Did Piccolo HAVE to kill Goku or did he choose to?

[nickzambuto]

When Goku sacrificed himself to kill Raditz, I always thought it was an inevitability. Like there was no other way for Piccolo to kill Raditz, except to shoot through Goku as well.

But at the end of the Super Hero film, Piccolo holds Cell in place while Gohan executes the monster with the SBC. Gohan simply aimed for a headshot and didn't touch Piccolo at all.

So it got me wondering. When Goku held down Raditz, did Piccolo HAVE to kill them both? Or did he choose to kill his enemy Goku? Piccolo can hit a bullseye from thousands of feet away. So he probably could have taken off Raditz's head while missing Goku, Goku was much shorter and his head did not line up with Raditz.

I think Piccolo CHOSE to kill Goku, he realized it was not satisfying for him, and for some reason Goku never held it against him.

[theherodjl]

I would imagine he did have to. Piccolo was missing an arm and didn't have a moment to regen, he only had enough time to collect energy for one more shot, and despite being injured too, Raditz was likely still stronger than they were. If Piccolo didn't fire then and there, they would not have gotten another chance to get him as Raditz was flailing around to rip himself out of Goku's grip. The situation with Cell Max wasn't quite the same as Gohan was stronger than Cell Max was and if the makankosappo missed, Gohan could have been able to take it out another way.