Outside of Goku himself, Piccolo is one of the purest martial artists one can find. A fighter who dedicates himself to constant training, Piccolo is the strongest non-Saiyan of the Dragon Team (i.e. the Z-Fighters) and one of the most eclectic fighters in Dragon Ball, thanks to his unique techniques and his Namekian abilities, such as regeneration.
Yet for all he does right, there are a few common mistakes still holding Piccolo back. He’s an accomplished warrior and mentor but could improve in both areas with just a few changes in his habits.
10 Not Going To New Namek To Learn More About His Species (& Their Techniques)
Piccolo is the only Namekian fighter in the main Dragon Ball cast, but he’s far from the only Namekian in the franchise. An entire planet of his people exists in the Dragon Ball cosmos, filled with warriors and other Namekians with unique techniques they might be able to teach Piccolo.
Yet Piccolo has never chosen to spend an extended time on New Namek, at one point explaining he finds their peaceful lifestyle too boring… a pity, given how he could learn more from them than he likely believes. It would at least give Nail, whom Piccolo absorbed, a chance to reconnect with his people.
9 Not Fusing With More Namekians
Piccolo may not have any transformations akin to a Saiyan’s, but he has used Namekian Fusion (a.k.a. “Assimilation”) to increase his power by astronomical amounts. He first used Namekian Fusion with Namek’s strongest fighter, Nail, giving him the strength to take on Frieza’s second form. He then merged with his other half, Kami, turning him into Android 17’s fighting equal.
Given how much stronger Assimilation makes Piccolo, merging with more Namekian warriors would be a quick way for him to reach new heights of power. Given how he’s become vastly stronger than all known Namekians, however, it’s hard to say how beneficial future mergers would be.
8 Not Using Bulma’s Gravity Chamber (In Addition To His Weighted Clothing)
Several Dragon Ball characters have used weighted clothing to help their training, but rarely as consistently as Piccolo. On occasion, Piccolo’s even defeated lesser foes by simply dropping his heavy cape and turban on them.
However, Piccolo could apply a similar concept by changing the gravity around him, rather than merely add weight to his body. He may not be Dragon Ball’s most social character, but he is a longtime acquaintance of Bulma’s, whose father invented the Gravity Machine Goku and Vegeta use to train. Bulma has since created new Gravity Chambers Piccolo could easily use when Vegeta and Trunks are not occupying them.
7 Not Training More In The Hyperbolic Time Chamber
Originally, a person could only train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for two whole days, lest they end up trapped in the room forever. They could return for brief periods, however, as Piccolo did when he lured Super Buu inside to fight Gotenks.
Dende has since altered the Time Chamber’s limits so fighters can train in there multiple times, but only up to three days in a row. Piccolo, who last used the room before the Cell Games, could therefore easily return —each day would count as a year, but that’d barely affect him, as Namekians have long lifespans.
6 Not Training Goten & Trunks More
Piccolo has trained several children in the Dragon Ball franchise, namely Gohan, Goten, and Trunks. In Dragon Ball Super, however, he’s been primarily focused on getting Gohan back in fighting shape.
Trunks and Goten, conversely, tend to train more with their fathers, and at times have expressed a diminished interest in fighting, foreshadowing the lackadaisical attitude they’ll develop toward training as teenagers. Piccolo, however, would be an excellent person to keep them in fighting form, given his past experience training them and the fact that he helped Gohan regain his full strength relatively quickly.
5 Not Training Dende In Martial Arts
Unlike his predecessor Kami, who was a very competent (albeit not particularly powerful) martial artist, Dende possesses no known fighting ability. While it generally benefits Dende to avoid physical conflict, as the Dragon Balls would become inert if he were killed, he also has very few ways of defending himself should he find himself in danger and unable to escape or call on others.
Oddly, Piccolo has never trained Dende for such an eventuality. Perhaps he’s chosen not to out of respect for Dende’s more pacifistic nature, but doing so would help keep Dende even safer from harm.
4 Not Training More As A Giant
Piccolo surprised Goku when he turned into a giant (a.k.a. Great Namekian) at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Though his power level remained fixed, he had still grown somewhat stronger and more resistant to attacks and retained his speed.
The move is not without drawbacks —Goku actually entered Piccolo’s mouth and could have easily attacked him from within (instead of merely rescuing Kami). Moreover, it’s not well suited toward small high-speed opponents like Gohan. Yet it’s perfect for fighting giants around Piccolo’s strength, and increases his attacks’ size: a gigantic Light Grenade, for instance, would be hard for smaller, slower enemies to dodge.
3 Knowing The Fusion Dance & Never Using It (Or The Potara Earrings) To Fuse
Aside from Namekian Fusion, Piccolo can also merge with people outside his species through the Metamoran Fusion Dance. Yet despite having learned the technique and taught it to others, Piccolo has never fused himself.
To be fair, he is in an odd place power-wise, being significantly stronger than the humans, but considerably weaker than the Saiyans; he’s also taller than most. Yet as seen with Gotenks, the two people fusing don’t have to have identical heights, so long as they’re in the same general range, and can adjust their power levels so they match. Alternately, Piccolo could use the Potara to fuse with virtually anyone.
2 Not Using His Telepathy To Plan Secret Attacks With Allies
Telepathy is an odd technique in Dragon Ball; so many people know how to use it, and yet they rarely do. Piccolo, on the other hand, is regularly shown using telepathy to communicate with others. More recently, he used his telepathic powers in a failed attempt to contact telepaths living all the way on New Namek.
One can’t help but wonder, then, why Piccolo has used them so infrequently in battle. He could have easily coordinated battle strategies with his fellow fighters in various conflicts, including the fight against Frieza and the Tournament of Power.
1 Not Training With Deities Like Old Kai, Beerus, & Whis
Gohan compensated for years of not training when the Elder Supreme Kai drew out the half-Saiyan’s hidden power, pushing it even beyond its limits. Gohan no longer even needed his Super Saiyan forms, as they would have simply drained his energy without a significant strength increase.
The Elder Kai’s power boost would equally benefit Piccolo, whose strength at this point likely dwarfs what Gohan’s power was before it was unlocked. Similarly, Piccolo could try convincing Beerus and Whis to train him, perhaps by winning them over with food… although Piccolo may lack knowledge of what’s tasty, as he rarely eats; technically, he doesn’t need to.
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