Krillin telling Goku to use the Dragonballs to revive Kami?

[Daimakku]

I was watching Episode 144 of Dragonball the other day and I noticed that Krillin told Goku to fire that super kamehameha at Piccolo without worrying of killing Kami (since Piccolo had devoured the bottle where Kami got placed into with the reverse mafuba technique) since they can just revive Kami with the dragonballs, and Goku thanks Krillin for giving him that idea, and then proceeded to fire the kamehameha at Piccolo without worries. And then I just watched Episode 148, and before Kami tries to kill Piccolo by himself, Goku stops him and tells him that if he (Kami) dies, then the dragonballs will also disappear since Kami was the creator of them. So that means that Goku knew that if he killed Kami along with Piccolo, then the dragonballs would disappear and Kami would not be brought back. So then, why was he relieved when Krillin gave him the idea about using the dragonballs in case Kami died in that super kamehameha blast he was hesitant to fire at Piccolo? It doesn't make sense.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

Probably an error in anime script. Wouldn't surprise me.

[Daimakku]

Probably an error in anime script. Wouldn't surprise me.

This is a huge plothole though. I dont see how they could miss a flaw that big in the story.

[matt0044]

It likely occurred to Goku later on that the Dragon Balls are connected to Kami and would disappear upon his death.

[TheMightyOzaru]

Goku is pretty dumb, he likely just had a brain fart.

[Makaioshin]

Probably an error in anime script. Wouldn't surprise me.

No, the same thing happens in the manga. Perhaps it is just a result of Toriyama coming up with the story as he went along he and hadn't thought of that rule yet.
For an in-universe answer I guess you can just say Goku forgot but then even Piccolo doesn't question that logic and just says that Shenlong is dead.

[Herms]

No, the same thing happens in the manga. Perhaps it is just a result of Toriyama coming up with the story as he went along he and hadn't thought of that rule yet.
For an in-universe answer I guess you can just say Goku forgot but then even Piccolo doesn't question that logic and just says that Shenlong is dead.

Yeah, cliched as it may be, I think the only real answer is that Toriyama was making up the rules as he went along. The funny thing is though that the original idea that Shenlong would just keep on existing even if his creator kicked the bucket probably makes more sense than the later idea that if God/the Great Elder dies then their dragon balls go poof too. I mean, it's not as if Boo died when Bibidi did, or No.16 when Gero bit it, and for that matter when Goku fades away after getting pierced by the Makankosappo Gohan obviously doesn't go with him. So it's a little strange for Goku to simply infer that since Old Green made Shenlong and the dragon balls then they must automatically cease to be if he were to die. That's not typically how things work. Of course the idea we ultimately get is that their life forces are linked for whatever reason, but at the time all Goku says is that since God made them, they must go if he does. It's a bit of a leap.

[DBZAOTA482]

Goku is pretty dumb, he likely just had a brain fart.

Goku may be naive and uncultured but he is by no means a literal idiot (he's actually kind of brilliant when you think about it). It's probably because Toriyama-sensei made it up later on so h can keep Kami alive or they simply didn't know until later on.

[TheMightyOzaru]

Goku is pretty dumb, he likely just had a brain fart.

Goku may be naive and uncultured but he is by no means a literal idiot (he's actually kind of brilliant when you think about it). It's probably because Toriyama-sensei made it up later on so h can keep Kami alive or they simply didn't know until later on.

Goku can forget. Goku may be a genius when it comes to fighting but in situations like this, I don't see a problem with Goku simply having a brain fart. Happens to the best of us so why not Goku?

[Sebastian]

If I remember right, didn't Goku try the Super Kamehameha before he knew that the dragonballs would disappear if Kami died? Kami didn't tell them that bit until later because he didn't want Goku to hesitate to kill Piccolo.

[Daimakku]

If I remember right, didn't Goku try the Super Kamehameha before he knew that the dragonballs would disappear if Kami died? Kami didn't tell them that bit until later because he didn't want Goku to hesitate to kill Piccolo.

Nope. Like I said, I just watched those episodes two days ago, and Goku stopped Kami from killing Piccolo himself (Piccolo was already down from Goku beating him to a pulp). But before he could do anything, Goku got in the way and told Kami not to do it because if he did, then the dragonballs would also disappear.
Maybe Goku wasn't sure if the dragonballs would disappear if Kami died, but he did have it in his mind that that's a possibility. When Kami told Goku he can just wish him back to live with the dragonballs, Goku said "Even Kami-sama is allowed to lie?" Because he knew what would happen if Kami died.

He's a screenshot of it.


I really doubt Goku simply forgot. Making it seem like Goku simply forgot would just confuse the viewer, unless someone points it out and Goku says something like "oops, I forgot !" But they didn't. It's simply shit writing.

[Saiga]

I'm thinking that maybe he had only figured out that Shenlong would disappear on God's death after the battle was done. Otherwise, yeah, it's a plothole.

[Gyt Kaliba]

As far as how Goku even knows they'll disappear goes, I always liked to assume that maybe Popo told him in private before he left for the tournament, and wanted Goku to prevent Kami's death by any means possible - although that would make it weird that Goku didn't know beforehand that Kami would be coming to the tournament. Because of that, I think it went down something like this.

Popo: Please Goku, whatever you do, don't kill Piccolo. If you do...Kami will die as well.
Goku: Huh? Hmm...well, we could just wish him back with the Dragon Balls, couldn't we?
Popo: It's not that simple. The Dragon Balls are tied to Kami's life-force. If he dies, the Dragon Balls will no longer work.
Goku: Eh?! Well that's no good...I'll have'ta figure out something else then.

So Goku only knew about what would happen if he killed Piccolo, or allowed anyone else to - the part about Kami actually coming down to the tournament himself was a surprise of some sort.

This is all just kind of my own in-head explanation though, and it still leaves the big hole of why Goku would fire off his Super Kamehameha when all evidence points to him thinking that would finish Piccolo...so I dunno.

[SSJFinny]

Maybe Goku knew and still thought about it and decided to hold back some when firing the second time. So he would weaken Piccolo substantially instead of killing him. That or he had to much on his mind to explain to Krillin.

[Sebastian]

Oh, could have sworn there was a throw away line that explained this. This is a HUGE plot hole then!

[matt0044]

Wait, was this in the Manga?

[Daimakku]

Wait, was this in the Manga?

I'd like to know as well. I've never read the manga.

Anyone that does, care to check for us?