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Pojo's Dragonball - What If?

What if....

From: Lawrence Napoli [mailto:lawrencer@adelphia.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 1:04 AM

Subject: (formerly DarthNaps) What if Goku wasn't a "dead beat dad"?

Think about how lousy of a father Goku has been. Would Chi-Chi be so militant and controlling of Gohan's every waking moment if Goku was a more active participant in Gohan's life as a boy and young man? Would Gohan have been a better fighter, a better person, and/or just better off in general? Let's start from the beginning of DBZ:

Right off the bat Goku is very cavalier with how he handles his son by introducing him to his old fighting buddies @ Kame House. Sure, these guys are heroes, but they aren't exactly the most congenial folks around (thanks Master Roshi). Then Raditz shows up and just punks Goku, gives a quick threat and then leaves, just like that (perhaps one of the quickest engagements in all Dragonball series'). It's not like Goku wasn't up for fighting or the shock of learning about his true Saiyan heritage that held him back (he's too dumb to realize the implications of this at first anyway - it takes him a couple of sagas to mature). Goku could have pumped up his power to do something more along the lines of the second engagement with Piccolo. I'm not saying he could have beat Raditz, but could have made a much better showing. It's your own son, GOKU!

Then when it came to killing Raditz, Goku can find no alternative other than taking a full shot of special beam cannon in the chest to win. Yeah Goku, you couldn't have just jumped out of the way. So Goku dies, not giving a second thought about family responsibilities and has fun in other world, leaving Gohan in the (what winds up to be the quite capable) hands of Piccolo, who becomes Gohan's true father figure for the remainder of DBZ.

Goku comes back, beats Vegeta and then the Namek/Ginyu/Frieza saga starts. Don't tell me that Goku couldn't have recovered on the spaceship along with Krillin, Gohan and Bulma. Yeah, Chi-Chi made him stay at the hospital. More like Goku didn't want to be sexiled in his own house and figured the boy was fine with a half-rate fighter and some nagging, know-it-all broad to traverse the dangers of uncharted space. Sure.

Goku finally makes it to Namek, goes SSJ and beats Frieza. How many times again during the final confrontation does Goku yell at Gohan to leave the planet? Not so subtle. And after that, Goku sure did take long enough to come home to his family because lord knows those Yardrats really were the cat's meow when it came to fascinating life forms. They teach him a technique to move at the speed of light and naturally Goku goes home in his broken down spaceship. This leaves Gohan to deal with Garlic Jr. and possibly Frieza and Father were it not for the intervention of Trunks.

So now the androids are on their way, but if Trunks didn't show up to let everyone know they were going to die, there would be no chance that Gohan would train with his father FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME IN THE SERIES. The asterisk here = they train with Piccolo, not exactly quality father and son time, now is it?

Cell rears his ugly head and it's clear no one can handle him so Goku knows they have to kill him to win and to do that someone is going to have to get insane power levels in virtually no time. Answer = finally training with his son to turn him into a living weapon to be used against a monster who would otherwise destroy the world. Ok, I buy the justification, but man, did Goku have to cold-cock Gohan the way he did while waiting @ the lookout and knowing that Piccolo was getting punked the way he was by Cell? Goku could've just grabbed the poor kid for crying out loud.

Goku gets killed, Gohan kills Cell and Goku refuses to come back to life because he'd rater dick around other world because there's no more butt to kick in this dimension. Good move Goku. Gohan's still a teenager. What if he became a pot-head, started listening to Marilyn Manson and began using his uber power for evil because life is just so pointless? Sure Gohan didn't because he's been living under the rock that his mother rules all his life and Gohan fears Chi-Chi more than any foe he ever fought. Chi-Chi may have been a nightmare of a mom, but at least she was there!

So Goku not only misses out on his son's childhood, but also his young adulthood and when given an opportunity to come back to Earth, he takes it, but the real reason is to fight in a dang world martial arts tournament. He meets another son who he will care even less for. He meets the Supreme Kai there who purposely binds Gohan, allowing bad men to steal his energy and awaken the greatest evil the universe has ever known. Great plan Kai! Let the bad guys get what they want so that you could maybe stop them later. They were going to get the energy one way or the other, why single out Gohan and just follow the bad dudes anyway? Couldn't you just threaten them anyway, I mean, you're more powerful than they are and Babidi can't control you. Are you really that afraid of Dabura? Good thing Goku doesn't have clue one about protecting his son, otherwise the Supreme Kai would be supremely dead!

Buu saga is a lot of the same, Gohan's here, Goku's there, someone's training, someone's fighting. Bleh! In the end Goku would rather hang out with the reincarnation of Buu than his own family and everyone's ok with this somehow. Sure Chi-Chi has her occasional Fred Sanford moments of panic attacks as a result of Goku's actions, but they amount to nothing. Gohan himself doesn't know better because he lives a sheltered life and everyone else. . . well. . . everyone else cares about themselves.

If we discount the time of Gohan's birth up to Raditz's arrival and count they year in the hyperbollic time chamber as an actual day in real time, Goku has maybe spent a total accumulated month or two with his son and for all intents and purposes, left his development in the hands of secondary (and weaker) characters. If Goku poured ALL his knowledge and experience into Gohan, he would be the most powerful warrior, bar none, of all the series. Being able to control Gohan's "hidden anger booster" at will would have been a snap, thus allowing him to explore power levels even Goku could not ascend to. That's sorta what caused Gohan to surpass his father during Cell Game training - that special blend of human anger and Saiyan power that just happened to spark at the right time.

Gohan is a scholar because his mother demanded it. Gohan is a second hand super saiyan because Goku allowed it. And Gohan is only alive because his true father, Piccolo was the one doing the actual "bailing out," because he WAS THERE to do so! Goku may be the universe's most powerful fighter, a hero of unsurpassed dignity and courage, but he's no baby's daddy. Any man can make a baby; it takes a father to raise a child!

DarthNaps