Raditz Saga

[Power Level Guy]

I agree with the varying levels throughout the fights but Raditz is not actively suppressing his ki.

He is though. It's stated.

This is usually not an important distinction to make, but in these early fights where we know the Saiyans aren't capable of freely controlling their ki yet, it matters.

The Saiyans power up as far as the Z-fighters are concerned. Without scouters to read their full power, the Z-fighters fall victim to the Saiyans ability to alter their power.

Everyone can alter their power. Not everyone can do so in a way to fool a scouter.

Captain Ginyu is the first of Freeza's fighters that we see who is able to freely alter his battle power.

To be able to fool a scouter. Everyone can alter their power, hardly anyone can fool a scouter. Early ki sensing wasn't that good, they were easily fooled by a lot of people. Ki sensing improved as time went on.

 

[Kyo]

Everyone can't alter their power. Sorry, these statements are completely unambiguous about this fact:

Vegeta: “It’s truly an unthinkable figure for the old Kakarot. What’s more, the people here are able to alter their figures…So 5,000 could just be his minimum.”

Burta: “[...] races that can alter their battle power without transforming are rare.”

Ginyu: “If you’ve gotten confident from that brief exchange just now, I’ll soon take you down a notch…The truth is that I am also the type of human that can freely alter their battle power…!”

Without scouters to read their full power, the Z-fighters fall victim to the Saiyans ability to alter their power.

They don't, they just Pikachu Face when their attacks don't work, which is something that happens constantly throughout the entire series. Why was Cell surprised when his punch barely budged Gohan? Come on now.

 

[Power Level Guy]

Everyone can't alter their power. Sorry, these statements are completely unambiguous about this fact:

You aren't listening my guy. Everyone can alter their power, from a ki sensing perspective. Not everyone can fool a scouter.

Vegeta: “It’s truly an unthinkable figure for the old Kakarot. What’s more, the people here are able to alter their figures…So 5,000 could just be his minimum.”

I wonder if Vegeta is talking about fooling a scouter. Oh wait, he is!

Ginyu: “If you’ve gotten confident from that brief exchange just now, I’ll soon take you down a notch…The truth is that I am also the type of human that can freely alter their battle power…!”

Ginyu fails to realize that he's already been altering his power from Goku's viewpoint. Why does he fail to realize? Because he doesn't understand a ki senser's perspective!

They don't, they just Pikachu Face when their attacks don't work, which is something that happens constantly throughout the entire series. Why was Cell surprised when his punch barely budged Gohan? Come on now.

This is a thing that does happen. But what is happening more times than not is that the fighter is beyond their expectation.

PC is delusional, he assumes his full power is enough for Gohan, but meanwhile he knows it's not. But once their egos take over, their ki sensing jumps out of the window. Typical villain arrogance is what we call it.