Karma for them, hilarious for us.
"A bad day? You have no idea."
— Piccolo
Satan city, the home of Earth's legendary hero Mister Satan, like every respectable fictional metropolis, has his own local superhero: The Great Saiyaman! (No, really!)
Vanquisher of all evil, role model to all children and a profitable tourist attraction, he will always save the day when the time needs him! But wait... he appears different. None of his cheesy attitude appears when he goes to rescue a hostage, and in fact, is more serious, and taller!
"Who wants to be a Super hero? Piccolo stands in for Gohan as Great Saiyaman so he can take a test.", shortened to just "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?"
is a short Dragon Ball Z fan comic done by Deviantart user Michsi where, well, Piccolo takes on the role as The Great Saiyaman for a day so Gohan can focus on his studies. It takes place after the Majin Buu saga, but before the events of Dragon Ball Super.
Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the reality show hosted by Stan Lee.
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: In the epilogue, is revealed that despite all the trouble Piccolo went through, Gohan didn't even achieve a perfect note. He was still at the top of the class, but Piccolo was disappointed enough to tell Chi-chi about it.
- Anti-Hero Substitute: Played for Laughs. Piccolo is nothing like Gohan at being a superhero, and has a darker version of the Great Saiyaman costume, and the inhabitants (The same people who fall for Mr. Satan's lies, by the way) start to notice this. At the end, though, he became more popular than Gohan ever was.
- Bullet Catch: After Piccolo catches the bullets shot by a criminal, Goku tells everyone to stop what they're doing, insisting that the "proper" way for a superhero to handle such a situation is to let the bullets bounce off of him instead. While confused and annoyed, Piccolo concedes to Goku's advice.
- Butt-Monkey: Piccolo has to take on the role as the Great Saiyaman, but by contrast, Vegeta is the one who suffers the most during the comic by becoming the Great Saiyawoman substitute, even turning into a Damsel in Distress by Gotenks as part of his show.
- The Cameo: Goku, Piccolo and Vegeta briefly run into the blonde haired Launch of all people.
- The Comically Serious: Piccolo as the Great Saiyaman lacks any of the cheesy elements of Gohan and looks absolutely hilarious while trying to pass on as him. Likewise, Vegeta as the Great Saiyawoman. Nuff said.
- Crack Fic
- Dastardly Whiplash: In order to put on a good show to help the Great Saiyaman's reputation, Goku asks Goten and Trunks for help, and they decided to play the role of an evil villain with a fake moustache, a hat with a mean face and a cape. Gotenks loses the moustache, though. For added bonus, the Super Kamikaze ghosts also wear the moustaches and hats when Gotenks summons them. Goku wears the moustache after the fight is done.
- Fusion Dance: Played straight, as Gotenks makes a relevant appearance. Due to this status, Vegeta and Piccolo worry they can't fight against him.
- Genre Savvy: Goku is a downplayed example. Since Gohan used to study too much when he was a kid, he used to give Gohan some comics when Chi-Chi was away in order for him to have some fun. In turn, he reads some of these comics in order to help Piccolo and Vegeta.
- Godzilla Threshold: It's noted repeatedly that Piccolo considers Gotenks this because he's far more irresponsible than his constituent parts, and doesn't know when enough is enough - so when Goku goes to get his help without Piccolo's knowledge, Piccolo freaks out and starts treating situation with suitable kid gloves. At first, it seems he was wrong as Gotenks plays the part of fake villain perfectly, taking a perfect dive when needed, but then Vegeta pisses Gotenks off...
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: After being knocked over by Gotenks, Piccolo starts to hallucinate with a miniature version of Demon King Piccolo, and then see a tiny angelic version of Kami talking to him.Piccolo: How hard did I hit my head? [tries to touch them] That was it. That was rock bottom.
- Physical God: While the characters in canon are already this, Vegeta and Piccolo point out they can't fight with Gotenks due to him being stronger than the both of them thanks to being a fusion.
- Rage Breaking Point: Vegeta almost manages to weather being forced to dress up as a girly superhero with some kind of calm, until Goku shows up. Then he snaps and flies away, screaming into the distance, only to return sometime later from the opposite direction.
- Throwing the Fight: Gotenks was supposed to do this, pretending to be a villain and letting Saiyaman defeat him, but then Vegeta - not knowing what was going on, and with his pride wounded - attacks Gotenks for real, leading him to instead deliver them a No Holds Barred Beat Down.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Vegeta has to dress up as the Great Saiyawoman because Bulma threatened him to destroy his training room if he didn't. It managed to fool everyone, including Mr. Satan!Vegeta: [after returning from screaming] Yeah, that's right! I'm wearing a dress! You got something to say about it?!
Goku: What are you talking about, Vegeta? That's a tunic, not a dress. Man, you don't know much do you? - Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: At one point, Vegeta's fear of worms is brought up.
