Son Goku, a Saiyan raised on Earth and given the name Kakarot, serves as the series’ overarching primary character. Kakarot, originally taken to Earth as an infant, was adopted by Grandpa Gohan, who gave him the name Son Goku.
Early brain trauma changes Goku’s memories, erasing his initial tendency toward destruction and enabling him to mature into one of Earth’s finest defenders. He works tirelessly to become the best fighter he can be, and by doing so, he has repeatedly prevented the destruction of the Earth and the cosmos.
Contents
All About Goku and his Life
Goku in Childhood
Goku’s father, Bardock, gave him the name Kakarot at birth. Kakarot was born on Planet Vegeta in the manga three years before the planet was destroyed, although he was born there just before that in the anime.
Kakarot survived Frieza’s destruction of Planet Vegeta because he was dispatched to Earth on a normal infiltration operation to wipe out all life and sell it. After arriving on Earth, a young Saiyan was discovered by an older man named Gohan in the woods and adopted as his grandson. “Son Goku,” calls him Grandpa Gohan.
Jaco the Galactic Patrolman
Kakarot’s father, Bardock, and mother, Gine, decide to free him after three years of confinement in his incubation chamber following his birth. Bardock decides to use an Attack Ball to transport Kakarot to Earth since he is concerned about Frieza’s plans. After Kakarot has been exiled for a month, Frieza destroys Planet Vegeta.
Kakarot arrives on Mount Paozu after being sent to Earth a few days earlier. He is discovered there by an old guy named Gohan. He adopts him and feeds the recently discovered extraterrestrial.
When Kakarot is given the moniker “Son Goku,” he is already eating. Grandpa Gohan remarks on Kakarot’s lack of manners as he stands at the table to eat rather than sitting in the neighboring vacant chair as Kakarot appears to be somewhat appeased by the food.
A brief fight between the two appears to have occurred when they first met, according to Grandpa Gohan’s remarks, albeit he appears to have won because he is a more skilled martial artist than the young, low-class Saiyan.
Between Jaco and Dragon Ball
When Goku started, he was incredibly angry and irrational and would not listen to Gohan. However, one day, he tumbled down a steep ravine and hit his head, sustaining a catastrophic head injury that put him into a coma, almost killed him, and left him with long-term amnesia.
Due to his inability to recall his objective, he had lost all of his Saiyan hostility upon awakening and had instead transformed into a sweet and polite young kid. As they lived in a relatively isolated area of Mount Paozu with no contact with other people, his Grandpa Gohan taught him martial arts and educated him about the city and people.
After learning about his full moon transformation, Gohan once advised Goku not to look at the full moon. But one night, Goku turned himself into a Great Ape and killed Gohan without realizing it.
After his grandfather passed away, Goku remained at his house and continued his everyday survival. From an early age, Goku began to predict that his birth parents had abandoned him as a baby in the mountains, leaving him for Grandpa Gohan to find.
Dragon Ball
Emperor Pilaf Saga
Goku makes his film debut in Dragon Ball as a monkey-tailed infant that Gohan, a reclusive martial artist, adopted. He accidentally and unintentionally kills Gohan before the series story gets going when he temporarily changes into the powerful Ozaru after gazing at a full moon. When Goku’s buddies cut off his tail, he loses the ability.
Goku meets Bulma, a teenage girl, while living alone and keeping a Dragon Ball as a memorial to Gohan. He goes in search of the seven Dragon Balls with her. Gathering them will call forth the wish-granting dragon Shenron.
Yamcha, a desert bandit, and Oolong and Puar, two shape-shifters, who join their mission, are encountered. Later, Goku and a monk named Krillin are trained by the martial artist Master Roshi. Krillin goes on to become Goku’s best friend. As a reward for saving his beloved sea turtle, Roshi grants Goku the magical cloud Kintoun, which he has used as his main means of air travel ever since.
As a youngster, Goku uses the Jan ken assault, which consists of three physical blows modeled after the hand signals used in the game of rock-paper-scissors. He also uses the Nyoi-bo, a mystical staff that his late grandfather gave him as a youngster and that he can extend and retract at will.
But the Kamehameha, which Goku acquired from Master Roshi, is his distinguishing move. The Kamehameha is a concentrated beam of energy that is released. As a kid, Goku can comprehend and imitate the technique after only one demonstration, despite Roshi spending over 50 years inventing and mastering it.
Earth Guardian Kami
Goku learns to fly using the method of Buku-jutsu after working with the Earth’s Guardian, Kami, and uses the Nimbus cloud for flying less frequently after that.
Goku fights opponents who later become allies like Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, and the Namekian Piccolo while competing in the World Martial Arts Tournament, which draws the strongest fighters worldwide.
After finishing second in the 21st and 22nd tournaments, Goku ultimately triumphs in the 23rd, thanks to Piccolo’s demise. Shortly after, despite not knowing what marriage was, he weds Chi-Chi to keep his promise to her years earlier.
Goku learns about his ancestry and encounters Raditz, his criminal older brother, five years later. Goku was sent from his home planet of the Saiyans, an alien race now almost extinct, to prepare Earth for sale on the cosmic market by wiping out all of its life. He unintentionally fell into a deep ravine while Grandpa Gohan was caring for him, suffering a terrible head injury that made him forget his objective and fundamentally changed his attitude.
Goku strikes a ceasefire with Piccolo when Raditz kidnaps Gohan to beat Raditz. Goku trains with King Kai in the Other World after giving his life during the battle. He learns the Kaio-ken from him, which increases his energy and strength but may put pressure on his body.
Goku also learns his most potent technique, the Genki-Dama, from King Kai. This energy sphere is generated by absorbing energy from nearby people, animals, and other nearby natural elements.
Goku battles the Saiyan prince Vegeta after being awakened by the Dragon Balls; Vegeta becomes both his greatest foe and an ally.
Vegeta vs. Goku
Goku battles the galactic tyrant Frieza, who destroyed the Saiyans’ home planet and virtually the whole race while traveling to Planet Namek to help his comrades collect the Namekian Dragon Balls to restore those killed by the Saiyans. He becomes a legendary Super Saiyan during his titanic battle with Frieza, making him the first Saiyan to do so in a millennium.
Goku learns the teleportation technique Shunkan Ido from the people of the planet Yardrat after defeating Frieza and escaping the destruction of Namek. Trunks, a time traveler, informs Goku that he will get a heart virus, but Goku heals after taking Trunks’ treatment.
Later, Goku prepares Gohan to succeed and offers himself once more in the conflict with the malicious bio-android Cell. Seven years later, Goku momentarily returns to life on Earth, where he meets his second son Goten.
After Vegeta voluntarily submits to the authority of the wizard Babidi to achieve power, Goku also engages Vegeta in a fight once more. Soon after, he becomes involved in the monster Majin Buu’s war for the cosmos. Goku prepares Goten and Trunks to take over as Earth’s protector despite having mastered two new Super Saiyan transformations.
When Gohan is temporarily consumed by Buu, Goku’s effort to fuse with him to fight the creature fails. As a result, Goku convinces the recently arrived Vegeta to fuse with him, becoming Vegito. Finally, Goku uses a Spirit Bomb strike to obliterate Buu.
Ten years later, Uub, Buu’s human reincarnation, is encountered by Goku during another World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku takes Uub home with him to train him to take over as Earth’s next defender.
In Dragon Ball Super
In the movie Battle of Gods, Goku faces off against Beerus, the God of Destruction, after defeating Majin Buu. Goku transforms into the Super Saiyan God, an alternative, more innately potent form.
Despite the temporary metamorphosis wearing off, Goku can control its divine abilities. Under Whis’ guidance, Goku develops into a blue-haired Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, also known as “Super Saiyan Blue,” which he uses to fight the recently awakened Frieza in the Resurrection ‘F’ sequel movie. These forms also appear in the manga adaptation of Dragon Ball Super, which builds on the plots of the first two films.
Afterward, Goku and his comrades participate in a fighting match between Beerus and Champa, the God of Destruction for Universe 6 and the strongest warriors from Champa’s universe.
Goku demonstrates that he has mastered the Kaio-ken, an earlier technique, in addition to the flawless energy control of his Super Saiyan Blue form during this competition. After encountering Grand Zeno, an all-powerful deity, Goku comes across “Goku Black,” an evil version of himself tormenting Future Trunks’ future.
In the end, it is revealed that Black is Zamasu, a rebellious Supreme Kai in training which has taken Goku’s body from yet another alternate universe and joined forces with him to carry out their “Zero Mortals Plan.” In the timeline of Future Trunks, Zamasu and Black undergo Potara Fusion during the conflict, making them even more lethal. Goku eventually summons Grand Zeno from the future, which erases Zamasu.
Tournament of Power
Later, Goku convinces the Zenos to host the “Tournament of Power,” a multi-universal martial arts competition in which the losing universes are erased from existence. Jiren proves to be Goku’s hardest challenger throughout the tournament.
Goku develops Ultra Instinct, a brief altered state, after his battles with Jiren. After a triple elimination, Goku and Frieza successfully team up to knock Jiren off the stage, leaving Android 17 as the victor who uses the Super Dragon Balls to restore the destroyed universes.
The movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly tells the genesis story of Goku from the Dragon Ball Minus manga chapter. His biological parents are Gine, the proprietor of a butcher shop, and Bardock, a low-class Saiyan mercenary.
When Bardock receives a message on his scouter ordering all Saiyans to return home, he immediately urges Gine to take their young son in a spacecraft to Earth since he strongly feels Frieza is up to something. Goku and Vegeta run into another Saiyan survivor named Broly in the present. After the Tournament of Power’s events, Frieza enlisted to defeat them.
Goku and Vegeta use the Metamoran Fusion Dance to create Gogeta when Broly proves to be too strong for each of them to handle alone. Gogeta nearly wins the battle, but Broly’s comrades transfer him back to the lifeless planet where he was raised. Later, Goku teleports to this planet to help Broly and his two comrades with their survival needs in the hopes of one day fighting Broly once more.
Goku and Vegeta are introduced to Galactic Patrol by Jaco and a suspiciously talented agent named Merus in the manga immediately after the conclusion of Broly. Their goal is to stop an old warlock named Moro.
New Namek
The two Saiyans journey to New Namek to stop Moro from utilizing the Namekian Dragon Balls, but he defeats them there by using his sorcery to drain their life essences until they are close to death.
After being found, they make another attempt to capture Moro, but he manages to get away from them, Merus, and (the also recruited) Majin Buu with the assistance of his accomplice Cranberry (whom he kills), allowing him to wish upon the Dragon Balls to release all the Galactic Prison inmates.
Goku learns from Merus after a few days that Moro has become even more powerful and is invincible. As a result, Goku requests Merus’ assistance in teaching him how to control the Ultra Instinct state so he can battle Moro. Before Goku confronts Moro again, he aids his friends in defeating Moro’s army. Moro and his comrades are mercilessly defeated and mortally injured as he merges with Seven-Three. When Goku reaches the Ultra Instinct peak, he almost uses it to kill Moro.
Goku consistently defeats Moro, even after curing him with a Senzu bean, tanking his next sneak attack, trying in vain to persuade him to change his ways and return to prison, and utilizing a stray severed arm with Merus’s copied strength to gain Ultra Instinct for himself.
Goku is ultimately able to defeat Moro and once more save the Earth with the aid of his friends and family, Buu/Grand Supreme Kai, and Uub’s divine might. Then, he, Vegeta, Buu, and Jaco reconnect with a now-mortal Merus to receive the Galactic Patrol’s commendation as heroes.
In Dragon Ball GT
In the Dragon Ball GT anime-only sequel series, Goku is accidentally changed back into a child by his old foe, Pilaf, who was about to seek to rule the world using the Black Star Dragon Balls. To find the Black Star Dragon Balls and bring them back to Earth to stop its destruction, Goku, Trunks, and his own granddaughter Pan traverse the cosmos.
Goku fights the wicked Shadow Dragons, Super Android 17, and Tuffle Baby after transforming into Super Saiyan 4. Omega Shenron is his final opponent, and he defeats him with the Spirit Bomb.
Goku bids his pals on Earth farewell before departing with Shenron’s original form. Then, 100 years later, at the subsequent World Martial Arts Tournament, he makes a comeback as an adult and attends the fight between Vegeta Jr. and Goku Jr., who are both descended from Vegeta. When an old Pan notices him, he hurriedly leaves.
In other media
In the 2009 20th Century Fox film Dragonball Evolution, Justin Chatwin played him. Additionally, Goku has appeared in practically every electronic video game based on the Dragon Ball franchise, including crossover titles like Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, and Battle Stadium DON.
When Goku and his friends traveled back in time to study the events of the Dragon Ball history and interacted with their younger selves in the interactive game Dragon Ball Z: Get Together! Goku World was released in 1992. Goku made a brief appearance as an avatar in the MMORPG Second Life in December 2007 during the Jump Festa promotion [email protected] Life. He can also be found in the Nintendo DS video game Dr. Slump and Arale-chan.
The character Goku has been the focus and is mentioned in several songs. Goku sings about himself in the songs “Son Goku Song” and “Goku no Gokigen Jan.” Both the duet “Ore-tachi no Energy” and the song “Aitsu wa Son Goku” by Hironobu Kageyama, in which Kageyama praises everything about Goku, contain dialogue from the character’s adult years.
Ayumi Hamasaki, who performs as Goku, is featured on the CD artwork for the single of the Dragonball Evolution’s international theme song, “Rule,” which Toriyama provided.
Goku has appeared in kid-targeted public service messages in Japan. Goku and other Dragon Ball characters appeared in two PSA-themed short films in June 1988. Goku’s Traffic Safety is the name of the first, in which Goku learns from others the value of adhering to traffic safety rules. In the second, titled Goku’s Fire Fighting Regiment, he imparts the value of fire safety to two young children.
Parody Manga
Goku has made cameo appearances in several manga and television programs in Japan. Goku appeared in the 2005 Toriyama parody manga Neko Majin Z, where he serves as Z’s sensei. The special manga Super Kochikame was released on September 15, 2006, to mark the 30th anniversary of Kochira Katsushika-Ku Kameari Ken-Mae Hashutsujo.
Ryotsu Kankichi visits planet Namek in the chapter titled This is the Police Station in Front of Dragon Park on Planet Namek to try to cite Freeza and reprimand both him and Goku for parking their ships unlawfully.
In the crossover manga Cross Epoch from 2006, One Piece cast members Goku and other Dragon Ball characters unite. In Toriyama’s 2013 manga Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, which takes place before the events of Dragon Ball and has just one panel, he also makes an appearance.
Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, an extra narrative that explains how and why Goku’s parents sent him to Earth, is included in the collected tankobon volume of Jaco.
Many jokes have been made about Goku. The hosts, Beat Takeshi and Sonomanma Higashi, dressed as well-known anime characters, one as Goku as a youngster and the other as Doraemon, for the Career Day episode of Takeshi’s Castle, also known as MXC in the United States.
The first battle between Goku and Vegeta was recreated in the Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo one-shot Dragon Ball parody manga published in the Weekly Shonen Jump’s Gag Special 2005 issue on November 12, 2004. In his manga series for Japan, Kawachi gives the character Katsuo a Genki-Dama parody known as a Shinrai-Dama.
Staz
The character Staz in the manga and anime series Blood Lad mimics the movements of Goku’s Kamehameha after learning them from his favorite manga superhero, although it has no real impact.
Fuji TV routinely features Goku. Goku appeared in the interactive film Orb’s Panic Adventure! in 2003, only shown in the orb section of the Fuji TV headquarters. In this, Freeza attacks a passing tourist and destroys the Fuji TV building’s orb part. Goku and Freeza clash over the actual underwater city of Odaiba.
Orb’s Panic Adventure Returns!, a sequel, was created in 2004. Goku and Freeza appeared in an original animated short film on March 25, 2006, as part of the IQ Mirror Mistake 7 episode of the Japanese game show IQ Supplement.
Goku and Fuji TV announcer Masaharu Miyake provided commentary for the animation part of the Who is the Strongest Hero? Japan Great Man Awards on April 7, 2007. A special competition to determine the best person in Japanese history was presented in the section. Goku advertised the upcoming release of R2 Dragon Ball DVDs at the intermission.
Goku has been a part of American popular culture since the 1996 release of Dragon Ball Z in the country. He appeared in a Wizard magazine issue where he and Superman engaged in a hypothetical conflict and triumphed. The scenario told by Numbuh Four in the Codename: Kids Next Door episode “Operation: RE REPORTs a spoof of the conflict between Goku and Freeza in Dragon Ball Z. A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas is a Robot Chicken comedy in which Goku makes an appearance. Goku and Gohan use Santa’s reindeer to battle an evil Mrs. Claus to save Christmas.
Super Saiyan Comedy Night
The real-life hot dog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi is portrayed as having the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan in the Saturday Night Live comedy TV Funhouse titled Kobayashi; Goku makes a brief appearance toward the end. In his songs “Goku” and “Anime,” Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em mentions Goku and boasts that he feels and looks like the fictional character.
Goku has an appearance in the Mad episode Money Ball Z, which is a parody of the movie Moneyball and features Billy Beane drafting Goku and a few other Dragon Ball characters into the Oakland A’s.
He lost to Superman in a “Death Battle” episode of the ScrewAttack web series from Rooster Teeth in 2013. The web series Epic Rap Battles of History’s episode “Goku vs. Superman” took home the Streamy Award for Best Music Video.
Internet memes based on the Kamehameha attack were first created by Japanese schoolgirls who took pictures of themselves while allegedly utilizing and being afflicted by this attack. Additionally, it has received a lot of media interest in several Spanish-speaking South American nations, including France, Germany, and many others.
FAQs
Goku’s Saiyan birth name, Kakarot.
Goku Black At 35.
He is NOT a god.
