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I got dat itch again.
This is probably the most mundane topic I've ever made. One thing I've always been interested in is how Gero measures power. You'd think his radar would function similarly to #16's or better, but it doesn't seem to be anywhere as precise.
So what I'd like to do is go through every example where it was utilized and try to assess what he was seeing.
Exhibit #1: Yamcha:
We see Gero's radar quickly detect Yamcha once he reacts to the woman's scream. The power they detected was said to be above human data, so we can deduce that this level of power is far beyond any calculations Gero had for humans. For him to believe it was Goku tells us that it was at a level that only seemed possible for someone like Goku to reach.
The fact that Gero considered it a large amount of energy doesn't really tell us much other than the fact that he's not a weakling. Yamcha is nowhere near Gero, so the energy could've have been that significant. Gero and #19 weren't expecting to fight anyone, leaving me to believe Gero only saw it as free energy that he was better off absorbing than not absorbing it.
Exhibit #2: The Power Radar's range
It doesn't seem to detect anyone else until they get close to the area, which leads me to believe it requires them to be in the immediate vicinity to alert the radar. No one was powered-up, but I don't get the impression that any of them was suppressed right there, either.
The same happens when they're searching for Gero later as well:
At the very least, we can see that the radar appears to lack the range of #16's, which can pick up on power from a good distance.
As good as #16's radar is, we can see that power can also go undetected:
When Goku is about to take Vegeta and Trunks to Kami's Lookout, we have #16 saying he was unable to feel Goku's power. Now this could've been because he was suppressed or because being on Kami's Lookout would've taken him out of the radar's range. Either answer is good.
Exhibit #3: Calculations and power measurements
This is where the meat of the post will be. Just what is Gero seeing when he's assessing one's power? And how does this go along with his calculations?
Gero was set on Goku not being able to improve as much as he did during the Saiyan saga based on his age. That would mean whatever increase he factored in would've been much lower than the increase Goku received from Kaio's training. Goku's full-power in Base alone would've eclipsed Gero's calculations...nevermind Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan is the main focus, though.
Now the way it's worded in Herms' translation makes it sound as if Gero's radar is estimating the power of Super Saiyan rather than reading it at a precise level. He says it's "within a level" #19 can handle, which comes off as around or close to more so than anything.
One of the theories I've had for ages was that Gero's radar begins randomizing power levels once the power goes far beyond his estimations. When Goku was beating down #19, there was never any indication that Goku increased his power even more while being transformed. Gero is still commenting on Super Saiyan greatly exceeding his estimations. I believe the overall increase was never accurately measured because it was far beyond what he originally calculated Goku's true power to be.
Even though the absurd increase from Super Saiyan seemed to screw with his power measurements, he was able to see #19's boost in power and Goku's significant drop in power. So we can give the radar some credit here. Now how would Gero have been able to accurately measure #19's boost when he couldn't do the same to Super Saiyan? Well, he most likely didn't. Gero knew right off the bat that #19's power was far beyond what it was, but does that mean he knew exactly how strong he was?
After Vegeta becomes a Super Saiyan:
Gero doesn't really care. In fact, he seems to believe Vegeta won't fare any better than Goku did.
This reaction look familiar?
Not much different than the reaction he had when Goku landed his first few attacks on #19. Gero seemed awfully confident initially...then his entire tune changed once the fight started. So like Goku, it seems like he was unable to accurately gauge Super Saiyan Vegeta.
Immediately after Vegeta finished #19 off:
So he's talking out of ass while admitting that he miscalculated Vegeta.
Since Gero was able to see that Super Saiyan Goku's power dropped, it seems like the same would apply here. The bluff was just so good that he didn't want to take any chances. Anyway, this was just more of a Vegeta thing.
When Gero has the choice of returning to his lab, he decides against it and opts to take on Vegeta himself:
Something that's been talked about for ages, it seems. At one point, I considered the possibility that Gero applied a drastic power-up to all of them to reach this conclusion, but I doubt it. It looks as if he's going off of whatever power he's detecting in that moment.
Seems obvious enough that Piccolo was the strongest after Vegeta.
After absorbing Piccolo's energy, Gero thinks absorbing the same amount of power from Piccolo again will make him powerful enough to take Vegeta down:
No.20: “Don’t interfere, he says…Kukkukkuh…Alright, if I drain [Piccolo]'s energy again, then [I’ll win] against Vegeta…”
*An example of the original quote getting the point across better*
Draining the 2nd strongest guy and draining him again right after is an unlikely scenario no one could've predicted, after all. For Gero to be willing to ignore the others tells me Piccolo's energy ended up being more than expected, or, based on his data, Piccolo was so far ahead of everyone that 2 helpings of his energy would've made theirs obsolete. Piccolo would've been easy pickings for him (in his mind) there since he was fighting alone, so it wouldn't have been logical to assume he'd have a chance to absorb the others with Vegeta standing there, anyway.
Self-explanatory. Gero didn't think Piccolo was on his level, so with his energy, that should've been a given. Well, looks like he was wrong.
So like the Super Saiyans, Piccolo's true power ended up surpassing Gero's calculations to the point where he was left clueless.
Overall, Gero's power radar seems to be one of the most flawed devices in the series. I guess you can't blame him too much because Namek had tons of ridiculous power-ups and he missed all of them. Then again, the Android he considered a failure had a far more effective radar, so yeah, Gero's decision making sucks.
TL
R: Gero's power radar is ass.
Hope you guys enjoyed the post.
This is probably the most mundane topic I've ever made. One thing I've always been interested in is how Gero measures power. You'd think his radar would function similarly to #16's or better, but it doesn't seem to be anywhere as precise.
So what I'd like to do is go through every example where it was utilized and try to assess what he was seeing.
Exhibit #1: Yamcha:
We see Gero's radar quickly detect Yamcha once he reacts to the woman's scream. The power they detected was said to be above human data, so we can deduce that this level of power is far beyond any calculations Gero had for humans. For him to believe it was Goku tells us that it was at a level that only seemed possible for someone like Goku to reach.
The fact that Gero considered it a large amount of energy doesn't really tell us much other than the fact that he's not a weakling. Yamcha is nowhere near Gero, so the energy could've have been that significant. Gero and #19 weren't expecting to fight anyone, leaving me to believe Gero only saw it as free energy that he was better off absorbing than not absorbing it.
Exhibit #2: The Power Radar's range
It doesn't seem to detect anyone else until they get close to the area, which leads me to believe it requires them to be in the immediate vicinity to alert the radar. No one was powered-up, but I don't get the impression that any of them was suppressed right there, either.
The same happens when they're searching for Gero later as well:
At the very least, we can see that the radar appears to lack the range of #16's, which can pick up on power from a good distance.
As good as #16's radar is, we can see that power can also go undetected:
When Goku is about to take Vegeta and Trunks to Kami's Lookout, we have #16 saying he was unable to feel Goku's power. Now this could've been because he was suppressed or because being on Kami's Lookout would've taken him out of the radar's range. Either answer is good.
Exhibit #3: Calculations and power measurements
This is where the meat of the post will be. Just what is Gero seeing when he's assessing one's power? And how does this go along with his calculations?
Gero was set on Goku not being able to improve as much as he did during the Saiyan saga based on his age. That would mean whatever increase he factored in would've been much lower than the increase Goku received from Kaio's training. Goku's full-power in Base alone would've eclipsed Gero's calculations...nevermind Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan is the main focus, though.
Now the way it's worded in Herms' translation makes it sound as if Gero's radar is estimating the power of Super Saiyan rather than reading it at a precise level. He says it's "within a level" #19 can handle, which comes off as around or close to more so than anything.
One of the theories I've had for ages was that Gero's radar begins randomizing power levels once the power goes far beyond his estimations. When Goku was beating down #19, there was never any indication that Goku increased his power even more while being transformed. Gero is still commenting on Super Saiyan greatly exceeding his estimations. I believe the overall increase was never accurately measured because it was far beyond what he originally calculated Goku's true power to be.
Even though the absurd increase from Super Saiyan seemed to screw with his power measurements, he was able to see #19's boost in power and Goku's significant drop in power. So we can give the radar some credit here. Now how would Gero have been able to accurately measure #19's boost when he couldn't do the same to Super Saiyan? Well, he most likely didn't. Gero knew right off the bat that #19's power was far beyond what it was, but does that mean he knew exactly how strong he was?
After Vegeta becomes a Super Saiyan:
Gero doesn't really care. In fact, he seems to believe Vegeta won't fare any better than Goku did.
This reaction look familiar?
Not much different than the reaction he had when Goku landed his first few attacks on #19. Gero seemed awfully confident initially...then his entire tune changed once the fight started. So like Goku, it seems like he was unable to accurately gauge Super Saiyan Vegeta.
Immediately after Vegeta finished #19 off:
So he's talking out of ass while admitting that he miscalculated Vegeta.
Since Gero was able to see that Super Saiyan Goku's power dropped, it seems like the same would apply here. The bluff was just so good that he didn't want to take any chances. Anyway, this was just more of a Vegeta thing.
When Gero has the choice of returning to his lab, he decides against it and opts to take on Vegeta himself:
Something that's been talked about for ages, it seems. At one point, I considered the possibility that Gero applied a drastic power-up to all of them to reach this conclusion, but I doubt it. It looks as if he's going off of whatever power he's detecting in that moment.
Seems obvious enough that Piccolo was the strongest after Vegeta.
After absorbing Piccolo's energy, Gero thinks absorbing the same amount of power from Piccolo again will make him powerful enough to take Vegeta down:
No.20: “Don’t interfere, he says…Kukkukkuh…Alright, if I drain [Piccolo]'s energy again, then [I’ll win] against Vegeta…”
*An example of the original quote getting the point across better*
Draining the 2nd strongest guy and draining him again right after is an unlikely scenario no one could've predicted, after all. For Gero to be willing to ignore the others tells me Piccolo's energy ended up being more than expected, or, based on his data, Piccolo was so far ahead of everyone that 2 helpings of his energy would've made theirs obsolete. Piccolo would've been easy pickings for him (in his mind) there since he was fighting alone, so it wouldn't have been logical to assume he'd have a chance to absorb the others with Vegeta standing there, anyway.
Self-explanatory. Gero didn't think Piccolo was on his level, so with his energy, that should've been a given. Well, looks like he was wrong.
So like the Super Saiyans, Piccolo's true power ended up surpassing Gero's calculations to the point where he was left clueless.
Overall, Gero's power radar seems to be one of the most flawed devices in the series. I guess you can't blame him too much because Namek had tons of ridiculous power-ups and he missed all of them. Then again, the Android he considered a failure had a far more effective radar, so yeah, Gero's decision making sucks.
TL
R: Gero's power radar is ass. Hope you guys enjoyed the post.
