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@[mention]SSJ2[/mention] challenged me to make 10 threads, so I'll open a can of worm that oughta take the space of 20 threads. It's been a while since I changed my views on the Android Arc scaling, so I think it'd be a good exercise to explain my opinions.
Btw I won't be posting scans or even statements unless they're relatively lesser known ones, since they probably have been posted to death already.
1. Freeza vs Trunks
Back on Namek Freeza was already a match for Goku, only losing after his energy wore off. Now he's revived with a couple cybernetic enhancements he can definitely kill Goku with King Cold's help, and perhaps even on his own. He also claims to have the greatest power in the universe, what appears to be true for the Z Fighters when a mere fraction of his power is beyond imagination.
But Trunks arrives and easily kills them. His power as a Super Saiyan is comparable to that of Goku's, but his approach to fighting is extremely different, not dragging out fights and going right for the kill. This is emphasized by the how he fights using a special Sword, and we're shown his hand to hand ability is very poor, enough that even Base Gohan can deflect his SSJ blows with one hand.
2. Goku, Trunks and the Androids
Goku comes back from space with no noticeable power-up, only a new ability: Shunkan Ido. Trunks tests Goku, but appears to have little interest in his power; even asking if he's capable of becoming a Super Saiyan at will. Trunks tests Goku's skill and resolve: Pretending he's going to kill him, sparring with him and then telling about how he's strong. It's base on this stuff that he considers Goku a "true Super Saiyan" and someone who gives him "small hope".
Trunks doesn't give Goku much detail about the Androids, but he does puts emphasis on how it's 2v1 and even 1v1 he can barely survive. It's hard to guess what Goku thought of this, but given how he was ok just sparring with Gohan and Piccolo (Both weaker than even his base power then, let alone SSJ) rather than stepping into the Rosat and/or surpassing the Super Saiyan it seems like he didn't expect them to be very strong. It is 2v1 and Trunks demonstrates he's not a good fighter on their sparring, after all.
We are told later that Trunks can fight them fairly well and shown that he and Gohan survived their encounters, so it definitely sounds like skill, numbers and stamina were the main factors. If power were a field the Androids also had advantage in, then Trunks would surely be as good as dead.
3. Post 3 years Z Fighters
I'll be only focusing on the main group here: The SSJs and Piccolo. The humans and Gohan are irrelevant.
All 3 Super Saiyans have about the same Ki as implied by Tenshinhan and Trunks' feat of catching up to Vegeta, so it seems like Vegeta is the only one to have made large gains by attaining the form. The only noticeable difference should be in terms of experience: Trunks is shellshocked that Vegeta can go toe to toe with 18, only fights with his weapon and his blasts are called weak by Vegeta. Vegeta is capable of fighting 18 and has his skills praized by 17, but Tenshinhan still holds Goku in a higher regard. So if genetics and potential dictate Trunks > Vegeta > Goku in terms of power, the opposite chain should be true in the battlefield.
We have Sick Goku as an argument for Goku having made gains, but it's really contrived. Tenshinhan might find his power astonishing, but Yamcha pointed out Goku wasn't at full power with Trunks (As noticeable by the contrasting artworks vs Trunks and vs 19/20).
Well, now there's Piccolo. He probably made some good gains, but nothing special: The humans actually think he's too OP, but as Kuririn puts it "He's not even a Super Saiyan", which Piccolo later agrees when comforting Kuririn by saying even a SSJ like Trunks got one shot by the Androids. Piccolo doesn't really earn his place
Of course there's his famous question after wrecking 20, but I think people have been missing the point of it. Piccolo starts his statement with something along the lines of "In the future we were supposed to have been killed by you two". He's not questioning whether or not the Androids were below expected, that's a given after Vegeta said it. Rather he's questioning which was the biggest factor for this change of outcome: Did they survive because the Z Fighters were warned and trained? Or because they were always fodder? Also worth noting how these Androids compare to Trunks would be irrelevant to the expectations after it's revealed they can absorb energy.
4. 19 and 20
Well, last but also least. These guys are fodder - They didn't expect Goku to make large gains, no need for them to be so powerful. Goku got a solid hit on #20 and Gohan and Vegeta even got some good his on 20 and 19. Apparently even Freeza is more impressive than them, given how he's still used as a measuring stick while they aren't.
Btw I won't be posting scans or even statements unless they're relatively lesser known ones, since they probably have been posted to death already.
1. Freeza vs Trunks
Back on Namek Freeza was already a match for Goku, only losing after his energy wore off. Now he's revived with a couple cybernetic enhancements he can definitely kill Goku with King Cold's help, and perhaps even on his own. He also claims to have the greatest power in the universe, what appears to be true for the Z Fighters when a mere fraction of his power is beyond imagination.
But Trunks arrives and easily kills them. His power as a Super Saiyan is comparable to that of Goku's, but his approach to fighting is extremely different, not dragging out fights and going right for the kill. This is emphasized by the how he fights using a special Sword, and we're shown his hand to hand ability is very poor, enough that even Base Gohan can deflect his SSJ blows with one hand.
2. Goku, Trunks and the Androids
Goku comes back from space with no noticeable power-up, only a new ability: Shunkan Ido. Trunks tests Goku, but appears to have little interest in his power; even asking if he's capable of becoming a Super Saiyan at will. Trunks tests Goku's skill and resolve: Pretending he's going to kill him, sparring with him and then telling about how he's strong. It's base on this stuff that he considers Goku a "true Super Saiyan" and someone who gives him "small hope".
Trunks doesn't give Goku much detail about the Androids, but he does puts emphasis on how it's 2v1 and even 1v1 he can barely survive. It's hard to guess what Goku thought of this, but given how he was ok just sparring with Gohan and Piccolo (Both weaker than even his base power then, let alone SSJ) rather than stepping into the Rosat and/or surpassing the Super Saiyan it seems like he didn't expect them to be very strong. It is 2v1 and Trunks demonstrates he's not a good fighter on their sparring, after all.
We are told later that Trunks can fight them fairly well and shown that he and Gohan survived their encounters, so it definitely sounds like skill, numbers and stamina were the main factors. If power were a field the Androids also had advantage in, then Trunks would surely be as good as dead.
3. Post 3 years Z Fighters
I'll be only focusing on the main group here: The SSJs and Piccolo. The humans and Gohan are irrelevant.
All 3 Super Saiyans have about the same Ki as implied by Tenshinhan and Trunks' feat of catching up to Vegeta, so it seems like Vegeta is the only one to have made large gains by attaining the form. The only noticeable difference should be in terms of experience: Trunks is shellshocked that Vegeta can go toe to toe with 18, only fights with his weapon and his blasts are called weak by Vegeta. Vegeta is capable of fighting 18 and has his skills praized by 17, but Tenshinhan still holds Goku in a higher regard. So if genetics and potential dictate Trunks > Vegeta > Goku in terms of power, the opposite chain should be true in the battlefield.
We have Sick Goku as an argument for Goku having made gains, but it's really contrived. Tenshinhan might find his power astonishing, but Yamcha pointed out Goku wasn't at full power with Trunks (As noticeable by the contrasting artworks vs Trunks and vs 19/20).
Well, now there's Piccolo. He probably made some good gains, but nothing special: The humans actually think he's too OP, but as Kuririn puts it "He's not even a Super Saiyan", which Piccolo later agrees when comforting Kuririn by saying even a SSJ like Trunks got one shot by the Androids. Piccolo doesn't really earn his place
Of course there's his famous question after wrecking 20, but I think people have been missing the point of it. Piccolo starts his statement with something along the lines of "In the future we were supposed to have been killed by you two". He's not questioning whether or not the Androids were below expected, that's a given after Vegeta said it. Rather he's questioning which was the biggest factor for this change of outcome: Did they survive because the Z Fighters were warned and trained? Or because they were always fodder? Also worth noting how these Androids compare to Trunks would be irrelevant to the expectations after it's revealed they can absorb energy.
4. 19 and 20
Well, last but also least. These guys are fodder - They didn't expect Goku to make large gains, no need for them to be so powerful. Goku got a solid hit on #20 and Gohan and Vegeta even got some good his on 20 and 19. Apparently even Freeza is more impressive than them, given how he's still used as a measuring stick while they aren't.
