#Unless Saiyans live way longer than I thought which would have Implications for sure

[blueper-saiyan]

I know I’ve seen other people bring this up before, but it’s still very funny to me that one of the most common Saiyan OCs is just giving Vegeta a mother. I would have thought that the Super Broly movie would have given a design, or at least a cameo that could reasonably be her, but there is absolutely nothing lol. Not even any confirmation she existed past tense. At this point I kind of hope we never get an official answer because the different OCs and theories about it are fun. My personal opinion is that they grew Prince Vegeta IV in the lab and just took the other half of his genetics from the strongest available match. (The Saiyans were definitely into eugenics, because they suck) He doesn’t know who his mother is either because it was never relevant to him. I appreciate the dead mom and cloning theories too though. Also I enjoy the different designs and fanart of them interacting, regardless of my headcanon

#Vegeta #its extra funny because we saw both of Goku’s parents #Absolutely nothing for the theoretical saiyan queen though #I know some of the guide books mention her existing or whatever but given that there’s nothing going on in any of the main stories #I think I can ignore the references #The whole saiyan timeline is kinda a mess actually #With the thing with the Tuffles #Unless Saiyans live way longer than I thought which would have Implications for sure

[rcmclachlan]

What do you think is strange or different about Saiyan biology? Do you think Trunks would struggle in some ways because of his heritage?

OKAY I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED BECAUSE I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT SAIYAN BIOLOGY

The first thing that comes to mind is longevity. Vegeta states that saiyans retain their youthfulness so they can fight longer. Physiologically, this means that saiyans do not adhere to the Hayflick limit, which is the number of times human cells divide until they inevitably stop. Every time a human cell divides, telomeres on the DNA of the cells shorten a little bit more. Telomere shortening in humans eventually makes cell division impossible, and this “aging” of the cells correlate with the overall physical aging of the body. The implication is that saiyan telomeres shorten at an exponentially slower rate. While saiyan longevity is much longer than any human would consider normal, it’s not biological immortality. Division of saiyan cell populations would eventually stop. 

I’d be interested to see how environment would play into longevity, if a saiyan living on Earth for a number of years would live longer than one living on Vegeta-sei (if it were still around). While Earth is similar to the saiyan homeworld, there are distinct differences in gravity and, I would imagine, the chemical makeup of the air and atmosphere.

Also, I think saiyan DNA is superior in that there could be more than two strands, and their nucleotides would probably contain more than four main bases. But that’s a whole other post for another time.

I also think saiyans, despite having traits that humans lost through evolution, are waaaay higher up on an evolutionary level. Take menstruation, for instance. Despite that primates and humans have reproductive cycles, I don’t believe that saiyans do. It takes energy to build up the endometrium every month (although some scientists believe that the shedding of that layer (aka, having a period) is actually an example of energy conservation, since it would take even more energy to keep and maintain that layer), not to mention the fluctuation of hormones, the loss of fluids, and the other side effects that can come with menstruating, like fatigue, extreme hunger, and general malaise. Saiyans are too well-built for building and conserving energy to deal with the physiological downsides of menstruation. It would be an unnecessary waste.

I’m pretty sure saiyans have a looooot of muscles that we don’t, particularly in the deep spine and chest/axillary region. Also, can we talk about their prehensile tails? Which can be removed by pulling on them hard enough? Without any detriment to the musculoskeletal region of the posterior? And can regrow if they’re in danger? And having the tail allows them to transform into the oozaru if the gravitational pull of a moon is available? Like, that is some straight-up magic shit… unless the tail isn’t just an appendage but also an organ in their endocrine system, secreting hormones that facilitate the change. 

Speaking of hulking out, a saiyan’s heart would probably be way bigger than that of a human. The human heart is the size of a fist; I imagine that a saiyan’s heart is somewhat larger, with many more coronary vessels to bring more oxygen to cardiac tissue. Their conduction system would probably be way more intricate, since ascending to higher power levels (like super saiyan) would mean the heart would be in like super tachycardia mode, which means it would pump blood that much faster to the rest of the body for extended periods of time. In that same vein (har har), a saiyan’s lower respiratory system would probably be more complex. To be at one’s fighting best, especially when dealing with higher power levels, more oxygen would be required to keep organs from shutting down. Gas exchange would have to happen at a faster rate. Their alveoli are probably better (greater in number?) than those of a human and they would probably possess way more capillaries to facilitate the process. 

I also think a saiyan’s integumentary system (skin) would be much stronger than that of a human–even more elastic, allowing it to take harder hits without damage to the epidermis. Human skin has three layers; I would imagine saiyans have at least one more, possibly due to whatever happens during the oozaru change. 

You know. At a glance. 

#this is why i'm single #no i don't want to talk about sports jeremy i want to talk about saiyan late-life mortality deceleration #dbz #saiyans #saiyan a&p #y'all are the best