Would the humans and Piccolo have remained more relevant until the end if...

[Fantastische Hure]

...AT killed-off Vegeta's character like he planned to at the end of the Freeza Saga for good?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Probably not, since by the time of the Freeza Arc Kuririn was the only relevant human and Piccolo's relevance came and went within the span of a few chapters for that arc, not to mention his character arc basically being concluded with his death against Nappa. Unless Toriyama were to focus more on abilities and tactics in battle than raw strength to spice things up, it would just mean 2 Saiyans remain the only relevant characters rather than 4-6.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Probably not, since by the time of the Freeza Arc Kuririn was the only relevant human and Piccolo's relevance came and went within the span of a few chapters for that arc, not to mention his character arc basically being concluded with his death against Nappa. Unless Toriyama were to focus more on abilities and tactics in battle than raw strength to spice things up, it would just mean 2 Saiyans remain the only relevant characters rather than 4-6.

But 2 Saiyans only? They'd need more people wouldn't they? At-least for stuff like buying time or whatever and the series always seemed to have a rival character that was neck-to-neck with Goku in power, without Vegeta would there be someone-else? Or would it have stayed Piccolo and maybe Tenshinhan.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

For buying time, perhaps, but any cannon fodder can be used for that in the right situation. The rival role wouldn't really mean much, considering how previous rivals would only ever match Goku for a short period due to him being incapacitated or limited in some way before he blew them out of the water and their usefulness against the main villain usually started and ended with buying time for Galu, the only real exception being Yamcha in the Hunt for the Dragon Balls Arc.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

But only Gohan and Goku and maybe Piccolo doing anything would be weird right?! I mean the Cell Saga and Boo Saga had a much bigger cast, so to only see the three of them do anything for the rest of the series and appear on-screen for most of it might seem too much.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

But only Gohan and Goku and maybe Piccolo doing anything would be weird right?! I mean the Cell Saga and Boo Saga had a much bigger cast, so to only see the three of them do anything for the rest of the series and appear on-screen for most of it might seem too much.

Only Goku and Gohan got much done in the Cell Arc, whilst only Goku, Vegeta and Mr. Satan really mattered in the Boo Arc, with the rest of the cast doing little more than stretching the plot needlessly or stalling. Factoring in Super, we have Goku and Vegeta being the only ones who mattered, with the exception of Trunks in the Future Trunks Arc (anime-wise), as well as Freeza and #17 for a very short while in the ToP. That's not to say you can't have the rest of the cast doing their own things, but that doesn't mean they'll continue mattering to the overall plot.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

That worked in the Cell Saga and kind-of in the Boo Saga though, because there was always something happening. When Goku and Gohan were training in the Room of Spirit and Time, Vegeta and Trunks were fighting 2nd form Cell and other stuff, if there's only 3 characters that can actually do anything for the rest of the series then what the others do won't matter and probably be seen by some fans as speed-breakers and just needless padding of the plot.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

That worked in the Cell Saga and kind-of in the Boo Saga though, because there was always something happening. When Goku and Gohan were training in the Room of Spirit and Time, Vegeta and Trunks were fighting 2nd form Cell and other stuff, if there's only 3 characters that can actually do anything for the rest of the series then what the others do won't matter and probably be seen by some fans as speed-breakers and just needless padding of the plot.

That's all Vegeta and Trunks did in the Cell Arc though. Same applies for Gotenks and Gohan in the Boo Arc.

This could be a different case if Toriyama made power far less of the deciding factor in battle or offered pros and cons for each race so it isn't just Saiyans >>> All, but without changing the flow, the Saiyans being the only relevant characters would seem inevitable after the power creep of the Freeza Arc.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

That worked in the Cell Saga and kind-of in the Boo Saga though, because there was always something happening. When Goku and Gohan were training in the Room of Spirit and Time, Vegeta and Trunks were fighting 2nd form Cell and other stuff, if there's only 3 characters that can actually do anything for the rest of the series then what the others do won't matter and probably be seen by some fans as speed-breakers and just needless padding of the plot.

That's all Vegeta and Trunks did in the Cell Arc though. Same applies for Gotenks and Gohan in the Boo Arc.

This could be a different case if Toriyama made power far less of the deciding factor in battle or offered pros and cons for each race so it isn't just Saiyans >>> All, but without changing the flow, the Saiyans being the only relevant characters would seem inevitable after the power creep of the Freeza Arc.

Yeah, but he still made it seem as if they could win at that point in time and they actually had a chance.

With how we are talking about the humans, all we'd see is slice of life in between the fights between Goku and the villains. Like Kuririn watching TV, whilst Goku is off fighting Boo.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I just can't see how the humans can pass the Freeza arc top tiers in order to be relevant but only Piccolo and Gohan can keep up at this point. Given that Piccolo is Toriyama's favorite so there's a slight chance for him to use Piccolo to fill up Vegeta's role as the 2nd/3rd strongest of the group much better than he originally did.