Chibi or Adult Goku?

[Vijay]

Which version is your favourite?

I'm one of those fellas that considered original DragonBall as nothing but childish show. And Chibi Goku to be your average shounen hero, devoid of any likable/relatable traits.

My perception was dashed as early as Ep 10. Chibi Goku was freakin kawaii!! Dare say no one except Nozawa could infuse such energetic, innocent yet funny traits into the character & elevate an otherwise featherweight character.

The admiration turned into respect when it comes to Adult Goku. His gradual maturation (23rd TB onwards) as Earthling (Saiyan Arc), Saiyajin (Frieza Arc), Father (Android Arc) & Sensei (Boo Arc) was extremely appealing.

In short, I admire both versions equally

Thoughts?

[TheAmericanDream]

I'm at the point in my fandom where I try to not separate the two so much as I take the character as a whole and judge Goku on an arc by arc basis. But in terms of who is the more interested developed character? It's definitely adult Goku but most of his best moments for me are with Chibi Goku.

Sometime during the Namek arc I started to notice myself slowly losing interest in our hero saving the day and disliked seeing him sidelined by things (like the heart virus) because my affection for him continued to stagnate. Sometimes I wonder if not getting to know Goku as a kid has influenced some disdain for later era Goku within the dub only fan base but I'm not sure about that. At the end of the day though I sometimes take issue with people saying they're radically different from one another though. Goku is still Goku.

[ShaneisMC]

Maybe I simply need to rewatch. But I have pretty much always loved every stage of Goku's character growth and most of his actions I understand even if they are flawed they are a part of who he is. That being said he perhaps seems a little bit extra.... idk. Annoying perhaps in Super? Maybe? Idk. I'll have to go back through. Though that being said with him having become a god it is understandable he could or would become a bit different. That is an exceptional surge in power. Maybe I'm wrong though and I'm not remembering him correctly here. In any case I absolutely love the series as a whole though if I had to give any part an edge it would be the original Freeza arc. I loved every part of it and how central it is to the entirety of the series. I loved the growth Goku went through a lot there not only in power of course but his understanding, acceptance, and full on embracement of who and what he is.

[Draconic]

You can't really chose because he is one character going developing from almost an arc to arc basis. Kid Goku from the Hunt for The Dragon Balls is very different from the Goku from the Piccolo Daimao Arc and also, Goku from the Freeza arc is very different from Goku from the Buu Arc. I think it's best not to try to separate him as two characters. However, if I were to chose, as much as I love the first half of the series, I have to go with adult Goku.

[TheUltimateVegito]

In any case I absolutely love the series as a whole though if I had to give any part an edge it would be the original Freeza arc. I loved every part of it and how central it is to the entirety of the series. I loved the growth Goku went through a lot there not only in power of course but his understanding, acceptance, and full on embracement of who and what he is.

Pretty much this, the way Goku developed and matured while retaining the personality he had since he was a kid was fantastic stuff. Adult Goku would be my obvious choice since he naturally evolved as a character from his chibi self.

[Kuririn Fan]

I like them both, i like his underrated character progression throughout the arcs.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I feel like he's more interesting once he becomes an adult, because you never quite know what he's going to do. His child self is more enjoyable/entertaining though