How could Nappa have killed Piccolo?

[Vaeran]

This is probably another one of those DB questions whose only real answer is "shhhhhh...", but I'm going to go ahead and ask it anyway.

During the Buu arc, Piccolo of course gets petrified by Dabura, and then Chibi Trunks accidentally smashes his "statue" into itty bitty pieces. Dabura bites it a bit later, releasing the stone curse, and suddenly Piccolo's back in mint condition. He explains that he can regenerate any amount of damage, as long as his head is intact.

Maybe you can guess where this is going. When Piccolo jumps in front of Nappa's blast to save Gohan way back in the Saiyajin arc, it fries him up pretty good, but he's still clearly in one piece. How, then, was this enough to kill him? I mean, it's just not like Toriyama to be inconsistent...!

[Mr. Announcer]

Well, I'm pretty sure regeneration requires a certain amount of energy, probably a lot actually. After Piccolo had taken the full power of that blast, expending his remaining energy to save Gohan's life, he had none to spare for himself. Up until that point, we'd only seen him regenerate arms. Maybe he didn't even have the strength to fully regenerate his body until later. At least, that's how I'd wiggle out of that one.

[Kendamu]

I'd have to agree. It prbably takes a decent amount of Ki to regenerate a limb, let alone his whole body. By the time the Buu arc came around Piccolo had enough Chi to regenerate almost as well as Cell. Since Cell's regeneration ability came from Piccolo, wither enough training Piccolo could probably learn to regerate just like Cell did.

[ShadowAssailantX]

He explains that he can regenerate any amount of damage, as long as his head is intact.

Hell, if any amount of damage could be recovered from, Daimao shouldn't have died either. And it would really give Piccolo an unfair advantage against everyone else, especially so early on in the story.

[Xyex]

I'd have to agree. It prbably takes a decent amount of Ki to regenerate a limb, let alone his whole body. By the time the Buu arc came around Piccolo had enough Chi to regenerate almost as well as Cell. Since Cell's regeneration ability came from Piccolo, wither enough training Piccolo could probably learn to regerate just like Cell did.

Agreed. If you'll note, he didn't repair his arm against Raditz until after the fight. Obviously he didn't want to use up that much energy regenerating while someone that strong was there fighting him. So fighting one armed was less of a handicap than using energy to regenerate the arm.

Plus, against Cell. He had to stall him in order to gather the energy needed to regenerate his arm IIRC. So even at that point he couldn't just blink an eye and fix a missing limb. By the Buu saga his regenerative abilities had probably advanced considerably.

At least, it works as an IC explanation for things. Mainly, though, I'd say Toriyama-sama just went with what he wanted. Like Cell losing his head to Goku's Warp Kamehameha and still regenerating while later climbing his nucleus (in his head) was needed for regenerating.

[Chaos Saiyajin]

This is probably another one of those DB questions whose only real answer is "shhhhhh...", but I'm going to go ahead and ask it anyway.

During the Buu arc, Piccolo of course gets petrified by Dabura, and then Chibi Trunks accidentally smashes his "statue" into itty bitty pieces. Dabura bites it a bit later, releasing the stone curse, and suddenly Piccolo's back in mint condition. He explains that he can regenerate any amount of damage, as long as his head is intact.

Maybe you can guess where this is going. When Piccolo jumps in front of Nappa's blast to save Gohan way back in the Saiyajin arc, it fries him up pretty good, but he's still clearly in one piece. How, then, was this enough to kill him? I mean, it's just not like Toriyama to be inconsistent...!

I always thought Piccolo putting himself back together after being shattered by Goten and Trunks was filler! *nervous laugh*

Clearly, Nappa's blast killed Piccolo because Piccolo had already been beaten to the point of almost death, leaving him no ki to regenerate with.

[Dayspring]

I'd have to agree. It prbably takes a decent amount of Ki to regenerate a limb, let alone his whole body. By the time the Buu arc came around Piccolo had enough Chi to regenerate almost as well as Cell. Since Cell's regeneration ability came from Piccolo, wither enough training Piccolo could probably learn to regerate just like Cell did.

Agreed. If you'll note, he didn't repair his arm against Raditz until after the fight. Obviously he didn't want to use up that much energy regenerating while someone that strong was there fighting him. So fighting one armed was less of a handicap than using energy to regenerate the arm.

This is also confirmed when Nail fought Freeza. After regenerating his arm, Freeza's scouter noted that Nail's strength lowered significantly.

Plus, against Cell. He had to stall him in order to gather the energy needed to regenerate his arm IIRC.

Actually that was to make Cell think Piccolo was defeated so that he'd blab.

[Bejiita]

It was probably due to him being out of energy, and it's not as if any of his limbs were cut off. Piccolo can regenrate his limbs but he can't regenerate in the same way Majin Buu does, which would be restoring all of your own energy.

If anything after Nail regenerates an arm, Freeza even says that your energy hasn't been restored, just his limb.

Anyway, Piccolo was in perfect condition before being turned to stone, so his energy was fully intact, so regenerating would have been normal, and it was only meant as a little shock for people who don't know, I mean, when I first saw those episodes I was new to series, being a late Z starter, so I was unaware of Piccolo's regenerating. My friend spolied it and said 'he can grow back his body if his head ain't damaged.'

Must have been quite nasty seeing his own legs and arms(the old ones ) on the ground after spawning new ones.

[desirecampbell]

When fighting Cell the first time, Piccolo rips off his arms, then regenerates it. He doesn't just 'heal it' like Dende does, he needs to make a whole new one. Durring the fight with Nappa, he doesn't get anything chopped off, he just getts beaten up. If Nappa had cut off his legs or something Piccolo could 'theoretically' have regenerated them. But he couldn't if Nappa had just broken his legs. The legs are still there.

Now, if he had the energy needed to regenerated such massive parts of his body... that's another question entirely

[Pedro The Hutt]

He regenerated with the power of plot device. =D

[Silent_Rage]

It's also possible that he never had this power back then.

[Victator Supreme]

Where was it ever said that regeneration equals immortality?

[Steven Perry]

He explains that he can regenerate any amount of damage, as long as his head is intact.

Well, I'm pretty sure regeneration requires a certain amount of energy.

You can't store enough energy to regenerate in your head! How's Piccolo supposed to have energy if he doesn't eat food, anyway? I've heard that he only drinks water. How many calories are in water? Oh yeah, when he was about to sacrifice himself for Gohan, why didn't he split into two and use the other one as a shield?

[Duo]

He explains that he can regenerate any amount of damage, as long as his head is intact.

Well, I'm pretty sure regeneration requires a certain amount of energy.

You can't store enough energy to regenerate in your head! How's Piccolo supposed to have energy if he doesn't eat food, anyway? I've heard that he only drinks water. How many calories are in water? Oh yeah, when he was about to sacrifice himself for Gohan, why didn't he split into two and use the other one as a shield?

Because the event of his sacrifice occurs in the Manga, whereas any and all cases of him using Shishin was Anime exclusive, and thus when Toriyama-sensei wrote that event out as it was, Toei animation had to follow, despite having created a smarter way out.

[Victator Supreme]

You can't store enough energy to regenerate in your head! How's Piccolo supposed to have energy if he doesn't eat food, anyway? I've heard that he only drinks water. How many calories are in water? Oh yeah, when he was about to sacrifice himself for Gohan, why didn't he split into two and use the other one as a shield?

He's an alien, its been stated that namekian's are very different than Saiyans or humans, in the sense they don't eat and they reproduce asexually. They do produce KI though.

As for why he didn't spilt into two there are a two reasons

1. He had just taken a very bad beating and was on the verge of death.

2. He never actually did the multiman technique in the manga.

[Vaeran]

Oh yeah, when he was about to sacrifice himself for Gohan, why didn't he split into two and use the other one as a shield?

Well, using that technique divides your strength by however many copies you make, right? Thus he'd become two half-strength Piccolos, and throw one of those in front of the blast. But at half-strength, the blast probably would have vaporized the copy outright and gone on to hurt or kill Gohan as well. Not enough stopping power.

[Duo]

Oh yeah, when he was about to sacrifice himself for Gohan, why didn't he split into two and use the other one as a shield?

Well, using that technique divides your strength by however many copies you make, right? Thus he'd become two half-strength Piccolos, and throw one of those in front of the blast. But at half-strength, the blast probably would have vaporized the copy outright and gone on to hurt or kill Gohan as well. Not enough stopping power.

Or you could read the two posts before yours that give the actual answer.

Toriyama-sensei didn't give Piccolo the Shishin technique, and so he isn't capable of using it during any canon event.

[Vaeran]

Or you could read the two posts before yours that give the actual answer.

Actually, in your post you state that Toei had created "a smarter way out" by giving Piccolo the technique, and I'm saying that wouldn't have worked to begin with. Besides, external answers ("Toriyama hadn't thought of that yet", "it was done for dramatic effect", etc.) are never as much fun as trying to figure out reasons within the show's own logic.

[Duo]

I'm not a big fan of the "Dramatic effect" answers either, but this one is quite obvious. Oh well, I don't really care enough to go anywhere with this. Peace.

[desirecampbell]

How about this: Picolo could have used shishin to save Gohan, but he either didn't have time, or didn't think about it. Okay?