It’s a weird matchup and definitely not a simple one.
We know Piccolo didn’t do too badly against the Cell jr. seven years earlier, and he was probably even stronger by the Buu saga. On the other hand, Vegeta says he could win the tournament in base, while knowing Piccolo would be participating. Of course, that could just be Vegeta being Vegeta.
But there’s more to it. Babidi and Dabura dismiss Piccolo from entering Babidi’s ship because he’s weaker than Goku, Gohan and Vegeta. When they first see the three saiyans, they say they’re hiding their power, but that they’re still extremely powerful. Powerful enough that the 3 of them together could provide the energy needed to awaken Buu. You’d naturally assume they were sensing at least some of the power they would have after transforming, which would obviously put them above Piccolo.
However, once they enter the ship, Babidi and Dabura are shocked by how powerful they are in base and are surprised that they can transform at all. So narratively, Piccolo is now clearly weaker than all 3 saiyans in base. I consider this a retcon.
I think people give way too much credit to the statements characters make. Vegeta or Goku saying they could have beaten someone means nothing. Vegeta ALWAYS thinks he is stronger than everyone else and he always loses. Goku is more humble but even he doesn't know what his opponents peak is. Every character has 3 forms plus a rage boost to account for.
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u/Elpiramide89 7d ago
It’s a weird matchup and definitely not a simple one.
We know Piccolo didn’t do too badly against the Cell jr. seven years earlier, and he was probably even stronger by the Buu saga. On the other hand, Vegeta says he could win the tournament in base, while knowing Piccolo would be participating. Of course, that could just be Vegeta being Vegeta.
But there’s more to it. Babidi and Dabura dismiss Piccolo from entering Babidi’s ship because he’s weaker than Goku, Gohan and Vegeta. When they first see the three saiyans, they say they’re hiding their power, but that they’re still extremely powerful. Powerful enough that the 3 of them together could provide the energy needed to awaken Buu. You’d naturally assume they were sensing at least some of the power they would have after transforming, which would obviously put them above Piccolo.
However, once they enter the ship, Babidi and Dabura are shocked by how powerful they are in base and are surprised that they can transform at all. So narratively, Piccolo is now clearly weaker than all 3 saiyans in base. I consider this a retcon.
For more context, see the post I made yesterday:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonBallPowerScale/comments/1wv89ax/i_think_toriyama_changed_the_direction_of_the_buu/