Summary
The Saiyan race is the most prominently featured extraterrestrial species inDragon Ball Z, with many of the show’s main cast, belonging to it. Blessed with incredible power, voracious appetites, as well as an intense lust for fighting and gaining power,the Saiyans were a warrior race renownedfor their prowess in battle, until the destruction of their home, Planet Vegeta, by Frieza effectively eradicated most members of their species.
Since then, the few survivingpure blooded Saiyans such as Gokuand Vegeta have gone on start families of their own on Earth, with their offspring being referred to as Half or Hybrid Saiyans. Quite a few ofDragon Ball Z’smost well known characters such as Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, are all Half Saiyans, possessing untapped power that eclipses the capabilities of most pure blood Saiyans. This can be attributed to a few fundamental differences between Saiyans and humans, which are responsible for the drastic difference in the latent ability of Half Saiyans.
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Who Are Half Saiyans?
Besides the similarities in their appearances, Saiyans and humans have enough genetic resemblance to have children together, allowing for the existence of Saiyan Hybrids. Initially, Vegeta outright refusedNappa’s suggestion of repopulating the Saiyan raceby mating with humans after the destruction of Planet Vegeta, stating that Half Saiyans were originally thought of as abominations whose power would be too much for even adult pure-blood Saiyans to handle.
There was also no record of any Half-Saiyan in the series before Goku’s marriage to Chi-Chi and the birth of Gohan, confirming how interspecies mixing was frowned upon prior to the Saiyan genocide. Some Saiyan hybrids such as Gohan are born with tails, while others such as Goten andTrunks never possessed a tail and, as such, could not achieve the Great Ape or Ozaru form which all pure blood Saiyans who retain their tails can make use of.
SomeHybrid Saiyans also inherit aspects of human physiologythat may be detrimental to their development, as seen in how Gohan’s eyesight began to deteriorate by the time he became an adult, necessitating the use of spectacles to correct his vision. Just like their Saiyan parent, Half Saiyans also inherit S-Cells which contribute to their immense potential at a young age. Additionally, as a result of their human side, they also tend to be far gentler than their pure-blooded ancestors, which has a huge part to play in attaining higher levels of power.
The Immense Potential Of Hybrids
While there has been no official confirmation on whether Half Saiyans are stronger than pure-blood ones by default, there is an overwhelming body of evidence that points to this being true. Half Saiyans have the natural strength and developmental capabilities of pure-blood Saiyans but do not have the same drive for war and combat. This is in part, due to their human side, as well as the vastly different upbringing they experience.Saiyans on Planet Vegeta had little if anyreal connection to their families, whereas the half-saiyans on Earth have grown up with mostly stable families in a more intimate and caring environment.
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As a result, they are far more in tune with their emotions, which when combined with the high number of S-Cells they inherit from their Saiyan parent, culminates in a much higher potential to attain the Super Saiyan transformation. They are also generally pure of heart which further augments the level of S-Cells they have. Although Goku and Vegeta were adults when they first attained this form, Gohan, Trunks, and Goten were only children. Goten and Trunks reached this form when they were only 7 or 8 years old, and did not even need a strong emotional trigger to transform, unlike the Super Saiyans that came before them. Later on, the pair were alsoable to achieve the Super Saiyan 3 formafter fusing as Gotenks, despite not being able to reach even Super Saiyan 2 individually.
Moreover, the greatest evidence of this untapped potential can be seen in Gohan’s journey throughout the series. Over the course ofDragon Ball Zleading up to the Cell Games Saga, Gohan repeatedly demonstrated a hidden power inside him, which surfaced in desperate times. During such instances, he was able to far exceed his limits to take on opponents who were much more powerful and experienced than him, even gaining the upper hand at times until his power wore out.By the time he fought Perfect Cell after trainingin the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gohan had surpassed Vegeta, Future Trunks, and even his own father, becoming the first to achieve the Super Saiyan 2 transformation.
The Limits Of Latent Power
Unfortunately, despite all the benefits of being a Hybrid Saiyan, there are some drawbacks that stem from their human half. First observed in the Great Saiyaman Saga, Gohan’s power level decreased considerably due to his lack of training in the seven years after the defeat of Perfect Cell, when the world was in a state of relative peace. During this period, both Goku and Vegeta were able to catch up and even surpass him, as they both achieved the Super Saiyan 2 transformation, with Goku even reaching the heights ofSuper Saiyan 3 by the time of the Majin Buu Saga.
This can partly be attributed to the decreased appetite for fighting and amassing power seen in Hybrid Saiyans, who mainly flourish in times of conflict. Beyond this, there is also a question of whether successive generations couldlose access to the Super Saiyan transformation, as Saiyan genes may become too diluted over time. For instance, Gohan’s daughter Pan is only one-quarter Saiyan, and was able to fly without too much training even at a very young age, but it remains to be seen whether she can transform into a Super Saiyan at this point. Hence, even with the incredible potential that Half Saiyans possess, their diminished desire for combat may lead them to fall behind pure-blood Saiyans, who train relentlessly in the pursuit of greater power throughout their lives.
