Goku becoming Evil

[ChronoTwigger]

There will be something like "evil ki" (that red thing used by the alien), that will exactly work as Street Fighter Black Hado. Stronger but out of control.
Goku was about to use it, then stop and win as usual.

That's what happen. That aura color was exactly the same as the opponent he's facing.

[TheMikado]

I posted this in another thread but I think its relevant here too but I actually think that this may finally be acknowledging that Goku is the real danger to universe. I also do not believe that is a new form but God fully absorbing God ki and also making the statement that the two base theory may have been or supposed to have been a real thing. Goku is fighting then powers up to SSJ, then SSB, then to this red aura and comes out in ?Base? to continue the fight? Its clear whatever this "base" form is its much more powerful than the previous base form and seems to surpass SSJ, and SSB.

Anyway as far as the proof of Goku being the real danger.
In Universe in episode 77 the just confirmed in universe, that Goku and Omniking are the REAL dangers to the universe. I would add the following clip as evidence to the original post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKdmoPZZUWo

Beerus: Just forget about the Marital Arts Tournament!
Goku: But it sounds really fun! We get to find out who's the strongest in all the universes!
See? With this button, I can go right to Zen chan's.
Beerus: Fool! (Jumps in Goku's face yelling) I'm warning you, don't get involved with Zen-Oh sama!
Goku: (Yelling back) Why? I just want him to hold the tournament!
Whis: I can't agree with this either. There's no telling what will happen.
Goku: (Goku smiling) You mean there might be someone really terrible?
Beerus: (Shoves Goku) Wrong. Zen-Oh sama's the real danger here.
Goku: He's not that bad.
Beerus: Don't press your luck! Zen-Oh sama may be innocent and noble, but that innocence makes him dangerous.
Don't forget that he has the power to erase the universe itself.
Goku: (Stern face) I know. I saw him do that right in front of me. (Serious smile) It'll be fine.
Press this side and Zen chan comes. This side and I go to him. Which should I press?
Beerus: Listen. Don't do it. Do not press that button. (Holds hand to Goku's face threatening a blast)
Perhaps I've been too lenient with you. (Goku scows) ... your naive nature could be a menace to the universe.
(Intense stand off for a few moments of tension, and then goku pretends to throw the button away.
Goku: Fooled you. (And presses the button anyway)

Goku and Zen-Oh are literally the enemies this time around. Even the music is characteristic antagonist music.
Further, I've had the theory since the Universe 6 tournament arc and Zen-ohs appearance I've had the theory that Zeno-Oh would reset or delete the universe.
This exchange strongly, strongly implies this is a real and true possibility.
What we are seeing, in my opinion isn't Goku turning completely evil but rather being corrupted from absorbing so much God ki, that his saiyan thirst for battle takes over.
Goku may not be evil, but he's definitely the antagonist. From the exchange we can see he doesn't care anything about his family or friends which is kind of out of character for Goku.
Beerus warns him that Zen-oh could do ANYTHING including wipe out the whole universe and everyone Goku hold dear. Yes, Goku is the antagonist. Not evil, but the antagonist.

[TheMathemagician]

I posted this in another thread but I think its relevant here too but I actually think that this may finally be acknowledging that Goku is the real danger to universe. I also do not believe that is a new form but God fully absorbing God ki and also making the statement that the two base theory may have been or supposed to have been a real thing. Goku is fighting then powers up to SSJ, then SSB, then to this red aura and comes out in ?Base? to continue the fight? Its clear whatever this "base" form is its much more powerful than the previous base form and seems to surpass SSJ, and SSB.

Anyway as far as the proof of Goku being the real danger.
In Universe in episode 77 the just confirmed in universe, that Goku and Omniking are the REAL dangers to the universe. I would add the following clip as evidence to the original post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKdmoPZZUWo

Beerus: Just forget about the Marital Arts Tournament!
Goku: But it sounds really fun! We get to find out who's the strongest in all the universes!
See? With this button, I can go right to Zen chan's.
Beerus: Fool! (Jumps in Goku's face yelling) I'm warning you, don't get involved with Zen-Oh sama!
Goku: (Yelling back) Why? I just want him to hold the tournament!
Whis: I can't agree with this either. There's no telling what will happen.
Goku: (Goku smiling) You mean there might be someone really terrible?
Beerus: (Shoves Goku) Wrong. Zen-Oh sama's the real danger here.
Goku: He's not that bad.
Beerus: Don't press your luck! Zen-Oh sama may be innocent and noble, but that innocence makes him dangerous.
Don't forget that he has the power to erase the universe itself.
Goku: (Stern face) I know. I saw him do that right in front of me. (Serious smile) It'll be fine.
Press this side and Zen chan comes. This side and I go to him. Which should I press?
Beerus: Listen. Don't do it. Do not press that button. (Holds hand to Goku's face threatening a blast)
Perhaps I've been too lenient with you. (Goku scows) ... your naive nature could be a menace to the universe.
(Intense stand off for a few moments of tension, and then goku pretends to throw the button away.
Goku: Fooled you. (And presses the button anyway)

Goku and Zen-Oh are literally the enemies this time around. Even the music is characteristic antagonist music.
Further, I've had the theory since the Universe 6 tournament arc and Zen-ohs appearance I've had the theory that Zeno-Oh would reset or delete the universe.
This exchange strongly, strongly implies this is a real and true possibility.
What we are seeing, in my opinion isn't Goku turning completely evil but rather being corrupted from absorbing so much God ki, that his saiyan thirst for battle takes over.
Goku may not be evil, but he's definitely the antagonist. From the exchange we can see he doesn't care anything about his family or friends which is kind of out of character for Goku.
Beerus warns him that Zen-oh could do ANYTHING including wipe out the whole universe and everyone Goku hold dear. Yes, Goku is the antagonist. Not evil, but the antagonist.

What? Nothing he did this episode was really out of character. The guy has performed acts just as bad as this one before.

[TheMikado]

^ If your referencing Goku showing mercy and allowing enemies which he HAS ALREADY DEFEATED go then I would have to say you're incorrect.
Goku has never gambled the lives of trillions without justified cause. This isn't an inevitability like Buu. This would be the equivalent of Goku going to Babidi and giving him power so he could test himself againt Buu with full knowledge and warning that his actions could possibly destroy the universe.

[ConfusedPhantom]

Nah.

The directing in that scene just painted Goku's decision in a bad light, so that the audience senses what Goku is about to do is quite possibly the biggest mistake of his life. ....and that's what it is. The biggest mistake of his life. He's not evil. But, endangering all the universes due to his naivety is REALLY bad for him. This will actually be a pretty good story, if done right. Goku being the last one to take the path of redemption could potentially be pretty compelling. Just wish Toei didn't had to keep writing him as Luffy most of the time. : /

[Baggie_Saiyan]

So, people are doing the whole "NEW TRANSFORMATION OMG" thing for that short Kaioken scene huh.. Not surprised

Not Kaioken though. Different colour no blue aura, hair is also different. We've seen Kaioken twice it doesn't make sense for that to be an ambiguous tease.

There is a blue aura. When Goku cuts the aura in two you can see blue between the red.

That's an incredible stretch to call this blue :
[spoiler] vs
[/spoiler]

[Cipher]

^ If your referencing Goku showing mercy and allowing enemies which he HAS ALREADY DEFEATED go then I would have to say you're incorrect.
Goku has never gambled the lives of trillions without justified cause. This isn't an inevitability like Buu. This would be the equivalent of Goku going to Babidi and giving him power so he could test himself againt Buu with full knowledge and warning that his actions could possibly destroy the universe.

Goku has gambled with innocent lives plenty of times without cause (other than wanting a battle and trusting blindly in his own ability to handle the threat):

-Letting Vegeta go after losing to him (even calling it a selfish action)

-Letting Freeza power up

-Choosing to not pre-empt the creation of the androids in the face of a very viable option to do so

-And, yes, practically handing Bobbidi the energy needed to revive Boo, which was not at all an inevitability. Both he and Vegeta thought they'd be able to handle it, until they realized they couldn't.

He's not a monster. But if the consequences are any more intellectual than "These people right in front of you will be killed if you don't save them," he doesn't care.

[TheMikado]

^ If your referencing Goku showing mercy and allowing enemies which he HAS ALREADY DEFEATED go then I would have to say you're incorrect.
Goku has never gambled the lives of trillions without justified cause. This isn't an inevitability like Buu. This would be the equivalent of Goku going to Babidi and giving him power so he could test himself againt Buu with full knowledge and warning that his actions could possibly destroy the universe.

Goku has gambled with innocent lives plenty of times without cause (other than wanting a battle and trusting blindly in his own ability to handle the threat):

-Letting Vegeta go after losing to him (even calling it a selfish action)

-Letting Freeza power up

-Choosing to not pre-empt the creation of the androids in the face of a very viable option to do so

-And, yes, practically handing Bobbidi the energy needed to revive Boo, which was not at all an inevitability. Both he and Vegeta thought they'd be able to handle it, until they realized they couldn't.

He's not a monster. But if the consequences are any more intellectual than "These people right in front of you will be killed if you don't save them," he doesn't care.

Your scenarios are completely different.

1) He had already defeated Vegeta, who only gained an edge due to the Oozuru form. Goku had already beat him of his own strength and Vegeta's trump card was now gone.
2) Goku surpassed Frieza multiple times. No one knew he had all this multiple forms and power tiers. Even Goku being merciful to Frieza in the end was fine because Goku was still stronger than Frieza at his best similar to the Vegeta situation.
3) To be fair the way Trunks described it, it was as if Goku surviving the heart virus would have been enough to defeat them. Further, they just fought and defeated androids 19 and 20 without much trouble so with the information they did have I can see them not thinking earlier android creations were going to be an issue.
4) No Goku didn't hand him anything. Babidi was going to get the energy regardless of whether Goku fought Vegeta or not. Goku's only option was fight Vegeta or leaving in less than 24 hours and let Gohan, the supreme kai and the kids handle Majin Vegeta and Dabura on their own as the mass murder the people in the world anyway... Guess how that would have turned out...???

Goku is NOT an idiot. He's proven he can think about consequences in the past. Heck he did it in the Buu saga whether you agree or not. What other choice did Goku have realistically? Please tell me exactly what Goku should have done? We can use the SSJ3 argument but the fact is Goku had to fight Vegeta regardless. You can possibly make a case for "how" but not the if.

In this case, Goku is going INTO the trouble which is something HE HAS NOT DONE.

[HeroR]

^ If your referencing Goku showing mercy and allowing enemies which he HAS ALREADY DEFEATED go then I would have to say you're incorrect.
Goku has never gambled the lives of trillions without justified cause. This isn't an inevitability like Buu. This would be the equivalent of Goku going to Babidi and giving him power so he could test himself againt Buu with full knowledge and warning that his actions could possibly destroy the universe.

Goku has gambled with innocent lives plenty of times without cause (other than wanting a battle and trusting blindly in his own ability to handle the threat):

-Letting Vegeta go after losing to him (even calling it a selfish action)

-Letting Freeza power up

-Choosing to not pre-empt the creation of the androids in the face of a very viable option to do so

-And, yes, practically handing Bobbidi the energy needed to revive Boo, which was not at all an inevitability. Both he and Vegeta thought they'd be able to handle it, until they realized they couldn't.

He's not a monster. But if the consequences are any more intellectual than "These people right in front of you will be killed if you don't save them," he doesn't care.

He let Freeza power-up because he wanted Freeza to know that even at full power, he never had a chance of winning. He wanted Freeza to suffer a complete, and utter defeat. And he wanted to fight the strongest scumbag in the universe at full power.

To be fair, that androids one is on everyone. Goku wouldn't have stopped Bulma from using the Dragon Balls to find Gero early. In fact, part of his reason for not using a pre-empt was because he said Gero hasn't technically done anything yet.

[Cipher]

Your scenarios are completely different.

1) He had already defeated Vegeta, who only gained an edge due to the Oozuru form. Goku had already beat him of his own strength and Vegeta's trump card was now gone.

2) Goku surpassed Frieza multiple times. No one knew he had all this multiple forms and power tiers. Even Goku being merciful to Frieza in the end was fine because Goku was still stronger than Frieza at his best similar to the Vegeta situation.

3) To be fair the way Trunks described it, it was as if Goku surviving the heart virus would have been enough to defeat them. Further, they just fought and defeated androids 19 and 20 without much trouble so with the information they did have I can see them not thinking earlier android creations were going to be an issue.
4) No Goku didn't hand him anything. Babidi was going to get the energy regardless of whether Goku fought Vegeta or not. Goku's only option was fight Vegeta or leaving in less than 24 hours and let Gohan, the supreme kai and the kids handle Majin Vegeta and Dabura on their own as the mass murder the people in the world anyway... Guess how that would have turned out...???

Goku is NOT an idiot. He's proven he can think about consequences in the past. Heck he did it in the Buu saga whether you agree or not. What other choice did Goku have realistically? Please tell me exactly what Goku should have done? We can use the SSJ3 argument but the fact is Goku had to fight Vegeta regardless. You can possibly make a case for "how" but not the if.

In this case, Goku is going INTO the trouble which is something HE HAS NOT DONE.

For 1 and 2) How are those situations not exactly the same as what we get this arc? He's still playing the odds. Nothing guarantees he'll be able to defeat Vegeta in a second bout, or Freeza at full strength. He even acknowledges to Kuririn he's in the wrong with Vegeta, and the story painstakingly lays out through Kaio (and Kame-Sennin in the anime), that Goku's awakening as a warrior of rage is clouding his judgement against Freeza. Those are some of the clearest "Goku is being irresonsible and giving into his Saiyan instincts" moments the series ever gives us.

He has his motivations in both cases -- wanting another fight with Vegeta, wanting to humiliate Freeza and not miss out on seeing the "strongest in the universe" at full power -- but both situations could easily backfire with horrible repercussions for his loved ones and other innocents. In both cases he has safer options. He simply relies on his own strength getting him around the worst outcomes so he can pursue what he wants.

3) Goku provides a flimsy moral rationale for not going after Gero, but also says he wants to fight the androids. People died as a result. Bulma calls him out on how reckless he's being.

4) I'd argue Goku threatening Kaioshin is another pretty clear "Goku is in the wrong" moment. Kaioshin is begging him not to engage Vegeta, as their fight will almost certainly lead to Boo's resurrection. You know what wouldn't? Killing Dabra and Bobbidi. Teaming up. Almost anything else. He's too egged on at that point to care; Vegeta's successfully gotten under his skin. Once Boo has been awakened, they're both like, "Oh fuck, this was fun and all, but that's way worse than we thought."

The manga is littered with moments in which Goku looks at a situation with a safe solution, and does something selfish while having faith that through his abilities or otherwise, everyone can avoid the worst outcome.

Ignoring the possible consequences of further interaction with Zeno, especially since he's someone he puts his typical naive good faith in, is right in line with that.

Tell Goku there's even a 1/10 chance of something he wants backfiring horribly, and as long as it doesn't lead to immediate danger, he'll go for it anyway. Sometimes he'll do it even if it does. That's always been his negative trait. Again, the manga doesn't remotely dance around it. There are multiple, deeply unsubtle "Goku is currently being a bad person" scenes. We're not breaking new ground here, though I'm glad Super is finally doing something character-based with one of its two protagonists.

[TheMikado]

Your scenarios are completely different.

1) He had already defeated Vegeta, who only gained an edge due to the Oozuru form. Goku had already beat him of his own strength and Vegeta's trump card was now gone.

2) Goku surpassed Frieza multiple times. No one knew he had all this multiple forms and power tiers. Even Goku being merciful to Frieza in the end was fine because Goku was still stronger than Frieza at his best similar to the Vegeta situation.

3) To be fair the way Trunks described it, it was as if Goku surviving the heart virus would have been enough to defeat them. Further, they just fought and defeated androids 19 and 20 without much trouble so with the information they did have I can see them not thinking earlier android creations were going to be an issue.
4) No Goku didn't hand him anything. Babidi was going to get the energy regardless of whether Goku fought Vegeta or not. Goku's only option was fight Vegeta or leaving in less than 24 hours and let Gohan, the supreme kai and the kids handle Majin Vegeta and Dabura on their own as the mass murder the people in the world anyway... Guess how that would have turned out...???

Goku is NOT an idiot. He's proven he can think about consequences in the past. Heck he did it in the Buu saga whether you agree or not. What other choice did Goku have realistically? Please tell me exactly what Goku should have done? We can use the SSJ3 argument but the fact is Goku had to fight Vegeta regardless. You can possibly make a case for "how" but not the if.

In this case, Goku is going INTO the trouble which is something HE HAS NOT DONE.

For 1 and 2) How are those situations not exactly the same as what we get this arc? He's still playing the odds. Nothing guarantees he'll be able to defeat Vegeta in a second bout, or Freeza at full strength. He even acknowledges to Kuririn he's in the wrong with Vegeta, and the story painstakingly lays out through Kaio (and Kame-Sennin in the anime), that Goku's awakening as a warrior of rage is clouding his judgement against Freeza. Those are some of the clearest "Goku is being irresonsible and giving into his Saiyan instincts" moments the series ever gives us.

He has his motivations in both cases -- wanting another fight with Vegeta, wanting to humiliate Freeza and not miss out on seeing the "strongest in the universe" at full power -- but both situations could easily backfire with horrible repercussions for his loved ones and other innocents. In both cases he has safer options. He simply relies on his own strength getting him around the worst outcomes so he can pursue what he wants.

3) Goku provides a flimsy moral rationale for not going after Gero, but also says he wants to fight the androids. People died as a result. Bulma calls him out on how reckless he's being.

4) I'd argue Goku threatening Kaioshin is another pretty clear "Goku is in the wrong" moment. Kaioshin is begging him not to engage Vegeta, as their fight will almost certainly lead to Boo's resurrection. You know what wouldn't? Killing Dabra and Bobbidi. Teaming up. Almost anything else. He's too egged on at that point to care; Vegeta's successfully gotten under his skin. Once Boo has been awakened, they're both like, "Oh fuck, this was fun and all, but that's way worse than we thought."

The manga is littered with moments in which Goku looks at a situation with a safe solution, and does something selfish while having faith that through his abilities or otherwise, everyone can avoid the worst outcome.

Ignoring the possible consequences of further interaction with Zeno, especially since he's someone he puts his typical naive good faith in, is right in line with that.

Tell Goku there's even a 1/10 chance of something he wants backfiring horribly, and as long as it doesn't lead to immediate danger, he'll go for it anyway. Sometimes he'll do it even if it does. That's always been his negative trait. Again, the manga doesn't remotely dance around it. There are multiple, deeply unsubtle "Goku is currently being a bad person" scenes. We're not breaking new ground here, though I'm glad Super is finally doing something character-based with one of its two protagonists.

Wait a minute, you're proving my point precisely though. I have no issue with Goku making bad or poor decisions as long as the risk managment is reasonable.
In every example you and I have discussed there was a reasonable level of risk based on current information or past experience. The Frieza/Vegeta examples are perfectly acceptable levels of risk because not only has the enemy been defeated but soundly defeated and by a fair margin, and often in a permanently crippled state. Vegeta's tail is permanently gone and Frieza has no legs by the end of it all.

The character by and large make mistakes and poor decisions. The issue is you never think, man I wouldn't have done that. I personally don't believe in killing so I probably would have let Vegeta go. One thing that the vast major of the audience wouldn't do, is knowingly get involved with Zen-Oh after witnessing him wipe out all those innocent lives in another universe and feel NOTHING. There's no post traumatic stress, nothing. Its like he's cool with it and I don't mind taking a chance that it may happen again.

Look we can go back and forth all day, but the decision making and risk management aren't even close. Yes Goku has always been bad about this stuff, but this has taken it to a whole new level of awful. We've never seen an exchange like that before. At least in the Vegeta scene, he had literally murdered people right in front of their eyes... Goku was weighing the needs of few versus the needs of many. In this circumstance it is solely the vastness of the potential consequences and the swallowless of the reasoning, and the incredibly high risk level which combine to make this unthinkable. You're talking about situations where Goku previously overcame them and he expects to overcome them again with ease, vs a situation he literally just experienced and was powerless to do anything about at all. And for some reason he doesnt want to listen and everything will turn out just fine. This is NOT the same.

[Cipher]

I don't think this scenario is remotely dissimilar. He has reason to suspect he can beat Vegeta in a second bout. He has reason to expect Zeno will act reasonably. Neither is a guarantee, but in neither case does the potential negative outcome override his desire for challenge.

Also, in all of those cases, but particularly the Vegeta and Freeza examples, the intent is very much for the reader to think "I wouldn't have done that/he shouldn't have done that." Kaio and Kuririn are the reader's better judgement in both cases, as much as we want to see Goku kick some ass. I don't see how you can come away with any other reading.

[TheMikado]

I don't think this scenario is remotely dissimilar. He has reason to suspect he can beat Vegeta in a second bout. He has reason to expect Zeno will act reasonably. Neither is a guarantee, but in neither case does the potential negative outcome override his desire for challenge.

What possible reason does he have to believe that about Zen-Oh??

He has reasonable belief he can beat Vegeta because he did it before in raw power on his own. Vegeta only got the edge with Oozaru but due to his tail being cut of its not a factor anymore and he doesn't have Nappa. Vegeta was of very little threat/risk.

Zeno-Oh? He already wiped out 6 universes just because. Literally the last time he called him he wiped out every last thing in the universe including all those innocent people when he could have just erased Zamasu. An Goku couldn't do a damn thing about it but sit there with his mouth open when he did it. He has heard and seen personally, first-hand that the Omni-king is not incredibly stable. Further now there's two of them and he only really has a relationship with one of them.
This isn't a case where he can take personal responsibility and take care of the problem himself should things go south, this is literally a case where there's not a damn thing he can do about and he still is fine with creating the situation in the first place, and EVERYBODY warned him not to do it.

Ok here's an analogy. Cop lets a known series killer/mass murderer free saying if he steps out of line I'll stop him again. I've done it before I can do it again.
Random guy messes with some ultra powerful dictator capable of starting World World III after personally experiencing the horrors of WWII first-hand. Everyone warns him not to, but he says me and this guy are cool, I'm sure he wont launch nukes and wipe out billions of lives. Two days later dictator is ready to launch nukes and wipe out everyone and all the guy can do is sit there with his thumb in his mouth like a dumbass.

I'm not sure how you can even compare the two scenarios, the scale and risk is not even close. 1) known threat with low risk with a demonstrated method for overcoming vs 2) unknown threat with clear and current precedent that you could do a damn thing about it should something pop-off.

[HeroR]

I don't think this scenario is remotely dissimilar. He has reason to suspect he can beat Vegeta in a second bout. He has reason to expect Zeno will act reasonably. Neither is a guarantee, but in neither case does the potential negative outcome override his desire for challenge.

Also, in all of those cases, but particularly the Vegeta and Freeza examples, the intent is very much for the reader to think "I wouldn't have done that/he shouldn't have done that." Kaio and Kuririn are the reader's better judgement in both cases, as much as we want to see Goku kick some ass. I don't see how you can come away with any other reading.

Simple, we have hindsight that tells just that sparing Vegeta was a great idea, and Freeza was a non-issue. Here, no hindsight, so everyone thinks Goku is acting worst. If this forum existed when the Saiyan Saga was live in the manga/anime, I bet people will be calling Goku out for sparing Vegeta, especially after he slaughter that Namekian village. In reverse, if this saga was finished years ago and everything turned out for the best in the end, everyone wouldn't necessarily mind Goku being a selfish asshole here.

[Low Tone G]

I don't think this scenario is remotely dissimilar. He has reason to suspect he can beat Vegeta in a second bout. He has reason to expect Zeno will act reasonably. Neither is a guarantee, but in neither case does the potential negative outcome override his desire for challenge.

Also, in all of those cases, but particularly the Vegeta and Freeza examples, the intent is very much for the reader to think "I wouldn't have done that/he shouldn't have done that." Kaio and Kuririn are the reader's better judgement in both cases, as much as we want to see Goku kick some ass. I don't see how you can come away with any other reading.

Simple, we have hindsight that tells just that sparing Vegeta was a great idea, and Freeza was a non-issue. Here, no hindsight, so everyone thinks Goku is acting worst. If this forum existed when the Saiyan Saga was live in the manga/anime, I bet people will be calling Goku out for sparing Vegeta, especially after he slaughter that Namekian village. In reverse, if this saga was finished years ago and everything turned out for the best in the end, everyone wouldn't necessarily mind Goku being a selfish asshole here.

But we already know that it will turn out for the best, this is before EoZ, so...
I personally think that this isn't in Goku's character, to be this jerk and disrespectful towards Beerus...

[Cipher]

What possible reason does he have to believe that about Zen-Oh??

He's his "friend" and Goku assumes the best of people, to a fault.

It is important, obviously, that he just saw Zeno destroy a world and ignores Beerus' and Whis' better judgement, in the interest of making it clear we're witnessing Goku give into his biggest flaw, but it isn't out of line with any of his behavior in earlier parts of the series.

He has reasonable belief he can beat Vegeta because he did it before in raw power on his own. Vegeta only got the edge with Oozaru but due to his tail being cut of its not a factor anymore and he doesn't have Nappa. Vegeta was of very little threat/risk.

What if Vegeta's tail grows back? What if Vegeta gets stronger more quickly than Goku? He doesn't know shit about what's going to happen. He was just soundly defeated; everyone barely managed to scrape by.

That's exactly why he tells Kuririn it's a "selfish" request, and why the scene goes to great lengths to indicate this is Goku giving into his less than defensible Saiyan desires. I'm not casting this negative reading on it. It's right there plain as day on the page.

The last thing Vegeta does before escaping is promise to come back to kill them all!

In the Freeza scenario, he has no idea what his opponents' full power will look like. He's confident, but he's also just vindictive and curious at that point. Kaio, again, tells us explicitly that his reason is gone. For all he knew, he could have been killed in that battle while Freeza, who he could stop with certainty before he powers up, escaped to seek vengeance on Earth.

This isn't a case where he can take personal responsibility and take care of the problem himself should things go south, this is literally a case where there's not a damn thing he can do about and he still is fine with creating the situation in the first place, and EVERYBODY warned him not to do it.

That's ... exactly the same as Kuririn, Kaio, Bulma, etc. telling hm off. He's just more of a dick about it this time because he's gotten even cockier.

(Though honestly, I'm not even sure that's true. He tells Kuririn he'll never forgive him if he doesn't let Vegeta escape. That's ice cold. And he clarifies it isn't out of any sense of altruism, but simply because he wants to fight Vegeta again. Kuririn lies about how Vegeta got away on the plane because he doesn't want to out Goku to the rest of their friends.)

Ok here's an analogy. Cop lets a known series killer/mass murderer free saying if he steps out of line I'll stop him again. I've done it before I can do it again.
Random guy messes with some ultra powerful dictator capable of starting World World III after personally experiencing the horrors of WWII first-hand. Everyone warns him not to, but he says me and this guy are cool, I'm sure he wont launch nukes and wipe out billions of lives. Two days later dictator is ready to launch nukes and wipe out everyone and all the guy can do is sit there with his thumb in his mouth like a dumbass.

Both of those would be reckless and shitty.

Though in literally every example above, Piccolo aside, who I didn't mention, Goku doesn't even have the luxury of saying "I've stopped you before." He has no idea. The higher the challenge, the better.

And again, this isn't out of any Batman-esque stance against killing, or belief in redemption. It's all about ignoring potential risk in the interest of personal thrill. It works out inevitably -- Piccolo, Vegeta, the androids, and Boo all become allies; Zeno will probably be changed for the better too -- because that's the moral universe of Dragon Ball, but that doesn't mean this hasn't consistently been Goku's greatest flaw.

I'm not sure how you can even compare the two scenarios, the scale and risk is not even close. 1) known threat with low risk with a demonstrated method for overcoming vs 2) unknown threat with clear and current precedent that you could do a damn thing about it should something pop-off.

All of those examples present terrible risk. The androids kill everyone in the future, for example. He assumes his strngth will get him out of the worst-case scenarios, and he assumes his friendship with Zeno and Zeno's innocence will get him out of any worst-case scenarios if he continues to interact with him.

In all cases, the risk-reward comes down to "Loved ones and innocents might be killed" versus "I get to have fun." It's never a chance worth taking.

But he does it every. Single. Time.

[TheMikado]

Ok, you win.
If stopping a scenario that you have had similar success in stopping before is just as high risk as potentially doing something that may result in wiping out the entire universe and you have 0 hope in stopping, we just have very very different thresholds for risk management.

Goku, exceeded Freeza's previous forms, It's not unreasonable to think Frieza couldn't get much stronger. Further he had a distinct reason for this which was to break Frieza's fighting spirit.
Vegeta was defeated. Its not unreasonable to think he could do it again. No one is making the case that it was a good decision, but the level or risk is much more acceptable IMO.
They defeated androids 19 and 20, its not unreasonable to think they could take out older, lower number models. Plus Goku was actually alive this time which was Trunks whole point.

Zen-Oh destroyed 6 universes over petty things
and Goku witnessed him destroy another one recently.
Its not unreasonable to thing a similar thing would happen again.

[Draconic]

Zen-Oh destroyed 6 universes over petty things
and Goku witnessed him destroy another one recently.
Its not unreasonable to thing a similar thing would happen again.

Goku witnessed Zeno destroying an entire Universe that was being corrupted and lifeless due to the greatest foe he ever met.
He also saw that despite everybody being so afraid of Zeno, the guy was actually pretty cool to him and only wanted a friend. He also spared everybody in the U6 arc.

He is irresposible for not taking the advice of the guys who saved his ass at least three times now and have experience with the guy, but he also has no reason to think Zeno will just go and wipe every losing Universe, since after the last tournament no one got hurt and no one even got punished.

[TheMikado]

Zen-Oh destroyed 6 universes over petty things
and Goku witnessed him destroy another one recently.
Its not unreasonable to thing a similar thing would happen again.

Goku witnessed Zeno destroying an entire Universe that was being corrupted and lifeless due to the greatest foe he ever met.
He also saw that despite everybody being so afraid of Zeno, the guy was actually pretty cool to him and only wanted a friend. He also spared everybody in the U6 arc.

He is irresposible for not taking the advice of the guys who saved his ass at least three times now and have experience with the guy, but he also has no reason to think Zeno will just go and wipe every losing Universe, since after the last tournament no one got hurt and no one even got punished.

Except for wiping out 6 universes for something that even Whis describes as trivial. There's plenty of evidence that he's not the kind of guy Goku should take lightly.
You could make a case for Trunks timeline, but not in the context of the other 6 perfectly viable universes (to our knowledge anyway). All that means is that he's wiped out magnitudes more innocent lives for something far more trivial

[FortuneSSJ]

I would love that route. Toriyama is one of the few mangakas that has the balls to do that.