ABED wrote:He's no softer as an adult. He doesn't kill Piccolo for the reason Kami claims. That was conjecture. Goku spares Piccolo because he wants someone to keep him on his toes. Goku kills Yakon like he was nothing. He's not against killing peons. Of course Vegeta considers Goku soft. Anyone who isn't a ruthless bastard like him would seem so by comparison, but killing demons like Tambourine isn't hard hearted. It should be noted that Goku tried to let Black go just like Raditz. He hasn't changed. He wasn't ruthless against Freeza when he goes Super Saiyan because he learned anything. He was brutal because he was full of rage.
I find this claim that he changes to be ridiculous. Why would that change not be pointed out? Every major change the characters make is made not only explicit, it's given focus.
And let me get this straight, you think Goku is ruthless when he was younger, grows more merciful only to revert to what he was at the beginning of the story?
he does become darker AND realistic, lemme explain why : Goku for the most part is a very light hearted character in the first 100 chapters or so (Against the Red Ribbon Army, he was just killing because it was second-nature to him. he just did it because thats all he knew. He did it like how he killed animals in the wild for food, like that fish in the 1st ch.) , but undergoes a dark change in his character when the Piccolo Daimao arc starts because of Krillin's death. From there on, he's killing left and right, as he does to Tambourine, Drum & King Piccolo, out of a desire for revenge for not only Kuririn's death, but Roshi's much later. This is similar to Gon's transformation in the Chimera Ant arc in HxH. Then, Goku trains with Kami after he kills King Piccolo, finally gaining an understanding of what it means to be good and evil (because Kami is God, an old man in the sky that watches over people). This is when he starts to hesitate to kill, as he is afraid of killing Piccolo even though it means the potential saving of the world. This hesitant nature towards killing continues into the first 2 arcs of DBZ; examples of this including Goku letting go of Raditz's tail, and his scolding of Vegeta when he kills Burter, Recoome & Jeice.
This coincides with Raditz's revelation that he is a Saiyan, and this poses an internal conflict for Goku: Goku's defining characteristic at this point in the series is his purity, his "good" if you will (which we see as he can ride the Kinto'un). Saiyans on the other hand, are pure evil; they pillage planets, they kill without remorse and they conquer and sell without regard for human life. This is where his conflict stems from, because he can't imagine himself NOT being human and actually belonging to a terrible group of people like the Saiyans. The darkness to his character is also added when he realizes that he killed Grandpa Gohan once he sees Vegeta transform into an Oozaru. Its the fact that Goku felt GUILT over killing Grandpa Gohan when he saw VEGETA transform into one; he pieced together what Roshi told him & realized he killed Gohan all those years ago. The guilt is what made him a darker character, not the fact that he can turn Oozaru (actually, that too would be considered "dark" since he goes wild and destroys everything with reckless abandon. That wasn't the example I was trying to use though).
It didn't torments him but it cast him in a tragic light because he felt guilt.
This is what the main meat of his character development is: him accepting his Saiyan heritage and once again learning to kill. He denies his Saiyan heritage against Raditz, begrudgingly accepts it against Vegeta, Recoome & Ginyu, and finally accepts it when Freeza kills Vegeta. His acceptance of his Saiyan roots is heightened when he transforms into a Super Saiyan: he becomes enraged and calls himself "THE Super Saiyan". At this point, he finds out who he is, he accepts that he is not a human, that his purity was from him hitting his head, and that he has a violent and selfish tendency to do things for a good fight. The killing also comes to a head, as he finally makes up his mind to "kill" Freeza; I put kill in quotations because as we both know, Freeza doesn't die until Trunks does it. However, Goku has finally reached the mental fortitude to be able to kill once again. However, it is much different then how he was in the King Piccolo arc: Goku killed out of revenge in the King Piccolo arc, whereas here, he "kills" in a completely sane state of mind. This is what allows him to help Gohan kill Cell, and for him to later kill Yakon and Majin Boo himself in the final arc of the manga. after Namek Arc he takes a backseat as a main character. also, he makes some complex decisions which puts his character in a grey area. after Namek Arc , he is characterized imo by mainly 3 things: 1) his association/dealing with kids, like training Gohan for an year in the Room of Spirit and Time since that arc was about his relationship with his son and getting to know Gohan better, motivating him in killing cell and gain more self confidence in himself , or teaching the kids Fusion because of him wanting the new generation to take over his role since he will not be around for long , or training Uub at the end of the series...also what he tells Piccolo about giving the next generation of people a chance to defend Earth when he's not around; 2) his decision to leave Earth at the end of the Cell arc because he attracts too many bad people to Earth, showing that he is a good guy deep down and can be incredibly caring and selfless when needed ; 3) making tough decisions like threatening Kaioshin's life to fight Majin Vegeta, saving Mr Satan and Dende instead of his sons, stopping Gohan from going alone to save Piccolo from Cell , Trunks and Piccolo reveal how tough Goku's fortitude is.
thus, he isn't the same character he was as a kid in terms of treating his opponents.
