Goku can ride a cloud and ignore the devil beam because he's pure of heart. That is not the same as being a selfless hero of pure benevolence. It means he's devoid of sin. He's not deliberately malicious or a pervert or greedy or the like. He's still flawed, however; he frequently puts his desire to fight - not necessarily to kill, but to fight for fighting's sake - above the safety and wellbeing of others. Worse, he puts his desire for his friends and family to have an awesome fight above the safety and wellbeing of others as well. This is demonstrated when he spares Vegeta, attempts to spare Frieza, gives Cell a Senzu Bean, joins Vegeta in destroying the Potara, etc.
Goku's flaws are ones of ignorance rather than malice, but he still has grotesque personal flaws that sometimes cause more harm than good nonetheless, and is motivated more by his love of fighting than by a selfless desire to protect others - that desire is there, mind you, it just takes a backseat.
And as for Cell and Buu Saga, no, you're not supposed to root for Cell or Buu, OR for Vegeta. You're supposed to root for Goku. Vegeta is a series-long Enemy Mine whose continued existence is every bit as dangerous as the villains of the arc - which he demonstrates by helping Cell achieve his Perfect Form and by helping Babidi awaken Majin Buu. Vegeta is not "most assuredly" on the protagonist side; he deliberately assists both Cell and Babidi in accomplishing their plans. He is a wildcard, drifting about in search of his own goals which are, themselves, irreconcileable with both the heroes' and the villains' objectives, and choosing sides based on which side best benefits his intentions.
edited 24th Nov '14 10:55:53 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.@Tobias Drake
I think you're deliberately ignoring how much and how often the protagonists risk in defense of Earth. Sure, you could say that they're doing so out of selfish motivations, such as wanting to remain alive, at a certain point of the story.
But there's no reason why Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Chiaotzu or, hell, even Piccolo have to be involved in the Androids Mess at all. They're far weaker than the Saiyans, at this point, and as such there's no real pressing need for them to be involved. They could just as easily step back and let others handle it.
Plus, I very much doubt any of the characters who switched to the protagonists' side are using their powers for evil means.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariNo he didn't, yet another rumour. He wrote her out of the story in the Saiyan arc, made updates on where she was at in Jump columns during the Freeza arc, and chose not to bring her back in the Boo arc because he was worried the fans wouldn't remember her. Pretty weird to say he forgot a character that we know he accounted for in 3 of the 4 arcs that she was written out of.
I think you're deliberately ignoring how much and how often the protagonists risk in defense of Earth. Sure, you could say that they're doing so out of selfish motivations, such as wanting to remain alive, at a certain point of the story.
But there's no reason why Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Chiaotzu or, hell, even Piccolo have to be involved in the Androids Mess at all. They're far weaker than the Saiyans, at this point, and as such there's no real pressing need for them to be involved. They could just as easily step back and let others handle it.
Plus, I very much doubt any of the characters who switched to the protagonists' side are using their powers for evil means.
The protagonists do often risk much in defense of Earth. That none of them desire to see their planet annihilated does not preclude them from being selfish individuals. It is not a zero-sum game where one can only protect the planet if that person is a saint, and anyone less so would stand back and do nothing.
That most of the protagonists are in some way invested in the Earth's continued existence does not, in and of itself, contradict the fact that they are still largely selfish people who regularly make harmful decisions based on their own self-interest - and often do so in the course of trying to preserve Earth's continued existence.
edited 24th Nov '14 1:57:35 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Now I've never heard about the bolded part before.
Not sure why he thought people would forget her. I mean, she was around since the first world tournament arc. What exactly makes he so much more forgetful than anyone else.
Damn, I kinda liked joking that Toriyama is really forgetful, but I guess that's done now, thanks to Saiga.
As always you ruin everything MAKE EVERYTHING better.
Who the hell is Jaco, other than the embodiment of Toriyama's senility and continuity destruction?
My various fanfics.![]()
Sheesh, lighten up, will ya?
In fact, same goes for almost all y'all.
Anyways, Jaco is from Toriyama's recent miniseries about a Galactic Patrolman who crash lands on Earth and tries to defend it from an evil alien who turns out to be the young Kakarrot. He fails, but says everything's okay because the baby is too weak to destroy the planet. His ship gets fixed by the Briefs and then he goes back into space.
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The difference is exaggerated by fans of the Japanese version, I feel, who are just trying to make it sound like they're two completely different characters.
Most of dub Goku's "Superman" lines are shit the manga/Japanese anime Goku said at different times with the same damn meaning. I remember someone bitching about dub Goku worrying about Beerus' attack hitting the Earth because Japanese Goku would never consider that while enjoying a fight... despite doing the same thing against Vegeta... and Cell... and in almost every movie...
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The Galactic Patrol can beat baby Saiyans, but not adults. So they go around slaughtering the Saiyans as babies and children before they can grow up.
edited 25th Nov '14 12:18:20 AM by Saiga

....what DB did you watch or read where you weren't rooting for Goku? You know the series where Goku was so great and good that a magic beam that would kill anyone with ANY negative emotion in them did nothing on him? Where he can ride a Cloud because he's so good and noble? It's all but spelled out for you that Goku is a clear-cut good guy and all he fights are Bond Villains/Complete Monsters. And Tien.
As for Vegeta himself though, well, do you think we are supposed to support Cell or Buu? Because it's always Big Bad vs. Everyone Else. Vegeta is on the protagonist side most assuredly for Cell and Buu Saga.