The Power of the Super Saiyan
Far from planet Namek, in Otherworld, King Kai of the north anxiously watched the events unfolding. There, on his tiny planet, his dead pupils Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu listened eagerly for his updates on the battle. So much was resting on this one fight between Frieza and the Super Saiyan prince. As much as they hated Vegeta, King Kai had explained that Frieza was a much worse villain than Vegeta had ever been. In fact, he was largely responsible for turning Vegeta into the heartless warrior he had become. They grudgingly had decided to root for the Saiyan, choosing, as it were, the lesser of two evils. Still, King Kai had to admit, his chances looked good. From the best he could tell, even with Frieza fighting at his maximum power, Vegeta was holding his own. But it was much too soon for him to call, especially since he knew the cunning of Frieza.
THUUUUUM! Vegeta had taken a hard kick to the face, launching him through multiple mountains before he finally slowed himself and regained balance. Frieza was every bit as powerful as he had believed. How could he have ever thought he could take on Frieza before becoming a true Super Saiyan? Until now he'd had no clue what the frost demon was really capable of, and he had to admit it was impressive. He smiled. It was as much of a thrill as he could have hoped for. He knew his own resolve was unending. He, Vegeta, the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years, would prove to himself and everyone else why the legend should be feared.
Bringer of Death.
"Is that all, Frieza? Or are you still only toying around?" Vegeta announced, as he smugly wiped a streak of blood from his bottom lip.
"You stupid, arrogant monkey! You won't be smiling when I'm through with you!" Frieza vanished along with Vegeta, as their light speed movements and attacks began again. This time Vegeta was maintaining his cool much too easily and Frieza could sense that any edge he had previously possessed was now gone. Originally, with his 100% maximum, he estimated his own physical strength to have a slight advantage over the Super Saiyan, but as he continued to exert himself his power began to falter. He was tiring out, and to his frustration Vegeta seemed to have hardly taken much damage.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me the all-powerful Frieza is running out of steam." Vegeta chuckled. "At this point I'm completely confident I could finish you off anytime I want, hahahaha!" In truth, Vegeta wasn't quite aware of the full extent of his own powers yet, but he was certain he could back up his boasting. 'Here it comes, Frieza.'
"What! You can't honestly believe I'm going to fall for that, Vegeta!" cried the distraught icy terror.
Before the demon could speak another word, Vegeta hurled his iron Super Saiyan fist into Frieza's gut. "Kwuuachahach," coughed the demon as blood flew out of his mouth. He couldn't breathe. The mighty Saiyan's fist was lodged firmly in his torso.
"Oh, Frieza, don't you see? I'm not trying to trick you. The truth is far too much fun!" Vegeta yanked his hand out swiftly and, in one powerful stroke from both his fists, hammered Frieza towards the planet. Smiling, he peered down through the debris, quite satisfied with himself. "Ah, Kakarott, do you see the great and mighty Frieza now? He's unable to even pick himself up. Such a disgrace! If only our fathers were here to see this day, haha. Perhaps it is finally time for us to be granted vengeance..."
Goku was the only one capable of even watching the fight, besides King Kai, and he had stayed to make sure neither Frieza nor Vegeta would come after him or his friends. "Vegeta, it's done. You have proven that he is no match for you. He has been humiliated and to make it worse, he was beaten by a Super Saiyan. He is a broken man, not even able to stand up to a monkey." Goku paused briefly for effect. "Let's get out of here, Vegeta. There is no longer any reason to continue this fight." Goku had chosen his words as carefully as possible. He knew convincing Vegeta to show mercy, especially to Frieza, was an impossible task, but he had to try.
"Really, Kakarott? Mercy? You sicken me!" Vegeta spat. "But you do make a point." He turned again to the fallen tyrant.
"Huuuuuuaaaaaahhhh," yelled Vegeta, as he ignited his Super Saiyan powers and pushed them to the maximum. "This fight is over!" He placed his arms out straight before him, his fingers curled as his palms joined at the base. A small sphere of dense golden energy began to form at the center, crackling with power. Electricity danced through the air around it and jumped through Vegeta's wrists, streaking out through his fingers.
"Wow! What power!" awed Goku.
Vegeta, his attack almost fully charged, gleamed with excitement as he stared down upon his trembling foe.
"I'm going to finish you off! Goodbye, Frieza!"
Frieza had barely picked himself up to one knee, but he turned his head to face the legendary golden man poised above him. He had no words of defiance, nor did he have time to speak them if he had. Struggling, he staggered to his feet, clutching at the pain in his stomach.
"Feast your eyes...on Super Vegeta's Galic Flash! Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!" From his hands the cannon exploded, launching a burning stream of yellow energy, directed straight at Frieza. The blast was unavoidably huge, racing brilliantly in a beam of pure vengeance.
Frieza gathered all his remaining resolve as he tensed his body for impact. "I will never...be...DEFEATED!" He braced for the attack, feet planted and both arms extended, with all his might. Instantly, the blast stung and drove him deep into the ground, crushing rock and dirt beneath his burning feet. For a moment he slowed its impact, but he felt his flesh beginning to melt, his knees suddenly weak. "I can't control it! It's too powerful!" He moaned in desperation.
Above, Frieza could distinctly hear the laughing voice of Vegeta, howling with unquenchable delight. He had lost; Vegeta had won. Frieza felt his last ounce of resistance falter and then the blast took him.
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Bringer of Death.
At this critical point, a little space should be taken to explain exactly how the Super Saiyan transformation affects a Saiyan's power level. How strong is Vegeta, and how strong can he become?
Goku is thought to have had a power level of 3,000,000 after emerging from the regeneration chamber - a power level he could easily raise to 6,000,000 with the lowest level of kaioken (2x) and 60,000,000 with a 20x kaioken. When Frieza was claiming to be using exactly half his power, he was just barely able to stop a 20x Kamehameha. Based on this, Frieza's full power is believed to be 120,000,000.
As a Super Saiyan, Goku was more than twice as strong as his 20x kaioken: around 150,000,000 or fifty times his base power. Because of this, many have assumed that the Super Saiyan transformation gives a Saiyan the same boost as a 50x kaioken would (if such a thing were possible). Under this interpretation, a Super Saiyan is always fifty times stronger in his transformed state as he would be at rest. Goku at 3 million would be 150 million as a Super Saiyan; Vegeta at 2.4 million would be 120 million as a Super Saiyan, Trunks at 15 million would be 750 million as a Super Saiyan, etc. As their base power levels grew, their Super Saiyan strength grew fifty times faster.
However, Akira Toriyama has explicitly stated that he didn't intend for it to be taken this way, saying that later on, going Super Saiyan is probably closer to 10x or even less. This sentiment has been largely ignored by the Dragon Ball Z fan community, who have accepted the 50x multiplier as indisputable and unshakeable fact.
Upon reflection, however, it becomes evident that the only reason Super Saiyan is assumed to be a multiplier is that kaioken makes fans think of multipliers. It turns out that there is really no reason the Super Saiyan transformation should be tied to a Saiyan's base power.
In Bringer of Death, I have chosen to treat the Super Saiyan transformation as a simple addition to a Saiyan's base power. It is a massive reservoir of energy - around 145 million - obtained on top of their former strength. No matter what a Saiyan's base power level is, he will gain the same augmentation when he transforms. Goku at 3 million became 148 million (3 + 145) as a Super Saiyan; Vegeta at 2.4 million became 147.4 million (2.4 + 145) as a Super Saiyan; Trunks at 15 million would become 160 million (15 + 145) as a Super Saiyan. As a Saiyan's base power increases, the added power he receives from transforming remains the same.
Although this may initially seem like a foreign concept, it greatly simplifies much of what we know about the Dragon Ball Z universe. There are no complicated calculations; tiny increases in base strength don't suddenly translate to overwhelming advantages in the Super Saiyan state. It even makes sense from an operational standpoint: Oozaru and Kaioken depend on a warrior's base strength, but going Super Saiyan is a completely new and more useful ability because it affords the same power to all. Coincidentally, the boost is just enough that anyone who becomes a Super Saiyan is automatically strong enough to defeat Frieza.
As Super Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta are able to overcome their former limitations in training. In their base state, they would have been hard-pressed to train very much beyond 9-10 million, but as Super Saiyans their base strength can grow much more quickly.
A common objection to this model is that eventually a Super Saiyan's base power level would compose most of their strength in their transformed state. But that is exactly what we see later on in Dragon Ball Z. As the Saiyans face the android threat, they recognize that training their base power level is becoming less and less effective. That is why they entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber - not to train their base (although it was enhanced), but to increase the power of their Super Saiyan transformations.
The Ascended Super Saiyan state acquired by Vegeta and the Ultra Super Saiyan state reached by Trunks are examples of this. Just as Goku had concentrated and multiplied his base energy using the kaioken technique, so Vegeta and Trunks concentrate and amplify the energy added by the Super Saiyan transformation. Because this energy is an addition to their base state, using the Ascended or Ultra forms do not place as much strain on the body as kaioken did, making them much preferred over the Kai technique. In turn, the added power of the Ascended and Ultra states allows them to train their base states that much further, eventually being able to surpass the androids even without going into their amplified Super Saiyan states.
Finally, this helps rectify the power relationship between the Saiyans and other warriors, like Piccolo. Near the beginning of the Cell saga, Piccolo had fused with Kami and surpassed the strength of all the Super Saiyans. Yet, after the Cell Games, the Saiyans are comfortable with the idea of fighting Piccolo in their base states. The only explanation for this is that their base power level was much more than 1/50th of their strength as Super Saiyans.
Going Super Saiyan, Ascended Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, or Super Saiyan 3 adds a dramatic increase to the power of a Saiyan warrior. Yet they rely on their base power in addition to their transformations to remain the most powerful warriors in the universe.
Vegeta: 2,400,000
Super Saiyan Vegeta: 147,400,000
Frieza 4th form: 100,000,000
Frieza 100% Maximum: 120,000,000
Goku: 3,000,000
Goku 20X Kaioken: 60,000,000
Thanks for your continued reading! If any of you are curious if this will be one of the last installments, rest assured that Bringer of Death is far from over. Updates will continue as scheduled.