Now, generally, I wouldn't even read the comments on a DB-related video because it'd almost be guaranteed to be some childish fanbrat flamewar...but I was specifically looking for clips to show a friend a voice comparison between the FUNi dub and the Japanese version, and so I got curious to see if anyone in the comments was of my same opinion.
The clips in question were Gokou's infamous SSJ speech to Freeza...you know, the... *ahem* "Ally to good, nightmare to you" speech... *cringe* And my biggest point on it (even though there's a loooooooot one could say about it...) is that Gokou would never say something like that. At least, the Gokou I know.
...I should have known that commenting on that page would be a very bad idea >.>;
So I thought I'd take the discussion somewhere more mature, where people might actually discuss it in an intelligent manner without all the STFU MAN GOKU IS BADASS THAT LINE IS AWSUM OMG!!1111ONE!1 garbage.
... >.>;;;
Ahem. Getting to the point. The Gokou I know would never talk like this, and for one reason in particular above all else...he is selfish.
Every fight Gokou ever had was for selfish reasons. And for the sake of this argument, I'm considering 'fighting for the sake of his friends and family' selfish only because when we're talking Dragonball scale we're dealing with the entire universe, so fighting for something so small and close to him personally is, to me, selfish when compared to fighting to defend the universe. And Gokou is not Superman (so help me if this turns into a Gokou vs. Superman debate...). Did he save the Earth and the Universe more than once? Obviously. But it was never his goal.
He challenged Piccolo Daimaoh because he killed Kuririn, and later Muten Roshi and Chaozu (and nearly Tenshinhan before Gokou showed up). He fought Piccolo Jr. because...he was Piccolo's offspring and he was really strong, and Gokou likes to fight people stronger than him. And yeah, I know he did that earlier and I skipped ahead to Piccolo Daimaoh but I figured that was the first real time the Earth was at stake, so whatever. Anyways, then Raditz comes and kidnaps his son. And then Raditz tells him and Piccolo that the other two Saiyajin are even stronger than him, which at the time is terrifying, but by the time Gokou's back to his senses and training in the afterlife it becomes an exciting prospect. And I mean yeah, on one level he's fighting to protect the planet, but he's not doing it for the billions of people he doesn't know...he's doing it because his friends and family live on that planet, and I dunno guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure if the Earth was destroyed they'd be out of a place to live.
The trip to Nameksei? To get new Dragonballs and revive everyone that died in the fight with Vegeta and Nappa. Of course, even if everyone else hadn't gotten a little too tangled up in Freeza's business during their time on the planet, Gokou probably would have fucked it up anyways because it was obvious he was too curious about Freeza to obey Kaioh's wishes (which is something I can totally imagine being made fun of already in a future episode of DBZ Abridged). And even when Gokou knew he was pretty much going to lose against Freeza, he was still excited to be fighting someone so strong, just like he always was. Then it got personal when Freeza killed Kuririn and yadda yadda yadda...and I think you can go over the rest of the series from this point on your own, but really, think about it. Every major conflict that Gokou got into had the double motive of wanting to protect/avenge/revive his family and friends and because he wanted to fight some really strong guys.
Okay, so maybe selfish is the wrong word here, but I think that dub Gokou is pretty much a totally different character in this regard. Dub Gokou is your typical superhero who fights for truth, justice, and to protect the universe. And I'm sorry, but that's just not the Gokou I know. And I know that the clip in question is old, and that FUNi has improved on a lot of points, but I don't think they redubbed anything to such a great extent as to remove this speech (correct me if I'm wrong though, I'm not super knowledgeable on the dub beyond what I saw on Cartoon Network back in the 8th grade). And I think that paints a totally wrong picture of who Gokou is and what he stands for, to where yeah, dub fans are following the adventures of a totally different person. Gokou's goals were never that he set out to save the Earth or defend the universe. He's not a protector of truth and justice. He doesn't consider himself the saviour of mankind, and he's most definitely not so arrogant as to talk about himself as though he's Jesus Christ ("I am the light in the darkness?" come on!!).
I'm just curious if anyone else feels the same way about this. Is Gokou a hero intentionally, or by accident? Would he really ever say anything (corniness aside) like what he says in the 'ally to good, nightmare to you' speech? And for the record this topic isn't about that scene in particular, it's just a good example (personally I think his speech was a little much in the Japanese version too, but certainly far more in-character). I know that's not the only time the dub made Gokou seem like more of a hero than he should have been. Between Schemmel's general voice/delivery and the script, he always came off as way too much of a superhero to me in the dub, and the Gokou I know isn't a superhero...and I'm sure eventually this thread will devolve into your typical dub vs. sub bashfest eventually, but for now, let's focus on this - is or isn't Gokou a different character depending on which version of the series you're watching?
...and I know I still have a problem with walls of text...I apologize... >.<;;;;
they made him into a Divine And Clichéd Avenger sort-of guy... 
