Did Raditz have potential? Saiyans in general?

[Thanos]

Supposedly, Raditz is considered a weak low-class Saiyan among low-class Saiyans. Still, he was stronger than Goku and Piccolo combined, and he is related to Goku. It seems like the assumption is that he was a really weak guy, but is it possible that he could've reached Goku's level?

Or perhaps the same is true for all Saiyans? It seems rather clear that the race, while living on Planet Vegeta, were rather quite terrible at training or becoming very strong. I think it's like they have tons of potential, but the nature of their business with the Planetary Trade Organization, seems as though they spend all of their time fighting native aliens to clear planets as opposed to ever having a chance to really hone their abilities.

Vegeta spent around 30 years or so living with the Saiyans, yet he only managed to reach a level equal to that of some of Freeza's weaker cronies (Kiwi, for instance). Yet, in a matter of years, training on Earth, was able to achieve the level of Super Saiyan. And Goku, being a low-class warrior, obviously became more powerful than any other Saiyan known.

Yeah, it's entirely possible that Raditz was just weaksauce in general, but he was way stronger than Goku at the time of his death.


Thoughts?

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

I think so. The Saiyans treated Raditz like a total weakling, and the fact that he was equal with a Saibaman made him look even more weak. However, while I'm not sure his potential was as good as Goku's, I do believe he would've been able to do much better than 1,200/1,500 if he had proper training and countless Saiyan healing power-up's like some of the others.

[Fox666]

I suppose that with the proper training, any saiyan who are left near death so many times and does the training Goku and Vegeta does, they could hypothetically reach their level.

The problem is that Raditz has been mocked by Nappa and Vegeta, so I don't think he just had a low battle power, he was incompetent as a fighter. Thus he would be unable to do the training or have the obstinacy for that job.

[Bussani]

I think anyone in Dragon Ball can become stronger if they put in the work, and a Saiyan's ability to get stronger gives them a ton of potential when it comes to this. I mean, take Goku for example--he was supposed to be a low-class weakling himself!

[Mdjacobson01]

I think so. If a earthling like Krillin could, a Saiyajin like Raditz could

[Kroni_Hunter]

Raditz could zenkai his way up to the level of base Goku, but I don't think he'd get very much stronger than that. Even if he surpassed Goku's 3,000,000 I don't think he had what it takes to transform into a SSJ.

[Haji]

I think that if a saiyajin is powerful and situation calls for it, any saiyajin could have a high potential to reach SSJ.

[Rostir]

Any Saiyan has potential. Train enough and he or she can surpass anyone.

[Hellspawn28]

I think it's possible that he had the potential to become stronger. Too bad that he did not last very long though.

[SSJ3_Gogeta]

All Saiyans have potential to become stronger; it's just that most Saiyans did not utilize intense training methods such as gravity chambers and the Rosat.

[SSJ YUSUKE]

Well Raditz shares the same blood as Goku so there is no reason why he could not have become as strong as Goku, though I guess he would have had trouble becoming a Super Saiyan since he does not have a pure heart, in fact perhaps the reason there was only 1 Super Saiyan every thousand years can be attributed to the fact that no Saiyan before Goku had a pure enough heart or like Vegeta (and possibly the Legendary Super Saiyan) was not evil enough.

[rereboy]

Needing a pure heart is just baseless speculation from the characters regarding a legendary state that no one knows a lot about. IMO, of course.

[dbgtFO]

Needing a pure heart is just baseless speculation from the characters regarding a legendary state that no one knows a lot about. IMO, of course.

I agree.
Not surprisingly it was Krillin, who instantly jumped to conclusions regarding the issue.
I actually only recall Krillin claiming it, when Vegeta first transformed. After that I'm pretty sure, it's never mentioned again by anyone.

[CaBrPi]

Goku suggested something along the lines of Super Saiyans having to have pure hearts.

[dbgtFO]

When did he do that?

[CaBrPi]

When did he do that?

When Freeza says, "What are you?"

Goku responds with something along the lines of: "I am the warrior of legend, pure of heart and awakened by rage. I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN! SON GOKU!"

Of course, I don't remember if that line's in the manga.

[dbgtFO]

When Freeza says, "What are you?"

Goku responds with something along the lines of: "I am the warrior of legend, pure of heart and awakened by rage. I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN! SON GOKU!"

Of course, I don't remember if that line's in the manga.

From the translation provided in Herms' Strength Checker:

Chapter: 319 (DBZ 125), P9.4-5, P10.4-7
Goku: “I’m a Saiyan who came from Earth to defeat you…A legendary warrior whose tranquil heart has been awakened through intense rage…Super Saiyan Son Goku!”

He doesn't say anything about needing a pure heart to become a Super Saiyan.

[CaBrPi]

Well, I can see where it came from, now.

[jjgp1112]

Needing a pure heart is just baseless speculation from the characters regarding a legendary state that no one knows a lot about. IMO, of course.

I agree.
Not surprisingly it was Krillin, who instantly jumped to conclusions regarding the issue.
I actually only recall Krillin claiming it, when Vegeta first transformed. After that I'm pretty sure, it's never mentioned again by anyone.

Not to mention the fact that Vegeta shits all over the notion when he says, "My heart was was calm and pure...PURE EVIL!!!!"

[Godo]

There is this notion by the narrator and also I think by Vegeta that Goku had overcome a certain "wall", breaking the limits for a Saiya-jin's power, thus making Goku a candidate for being a Super Saiya-jin. Of course, this is before they know about that one has to transform.
So, there are two options:

a) Only Goku and Vegeta are by chance born with the bodies to surpass that natural wall, and to handle that power.
b) Any Saiya-jin, due to their adaptability and their nature of getting stronger after near death, would be able to break that wall.

But we also have the humans surpassing that both:

a) The Saiya-jin wall of power
and
b) The human wall of power by enormous amounts

So I would say that if an organism is intelligent enough to be able to manipulate it's ki, then with the right circumstances (gravity ect.) they would be able to grow endlessly.
The humans never used gravity to train (except for 10g at Kaio's), and also they didn't have the right tools (ROSAT, gravity chambers, training in heaven) nor the will and motivation.

And I doubt that any Saiya-jin would have enough reason to push himself that hard. After all, Goku had to overcome single enemies, not only due to his spirit but also due to him wanting to protect the Earth. Vegeta, on the other hand, wanted to become stronger than Goku.
I don't see any reason for Raditz nor Nappa having that ambition. Their life is built on them killing and destroying. Vegeta's was built on his pride as the Saiya-jin prince.