Goku is overused?

[meiaman]

Hello, everyone. How are you?

Recently, i played db xenoverse and it made me realize something:

Dragon Ball universe sure have a lot of species. You got freeza's species, buu's species, nameks, sayans, humans, bug people, demons, every one of the ginyu special forces' species, the little guys from Broly's movie...


Then you also have powerful magical artifacts: the dragonballs, the magic stick, flying nimbus, the tornado fan, demon sealing pots, etc.

Then many martial arts of varied kinds and energies other than ki.

Such a rich universe, shadowed by one guy: Goku.

Yep, everything that happens in the series has to be involved with Goku in some manner.

I like Goku, he is a good character overall, but he has been there and done that. I do not think you can expect anything else from him other than powering up AD infinitum and beating up the bad guys. All the other characters now have been reduced to comedy filler to entertain the audience until the villain shows up and, consequently, goku powers up, shows his new form and beat the villain.

Maybe Goku is the ultimate villain, who happened to bend the universe events to his persona, as everything is Gokucentric (this is obviously a joke, but it illustrates the point).

However, it is hard to say if it is a good or bad thing, as people still want to watch his adventures.

Any opinions?

[Sandubadear]

He's the main character, so it's ok if they overuse him I think. It's just terrible when nobody else has importance besides Goku, like in GT and to a smaller extent in Super (Goku, Vegeta, Beerus and Whis are all that matters now, but technically Beerus and Whis are still "new" characters)

[fadeddreams5]

The irony is, despite all the flak Goku gets, he wasn't used very often in DBZ, except to beat up the final villains.

Saiyan saga: Everyone got their share of glory, and Goku was dead.
Namek saga: Goku is on his way while Gohan, Krillin, and Vegeta are having their own adventure. Goku fights Ginyu Force, but he's immediately incapacitated again.
Cell saga: Heart virus for most of the saga. He doesn't do almost anything at all here until the Cell Games, where he isn't even the one who beats Cell.
Buu saga: Again, he sat the bench for the most part, allowing Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, and Gohan to take over.

This is the way it should always be. As a character, he's kind of boring to be the focus of an entire story in the present, imo. Just way too strong now, and also shallow. =P

[Hellspawn28]

He is overused when Toei uses him. I remember fans would always joke about how DBZ Movies 1-13 and GT where just Toei Goku fanboy wank.

[meiaman]

Faddeddreams5, You are correct on that. ^^ Personally, i find the bits where he is not present to be the most enjoyable.

Sayan saga: Everybody desperately tried their best against Nappa, even knowing they were horribly outmatched (and most of them died trying) it had that thrilling feeling of desesperation and a losing battle.

Namek saga: playing stealth against freeza troops, knowing you had no chance against them. Even after Vegeta (a powerful, but dubious ally) joining the team, they still took beatings from ginyu and then freeza.

Buu saga would be cool with a gohan victory as well, aided by the boys, piccolo and tien.

And the most interesting is that in battle, the character of everyone else kicks in, as well as their flaws, but you know they will eventually fail so Goku can killsteal with some shoehorned OP please nerf powerup/transformation/spirit bomb.

I do think if Goku was less overpower and more of a team player, the series would have gone more enjoyable. But then again, it seems everything in that universe seems to exist to show how cool Goku is. Nowadays they are stuck in a cycle of creating new transformations for Goku. Expect a SSGSSJ 2 soon (my guess on purple hair), so he can finally beat beerus.

[ABED]

It seems odd that anyone would complain about the main character being overused in their own story.

[Lord Beerus]

I don't see how Goku is overused. Whether you like it or not, he is the main character of the franchise, and most conflicts revolve around him specifically, so I'd be natural to keep in the spotlight for extended periods of time.

[meiaman]

It seems odd that anyone would complain about the main character being overused in their own story.

Possible spoilers

Fair point. As the main character of the series, he has the right to his share of plot armor and increased screen time and importance, i do agree with that. (The only reason he is allowed to die is because ressurrection is possible).

However, my personal view on the subject is that it is a little too much. Child goku was an interesting character and adult goku is still cool, but there is that feeling that the show tries to hard (even more now with the whole SSG) to showcase him as the only salvation instead of a team effort between the warriors, mostly because they cannot keep up with him and the villains anymore.

It is ok if goku is stronger than the other fighters, that is understandable, but the difference became collossal, to the point he is the only important character and overshadows the entire rest of the cast. (To the point they become cannon fodder/comed relief/explanation guys).

then AT decides to fix it by introducing new overly powered characters and (it seems) a new universe, which renders the rest of the cast even more irrelevant than they already are, and with the idea that eventually goku will surpass beerus through a ssgssj 2. (I'm just guessing).

[dbzfan7]

Goku is either overused, or it's the just the other cast is criminally underused. If it's the later, then that's why Goku is mistaken for being overused. In Dragon Ball Goku was the center pretty much all the time, though still gave plenty to others. In Z Goku was no longer the center. Instead he was constantly taken out while most of the page count went to other people. Gohan, Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo, I think they may have all had even more screen time than Goku. Now we're back more to the classic days where Goku is not taken out of action for long periods of time. But we also don't have a worthwhile supporting cast outside the holy 4. Some people who grew on Z find GT and Super off putting as Z had allowed a lot more characters to shine, while DB and Super are more focused on Goku and a select few.

[DarkPrince_92]

I agree. Goku's not overused... the rest of the cast is getting no love. Goku is the fighting genius, sure. But him, and Vegeta I guess, have gotten so far ahead of everyone else, it doesn't make sense to do anything with them. Look at Gohan. He was the strongest one at one point, now he's part of the comic relief... it's crazy.

[Rockman X]

I think the word you're looking for is "Goku dickriding" he's the DBZ universe's JESUS and everyone is Yamcha(at least after the saiyan Saga)

In Saiyan Saga:Everyone gets beat up by Nappa and Goku comes and saves the day.
In Namek Saga:Everyone gets beat up by the Reccome Goku comes and saves the day.
In Freeza Saga:Everyone gets beat up by Freeza goku comes and saves the day.
In Buu Saga:Toriyama makes buu regresses back to a weaker form so that Goku can save the day(DESPITE THE FU*KING FACT THAT GOHAN CAN RAPE KID BUU)'
Battle Of Gods:Goku is the only candidate for SSJGod despite Ultimate gohan being stronger because? F**k you gohan! you're the next Yamcha BITCH!

I would list the movies&DBGT as well but what's the point? Cell Saga is the ONLY exception where Goku dickriding isn't present.

[Lord Beerus]

I think the word you're looking for is "Goku dickriding" he's the DBZ universe's JESUS and everyone is Yamcha(at least after the saiyan Saga)

Goku gets surpassed on multiple occasions throughout the story by many of the heroes and villains from the Saiyan arc and beyond. Freeza, Gohan (twice), Vegeta (twice), Piccolo (twice), #19, Cell, Majin Boo etc.

In Saiyan Saga:Everyone gets beat up by Nappa and Goku comes and saves the day.

Wrong. Goku may have defeated Nappa, but it was Vegeta who killed him. And besides, Goku would have been crushed to death by Oozaru Vegeta if it weren't for Yajirobe cutting off Vegeta's tail. And if it weren't for Krillin and Gohan, Vegeta would have beaten Goku to death. Defeating Vegeta was a team effort.

In Namek Saga:Everyone gets beat up by the Reccome Goku comes and saves the day.

Nope. Goku does defeats Recoome and Burter and saves Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta, but it was Vegeta who deal the fatal blows to Recoome, Burter and Jeice. And Goku then goes on to lose against Ginyu and sidelined for a good portion of the arc, until Freeza transforms into his final form.

In Freeza Saga:Everyone gets beat up by Freeza goku comes and saves the day.

Goku so did not the save the day. Piccolo, Vegeta and Gohan held their own quite well against Freeza. It was only until Freeza transformed into his final form that the battle swung in his favor. And besides, Vegeta still got killed even Goku intervened from Freeza finishing him off after beating him near to death. And Goku got his ass kicked for the majority of the fight against Freeza. It was only until he became a SSJ that the battle swung in his favor. And even then, Goku still didn't successfully kill Freeza. Future Trunkis killed Freeza.

In Buu Saga:Toriyama makes buu regresses back to a weaker form so that Goku can save the day(DESPITE THE FU*KING FACT THAT GOHAN CAN RAPE KID BUU)'

Again, Goku did not solely save the day. Hell, he technically lost against Kid Boo because ultimately the drawbacks of SSJ3 proved too overwhelming for his mortal body and he ended up practically gassing out, while Kid Boo remained unaffected. I mean, if anyone deserves a large portion of credit for saving the universe, it's Vegeta and Mr Satan. It was Vegeta idea to use the Spirit Bomb to defeat Kid Boo and it Mr Satan who convinced all of Earth to give Goku their energy to fuel the Spirit Bomb. All Goku did was throw the damn thing.

Battle Of Gods:Goku is the only candidate for SSJGod despite Ultimate gohan being stronger because? F**k you gohan! you're the next Yamcha BITCH! [/b]

Wouldn't have mattered in the end. Beerus still would have won, because plot.

I would list the movies&DBGT as well but what's the point? Cell Saga is the ONLY exception where Goku dickriding isn't present.

That is not the case for the reasons I have stated above.

[ABED]

Wouldn't have mattered in the end. Beerus still would have won, because plot.

Yes because plot. You make it sound like some sort of narrative convenience that he won the fight. Beerus being stronger than Goku isn't the same as Vegeta, Piccolo's, Gohan's, or Goku's strength vastly increasing in the course of a day in order to allow them to fight Freeza.

[Lord Beerus]

Wouldn't have mattered in the end. Beerus still would have won, because plot.

Yes because plot. You make it sound like some sort of narrative convenience that he won the fight. Beerus being stronger than Goku isn't the same as Vegeta, Piccolo's, Gohan's, or Goku's strength vastly increasing in the course of a day in order to allow them to fight Freeza.

Well, the plot had Beerus wining in the end.

[ABED]

Wouldn't have mattered in the end. Beerus still would have won, because plot.

Yes because plot. You make it sound like some sort of narrative convenience that he won the fight. Beerus being stronger than Goku isn't the same as Vegeta, Piccolo's, Gohan's, or Goku's strength vastly increasing in the course of a day in order to allow them to fight Freeza.

Well, the plot had Beerus wining in the end.

But that's simply an interesting story with an ending that makes sense and grew organically from the characters. Generally, when people say things like "because plot" is when things occur in a story often in contradiction to what the characters would do. For instance, if a character is shown having a tough time fighting one strong being, but then is later shown to be able to hold their own against several without much training, its because the plot needs them to win.