Son Gokū a manipulative character....?

[DragonBallFan]

I have been thinking about this for a while, and also this has been pointed out by [spoiler]Seen Schemmel[/spoiler] as well as a few other people, that Son seems to act very childish but has a smart/manipulative side to him.

I remember Toriyama saying how Son has 'poisonous traits", and I'm thinking this may possibly be one of them. For example, he doesn't bother telling everyone that Gohan would be fighting Cell, though there are numerous reasons why he probably didn't, like not to make Gohan nervous before the battle etc. Son also in Super acts VERY naive to the point where it's find of ridiculous, though the manga seems to tone this down quite a bit. Gokū isn't a dumb person, from what I've seen he's pretty smart, in the anime of Dragon Ball there were a few times when he was knocked down he decided to play dead and worry everyone.

Son may seem to know that acting childish allows him to get away with certain things, like Chichi wanting him to work, spending time with Gohan or Goten(other than fighting, which he'd want to do), invading Bulma's privacy, breaking through walls etc.

Schemmel said something interesting in this video at 57:03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb2PPeWIxcE

Though, in the end when it comes down to it, Son has shown that he deeply cares for his companions, like in the fight with Frieza and his Kaioken x20 KAMEHAMEHA and his final fight with Beerus. Totally not Mark did a video on this.

Son getting people on his side in the end could be seen as him just playing around with his opponent mentally, building a rivalry kind of relationship with them, this seems very apparent with Frieza.

Someone pointed out to me that Sun Wukong was a mischievous monkey, so this might play into Son Gokū's character.

I feel like I missed some stuff out, but I can't put my finger on it, though I would like to hear you guys' thoughts.

[Tavarano]

He's the kind of guy who knows how to act or what to say to get what he wants, a lot of the time he is able to read others which is already visible at the beginning when he notices that the turtle wants to be brought to the sea or that Bulma wants to follow them because she's scared.

The most obvious examples of Goku pretending is when Kuririn holds his tail during 22nd budokai, laughing at Kaio's joke and ss3 charade. He also seems to like to make Vegeta butthurt, when he answers "whatever" when Vegeta says that he will become a super saiyan too or "uh huh a lot" to a question whether he's stronger after leaving time chamber and stealing Vegeta's kill on Frieza he did all in hopes that Vegeta will try to get back at him.

[DragonBallFan]

He's the kind of guy who knows how to act or what to say to get what he wants, a lot of the time he is able to read others which is already visible at the beginning when he notices that the turtle wants to be brought to the sea or that Bulma wants to follow them because she's scared.

The most obvious examples of Goku pretending is when Kuririn holds his tail during 22nd budokai, laughing at Kaio's joke and ss3 charade. He also seems to like to make Vegeta butthurt, when he answers "whatever" when Vegeta says that he will become a super saiyan too or "uh huh a lot" to a question whether he's stronger after leaving time chamber and stealing Vegeta's kill on Frieza he did all in hopes that Vegeta will try to get back at him.

Sorry for late reply, the notification never showed up, phooey. Yeah, your right, I honestly think that's what makes him an interesting character, he's not stupid, uneducated, yes, but he knows how to get what he wants.

[Lionel]

Don't forget the glaring example where he promised to Elder Kaioshin to allow him to fondle Bulma in exchange for unlocking Gohan's potential.

Goku isn't above slyness and deception to get what he wants. It's a side of Goku that doesn't get enough criticism, if you ask me.

[DragonBallFoodie]

Manipulative is associated with evil, maybe strategic and sly would be better options.

But while I don't doubt that Goku generally makes stupid decisions, he's smarter than people give him credit for. He did use a frog on Captain Ginyu to defeat his body-changing move.

[Apslup]

I don't think Goku is manipulative, however he does have other bad personality traits with the main two is his selfishness and his self-centred attitude.

He doesn't have the intelligence to manipulate people, however he is a combat genius.