Was Nappa always the #2 Saiyan?

[SSJ2]

Was someone of Nappa's caliber that rare among Saiyans, or do you think there were others around his level before they were exterminated?

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Nappa & Raditz were considered among the same class by AT some-what recently even-though the gap bet-ween them was big. I’d think considering King-Vegeta let Nappa hang-out with Vegeta he’d be the best of the best, right?

 

[SSJ2]

Considering his power wasn't all that far off from the King's, I'd think he'd have to be the best. So there were only 2 elite Saiyans?

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Wasn’t even Raditz considered an elite in recent interviews? But back in the day he was considered a lower-class. I assume there’d have to have been more, with Vegeta & his father being the only “super-elites” (a made-up name I think).

 

[SSJ2]

Elite? Really?

 

[GSM123]

There’s a bit of a loophole in what Toriyama says. When asked the hierarchy between the 3 Saiyans, Toriyama said Vegeta > Nappa = Raditz. This is probably the command chain, not their status.

In another interview, Toriyama calls Raditz higher class and Bardock a lower class. No mention of Nappa. He also says there’s only 10 middle classes, and the Vegetas were the only elite. That comment probably means Raditz is on the upper tiers of the lower class, unless he’s one of the top 10 strongest Saiyans lol.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Elite? Really?

Yeah, some-thing like that which was shocking considering Raditz seemed to be a joke to them & even were able to grow Saiba-Meng as power-full as Raditz.

 

[SSJ2]

There’s a bit of a loophole in what Toriyama says. When asked the hierarchy between the 3 Saiyans, Toriyama said Vegeta > Nappa = Raditz. This is probably the command chain, not their status.

In another interview, Toriyama calls Raditz higher class and Bardock a lower class. No mention of Nappa. He also says there’s only 10 middle classes, and the Vegetas were the only elite. That comment probably means Raditz is on the upper tiers of the lower class, unless he’s one of the top 10 strongest Saiyans lol.

So how strong was Bardock in Toriyama's eyes? Less than 1,000?

 

[DBZAOTA482]

Nappa used to be mid-class, but promoted to elite after the destruction of Planet Vegeta.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Nappa used to be mid-class, but promoted to elite after the destruction of Planet Vegeta.

who said that, if I can ask?

 

[Animelover5487]

Yeah, some-thing like that which was shocking considering Raditz seemed to be a joke to them & even were able to grow Saiba-Meng as power-full as Raditz.

It's possibly a retcon. If Toriyama made Raditz during Super he would probably make him relative to Nappa or higher for being Goku's brother.

 

[Warmmedown]

Bardock must've been weak and then powered up a lot from battles. He was supposed to be approaching King Vegeta's power I thought. But someone could be low class, get sent to battle and then become more powerful without recognition before Vegeta was destroyed.

 

[Warmmedown]

But also didn't remember his own show

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Bardock must've been weak and then powered up a lot from battles. He was supposed to be approaching King Vegeta's power I thought. But someone could be low class, get sent to battle and then become more powerful without recognition before Vegeta was destroyed.

IIRC it was understood amongst people that Bardock in canon was below 10,000. I can’t exactly remember why though.

 

[Warmmedown]

Yeh.
So to be lower class than raditz, so at like 1000 or less, then he had to get way stronger before his class was reassessed. Or maybe it's just set at birth and then any power progression is irrelevant to your class. Or Toriyama was just a

 

[GSM123]

So how strong was Bardock in Toriyama's eyes? Less than 1,000?

Maybe? The interview really makes it sound like Raditz > Bardock, but that can't be right.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Yeh.
So to be lower class than raditz, so at like 1000 or less, then he had to get way stronger before his class was reassessed. Or maybe it's just set at birth and then any power progression is irrelevant to your class. Or Toriyama was just a

Please tell us about Bardock’s family structure! Did Goku, and also Bardock himself, have any siblings? (Apart from Raditz, that is….)

Although even saying that, almost all [Saiyans] were low-class warriors, and there were only about 10 mid-class warriors. And when you get to the elite warriors, there’s only King Vegeta and Prince Vegeta. Bardock is in the upper ranks as far as low-class warriors go, but he isn’t able to become a mid-class warrior.


This rank is determined by an innate latent battle power, but naturally, if their battle power rises greatly afterward, they can be promoted.

source: https://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/episode-bardock-akira-toriyama-super-qa/

I was only going to quote the last paragraph but the whole answer is relevant to the thread.