Goku as a father: "good," "bad" or somewhere in between

[matt0044]

So I come across this on my Tumblr... and I feel the need to post this.

As much as people subscribing to this train of thought might make some good points, I feel like it's too biased against Goku.

Okay so Goku is hardly the ideal father. Nobody's accusing him of that. But I feel those who say he's absent most of the time ignore things like how when he is, it tends to be because he's a victim of circumstance more than him deciding not to be with his family (not that he has never ever made that choice but still…). Piccolo, while caring for Gohan, is more of an uncle than a father.

I'll get back to this but in the meantime, what are your thoughts?

[Doctor.]

I like how people say Piccolo is Gohan's "true" father and the first time they met, Piccolo threw him at a mountain

[Gyt Kaliba]

I would agree with the idea that it's something that's hard to define unless you just put him somewhere in the middle. Goku isn't a terrible father - he doesn't beat his sons, he does love them, and a lot of the time that he's not there is, as you pointed out, not really his fault and/or the alternative is actually a lot worse. That said though, Goku isn't a particularly good father either - regardless of the reasoning, he is gone a lot, and sometimes it is of his own volition; he also has no interest in the interests of his children unless it happens to be one of his own interests (namely eating or fighting).

Just like with the 'is Goku a good/bad husband?' question though, there's not really a straight answer, because despite any faults you can come up with, Goku is just...Goku. Love him or hate him, he just is what he is, and what he is is still an incredibly charming character. That character just happens to be an asshole sometimes is all.

[Cetra]

Goku does not only fight for his own pride but the ones he loves. There cannot be a better father than that. Being a father is not defined as just "involved in child education", he does what he can and is clearly interested. He shows his worries all the time and his love as well.

[DBZAOTA482]

Well, a good father is someone who would put his family above all however that's not the case with Goku. Fighting is clearly first thing of his agenda (too free-spirited)... but he's not bad (at least until the Boo Saga) either because he means no harm with his actions and a bad father/husband/family man/whatever is someone who is more harm than good. After all, he seems like a cool dad when he's actually around.

So.... he's okay-ish.

[BlackMagick]

Goku isn't a BAD father. I clearly cares for his children but I'd say his priorities are out of whack. His main priority is fighting/training. But we also gotta remember that at the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, Goku just took off with a stranger and said "I'mma train this guy for a few years. I may visit sometime in between training. See ya." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but you get the idea.

[MediaFanGirl93]

In my opinion, I don't think Goku will be taking home any "Father of the Year" awards because he puts fighting above his family, but he's not a horrible father either because he does love and care for his kids. So, yeah.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I think Goku is ultimately in the green, even if by a slim margin, because from Gohan's introduction he acknowledges his sons right to chose their own destinies, even if they are not what he would have wanted. His tunnel-vision, unsocialized rearing just meant that he had to learn the gravity of what that meant the hard way; the classic example being his false interpretation of Gohan's will to fight. I get a particular chuckle every time Vegeta drops the bomb that Gohan rarely trained in seven years because Goku can only blame himself for that, in more ways than one.

[Cursed Lemon]

Here's the problem with trying to judge this - nobody seems to CARE that Goku is somewhat neglectful sometimes.

Chi Chi gets worked up, but she's played off as being incredibly neurotic. Gohan and Goten are just like, "eh, it's cool".

Obviously, chalk this up to fantasy universe surrealism, but there really doesn't seem to be any particular signs of distress at Goku's shortcomings. Can we really call him a bad father/husband, if that's the case?

[WACKER3]

My answer is yes. Goku is a bad father overall, but it really doesn't matter. He loves his family just as much as any other man would, he just doesn't understand how to be a father. Goku is a bad father BUT he is a good person, and that's all that matters.

Besides Gohan and Goten turnt out fine and he seems to spoil Pan. I mean Goku would never give his Ice cream to anyone, but he gave it to Pan.

[rereboy]

Goku is a good father, but he is limited in regards to being able to support his kids in modern society.

Think about it, if Gohan and Goten lived and grew up pretty much like Goku grew up, in the mountains and in nature, he would be the best father ever. But since they also have to worry about modern society, about studying, a job, about complex feelings that arise from living a more complicated life than the one Goku had, and all that, Goku can't help them much in that regard because he simply doesn't understand much about it.

A better question is if Goku is a good husband because even if they lived like Goku did in his youth, I don't know if we could say he was a very supportive husband that shows the affection his wife would want.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Obviously, chalk this up to fantasy universe surrealism, but there really doesn't seem to be any particular signs of distress at Goku's shortcomings. Can we really call him a bad father/husband, if that's the case?

I'd like to think we're intentionally overlooking this as well as the fact that both of Goku's sons have his father's phenomenal fortitude (Gohan gets his neck broken by Recoome, is healed by a Senzu Bean, thinks nothing of it, etc.) for the sake of some kind of discussion.

[Rockman X]

I'll get back to this but in the meantime, what are your thoughts?

Goku is an ideal saiyan father.. but he's a horrible human father...

[dbzfan7]

I'll get back to this but in the meantime, what are your thoughts?

Goku is an ideal saiyan father.. but he's a horrible human father...

Sounds about right to me.

[Kaboom]

I'm going to vote for "somewhere in between." My succinct opinion on the topic lately has been, "Goku loves his family, but they're just not his top priority."

Goku is a genuinely good — albeit occasionally a bit selfish — guy in most respects. He legitimately loves his friends, and has good intentions for them. It's just that he's somewhat naive and his priorities are different. He doesn't ditch his friends and family in favor of training and such out of any sense of malice or apathy. Rather, it just doesn't always seem to register with him that his doing so might negatively affect people.

[RandomGuy96]

Toriyama said it best:

Goku isn’t interested in child-rearing, probably. He’s completely unqualified to be a father. (laughs) He doesn’t even have a job. Goku wants nothing other than to get stronger, and it feels like he doesn’t have any other instincts. So he shows absolutely no interest in things he’s not interested in. I’d bet he wouldn’t have had any interest in marriage, either.

So yeah, he's firmly in the "bad" category. He doesn't even care enough about his children to throw away his childish desires for a "good fight" to save their lives. Heck, he actively stops them from saving themselves and others (i.e. not bringing Gohan back to chew Pure Buu up and spit him out) in favor of "I wanna fight this guy", even though that can very easily get everyone killed. I'll never understand why fans try to defend him with "yeah, he's not the best father, but he doesn't beat his kids!". As if not being the worst automatically disqualifies him from just being bad.

As a side note, I love how Toriyama mocks his own characters.

[flashback0180]

Chchi:you missed your sons graduation.

Goku:but I was dead.

Chichi: don't use death as a excuse, death doesn't stop piccolo from coming back to life to take care of gohan.

Goku: That's just because he thinks he's a god and being next to king kai intimidates him.

Piccolo: Fak you goku I can make swords out of thin air.