How is Piccolo stronger than Gohan?

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Pre Kami I mean. Leaving Namek Gohan was the stronger of the two, though Piccolo might have managed to catch up between that and Goku’s return. But then they both go do the exact same training regiment for 3 years, and apparently Piccolo comes out miles ahead. He’s the one Kuririn compares to a SSJ when Gohan is the one being send home, despite the later being the truly gifted one. How come?

 

[SSJ2]

Gohan was only stronger than Piccolo when enraged.

Could be due to the fact that Gohan had his potential brought to the limit by Saichoro. Gohan did well to be in the realm of Base Goku after the 3 year gap. Piccolo's gains were definitely surprising, but when you look at how strong he became after 6 days on Kaio's planet, it becomes clear that he wasn't even close to reaching the peak of his potential. Gohan stalled out until he unlocked Super Saiyan in the RoSaT.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Considering Piccolo has more experience and is known for being able to make huge gains on his own, something backed up by the Dragon Books statements of his copy training in the anime, so I wouldn't say it'd be too much of a stretch to suggest he'd progress far quicker than Gohan due to more experience.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

I don't see how Gohan having had his potential unlocked earlier could've affected him. His higher potential should allow for him to have a higher ceiling than Piccolo, who even after all his big power ups still capped out below the Saiyans back on Namek. We even saw Gohan surpass Piccolo when they trained with each other on the Saiyan Arc.

Even if we dismiss Gohan's superiority as being the product of his rage, his rage was still nothing next to a SSJ Pre Rosat.

 

[SSJ2]

His higher ceiling was Super Saiyan. Base Goku had been pretty even with Piccolo for the entire series up to that point, but Piccolo managed to blow by him in the 3 year gap. Even so, SSJ Goku was far beyond Piccolo, so his standing didn't really change. Gohan had taken his Base form to its limits at that point and needed Super Saiyan to break that limit. Once he attained that he was far beyond Piccolo again.

At that point in the series:

SSJ Gohan's potential >> Piccolo's potential >>> Base Gohan's potential.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

So Super Saiyan would be part of a Saiyan’s inner potential? Y’know, it actually makes sense. Saiyans are supposed to be “the strongest” but a lot of average Namekians were stronger than average Saiyans, and Nail was a monster to any Saiyan prior to 100G Goku. Add fusion and Piccolo really could be stronger than peak Base Saiyans…

…But it’s still suspicious that he was surpassed so easily by Goku and Vegeta’s final Zenkais.

 

[SSJ2]

Were Saiyans really meant to be the strongest? They don't sound all too different from Namekians on average. As a child, Gohan was thought to be a prodigy with a Battle Power of 710. Vegeta, who was the greatest prodigy among Saiyans amounted to far less than Nail after a lifetime of battling on Freeza's behalf. If we look at an average Saiyan like Raditz, he was far outclassed by the average Namekian warrior. Saiyans might have produced more prodigies than Namekians, but on average the Namekian race may have been stronger. I'd say their potential was pretty comparable overall.

I don't think it's suspicious really. Goku and Vegeta were both close to becoming Super Saiyans by the end of Namek, so it makes sense that their Zenkais would push them to such levels. Their Base levels stalled out after that allowing Piccolo to catch up. Hell, Piccolo had arguably caught up to Vegeta by the time Mecha Freeza arrived, and that was solely by training on his own.

 

[ahill1]

Yeah I'd say that Piccolo's potential far outstripped that of a base Saiyan after the merged with Nail, backed up by him blowing them out of the water by the time of the fake androids's arrival. His later merge with Kami could allow him to compete with the new SSJs, the FPSSJs... whom although not stronger multiplier-wise still provided them with way power due to being a more effective way of training.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Were Saiyans really meant to be the strongest? They don't sound all too different from Namekians on average. As a child, Gohan was thought to be a prodigy with a Battle Power of 710. Vegeta, who was the greatest prodigy among Saiyans amounted to far less than Nail after a lifetime of battling on Freeza's behalf. If we look at an average Saiyan like Raditz, he was far outclassed by the average Namekian warrior. Saiyans might have produced more prodigies than Namekians, but on average the Namekian race may have been stronger. I'd say their potential was pretty comparable overall.

I don't think it's suspicious really. Goku and Vegeta were both close to becoming Super Saiyans by the end of Namek, so it makes sense that their Zenkais would push them to such levels. Their Base levels stalled out after that allowing Piccolo to catch up. Hell, Piccolo had arguably caught up to Vegeta by the time Mecha Freeza arrived, and that was solely by training on his own.

Even with two fusions under his belt, Piccolo gets outstripped pretty badly as the series go on. Circumstances might have allowed some Namekians to be stronger than some Saiyans, but I think it's clear who's more gifted than who. I remember seeing a Dragon Books chart ranking most species, and it went like this in terms of potential:

Saiyans > Warrior Namekians >>> Humans > Common Namekians

Yeah Vegeta even went as far as to think he, and later Goku were Super Saiyans because of those Zenkais. They definitely peaked on Namek, while there was no evidence Piccolo had as well. Heck if anything fusion had just opened some doors for him.

the FPSSJs... whom although not stronger multiplier-wise still provided them with way power due to being a more effective way of training.

no

 

[Future Warrior]

Piccolo trains way more than Gohan.