Bodies in the Afterlife

[Kroni_Hunter]

This is really a 2 part discussion.
1. When a person dies, and they are granted permission to retain their bodies, do they stay at the same age as they were when they were killed? The only examples of old people in the after life are Elder Kai and Grandpa Gohan. It seems weird that Gohan got to keep his body, but wasn't he a special case since he worked for that demon lady? I would think Goku having to die an old man and keeping his body would be torture for him, being too frail to fight any longer.

2. We know that when Tenshinhan was killed in the Saiyan Saga, his lost arm was returned to him in the afterlife. This seems to imply that your body is returned to its best state when you are killed no matter how badly injured you are. (Chaiozu's body exploded, and in filler, Captain Ginyu was shown back in his original body after Buu blew up Earth)
So my question is, why did Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan not get their tails back when they were killed? It's just not consistent. People might try to use the whole "Kami used his god powers to remove Goku's tail" bit, but that still doesn't explain why Yajirobe cutting off Vegeta's tail somehow magically removed it forever.

[B]

When a person dies, they become a cloud. Goku kept his body because of the upcoming threat with the Saiyans, and Vegeta with Buu in a similar situation. Any other instance of a person keeping their body is filler, save for King of the Worlds and Bubbles. It's never explained why they keep their bodies. I guess it's because they don't originate from the "living plane," so to speak.

I'm pretty sure Gohan didn't keep his body, it's more likely that Baba brought him to her palace via the apparent 24-hour visiting rule. Though, that's in-universe speculation. Toriyama forgetting something between the Red Ribbon arc and Buu arc is FAR more likely.

I can't think of a decent in-universe reason for Vegeta or Gohan never having tails again.

[Herms]

1. When a person dies, and they are granted permission to retain their bodies, do they stay at the same age as they were when they were killed?

When giving his goodbye after the Cell Games, Goku says that he won't age in the afterlife.

The only examples of old people in the after life are Elder Kai and Grandpa Gohan. It seems weird that Gohan got to keep his body, but wasn't he a special case since he worked for that demon lady? I would think Goku having to die an old man and keeping his body would be torture for him, being too frail to fight any longer.

Well, the Elder Kaioshin isn't actually dead (at first); he's a godly being who lives in the afterlife by nature. Grandpa Gohan was only shown working for Annin in the anime; manga-wise the reason he keeps his body in the afterlife is presumably due to his accomplishments as a martial artist. He's certainly still capable of fighting at that age (as we see when he fights Goku), so being old in the afterlife shouldn't be too much of a problem for him.

When a person dies, they become a cloud. Goku kept his body because of the upcoming threat with the Saiyans, and Vegeta with Buu in a similar situation. Any other instance of a person keeping their body is filler, save for King of the Worlds and Bubbles.

Tenshinhan and the others killed by Nappa were shown with their bodies in the manga.

[A-dono]

I can't think of a decent in-universe reason for Vegeta or Gohan never having tails again.

Toriyama forgot?

Don't people who were great warriors in their lifetime get to keep their bodies when they die so they can join a sort of Vahalla-like heaven where they can train and fight? I know the Afterworld Tournament was filler but even in the manga, Goku had to be somewhere training to attain SSJ2 and 3.

The only explanation I can think of is that either Goku, Vegeta, ect, removed their tails again (since they served no purpose), or they aren't deemed to be essential body parts like arms and legs.

[Herms]

Tenshinhan still had the scar he got from Tao Pai Pai on his afterlife body and after coming back to life, so maybe after a certain point injuries become part of your natural state or something?

[Kroni_Hunter]

1. When a person dies, and they are granted permission to retain their bodies, do they stay at the same age as they were when they were killed?

When giving his goodbye after the Cell Games, Goku says that he won't age in the afterlife.

Yeah, I know that part. But what I was getting at is would that person have the option of getting his younger body back, because an old body might not be any better than being a cloud for Goku. In the Toriyama interview, it said that Saiyans live about the same amount of time as humans, but their bodies deteriorate quickly at the end of their life. That leads me to think he wouldn't be in very good fighting shape.

[Amigo Ten]

It's said that Kami restored Chaozu's body, rather than it just reappearing because he was dead but needed one. I would assume Kami gave Tien another arm too. So it's not like dying and coming back to life, or keeping your body after death, is supposed to heal all your wounds automatically.

I recenlty saw this same question (about why the Saiyans who died and were revived didn't get their tails back) on another site, and I couldn't really understand why people thought it should happen that way. Any time someone's healed or their body is restored it's through special circumstance.

[Kroni_Hunter]

I guess my line of reasoning is that if you were to blow up a person, then wishing them back would have to include restoring their body. Technically, the dragon could just restore the vital parts necessary to keep a person alive, such as torso and head, etc. but that is not the case. When the world was destroyed by Buu, people were restored in their whole, natural bodies. I'm sure some of the animal people that died had tails, which were most likely restored. It would be weird to see a bunch of tail-less talking foxes and dogs running around. (well, i guess it's weird no matter what.)

[Amigo Ten]

Well, Vegeta wasn't blown up on Namek. Just killed. And it seems when he was revived he just got the same body back that been buried in that whole, rather than getting a new one.

And by the time he did blow himself he hadn't had a tail for ages. The tails aren't arbitrarily left off. If a fox hadn't had a tail for years and then got blown and the dragon restored it's body, it'd be the same tailless body it had before dying. I don;t see that when someone gets a new body, it's ENTIRELY new and unaffected by anything that happened to their last body. It's just a copy of the one they had.

[Kroni_Hunter]

I see what your saying, but it seems Ten shouldn't have gotten his arm back by that logic. That's not what killed him, it was the kikoho. The only difference is the wound was a little more fresh, but still unconnected to his death.

[Amigo Ten]

Well, those that died against the Saiyans seem to be an oddity in this area. The survivors made a point to collect the bodies, and yet they were given new bodies in the afterlife. Goku's body vanished after he died against Raditz, because he was going to use that same body in the afterlife. Yamcha, Tien and Piccolo's bodies didn't vanish, they just all got new bodies in the afterlife. And when they were revived, they weren't returned to their old bodies, their new ones were just made living.

Tien got his arm back in the afterlife, and presumably kept that new body when he was brought back to life rather than getting his old body with one arm missing back.

[Kroni_Hunter]

Yeah, which brings the discussion into circles. If bodies are based on the state of the person when they're killed, they should be brought back the same way they were. But Ten got his arm back, so he must have gotten a new body. But then the Saiyans who got new bodies should have had their tails repaired, so they must have been based off of their old bodies.
...i think i'm confusing myself.

[Amigo Ten]

Well, when Vegeta died the first time, he got his old body back, just healed from the wounds Freeza inflicted, which makes sense I guess, since the wish was to revive his victims.

When he died the second time, his existing body was apparently kept for a special reason, so I don't see why he should automatically get his tail back, since I'm not sure it was a new body (what happened to his body after his explosion is still a mystery to me).

And brand new bodies aren't entirely new either. As mentioned, Yamcha kept his scars and such.

[rereboy]

When a person dies, they become a cloud. Goku kept his body because of the upcoming threat with the Saiyans, and Vegeta with Buu in a similar situation. Any other instance of a person keeping their body is filler, save for King of the Worlds and Bubbles. It's never explained why they keep their bodies. I guess it's because they don't originate from the "living plane," so to speak.

I'm pretty sure Gohan didn't keep his body, it's more likely that Baba brought him to her palace via the apparent 24-hour visiting rule. Though, that's in-universe speculation. Toriyama forgetting something between the Red Ribbon arc and Buu arc is FAR more likely.

I can't think of a decent in-universe reason for Vegeta or Gohan never having tails again.

No, they give bodies to those who deserve it, not just because of necessity.

That`s why Goku was able to keep his body after the Cell saga, and was able to train and reach SSJ3. And no, without your body you can not train and improve your fighting skills. Otherwise Goku, Piccolo and the others wouldn`t need their bodies to go to kaio and get stronger.

[B]

When a person dies, they become a cloud. Goku kept his body because of the upcoming threat with the Saiyans, and Vegeta with Buu in a similar situation. Any other instance of a person keeping their body is filler, save for King of the Worlds and Bubbles. It's never explained why they keep their bodies. I guess it's because they don't originate from the "living plane," so to speak.

I'm pretty sure Gohan didn't keep his body, it's more likely that Baba brought him to her palace via the apparent 24-hour visiting rule. Though, that's in-universe speculation. Toriyama forgetting something between the Red Ribbon arc and Buu arc is FAR more likely.

I can't think of a decent in-universe reason for Vegeta or Gohan never having tails again.

No, they give bodies to those who deserve it, not just because of necessity.

When is this ever stated?

[Kendamu]

Maybe it has to do with when it happened. Maybe there's a time limit on dismemberment or something.

[rereboy]

When a person dies, they become a cloud. Goku kept his body because of the upcoming threat with the Saiyans, and Vegeta with Buu in a similar situation. Any other instance of a person keeping their body is filler, save for King of the Worlds and Bubbles. It's never explained why they keep their bodies. I guess it's because they don't originate from the "living plane," so to speak.

I'm pretty sure Gohan didn't keep his body, it's more likely that Baba brought him to her palace via the apparent 24-hour visiting rule. Though, that's in-universe speculation. Toriyama forgetting something between the Red Ribbon arc and Buu arc is FAR more likely.

I can't think of a decent in-universe reason for Vegeta or Gohan never having tails again.

No, they give bodies to those who deserve it, not just because of necessity.

When is this ever stated?

Its simple logic. If it was the way you say it is, then Goku wouldn`t have his body after the Cell saga and he wouldn`t be able to reach SSJ3 because he was supposed to stay dead and there wasn`t any danger.
Also, Chaotzu wouldn`t have his body to train at kaio`s because he had already been brought back and so they weren`t intending to revive him because they didn`t know that the dragon balls from Namek could do that.

Its also never stated that they keep their bodies only because of necessity.

Also, Gohan (goku`s grandfather) clearly had his body when he fought goku in the baba tournament (although this example is a little shaky because by then the author probably hadn`t really thought about the other world).

So, yes they give bodies out of pure necessity (like Enma did with Vegeta to fight buu), out of necessity and because the person deserves it (like Goku when he died the first time) or just because the person really just deserves it (like Goku when he died the second time).

[Bussani]

It's more or less stated in the manga that Kami is the one who restored their bodies in the afterlife ("Kami could regenerate even his body!").

Senzu beans don't heal scars either, and never caused Vegeta or Gohan to grow a new tail or anything.

I wouldn't think too hard about it. You're trying to explain the afterlife in strict rules. There's probably an Oni somewhere doing paperwork that decides what your body should look like.

The only examples of old people in the after life are Elder Kai and Grandpa Gohan.

Elder Kaioshin died in the Kaioshin realm, which isn't in the afterlife. But yeah, he didn't magically become younger or anything. But afterlife bodies are tougher than normal bodies, aren't they? You don't need to eat, you don't seem to get tired. Despite being 'old', maybe it really doesn't matter when you're dead.

I'm pretty sure Gohan didn't keep his body, it's more likely that Baba brought him to her palace via the apparent 24-hour visiting rule. Though, that's in-universe speculation. Toriyama forgetting something between the Red Ribbon arc and Buu arc is FAR more likely.

I don't think he forgot. It's way too similar. Baba brings Gohan back for 24 hours only, which he states himself. She knew Goku would be coming on that day (because she's the all-seeing-crone or whatever) and made sure that was the day Gohan used his 'come back for one day' thing. When Goku uses it in the Buu saga it's way too accurate to be a coincidence. In fact, in the Viz copy it has a note saying "see volume 9 of Dragon Ball for more details". No idea if the original had anything like that though.

[Herms]

In fact, in the Viz copy it has a note saying "see volume 9 of Dragon Ball for more details". No idea if the original had anything like that though.

They don't have notes like that in the original.

[Thanos]

My conclusion, is that people are allowed to keep their bodies for up to a year after they've died.

Reason being, many people (who weren't heroes or anything) were able to come back to life (Boo Saga) in their bodies just as they were. In addition, the rule is that you can only bring people back with the Dragon Ball who've only been dead for less than a year.

This would explain why people were able to be brought back and not go through the "soul cleansing and cloud body" situation.

Though, it does bother me that villains can keep their bodies, even though Piccolo told Vegeta that he'd end up a spirit and lose his memories. I know it's pretty hilarious to see former villains watching current villains get whooped by the guys that killed them, but it just totally rips the consistency to shreds.

On top of that villains who were dead in GT came straight from Hell without halos, not to mention their bodies/memories intact. Oi.