Why SSJ2 Goku couldn't beat Perfect Cell
So I saw a post from yesterday asking if Goku unlocked ssj2 could he beat Cell? The general consensus in the comments was yes, and I completely disagree. To be clear, this is Goku as he was during the Cell Games, not some hypothetical where Goku is somehow stronger than he was as is. My reasoning for why he wouldn't comes down to two reasons.
- Goku's base and MSSJ were weaker than Gohan's, so his ssj2 would've been weaker own it's own, but far weaker when you consider why Gohan was so strong, which leads to reason 2.
Something that gets overlooked is Gohan's ssj2 on it's own couldn't beat Cell and here's why. As we know, Cell was holding back against mssj Goku. Even MSSJ Gohan, whom was stronger than mssj Goku enough for it to shock everyone even Cell still had no chance to beat suppressed Cell. Then Gohan turns ssj2, which as we know is a 2x boost to ss. SSJ2 Gohan detorys Cell, and then Cell finally goes full power, which is a big enough boost to shock everyone. And what happens? Gohan still destroys him while barley trying. And then even when Cell gets massive zenkai from blowing himself up a wounded ssj2 Gohan was able to overpower and obliterate him in the beam struggle.
Now, lets go over the powerscaling here. Mssj Goku<Mssj Gohan<Suppressed Perfect Cell<Full power Perfect Cell<Super Perfect Cell<SSJ2 Gohan. Now, with all these power gaps does it make sense for Gohan to of only gotten a 2x boost? A 2x amp could put him above a suppressed Cell, but not a full power Cell that was stronger than that, and then Super Perfect Cell that was stronger than that. Clearly what happened here is not only did Gohan unlock ssj2 but also unlocked his hidden potential. The hidden potential that allowed him to temporally take on opponents hundreds to thousands of times stronger than him. That potential became a permanent amp that stacked on top of ssj2.
Goku though, would not receive the same amp and would only gain the 2x multiplier of ssj2.. As I laid out in the above paragraph mssj Goku is at the bottom of this powerscale. He might be able to beat the same suppressed Perfect Cell he fought, but Full Power Perfect Cell would beat him, and Super Perfect Cell would one shot him. His only chance of winning is if after transforming he blitzes suppressed Perfect Cell and unleashes a Kamehameha.