I think there might be a Japanese cultural value at play, because it's not uncommon in anime for larger, more physically intimidating characters to be weaker than smaller characters. In anime, the bigger the guy is, the more of a pushover he's going to be. I suspect it has something to do with Feudal Japan's preference for martial arts and swordsmanship, though I may be wrong; where Westerners see rippling muscles that could break a man's spine in half, Easterners see a slow, clunky ox who would be child's play to maneuver around.
In Dragon Ball, we also see this in the relationship between Nappa and Vegeta; Nappa is huge and muscular, so obviously, he's going to be the weaker of the two.
edited 15th Mar '15 11:23:22 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Which probably explains why Broly is so popular in the West. He's a giant monster muscleman who finally beats up all those scrawny nerds.
My various fanfics.Probably.
Oh! And another Frieza example; when he bulks up, he insists it's taking him to his full power, but he bleeds energy like a sieve. Ultimately, the giant muscles make Frieza a shittier fighter rather than a better one and accomplish nothing as he's still effortlessly curbstomped by Super Saiyan Goku.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Frieza explained when he first exposited about his transformations that the reason they're necessary is because his full power is so intense he cannot control it, which is why he locks down his power by transforming into his weaker states. Goku corroborates this the first time he quits the fight with Frieza, when he confirms that the latter has lost so much power that he has no chance of winning this. Like Super Saiyan 3, 100% Full Power is a bad transformation that bleeds energy so quickly that if you can't win the fight in one good, solid punch, you can't win the fight at all. Unlike Super Saiyan 3, it doesn't give Freiza nearly as much of a power boost to justify it; the difference between Final Form and 100% being x2 instead of x400.
Oh! And another example, the Super Saiyan 1.5 stuff that Vegeta and Trunks came up with. The visual cue that these transformations weren't great is that they made the pair more muscular, and Super Trunks even made it explicit when his giant muscles slowed him down too much to ever land a hit on Cell - the latter of whom calls him out on it.
edited 15th Mar '15 11:31:35 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Freeza couldn't control his own power, which meant he wasted a lot of energy...
Dragon Ball did Naruto years before Naruto.
It's interesting to note that it's not necessarily that muscles are a bad thing.
Dragon Ball actually says that excessive muscles are a bad thing. Super Vegeta is more muscular than regular Super Saiyan Vegeta, however, Super Vegeta is still a better transformation because Vegeta stopped bulking up at the correct point.
Similarly, the DBZ characters are all very muscular, and they have physiques that would put body builders to shame, but the thing is, it's not because of size, but rather the definition and shape of said physiques. The point is that they avoid going overboard with their musculature.
edited 15th Mar '15 11:34:44 AM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariOf Course they still pale in comparisons to Fist Of The North Star characters in terms of physique. But thats to be expected.
Watch Symphogear100% Freeza is a better fighter than 70% Freeza. He loses energy, but he could actually knock Goku around a bit and did a much better job handling his attacks.
While Toriyama is known for the trend of small characters being unusually strong he strikes a balance. Zarbon's bulky form is better than his regular state, Daimao is bigger than his minions, Boo's at his tallest and strongest when he's got Gohan absorbed, etc.
Oh! Nearly missed this, but the DLC has been out on Steam for a few days unnoun. Pan doesn't have Super Saiyan.
Which is unsurprising given the lack of what-ifs in the game. Super Saiyan 2/3 Future Trunks were already a thing but Time Patrol Trunks doesn't get it? It would've been perfect.
The only what-if is Super Saiyan Bardock which is there because he has Wolverine Publicity.
...I.
You.
What.
I think I know what you meant, but.
Still.
Fuck.
I mean, Dragon Ball Heroes is probably going to be giving Broly a Super Saiyan God transformation by the time it remembers Pan even exists.
Of fucking course.
...Wait, what?
edited 15th Mar '15 3:28:35 PM by unnoun
Resurrection F, huh? Has a good ring to it. And I assumed they would speed up the English dub for this one, considering how popular Battle of Gods was in English-speaking audiences. It's great Funimation isn't trying to 'Americanise' it anymore. The only weird things are the stuff they're keeping from their old changes.
(And thank god the Japanese movie titles aren't ridiculously long anymore.)
edited 15th Mar '15 11:13:31 PM by LOLypop1224
The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!Arrrrgh
I deleted my female Earthling to make a male Earthling because the male Earthling stats better fit my playstyle but now I feel like I'd rather use my female Earthling again for the cool grab and I'm not sure the stat difference is very big (since male Saiyans have the worst super stats but are still broken with Ultimate spam).
So I just saw this review of Dead Zone
and.
edited 16th Mar '15 3:34:57 AM by unnoun
Oh, yeah, that review was amazing. I hope she does ALL of the movies.
And when she actually gets to Broly...why do I get a feeling when she does, Broly is going to be in some of her comics?
The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!Sorry, this is going to mostly be about the only person who has done any fanwork for this series that has given me any joy in recent memory aside from the DBZA people. And one or two great jokes in the Multiverse comic.
Why stupidoomdoodles writes the most in-character Vegeta.
And I will fight you all for suggesting otherwise.
This is a valid point.
It seems like Trunks is used to Vegeta taking him to the park and not used to Vegeta hurting him. He never seems to express to anyone the possibility that his dad is someone to be scared of. The Briefs kids are really chill.
Trunks disrespects Vegeta a lot. To his face. Gohan and Krillin still show him some basic respect a lot of the time.
And it also seems like whenever Goku or any of the other Z-Warriors is around, Vegeta is used to putting up a front of sorts, like at parties and stuff. Going off and standing in a corner leaning against a wall. But it doesn't seem like he does that all the time. Mrs. Briefs seemed to be used to him being around in the Buu saga, and missed him when he was gone. She's nice to everyone, but she doesn't imagine things either. If she said he was around, he was around.
It's funny. I don't think we see much of Bulma and Vegeta interacting alone in any official Dragon Ball media. Like, Battle of Gods may be the first time.
The only time we see Vegeta and Goten interacting alone was GT when Goten made fun of Vegeta's mustache.
We never see Vegeta interacting with Oolong, which, given Vegeta's former eating habits
is a real shame
I think.
Most of Vegeta's character interactions are Goku, Trunks, and the villains of the saga.
Also, Vegeta watches infomercials.
Toriyama said so.
And he lived on the planet with Yamcha and Bulma for a year with his ki so low that Tien couldn't sense him.
Yeah he went into space a little, but it seems like he didn't stay there either.
Vegeta is vain and fashion-conscious.
No, really. And wore matching outfits
with Bulma towards the end of the anime.
Also, Vegeta talks
to himself
sometimes and everyone else just sorta ignores him.
Vegeta is kinda dumb.
Also, some of you have questioned whether she knows anything and
, ignoring how rude that is. You're wrong.
And, okay, this isn't in-character, but giving Saiyans monkey
instincts
is funny.
Bulma and Vegeta did end up married eventually. And they probably spent more time together than Goku and Chi Chi, let's be honest. And spent more time raising babies.
It's also worth noting that, according to Future Trunks, Vegeta and Bulma ended up together in part because Vegeta was lonely.
edited 16th Mar '15 2:45:34 PM by unnoun

That's actually a Toriyama staple, because iirc he's gone on record saying he prefers sleeker, less outwardly threatening designs, which is why Freeza went from 'horrible Xenomorph ripoff' to 'sleek gray alien-type', and why Cell went from 'Monstrous Blackface Parody' to 'Having a normal face and what looks like weird armor on'.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari