Goku letting Vegeta go is a very touching scene

[Zephyr]

Also, I cannot imagine for the love of my life seeing Child Goku, who I consider to be a much smarter character, doing this in his confrontation with Piccolo, Tao Pai Pai, or any of the other many innocent-life-threatening foes, really. "Oh, okay. I'm satisfied, because your spirit is broken or whatever. Bye, don't go killing any more people!" While I do understand Toriyama didn't intend Goku to be a Superman, he is depicted time and again as being infuriated by the killing of innocents, him being fully aware what a monster Vegeta, Freeza and all the other future villains are, only makes it worse.

If I believed Toriyama was a good writer, I would see Goku's newfound sense of life valuing as character development and a sign that he has embraced adulthood. But as I have seen the Cell and Boo Sagas, and by extension all of Super, I can't swallow it as anything more than plot-induced stupidity.

I mean, Goku is a gamer. He loves to have fun, and what's most fun for him is a good fight. He has been this way since he was a child, and what happens as he grows up is consistent with this. The stronger he gets and the closer to "the top" he gets, the fewer possible prospects for a good fight he's necessarily going to have, and thus the fewer possible sources of fun he'll have. Each potential source becomes that much more precious. The fun of the fight is so important to him that he's willing to gamble the fate of the world on assurance of a current or future match against the strong guy.

These are clearly calculated decisions based on what he wants, and how much he thinks he'll be able to get away with. The man is clearly sure enough of himself, his abilities, and his commitment to the craft that he believes he'll be able to take them, and there are Dragon Balls which can fix things that get broken in the process. That's consistent with him still not liking when innocent people are hurt and killed. There can be two wolves inside of someone.

If he had Yamcha's track record in fights and the Dragon Balls were never a thing, or if the sole goal he had in life was to protect the weak from any and all possible harm (like some sort of Spider-Man), I'd be much more willing to call these gambles "stupid". These decisions are reckless and morally dubious, but hardly "stupid", unless you simply consider any reckless or morally dubious decision to be stupid, in which case, sure, fair enough I guess.

Even then, though, I'd hesitate to call them "plot-induced", when they're completely consistent with who he is. Goku is a guy who thrills on The Fight™, gave Piccolo a fair fight, and wished for him to grow stronger. When people insist that the Vegeta, Freeza, Cyborgs, etc. examples are at odds with Goku's characterization, and are thus "plot-induced", I feel like we've read different stories. Like there's a version out there where Goku's love of a good fight is just completely absent up until he lets Vegeta go. Like he's just begrudgingly going to tournaments and shit. Alternatively, if the reader doesn't enjoy seeing characters thrill on competition, or enjoy fighting as a spectator sport in any capacity, I can see how Goku's character would seem utterly alien and incomprehensible.

[ABED]

Wanted to add a few more things here:
Even if Piccolo was magnitudes stronger than Roshi, and could destroy the planet, I ask you this: What does he have to benefit from it?
As far as I was aware, Piccolo wanted to turn the Earth into Demon Land, not destroy it.
And if he did destroy it, could he breathe in space? Where would he go from there? Would he just float around endlessly, bored for his life?

With Vegeta and other villains introduced after, the stakes change. Vegeta, Freeza, etc, have no affiliation with the Earth. They could blow it up and go back to wherever they came from and nothing would change in their daily lives. No villain introduced before Vegeta had stakes as high as "If you fail, it's Game Over and nobody else can do anything about it afterwards." And that makes Goku's letting his enemies go all the more frustrating.

Also, I cannot imagine for the love of my life seeing Child Goku, who I consider to be a much smarter character, doing this in his confrontation with Piccolo, Tao Pai Pai, or any of the other many innocent-life-threatening foes, really. "Oh, okay. I'm satisfied, because your spirit is broken or whatever. Bye, don't go killing any more people!" While I do understand Toriyama didn't intend Goku to be a Superman, he is depicted time and again as being infuriated by the killing of innocents, him being fully aware what a monster Vegeta, Freeza and all the other future villains are, only makes it worse.

If I believed Toriyama was a good writer, I would see Goku's newfound sense of life valuing as character development and a sign that he has embraced adulthood. But as I have seen the Cell and Boo Sagas, and by extension all of Super, I can't swallow it as anything more than plot-induced stupidity.

You miss the point that Goku is very concrete bound. He wants a fight above nearly anything, but if he sees a flesh and blood person in front of him suffering, he's going to help. Not so with hypotheticals.

The plot is informed by the characters.

He's not stupid. His ends are reckless and it's okay to disagree with him, but letting badguys go who you want to fight is a smart way to achieve those ends.

[Lukmendes]

Wanted to add a few more things here:
Even if Piccolo was magnitudes stronger than Roshi, and could destroy the planet, I ask you this: What does he have to benefit from it?
As far as I was aware, Piccolo wanted to turn the Earth into Demon Land, not destroy it.

He didn't want to blow up the planet, but he did want nobody else to be alive in it after the world lived in chaos for years, which's why he was going to destroy every sector of it every year until there was nothing else, so while planetary destruction wasn't going to happen, King Piccolo could casually end civilization, and if he destroyed just one of the dragon balls when randomly nuking those people wouldn't return.

Also, I cannot imagine for the love of my life seeing Child Goku, who I consider to be a much smarter character, doing this in his confrontation with Piccolo, Tao Pai Pai, or any of the other many innocent-life-threatening foes, really. "Oh, okay. I'm satisfied, because your spirit is broken or whatever. Bye, don't go killing any more people!" While I do understand Toriyama didn't intend Goku to be a Superman, he is depicted time and again as being infuriated by the killing of innocents, him being fully aware what a monster Vegeta, Freeza and all the other future villains are, only makes it worse.

It's specially noticeable considering how little Goku as a kid cared about killing, since he thinks he killed Tao Pai Pai and quickly moved on, he killed everyone from Red Ribbon army and didn't care too.

Although he did consider to spare Tao Pai Pai, so he was always a bit of a softy, just that when it came to killing, well, it happened.

If I believed Toriyama was a good writer, I would see Goku's newfound sense of life valuing as character development and a sign that he has embraced adulthood. But as I have seen the Cell and Boo Sagas, and by extension all of Super, I can't swallow it as anything more than plot-induced stupidity.

It's specially bad after Buu saga, since Goku is less against killing after Namek, since he tells Gohan to kill Cell as soon as possible, and he's surprisingly pragmatic in Buu saga until kid Buu, going from Buu saga Goku to RoF Goku is seriously jarring.

Not that I'm saying Buu saga Goku was perfect, the retcons around whether he thinks he can handle Buu made him into a lying jackass in-universe, and he was still a moron when dealing with kid Buu, but he handled Buu saga better than RoF, which's saying something...

It just seems like Toriyama subtly develops Goku over the years, only to regress his characters in some ways and exaggerate his worst traits, and while this is far more noticeable from Z to Super (Since Super Goku is an actual amateur making the same mistakes he mocked his opponents from making in Z), it's still there even from vanilla DB until Z (And 23 tournament too since he spared Piccolo, but even then he partially didn't want Piccolo to die otherwise it'd mean Kami dies too).

[ABED]

Vanilla DB?

While he doesn’t want Kami to die, that is a side issue. He didn’t just spare Piccolo, he got his body torn up and still told his friends to not fight so he could win the tournament. The hat was his primary goal.

Goku is inconsistent bc people are inconsistent.

[Majin Buu]

With Vegeta and other villains introduced after, the stakes change. Vegeta, Freeza, etc, have no affiliation with the Earth. They could blow it up and go back to wherever they came from and nothing would change in their daily lives. No villain introduced before Vegeta had stakes as high as "If you fail, it's Game Over and nobody else can do anything about it afterwards." And that makes Goku's letting his enemies go all the more frustrating.

While I do understand Toriyama didn't intend Goku to be a Superman, he is depicted time and again as being infuriated by the killing of innocents, him being fully aware what a monster Vegeta, Freeza and all the other future villains are, only makes it worse.

I think you're overlooking an important detail about Goku's character here:

It's not that he doesn't care about these guys being monsters that harm innocent people (as you yourself alluded to, he knows they do that), it's that he's confident- sometimes too confident, that he can stop them. It's when he knows that he can't that he starts being proactive in doing so.

He lets Vegeta go for a future fight here not because he doesn't care about the prospect of Vegeta causing harm later (his admission that it's a selfish request indicates, again, that he knows this guy has harmed people), but because he simply believes he'll just beat him the next time they fight, ending the threat there.

It's a character flaw that stems from confidence in his abilities (or the abilities of others)- not apathy about the stakes (or those other people).

[Koitsukai]

Some might call it a flaw, and it probably is, but to me that trait is his most admirable one. He has enough confidence to face just about anything, even if he is in a bind, he trusts himself so much that he knows something will happen and he'll succeed even if he is outclassed.
That's the captain I want on my team, that's the leader I want to follow.
Every bone broken and still saying he'll make you shit bricks next time, betting literally everything on himself? More, please.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I love this scene, it is beautiful and complex. Seemingly very out of place in a Toriyama work but so true to Dragon Ball itself.

[AliTheZombie13]

Maybe if the story framed it in the way you guys are saying, that Goku just wants them to go so they can fight him again, like the story did with Vegeta... But that's not what happens.

He spares the Ginyu Force and calls Vegeta out for killing them, even though Goku is already leagues above them, because..................... The story needed someone to call Vegeta out for being evil?

The story doesn't frame Goku letting Freeza go as him wanting to fight Freeza again, it frames it as Goku wanting Freeza to live in shame knowing he's not as powerful as Goku. Again, Goku is already above Freeza, there is no "I want to fight you again" here. Piccolo and Vegeta left their fights with Goku completely battered, this is not something that happens with the Ginyu Force or Freeza.

There's also other instances, like someone said above, where Goku just doesn't care about "Oh, someone is suffering, I gotta help them, because I'm so good and pure!" Cell was clearly suffering being beaten by Gohan, he was puking out, bleeding bad, in clear disadvantage. In that instance, did Goku go, "Oh no, that poor thing, he's already incapacitated, let him go and live in shame or something!" No, his response to Gohan was just, "Kill him already before he does something!!!"

You can argue that Goku might've learned something with his fights against Freeza, even though the story alludes to nothing of the sort... But he goes straight back to treating everything like a videogame during the Boo Saga and Super.

And again, this is a clear inconsistency to Goku's character as a child, who saw Black trying to run away, knowing full well he was already more powerful than him, was in clear advantage, and knew the army was already pretty much entirely dead. What did Goku do in response to that situation? "I can't let bad guys like you run away!" Right before killing him.

Now, I'm not above liking anti-heroes. A lot of the villain characters in Cobra Kai won me over easily. But I'm a recent addition to this fandom, and Goku (and Vegeta for that matter) are just not well-written enough for me to care about them. Maybe if any of these decisions led to some sort of character epiphany, a turnaround moment, maybe if the characters reflected on their actions and tried their best at controlling their impulses, this so-called "poison" Toriyama wanted to give them, only to give in and cause unintentional damage, but still fix their mess and save the day in the end... Maybe I would like these events in the story, but that's not what happens and is not how the story frames it.

Or maybe, Dragon Ball is just not that kind of story, but it won't stop being frustrating to watch.

[MasenkoHA]

He spares the Ginyu Force and calls Vegeta out for killing them, even though Goku is already leagues above them, because..................... The story needed someone to call Vegeta out for being evil?

Goku's beef seemed to be with killing people who were already down and out. He doesn't chastise Vegeta for killing Jheese in fair combat.
I do need to concede it is a bit contrived/out of character that Goku didn't kill Butta and Recoome himself and Toriyama's decision to have Goku knock them out seemed to only exist to show how evil Vegeta still is, that he'll kill opponents who can't fight back.

The story doesn't frame Goku letting Freeza go as him wanting to fight Freeza again, it frames it as Goku wanting Freeza to live in shame knowing he's not as powerful as Goku. Again, Goku is already above Freeza, there is no "I want to fight you again" here. Piccolo and Vegeta left their fights with Goku completely battered, this is not something that happens with the Ginyu Force or Freeza.

With Vegeta and Piccolo he saw opponents worth fighting again. That wasn't the case with Freeza.

There's also other instances, like someone said above, where Goku just doesn't care about "Oh, someone is suffering, I gotta help them, because I'm so good and pure!" Cell was clearly suffering being beaten by Gohan, he was puking out, bleeding bad, in clear disadvantage. In that instance, did Goku go, "Oh no, that poor thing, he's already incapacitated, let him go and live in shame or something!" No, his response to Gohan was just, "Kill him already before he does something!!!"

Freeza was on a deserted planet that was about to blow up. Cell was still on earth. There is a distinction worth acknowledging and not just dismissing as some sort or inconsistency

And again, this is a clear inconsistency to Goku's character as a child, who saw Black trying to run away, knowing full well he was already more powerful than him, was in clear advantage, and knew the army was already pretty much entirely dead. What did Goku do in response to that situation? "I can't let bad guys like you run away!" Right before killing him.

I have no idea how old you are, but most people don't hold the same values in their mid to late 20s as they do when they're 12. It's not inconsistent for Goku as a pre-teen to see nothing wrong with finishing off an opponent on the run and then 12 years later be morally opposed to this sort of thing.

[AliTheZombie13]

Freeza was on a deserted planet that was about to blow up. Cell was still on earth. There is a distinction worth acknowledging and not just dismissing as some sort or inconsistency.

Except...
"There, I gave you some energy. Find a spaceship and get out of this planet!"

And if Goku's point was to let someone who was a clear danger to the universe go, only for said someone to live for just a bit longer, or to no longer suffer, wouldn't it be better to just... Kill them as a form of mercy killing?

I have no idea how old you are, but most people don't hold the same values in their mid to late 20s as they do when they're 12. It's not inconsistent for Goku as a pre-teen to see nothing wrong with finishing off an opponent on the run and then 12 years later be morally opposed to this sort of thing.

That is perfectly fine, but I would appreciate if Toriyama had a clear consensus on what the story considers worth killing/not worth killing. Because as MistareFusion points out, nameless mooks in every single arc since Freeza are A-OK to kill, and Goku has no problem with such. Goku also has no problem with killing Cell, Yakon, or anybody on Majin Boo's spaceship. But the time it comes to stop/kill Vegeta or Majin Boo? "Oh no, I don't want to do that, because I want the future generation to solve their problems without me!"

By itself, this would be harmless... If Toriyama followed with said idea. If Goten and Trunks had defeated Majin Boo, or Gohan had defeated Majin Boo, this wouldn't be a problem. But Toriyama up and decides, "Nah, they suck as protagonists, the story's about Goku, deal with it!" And goes back into Goku solving the problem, making past statements seem like excuses just to drag the plot along.

I don't see how this is different in the instances where Goku decides to spare enemies because of an out-of-nowhere sense of mercy he had never had before or after. The story doesn't show him have any epiphany about learning the value of life. Most fans tend to head-canon his stay at the Heavenly Realm as having "enlightened him" or something, but there is a problem even with that notion: Kami was training him specifically to kill someone.

I'm sorry, but Goku randomly sparing people instead of solving the problem in 2 seconds without clear justification, I just see as bad writing. At least with Vegeta and Piccolo, there was a clear narrative justification: Goku was being selfish, and wanted to fight them again.

[MasenkoHA]

Freeza was on a deserted planet that was about to blow up. Cell was still on earth. There is a distinction worth acknowledging and not just dismissing as some sort or inconsistency.

Except...
"There, I gave you some energy. Find a spaceship and get out of this planet!"

And if Goku's point was to let someone who was a clear danger to the universe go, only for said someone to live for just a bit longer, or to no longer suffer, wouldn't it be better to just... Kill them as a form of mercy killing?

Except..

Freeza had just been sliced in half. What clear danger did he present to the universe at that point? Goku isn't psychic and would have no reason to know Freeza would be brought back as a cyborg (and in one timeline, Goku took care of Cold and Cyborg Freeza himself). He gave Freeza some ki to get off the planet because Freeza begged for mercy. This isn't the first or even the second time Goku gave mercy to an opponent who asked.

That is perfectly fine, but I would appreciate if Toriyama had a clear consensus on what the story considers worth killing/not worth killing. Because as MistareFusion points out, nameless mooks in every single arc since Freeza are A-OK to kill, and Goku has no problem with such. Goku also has no problem with killing Cell, Yakon, or anybody on Majin Boo's spaceship. But the time it comes to stop/kill Vegeta or Majin Boo? "Oh no, I don't want to do that, because I want the future generation to solve their problems without me!"

In the case of Vegeta and Majin Boo it seems more like a case of Toriyama's seat of his pants writing getting the better of him. Goku probably was meant to be only as strong as those opponents at the time of their fight only for Goku to later revealed he was holding back because the plot now required him to be way stronger.

However, to give some leeway, there's been precedent for that sort of thing. In his fight with Tenshinhan he reveals he's been holding back, meaning he could have easily mopped the floor with Krillin in their match, but held back to allow for a good fight with someone he respected. So holding back in his fight with Majin Vegeta was incredibly stupid of Goku but also consistent with his ethics.(and yes obviously there's a world of difference in holding back in a no stakes tournament match with your buddy and holding back against a murderous psychopath while your energy is being used to awaken a much bigger threat)

Goku "I coulda defeated Fat Majin Boo this whole time" was a clear retcon to explain how he could go toe to toe with the pure Majin Boo, and likely an unfortunate byproduct of Toriyama changing his original plan for Gohan to defeat Super Boo.

I don't see how this is different in the instances where Goku decides to spare enemies because of an out-of-nowhere sense of mercy he had never had before or after. The story doesn't show him have any epiphany about learning the value of life. Most fans tend to head-canon his stay at the Heavenly Realm as having "enlightened him" or something, but there is a problem even with that notion: Kami was training him specifically to kill someone.

I'm sorry, but Goku randomly sparing people instead of solving the problem in 2 seconds without clear justification, I just see as bad writing. At least with Vegeta and Piccolo, there was a clear narrative justification: Goku was being selfish, and wanted to fight them again.

Goku told The Rabbit Gang he would spare their lives if Boss Rabbit changed Bulma back

Goku was willing to spare Tao's life when Tao begged for it until Tao tried to betray him

Both of these were before he even went to the Heavenly Realm.

Being naive and forgiving in spite of his at times blood thirsty nature is a core part of his character. Yes, he will kill in self defense or in the heat of battle but he does show mercy to those who have asked. That's not bad writing, that's just Goku's own moral code.

[AliTheZombie13]

Goku told The Rabbit Gang he would spare their lives if Boss Rabbit changed Bulma back

Goku was willing to spare Tao's life when Tao begged for it until Tao tried to betray him

Both of these were before he even went to the Heavenly Realm.

Being naive and forgiving in spite of his at times blood thirsty nature is a core part of his character. Yes, he will kill in self defense or in the heat of battle but he does show mercy to those who have asked. That's not bad writing, that's just Goku's own moral code.

Goku also sent the Rabbit Gang to the moon, where they would be unable to hurt anybody.
And he didn't spare Tao's life, Tao asked him, and Goku contemplated about it, before Tao betrayed him.



This is also in clear inconsistency with Black, who got killed in cold-blood for attempting to flee.
Goku before Vegeta had a coherent sense of killing: Give up and stop doing bad things, or I'll kill you.
Anyone would be pretty damn sure Freeza will continue killing people if he took the chance, but Goku seemingly doesn't care about it, because "living in shame" is good enough for him, never mind the innocents who will die as a result of letting Freeza live.

I have no such issue with Goku having mercy on an enemy he can easily stop, and if he can't easily stop, then someone else has a chance of stopping them. Going back to my Piccolo comparison, somebody said Piccolo could destroy the world and wipe out civilization if he wanted. But there's a problem here: We have already been shown what happens in the scenario Goku fails to stop him.

Piccolo gets full of himself, the other heroes are still alive, Tenshinhan starts learning the Mafuba, Goku survives and retreats to find a better strategy to deal with the problem, the list goes on. The stakes before Vegeta were never to the level where Goku's failure meant the Earth would suffer the same fate as Planet Vegeta.

I know, this is all fiction, but I can't find it in myself to root for the protagonist of a story who goes, "Oops, the Earth/entire universe almost got wiped out because of my own naivety? Tee hee, my bad! (proceeds to do the exact same thing next arc)"

[ABED]

The stakes are only higher bc the level of power but it’s the same characters.

While that was what happened in the Piccolo arc he is capable of destroying the world

If you don’t like the protagonists, what do you enjoy about DB?

[AliTheZombie13]

The stakes are only higher bc the level of power but it’s the same characters.

While that was what happened in the Piccolo arc he is capable of destroying the world

If you don’t like the protagonists, what do you enjoy about DB?

I enjoy Dragon Ball up to Early Namek.
After the Ginyu Force shows up, it's difficult for me to enjoy it.
Everything becomes about spectacle and raw strength, to the point where "not being strong enough" is framed by the story and the characters as a sin, even those who are not named Goku and Vegeta, and I find that incredibly problematic.

I also enjoy GT, mostly because it has a theme of "Even good actions have consequences, and sometimes, you need to fix the mess they cause" and "There is no magical artifact to make you strong, you need to work hard by yourself to get strong and make your dreams come true" which was also one of the messages of Red Ribbon, which I enjoy.

However, post-Ginyu Namek, Cell, Boo, and Super (with the exception of the movie version of BoG and Super Hero) are stories that I absolutely abhor. I didn't grow up with it, so I have less tolerance about its shortcomings.

Other than the story, though. I like the art direction and music.

[ABED]

The stakes are only higher bc the level of power but it’s the same characters.

While that was what happened in the Piccolo arc he is capable of destroying the world

If you don’t like the protagonists, what do you enjoy about DB?

I enjoy Dragon Ball up to Early Namek.
After the Ginyu Force shows up, it's difficult for me to enjoy it.
Everything becomes about spectacle and raw strength, to the point where "not being strong enough" is framed by the story and the characters as a sin, even those who are not named Goku and Vegeta, and I find that incredibly problematic.

I also enjoy GT, mostly because it has a theme of "Even good actions have consequences, and sometimes, you need to fix the mess they cause" and "There is no magical artifact to make you strong, you need to work hard by yourself to get strong and make your dreams come true" which was also one of the messages of Red Ribbon, which I enjoy.

However, post-Ginyu Namek, Cell, Boo, and Super (with the exception of the movie version of BoG and Super Hero) are stories that I absolutely abhor. I didn't grow up with it, so I have less tolerance about its shortcomings.

Other than the story, though. I like the art direction and music.

fair enough but abhor? That’s a pretty strong stance to take for a story with a giant bubble gum monster named after a Disney song lyric.

And strength is pretty much how the story has always solved its problems

Your views in this thread seem to point to lack understanding that characters can be inconsistent. That’s not a flaw or the plot dictating characters’ actions. It’s a fact of life that most people don’t make decisions based purely in logic. They go with what feels right in the moment

[AliTheZombie13]

fair enough but abhor? That’s a pretty strong stance to take for a story with a giant bubble gum monster named after a Disney song lyric.

I'll give it this about the Majin Boo Saga:
I do enjoy the mini-arc where Gohan goes to high school and engages with super hero shenanigans, and develops a relationship with Videl. Reminds me a lot of early Sailor Moon. I also enjoy that Toriyama tried to bring back the original humor Dragon Ball had before it became doom and gloom and universe destruction anxiety everywhere. But after Shin is introduced? I find myself wishing that it just ends already.

And strength is pretty much how the story has always solved its problems

True, but it never got to the point of:
"Guys, I came up with a plan to stop the Cyborgs early and-" (everybody looks at Bulma as if they're saying 'Do that, and you die!')
"Kuririn, don't you dare tell me you are *GASP* weak!!!!" - #18 and Marron in Super.

[ABED]

Goku told his friends to not interfere in the tournament bc if they did he’d get DQed. It’s not a superhero story. It’s a martial arts story. Saving the world is often just the plot but it’s not the story

Once I understood that then so much came into focus

Goku letting Vegeta go makes more sense and I get caught up in the emotion. There’s also a moment of self reflection which works really well

[AliTheZombie13]

It’s not a superhero story. It’s a martial arts story. Saving the world is often just the plot but it’s not the story

You see, this is where I disagree with Toriyama's statements.
He definitely didn't plan Dragon Ball to be a superhero story, but he did consciously or subconsciously build it like that.
Otherwise, Goku rampaging through Red Ribbon to avenge someone he barely knew or getting enraged over innocent people dying makes no sense.

Him choosing to stay dead at the end of Cell because he thinks he brings too much trouble to Earth reflects that. Whether Toriyama wanted it or not, he built Goku to be someone who wants to protect the weak.

The minute Goku knows, "If I let this happen, billions of people will perish" and then goes "...meh!" And then proceeds to get enraged when it does, in fact, happen just like you told him it would, and Goku shows no sign of self-reflection or epiphany over his actions... Then yes, that is indeed an inconsistency or incoherence.

And if it isn't... I have to ask myself, why am I rooting for this guy? Why am I watching the story when I don't like this guy? And to be honest, it's what I feel a lot of the time while watching post-Ginyu Dragon Ball or Super.

Dragon Ball isn't a superhero story, but there is a rule of storytelling nobody, not even Toriyama should break: "Don't make your characters impossible to root for."

[ABED]

It does make sense bc Goku is very concrete bound. He won’t stop it before it starts but if it’s someone right in front of him he will

Helping a stranger isn’t what superheroes do. They also go looking for evil to stop it.

He’s consistent in that he is very concrete bound and unable to deal with the abstract

That last rule isn’t a rule. That’s your rule. We all don’t consume stories for the same reasons. Plenty of great stories have despicable protagonists. The only true rule of writing is don’t be boring

[AliTheZombie13]

Then I ask for us to respectfully disagree.
Again, I'm not above liking villain protagonists or anti-heroes, it's just that I don't think Goku is a good one (post-Ginyu).
But then again, one man's trash is another's man's treasure... I like GT, after all, when everybody else seems to despise it.