He wasn't strong ENOUGH, as his ass-kicking from Fat Buu showed. Plus, what was Goku gonna do, say "Welp, this is a horrible evil terrorizing the world...but I'm on vacation, being dead and all. Hey, Goten, wanna go for ice cream?"
My various fanfics....Why would he not want to spend time with his son he never got to meet?
I would post the video of them hugging, but I'm new. XD
My various fanfics.I thought Goten was Someone to Remember Him By, in case Goku didn't make it back from the Cell games, so of course he knew he had Goten, right?
and yeah, Goku gets back in the saddle for a while once he relizes that staying dead hasn't stopped the world from getting periodically ruined.
I have a message from another time...Goten is Toriyama's publishers/bosses/whatever screaming "FUCK GOHAN. FUCK VEGETA AND TRUNKS. THE ONLY PERSON ANY OF THE FANS GIVE A SHIT ABOUT IS GOKU. BRING BACK GOKU. MAKE GOKU THE STRONGEST AGAIN. MAKE TWO GOKUS."
My various fanfics.I like the idea that Goku decided to remain dead after Cell to avoid Dragonball abuse. Throughout Dragonball the balls are used fairly resposibly, undo villains evil plans and give a second and final chance at life to people who were murdered. At the start of Z things get iffy and by the Cell saga they are just being abused. The earth isn't in any danger, he's already had two chances at life and he'd be dead again if it wasn't for time travel. It's fannon, but so what?
Am I a good man or a bad man?I can't remember if it was the Cell games where Goku says why he doesn't want to come back. Basically, he's a Doom Magnet and with him around, stronger and stronger enemies will keep showing up to ruin the day.
Which is bull, since all of those villains would've showed up regardless of whether or not Goku was there.
Piccolo: Before his turn, which arguably started when Goku showed him mercy, he wanted to conquer the world just as much as his father.
Raditz: Wouldn't know Goku is dead. Even if he did, Earth was still a planet on Freeza's list, so he would've gotten sent there eventually.
Vegeta: Came to look for the Dragon Balls. Nothing to do with Goku.
Freeza: Again, would have no way of knowing that Goku is dead, and wouldn't even care, since he also wanted to kill his friends and Vegeta. And, again, conquer a planet that had been on his list for some time.
Androids: The androids imply that Gero made them as all around world conquerors in addition to assassins- and think about this logically for a second. Would a guy who had a high rank in an organization who wanted to conquer the world REALLY not conquer the world when he had the technology in him? Do you honestly think that he'd just say "Well, Goku's dead, I guess I'll use my scientific abilities to end world hunger"?
Cell: Completely unconnected to Goku. This one wasn't specified as being built to kill Goku, and in contrast it was just Gero's 'ultimate creation' meant to be the perfect life form. Gero expected Goku to be long dead by the time Cell was released, and would've released Cell regardless of whether or not there was a Goku to kill.
So yeah, Goku was just making up a lame excuse to spend time away from his family. Especially since the next villains were an evil wizard and Satan, who don't even know who Goku is (or, counting movies, a random space pirate who again doesn't even know who Goku is, and is GOKU'S FAULT).
Speaking of which, Goku also refuses to clean up problems that he caused in the Buu Saga, resulting in the deaths of the entire human species. Goku himself was only saved by a huge batch of last minute ass pulls and PIS, as Toriyama sloppily rewrote the story to shove him back into the lead role.
edited 18th Oct '13 7:14:34 AM by sockpuppet1
Well, Raditz did show up specifically for Goku. Also, Vegeta and Nappa only showed up because Goku died and the gang let slip that they could use the Dragon Balls to revive him. The Namek stuff was only relevant as a result of the Vegeta and Nappa stuff. The androids would probably have still shown up, less Future!Trunks, since no Raditz stuff means no Vegeta stuff means no Trunks.
Raditz: There to check on how his brother (Goku) did in conquering Earth. Vegeta and Nappa head to Earth as a direct result of this encounter.
Frieza: There to get revenge on Goku.
Dr. Gero and the androids: Kill Goku.
So everyone that attacked Earth from the start of DBZ to the death of Cell was there because of Goku.

Goku wasn't around between Cell and Buu because he felt that his presence just caused too many problems for Earth. First his brother shows up, then his brother's allies (?) cause massive trouble, then a man working to get revenge on him specifically unleashes the androids and Cell. He felt the world would be better off without him. And since he was dead already, he thought it was time to say goodbye.
Aaaaand then a completely unrelated villain starts messing with stuff.
edited 16th Oct '13 3:14:05 PM by Enlong
I have a message from another time...