I don't think it works as well in practice than in theory.
Remember when Final Flash vaporized half of Perfect Cell and he didn't zenkai? That's because having half of Cell vaporized does not qualify as a near-death condition. If he had JUST the regeneration or JUST Frieza's survivability, this may have qualified, but as it stands, he just grew it all back no worse for wear.
Vegeta, by contrast, has pulled a Zenkai out of having a hole blown in his chest. He's also gotten it from being scuffed up really badly by Zarbon. But Cell has to self-annihilate until nothing is left but his nucleus before it counts, because his ability to withstand and recover from damage is so much greater than a Saiyan's. It's pure dumb luck he ever even got one, and it would take a miracle for him to ever get another again.
Cell might have gotten more zenkais if his other racial features weren't working so hard to undermine the concept of a near-death state. It's not necessarily 1 or 0, but you have to get REALLY SUPER CLOSE to that 1 to keep it from being rounded back to 0.
edited 17th Jul '15 1:36:29 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Foreign blood is rejected by the body, not absorbed and integrated.
I think I already mentioned this?
In a previous discussion of this topic?
edited 17th Jul '15 2:33:26 PM by unnoun
This is not Naruto people, you can't just inject foreign DNA into your bloodstream and expect it to give you new superpowers.
Either way: If 18 and 17 aren't mechanical... why don't they have ki?
Because, guess what?
Humans have ki. Weaksauce, yes, but they do. The fighters can sense the ki of every living being in the planet... and the androids do not have ki. They can't be tracked. Hell, even dead people have ki.
The androids don't have ki. They are not living beings.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariActually, since it's possible to suppress one's ki to near zero and Gohan had to wait for Videl to start fighting so he could sense her ki, it's entirely possible that regular old humans don't have enough ki to sense.
Also, Toriyama has stated that 17 and 18 can get stronger if they trained which means they are living beings.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Except that Gohan is not that good because he doesn't train and when he does it's explicitly power training, the one time he did train to 'master' what power he already had, it was less 'sense others' and more 'learn how to stop bleeding power like a garden hose'.
Put simply, Gohan is not exactly a good way to gauge.
I'm fairly sure Goku can feel the ki of any given living being on the planet at any given time, and teleport to it. Yet he could not sense the androids.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariThat means that whatever power they have, it doesn't come from Ki essentially.
I'm still confused as to how exactly Gero modified them enough to go toe to toe with Super Saiyans (something he didn't even know about) but still human enough to have kids.
One Strip! One Strip!Answer: Gero is an idiot.
edited 17th Jul '15 4:45:33 PM by Zelenal
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Well, the Scouters can apparently register insects.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Man...I was just watching Battle of the Gods today and was wondering...anyone else feel a bit sad that an unborn Pan was more useful than a Yamcha?
This shall be my true, Start of DarknessHe's hanging with Oolong for the most part. Also, anyone else notice that Chi-chi seemed pretty mellow in this one?
This shall be my true, Start of DarknessIsn't that usually the case? Though, I still loved the movie, nice to see the characters not really fighting for a change.
This shall be my true, Start of DarknessVidel was a little useful in Broly 2.
I think she threw a shard of glass at Broly that distracted him long enough for Gohan to counterattack.
And then Trunks fired an energy ball at Broly that gave Team Goku the win. Somehow.
I can't wait to see what Abridged Broly is like.
Now there's a concept I wish hadn't died out. Beerus KO'd Goku in a single hit, but any advancement that heralded was null and void because of Super Saiyan God.
Heh, poor Chi Chi.
"My back goes out and I'm bed-ridden. My husband's back goes out and the moment he heals, his anatomy compensates by making his spine three times more durable."
edited 17th Jul '15 7:08:01 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!

I thought it was getting them purely nettled.