey, wait a minute..."

[Majin Buu]

I just like to think there are cases when people's souls take on the form of a spirit body rather than a spirit cloud.

Perhaps the spirits of evil people that were extraordinarily strong and resist whatever happens when they die can keep their bodies, regardless of what the celestial bureaucracy says. Buu arc Vegeta just didn't resist because at that point he had accepted his fate.

[Dayspring]

I just like to think there are cases when people's souls take on the form of a spirit body rather than a spirit cloud.

Perhaps the spirits of evil people that were extraordinarily strong and resist whatever happens when they die can keep their bodies, regardless of what the celestial bureaucracy says. Buu arc Vegeta just didn't resist because at that point he had accepted his fate.

Actually, Boo-era Vegeta was allowed to keep his body (in case he could be of help against Boo) by Enma.

My thinking is that anybody who can control their ki a little can form a spirit body. Otherwise, how would Grampa Gohan have a body when he came to Earth for 24 hours? I doubt Baba got Kami to vouch for him.

[Gaffer Tape]

Hehe, maybe Enma keeps their bodies in storage, just in case, or because he's a nerd and likes to collect things. That way, it explains things like how Grandpa Gohan gets his body back when he's in the realm of the living.

[Kendamu]

Grandpa Gohan has a part-time job in the Afterlife. Just follow the Freeter link on the Grandpa Gohan entry to understand what I mean.

He likely would have to have kept his body in the first place for that. Why? I dunno. Maybe being a horrible parent and taming Goku by accident is worth a full-bodied ticket to Heaven.

[Gaffer Tape]

I was considering mentioning that, but I thought his part-time job activities were only brought up in the anime (ie. his part-timing with Annin-sama at the Eightfold Furnace).

[SilverPlaqueVII]

I saw episode 36 of the Namek arc when Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, and Piccolo's dead corpses were shown in the so-called "freezing caskets". Didn't their bodies remain intact too in both the afterlife and the boxes (even Piccolo was brought back to life by Polunga)?

[Dayspring]

I saw episode 36 of the Namek arc when Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, and Piccolo's dead corpses were shown in the so-called "freezing caskets". Didn't their bodies remain intact too in both the afterlife and the boxes (even Piccolo was brought back to life by Polunga)?

Filler. Plus Piccolo and Kami vanished when they died.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

I don't think Piccolo's body did.

[Gaffer Tape]

I saw episode 36 of the Namek arc when Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, and Piccolo's dead corpses were shown in the so-called "freezing caskets". Didn't their bodies remain intact too in both the afterlife and the boxes (even Piccolo was brought back to life by Polunga)?

Filler. Plus Piccolo and Kami vanished when they died.

No, that's not filler. I don't think you actually see the bodies in the body bags in the manga, but the scene where they pick up the bodies is in the manga. Also, only Kami-sama fades away when he dies. Piccolo doesn't. I think we're supposed to assume that their bodies must have faded away at some point after the battle, but it wasn't before the survivors picked them up.

[Kendamu]

Chaozu didn't really have a body anymore but he was given one in the Afterlife and he later came back to the living world with a body. I figure that it's mostly bureaucratic red tape that decides stuff about bodies... as well as a lot of other Afterlife-related things in Dragonball.

[Dayspring]

I saw episode 36 of the Namek arc when Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, and Piccolo's dead corpses were shown in the so-called "freezing caskets". Didn't their bodies remain intact too in both the afterlife and the boxes (even Piccolo was brought back to life by Polunga)?

Filler. Plus Piccolo and Kami vanished when they died.

No, that's not filler. I don't think you actually see the bodies in the body bags in the manga, but the scene where they pick up the bodies is in the manga. Also, only Kami-sama fades away when he dies. Piccolo doesn't. I think we're supposed to assume that their bodies must have faded away at some point after the battle, but it wasn't before the survivors picked them up.

Oh, not Piccolo's? My bad.

But yeah, seeing the bodies after they died, even if it was implied in the manga that Bulma was going to freeze them, was filler. At the very least, a disappearing act was pulled off-camera, as Kami did the same thing to them as he did with Goku when Radditz killed him.

[Gaffer Tape]

Yeah, but still, the bodies were around long enough to explicitly be picked up by the survivors. It wasn't just implied that they were going to pick them up. The actual scene is in the manga. It's just that the "camera" is pulled back far enough that we don't actually "see" the bodies themselves, but what Kuririn and Kamesennin are doing and discussing ("Where's Chaozu's body?" "There isn't one. He blew himself up.") is quite clear, even in the manga. So it wasn't at all the near-instant effect that Goku's disappearance was. Why? Heh, if I had to speculate, I guess since Kami-sama was dead, he didn't have the power to just grab a body anymore and was forced to go through at least a day's worth of red tape with Enma (or endure whatever special thing might happen when a god dies).

[Dayspring]

Yeah, but still, the bodies were around long enough to explicitly be picked up by the survivors. It wasn't just implied that they were going to pick them up. The actual scene is in the manga. It's just that the "camera" is pulled back far enough that we don't actually "see" the bodies themselves, but what Kuririn and Kamesennin are doing and discussing ("Where's Chaozu's body?" "There isn't one. He blew himself up.") is quite clear, even in the manga. So it wasn't at all the near-instant effect that Goku's disappearance was. Why? Heh, if I had to speculate, I guess since Kami-sama was dead, he didn't have the power to just grab a body anymore and was forced to go through at least a day's worth of red tape with Enma (or endure whatever special thing might happen when a god dies).

Sure, but in the manga, we don't see the bodies after they reach Kaio's, unlike in the filler. This is because they have their bodies with them.

[Gaffer Tape]

Wait, wait, hold on a second. When do we ever see filler of their bodies after they reach Kaio's? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, that never happens.

EDIT: There's filler on Namek of the Ginyu Tokusentai's bodies that occurs during the filler of their bodies being used on Kaio's, but I can't recall that inconsistency happening to Yamucha-tachi.

[Bussani]

So it wasn't at all the near-instant effect that Goku's disappearance was. Why?

It wasn't necessary. When Goku died, Kami was trying to get him to Kaio as fast as possible, because they only had a year before the Saiyans would arrive. Why would anyone be in a rush to set Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu up with bodies the moment they died?

[Gaffer Tape]

Well, I wasn't really honestly speculating... That was somewhat rhetorical so I could give my own half-assed explanation in the next sentence... awkward

[Bussani]

And I gave my own half-assed explanation.