Adult Goku - Is He Even A Hero?

[Saiga]

I guess Goku left Vegeta live because he felt like that deep down that he could be become good similar what happen with Piccolo.

I say that's very likely.

If I recall correctly, the dialogue in the scene itself confirms that to not be the case.

Kuririn says something along the lines of "I know what you're thinking! You think he's going to turn good, like Piccolo! But he's pure evil!"

And then Goku basically says "Er... nope. Nothin' like that. I just wanna fight him again."

I really like the way Rocketman worded his post, by the way. I think that sums the character up nicely.

I think his dialogue in the Pure Boo fight retcons this, though. Might be anime/dub only.

[FortuneSSJ]

Yup, no doubt.

A hero is someone you should look up to. Someone that can protect what is important to him and fights until the end.
When someone needs to be sacrificed, He always steps forward (Other characters did that too, Goku is not the only hero by the way).

But being a Hero and being Perfect aren't the same thing. Goku has his flaws too: He's selflish for example. But still a hero for everyone.

[Ashelia]

Goku is a hero, he's simply not an all around good role model. Thats about it.

[Lord Beerus]

I believe Goku is a hero by virtue of "If you threaten my family, friends or the Earth, you're going down" but not by the virtue of "I'm here to fight for truth, justice and the [Insert name of country] way". Although he is believer of the young generation getting a shot at saving the day or being the hero. So he does have some kind moral compass, but it's nothing really patronizing.

I mean throughout the series Goku is very naive, so he probably wouldn't even notice that most of the traits and actions he displays over the course of the show are quite heroic by nature (i.e. Defending and embracing his Saiyan heritage, saving the Earth on several occasions, avenging the death of his friends or family etc.) But at the same time he is Saiyan and everyone knows how much Saiyans love to fight and even being a "hero", Goku's love for fighting makes him do some very dumb things which often endangers the Earth as many times as he saves it. But Goku probably doesn't even realize that half the time because in his mind, "We're getting a great battle. What wrong with that?" Those pure blooded Saiyan genes, you can't fight em.

I mean, even if someone were to tell him he was a hero, he'd probably ask, "What's a hero? Is it something you eat?" He is that kind of guy.

So in short, yes, Goku is hero. But more specifically a Chaotic Hero or Destructive Savior.

[Thanos]

Goku is a hero within the contextual confines of his Saiyan heritage. While his head injury allowed him to be compassionate, his hunger for battle and drive to grow stronger is still what ultimately fueled him. It's almost like a sexual itch that he couldn't quite scratch--"Yeah... I care about my friends... but OOMMMGGG GETTING STRONGER AND MORE POWERFUL OPPONENTS!!!"

Similar to what Lord Beerus said, it's not like he has this defined sense of justice... it's more like, "Hey, what the hell, man! You killed my best friend! I should get you for that!"

[Hellspawn28]

Well I think Goku can be consider to be a hero since he projects other people that he cares about and he has shown that he has good inside of him. He can't be a villain for obvious reasons and he does not fit the anti-hero bill. Someone like Vegeta can be consider to be a anti-hero from the Freeza saga - Buu saga since the only thing he cared about the most was power and to defeat Goku in battle.

[WittyUsername]

I'd say Goku definitely qualifies as a hero. He may not be the traditional "Boy Scout" that the early Funimation dub often painted him as, but he does have a pretty good sense of morality, even if he can be unintentionally selfish at times. Goku in general, means well and looks out for his friends and family. He's no Superman, but he's certainly not an anti-hero.

[90sDBZ]

I say he's a hero. He sacrificed his life to save the earth twice and saved it from numerous threats. Sure he made questionable choices on a few occasions, but they don't outweigh his heroic actions imo. When he let Vegeta go it was for selfish reasons, but he probably expected him to simply come back to earth and challenge him upfront to settle the score rather than go to Namek and kill innocents.

At the Cell Games he made an error of judgement and eventually realized that and ended up paying for it with his life, although they more than likely wouldn't have beat Cell without him putting Gohan up to fight. I think the only real blame you can lay on him there is not telling Gohan and the others beforehand about his plan. This was an error of judgement and not a selfish motive.

As far as the Buu saga is concerned he made another error of judgement. He was thinking about the long term good of the earth instead of short term. In the end he came back and eventually fixed his mess. I don't think there's really a question of him being a hero but more a question of his intelligence, which as we know isn't the best.

[MCDaveG]

He's no hero, he is a good hearted Saiyan!

[DBZAOTA482]

He is very much a hero. Just not an idealized one.

He's a more complex character than people give him credit for.

[NintendoBlaze53]

Goku ain't no hero. Now Mr. Satan THERE is a hero. All hail the champ.

[sangofe]

He's just a goofball who loves to fight and his friends. He's just happened to save the earth on more than one occation.

Seems doubtful he ever actually loved his wife since he only agreed to marry her to honor his word, even though when he made the promise he had no idea what the hell was talking about.

He let the guy who murdered all his friends go based solely on the supremely selfish wish to fight him again someday. The dub tried to remedy this and make Goku appear less terrible but the original seems plain to me that he only had Kuririn spare Vegeta due to his unquenchable bloodlust. Also note Vegeta tried to murder everyone else on Earth as well so attempted genocide is another thing Goku shrugged off just because he wants to fight Vegeta again.

And I won't even get into Gohan and the Cell Games because, while this whole topic has probably been done to death, the Cell Games debacle is an even deader horse. I'll just point to Goku letting Dr. Gero go and continue building the Androids for 3 years as another example of how awful he is as a "hero."

I think my favorite is in the Buu Saga. THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE says flat-out that this matter is more important than Goku's or Vegeta's egos. What does Goku do? Indulge his ego, fight Vegeta and thus revive Buu who goes on to kill the human race. All Goku's fault.

What exactly makes Goku heroic or "pure of heart?" He seems downright detestable to me.

[the_abberration]

Goku is not a hero. He is just a guy with a past that came back to haunt him, and happenstance. In protecting himself and others, saving the world and other heroic acts were a by product.

- Raditz came looking for him.

- Vegeta came looking for him and the dragon balls.

- The gang were looking for the dragon balls when they got caught up with Freeza.

- Goku made a mistake and misjudged Freeza's desire for revenge versus his fear of Goku's strength.

- Gero came looking for vengeance for something Goku did a long time ago (and didn't even know he existed). It came to bite him, but he had a point if his reasons were that he did not want to commit cold blooded murder of a man who had up to that point done nothing to him.

- The androids and Cell were programmed to go after Goku.

- The Buu saga was due to an item that was left on the Earth, not directly involved to Goku, and would have happened regardless if he was there or not (which it did since he was long dead).