Goku - what he's really like

[Michsi]

Now, out of the main DB cast, Goku is probably the last character most people would think when someone brings up the term character development.
Usually he is passed off as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get uncomplicated character type but I think there's more to him than just the happy go lucky carefree guy.

Bear with me here:

I think the best way I can convey what I mean to say is (strangely enough) by bringing up a filler scene from the anime. I'm talking about the one where King Kai tells Goku about his race and how the came to power. Remember Goku's reaction when King Kai calls him one of them : No, I am nothing like those monsters. Now I know that whole thing was made up filler , BUT at that point I thought Goku being disturbed and horrified for being part of a cruel murderouse race of galatic space pirates was appropriate and fit the character image I had of him at the time. So did Toei appereantly. A recurring theme in the earlier sagas of DBZ was Goku stating that he was first and foremost and earthling.

Fast forward a couple of years and we see that he has embraced his saiyan heritage whole heartedly and even comes to resemble Vegeta in some aspect when it comes to his attitude towards fighting.
IMO he loses a lot of his pure-hearted hero appeal, and his hero decay culminates in his infamous "fighting comes first, son safety second" moment during the Cell games. I don't think he would've ever considered doing such a thing before.

A personal fanon theory of mine is that Goku decided to stay dead after the Cell Saga because he was afraid of going back to the peacefull fight-free life he had before Radditz arrival. There were no more villans to look forward too and it was obvious no one on earth could match him strength to be enough of a challenge for him. Aside from Gohan of course, but I'd like to think he'd learned his lesson about Gohan and forcing him to fight.

So again fighting > family for him? I remember how worried and scared he was for Gohan when he was kidnapped by Radditz. know this was before he knew about his sons power, but we never see him display such strong emotions towards his family ever again.

The list of questionable decisions goes on in the Buu Saga but a lot of those might be due to messy writing.

Sure his change is not as straight forward a with Vegeta and Piccolo but I think it's there.

Anyway, I think it's an interesting topic to discuss.

[dbgtFO]

I think the best way I can convey what I mean to say is (strangely enough) by bringing up a filler scene from the anime. I'm talking about the one where King Kai tells Goku about his race and how the came to power. Remember Goku's reaction when King Kai calls him one of them : No, I am nothing like those monsters. Now I know that whole thing was made up filler , BUT at that point I thought Goku being disturbed and horrified for being part of a cruel murderouse race of galatic space pirates was appropriate and fit the character image I had of him at the time. So did Toei appereantly. A recurring theme in the earlier sagas of DBZ was Goku stating that he was first and foremost and earthling.

I think you're right here, Goku wasn't happy about Raditz' revelations about him and was like: "I'm Goku from Earth, now get the fuck off my planet!"(totally paraphrased)

I believe, that it's only us fans, who keep finding flaws in Goku's character, or at least Toriyama himself doesn't consider him that bad(stating he was the most cool character in one of the Daizenshuus).

[Cipher]

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.

[jjgp1112]

I think you're right here, Goku wasn't happy about Raditz' revelations about him and was like: "I'm Goku from Earth, now get the fuck off my planet!"(totally paraphrased)

Not if you were quoting AnimeLabs!

[Michsi]

I believe, that it's only us fans, who keep finding flaws in Goku's character, or at least Toriyama himself doesn't consider him that bad(stating he was the most cool character in one of the Daizenshuus).

I also consider him a cool character, he's my second favourite. But cool does not imply benevolent or being pure of heart.
Persoanlly I don't mind my favorite characters having flaws. it certainly makes them more intersting then being 2 dimensional
fight obsessed eating machines as so many people catagorise him.

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 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.

Great post. And I'm actually inclined to agree with that last statement.

I also think that reaching SSJ was a turning point for him as a character as much as it was for him as a fighter.

[Rory]

I think you're right here, Goku wasn't happy about Raditz' revelations about him and was like: "I'm Goku from Earth, now get the fuck off my planet!"(totally paraphrased)

Not if you were quoting AnimeLabs!

Quite tame for AnimeLabs, wouldn't you say?
Yeah, Gokuu's a bit of a douche, but that's the way I love him!

[penguintruth]

He's a manchild who enjoys a good fight the way a child enjoys a game. He wants to be the best ever. However, there's a more mature side of him that comes out on rare occasions.

The best way to describe Goku is to say that he's unsophisticated in everything but combat.

[Chuquita]

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.

Watching incredibly-bored-Goku trying to find new ways to entertain himself in that Jump special was fascinating to me. :3
He was going out of his way to pick a fight with Vegeta and that amused me to no end. I felt bad for Vegeta, he was just minding his own business. XD Seeing Goku single him out like that was fun for me.

I'd like to watch Goku pull more stunts to try and get his excitement fix; it definitely has potential.

[Gozar]

*snip*

I must say, this was quite the read. Namely about the Buu Era stuff and reasoning for taking on Uub, and even your GT analysis. I never considered the possibility that Goku might be bored. This post really made a lot of sense to me. Kudos to you for something so well thought out.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

*snip*

This was pretty amazing.

[dbgtFO]

*snip*

I agree with the two above me.
You really brought up some valid points, which I personally have never considered before.
Great analysis!

[Michsi]

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.

Watching incredibly-bored-Goku trying to find new ways to entertain himself in that Jump special was fascinating to me. :3
He was going out of his way to pick a fight with Vegeta and that amused me to no end. I felt bad for Vegeta, he was just minding his own business. XD Seeing Goku single him out like that was fun for me.

I'd like to watch Goku pull more stunts to try and get his excitement fix; it definitely has potential.

I didn't get the feeling of Goku singling out Vegeta but I did feel he was a bit out of character in the anime special playing out that rivalry in such obvious way when before that he'd always been "yeah, whatever " towards Vegeta's "FIGHT ME KAKAROTTO!!!!!"

He respects him, but I think Vegeta has to come to accept that his rivalry is one-sided

In the last tournament, Goku didn't even so much as think of the possiblity of fighting Vegeta, despite, like everyone ponted out , he had been bored to death the past 10 years, and despite that Vegeta was probably a far more capable fighter than Uub at that point.

That's just how cruel he is. He moves on to the nex best thing , leaving his one time rivals a pitiful mess of broken dreams and neglect.

Goku, you player.

Tenshinhan, Vegeta and Piccolo should form a club.

[Ahiru77]

All I can say is, I noticed one thing:

Goku is more evil or bad than he appears.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I think you're right when you say when people talk about character development, Goku is often someone that isn't brought up a lot. His character development is perhaps small compared to others, but it's still there.

Let me start from the beginning. He's a naive, innocent little boy who basically knows nothing about the world but the secluded jungle he lives in. However, he has a love for battle which has stayed with him throughout the series.

Fast forward to the 22nd Budokai, when I think this is the part where you noticeably see that he's matured as a character, even though he doesn't look that much different from before. He's no longer the uneducated hick kid from before. I got the feel that he was more serious and composed during battle, while retaining that craving for new challenges with stronger fighters. But he can still snap from playful to badass just that like that.

Then, at the 23rd Budokai, he's grown into an adult. I think this is where his Saiyan love for battle really kicks in and leads to him making ill-advised decisions that puts his desires above others' welfare. He lets Piccolo go because he doesn't want to lose his rival. Although he mentions that if Piccolo died, so would God, I genuinely think that was just a secondary thought to him. He just wanted the both of them to train and fight again.

But just one thing to mention, which I think was something he learned during his training with God. Vegeta in the Boo arc mentions how Goku never fought to kill his enemies, but just to better himself (or something like that). He offered a chance to let them escape and refrained from killing Nappa, Butta, Jheese, Ginyu and Freeza because he felt no need to kill them. When before the 23rd Budokai, Goku had killed his enemies without thinking. I think his training with God showed him the true value of life. Even as a Super Saiyan after Freeza had killed Kuririn, he still showed mercy to him because he begged for his life, and look at his expression after he blasts Freeza.

In the Saiyan arc, he lets a guy who destroys planets for a living go because he wants to beat him himself (knowing that it's because of his Saiyan blood), and later when he's told there are guys even stronger than Vegeta on Namek (who could potentially kill his two oldest friends and son), he's smiling. I think, in the Freeza arc, even though he had previously tried to deny all aspects of his heritagee, he somewhat embraced it a little more when Vegeta said to let his sentiments go and become a Super Saiyan. Goku said that even though they were enemies, he admired his Saiyans and said that, for all the Saiyans (and Namekians he'd killed), he was going to defeat him.

Once Goku became Super Saiyan, this is the point where his character changes the most. He becomes more furious, menacing and more cocky. He lets Freeza power up to his full power just so he can humiliate and defeat him at his best, as well as wanting to "check out" the strongest guy in the universe at full power.
And then, in the Cell arc, he ignores Bulma's plan to use the DBs to find and kill Dr. Gero before he builds the Androids in favour of a good fight. This results in the deaths of many innocent people just so Goku can have a good battle. And then later, he makes Gohan step up to the plate against Cell, thinking that he likes fighting just as much as he does, and tosses Cell a Senzu because he's cocky enough to think that they're already on the road home, until Piccolo opens his eyes that, no, Gohan's a kid who just wants to be a scholar and doesn't like fighting.
In addition, Goku tells his friends to not wish him back because he "doesn't want to attract bad guys", when it's more likely that he takes training with great martial arts masters in the afterlife over being with his son (I left out Chi-Chi because he's never cared about her, and no wonder. He's the guy who thought marriage was food and never took the slightest interest in Chi-Chi).

In the Boo arc, whether this is to do with poor writing or not, he plays with people's lives and the Earth itself when he holds back against Boo because he wants the younger generation to look after themselves. But his plan failed, since the kids fucked it up, millions of people were killed, the Earth was destroyed and Goku ended up being the hero again. And then Goten started having a normal life and going out with girls rather than training like Goku wanted to, as if Goten should've been a battle-obsessed jerk like him. Not to mention against Kid Boo, he breaks the Potara because he says that Boo's on his own now so they should be able to defeat him, and then later regrets it when his SSj3 fails. He shouldn't have taken the risk against a dangerous and unpredictable regenerating bubblegum monster who just destroyed Earth and its entire population in an instant.

Finally, he flies off to use some Indian Gohan clone village boy as a challenge because he's bored as hell. And no, he's not going to be the next hero of Earth.

All-in-all, Goku's a naive and innocent adrenaline junkie, who loses his purity ticket once he offers to let the old Kaioshin feel up Bulma, and he full well knows by that point why Roshi liked tits. He's an enjoyable character with a playful, entertaining personality, but as time goes on, he becomes a complete jerk.

[jordanator]

Great points made! This has really made me (and others surely) think about Goku in more detail. I have one question, thought. If Goku has those flaws, (most severe being his love for challenges, and risk taking) is he really the ''hope of the universe'', and ''the protector of the innocent''? I mean, if he is willing to risk the lives of millions of innocent people numerous times (Cell arc, Buu arc), he shouldn't really be fit to be the so-called protector of the innocent. Although, I don't know if that was a mistranslated dub line, or if it originally came from the Japanese script.
Anyways, that just my two cents.

[Makaioshin]

Great points made! This has really made me (and others surely) think about Goku in more detail. I have one question, thought. If Goku has those flaws, (most severe being his love for challenges, and risk taking) is he really the ''hope of the universe'', and ''the protector of the innocent''? I mean, if he is willing to risk the lives of millions of innocent people numerous times (Cell arc, Buu arc), he shouldn't really be fit to be the so-called protector of the innocent. Although, I don't know if that was a mistranslated dub line, or if it originally came from the Japanese script.
Anyways, that just my two cents.

Made up dub lines.
Challenging his skills comes first.

[jordanator]

Made up dub lines.
Challenging his skills comes first.

Cheers for the clarification.

[batistabus]

mind-blowing analysis

This needs to be immortalized somewhere. Every DB fan should read this.

[Mountain]

Boredom really does seem to be a major factor in regards to the change in Goku's personality. He practically ignores his old friends, not to mention his own family. If anything, I feel like his character arc is somewhat incomplete. It's a little unsettling how distant Goku becomes. Then again, I feel the same way about the entire Buu arc; it feels very distant.

[Cipher]

This needs to be immortalized somewhere. Every DB fan should read this.

I didn't know it was so ground-breaking. I thought it would be a pretty standard reading of the series. Then again, from the way people complain about Goku in the Buu arc and GT, maybe not.

Bonus tidbit:

I've always imagined the lines "From behind, from behind / The wind is blowing / Can I really ride it? / Someone and something / Is waiting for me," in "Orange Hero" to refer specifically to Goku's boredom as he's waiting for Uub, intentionally or not.