by Jeremy Carden

This is something that a lot of people say is a crazy decision on my part in terms of me thinking two toddlers fused into a Super Saiyan could be more powerful than an experienced warrior who is 100% Saiyan and has a 400 times increase in his Super Saiyan 3 form.

Here is why I believe that Super Saiyan Gotenks is MORE powerful than Super Saiyan 3 Goku:

Now when you think about it there are technically “two” Gotenks when I’m talking about this subject; we have pre-Time Chamber Gotenks and post-Time Chamber Gotenks.

The boys were training in the Time Chamber for 30 minutes (and 1 extra minute for rest; 6 hours in the chamber). With one minute equaling 6 hours that means they were inside for 180 hours and that equals 7.5 days.

So, Goten and Trunks had a little over a week of training before facing off with Super Buu in the Time Chamber, on the Lookout (destroying it) and finally down on Earth with their Fusion splitting.

The reason why I say that pre-Time Chamber SS Gotenks is POSSIBLY stronger than SS3 Goku is by using Fat Buu as the “control” in theory of calculating his power.

SS3 Goku could have killed the Fat Majin Buu in their first fight if he really tried but decided to not finish the battle in order for new heroes to emerge

He then powered down back to base form after Trunks retrieved the Dragon Radar and asked Buu for a favor: to wait 2 days until a new challenger arrived on the scene who would give him a better fight than even a Super Saiyan 3.

That right there showed that he felt the boys as a fused being would be enough to defeat Majin Buu.

Remember Trunks begged for him to teach them how to use Super Saiyan 3 to fight Majin Buu. However, Goku told him that even if they both went to level 3 and fought Majin Buu it would not be enough and he made a valid point.

He firmly stated that Fusion was the ONLY way to win the battle. So that shows that Goku had more faith in Fusion rather than Super Saiyan 3 being the technique needed to kill Majin Buu.

True, base form Gotenks was easily defeated when he first went to fight Buu. He was nearly killed by the weight sensitive Majin Buu.

Super Saiyan Gotenks in my opinion would have been able to kill Majin Buu.

As to whether or not Super Saiyan Gotenks (pre-Time Chamber) was more powerful than Super Saiyan 3 Goku has yet to be determined. I figure that since the two of them (in my opinion) would have been able to defeat Fat Buu, it places them in the same power level realm.

Though it is uncertain as to which one would have the upper hand in battle. Keep in mind that it was only after training in the Time Chamber did Gotenks have moves like the Super Ghost, Galatic Doughnut and other deadly moves so I’d imagine him using techniques like the Big Tree Cannon or the Kamehameha (or Kamekameha as Goten says it).

If he wasn’t then Goku wouldn’t have bothered teaching them the Fusion. If Goku KNEW the fusion was not going to be enough to stop Buu, he would have done the job himself. Also, he was more determined to teach the boys Fusion than SS3.

Hearing Goku and Piccolo talk about how a Super Saiyan Fusion would be more than enough to stop Buu without the need of learning SS3 was similar to Old Kai telling Goku that the Potara Fusion in base form would be more than enough to defeat Super Buu without needing to transform into a regular Super Saiyan!

Now after that week of training in the Time Chamber, Goten and Trunks not only polished off the Fusion Technique; Piccolo commented on how much they improved with their Ki aligning perfectly from the start and their dance execution was flawless.

But they came up with dozens of new attacks (most of them ridiculous just to put on a show before finishing Buu right from the start; Trunks’ idea), reaching SS2 (which they skipped over) and SS3.

After fusing, Piccolo said that Gotenks’ power level (base form) was much higher than it was previously when they fused for the first time and he went off only to receive a beating from Fat Buu.

Of course base form Gotenks wasn’t even able to inflict any (noticeable) damage to Super Buu.

After transforming, into Super Gotenks (Super Saiyan) things were a bit different. True, Buu was still able outclass him in power and speed.

The only time that Gotenks did any damage was with a head butt and then the Super Ghost move that blew Buu up multiple times.

Alright, so basically the reason I say that Super Gotenks post-Time Chamber is stronger than Goku is because of that week of training the boys did. True, Super Gotenks wasn’t strong enough to defeat Super Buu BUT I think they grew powerful enough to close the gap between themselves and SS3 Goku and go even higher than that.

SS3 Goku cannot, I repeat cannot defeat Super Buu. I’m not just saying that based on what Goku told Vegeta in Buu’s head about how they were not able to defeat Buu as they are (SS3 Goku and SS2 Vegeta being their max power to fight once they escaped). SS3 Gotenks could not get the job done (well maybe if his Fusion time and SS3 power didn’t run out…). And he is stronger than Super Buu hands down!

I know SS3 Gotenks being AT LEAST x8 stronger than SS3 Goku is a stretch but look at it this way; remember SS4 Gogeta is said to be dozens of times more powerful than a “regular/un-fused” SS4. Now how come it is hard to believe that SS3 Gotenks is at least x8 more powerful than a “regular/un-fused” SS3?

Don’t get me wrong, Mystic Gohan is above him AND Goku that is just a simple fact. However, with no power levels being measured in the Buu Saga, Zenkai was pretty much written out after the Frieza Saga (well maybe a couple were shown in the Android/Cell Sagas) it is really difficult to say how accurate I think I am about this.

My final thoughts are based on this topic; being more powerful and stronger than someone doesn’t mean you are going to be able to defeat them!

Just because Gotenks exceeds Goku’s power doesn’t mean that he could beat him. Remember SS3 Gotenks can only last 5 minutes not to mention using that form also decreases the remaining 25 minutes of the Fusion left (if Gotenks were to go SS3 right after fusing). I think that Goku can hold his Super Saiyan 3 power for at least 10 minutes given his battles with Fat and Kid Buu.

With Instant Transmission, durability, experience and tactics on his side, Goku would be able to hold his own POSSIBLY besting the powerful tike. Although he was getting his behind handed to him by Buutenks; Super Buu, Piccolo AND Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks. He might be able to do pretty well against the boy(s).

Now that is why I feel that Super Gotenks is more powerful than SS3 Goku. Whether or not you believe he is x8 more powerful when he powers up to Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is up to you but that is just going by the SS multipliers. True Gotenks did “skip” SS2 but that doesn’t erase the x2 increase over his SS form along with the x4 increase from SS3 making him 8 times more powerful than his SS form which again I believe is more powerful than SS3 Goku.

Remember back in the Cell Saga, he wanted Gohan to get more powerful than him and the end result was a success!

Now in the Buu Saga, he wanted to step back and let the boys handle the burden of protecting the planet.

Overall, Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks and Mystic Gohan were more powerful than even Super Saiyan 3 Goku. So again, his objective of passing the torch was fulfilled.

Alright now that MY thoughts are out of the way, it is now time for you to voice your own opinion on the subject. Again please explain WHY you feel a certain way about this.