Fanfic / What If Gine Went With Goku to Earth?

"I guess you could call this a… a family vacation?"

—MasakoX

What If Gine Went With Goku to Earth? is a Dragon Ball What If? fanfic by Lawrence Simpson a.k.a. MasakoX of Team Four Star fame as part of his Dragon Ball Discussion series of YouTube videos. This particular topic started on Mar 19, 2018 in response to the invention of Gine, Goku's mother, for Dragon Ball Minus, and is the eighteenth entry in the series.

As the title suggests, he explores his interpretation of an alternate version of the story where Gine is accidentally sent off to Earth with her baby boy Kakarot and is taken in by Grandpa Gohan, and seeing how the events would continue to play out through the incoming threats of the series. It is now complete with 18 parts. The story has gone from the destruction of Planet Vegeta in the Bardock Prequel all the way up to the end of Z.

You can find the playlist for it here.

An adaptation written by Meganechan720 and read aloud by Lawrence on his personal streams can be found here for the story itself and here for Masako's reading of it. A Dragon Ball fan-made webcomic, Dragon Ball Reboot, explores a similar premise.

See also Masako X - Dragon Ball What-If which explores other possibilities in the Dragon Ball verse.

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What If Gine Went With Goku to Earth? has the following tropes:

• 10-Minute Retirement: After the climactic showdown with Freeza on Namek, Gine finally decides once and for all to retire from fighting and leave the protector job to her sons and grandchild. Her retirement is short-lived when Imperfect Cell, in search of a good food source and finding Gine's power appetizing, appears and attacks her in her home. After being rescued by Raditz, Gine is inspired by Raditz and Grandpa Gohan to stand up and fight once more.
• Action Mom: Gine, obviously. Chi-Chi also gets in on the act.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Gine, due to training with her son on Earth, becomes way stronger than she ever was in the original manga. She even ends up being the first to go Super Saiyan.
  • Thanks in part to Gine's intervention, Chi-Chi continues her own martial arts training, even joining the Z Fighters on Namek as well as being a lot more involved with Gohan both in his education as well as his training.
  • Gohan achieves Super Saiyan while the Z-Fighters are training for the arrival of the Androids.
  • Vegeta reaches full-power Super-Saiyan and actually manages to put up a good fight against an, admittedly tired from fighting Gine, Cell. He still loses however.
  • In the original canon, the Full-Power Super Saiyan form was only good enough to keep up with Perfect Cell. In this timeline, it's more than sufficient enough to do significant damage to the bio-android to the point where Gohan in particular doesn't need Super Saiyan 2 to beat him.
  • Gohan doesn't slack off on his training and is much stronger during the Buu Saga.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Raditz is redeemed by Gine and Kakarot and spends the time from the Saiyan Saga to the demise of Freeza as a Rebel Leader fighting against Freeza's forces.
  • Somewhat with Cell. Gine's personality traits balance out Freeza's, and thus once he becomes Perfect he's at least somewhat less sadistic. If nothing else, he's willing to consider sparing the Earth if he gets a good enough fight. He even shows Gine respect when she gives him just that and doesn't even show sadism in trying to kill her after.
• Adaptation Expansion: Masako's reading of Meganechan720's novelization of it is much more detailed than his original What If.
• Adaptation Name Change: Or rather, canonical lack thereof. Because Gine is with him, Kakarot never gets named Goku and remains known only by his Saiyan name.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Because Cell has Gine's DNA, he is a lot calmer and more insightful because Gine's personality balances Freeza's.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Because of Vegeta constantly antagonizing Gine, Kakarot doesn't consider him a friend.
• Adapted Out:
  • Due to Gine distracting King Piccolo enough for Grandpa Gohan and Master Roshi to seal him with the Mafuba, King Piccolo never has the chance to create his spawn, thus the Piccolo we know doesn't exist in this timeline.
  • Gotenks doesn't appear, instead, the big fusion hero of the Buu Arc is Gokarroto, the fusion of Kakarot and Gohan that defeats Buu.
• And This Is for...: Gine dedicates the blast that annihilates Dodoria and Zarbon to Bardock.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Vegeta attempts this on Gine by offering her to be his queen and repopulate their race. Gine is not amused and flat-out refuses. It was all a ploy by Vegeta anyway, as he had no intention of his royal blood getting into bed with a low-class Saiyan anyway.
• Almighty Mom: Gine went from being a stay-at-home mom to one of Earth's most powerful defenders and is responsible for raising the universe's mightiest warrior.
• Awesome, but Impractical: As showcased in the original story, the Second Grade Super Saiyan form grants the user incredible power, at the cost of greater energy drain and reduced speed. To Gine's own personal dismay, it also causes greater emotional turmoil and further amplifies the violent Blood Knight nature of Saiyans, the very thing she was trying to avoid, as evident by her lashing out in response to Vegeta's Breaking Speech.
• Badass Family: Gine's presence completely changes the fabric of the Son family. Goku/Kakarot is far stronger as a warrior, Chi-Chi remains a martial artist and even joins the frontline ranks of the Z Fighters herself, Gohan gains Super Saiyan much earlier, and her eldest son Raditz not only lives but also gains Super Saiyan as well. Best shown instead of a Father-Son Kamehameha, it's a Family Kamehameha that finishes Cell off.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Raditz attempts to divert Vegeta and Nappa's attention by injuring himself and pretending to be dying at the hands of Kakarot and his mother. Vegeta doesn't buy it but doesn't give Raditz a notice.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Gine is very kind and motherly, but she is still a Saiyan, with all of the dangerous powers and strength that comes with it. Harm her family, and you may as well put your affairs in order.
  • Kakarot doesn't give Cell a Senzu Bean and forgoes a one on one fight to tag team him with Gohan because he nearly killed Gine.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Raditz and Kakarot sense Cell attacking Grandpa Gohan and Gine, prompting Raditz to Instant Transmission to their aid and save them.
  • Just as Android 16 is about to finish off Kakarot, Future Trunks shows up and impales 16 with his sword, then carries Kakarot to safety.
• Blood Knight: As per Saiyan bloodlust, Gine is gradually enjoying herself once she gets into a fight and becomes cocksure whenever she fights Vegeta and Freeza. This starts to worry Gine that if this lust for battle is always with her, her dream of a peaceful life will never be realized.
• Body Horror: Cell manages to stab Gine in the leg with his tail and drain it, making it shrivel up. Fortunately, after Raditz rescues her, he takes her to Korin so it can be healed with a Senzu Bean.
• Break the Haughty: Vegeta steps in for Gine against a worn out Perfect Cell and believes his new and improved Super Saiyan Power will be able to finish him off easily. Cell still beats the crap out of him handily, all while handing him a "Reason You Suck" Speech in the process. Gine, along with Raditz, Kakarot, and Gohan proceed to destroy Cell while Vegeta is incapacitated for a final punch to the ego.
• Broken Pedestal: Kakarot becomes very upset when Gine decides to retire from fighting.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: While attacking Kakarot, Android 16 explains that he was created to seek revenge for Kakarot destroying the Red Ribbon Army. Kakarot can barely remember that.
• But Now I Must Go: After Cell is defeated, Raditz decides to explore space again so he can use his new Super Saiyan powers to defend people across the stars. His girlfriend Launch goes with him and he promises to visit Earth once in a while.
• Combination Attack: Cell is killed by a Family Kamehameha, albeit with Gohan, Kakarot, Gine and Raditz, rather than Gohan and Goku.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Because Gine's power was at least twice that of Piccolo's at the time of the King Piccolo saga, Gine spends most of the battle managing to overpower him easily. Though Piccolo almost managed to turn the tables using emotional manipulation tactics to throw her off guard, he's quickly sealed away by Roshi before he can strike.
  • Gine and Kakarot one-shot all of the Ginyu Force except Captain Ginyu (Gine, having heard of them from Bardock, immediately blasted Guldo before he could use his Time Stands Still ability). Gine also one-shots Dodoria and Zarbon.
  • Super Saiyan Kakarot vs Freeza is an even bigger one, due to a combination of Kakarot being stronger than in canon and Super Saiyan Gine managing to make Freeza burn up a lot of stamina whilst fighting her previously. Even in his full power form, Freeza doesn't stand a ghost of a chance.
  • Kakarot one-shots King Cold, treating him more like an afterthought than an opponent.
• Curb-Stomp Cushion:
  • Vegeta vs Kakarot and Gine. Unlike in the original story, Vegeta gets beaten so much worse he doesn't even have the chance to transform into a Great Ape.
  • Super Saiyan Gine vs 50% Freeza is this, as while Gine is outmatched (due to being weaker than her son), she still manages to hold her own and ultimately makes him burn enough stamina that Super Saiyan Kakarot completely demolishes him once it's his turn to step in.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Gine (as a Great Ape) kills Captain Ginyu on Namek after Kakarot tricks him into changing back to his original body, instead of being tricked into becoming a frog.
  • Kakarot vaporizes Freeza after overpowering him in a beam struggle, instead of him returning to Earth as Mecha-Freeza and Future Trunks killing him and his father.
  • Because Gohan doesn't transform into Super Saiyan 2 and thus doesn't punch Android 18 out of Cell, Android 18 dies along with 17 when Perfect Cell is destroyed.
• Desecrating the Dead: During the brawl between Majin Vegeta and Super Saiyan 2 Gine, the battle ends up destroying Grandpa Gohan's tomb. The act makes Gine explode in ki-fueled rage, calling both her sons to her location (Raditz from outer space).
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • In the original Grandpa Gohan is killed when Goku indvertingly sees the moon one night, turns into an Oozaru and unwittingly crushes him in his rampage. In this rendition, thanks to Gine being there, she's able to calm Kakarot down when it happens and Gohan is spared his inital death. He manages to make it to the Buu Saga of Z before old age eventually catches up to him and he dies of natural causes, though he passes away peacefully.
  • King Cold is assassinated by Kakarot and Raditz in his home.
  • Dr. Gero is killed by Raditz before he can escape and release Android 17 and 18.
• Dynamic Entry: Raditz punches Cell in the jaw and sends him flying into a mountain the moment he Instant Transmissions in to save Gine. Raditz notably never even sees Cell.
• Due to the Dead: By the end of the series, Gine has taken up an outfit similar to Grandpa Gohan in honor of him after he passes.
• Enemy Mine: Despite being programmed to kill Kakarot, Android 16 decides to help take on Cell because he is the greater threat.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Raditz has done years of work for the Frieza force with little complaint, and even in canon gives little thought for his brother Kakarot beyond how he can use him to get ahead. But meeting Gine again causes Raditz's resolve to waver, and ultimately he decides to go on the run and spare his family.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In the novelization, Gine is shocked and repulsed when Vegeta kills Nappa for losing to Goku, citing that such a betrayal is monstrous even by Saiyan moral codes and deciding that Vegeta has to be mad if he'd do something like that.
  For all that she had spent the last year hammering home how nasty Saiyans could be, she had forgotten that even they had lines they didn't cross. This was one of them.
  But the Prince was mad, she realized. He was grinning up at the dissipating smoke overhead like he'd just done something amusing instead of something so monstrous even a Saiyan would be horrified.
• Evil Is Petty: Unlike the original story, Vegeta is not even aware that there are another group of Dragon Balls on Namek. His only motivation for fleeing to Namek is payback against the Z Fighters for his defeat on Earth. Frieza and his forces tail Vegeta on principle of punishing him for abandoning his post. They also use this as an opportunity to check out this mysterious new planet and see what they can do with it.
• Evil Versus Evil: Cell and Android 16 meet and fight each other. Cell is hostile due to seeing 16 as an inferior model, while 16 detects that he has Kakarot's DNA, and he was programmed to terminate Kakarot.
• Face Death with Dignity:
  • When Android 16 is about to kill Kakarot, he calmly accepts it. Fortunately, Future Trunks saves him.
  • When Gine loses to Cell at the Cell Games, she accepts her potential death peacefully. Cell respects her for it.
  • In contrast to his canon self, Cell dies respectfully congratulating the heroes on their victory due to Gine's cells altering his personality slightly.
  • Feeling his life fading, Grandpa Gohan spend his last day walking back to his old home where Kakarot and Gine first crashed down and enjoying the sunrise where Gine joins him. Afterwhich they go back home where he passes away in bed peacefully with Gine by his side the whole time.
• Feeling Their Age: During her showdown with Majin Vegeta, Gine, due to her age and peaceful demeanor, struggles maintaining the awesome power of Super Saiyan 2. Exaggerated later on as by End Of Z, Gine's hair greys out and she can no longer turn into a Super Saiyan.
• Finishing Move: Gine eventually develops one: Rebellion Phalanx.
• Fixed Relative Strength: By the Saiyan Saga, Kakarot is much stronger than his mother due to training with King Kai. During the final showdown with Freeza, Gine ascends to Super Saiyan and briefly surpasses him, before ultimately falling to a Death Beam from 50% Freeza. Then Kakarot achieves Super Saiyan and surpasses his mother again, and curb-stomps Freeza.
• For Great Justice: Gine discovers and accepts her true reason to fight. She fights not for the pride of Saiyans or for the sport of it. Gine fights for the well-being of Planet Earth, telling as much to Imperfect Cell when she confronts him.
• Foreshadowing: During the battle with Cell, Kakarot notices Gohan's hair spiking up slightly, hinting at his hidden power and his transformation towards Super Saiyan 2.
• For Want Of A Nail: Gine basically trips and gets locked in the Pod that sent Kakarot to Earth, and thus Dragon Ball history is permanently altered.
• Fountain of Youth: To prepare for the arrival of Vegeta and Nappa, Kami uses the Dragon Balls to restore his youth to his prime (kinda what King Piccolo did in canon) and trains with the Z Fighters.
• Friends with Benefits:
  • Gine's relationship with Bardock. He may have found her cute, but he didn't love her; conversely, Gine is well aware that Bardock would regard her attempt to find a peaceful life on Earth with contempt, but she kills Dodoria on his behalf, then beats Vegeta to a bloody pulp for insulting him. Subverted in the retcon/prequel "Part 0", where Bardock is shown to be genuinely fond of Gine. Though he blames her for giving birth to two weak sons, in the end he cares enough for her to tell her to hide and run before his suicidal charge on Frieza's forces.
  • Raditz and Launch, unlike Masako's other story, though things may go further for them after the Cell saga since they've decided to go space-traveling together.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Heroic example: Gine was a weakling by Saiyan standards, but by the Namek Saga she's become so strong she can take on members of the Ginyu Force due to training with her son. When going up against Freeza, she ultimately ascends to Super Saiyan and holds her own against his final form for quite a while.
• God Is Dead: Just like Piccolo in the original canon, Kami sacrifices himself to protect Chi-Chi and Gohan from Nappa's blast. The Dragon Balls shut down as a result, thus forcing the gang to travel to Planet Namek so they can use their Dragon Balls to bring back Kami, Tien, and Chiaotzu.
• Godzilla Threshold: Gine chooses to remain on the sideline for most of Dragon Ball and let her son explore the world until King Piccolo appears. He is such a threat to the planet that Gine has no choice but to intervene.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: After defeating Android 19 and 20, the Z Fighters find Dr. Gero's lab and Bulma takes the still inactive 17 and 18 to Capsule Corp to try to reprogram them to be good. Unfortunately, they missed 16, and he attacks Kakarot when he wakes up.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Raditz, in this version, decides to turn to the heroes' side after meeting his mother and brother. He then settles on Yardrat where instead of conquering it, he defends the planet against Freeza's forces.
  • After his Final Atonement and getting resurrected, Vegeta reconciles with Gine and the others and becomes a true friend.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Vegeta is completely frozen in fear and unresponsive once he finally senses Freeza's power and finds it is way higher than his.
  • After the battle on Namek, Gine loses her fighting spirit, feeling that she has nothing more to prove and fight for, now that Freeza is dead and her past demons have been overcome. She decides to retire to a peaceful life and pass the torch over to her son, as he is now far more powerful than she is. Her dilemma gets even worse after Cell's attack. Gine breaks down over the loss of her retirement and the peaceful life on Earth she once had, and asks if she'll ever get it back. Raditz and Grandpa Gohan remind her that she is a Saiyan, and if that was what she truly wanted, she would've long since abandoned Kakarot and gone off on her own entirely. Gine never truly escaped her Saiyan heritage, but what always made her unique among Saiyans is that she has always channeled her Saiyan pride and fighting spirit through the sheer love of her family and her home, rather than sport or self-centered pride. It's this sudden realization that snaps Gine out of her funk.
  • Gine goes into another one when she fails to kill Cell and accidentally leads him to 17 and 18, letting him become Perfect Cell. She tells Kakarot that she is tired and once Cell is defeated, she will retire. Another aspect of this is that Gine is reaching the age where Saiyans begin to grow old and weaken, and she knows it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Vegeta's Final Atonement in the Buu Arc plays out just like in canon.
• Honor Before Reason: Defied by Kakarot against Cell as opposed to canon. Because Cell nearly killed Gine beforehand, he was too enraged to think about giving Cell a Senzu Bean or fighting him one on one.
• Hope Bringer: Similar to the original story. Gine and Kakarot serve this role to the Z Fighters through the Saiyan and Namek arcs. Being the game-changing reinforcements for the others that allow the group to even the odds.
• I Can't Sense Their Presence:
  • King Piccolo tries to pull this on Gine after she beats the tar out of him, trying to put her off her game by saying that her son is dead. When she can't sense him (he is being transported to Korin's tower barely clinging to life), she is distracted enough for Piccolo to retaliate... but not enough to avoid Roshi and Grandpa Gohan.
  • When Gine and Raditz enter the Room of Spirit and Time to train, Kakarot can no longer sense them, which makes him assume something bad happened to them.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • While Gine surviving the destruction of Planet Vegeta is a major alteration to Dragon Ball history, it doesn't drastically change the timeline. The timelines and the events within still plays out in order from Dragon Ball to Z, with slight changes.
  • Even though Yamcha survives the Saiyan Saga and is able to spend more time with Bulma, including joining the trip to Namek, she still ends up leaving him for Vegeta, ensuring the birth of Trunks.
  • In this version, Vegeta and Nappa remembered to turn off the transmitters in their scouters, so Freeza doesn't know about the Dragon Balls. Freeza and his minions still go to Namek, because they were chasing Vegeta to punish him for going AWOL.
• In the Blood: The Saiyan pride and lust for battle are attributes that Gine has always shunned, saying that those were exactly the values that Freeza espoused, and only desiring a life of peace for herself and her family. She tries to compromise the battle lust by channelling it through a desire to protect the world and her family, but when Vegeta (who espouses these attributes) says that Bardock would be ashamed of her for not acting like a true Saiyan, she beats the hell out of him - proving his point that she cannot escape from the warrior pride in her blood, and if she was over her pride, she would've just ignored him. The realization just makes her angrily cry.
• Jerkass Has a Point: After seeing Gine fail against Cell, and causing him to go Perfect, Vegeta gleefully twists the knife in further by pointing out that Gine will never be able to escape her Saiyan blood and heritage, and that her spiel about peace and love was all a lie. Gine snaps and attacks him, only proving him correct.
• Lame Pun Reaction: After they both Took a Level in Badass by going in the Room of Spirit and Time, Gine and Raditz confront Cell. Raditz says regarding Cell "drinking" people with his tail, that he has a drinking problem. Both Gine and Cell are dumbfounded by this comment.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Vegeta's Breaking Lecture to Gine after Cell becomes Perfect enrages everyone to the point they lock him in the Gravity Chamber and refuse to let him leave until the Cell Games. Bulma also tells him that if he destroys the chamber, he might kill himself with a black hole to keep him from doing that to escape.
• Mama Bear: Harm her children or grandson, Gine will make sure you will pay. Vegeta and Freeza learn this the hard way, especially the latter which causes Gine to become a Super Saiyan.
  • It's mutual with Kakarot as if someone hurts Gine in his sight, he won't pull his punches at all. Key examples are killing Frieza on Namek and joining Gohan to take on Cell.
• The Mentor: Gine eventually retires and chooses to be Gohan and Goten's mentor after the Cell Sega. As a result, the two of them are far stronger by the Buu Sega.
• Mood Whiplash: The serious moment when Gine and Raditz confront Cell for the first time is broken when Raditz declares that they're intervening because Cell "has a drinking problem".
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: As in canon, Gine is very nice compared to other Saiyans. This is good for Earth, as she's willing to live peacefully there and protect it.
• Next Tier Power-Up: After some training in the Room Of Spirit And Time, Gine quickly gets back up to speed with the rest of the group and first achieves the Super Saiyan Second Grade form before her first confrontation with Imperfect Cell.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While exploring Dr. Gero's lab, Kakarot fiddles with some buttons and accidentally activates Android 16, who proceeds to attack him.
• No Eye in Magic: Wearing sunglasses prevents Saiyans from turning into Great Apes when they look at the full moon.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Gine might be a complete weakling by Saiyan standards, but by Earthling standards she is monstrously powerful for early Dragon Ball. Remember, Raditz was considered a weakling by other Saiyans (Dragon Ball Z Abridged claimed that Vegeta was as strong as 15 Raditz,) and he still required an Enemy Mine of Goku and Piccolo (AKA the two strongest beings on the planet at the time).
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: Gine has this realization when she knocks Freeza down with a punch and sees she is strong enough to fight him.
• Not Quite Dead: Gine seemingly vaporized Cell, but his nucleus managed to hang onto to her and regenerate after hitching a ride on her back to Capsule Corp, allowing him to absorb 17 and 18 (which Bulma took to try and reprogram) and skip Semi-Perfect straight to his Perfect Form.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Kakarot is shocked to learn that his own mother easily defeated King Piccolo and realizes she is a far stronger fighter than him. Seeing as his mother never really showcased her power before (to that point Gine never fought the Red Ribbon Army or participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament like he did).
  • Freeza is decidedly taken off guard when he realizes Gine is much stronger than his first form (the one he's currently in), leaving him open to a punch in the jaw.
• Old Master: After Grandpa Gohan passes away, Gine takes on his attire and graduates to this role. In the Buu Arc and most of Super, Gine is no longer on the frontlines, instead serving as support and a Mentor to her grandsons.
• One-Winged Angel:
  • Vegeta didn't get to do it on Earth, but does on Namek...against a way stronger Kakarot and Gine who make short work of him.
  • Gine is faced with Ginyu in Kakarot's body and outmatched...so she uses Vegeta's artificial moon to go Great Ape to beat and then obliterate him once Kakarot tricks him into changing back.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After Gine transforms into a Super Saiyan, Kakarot notices his normally sweet mother's personality has drastically altered and becomes concerned.
• Outside-Context Problem: Gine, being a full-blooded Saiyan, is this for the Pre-Z world. Like her son Raditz, she vastly overpowers most of the threats she's put up against.
• Pair the Spares: Raditz is paired up with Launch, but instead of like his other version, they are more or less Friends with Benefits (which means we probably won't be seeing Ranch).
• Parallel Conflict Sequence: On Planet Namek, Kakarot, Gine, and Vegeta face Freeza while Gohan, Chi-Chi, Krillin, and Yamcha defend the Namekians from Freeza's minions.
• Parent-Child Team: Kakarot and Gine ultimately become this, especially after training on the way to Namek.
• Passed in Their Sleep: Grandpa Gohan's ultimate fate, departing peacefully in his old age.
• Passing the Torch: Gine intends to pass it onto Kakarot someday as he's quickly becoming strong enough to take on any force coming their way by his own.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Raditz turns away from the Freeza Force after meeting his mother and brother, mainly because if Raditz actually tried to take Kakarot back to the fold, he would most likely be killed. Gine and Kakarot both match his power and could easily destroy him.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Deconstructed when Gine calls out Raditz on this mindset while in the Room of Spirit and Time. Gine says this it was this selfish belief among Saiyans that created their enslavement and eventual destruction at the hands of Freeza, who played up this belief to easily manipulate the Saiyans into doing his bidding. Gine refuses to go along with that mindset, and until Raditz understands the meaning of what she is saying, she will not train with him. Raditz eventually starts to get the message.
• Punch Catch: Super Saiyan Gine is pummeling Freeza with ease, until he decides to power up to 50%, then catches her punch and breaks her wrist.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cell tells Vegeta that Gine has earned his respect. Vegeta has earned nothing except Cell's scorn.
• Reluctant Warrior: Unlike her Blood Knight husband and sons, Gine still retains her kind and passive personality despite her immense strength, only stepping up to fight when she needs to. She re-enforces this belief to Raditz while in the Room of Spirit and Time.
• The Resenter: Vegeta, as per usual. Like in the original story, this carries over into the Buu Saga when he becomes Majin Vegeta. Instead of attacking the World Martial Arts Tournament to goad Goku into fighting him, he instead attacks Gine at Mount Paozu.
• Retired Badass: Gine decides to retire from fighting after the Namek incident and her age eventually catching up to her. She largely sits out the Buu Saga and the following ones, settling to just be The Mentor for her grandchildren. It doesn't last thanks to Cell.
  • She finally receives it come the Buu Arc. Gine is no longer in the action, but observing from the sidelines while her children and grandsons take care of Buu.
• Revisiting the Roots: Vegeta's hostility towards Gine has an undercurrent of sexism to it, which may be off-putting to fans of Vegeta. This characterization actually corresponds with his personality during the Android Saga towards Android 18. This, combined with Vegeta's resentment towards Goku in the original being projected onto Gine instead is what leads to their terrible relationship.
• The Rival: Reflecting his relationship with Kakarot in the original story, Vegeta becomes quite a petty and resentful jerk towards Gine over the course of this story.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Raditz arrives on Earth, but after meeting Kakarot and Gine, he abandons the Freeza Force and goes AWOL.
• Shipper on Deck: Chi-Chi tried to set up her father Ox-King with Gine. It didn't work because they were still mourning their respective spouse and they thought if they got married, it would make Kakarot and Chi-Chi siblings, but they became good friends.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: After the (second) confrontation with Cell, Vegeta calls out Gine, calling her a disgrace and telling her that she will never achieve peace as a Saiyan, and that fighting is in her blood that she will never escape from. He's (mostly) correct however.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Gine's kindhearted and motherly attitude hides her tremendous strength. In the days of Dragon Ball, she's actually the most powerful fighter on Earth.
• Silver Fox: Due to her Saiyan biology, Gine is just as physically active and attractive in her fifties (as of the Androids Arc) as she was in her teen years. By the Cell Games however, Gine is fully aware that the days in her Saiyan prime are numbered, she will start to weaken and will have to retire, whether she or anyone else wants it or not. Sure enough, by "End of Z", Gine's age finally catches up to her to the point where she can no longer turn Super Saiyan. She can still defend herself handily, though.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Naturally, being the focus on this What If, Gine survives the destruction of Planet Vegeta by accidentally being knocked into the pod meant for just Kakarot.
  • Thanks to Gine being around to intervene during Kakarot's first transformation into a Great Ape, Grandpa Gohan isn't accidentally killed by his adoptive grandson. Instead, he eventually dies peacefully in old age.
  • King Piccolo is not killed in this version, Master Roshi is able to successfully seal him away with the Mafuba thanks to help from Gine and back-up from Grandpa Gohan. Because of this Piccolo Jr doesn't exist. Since Roshi had Grandpa Gohan helping him, using the Mafuba doesn't kill him.
  • Due to his Pragmatic Villainy, Raditz also survives, as both Gine and Kakarot are as strong as him, giving them time to reason with him due to his cautious nature. He later returns after Freeza is killed.
  • Since Raditz left without a fight, Kakarot didn't have to sacrifice himself. Kami still pulls some strings for him to receive training from King Kai.
  • Yamcha survives the Saiyan Saga, as Gine knows what Saibamen are and thus sees the self-destruct attack coming, allowing her to warn him and let him avoid it.
  • The Namekians who helped the main characters get the Dragon Balls so far haven't been targeted by the Freeza Forces' genocide attack.
  • Krillin isn't killed by Freeza, as Kakarot going Super Saiyan is instead a result of Gine being given a Death Beam through the chest.
  • Freeza fails to blow up Planet Namek, thus the planet and all of its inhabitants survive.
  • Android 16 survives the Cell Games.
  • Kakarot isn't forced to pull a Heroic Sacrifice in an attempt to stop Cell, thus he survives as well.
  • Majin Vegeta doesn't blow up the audience of the World Martial Arts Tournament because he decides to attack Gine at her house instead.
  • Majin Buu is defeated before he can blow up the Earth.
• Sunglasses at Night: Justified. Gine is aware that becoming a Great Ape during a full moon and artificial moon is dangerous.
• Talk to the Fist: When Vegeta mocks Gine for failing to finish off Cell and leading him to 17 and 18, Raditz punches him and knocks him out.
• Teleportation: Because Raditz settled on Yardrat and defended it, the Yardrats taught him the Instant Transmission technique. He is the one who teaches it to Kakarot.
• This Cannot Be!: Perfect Cell starts losing it against Kakarot and Gohan.
• Tranquil Fury: When Gine goes Super Saiyan, she goes full-on into this mode against Freeza.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Gine witnesses her son get shot by one of Freeza's Death Beams, which triggers her transformation into a Super Saiyan. Curb-Stomp Battle by her ensues until Freeza powers up to 50% and seemingly kills her, likewise causing Kakarot to ascend as well and completely demolish the tired tyrant.
• Turn the Other Cheek: While Vegeta is getting clobbered by Perfect Cell, Gine asks Raditz and the others to save him. Raditz asks her why would she save Vegeta after how he has mistreated and debased her. Gine responds that the Earth is more important than whatever she wants.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Gine is subjected to this many times, due to her reluctance and peaceful personality. Foes who face Gine initially don't view her as much as a threat, only to be quickly silenced. King Piccolo, Vegeta, Frieza's soldiers, and even Frieza himself get victimized hard by this. Even Kakarot is stunned as a child when he hears of his mother's true strength.
  • Freeza can't sense energy, so after he defeats Super Saiyan Gine and then sees Kakarot go Super Saiyan, he assumes her son will only be roughly as strong as she was. But since Kakarot was way stronger than Gine in base form, the 50x multiplier makes him way stronger than Freeza.
  • Kakarot assumes that because Android 16 is so huge, that he'll be slow. He's wrong.
• Victory by Endurance: In the Cell Games, Cell loses because he becomes exhausted from fighting first Gine, then Vegeta, then Kakarot and Gohan at the same time.
• Villainous Breakdown: Gine going Super Saiyan and beginning to dominate Final Form Freeza sends him into a screaming fury. He briefly regains his composure upon going up to 50%, but Kakarot going Super Saiyan and utterly crushing him sends him further into it, to the point that he's so furious he skips trying to blow up the planet in his attempt to kill the Saiyan himself.
• Villain Respect: Gine manages to earn Cell's respect in their fight, as while not able to actually win, she puts up a far better fight than he expected and manages to deal serious damage to him. While he goes to kill Gine after beating her, he does it out of respect rather sadism and doesn't take any actual joy in the attempt. He even tells Vegeta she has more respect from him than Vegeta ever will.
• Withholding the Big Good: Kid Goku/Kakarot still takes the helm for most of the adventure during the Dragon Ball era, until the King Piccolo Saga kicks off. After Kakarot loses to King Piccolo the first time and is left near-dead, Gine steps in and wallops King Piccolo, allowing Master Roshi and Grandpa Gohan to re-seal him with Mafuba.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • Gine made Kakarot remember to take the heart medication before they confronted the Androids. Since he was supposed to take it much earlier, the heart virus still attacks him, but it just weakens him and makes him unable to control his ki instead of collapse and lose consciousness. This nevertheless allows Android 19 to get the upper hand on him until Raditz rescues him. This also makes him no match for Android 16.
  • Android 16 is impaled by Future Trunks' sword, then is found by Cell while he is trying to repair himself. Cell gets the advantage in their fight and ultimately leaves him lying on the ground beaten up.
• World's Strongest Woman: At least during the Dragon Ball Era, Gine is the most powerful being on Earth due to her power level matching Young King Piccolo, and later becoming as strong as Raditz. Kakarot eventually outpaces her, but Gine retakes the position after she becomes a Super Saiyan. She then loses it when Kakarot goes Super Saiyan, though she's still the strongest woman until 18 comes along. She regains the title of strongest Z Warrior and strongest woman position when she trains in the Room of Spirit and Time and reaches Super Saiyan Grade 2.
• You Are What You Hate:
  • Gine points out that Raditz continuing to follow Freeza's philosophy and sense of power being the most important thing, he's being no different than he was. Raditz ultimately decides that yes, she's right.
  • Then it's flipped when Vegeta provokes Gine into lashing out at him by insulting Bardock, and once she does, declares that the Saiyan pride and warrior spirit she claimed to deny in lieu of peace and kindness is something she can never get away from.

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