Why didn't anyone else adopt Kaio-Ken?

[singsing]

I'm pretty sure being 2x as strong as someone is easy 1-shot stomp material.

[Saiga]

I'm pretty sure being 2x as strong as someone is easy 1-shot stomp material.

There are plenty of examples that show this isn't always the case.

It doesn't really matter if it were though, because Cell wouldn't allow it to happen.

[Kaboom]

Could Gohan beat one or two or maybe even three Cell Juniors at a time without Super Saiyan 2? Sure, probably. Could he beat all seven-ish of them at once without Super Saiyan 2? Eh... I doubt it.



Anyway, about that Kaio-Ken... I generally agree with the notion that since it's very difficult to learn/master, nobody but Goku with his Prodigy Protagonist status was capable of it. Kaio may even have recognized right off the bat that none of the humans had it in them.

Plus, both the Kaio-Ken and the Spirit Bomb are primarily last-ditch desperation attacks, for when you find yourself outclassed and need something extra effective against a foe that's stronger than you. Goku was training under Kaio for a specific upcoming dangerous fight, but the humans weren't. They were just there to try training like Goku did to get stronger. So they really wouldn't have any need for the Kaio-Ken.

Lastly, I also kind of like the idea that the inherent strain of the Kaio-Ken necessitates a naturally tougher (i.e. Saiyan) body to pull it off.

[RandomGuy96]

If the Jrs were that much weaker than him, then why would he need SS2 to save everyone from them?

He didn't. He just never tried, because he's a wuss.

Could Gohan beat one or two or maybe even three Cell Juniors at a time without Super Saiyan 2? Sure, probably. Could he beat all seven-ish of them at once without Super Saiyan 2? Eh... I doubt it.

Tell that to those four Saibamen that Krillin curb-stomped. Or Krillin, Tenshinhan, Yajirobe, Chi Chi, Chaozu, and Roshi when they all got the idea in their minds that they could take on an exhausted, half-dead Piccolo, who was around x2 superior to them on average at full power. Or Chaozu (610), Yajirobe (970), Gohan (981-2,800), Yamcha (1,480), Krillin (1,770), and Tenshinhan (1,830). Considering that a full-force, likely amplified attack from Krillin couldn't even slightly sting Nappa, and Tenshinhan went down after ONE hit, and both of those guys were the strongest ones there aside from enraged Gohan, how do you think they would have done without Piccolo?

He could explode them all with single punches with or without SS2. I'd like to think that they could give him some trouble together, but given how fast and strong he is compared to them, I really don't see how that could happen.

[Saiga]

I swear there was an interview where Toriyama said why he stopped using the Kaio-ken (out of universe). Does anyone know what that is?

[Kaboom]

Tell that to those four Saibamen that Krillin curb-stomped.

Well... okay, I guess I'll try. But I don't think they can speak, so it'll be hard to get any sort of opinion or response out of them.

But srsly, the results of Fight A and (hypothetical) Fight B don't dictate the results of Fight C. Saibaimen are dumb little creatures who probably operate mostly on instinct, and since Piccolo Jr versus the crowd didn't actually happen (and raw power comparisons probably still meant a lot less back then), one can't really draw any conclusions from it. Maybe SS1 Gohan could take on all about-7 Cell Juniors, and maybe they'd be a bit too much for him. Who knows.

[Herms]

I swear there was an interview where Toriyama said why he stopped using the Kaio-ken (out of universe). Does anyone know what that is?

Can't say that rings any bells.

[RandomGuy96]

But srsly, the results of Fight A and (hypothetical) Fight B don't dictate the results of Fight C. Saibaimen are dumb little creatures who probably operate mostly on instinct, and since Piccolo Jr versus the crowd didn't actually happen (and raw power comparisons probably still meant a lot less back then), one can't really draw any conclusions from it. Maybe SS1 Gohan could take on all about-7 Cell Juniors, and maybe they'd be a bit too much for him. Who knows.

Of course. But I'm just saying that, based on every fight that we've seen, there's really no reason that the Cell Jrs would be able to overwhelm Gohan. Remember, at an advantage similar to the one Gohan has here (4,000 vs 1,830/1,770), Nappa could sit still and let Krillin hit him with his best shot (except the Kienzan...)- one that was likely amplified- and not even feel the tiniest bit of pain, before proceeding to take out Tenshinhan in one hit. At an advantage similar to the one Gohan has here (~20,000 vs ~40,000), Recoome could literally blow away Gohan's strongest attack. At an advantage smaller than the one Gohan has here (~40,000 vs ~60,000), Goku could move faster than Recoome could see, and take him out in one hit. Now, granted, it was a good hit (as evidenced by the fact that the equally-powerful Burter took three blows to bring down), and Goku may have been using more speed than his power level would imply (as evidenced by Ginyu's later statements), but the point still stands. What exactly are the Juniors going to do when they can't even see Gohan move? When none of their hits can hurt him? When any blow he lands is going to turn them into dust?

Plus, Kami confirmed that Piccolo was correct in his statement that none of them could do anything, simply because no one could even see Piccolo move besides Goku (it seems that Kami could track them sometimes, but not all of the time, and of course he was way stronger than the rest). And, in the Buu arc, Piccolo said that it wouldn't matter if SS2 Goku, SS2 Vegeta, SS2 Gohan, Kaioshin, SS Trunks, SS Goten, and himself all attacked the big pink balloon. In fact, he said that it wouldn't matter how many SS2s went at tons-of-fun, just because he wasn't at that level.

[Eternal Super Saiyan]

I'm pretty sure being 2x as strong as someone is easy 1-shot stomp material.

Not always the case. Especially if some characters have more endurance than another, then that theory doesn't exactly work. For example, Fat Buu was more than 2x stronger than Majin SSJ2 Vegeta, he lasted A LOT longer than Recoome did against 90,000 Goku. Also let's not forget 1,200 Raditz fighting 2 characters at 416 and 408 fighting power.

Another factor too is, the Ginyu Force team likely rarely come across any fighters that equal their own power, thus when it comes to a REAL fight, they don't compare to the likes of Goku and Piccolo who could fight equal for a good few hours non stop.