Okay, seriously, why is it even an argument of whether or not a villain/antagonistic should be powerful/be menacing because of the fact there is going to be a stronger antagonistic down the line?
Its common sense. The villains or plot points in the far future most likely haven't been thought of. That the work is handling the current arc.
I can't believe something like this is even a thing that has to be discussed.Any series where every character who was an enemy was jobbed until the final villain? That wouldn't be fun to read. That wouldn't be interesting.
Of course I don't mean everyone, but you figure its one of those things that wouldn't even need debating.
The first thing the Saiyans do when they land on Earth is blow up an entire city.
There's nowhere else to go but killing the people we actually care about.
My various fanfics.Precisely. A Million Is a Statistic.
edited 28th May '15 10:42:10 PM by SonOfSharknado
My various fanfics.I just wish Nappa could have at least been weakened by everyone's life-risking techniques. Think about it: Nappa was the only time where Gohan's Unstoppable Rage DIDN'T cause the enemy to at least flinch.
The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!Uh... Nappa was very definitely bothered by Tien's sacrificial Kikoho.
You have to rememer: both Vegeta and Nappa display determination and toughness far beyond what the heroes show.
What that means is that Nappa didn't just completely ignore all the punishment he received - he fought on despite it. He's not that much stronger than the Z fighters, and they could have probably defeated a being of Nappa's power provided said being wasn't a Saiyan capable of shrugging off massive injuries and pain.
edited 28th May '15 11:22:54 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariI'm generally not a fan of the battle with Nappa because the deaths of Ten, Chiaotzu and Yamcha do feel somewhat pointless. I mean, against King Piccolo, both Roshi and Chiaotzu had a real chance at preventing his rise to power, but with Nappa, it's just "Nope, their presence never did anything but save time. And Yamcha's didn't even do that".
All to build up someone who didn't really need to be built up. The real threat is actually Vegeta, who managed to become one of the series mainstays and most popular characters, much in part thanks to an impressive battle where he didn't actually kill anybody (and where a weakling with a sword was vital in bringing him down).
Think of it this way, King Piccolo threatening Tenshinhan so he could break Goku's limbs was a good narrative device that made Goku's victory (both moral and physical) all that more impressive. Nappa causing Tenshinhan's death by tanking his most powerful attack was an event that could be written out entirely (by having Tenshinhan being unconscious the entire time or something) without impacting the rest of the arc.
Building up Nappa also builds up Vegeta, because he's the guy ordering Nappa around. As usual, I'm with Saiga on this. Without everyone dying, Nappa's just another arc villain instead of the crazy shift in storytelling the series does by the Z-portion.
"If you weren't so crazy I'd think you were insane."They were destined to die. If Nappa didn't kill them, Vegeta would have. What you guys are arguing does not change anything at all. They still would have been ineffective, in fact going against Vegeta would have made everything they did completely ineffectual instead of the vague hope spots they were given fighting Nappa.
What you guys are suggesting really would have made them look ineffective.
Nappa Killing the Earthlings
It's not like Nappa's the only villain who thoroughly humiliates the supporting protagonists to establish how dangerous the villains are. Ever since Tien's Establishing Character Moment in which he broke Yamcha in the first round of the Tenkaichi Budokai, that's been a thing.
- Piccolo killed Chiaotzu and Kame-sennin, almost killed Goku, and reduced Tien to helpless gawking.
- Raditz intimidated Piccolo into submission, kicked Krillin into Kame House, and dropped Goku with a single blow.
- Recoome delivered a horrific one-sided beatdown to Vegeta and effortlessly smashed Krillin and Gohan.
- 90% or so of the fight against Frieza was a Humiliation Conga for every surviving protagonist.
- Android 18 broke both of Super Saiyan Vegeta's arms while 17 planted the rest of the protagonists into the ground.
- Perfect Cell "warmed up" against Super Vegeta and Super Trunke.
- Dabura took Piccolo and Krillin out before they even knew what hit them and oneshotted Kibito.
- Majin Buu turned Dabura into candy, wrecked Gohan, demolished Majin Vegeta so hard he had to blow himself up, then survived that.
Point is, delivering a humiliating and crushing defeat to the protagonists is a popular method for the villains to establish themselves, not just Nappa. Watching our heroes get utterly trashed is the payoff for the intimidating build-up, because when we spend a lot of time hearing about how X villain is totally going to wreck your face if it comes to blows, we kind of want to see some faces get wrecked when it does.
After hearing about how vicious and dangerous and totally insurmountable the Saiyans are, and having witnessed what a weak Saiyan could do firsthand, it would have been unsatisfying to cut immediately to Goku handing Nappa his ass when they showed up. We were promised hopeless.
edited 29th May '15 7:47:05 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

It's explained that they can control themselves. Destroying a planet is deliberate, not default.