Son Goku

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Son Goku, born as Kakarot, is the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball anime and manga.

Son Goku was far from a typical young lad. He was a rather extraordinary child with superhuman strength, a tail and an extreme naivety of the outside world, having never even seen another human besides his (now deceased) Grandpa Gohan. However, when Goku was 12 years old, he met a 16 year old girl named Bulma, or rather she crashed into him with her car. And from that day onwards, young Goku's life would be changed forever.

In the AWA fics, Goku is a part of the AWA and serves as one of it's many instructors.

In the XP4 fics, Goku debuted in the XP4 Heroes Coalition - Neo-City Diaries.

In the TWA fics, Goku is one of the major characters and is a member of the Honor Fighting Force.

Appearance[]

Goku is the spitting-image of his father, Bardock, possessing the same spiky black hairstyle, dark-colored eyes, and facial features. However, he has softer eyes, a kind demeanor, and a lighter-pale skin complexion from his mother, Gine. Goku's most distinguishing physical characteristic is his hair. He has 3 bangs hanging to the right of his forehead and 2 bangs hanging to the left. His hair also stands up in the front with 4 spikes and 3 bangs in the back (later in the anime his front spikes become 5 and his back spikes become 4). Goku was born with the signature tail of the Universe 7 Saiyans, which was long and prehensile with brown fur. While occasionally having it removed and later regrew it, by his late-teens, it was permanently removed by Kami (to prevent his Great Ape transformation so Kami could safely bring back the moon).

At age 12, Goku was rather short, and appeared even younger, as some considered him to be much less than 10 years old; people would be rather surprised when they learned his actual age. During the next few years, Goku did not go through any physical changes, beyond his muscles becoming more pronounced. By age 15, he began showing noticeable increases in height. By age 18, he had a considerable growth spurt, growing taller than most of his friends and developing a well-built physique. He is also considered very handsome, as noted by Bulma. His physical changes made him almost indistinguishable from before, and was only recognized by his signature naïve personality and "trademark" hairstyle. By age 25, Goku had another growth spurt, and become similar in height to his taller human allies, and much more muscular.

Due to his love of training, he is most commonly seen wearing a gi. Originally, Goku wore an open blue gi secured with a white bow-tied obi over his waist, red wristbands, and dark blue kung fu shoes. After training under Master Roshi, Goku wore the basic Turtle School Uniform; consisting of a closed red gi (later orange) secured by a black knot-tied obi tied over his waist, blue wristbands, and blue kung fu shoes, with Roshi's kanji on the back and front-left side of his shirt. After training with Kami and Mr. Popo, Goku wore a black short-sleeved undershirt (later dark blue) with this gi and replaced his shoes with dark blue boots with a yellow border and red laces. After training under King Kai, Goku wore King Kai's kanji on the back of his gi shirt. During his quest on Planet Namek, Goku wore his own kanji on both places. During the Android conflict and Majin Buu conflict, Goku wore a more plain version of this gi that lacked any kanji and featured a blue sash over his waist, as well as the same dark blue undershirt, same blue wristbands and the same dark blue boots from his previous gi, but with a red border and yellow/tan laces.

During his early training under Whis, Goku wore an orange traditional and loose gi that was secured together with a blue obi tied in a knot at the left of his waist. He also wore blue wristbands that cover nearly his entire forearms and blue boots that clasp together on the front of his shins. It was also given, without Goku realizing it, Whis' kanji on the front-left of his shirt. When he appears in the Prison Planet Saga, Goku wears an outfit identical to the one Whis gave him, but with a Capsule Corp logo in place of Whis' symbol. He also wears his blue shirt underneath the gi.

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Goku returns to his previous uniform while on Planet Namek. In addition, to compensate for the wintery climate he is on, he also wears a long blue snow jacket with a high turtleneck, white stripes down his shoulders and arms and bold purple letters of "SAB" over the front-left side of it . It also has black gloves.

By the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku wears a turquoise gi with a white obi, orange wristbands, dark green pants, and black kung fu shoes with orange stockings. Despite his fighting gi being his preferred look, Goku is not without other types of wardrobe, such as a suit and tie, casual clothes like blue pants with a button-down red shirt, or his farmer attire consisting of beige pants and shirt with a white scarf around his neck and black boots.

In Dragon Ball GT. Goku's skin tone got noticeable tan. His general outfit is a blue gi with a white obi, pink wristbands, ochre pants, and black kung fu shoes with white stockings, which overall is very similar to his outfit at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament. Due to the carelessness of Emperor Pilaf, Goku was wished back into an 11-year-old. While essentially looking the same as he did back then, Goku showed considerably more defined muscle. Later, with the aid of Old Kai, Goku regenerates his tail, which would poke out from his pants. 100 years later at the 64th World Martial Arts Tournament, despite growing back to his physical prime without transforming, he was not still seen with his tail. However, in one ending, he is seen with a tail in adult form. During which, his outfit has dark green pants while his stockings and armbands are yellow. He also wears his Power Pole again.

When re-grown up, GT Goku appears in the Adventure Mode of Extreme Butōden, he wears his classic outfit from Dragon Ball Super. In Dragon Ball Minus, an infant Goku was seen wearing a standard Battle Armor of the Frieza Army when being sent to Earth. It is a full body model with a dark-colored chest protection and light-colored outward-pointing pads on his shoulders and at the hips that hang over his upper legs. He also wore dark jumpsuit shorts and light boots with dark legging and also dark armguards.

Personality[]

Originally as an infant Saiyan, Goku was programmed with intense hostility to carry out his mission of eradicating all sentient life on Earth. When found by Grandpa Gohan, he was unruly and aggressive, wanting nothing to do with the elder, although this was seemingly only when worked up as when initially found by Gohan, he quickly took a liking to the old man. However, after the head injury that caused him to lose his instictual aggression, Goku became well-known for his energetic and caring personality, traits he seemed to inherit from his mother Gine. He was taught to be respectful to others by Grandpa Gohan. He takes most situations in stride, he rarely lets things get him worked up; he quickly got over losing his tail each time. He is however not without fear. Goku is shown to be submissive to overbearing women like Bulma and Chi-Chi, even to the point of Master Roshi jokingly declaring that for all his universal-class might, he is terrified of his wife. In the anime, he also has a crippling fear of needles. He is not beyond feeling sorrow, most noticeably seen from the loss of his grandfather. He is also note above shame, as he regrets to his lack of maturity as a person despite all the teachers who have helped him and likewise wants to make his loved-ones proud of him. He also shows genuine concern for the well-being of those close to him. When Master Roshi seemingly died against Ganos, Goku frantically rushed to his aid, desperate to save his mentor and shed tears of joy when he managed to revive him.

He is well-noted for his love of any food, which can be comical at times. When put to sleep while facing "Jackie Chun", Bulma told Goku dinner was ready, instantly waking him up. Like most Saiyans, Goku loves combat and to challenge strong opponents. As such Goku rarely shows nervousness or fear when fighting. Though he has admitted to times facing foes that leave him genuinely afraid, such as Golden Frieza. While not arrogant in his abilities (especially compared to Vegeta), Goku has a tendency to be too relaxed and recklessly challenge anyone he views as strong to a fight. Despite his fighting spirit, he is at heart a pacifist as he often spares his enemies, trying to avoid hurting or even killing people if possible and never using more strength than necessary. He also strongly believes that people can change for the better, as he spared Vegeta after killing most of Goku's allies. This combined with his naturally gentle nature can lead to him letting his guard down.

Goku is pure of heart, possessing no negative feelings or thoughts. He is highly loyal to his friends and family, even willing to sacrifice himself to save others as he did against Raditz and Cell. He strongly believes in repaying debts, as he gave the then-evil Vegeta a senzu bean for technically saving Gohan and Krillin from the Ginyu Force. He is a man of his word, committed to keeping his promise no matter what. He has a very practical and carefree view of life and his goals are very simple, only seeking to test the limits of his might as a warrior. He has no interest in luxury or high-ranking positions as he rejected Kami's offer to become Guardian of Earth and likewise Whis' offer to become the next Universe 7 God of Destruction, though the latter was mainly due to his morality making him unsuitable for it. At the same time, he shows such unwavering will and tenacity to succeed, always determined to never give up against any adversity.

Goku has been noted several times to have a special effect on people. His genuine compassion for others and love of life in its most simple nature is capable of inspiring them to change somewhat for the better, even causing several of his enemies to become his allies. He convinced the amoral and self-absorbed God of Destruction Beerus that Earth was worth keeping around. He made the reserved assassin Hit smile in genuine happiness, viewing Goku as an equal. He made the immensely independent Jiren acknowledge Goku's view of companionship sought to learn from Goku's example. He even made the spiteful and sadistically greedy Frieza come to truly respect Goku despite his long-standing hatred of the Saiyan after their brief alliance.

He has shown such innocence since childhood, mainly because of spending most of his childhood on Mount Paozu in isolation, apart from the first few years of his life with his grandfather, and spending his adolescence traveling the world to sharpen his combat skills. This lack of social experience and proper education growing up (apart from the basic education from Master Roshi) left him rather ignorant in many things outside of battle and had little development in emotional maturity. During his childhood, he originally had difficulty telling the difference between a male and a female without physically touching them, which often got him in trouble.

Another problem stemming from his lack of proper education, Goku had little understanding of financial matters. As a result, he spent most of his marriage without a job, instead of being supported by his prize-winnings from the World Martial Arts Tournaments and the Ox-King's wealth. This limited education also was seen from his struggling in the written test for the Tournament of Destroyers. Overall, both his children have shown a better understanding of general matters as Chi-Chi ensured that Gohan and Goten had a well-educated background. While Chi-Chi later made Goku take up a job as a farmer, Goku is regularly shown with little interest in it, often looking for excuses to get out of work to train instead. This mostly stems from his Saiyan-nature, instinctively desiring combative challenges.

Goku has little modesty and is not at all concerned about public nudity (though later came to have a better appreciation for it). His simple nature rarely exhibits lustful feelings and thus little interest in women (with the exception of his wife). As a result, seduction tactics have no effect on him. His lack of emotional maturity has also left him somewhat naïve. His direct and carefree approach, combined with often taking things to face-value tends to make him appear somewhat stupid. Acting very much on instinct most of the time, Goku can be very blunt from as he expresses himself. While he is not normally reckless, he occasionally makes decisions without properly thinking them through, such as when he went to discuss the Tournament of Power with the Omni-Kings despite Beerus warning him of the potential consequences of meeting with the amoral supreme rulers. While technically considerate in nature and never intentionally rude, Goku tends to not show proper respect to people of high authority. Goku can be insensitive at times, as shown by his willingness to promise Old Kai naked photos of Bulma, without consideration for either Bulma or her husband Vegeta (though he rationalized it as for the sake of Earth's survival to enlist Old Kai's aid).

His simple nature often comes off as naïve, which often makes many incorrectly assume him to be somewhat stupid. Despite this, Goku is remarkably effective at applying himself once properly motivated, able to quickly comprehend the situation and likewise learn the basics of anything presented to him, if not master it. When taking a firsthand experience, Goku is shown to be incredibly perceptive and intuitive, quickly able to analyze the situation and formulate an effective countermeasure. Very methodical and tactical in his approach, he even saw through the limits of Super Saiyan Second Grade and chose to instead refine his normal Super Saiyan form, impressing even his rival Vegeta at the crafty and innovative idea.

He has a remarkable intuition to see the good in others in spite of their actions, though his compassion and willingness to forgive can have often been criticized as excessive even to a fault and has led to harm and death to those he cares about in extreme occasions. At the same time, for all his morally driven nature, Goku can show animosity towards those he believes have earned it, such as Mercenary Tao and Frieza for killing Bora and Krillinrespectively, a trait he seemed to inherit from his father Bardock. Overall, Goku only kills his enemies when he feels it is necessary or if they are beyond redemption. While viewed by many as a very honorable man of heroic nature, he openly never actually considers himself a savior, but rather simply refuses to let innocent people or animals get hurt, as his adoptive grandfather taught him. Ultimately, this is one of his greatest drives in life, constantly pushing him beyond his limits. Whenever his friends are threatened or harmed, Goku abandons nearly all mercy for the foe, as the mortal-wound to Piccolo and loss of his best friend Krillin against Frieza allowed Goku to unleash Super Saiyan on the tyrant.

Despite his genuine compassion for others, Goku's ignorance at times comes off as a lack feeling familial ties, but rather views his family simply as companions. He is rarely seen romantic or intimate with Chi-Chi and mainly married her because he promised, although once learning marriage means living with someone forever, openly liked the idea with Chi-Chi. He even cited her feistiness and passion as traits endearing to him. He will often leave his family for long periods, and though normally for noble reasons, such as maintaining his strength for the protection of the world, Goku does not realize its negative affect on his family and friends. Despite this, he consistently expresses his appreciation for his family, as after completing his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to face Cell, he chose to spend the remaining time with his family rather than training more. Goku desires for his children to follow in his footsteps as a fighter but he is generally accepting of their choices in lifestyle so long as they are happy and healthy. Overall, his love for his family have been a constant boost to his performance in battle. Also, Goku was very happy to learn he was going to be a grandfather, to which he later enjoyed taking care of his baby granddaughter Pan and grew very concerned when she disappeared. Against Goku Black, when learning that the rogue god murdered his family in spite from their initial encounter, despite it only happening in the original timeline, Goku's righteous rage let him pummel Black and Future Zamasu simultaneously.

Even more, Goku's love for his adoptive grandfather has constantly been shown as the most emotional aspect of his life. He has been Goku's greatest influence, even long after the old man's death and as shown by Goku's reaction to meeting him again with Fortuneteller Baba. Even with the revelation they were not blood-related or even the same race, Goku still considers the old man his family, as shown by his great sorrow and shame when realizing that he killed the kind man as a Great Ape, apologizing deeply to him and hoping for forgiveness when next they meet. Goku's bond towards his grandfather made him cherish the Power Pole and the 4-Star Dragon Ball that he left his grandson behind as the only material objects of real worth to him. As a child, he even came to believe that the Dragon Ball housed the old man's spirit as he would speak it often, possibly as a coping mechanism to deal with his loss of his only known family member and likewise overjoyed each time they met again in his afterlife. Goku was happy to meet all who were close to his grandfather and even delighted when his firstborn son reacted positively to being named after the elder.

While considering himself an Earthling more than Saiyan, in battle, he tends to think more like a typical Universe 7 Saiyan. Once a fight begins, he desires to see it through to the end to truly determine who is the winner. Even while battling Frieza on the self-destructing Planet Namek, he chose to finish his fight with Frieza even when offered the chance to escape through the Namekian Dragon Balls, believing that Frieza had to be defeated by his hand rather than random chance. He is also dissatisfied when foes do not use their full might. While valuing his friends' loyalty and willing to accept help when the need comes, he prefers to face his challenges solo, determined to prove his might against the given foe. He openly showed dislike at originally acquiring Super Saiyan God through the aid of others rather than by his own merit. At the same time, he admits that the true growth of his being came from the support and connection he gained from others. His warrior mentality can be reckless at times. Against Cell, Goku chose to focus the majority of his efforts training Gohan in the goal of unlocking his son's dormant capacities to defeat Cell, forgetting that Gohan was even gentler than him. Likewise, for an unrestricted fight against Hit, Goku willingly risked his life by hiring Hit to kill him to fight him at his best. Goku's is also willing to recruit help from his greatest of enemies like Frieza as he needed a strong tenth ally for the Tournament of Power.

At the same time, however, this ambition for the new generations stems from his humble concern that his friends and family have become too dependent on his might. He rationalizes his willingness to put the children in the spotlight of battle due to the fact that he will not always be around to help. He believes that the new generation needs to become stronger in order to protect the Earth from future threats. However, he is not without a personal goal behind it. Realizing the potential might of people like Gohan and Uub, he is excited by the idea of facing such might once realized. At the same time, Goku tries to keep people away from the battlefield if he feels it will be too dangerous for them as he during the battle against the resurrected Frieza, Goku agreed with Vegeta sternly on not letting Goten and Trunks get exposed to any more of Frieza's brutality.

Goku seems to think very little of his Saiyan family, having never learned the good traits of his parents. Even more, when he first learned of his Saiyan heritage, he rejected it out of horror and disgust at being from a race of vicious killers, though he ultimately embraced his heritage after hearing Vegeta's dying words against Frieza on Namek, fighting him to avenge the loss of all those killed by Frieza, including his Saiyan race. In Xenoverse 2, after learning the Future Warrior is training under his father, Goku shows an interest in learning more about him and even considers going to meet him.

Goku's most unique relationship is with fellow-Saiyan Vegeta. Their rivalry is mostly one-sided as Goku is generally friendly towards Vegeta and recognizes his abilities as a fighter, although Goku does get competitive with Vegeta as seen from learning that Vegeta left without him to train under Whis. While Goku and Vegeta have trouble working together, due to their conflicting personalities and Vegeta's continued desire to best Goku, they both respect and motivate each other to grow stronger, ultimately becoming close and loyal friends outside their competitive nature. While Goku is generally friendly towards Vegeta, Goku is not above teasing him. Goku also tends to admonish Vegeta's brutality towards enemies as shown when he criticizes Vegeta for killing the Ginyu Force, though this was mainly due to Vegeta killing incapacitated opponents.

XP4 Fanfics[]

Goku is a member of the Heroes Coalitions and is part of the Freedom Heroes. He also works as an instructor for the Training Camp and the Vanguard Academy.

XP4 Heroes Coalition - Neo-City Diaries[]

In Chapter 5, Goku arrives iat the training area in the Training Camp and reassured everyone that training goes on. Goku then ordered everyone to do a 500 laps, much to their dread and annoyance, Goku then minimized it to 20 laps.

In Chapter 6, Goku is mentioned by Anna Maymorie in reassuring Regan Bladeworks that training goes on.

In Chapter 33, Goku, alongside the Scotsman and the Heavy, are seen playing a game of snakes & ladders at one table inside the small kitchen somewhere in the Training Camp.

Abilities[]

Energy-based attacks

Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
Kiai– Goku has the ability to shoot an invisible blast of ki from both his palms and out of his eyes. He uses this three times in the anime (twice in the manga). The first time was when fighting Jeice and Burter in which he used the kiai technique to push them back. The second time, he used it to dig a hole in the Namekian ground to bury Vegeta's corpse in, after he was killed by Frieza. The third was during the battle against Omega Shenron, when Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta used it to knock Omega several feet back. It is likely that this move is rather weak, as even as a Super Saiyan 4, after fusing with Vegeta, it did nothing but stagger Omega, justifying why he did not use it in any other battles.

Kamehameha – Goku's signature energy attack, even though it was invented by Master Roshi. Goku first learned this technique after witnessing Roshi use it to extinguish the fire on Fire Mountain. Goku has also invented numerous variations of technique, such as the Super Kamehameha, Instant Kamehameha and 10x Kamehameha.

Super Energy Wave Volley – Goku releases a rapid barrage of energy blasts at his opponents, causing a massive accumulation of damage.
Solar Flare – The user spreads and places their fingers on their forehead, discharging a blinding flash of light.
Spirit Bomb (Genki-Dama) – Goku conducts the spirit energy of all nearby living organisms, forming a ball of power and size depending of the amount of harnessed ki energy. Its power was used against many powerful opponents such as Vegeta, Frieza, Dr. Wheelo, Turles, Kid Buu and Omega Shenron. It was also absorbed for increased strength in Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!.
Super Kamehameha - A powered-up version of the regular Kamehameha.

Martial Techniques[]

After Image Technique – This technique is a short burst of extremely high speed, moving faster than the opponent can sense. This has the side effect of leaving a momentary "after image", until the opponent's senses adapt and realize their target has moved.

Hasshu-ken – A technique, used to counter Tien Shinhan's Four Witches Technique, in which Goku moves his two arms so fast that they each appear to be in four places at once, effectively giving him eight arms to use in combat.

Jan-Ken (Rock, Scissors 'N' Paper) – An attack in which Goku delivers either a strong punch, a poke in the eyes, or an open palm strike.

Mad Dog Fist – This attack is used by Goku who acts like a dog, barking and jumping around to scare his opponent. He then jumps behind and kicks his surprised opponent.

Saru-ken (Crazy Monkey Technique) – This is a distraction move designed to confuse and taunt the opponent. Goku uses this in reaction to Jackie Chun's (Master Roshi's alter-ego) use of the Drunken Fist.

Full Nelson – Executed by performing half nelsons with both arms, though Goku only used this once against Raditz.

Speed and Movement Techniques[]

Even though it is not exactly certain how fast Goku can travel, on several occasions, it has been suggested that Goku by the end of Dragon Ball Z, could move faster then the speed of light, as Piccolo claimed that Raditz could move faster than the speed of light, and Raditz was not nearly as powerful as Goku at the end of Z. However, one must note this was merely stated in the Saban dubbed episodes, and itself is flawed considering that in the same dub, it is mentioned the Z Fighters themselves watch the light from someone's aura to see where they are during quite fast-paced battles. Vegito was suggested to have the ability to move faster than light speed, considering that he told Super Buu that he had to feel the movement of his ki because he wouldn't be able to see him with his eyes.

Some people argue that Goku was indeed faster than light speed by the end of Dragon Ball Z if not by some time earlier in the series, but could also move instantaneously while using the Instant Transmission.

Flight – The user uses their ki to give them the ability to levitate.

Instant Transmission – Also called Instaneous transmission the user places their index and middle finger on their forehead (although upon first use Goku only used his index), sensing a location that they teleport to.

Kaio-ken – Goku forms a red ki aura around his body, enhancing his strength and speed, the highest level of this attack used is x20. Goku doesn't use it much after becoming Super Saiyan, so it is unknown if he can currently increase it more. However, Goku has combined Kaio-ken with his Super Saiyan transformation on one occasion (convienlently named Super Kaio-ken). This was done in his fight against Pikkon.

Tail-Helicopter Technique – Used only once, (in Gokus fight against Jackie Chun) the user swings his tail in a circle fast enough to hover and fly freely.

Other appearing techniques[]

Blast Fist – Goku delivers a powerful uppercut, causing explosions in its path. This technique is used in Super Dragon Ball Z.

Zanku Fist – Goku delivers a powerful physical rush and hit combination, seen in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2.

Dragon Fist – Goku delivers a punch that causes an explosion, summoning a golden dragon to either wrap around the enemy and disintegrate with him, or devour them. This technique was first used in Wrath of the Dragon, and is the only one of Goku's abilities that he invented entirely on his own.

Warp Kamehameha – A combination of the Instant Transmission and the powerful Kamehameha. This technique was used by Super Saiyan Goku in his fight against Cell, and is also usable by Goku in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3.

Fusion Dance – The two users, when sharing the same power level, perform a simultaneous and parallel dance, ending with the contact of the users' index fingers, fusing them for half an hour. Should the dance fail, the users take on a disfigured form with low physical and ki abilities. Goku performs this technique three times with Vegeta. Twice in the Fusion Reborn and in Dragon Ball GT while in their normal and Super Saiyan 4 forms.

Kaio-ken Finish – A rush attack used in his base form. Used to cripple Nappa in the Saiyan Saga, also used in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.

Kaio-ken Attack – A rush attack used in his base form, Used in the battle against Vegeta, also used in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.

Meteor Blast – A rush attack used by Super Saiyan 2 Goku against Kid Buu in the anime, as well as in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.

Meteor Combination – Goku delivers several rapid punches and kicks before punching the enemy's stomach, stunning them as Goku jumps into the air where he blasts the enemy with a Kamehameha. This technique is used in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and during the fight with Piccolo.

Spirit Shot – Goku discharges a powerful burst of ki around his body. This technique is used in the Budokai video game series.

Telepathy – A technique that Goku taught himself.

Mind Reading – First shown in "Goku's New Power", somewhere along the trip to Namek, Goku taught himself how to read the minds of others, by placing his palm on their head.

Telekinesis – He uses this while in a hospital to take water out of a glass until Chi-Chi interrupts his concentration.

Energy Barrier – Goku used this technique in The Tree of Might.

Mimicry – The ability to copy others' techniques after seeing them performed once. Through this, Goku copied the Kamehameha and King Chappa's Hasshu-ken technique.

Meteor Impact – An attack that Goku used against Kid Buu.

Forms[]

Great Ape[]

Like all Saiyans, Goku can transform into a Great Ape (Oozaru) when he sees the full moon while he possesses his tail, though every time it wasn't at will. Because this tail was removed permanently in the main series by Kami when restoring the moon, this transformation was never taken by Goku again until GT (in which it is shown very briefly before the full transition into Golden Great Ape), making it his least used Saiyan transformation.

Super Saiyan[]

Goku uses his new power to defeat Frieza, the antagonist of the series at the time. Frieza had destroyed the Saiyans out of his fear of their growing power, and the idea of a possible "Super Saiyan". As a result of defeating Frieza, Goku avenges the Saiyan race, and the death of his best friend Krillin, but it is Trunks who kills the tyrant for good in the main timeline (Goku did the honors in Trunks' own time, in which the time traveler obviously never appeared to warn the Z fighters of their impending doom).

Ascended Super Saiyan[]

After having witnessed Vegeta and Trunks emerging from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Room of Spirit and Time), Goku concludes that surpassing the normal Super Saiyan form may be more possible than initially suspected, and enters the room to train himself and Gohan. After teaching Gohan to become a Super Saiyan, Goku is able to achieve this form alongside the further extreme of the form known as Ultra Super Saiyan. However, although this new powerup would not take as much of a heavy hit on his speed as the successor would, he decides that staying transformed like this demands far too much ki to be spent, and so decides that the regular Super Saiyan form is the best suited for combat, and makes a plan for him and Gohan to master it before they leave the chamber. As a result, after under 20 hours spent in the room (Vegeta and Trunks had spent a whole day each, and would spend another prior to the Cell Games), he and Gohan emerge as Full Power Super Saiyans. As a result of this and the new discovery of the most powerful Super Saiyan state at the time, Super Saiyan 2, this form is never used by Goku again, and Vegeta and Trunks soon follow.

Ultra Super Saiyan[]

Like the Ascended Super Saiyan form, Goku achieves this form in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber while training with Gohan. Although apparently stronger than Cell in this state, Goku told Gohan he could not defeat him because Cell was much faster, because "all the power in the world would do no good if you can't even hit the guy." Instead of persevering harder to simply increase power output, Goku decides that simply mastering the Super Saiyan form to suppress its downsides and make it a natural state is the best way to fight and gain power. This form is never used after its inital unlocking along with Ascended Super Saiyan, as a result.

Full-Power Super Saiyan[]

After realizing the weaknesses inherent to the higher grades of Super Saiyan, Goku concluded that mastery over the basic Super Saiyan form would be more advantageous and went on to improve his endurance in that form, thus achieving this state.

Super Saiyan 2[]

Although it is unknown when exactly Goku achieved this state of Super Saiyan, it is assumed Goku achieved this transformation in the Other World as he could put unlimited energy into his transformation. It was first seen when fighting Majin Vegeta's own Super Saiyan 2 form in their epic battle during the Buu saga. Goku later transforms into this state before showing the Super Saiyan 3 transformation to Majin Buu and Babidi, and again in an anime filler where he begins to fight Kid Buu.

In Dragon Ball GT, Goku can be seen briefly transforming into a Super Saiyan 2 while deflecting an attack by General Rilldo, and before he transforms into a Super Saiyan 3 during his second fight with Super Baby Vegeta. He also uses the form during the movies Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon.

When Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan 2 he has some noticable changes, such as his hair growing a little bit longer and becoming even spiker to the point where his hair splits into individual spikes making his hair more defined than his other Super Saiyan forms, along with disappearing hair strands surrounding the forehead which are exclusive to this form, like his son Gohan (but in a different way; for reference, see the picture). He also gains electricity in his aura surrounding his body, and his aura grows markedly larger and more vibrant in both the anime and manga.

Super Saiyan 3[]

Goku achieved this level in Other World as he could put unlimited energy into his transformation. Goku is first seen using this transformation against Majin Buu during the Majin Buu Saga. Once in this form, Goku was able to easily overpower Majin Buu in his first form and stood up to Kid Buu for fair amount of time. However, the transformation is extremely draining in terms of energy, as it cut Goku's time left on Earth from hours to a stated thirty minutes after performing the transformation for a short time. When attempting to gather enough ki to defeat Kid Buu during their final battle, he was unable to sustain it as he had not taken into account the strain overcoming his living body, and soon reverted back to his base state. Altogether, these heavy disadvantages make it impractical to use the transformation out of the afterlife.

Trivia[]

The Dragon Ball universe began as a loose adaptation of the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, with Goku being a parody of Sun Wukong the Monkey King. Similarities between the two include Goku's prone for mischief as a child (due to his innocence), possession of Nyoibo (Sun Wukong staff that can fill the entire Universe), and Flying Nimbus (the magical cloud the 'Great Sage' rode on).
Goku has been the inspiration for many characters, including Monkey D. Luffy from the One Piece series, Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto series and also Zatch Bell from the Zatch Bell series.
Goku has died twice in the Dragon Ball series, once by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon in their fight with Raditz and a second time by transporting both himself and Cell to King Kai's Planet to save the Earth from exploding.
In Japan, there is a short movie that feature One Piece and Dragon Ball Z joining forces to take down Eneru who tried to destroy Japan. Both Goku and Luffy team up to put an end to his evil.
In the anime, it is often teased that Goku is scared of his wife's temper (as joked by Master Roshi upon Goku's refusal to come back to Earth after the Frieza Saga "He's scared of the one thing that's stronger than a Super Saiyan- his wife!").
In the Portuguese adaptation of the series, Goku is often called Son Goku, since, by itself, the name, "Goku", resembles a censored Portuguese word.
Although he is the main protagonist, at some points in the series, Goku is surpassed in strength by Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and several others.
Goku's original name, Kakarot is a pun on "carrot". Likewise, all pure-blood Saiyans that appear in the series are named using puns on various vegetables, or the word "vegetable" itself. This is ironic, since, in Dragon Ball, when fighting against Monster Carrot, he said he hates carrots.
Goku is the only Saiyan capable of achieving every canon transformation of Super Saiyan, in addition to the anime-exclusive Super Saiyan 4 and False Super Saiyan transformations, apart from Legendary Super Saiyan, which cannot be "achieved," but rather, is genetically exclusive.
Goku was never the first to fight any of the 3 main villains in Dragon Ball Z. Nail fought Frieza first, Piccolo fought Cell and Gohan fought Buu.
In canon, the only technique Goku is seen to have invented was the Kiai, which was not given a name in the English Dub. Goku mentions it's name several times in the manga and the original Japanese audio track of the anime. The Kiai is simply an explosive burst of invisible ki that throws an opponent back, and spreads out from Goku's body in any direction that he focuses it in. Goku is first seen to use this against Burter and Jeice on planet Namek, and only one other time against Frieza.
Goku's skin tone changes in Dragon Ball GT, from a pale tone to a darker, almost tan tone.
Goku has shown an act of mercy to every major manga villain he battled from Piccolo onward. He gave Piccolo a Senzu after narrowly defeating him in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he let Raditz's tail go when holding him for Piccolo's attack (obviously a mistake when Raditz immediately didn't stay good on his word), he gave Nappa a chance to leave Earth after defeating him, he pleaded with Krillin to keep him from killing Vegeta with Yajirobe's samurai sword, he wounded Recoome and Burter, giving them a chance to recover and potentially turn over a new leaf, he gave Frieza some energy so he could flee Namek before it exploded (obviously not taking Goku's good advice), he gave Cell a Senzu before the Cell/Gohan fight to guarantee that Cell would be fighting at his fullest, unfatigued strength, and he used the Dragon Balls to make sure that the majority of Earth's population would forget about the evil things done by Majin Buu so that Buu could live on Earth in peace.
Although he is the main character, the strongest of all the Z Fighters, and the one the others turn to in order to defeat the villains, in the manga canon, he only singlehandedly killed King Piccolo. Emperor Pilaf and the Red Ribbon Army were never killed (unless you count Kid Buu); Piccolo Jr. and Vegeta switched sides; Nappa and most of the Ginyu Force were killed by Vegeta; Raditz was killed by Piccolo; Frieza was killed by Future Trunks; Cell was defeated by Gohan, and Majin Buu was defeated by the combined power of everyone on Earth. In fact, the first character he killed in Dragon Ball Z was Yakon - very late in the series.
Goku is the first Saiyan to appear in the Dragon Ball series.
Despite all the times Goku has been to Hell, he has never seen Heaven.
Goku is the only character to appear in every series and every movie/TV special/OVA/etc.
Despite being the main character, Goku has only officially won one World Martial Arts Tournament, and that was the 23rd against Piccolo. In all others, he lost to Jackie Chun, Tien Shinhan, and did not participate in one again until the 25th, which was interrupted by the presence of Majin Buu. He would later partake in the 28th, but forfeited when he left to train Uub. During Dragon Ball GT, he fought in the Jr. Division due to his child body, and lost when his competitor tickled him, causing him to fall out of the ring. Even in the Other World Tournament, the match ended in a draw because both Goku and Pikkon had touched the ceiling during their fight, which was technically a ring-out. He also lost the Cell games (Which was Cell's way of bringing back the World Martial Arts Tournament) when he forfeited.
Goku is the only character besides Vegeta and Krillin to fight all the three main villains in their final forms (although Krillin only fought Kid Buu in filler).
In the 133rd edition (September 2002) of Wizard Magazine, a hypothetical Superman vs. Goku match-up was published. Goku won the fight quite easily, not even needing to use Super Saiyan. However, the article fell under heavy criticism by upset fans. Later that year, Wizard did an open poll at the Toronto Fan Expo and New York Comicon asking attendees who would win. Over 80% said Superman would defeat Goku.
In the original Japanese anime, Goku is voiced by the same seiyu (Masako Nozawa) throughout the series' run. Additionally, Nozawa voices every biological male relative of Goku, with the exception of Raditz. In the FUNimation dub, he has been played by four actors: three as a child (one for the entire main series, and two others for miscellaneous projects) and only one for adult Goku. In the various Ocean/Blue Water dubs, eight actors have played him: three as a child, and five as an adult at various points of various different projects. In the Filipino dub, he was played by one actor. Goku is voiced by Jefferson Utanes in the Tagalog, Hiligaynon and Cebuano dubs.
In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Goku is the only character to have three ultimate attacks, which can be changed through customization.
On one occasion, in an interview with Shonen Jump in 1995, Akira Toriyama stated that Goku is his favorite character from the series which contradicts his previous statements claiming that Piccolo has always been his favorite.
According to Goku during his fight with Oceanus Shenron, he actually doesn't mind being naked in public.
Goku seems to have little fear of death, for example: He sacrificed himself to save Gohan and the Earth on two occasions and was willing to do the same a third.