Brains vs. Brawn: Which Do You Appreciate More?

[Lunatic Fringe]

So I just so happened to stumble across an old Toonami Dragon Ball Z promo discussing the topic of the outlook of employing strategy and cunning vs. strength and overpowering dominance. Dragon Ball has been filled with a ton of satisfying moments from either side of the fence but I'm here to ask anyone willing to give an answer about which "camp" they're on when it comes to giving them the most satisfaction. Do you prefer seeing characters overcome obstacles through their wits or is simply breaking down whatever's in their path with dominant power and brute force what inspires the feeling of gratification? You don't have to like one or the other, just talk about which side you prefer seeing characters in the series take when it comes to solving problems.

[voltlunok]

In all honesty, Brains and Strategy. At this point all that matters is how big your power level is and that generally makes things kinda boring...I like when characters think and try to find weaknesses to exploit rather then just power up further till they have a sufficent gap between the enemy and themselves. Goku and Piccolo teaming up and working out a strategy to beat Raditz was cool! I want more of that! Like...imagine Tenshinhan using the Shin Kikoho to hold a much stronger enemy down while Krillin used Kienzan? That would be cool! It will never happen but...it'd still be cool.

[Polyphase Avatron]

As a Doctor Who fan, obviously the former.

[DanielSSJ]

Overall, I definitely prefer brains. It's a lot more satisfying to see a character accomplish something big through intelligence and strategy than through physical force. For example, in the 23rd Budokai, Goku could've defeated Tenshinhan with very easily if he used his full power, but he instead exploited the weaknesses in Tenshinhan's Shishin no ken, showing his intelligence when it comes to fighting. This is one of the reasons why I prefer the fighting in the earlier parts of Dragon Ball, when power levels weren't the only thing that mattered.

[Lord Beerus]

Definitely brains. If there was one thing I miss about Dragon Ball utilizing, it was having the characters improvising plans, while using strategy and genuine tactics to defeat their opponents. It's why I love villains like Saiyan/Namek arc Vegeta, Imperfect Cell and Super Boo so much. They were so damn clever and cunning.

[Xeztin]

Brains for me as it is what establishes each character in a different manner. Let's use Joker from the Batman series as an example, He is an intelligent mad-man who is always one step ahead of the police and the worlds greatest detective itself. He plans every little thing down to the very bone like escapes, back up plans, you name it. Then you have Killer Croc who without a boss telling him what to do will run head first into a fight without a plan and get defeated by Batman. Which of these two characters left the better mark and stood relevant against time itself? Brains for me all the way

[fadeddreams5]

In this series... brawn. lol.

I'm sorry, but SSJ2 Kid Gohan, LSSJ Broly, Kid Buu, and FSSJ Goku (Slug) make me moist.

[MajinMan]

What about a mix of both? Something similar to what SSGSS Goku did to Golden Freeza, dragged the fight out long enough to be able to overpower him in the end.

[Lionel]

In all honesty, Brains and Strategy. At this point all that matters is how big your power level is and that generally makes things kinda boring...I like when characters think and try to find weaknesses to exploit rather then just power up further till they have a sufficent gap between the enemy and themselves. Goku and Piccolo teaming up and working out a strategy to beat Raditz was cool! I want more of that! Like...imagine Tenshinhan using the Shin Kikoho to hold a much stronger enemy down while Krillin used Kienzan? That would be cool! It will never happen but...it'd still be cool.

I think it would have been more impressive if Goku had somehow come up with a strategy to outwit Tenshinhan while he was still garbed in his weighted clothes. He did discover and exploit the weaknesses in his techniques, but that was after he already had taken the restraints off and had become vastly more powerful as a result. You'll find that the majority of times it's not who manages to be cunning or strategic that allows someone to win but whether they can move and punch at an equal or greater level than the enemy. Even with Raditz it's largely thanks to Gohan's power surge and the Special Beam Cannon that Goku and Piccolo managed to win. About the only time where this golden tenet has been challenged is when Puar and Upa exploited Dracula Man's classical weaknesses to get the upper-hand on him, and that was largely written as a gag fight.

Brains is much appreciated when it's actually used. It's sad to say but moments like the Kamehameha torpedoes and the uppercut Sokidan have become scarcer as the stakes were risen. Most of the fights we see now have little to no strategic planning or forethought involved. What DBZ has become isn't so much about developed martial arts technique as it is coming out of the fisticuffs brawl or blast duel before you run out of energy. You're not likely to find some master strategist of a fighter who prefers to be several steps ahead and uses eccentric techniques instead of brawn to win fights. Not even Piccolo fits that character archetype and he's frequently described as being the smartest fighter.

[Saiga]

I prefer a balance. I think any character in fiction who favours one-side too much (and brags about it) just ends up looking like a colossal idiot.

[Soppa Saia People]

Mostly brains, however its fun sometimes to see someone wreck house.

[RandomGuy96]

A combination of both. Look at the Iron Man films for a good example. When fighting normal mooks, Tony Stark is hardly threatened by anything smaller than an autocannon; he can fly as fast as an F-22, his armor can tank concentrated .50 BMG fire (as well as grenades, superhuman punches, alien plasma rifles...), he's strong enough to lift 3 tons over his head, and his suit is loaded with repulsor rays, lasers, missiles, and guns. So with a handful of exceptions he can just bulldoze through mooks in an entertaining manner with little difficulty.

However, when it comes to the main villain, he's usually forced to come up with a strategy rather than just brute-forcing it. Iron Monger, Whiplash, and Killian were all more physically powerful than him, but he took them down through a combination of ingenuity and teamwork. He also has to rely on his wits when stripped of his "superpowers" in Iron Man 3. He manages to escape several life or death situations, infiltrate the bad guy's lair, figure out his plan, and kill several henchmen, including a superhuman, with improvised weapons.

[Saiga]

A combination of both. Look at the Iron Man films for a good example. When fighting normal mooks, Tony Stark is hardly threatened by anything smaller than an autocannon; he can fly as fast as an F-22, his armor can tank concentrated .50 BMG fire (as well as grenades, superhuman punches, alien plasma rifles...), he's strong enough to lift 3 tons over his head, and his suit is loaded with repulsor rays, lasers, missiles, and guns. So with a handful of exceptions he can just bulldoze through mooks in an entertaining matter with little difficulty.

However, when it comes to the main villain, he's usually forced to come up with a strategy rather than just brute-forcing it. Iron Monger, Whiplask, and Killian were all more physically powerful than him, but he took them down through a combination of ingenuity and teamwork. He also has to rely on his wits when stripped of his "superpowers" in Iron Man 3. He manages to escape several life or death situations, infiltrate the bad guy's lair, figure out his plan, and kill several henchmen, including a superhuman, with improvised weapons.

That kind of comparison is also what I like about Spider-man (the comics, I don't think the movies get this across so much). He's also a very powerful guy but a lot of his rogues gallery are even more absurdly powerful than him.

[Vijay]

In series like DN & FMAB rely on Brain, which was perfect for its genre

For Naruto, OP, Bleach, & AOT, Brawn works almost exclusively well

For DBZ, both works fine

Villains scheming & playin mind-games (Saiyan/Namek Arc Veggie, 1st Form Frieza, Dr.Gero, Imperfect Cell, Majin Vegeta, Buutenks) are intimidating as fuck

But overpowered SOB's (Broly, Janemba, Hirudergarn & Super Vegito) are satisfyin as whole

Over-indulgence is awful though

Frieza's 100% form was ugh...

Like-wise, Myuu's "genius" attempt of using Rildo~Mega Cannon Sigma~Machine Mutants~Doltacki~Lood~ParaPara Brothers JUST to gathet energy & ressurect Baby is.....contrived as fuck

It has to be balanced.

[Man-Child]

Usually the best entertainment and drama in a story comes from a protagonist being overwhelmed by a challenge, only to eventually overcome it using wit, strategy, and some luck. Just a straight out brawl, with the only thing adding drama being random powerups, seems boring to me, which is why my favorite fights were always in the Saiyan Arc. Raditz was several times stronger than Piccolo and Goku, but they had well (and not so well) planned strategies that could even things out. Even then, defeating Raditz took Gohan's potential being discovered, Piccolo's arm being severed, and the main character being killed off. There's so much tension in that fight and those like it that you constantly question what's gonna happen next.

Later battles (like most in the android saga) seem to go on and on because we know that one fighter is clearly too much stonger than the other to have any chance at beating him, and strategies are rarely used.

After a while, it gets boring.

[Sshadow5001]

I prefer a smart fighter with interesting tactics over a Mindless Muscle Head.