Goku's Fault?

[Brodes_Vegetto]

For a hero that strives to save the world from evil & has a heart of gold, I can't help but think of his role as a "family man". Many occasions through-out the series he seems to find an excuse or gets into a situation where he leaves his family. I Find it relevant to the story as its such a big part of who he is & it makes me wonder if it was intentional by Toriyama or just plainly the fact that Goku couldn't be around when danger/evil arrived. Not to mention leaving in the final episode to train with Uub :/

Let me know your thoughts.

[CaBrPi]

It's part of his childish and immature nature.

But you can see that his family is important to him in the way he acts during the ten days leading up to the Cell Games.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

The man has brain damage, it'll never be his fault... lol

[Eire]

So he should be closed in nice house with closed doors, not flying around and irritating people.

[hleV]

May the Goku's fault be with you, always.

It's always Goku's fault.

[Payne222]

The man has brain damage, it'll never be his fault... lol

Hahaha that's actually a good argument, he's not in a "proper state of mind".

[FNF]

He's quite frankly an idiot. That's part of the whole gag.

[Brodes_Vegetto]

He's quite frankly an idiot. That's part of the whole gag.

You think so? I get it's just a quirky part of his personality & I'm thinking way into it but when I watch DBZ It's always on my mind. :/

[Cipher]

Cipher in:

"Return of the Giant-Ass Goku Post"

Goku's an adrenaline junkie suffering from increasing ennui as the series progresses. This also makes him a cocky bastard.

At the beginning of the series, he knows literally nothing about the world. It's vast and interesting, and although he's brash and occasionally full of himself, he's still rather modest about his abilities compared to other fighters'.

We get hints that his love of challenges may be his great flaw as the series progresses. He gives a senzu bean to Piccolo rather than imprisoning him somehow, just to keep a rival around. He lets Vegeta go for the same reason.

After turning Super Saiyan though, it really starts to hurt him. He's so anxious for a challenge on his level that he's comfortable not pre-empting the Androids (as Bulma says they should). He's so excited for his son to give him a good show that he throws a Senzu bean at Cell.

By the Buu arc, what's left for him? This is a guy who is de facto the strongest man in the universe, who has seen what the afterlife has to offer and come back. I think that's actually a bigger part of his decision to remain dead after the Cell Games than wanting to not attract threats (which I see you agree with, having read through your post fully). He's bored. He wants to see if there are better challenges in the afterlife. It's understandable too that seven years later, he wouldn't put his full effort into either the Vegeta or Majin Buu fights at first; he wants to see if others can crop up in the next generation and excite him.

This is actually why I think Uub serves as a decent ending for his character. He reignites his interest. He gives Goku an outlet, someone to pass knowledge onto and someone to provide a challenge. Piccolo saying, "He looked happy to me. Happier than I've seen him in a long time," is incredibly telling. We see it in "Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!" Goku is absolutely bored to tears in that ten-year period.

I think it also factors into his cockier behavior in GT. I know some people have called his behavior out of character (messing around with weaker opponents, denying help from others, giving up too early in fights), but I think it's right in line with where he's heading at the end of Z in the manga. In Toei's universe, Uub doesn't provide quite the satisfaction Goku expected. So we have someone even more bored. Of course he's going to toy with weaker opponents to get what fun and challenge he can out of them (Muuma, Sigma Force Cannon, etc). Of course he's going to want the big-bads for himself (denying help from Gotenks, although his strength would arguably be unnecessary as well, flying off to fight the Evil Dragons on his own). Of course he's a little more anxious to lay down and accept that finally, finally, he might actually lose a fight (Super 17, Yi Xing Long). I rather like the imperfect Goku that GT presents.

So, yeah. Goku's naive, innocent and pure. He's no heartless murderer like the other Saiyans. But his major flaw is his love of challenges, and the more impossible it becomes to find them, the greater a toll it takes on his character. In fact, I'd say he's the only character in Dragon Ball to actually become a worse person as the series goes on.

[vegetaslegacy15]

Its supposed to show his innocence and his origin. Since he is a Saiyan he is going to go off and screw around.

Plus he has brain damage, he has had various other medical injuries, and he basically was alone for the whole time between the time Grandpa Gohan died and Bulma found him. So if anything I would think the guy(Goku) enjoys his alone time and having no responsibility except to himself. Which is why he is so prone to leave his family.

[Michsi]

Regarding the family man role. One also has to consider the following: the familiy life was kinda, sorta "forced " upon him. I'm pretty sure, before Chichi reminded him of his accidental promise, all he wanted to do was live a life of adventure, travel all over the world, find people to fight. We have to be honest, this is his style and this is probably what makes him happiest. Family life took him away from that. I have no doubt he loves his family, but he chose to stay true to himself once in a while and do what he wants the most.

[Eire]

That's cute in cartoon, but in real life it tends to in divorce or other disaster. One spouse provides money and watch every aspect while other "stay true to himself" with no thought that children needs winter anorak and everyday talk. Maybe Ch-Chi enjoyed lifestyle with one additional child and no support in any meaning.

[Michsi]

This works in this cartoon because everybody accepts this side of him as a part of who he is. Including his kids.

One also has to take something else into consideration . Having a family was Chichi's dream, it was what she wanted. Goku's wish was something completely different. Should he have given up on everything to fullfill hers? People who sacrifice or deny they're own desires to dedicate themselves to someone else usually ends up in bitterness.
Edit: Piccolo said at the end of the story, before Goku took of with Uub, that he hadn't looked so happy in a long time. He wasn't miserable, definetely not, but he wasn't happy either.


His biggest fault was keeping his promise to her.

And I said before, Goku didn't abandon her and his kids on a regular basis.

I'm not saying that Chichi hadn't had it hard, but Goku didn't know about Goten. In fact, I'm having doubts he would have still kept his choice about staying dead had he known Chichi was pregnant.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Plus he has brain damage, he has had various other medical injuries

As far as we know, the only effect the brain damage had was that he forgot his race and mission. Nothing suggests that his knock on the head or any of the other medical injuries he sustained had any other side-effects.

[DBZ_1997]

Its supposed to show his innocence and his origin. Since he is a Saiyan he is going to go off and screw around.

Plus he has brain damage, he has had various other medical injuries, and he basically was alone for the whole time between the time Grandpa Gohan died and Bulma found him. So if anything I would think the guy(Goku) enjoys his alone time and having no responsibility except to himself. Which is why he is so prone to leave his family.

"Brain Damage" I guess it's a reasonable excuse for his behaviour throughout the series Every character has their own definition of a 'fault'. Good point about how he grew up, being alone most of his childhood but I totally agree it comes from his Saiyan blood! They are totally childish & unpredictable!

[Silver Sinspawn]

Now, I would like to blame the "He's a Saiyan, they weren't family people" excuse, but that doesn't hold up very well, what with Vegeta's family and all.

I'd like to think it's because he never had a family and wasn't aware of how to care for them.

That, and he doesn't give a shit, he's very selfish. Also, it raises the question: Do you think Goku ever cheated on Chi-Chi?

[Rocketman]

Also, it raises the question: Do you think Goku ever cheated on Chi-Chi?

No. Not because he feels loyalty or anything, but because that would require him to have urges besides stuffing his face and punching things.

[Silver Sinspawn]

Hey, Chi-Chi could trick him into sex, so could ANYONE else

[Michsi]

No. Not because he feels loyalty or anything,

I'm pretty sure it would also have a lot to do with loyality. Sure, not the romantic "she is the only woman for me" kind, but simply because I think he would be aware that it is wrong and he was breaking his promise to her.
But yeah, not having urges does help, though I kinda believe that by the middle of the story, when he becomes a full-blown adult, he is not as oblivious to these things as some people assume.

[Kaboom]

Hey, Chi-Chi could trick him into sex, so could ANYONE else

Isn't that what Xicor's origin usually entails?