Happy Father's Day! Japanese Fans Vote Goku as Coolest Dad!

[Wobbuffet]

Well, some guys on the list are not very good parents either.
George Joestar was a nice guy, but he didn't do anything to stop his adoptive son Dio Brando from bullying his son Jonathan Joestar, even after Dio burned Jonathan's dog alive.
And Hananakajima beat his son into a pulp when he was a little kid so he could grow as a manly man. But this is from a very nonsensical comedy manga, so it is not as brutal as it sounds.

This makes Goku seems the best father ever.

[Cold Skin]

Goku may not be the best dad, but he's fairly decent: his sons love him and admire him, that's more than what you can say from bad fathers.

Plus, if this is about who's the coolest, yeah, Goku possibly is the coolest due to his carefree behavior: really, his son would tell him "I want to stop studying" and he would be "oh, good for you, whatever makes you happy", he would tell him he's gay and he would be "oh, good for you, whatever makes you happy", he would tell him he spent too much money last weekend and he would be "oh, that's okay, just try to not do it again cause your mother will be mad, but no big deal"...
Basically, subjects that are deemed "family-troublemakers" in many fictions, and with the exception of ending innocent lives, Goku would just be like "oh well, if it makes you happy, do whatever you want, be whatever you want, as long as you go through life with a big smile on your face, son". So yeah, I can understand how people would fantasize about having a cool dad like that (even if they wouldn't want that in real life cause most people understand how parents need not to be as carefree as Goku to be good parents).

Basically, if you consider the Cell Game as a big exam, Goku says to Gohan "oh, don't bother learning more and more, just stop working, relax, enjoy life until then, and it will all be fine".
Certainly not a good advice, but definately something kids would fantasize to hear from "cool" parents: "stop working, don't do your homeworks, and have fun with your friends, the exam will be fine anyway".
And when the mother says no, Goku just goes behind her back to grant a yes.

Well, I don't know if I make my point clear, but all I mean is that Goku's extremely carefree behavior and good-hearted nature is probably a dream for a lot of kids who would like their parents to get off their back and stop making a big deal out of things they don't even care about, since all they want is to have fun all day long. With Goku, you would never stress to see him or tell him something: he won't make a big deal of your girlfriend when you introduce her to him, of your bad results, of your choices...
And as a bonus, he's one of the strongest beings in the universe that will always find a way to save everyone from any bad situation, so you ought to feel pretty safe with a dad like that.

He's just like Hal in Malcolm in the Middle - who, when kids say to him "our parents strongly disapprove this", just casually replies "so just don't tell your parents then" before letting the kids do whatever they want -: a good father, maybe not, but a cool father kids sometimes wish they had even though they know it would be bad for their sake, definately.

[Gaffer Tape]

I agree that people really, really, grossly exaggerate Goku's supposed bad parent qualities. Most instances where he's supposedly this deadbeat dad come from when he's... well... DEAD! Yeah, how dare he sacrifice himself to save his son who royally screwed up. What a bad parent.

The fact of the matter is, most of these abandonment issues are plot-induced. Goku's dead. Gohan gets a head start to an alien planet. Goku has a heart disease. The 7 year dead thing is a bit iffy and really exists for the sake of drama, so, yeah, that's kinda stupid but not entirely unjustified. Going off with Oob is a bit irresponsible, but his children are already grown by that point, and, as many people point out, he can instantly be with his family whenever he wants, and we have no indication that he doesn't do that.

The sad thing is, there are plenty of stretches where Goku is with his family, but nobody remembers them because they're skipped over because there's no plot going on. He was there for the first 4 years of his son's life (you know, until he died trying to save him from kidnap... again, terrible father). He even brought him with no invitation to his long overdue reunion with his friends, seemingly just because he wanted to. Then he had another three years with his family training for the Artificial Humans. We have no reason to believe he wasn't a decent father then. And then he spent an entire year on a desolate, time-forgotten wasteland camping trip with his son. I'd say Goku and Gohan have a pretty decent bond, Goku's very protective of Gohan, and Gohan, in turn, idolizes his dad and not in any kind of "Cats in the Cradle" kind of way.

So, yeah, Goku is a deadbeat parent thing is quite a caricaturization of him. He's naive, not necessarily a great disciplinarian, and most likely not the most supportive husband, but he does seem to be a pretty doting father when given the opportunity.

[Insertclevername]

Basically, if you consider the Cell Game as a big exam, Goku says to Gohan "oh, don't bother learning more and more, just stop working, relax, enjoy life until then, and it will all be fine".
Certainly not a good advice, but definately something kids would fantasize to hear from "cool" parents: "stop working, don't do your homeworks, and have fun with your friends, the exam will be fine anyway".
And when the mother says no, Goku just goes behind her back to grant a yes.

How is that not good advice? Gokuu wasn't sure whether or not they'd live from the Cell Games. He just wanted Gohan to relax with his family and friends for what could be the last 10 days of his life.

[Cold Skin]

Basically, if you consider the Cell Game as a big exam, Goku says to Gohan "oh, don't bother learning more and more, just stop working, relax, enjoy life until then, and it will all be fine".
Certainly not a good advice, but definately something kids would fantasize to hear from "cool" parents: "stop working, don't do your homeworks, and have fun with your friends, the exam will be fine anyway".
And when the mother says no, Goku just goes behind her back to grant a yes.

How is that not good advice? Gokuu wasn't sure whether or not they'd live from the Cell Games. He just wanted Gohan to relax with his family and friends for what could be the last 10 days of his life.

Nope, not a good advice. "Stop doing what you should do to succeed and pretend everything's gonna be fine" is objectively not a good advice. But one I love myself since I never cross a bridge until I get there.

It's extreme in the scenario cause they might die, but as I said, in real life, it's equivalent to "from now on, stop doing your homework and don't go to school/work, just stop working at all and let's relax all the time, I'm sure your exams will be magically fine".
Yeah, I'm sure lots of parents would give such an advice to their children.
In adult world, it would also be that you have a big meeting to prepare at the end of the week, but one of your co-workers tells you "don't prepare anything, go there hands in your pocket and improvise, I'm sure it'll be just fine".
Sure, maybe it can work out if you're talented enough to be spontaneous in your area of expertise, but anybody would tell you "not a good idea, dude. You don't pretend it's gonna be solved magically and you prepare hard to deal with it successfully".

Same goes for the Cell Game, everyone was keen on preparing over and over again, only Goku had the weird idea of enjoying their possibly last days and they were all like "is he crazy? That's not the right time!", for a good reason: a responsible person is not supposed to choose to "Carpe Diem", but to work hard. Such is the way to see responsible persons in our society, such is the way good parents are expected to be, and such is the way children would sometimes like them not to be.
Hence the fact that Goku's the "coolest" dad, the one that doesn't care about what he would be expected to care about (much to his family and friends' perplexity in many instances).

Note that Goku and Chichi are both extremes of parents: Goku is the one that is not enough set on what is expected from a parent (saying "don't work, have fun, fun, fun"), while Chichi is depicted as the one who is too much set, stubbornly set on what is expected from a parent (saying "don't have fun, work hard, hard, hard"). In a sense, they're both not-so-great parents separately, but great parents together since their pairing actually forms a perfect balance, with the father dealing with one side of parenthood and the mother dealing with the exact opposite side, eventually reaching the right middle. It's also why once Goku is dead during the seven years, Chichi had to cope with the fact of being the single parent and has noticeably re-balanced herself to become less extreme and allow fun too.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Going off with Oob is a bit irresponsible, but his children are already grown by that point, and, as many people point out, he can instantly be with his family whenever he wants, and we have no indication that he doesn't do that.

GT shows that Goku never paid a visit. Neko Majin however, shows him & Oob with Chi Chi, Gyumao, Goten, and Pan.

[Metalwario64]

GT shows that Goku never paid a visit.

While I don't outright "hate" GT, this is one of the things I really don't like about it.

[coola]

Yes, Goku spend time with family during peace time, but still, not understanding, that Gohan don`t like fight (Even Piccolo, Namekian Warrior, know it) and yelling at Goten, for being sad about Gohan "death" certainly don`t make him coolest dad. Even Mr. Satan deserved that spot more.

[dbboxkaifan]

Thanks Mike for the link.

Now to the article, Goku the coolest father in anime, are you freaking serious? He's immature, irresponsible, never around, doesn't take care of his family, doesn't have a real job to keep feeding his family and he'd rather fight than be with his family.

Vegeta would have deserved this title and for damn sure he's a great father, I personally if I could pick anyone to be my father off of Dragon Ball it'd be Vegeta. Goku is a terrible father.

By the way, Hiroshi Nohara although he's always around he's not a very good father because he gets beaten by his own wife and his son makes fun of him, BUT he does have a job and is the one that brings in the money. That list is flawed.

[Cursed Lemon]

Here's the problem - anime life is fairly utopian save for the plot elements.

Goku's whimsical nature wouldn't cut it in real life. Do we even know how they afford a house?

[dbboxkaifan]

Here's the problem - anime life is fairly utopian save for the plot elements.

Goku's whimsical nature wouldn't cut it in real life. Do we even know how they afford a house?

Gyumao might be the one that helps Chichi with the costs and all, he's more around than Goku is/was.

[Kamiccolo9]

Here's the problem - anime life is fairly utopian save for the plot elements.

Goku's whimsical nature wouldn't cut it in real life. Do we even know how they afford a house?

Gyumao might be the one that helps Chichi with the costs and all, he's more around than Goku is/was.

I'm pretty sure it's said somewhere that Gyumao's treasure is what pays their bills.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I agree that people really, really, grossly exaggerate Goku's supposed bad parent qualities. Most instances where he's supposedly this deadbeat dad come from when he's... well... DEAD! Yeah, how dare he sacrifice himself to save his son who royally screwed up. What a bad parent.

The fact of the matter is, most of these abandonment issues are plot-induced. Goku's dead. Gohan gets a head start to an alien planet. Goku has a heart disease. The 7 year dead thing is a bit iffy and really exists for the sake of drama, so, yeah, that's kinda stupid but not entirely unjustified. Going off with Oob is a bit irresponsible, but his children are already grown by that point, and, as many people point out, he can instantly be with his family whenever he wants, and we have no indication that he doesn't do that.

The sad thing is, there are plenty of stretches where Goku is with his family, but nobody remembers them because they're skipped over because there's no plot going on. He was there for the first 4 years of his son's life (you know, until he died trying to save him from kidnap... again, terrible father). He even brought him with no invitation to his long overdue reunion with his friends, seemingly just because he wanted to. Then he had another three years with his family training for the Artificial Humans. We have no reason to believe he wasn't a decent father then. And then he spent an entire year on a desolate, time-forgotten wasteland camping trip with his son. I'd say Goku and Gohan have a pretty decent bond, Goku's very protective of Gohan, and Gohan, in turn, idolizes his dad and not in any kind of "Cats in the Cradle" kind of way.

Amazing how people forget the timeskips.

Honestly, I think Goku's bigger offense is that he'd be useless in preparing his sons for the "real world" they intend to move into because he never did. Which, in a way, softens the blow of his 7-year absence post-Cell, because that is once function of being a dad he's generally unqualified for due to his situation in life. It's still an abrupt and cruel change in Gohan's life, but if Goku wasn't deadbeat in the Afterlife he wouldn't be much better at home- that's one wall you just can't scale. But then at least he'd be there, which is why I cannot claim Goku did the right thing. Though I seem to be the only one who took "There are strong guys in the afterlife!" as a way of saying "Don't worry, I won't be bored stiff up here without you guys!" as well, which is how I think Goku meant it.

That, and because plot timing, Gohan doesn't embark into the real world until maybe a month before the Buu arc begins and Goku reentered the picture anyway. It's not like Gohan was ultimately any worse for it; as the latest podcast episode pointed out, basically perfect boyfriend as far as easing a parent's fears! I'm leaving Goku and going into Gohan, but for all the rage Team Four Star is drumming up in the name of a quasi-realistic take, at some point you have to stop looking at the story and start blaming Toriyama for making Gohan inherit his father's aloof resilience to just about anything- being beaten within an inch of his life, living without his father for long stretches of time- for sake of an easier character to write. Because when you apply real-world logic to Goku's fathering issues, THAT is his ultimate get-of-jail-free card. Same thing when trying to inject real-world reactions into Gohan in fan fiction.

Frankly Goten is the only who really misses out, but even then Goku was in his life longer than he wasn't!

[FortuneSSJ]

awesome. sometimes i think japanese people already forgot about dragon ball but then i see these tops

[fogdark]

I have to say, I'm in the camp that defends Goku.

First of all, it's true that the anime makes Goku look really bad as a dad in numerous occasions. But I don't count the anime, since I prefer to look at the original work. Also, his decision to stay dead after Cell was defeated was iffy at best. I really think Toriyama should've put more thought into it. All of that said, while I agree that Goku is not the best father in the anime/manga world, he is NOT a deadbeat parent as some of you claim. You know who's a deadbeat dad? Ash's father in Pokemon. But Goku is hardly one. Not even close.

It's really easy to see all the things he did wrong without seeing all the things he did right. How can some of you say he's a deadbeat father, when he's been with his sons for far longer than the time he hasn't been! His only fault was staying dead for 7 years. Yes, it is a big fault, but we can't judge him on that mistake alone.
He stayed dead for 7 years, true. But before dying he told Gohan how proud he was of him. He put himself in danger time and time again, to protect Gohan, even when he was facing a losing battle.

And then, during the Buu saga, you say he didn't react about Gohan's apparent death. Well of course he didn't! Everyone was desperate, Vegeta and Gohan were dead, and a powerful monster was on the loose! He had enough experience to know he couldn't lose his cool. What happened when he lost himself in anger because of Kuririn first death? Piccolo defeated him. What happened to Vegeta when he lost himself in anger when Cell killed Trunks? He became a burden to Gohan, and made things more difficult for him. So yeah, I'm glad Goku did not lose his cool, and acted as the leader of the group in that situation as he was supposed to.

Look, Goku is not the best parent there is. He's not even in the top 20, but he's not nearly as bad as everyone makes him out to be. On the many years Goku was around with his sons, he loved them, and it showed since his sons loved him back. And since you guys like to compare Vegeta to Goku, the prince of the Saiyans lived with Trunks for 7 years straight before the Buu saga, and according to what he said before sacrificing himself to defeat Buu, the last time he had his son in his arms was when Trunks had been a baby ....yeah, best father ever....

All of that said, the list is about the coolest dad, not the best. So having a dad who's the strongest in the universe, who has a magic cloud you can ride in, who has the shunkan'ido so he can take you anywhere you feel like going instantly, and who is playful by nature ...wouldn't all that and more make him the coolest dad ever? Because I certainly think so...

[DBZAOTA482]

Maybe but not by a huge margin. It's kind of sad when your own arch-rival cares more about your eldest son dying at the hands of a over-stuffed pile of bubblegum than you do.

Vegeta was all like: "You're the monster who killed Gohan?! "

Whereas Goku was all like: "You're Majin Boo?! Let's play! Imma gonna show off Supah Saiya-jin 3!! "

Goku has been dead for 8 years, and it was fucking awesome from his point of view, not to mention that with the Dragon Balls, death was like going for a vocation.

Still, Vegeta showed more regret for his actions, which indirectly got Gohan killed. Goku should have at least felt somewhat guilty since it's pretty much his fault tp begin with (him and Kaioshits).

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Still, Vegeta showed more regret for his actions, which indirectly got Gohan killed. Goku should have at least felt somewhat guilty since it's pretty much his fault tp begin with (him and Kaioshits).

At that point, Goku was trying to make Goten & Trunks stronger than him, which makes Boo's revival a good thing for the Earth.

[VyeRo]

And since you guys like to compare Vegeta to Goku, the prince of the Saiyans lived with Trunks for 7 years straight before the Buu saga, and according to what he said before sacrificing himself to defeat Buu, the last time he had his son in his arms was when Trunks had been a baby ....yeah, best father ever....

So because Vegeta didn't hold Trunks at some points in time means he doesn't care about his son?
Every father has a different way of showing affection, in Vegeta's case he doesn't because that's not how he is. Does that make him a bad father? According to some people -and some cultures- maybe, but not all parents are as affectionate with their children.

Also, I think it needs to be said that Vegeta didn't want any children, he was kinda pushed in the father role and he went out of his way to make sure Trunks knew he wasn't wanted. But somewhere along the line Vegeta changed and you can say whatever you want, but he has a pretty strong bond with Trunks and it shows in the way his son looks up to him and idolizes him. Do I think Vegeta is the best father in DB? No, but he gets major points for trying and sticking with his family.

[fogdark]

So because Vegeta didn't hold Trunks at some points in time means he doesn't care about his son?
Every father has a different way of showing affection, in Vegeta's case he doesn't because that's not how he is. Does that make him a bad father? According to some people -and some cultures- maybe, but not all parents are as affectionate with their children.

Also, I think it needs to be said that Vegeta didn't want any children, he was kinda pushed in the father role and he went out of his way to make sure Trunks knew he wasn't wanted. But somewhere along the line Vegeta changed and you can say whatever you want, but he has a pretty strong bond with Trunks and it shows in the way his son looks up to him and idolizes him. Do I think Vegeta is the best father in DB? No, but he gets major points for trying and sticking with his family.

I never said Vegeta didn't care about Trunks. Just how I previously said that the best argument proving that Goku wasn't a bad father was in his children's love, the best prove that Vegeta was a good dad is in Trunks's love for him. But I just dislike how some people act as if Vegeta is some sort of father of the year when, in the story, we see more instances of him acting like a d*ck to his son, than not.

Look, at the end of the day, both Vegeta and Goku don't know how to be dads as well as they should. As Saiyans, the most important thing to them is fighting and getting stronger. Vegeta changed his evil ways in the Buu saga. During the 7 year time skip, he lived with Bulma and Trunks and he grew to care for them. So yes, they both care about their kids in their own way. But how come Vegeta gets a pass by being the best father he could be in his circumstances, while Goku is a deadbeat dad because he's not the best father no matter the circumstances?

[Rocketman]

Because the series trips all over itself to shout URRG GOKU, YOU'RE THE BEST, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING WE LOVE YOU GOKUUUU no matter how much of an asshole he's being.

Vegeta never gets preferential or reverential treatment, so there's no urge to knock him off his pedestal.