When Dragon Ball began, there wasn't much of an explanation for the things Goku could do. Later in the series, it was explained the character was a Saiyan, from an entirely different planet. Because of this, so many of the things that had no explanation for Goku were suddenly explained away as part of Saiyan biology.
Of course, Saiyans and humans have much in common, which is why they're able to have children together in the first place. But there are a few things that don't quite match up between the two in terms of basic biology, some of which most viewers might have not noticed while watching the series.
10 Saiyans Have Abnormally Large Appetites
A Saiyan’s appetite is legendary, and even before Goku knew what his origins were he always had the ability to put away food in large amounts. This was something that was downplayed as a joke later on, but originally Goku couldn’t even fight back when hungry.
But even as a joke, this seems to be something that’s universal to all pure-blooded Saiyans—Vegeta is also capable of eating ridiculous amounts of food that would take multiple humans to consume.
9 Saiyans Can Transform Into A Great Ape
Before Super Saiyan, there was the ability of the Saiyans to transform into great apes. This was originally meant to be a shout out to Goku’s roots as a character from Journey to the West, a classic piece of Chinese fantasy literature. In that, Goku was able to transform into multiple different kinds of animals.
In Dragon Ball specifically, he was able to turn into a giant ape. This became an ability every Saiyan natively had, multiplying their power ten times over.
8 Saiyans Can Adapt To Heavy Gravity Easier Than Humans Can
Saiyan bodies are naturally more dense and tougher than human bodies. They start out on Planet Vegeta, which has a gravity ten times stronger than Earth’s gravity. This means they’re used to a more intense environment than most humans.
This explains why Vegeta was eventually able to train in higher levels of gravity, going as high as three hundred times Earth’s normal gravity in the manga.
7 Saiyans Have Tails
Much like their Great Ape forms, the Saiyan’s tails are another trait that can be seen physically. A Saiyan’s tail is able to be grown back if it’s cut off, which is an ability in and of itself.
For Elite-born Saiyans, it seems they only have their tail once, but for lower-born Saiyans they generally can have it recover more than once. However, once a Saiyan reaches a certain level of strength, they no longer see it grow back. Whenever a Saiyan’s tail is pulled though, it causes them to become extremely weak; even making it impossible for them to fight another person.
6 Saiyan Hair Never Changes
For pure-blooded Saiyans, it’s been explained that a Saiyan’s hair remains the same from birth. There’s some exceptions to this in that a Saiyan can lose their hair or shave it, but it will always grow back exactly the same way. This isn’t true for half-blooded Saiyans, which is why Gohan has so many different hair styles.
But for Goku and Vegeta, they’ve largely had the same hair styles since birth, and it’ll always stay the same unless they choose to change it themselves.
5 Saiyans Have Access To Zenkai Power
The Saiyan have a unique ability to grow stronger after every battle. There’s a limit to this—both Goku and Vegeta seemed to have stopped having this power after they attained Super Saiyan, for instance.
However, it’s a power that allowed them both to experience immense physical growth in short periods of time, allowing them to compete during the Namek Saga. Of course, this power also seems to be retained when people steal their bodies, which is why Goku Black was so dangerous.
4 Saiyans Can Transform Into Super Saiyans
Whatever goes into actually becoming a Super Saiyan remains to be seen. What is known is that these transformations have yet to be possible on any level for a human being.
The ability to explosively increase one’s strength, change the color of their aura, and even increase their own musculature is something that’s exclusive to Saiyans.
3 Saiyans Are Incredibly Resistant To Cold
Another thing that makes Saiyans so obviously different from Earthlings is their resistance to extreme temperatures. Though humans can train to make themselves more resistant over time, Saiyans seem to be unbothered by extreme levels of heat or cold.
Multiple Saiyans have shown this off, even down to fighting in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber which can alter its temperature at a moment’s notice (likely because they’re used to fighting in extreme climates to accomplish jobs on other planets.)
2 Saiyans Are Kept In Artificial Incubation
Something shown in the movies that have delved into the intricate parts of Saiyan life is most Saiyans aren’t simply born into the world. Rather, they’re often placed in artificial incubation, allowing them to grow to term there.
They remain inside these incubator chambers until the parents deem them capable of fighting. Saiyans can remain within an incubator chamber for multiple years, not getting out until they’re well into their toddler years.
1 Saiyans Stay At Their Physical Prime Until They Reach 80
Perhaps a more convenient fact explained later in the series is that Goku and Vegeta don’t actually age anymore. For Saiyans, once they reach full maturity they stop aging. They don’t decline, but instead stay at their physical prime until they reach 80.
This helps explain how Goku and Vegeta look exactly the same even though it’s been over a decade since the beginning of the series. For Chi Chi and Bulma, this does create a bit of a problem as their husbands remain looking young, but Bulma has resorted to using the Dragon Balls to decrease her age every few years.
0 Comments