Why didn't Piccolo save Goku?

[GSM123]

When #19 was beating the shit outta Goku. Why does Piccolo plays possum instead of beating the shit out of #20? He had claimed before he's confident on his abilities and has already seen their movements. Any reason or him to pull off the fuck he did?

 

[Jeff Styles]

Because revenge.

He sense Vegeta and probably figure he's strong enough to beat the Androids.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Maybe he wasn't sure whether they had another ace up their sleeves and just observed for the time-being. Once Vegeta defeated #19 he saw he could take them.

 

[ahill1]

Being confident in his abilities doesn't mean that he thinks he can swat #20 away instantly. So playing dead and getting to #19 quicker would be better than possibly engaging into a battle with #20 (he still didn't know #20 was weaker than they thought) and risking having Goku killed by #19.

 

[Pyro]

Toriyama probably hadn't decided yet.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Didn't he tried that already but #20 got in his way then Vegeta saved Goku by that point?

 

[ahill1]

Didn't he tried that already but #20 got in his way then Vegeta saved Goku by that point?

#20 shot an eye beam, which hit Piccolo and Piccolo fell into the ground, faking his own defeat. He later stated that an attack of that level couldn't hope to put him down.

 

[GSM123]

Maybe he wasn't sure whether they had another ace up their sleeves and just observed for the time-being. Once Vegeta defeated #19 he saw he could take them.

Doesn't that imply he's weaker than the expected Androids?

Being confident in his abilities doesn't mean that he thinks he can swat #20 away instantly. So playing dead and getting to #19 quicker would be better than possibly engaging into a battle with #20 (he still didn't know #20 was weaker than they thought) and risking having Goku killed by #19.

#19 was already killing Goku while he was having a heart attack. Lying there in the ground is a even worse idea than engaging them given the amount of time he'd waste waiting for an opening.

And given how he took on a far stronger #20 easily, i doub that Initial #20 would last more than a few seconds. He also could've charged to #19 to save Goku instead.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Maybe he wasn't sure whether they had another ace up their sleeves and just observed for the time-being. Once Vegeta defeated #19 he saw he could take them.

Doesn't that imply he's weaker than the expected Androids?

Not necessarily they could absorb energy already something he didn't expect them to be able to do and to add to that there was still #20 who could gang-up on Piccolo, then not only would Goku be in danger but the rest of the Z-Team, too.

 

[ahill1]

Maybe he wasn't sure whether they had another ace up their sleeves and just observed for the time-being. Once Vegeta defeated #19 he saw he could take them.

Doesn't that imply he's weaker than the expected Androids?

Being confident in his abilities doesn't mean that he thinks he can swat #20 away instantly. So playing dead and getting to #19 quicker would be better than possibly engaging into a battle with #20 (he still didn't know #20 was weaker than they thought) and risking having Goku killed by #19.

#19 was already killing Goku while he was having a heart attack. Lying there in the ground is a even worse idea than engaging them given the amount of time he'd waste waiting for an opening.

And given how he took on a far stronger #20 easily, i doub that Initial #20 would last more than a few seconds. He also could've charged to #19 to save Goku instead.

Faking his death and getting to #19 when #20 wasn't aware about Piccolo would be faster than Piccolo engaging into a battle against Gero, hence why Piccolo opted for this instead of just swatting #20 away. If he thought he could swat #20 away in seconds, then I'm sure he'd do that there. But since #20 hadn't still shown anything about his strength that would imply he also doesn't match the rumors, and that Piccolo's goal was saving Goku, acting like he did makes sense.

 

[GSM123]

Not necessarily they could absorb energy already something he didn't expect them to be able to do and to add to that there was still #20 who could gang-up on Piccolo, then not only would Goku be in danger but the rest of the Z-Team, too.

Goku already was in danger though. But yeah, engaging a 2v1 fight in sorta dangerous, specially when one of them can suck his energy by touching him.

Him not wanting to take on 2 Artificial Humans at the same time certainly puts him below Goku or Vegeta, but that's something we aways knew.

Faking his death and getting to #19 when #20 wasn't aware about Piccolo would be faster than Piccolo engaging into a battle against Gero, hence why Piccolo opted for this instead of just swatting #20 away. If he thought he could swat #20 away in seconds, then I'm sure he'd do that there. But since #20 hadn't still shown anything about his strength that would imply he also doesn't match the rumors, and that Piccolo's goal was saving Goku, acting like he did makes sense.

And what about engaging #19? Don't you think that's even faster?

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Didn't he tried that already but #20 got in his way then Vegeta saved Goku by that point?

#20 shot an eye beam, which hit Piccolo and Piccolo fell into the ground, faking his own defeat. He later stated that an attack of that level couldn't hope to put him down.

Can it count as saving Goku right? He just failed that's all.

 

[ahill1]

And what about engaging #19? Don't you think that's even faster?

#20 was preventing him from doing so. Once he gets #19 away from Goku, I'm sure he'd have someone to take Goku home and attempt something against the androids, otherwise there wouldn't even make sense for Piccolo to outline that plan.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

#19 still had one hand free to fight Piccolo with and #20 still had a prime opportunity to attack him, especially if he let Big Green rush towards #19 and let his guard down from behind. With Piccolo still not having a good grasp of how strong #20 truly was, especially with his superiority to #19 when it came to orders being similar to that of Vegeta with Nappa, this was the smartest move on Piccolo's part with what knowledge he had.

 

[GSM123]

I guess this mean Steve Simmons overrated Piccolo a bit with the "I'm sure i can take on these Artificial Humans" line based on him not wanting to fight 2 Androids at the same time then. He does sounds a lot more confident than in the manga.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It's not really inaccurate, it's just that Piccolo's estimations seem quite loose. All he knew was that #19 and #20 would be far stronger than Trunks, which could be anywhere from enough for Piccolo to stomp to being unparalleled powerhouses they would still stand no chance against. He simply didn't know enough.

 

[p123]

AT had planned on 19/20 to be the main villains at the time. Piccolo getting beat by 20 here is probably much weaker than Piccolo later. It's only with the change of the main villains does Piccolo's power become clear. But that's why a lot of the Androids Arc is herky jerky.

Piccolo can't handle both of them, but he should be able to take out 20 EASILY at this point. Remember, 20 powers up quite a bit after these events.

 

[Victorious]

Piccolo may be able to take on both of them, considering it's #20 pre. #20 post got destroyed by Piccolo. Piccolo probably 2 shots #20 pre.

He does stand his ground before Vegeta reveals he has SSJ.

And Piccolo getting beat by #20 is below base Vegeta.