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chronic-shinposter · 3 months ago

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I'm not sure about all of this, but can you give me a hint? The kaioshins dress very tightly and modestly because going out without clothes is considered sinful???? Was there such a thing in canon, or did fans make up a similar thing that kaioshin are like holy gods terrified of debauchery?

Warning: I go on a big ass essay that strays from your main question and of course everything listed here is opinions but with some anime/manga references to back up my thoughts. As a response to my coatless Shin post, that was just me being silly LOL. However this totally gives me an opportunity to talk about characters and I am all about that shit

A summary of my essay though: there is a moral code implied, but there's nothing specifically stated, and it's not so specific that it's about clothes and perviness and stuff. Every Supreme Kai (in canon) has a different idea of how to honor their position and their personal morals can be inspired by their duty but it doesn't mean they are one to one. Everything else is up in the air and are just personal conclusions (like, Supreme Kais all dress a specific way so it's totally possible this is a requirement, but there is nothing in canon about this) How someone treats the Supreme Kai role depends on the person though; some are way more relaxed and others are very uptight. Interestingly, sin IS mentioned in at least one of the English translations of the manga. (right to left)

Much like religion IRL though there are people who will use these codes and behaviors, meant to spread goodness and honor, to be toxic assholes. I actually kind of hate the general description of Supreme Kais in the DB wiki honestly because it goes with the assumption that every Supreme Kai (and adjacent role) is a good person when I don't think that's really true, it's just that all of them have similar jobs and their culture encourages politeness. Quite frankly, most of them kind of have a pole jammed up their ass and look down on others all too frequently (which like, they're gods, but in the context of the series they are SO UPPITY HOLY SHIT). Let's look at Gowasu, Elder Kai, Zamasu, and of course Shin. I think they're a good spectrum of the behavioral code in my opinion

Gowasu

Gowasu is one of the oldest acting Supreme Kais in the current canon. He is very polite and proper, good-natured, but has relaxed a lot over time and also just wants to have fun (bro wants to be a Godtuber in his retirement). I think because of his introduction, we kind of see that the standard for Supreme Kais is that they are mellow, like drinking tea, and tend to look at the little things. They very much have normal lives and might even teeter on the more "nothing ever happens" side, but time and peace can introduce them to ignorance just as much as inexperience can, leading Gowasu to make lapses in judgment about who he chooses as his successor.

Gowasu is honestly one of the most grounded Supreme Kais we've been introduced to because he is reflective of his mistakes and even remorseful, receptive to criticism and even questions the foundations of the god hierarchy in Dragon Ball Super. He also doesn't react much when approached casually by mortals, which shows that he doesn't believe himself to be above others even though, cosmically, he is. He is also, like, the only Supreme Kai we see actively get along with Shin as an equal even though age and experience lends him to be the "superior" one

Overall, Gowasu is experienced and looks at the good side of everything, but he is also casual and likes to be goofy. He very much understands that life is important but what use is that if you don't get to be a silly goober sometimes?

Elder Kai

Elder Kai is more on the extreme end in which him getting shit done is more like... an exception rather than a rule, he much prefers the lazy lifestyle that being so high on the cosmic ladder offers and he's not really afraid to show it. He is experienced (though we don't know if he was THE Supreme Kai of his time) but he does not give a shit about any moral standards, very much on the extreme end of the "life's about having fun" line

Elder Kai is openly a pervert-- in the original DBZ he says he uses his abilities to watch women from afar, he has nudie mags, eagerly accepts Goku's request when Goku promises him he can grab Bulma's boobs (I think this ended up getting dubbed out later lol). He believes in honoring age, which he shows when berating Shin for their difference in wisdom, but also in taking responsibility to give himself up first after Shin offers his own life to save Goku's.

He is not a bad person and holds respect for what it means to be a Supreme Kai, but he is no stranger to being a creepy fuck. He's a good example in that a Supreme Kai (past or future) does not really have to be what is considered "pure" to do the job and they have the free will to enact what they feel is the proper thing to do.

Zamasu

Elder Kai's all about having fun in life, while Zamasu goes to the opposite logical extreme: life is about perfection, and anything less does not deserve to be at all. I think Zamasu shows where this same behavioral code can go, because by all means he kind of checks all the boxes: he's polite, shown to respect his superior, takes his position as apprentice very seriously and similarly intends to take his role as Supreme Kai very seriously. He finds himself to be the most pure, but this idea is something he is so attached to that he ends up being one of the most corrupted of them all.

Similar to Gowasu, he is not above questioning the status quo-- he doesn't really put much heart into the Gods of Destruction and believes that holy beings such as the Supreme Kais should be in control of everything. In the manga, Zamasu views Shin and Kibito very highly at first because he thought that they were the ones that defeated Majin Buu. Of course, Shin corrects him and puts all credit to Goku & gang, which confuses the FUCK out of Zamasu because he believes Supreme Kais to be, well, the most supreme. Shin reflects in that the job should've been for the God of Destruction (in the manga here they loosely do imply that Beerus was asleep), but Zamasu is like "nah lol"

Zamasu weirds the fuck out of Shin by implying anything that exists is unnecessary, but kind of brushes it off because well that's Gowasu's thing to deal with LOL. (Sidenote this is why everyone should read the manga because they actually involve Shin in a very much Supreme Kai centric plot and it is actually nuts to me they don't do this in the anime. The anime arc is def my favorite arc in Super but they still kinda do Shin dirty)

I say all this to say that Zamasu's train of thought isn't exactly uncommon because the Supreme Kais are kind of in this culture where they are the most supreme, but most of them do have an understanding of nuance and understand why, despite being "the best", they serve a role and that role does not serve them. Zamasu doesn't have this nuance and we see where that goes as he makes Goku('s body) to be the exception to the unnecessary beings rule in his head

As an honorable mention, I want to say that Kibito isn't too different in this train of thought: he definitely finds himself to be superior to others, but he values Shin's authority so much that he is much more receptive to that nuance than someone like Zamasu, who eventually dismisses Gowasu's teaching. The worst Kibito would not be anywhere close to Zamasu because Kibito still believes in goodness outside of himself.

Shin

Shin I think is the best example of a Supreme Kai with a pure moral code that, in turn, is also not corrupted by that idea of purity. Similar to Zamasu, he's polite, shown to respect his superiors and his elders, and he takes his role very seriously. Shin is (from what I understand) the youngest Supreme Kai and also the newest, which also might be why high morals is so important to him in the current canon.

He respects Elder Kai as his ancestor, but is also horrified to learn about Elder Kai using his powers to be a creepy fuck, openly berates him for this, and reacts in disgust when Elder Kai tries to gift him a nudie mag (as Kibito Kai). Shin also states he's worried about how Kibito views the mortals, but believes him to have a good spirit and puts a lot of importance in that-- it's why Shin goes out of his way to meet Goku, and in the future timeline, why he goes out of his way to meet Trunks.

Shin is similarly disgusted by Zamasu when he reveals his true spirit and condemns him in the manga, believing that Zamasu broke the line of what it means to be a Supreme Kai at all. His values very much align with the Supreme Kai's job to preserve life and at the same time understanding that destruction is part of that sacred cycle. Shin deeply respects the current god hierarchy and doesn't question it; he just wants to do the right thing.

Though Shin takes his responsibility as Supreme Kai very seriously, he is pretty receptive to the fact that his universe has mortals more physically powerful than him and he is even thankful for this. He takes no offense to how casually he's treated by Goku & gang and listens to them. Shin, unlike other Supreme Kais we've seen, views himself explicitly as a servant to the universe; his life is just one part of it and if he has to give it up or to knock himself down a few pegs then that's what he'll do. I think we can even say he is a little too passionate about this idea, since he's literally offered his life to preserve another's at least 2 times now (one for Goku in Buu saga, another one in the Moro arc in the manga) to Beerus's dismay lol, and this doesn't count all the times he's gone out of his way or put himself in the way to save others from danger

One of my favorite Shin moments that I think captures who he is at a whole is at the end of ToP where it's just Universe 7 and Universe 11 left, and he leans over to say hello to Khai. I don't think this is a Supreme Kai thing, this is a Shin thing. He doesn't say hello because it's his duty to always be polite, he says hello because it is giving kindness in a tense situation.

in a nutshell

The different Supreme Kais (and adjacent roles) might have some similarities and I think their upbringing can give them a proper attitude, but ultimately they're all very different people and have different ideas of what it means to be a Supreme Kai at all. I'm sure there's a Supreme Kai out there in history that was always naked or a piece of shit or something but actually totally kicked ass at their job

Thank you for reading LMAOOO I just wanted to talk about them. Hope u enjoyed

#anon ask #text post #dragon ball super #dragon ball z #supreme kai #essay #zamasu #gowasu #elder kai #dbz shin #dbs shin #i paused board game night to write this

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