Is Goku hitting his head a relevant detail for his character anymore?

[tonysoprano300]

Given what has been revealed in DB Minus, The Granolah Arc and The Broly movie, it seems that Goku was destined to be a saiyan with a soft heart who didn’t seek wanton destruction.

If Gokus nature was a genetic trait passed onto him from Bardock, then it feels like the head injury and his upbringing under Grandpa Gohan are relatively minor influences when it comes to determining his moral/ethical inclinations.

With the most recent developments in Gokus origin story, I think they could outright remove the head injury component and it wouldn’t change a thing.

So I guess he went from a rather unimportant kid who overcame immeasurably great odds through training and hard work to a more messianic figure who was destined for greatness all along?

[WittyUsername]

Even before the Minus retcon, I don’t know if the head injury detail was even necessary. They just as easily could’ve established that Goku’s good nature was the result of Grandpa Gohan’s influence.

Given that it’s now been established that Goku was a toddler when he was sent to Earth, rather than an infant, I suppose the head injury could at least be used to rationalize why he has no memory of his biological family.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I don't see why it wouldn't be, Goku being a bratty baby when Gohan was first taking care of him hasn't been retconned yet. The only significant change is that Goku being slightly older when he was sent to Earth, being sent with his saiyan armour, and for some reason Bardock had different plans than Raditz (the former wanted Goku to be saved, the latter wanted him to kill the Earthlings).

[Cure Dragon 255]

I think the reason Goku acted out as a baby in the new continuity is because he didnt accept Grandpa Gohan as a parent and wanted his old parents back, once he hit his head he forgot them and was able to accept Grandpa Gohan.

[Grimlock]

While it may feel that way, it's only because we don't have scenes with Goku and Gohan at all. Maybe if they had shown more about Goku when he was being taken care of by Gohan, we wouldn't have this feeling.

Same thing I have with Saiyans technology. All scenes show them being primitive, and the little technology they have, was provided by King Cold. But if we take into consideration interviews and whatnot, they seemingly possessed technology of their own. We are conditioned to think a certain way due to lack of scenes.

That said, I think both the bump in the head and Gohan played an important role. And I'm pretty sure Bardock and Gine also loved Raditz, yet he didn't turned out to have a soft heart. There's that theory that because Goku changes everyone around him, he also changed Bardock. Which would explain all those panels from Dragon Ball Minus and Dragon Ball Super where he's silent, merely observing Goku in the incubation.

As for "destined", well... People tend to forget but Dragon Ball Minus has a subtitle: "Castaway Child of Destiny". It has been ten years now for us to warm up to the idea that Goku was always (probably) a "destined child". Maybe not necessarily destined to have a soft heart, but more so destined to face Freeza and to become someone important.

[Kaboom]

As usual, the optimal solution is to simply ignore anything the franchise did or said after 2013. Half-baked attempts at retcons only matter if you force yourself to accept them.

[JulieYBM]

Nothing really matters. Tell the stories you want to tell, life is too short—and too long—to worry about matching one canon or the next when we can approach a story idea for its own sake and go from there.

I've never really cared about the head injury thing because it ultimately doesn't matter. You can come up with any excuse to tell the story that you're excited to tell. Pick-and-choose, let loose your ki, and have a fun time.

(And pay your staff enough money to rest and enjoy leisure, Toei and Shueisha!)

[goku the krump dancer]

New Broly is another example at how Goku’s head bump doesn’t hold much wait anymore seeing as though he legit grew up on a backwater planet full of giant spiders and wolf Digglets and yet he was still pretty mild mannered as an adult even with his half piece of crap dad as the only other humanoid around him and sole influence.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I think the head bump gets so much love because it got that filler only sequence in the anime, much like "Gohan is a rebellious kid who loathes studying" is an anime invention, that sequence was probably not a thing in the manga.

EDIT: I know the head bump was in the manga narration but I think it didnt get a montage sequence like in the anime.

[MasenkoHA]

You could argue the head bump explanation was always pointless. Goku was a baby or toddler when he came to earth he wasn't going to remember shit. Goku becoming peaceful could have just easily been explained away as Grandpa Gohan's influence.

[Cure Dragon 255]

You could argue the head bump explanation was always pointless. Goku was a baby or toddler when he came to earth he wasn't going to remember shit. Goku becoming peaceful could have just easily been explained away as Grandpa Gohan's influence.

I know you didnt specifically quote me but this is exactly what I meant. Manga BUMP in the head was never really intended to be a big deal but faomd and Toei latched onto it.

[BlueChi]

At the end of the day, you can still interpret Goku changing from his head accident as him accepting Gohan due to his kindness, showing gratitude towards it.

I doubt that's the initial intent, but it wouldn't be the first time the series changed details, even when being penned by Toriyama.

[ABED]

I always took it that the bump erased the conditioning from the computer on the ship which conditioned the babies to carry out the order to destroy the planet. Otherwise it would seem weird that they'd send babies and just expect them to grow up and destroy the planets as part of the planet trade.

[goku the krump dancer]

I always took it that the bump erased the conditioning from the computer on the ship which conditioned the babies to carry out the order to destroy the planet. Otherwise it would seem weird that they'd send babies and just expect them to grow up and destroy the planets as part of the planet trade.

Well even with New Broly and Gine being examples of Saiyans not always being natural battle crazy a-holes. There’s still not much out there to refute the notion that for the most part Saiyans are hard wired to be ravenous and destructive.

But given the recent developments that they’re shipped off as toddlers and not infants could definitely imply that they’re being “programmed” while in stasis which makes them mentally even more vulnerable so your take is not a far off theory.

[MasenkoHA]

You could argue the head bump explanation was always pointless. Goku was a baby or toddler when he came to earth he wasn't going to remember shit. Goku becoming peaceful could have just easily been explained away as Grandpa Gohan's influence.

I know you didnt specifically quote me but this is exactly what I meant. Manga BUMP in the head was never really intended to be a big deal but faomd and Toei latched onto it.

True. The bump was a pretty superfluous handwave, "this is why you don't remember anything", that Toei latched onto and gave more prominence. They even made a whole movie saying, "Tullece is who Goku would have been if he hadn't hit his head."

[tonysoprano300]

I always took it that the bump erased the conditioning from the computer on the ship which conditioned the babies to carry out the order to destroy the planet. Otherwise it would seem weird that they'd send babies and just expect them to grow up and destroy the planets as part of the planet trade.

That was my take away as well, at least prior to Minus and the subsequent material. Id have to go back and check but I think Radditz even outright states that saiyan babies are programmed with their orders.

I think the head injury was important because it was explicitly used as the reason why Gohan was able to tame goku in the end, the beginning of the saiyan arc sort of implies that without this key event then Goku would have carried out his orders.

So I think Toei made a fairly reasonable assumption based on that exchange with Radditz